Books: This has always been my favorite category to look back at, and many of you know I've tried reading the number of books each year that correlates with my age. Yeah well, then I had a toddler. I didn't come close to the 32 books that would have been my goal this year, but that's okay. I made it through 17 books this year, and most of them were really good. I started and stopped a few others, realizing that I now had such limited time to read I wasn't going to waste it on a book that didn't hold my interest. But I finished 17, and out of those, here are the top 5 I'd recommend:
When We Were on Fire: A Memoir of Consuming Faith, Tangled Love and Starting Over by Addie Zierman
I wasn't the only one who did a lot of reading this year though! Aidan is turning into quite the little story-listener and here were his 5 favorites from the year--and mom and dad loved all 5 too, no annoying kids books on this list (you know, in case you need to ever buy a gift for a 1 year old boy--these were all well tested in our house!)
Movies: I saw exactly 2 movies in the theater this year, one in January and one in November. Hello, life with a child! In January I saw Silverlining's Playbook and LOVED it, and in November we saw Catching Fire which I also really really loved. I guess Jennifer Lawrence is a common theme of this year for me, she was phenomenal in both films. We ended up not renting a ton of movies this year either because we got sucked into watching The West Wing back in May, and have been working our way through each season. We're up to the middle of season 5 with a couple more to go, so that's been taking our priority when we have tv watching time. We did rent Lincoln and Argo, and if you haven't seen them they are both absolutely worth it. But most of America probably saw them in the theater, so yes, we are way behind the times! (I do have a Pinterest list going of everything I want to watch but Netflix on-demand streaming doesn't let us watch the newer movies which is dumb in my opinion...so I'm still waiting for most to be available).
Meals: I love beautiful meals, and more than that I love the conversation that happens around them. It was a year of learning to cook new things, reading a few fantastic books about food, and experiencing a couple of fun outings to restaurants we hadn't tried. Probably our "fanciest" meal was our 4th anniversary dinner back in March to The Castaway restaurant in the hills above Burbank. We both enjoyed incredible steaks, wine and appetizers while watching the lights come on all over the city. But I have to say I think the meals that stand out the most this year were the spontaneous ones we ended up sharing with friends. One Friday back in August, only a couple weeks after we moved in, I texted a friend at 3 and said "you guys want to come over for hot dogs tonight?" Two hours later our two families were together enjoying hot dogs, potato chips and watermelon, and it hit me, we have friends that live close enough now and we have a home large enough that we can do that. And that's a dream come true. The thai food trips after play time at Gummy the Bear with two different friends--I took Aidan the other day just the two of us and he kept asking where Luke and Sienna and Joshua were, I love that he equates going to get noodles with his friends. The spontaneous backyard bbq held with other young families from church one Sunday afternoon. And probably my very favorite meal of the year was our MOPS Bread and Wine night. About 15 of us read Shauna Niequist's book and each cooked a different one of her recipes so we could taste them all. The food was incredible but more than that I hadn't laughed so hard in a very long time, as each of us relished a night away from our kids, our homes and responsibility. My soul was so richly fed that night--laughter mixed with the sound of clinking forks and the splash of wine in a glass as we shared stories around the table.
Best Pinterest Attempt: I realize this could be food related or not, so I'll share both. The best pinterest recipe I found that is now in the regular rotation around here are these Oven Tacos They are super easy, and incredibly delicious. When you bake the taco shells with the filling inside, the shells soften enough that Aidan can eat them without me worrying about how hard they are and Charles went nuts for them. We'd highly recommend them!
The one "activity" idea from Pinterest I tried this year was this thankfulness banner in the month of December. Aidan LOVED it, he kept asking to write on leaves (and every night when we asked him what he was thankful for the first thing he always said was "Adelaide and Ezra!" He loves those kids!) I used her free printable to get the leaf template and cut them myself, which ended up being a LOT of work, so I might look for already cut leaves next year :) But the fall colors made a gorgeous garland in our kitchen that I was sad to take down.
Travel: It was a year of taking advantage of the "kids under 2 fly free" rule! 2013 started with us in Hawaii with Charles' family, which was amazing and beautiful. In February Aidan and I went to Denver to see my grandparents and other family members for a long weekend. In April he and I met my parents in Sacramento and visited childhood friends and family both there and in Reno. In June Charles headed to Costa Rica and Aidan and I spent 2 weeks in Minneapolis and Iowa with my family. In July I hopped a quick flight up to San Jose and met my sister and her in laws at their home in Santa Cruz for a week while Charles was house boating at Lake Shasta. The end of September brought another mid-west trip for Aidan and I--to Minneapolis and Kentucky this time to meet up with Charles' family. Then we began a long stretch (2 1/2 months!) of not getting on an airplane until Christmas in South Carolina. Our child LOVES seeing the suitcase come out of the closet and knows the drill at airports that's for sure. He doesn't ever sleep well on vacation and it's usually exhausting for me, but totally worth it to see so many people I love. This year's goal is to make it to the Northwest, there are WAY too many people I love in Portland and Seattle who I haven't seen in WAY too long! I don't know when, but it's my goal!
Music: It wasn't the most eventful year music-wise. I spent a lot of time listening to Elizabeth Mitchell and other folksy kids artists, and in December I introduced Aidan to my favorite Christmas song, The Little Drummer Boy. Big mistake. He's asked for it on repeat every day. It is no longer my favorite Christmas song. I discovered Daughtry's song Waiting for Superman, and for some reason I absolutely love it. I don't know if it's the words, or sound but it is a great one. I discovered the Derek Webb Pandora station and can't get enough of it. Mellow, beautiful, worshipful songs that are a great way to start the day.
Outings: I have tried getting out and exploring with Aidan as much as I can this year, now that he can walk and play it is so much fun! And we've tried going on some fun family adventures when we can carve out the time. The zoo was probably our most frequented spot, that season pass has more than paid for itself. Aidan is obsessed with the play ground there, and I have to keep reminding him that the zoo also has these things called animals that we are going to see first. I have found the gorillas to be my very favorite, and I really could stand and watch them for a long time. Aidan and I are slowly learning the names of all the gorillas in the exhibit and he'll now point out Kelly (the big daddy gorilla). We've found some amazing parks and play grounds around LA--any playground under the "Shane's Inspiration" design will be fantastic--all handicap accessible, lots of sensory things to experience, and ways to play at various skill levels. I just found out they are building one about 1/4 mile from our home, complete with a splash pad and it will open this spring--we are quite excited! We found Carney's Hot Dogs and enjoyed eating delicious dogs inside a choo-choo. We stumbled upon the LA Holocaust museum by accident and were both in awe. Trips to the train table at Barnes and Noble and Underwood Farms were our other favorite locations. I love living within 30 minutes of SO many different options!
It was a year of learning, exploring, and growing, and we are looking forward to what 2014 holds for our family!
Music: It wasn't the most eventful year music-wise. I spent a lot of time listening to Elizabeth Mitchell and other folksy kids artists, and in December I introduced Aidan to my favorite Christmas song, The Little Drummer Boy. Big mistake. He's asked for it on repeat every day. It is no longer my favorite Christmas song. I discovered Daughtry's song Waiting for Superman, and for some reason I absolutely love it. I don't know if it's the words, or sound but it is a great one. I discovered the Derek Webb Pandora station and can't get enough of it. Mellow, beautiful, worshipful songs that are a great way to start the day.
Outings: I have tried getting out and exploring with Aidan as much as I can this year, now that he can walk and play it is so much fun! And we've tried going on some fun family adventures when we can carve out the time. The zoo was probably our most frequented spot, that season pass has more than paid for itself. Aidan is obsessed with the play ground there, and I have to keep reminding him that the zoo also has these things called animals that we are going to see first. I have found the gorillas to be my very favorite, and I really could stand and watch them for a long time. Aidan and I are slowly learning the names of all the gorillas in the exhibit and he'll now point out Kelly (the big daddy gorilla). We've found some amazing parks and play grounds around LA--any playground under the "Shane's Inspiration" design will be fantastic--all handicap accessible, lots of sensory things to experience, and ways to play at various skill levels. I just found out they are building one about 1/4 mile from our home, complete with a splash pad and it will open this spring--we are quite excited! We found Carney's Hot Dogs and enjoyed eating delicious dogs inside a choo-choo. We stumbled upon the LA Holocaust museum by accident and were both in awe. Trips to the train table at Barnes and Noble and Underwood Farms were our other favorite locations. I love living within 30 minutes of SO many different options!
It was a year of learning, exploring, and growing, and we are looking forward to what 2014 holds for our family!
