2011: Year in Review

Another year has come and gone.  Here are our highlights from 2011:

THE JOB

In June, Jake took a position with a new company.  It was tough to leave our old city, with our familiar church family, coworkers and friends, but it was the best decision for us overall.  Jake’s role at the new company is very similar to his old role (he’s still an engineer performing technical work), but of course each company (and each plant) has its own culture.  Jake loves his new coworkers.  He is always coming home with a funny story of a prank or joke.

THE MOVE

We completed our first real interstate move.  Sure, we moved to a new state after college, but the stuff you accumulate when you’re planning to live somewhere long-term (like a house and a mortgage) makes a move a billion times more challenging.  We made it through the moving process just fine, though, so now we’re in the midst of some other challenging-but-fun activities such as settling into our new house, getting involved in our church and community, and making friends!

THE MASTER’S

In January of 2011, Jake began working on getting his master’s through Purdue’s distance education program.  It’s really tough for him to focus on completing coursework now that he has a career and knows what it’s like to enjoy free time in the evenings, but he has successfully completed two classes in the program and earned credit for a master’s-level course he took as an undergrad.

THE MILITARY

As of October, Jake has been serving as a Navy Reserve officer for one year.  He also completed two weeks of training during his Direct Commission Officer Indoctrination Course this summer, smack dab in the middle of our move.  Before that, Jake often felt like he was winging it when it came to knowing how to behave in military culture.  The class helped him learn some of the nuances of proper behavior, which has helped him feel more confident when acting in official capacity.  Towards the end of the year, we got a surprise when Jake was named the Executive Officer for his unit.  We had a good laugh about it because Jake is one of the newest members of his unit.  Since he’s one of just a few officers in the group, the duty has fallen to him.  For my part, I have appreciated getting to participate in a few social activities with Jake’s group, which has allowed me to get to know some of the people with whom he serves and gain a bit of understanding about military life.  It’s all still very foreign to me, and I know Jake’s still getting used to it as well. 

THE TRAVEL

In 2011, we enjoyed many opportunities to travel for both personal and professional reasons.  We took three trips to Georgia to visit family and friends there, as well as several trips to Arkansas to see Jake’s family.  Since Jake’s previous and current employers are based in the state of OH, we got to see a lot of that state (Cincinnati, Akron, Cleveland, etc.).  We also took a trip through Pennsylvania to New York, where we visited Niagara Falls.  We’ve also enjoyed exploring attractions in our new community and places we see along the way to other destinations.  I’m sure we’ve been to other places that I’m just not thinking about right now, but this should offer a good sampling of some of the places we went this year.

I think those are all the highlights.  Sure, we’ve had a lot of personal and relational milestones as well, but for now I’ll leave some mystery concerning the inner workings of our lives.  ; )

Signs of the Season

I just wanted to pop in and share a few pictures of the beautiful view from our backyard.  A few show our view in the fall, while others show how things looked during a recent winter snowfall.  We are blessed to live in a neighborhood and enjoy the benefits of living in a community while also getting to see this view from our deck and many of our windows.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Looking Back on Fall

Jake and I have thoroughly enjoyed fall in our new town.

This area is full of fun-for-all-ages activities, including plays, programs and farm-based fun.

Our favorite place to go is a local orchard.  The first time we went, we went with friends and listened as the local university’s orchestra played Disney music.  The next time, we went to pick up pumpkins.  On that visit, we discovered the children’s play place, which has a set of four giant slides called “The Cider Slider.”  Jake and I ran right up there with those kids and started sliding down.  It was so much fun!  In addition to our two pumpkins, we picked up a gourd, which we hope to dry and turn into a birdhouse.  On our third visit, we were accompanied by Jake’s parents, who were visiting us.  That time, we went on the slide, rolled around on some hampster wheels (well, that’s as close as I can come to telling you what they were), and walked on top of a bunch of tall tractor tires.  Jake’s parents made a few purchases, and we all enjoyed some fresh, hot apple cider.

Another place we love is the local dairy farm.  The farm hosts tours, has a playground, shows movies, and has a fall corn maze.  So far, we’ve just visited their restaurant to get some ice cream, but hopefully we’ll get to enjoy some of their other activities in the near future.  Jake’s parents joined us on our last visit.  Jake’s mom and I got scoops of ice cream (hers was red velvet and mine was coconut), while Jake and his dad got Mini Moos.  Each mini moo is made up of a chocolate chip cookie topped with a scoop of ice cream, served in a tiny cast iron skillet.  That place has the tastiest ice cream!

We look forward to explore more of what our new town has to offer in the coming days, weeks, months, and, dare I say it, years.