Year Five

It's our fifth anniversary here at Life As Always!

I know, I can't believe it either.

Our lives have been busier than ever, and unfortunately that meant that this blog saw an all-time low, with only about 70 posts in the past 12 months. TRAGIC. My stats have plummeted, and many of my loyal readers have disappeared, but I can hardly blame them. I feel almost constant guilt for all but abandoning the dedication I once had for this silly hobby, my own little corner of the interwebs... yet somehow I just couldn't force myself to make it a priority. 

However, as I mentioned in last year's recap, I have worked for more than ten years to create this place as a reflection and extension of my life. And although the frequency and quality of my posts may ebb and flow as the years go by, I don't think I could ever give up on it completely.

I love having a record of the people that we were, and of the family that we are becoming.

 Thanks to those of you who have stuck around, and please bear with me as things are bound to continue to change as the years pass. I appreciate your support and presence more than you know.

This Year's Highlights:

• We went on quite a few super fun camping trips, including Riffe Lake, Fort Stevens, and Cannon Beach, and also took an amazing family vacation to Hawaii. We ended the summer with our annual Alway trip to Priest Lake.
• We also went on a winter getaway to Priest Lake for President's Day Weekend, and spent Memorial Day Weekend in Port Townsend for my dad's birthday.
• My best friend got married, which meant a romantic little getaway to San Diego for me and Stew... And just few months later, I threw her a baby shower! 
• Stew's childhood friend Chad also got married, so we attended a wedding up in Bellingham, as well as the more local wedding of Stew's co-worker, Jordan. 
• Our amazingly talented friend took some awesome family photos for us. 
• Of course most of our weekends in the fall consisted of friends and football -- Go Seahawks!
• Ryder went to the zoo for the first time, and had his first dentist appointment -- he did fantastic! He also started swimming lessons.
• I did some self-reflection, including wallowing in self-pity and doubt, examining the reality of motherhood, and writing a letter to my younger self.
• I also, for some odd reason, chose to highlight some annoying behaviors that I can't seem to stop.
• Ryder got a horrible case of croup and ended up in the pediatric intensive care unit for four days. Then in the spring he came down with a bad case of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease -- poor guy!
• We celebrated all the major holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Easter, Father's Day, and Fourth of July.
• I became addicted to Podcasts, and continued to write reviews of any books that I read.
• I talked about suicide prevention for American Veterans, a cause that is very near and dear to my heart.
• I became aware of the Mandela Effect, and you guys I am still freaking out...
• After almost eight years, I left my job and started a new adventure at a brand new company much closer to home.
• I turned 34 and Stew turned 35. We celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary.
• More excitingly, Ryder turned two, and we threw him a super fun birthday party.
• We did a huge overhaul on both the front and backyards.

As usual, our lives continue to be filled with luck and love. We can't wait to see what the future has in store... Thanks for being a part of our adventures!