Hello, friends. I seem to have hit a wall when it comes to blogging. I have felt less than inspired, but I think down the road I will enjoy looking back at the blog, so I am going to give it a go again. 2013 was a year full of ups (sometimes very temporary ups) and our large share of downs. Frankly, she was a bitch and we were very glad to see her go. Greg and I are very much looking forward to what 2014 has in store for us.
We did a good amount of traveling in 2013:
We spent a long weekend in Washington DC. We stayed with one of my very best friends, we went to 2 Braves v. Nationals baseball games, we saw several of the monuments and went to several museums. It was Greg's first time to visit DC, so we crammed in as much as we could in the short weekend visit. We are actually looking forward to going back this summer to visit my friend, and some of our other friends will be there for the summer.
Our biggest vacation of the year was our trip to Chicago to visit Scott and Kathleen. We did a longer visit there than the one in DC. We had such a great time seeing our friends! We went to a Cubs game, we ate amazing food, we did some sightseeing, and most of all we just enjoyed the time with Scott and Kathleen. They are coming to see us in a month, so we are really excited about their visit!!
We had a lot happen with our jobs in 2013:
In January, Greg got a job offer from a State Farm agent. That job ended up not working out at all. The agent was unprepared when it came to how to effectively run an agency, and he ended up having to let Greg go because he hadn't budgeted his money well and he couldn't afford to keep Greg on. Even though that was a very crappy situation, there is a positive. That agent paid for Greg to take all of his insurance exams, which prepared him to look for another job in the insurance industry.
Within a week of being let go from State Farm, Greg interviewed and was offered another job. This time he was hired by an Allstate agent that has been in the business for a long time. He clearly knew how to run an agency, and so we felt good about Greg taking that position. This job has turned out to be a really great situation for Greg. His co-workers are amazing, and it seems like this is something that Greg feels comfortable doing long-term. I am so happy that Greg ended up with this agency, it has been such a blessing for us.
Greg isn't the only one that had changes this year as far as his job. Luckily, I didn't have the stress of having to find a new job like he did... But, another little guy was born into the family that I nanny for! So, my job has gone from looking like the top picture to the bottom picture. The transition has gone REALLY well. Both of these boys are wonderful, and I feel so lucky to be a part of their little lives.
We had a few visitors come in 2013:
Greg's family came for about 5 days in March. It was a really nice visit. We took them out to eat at a couple of our favorite restaurants, we went to a Carolina Hurricanes game, and I took them over to Nasher (the art museum in Durham).
In May, my parents came for a visit. We had a lot of fun when they were here. We took them to a brewery tour, Duke gardens, we took them to some of our favorite restaurants, and we grilled an amazing meal at home.
We began to explore, and fall more in love with Durham in 2013:
Back in the spring, Greg and I made the decision to start exploring all the local jewels that Durham has to offer. We've been trying new restaurants, new local breweries, and a lot of of other things that in Durham. It has been SO much fun. We have found amazing local food, delicious local beers, and tons of local events that we love being apart of. It seems like our love affair with Durham is going strong.
Geer Street is one of our favorite local restaurants downtown
FullSteam is a great brewery downtown
We love Durham Central Park. From the Farmers Market to movies on summer nights to food truck rodeos... We love lots of stuff that they have going on down there.
We've been going to the Farmer's Market weekly
This is from the Cajun beer and bourbon festival last spring
Triangle Brewing is one of Greg's favorite local brews. This is a picture from the brewery tour that we did when Mom and dad came to visit. They've actually opened a bar/restaurant/pub downtown that is great.
Infront of the Lucky Strike tower at Christmas
This is Greg's favorite new local restaurant
Greg surprised me with season tickets to the Broadway series at DPAC and it has been one of my favorite things that we have done all year. It's been a special thing for us to do together every month
Here's us at the DPAC for our first show, Beauty and the Beast
I couldn't possibly give you a run down of the entire year in a blog post, and I wouldn't want to. This is a good highlight from 2013, and we are so excited to see what 2014 has in store for us.
"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
