2016. An interesting
year to say the least!
The year started off with a trip to Europe. We flew from JFK to Oslo, Norway; from Oslo
to Paris, France; from Paris to Stockholm, Sweden; and from Stockholm back to
JFK. The entire trip was fabulous, and I
completely fell in love with Oslo, something I was not expecting, but my
favorite part of the trip was Disneyland Paris.
We had visited one before, in 2007, but just for the day. This time, we spent three nights at the
Disneyland Hotel and were able to really explore the parks. It was hard to not make comparisons to the
American parks, but overall, it was amazing!
While we were in Europe, Sadie had surgery to remove a very
large tumor from her stomach. It was not
ideal for that to take place while we were away, and we worried constantly, but
once the tumor was discovered, it was in her best interest to remove it as
quickly as possible. Thankfully, our vet
is incredible, and Sadie had the good fortune to be loved back to health by the
world's best Fairy Dogmother. It is now
a year later, and at 14+ years of age, she is doing very well!
At the end of January, I traveled to California for a
conference with a friend and we had a great time together, despite
less-than-perfect weather at Disneyland!
I returned to full-time teaching on February 1 after three
months of part-time teaching. I will
never be able to express how my three teammates were (and are) everything to
me. They are remarkable teachers and
unbelievable human beings. It was a
crazy busy time for me because in addition to fifth grade, I taught a graduate
Literacy course during the spring semester January-May and a graduate Math
Methods course during the first summer session April-June, and there were some
days when I didn't know which direction was up, and they kept me afloat in
every way possible. And sane. They kept me sane. I love them so, so, so, so, so much.
We went to a game at our 33rd NHL arena! The Pittsburgh Penguins got a new arena back
in 2010, so even though we saw a game in Pittsburgh when we visited all 30 NHL
arenas, this one was new to us!
For spring break, we took our second Disney Cruise, this
time on the Disney Magic. Loved every
second of it! We visited Castaway Cay
for the first time, which was beautiful, and ate at Palo, which was delicious. I really cannot say enough good things about
Disney Cruise Line. We've got another
cruise planned for this upcoming summer and I cannot wait! After the cruise, we went to WDW for a few
days and had a great time, even though there were a number of heavy downpours
during our stay. In the first three
months of 2016, I visited Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant at Disneyland
Paris, Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland, and Cinderella Castle at WDW. Not too shabby!
In May, we went to WDW for C's birthday and it was about as
perfect a trip as possible. We had a
completely awesome time and attended the After Hours event where we felt we had
the entire park to ourselves!
In July, we went to a Mets game at Citi Field, which was our
35th MLB ballpark, and then in August, we a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park, which was our 36th MLB ballpark! Both were very nice stadiums and the games
were fun to watch!
We took a trip out the west coast at the end of July and it
was wonderful! We went to Seattle,
Portland, and Crater Lake National Park; we drove along the Oregon Coast, which
was breathtaking; and we even drove into California to go to Fentons – two
locations on the same day! We have so
many happy memories from this trip!
We were fortunate to visit WDW for four weekends in the fall
over a span of four months! In
September, we stayed at Contemporary; in October, we stayed at Caribbean Beach;
in November, we stayed at Port Orleans Riverside; and in December, we stayed at Coronado Springs. These quick weekend
trips are so fun!
Over the summer, I did my second annual
#100daysofdoxies/#100daysofhappy photo series – it's a fun way to capture both
the mundane and hilarious moments in our day-to-day life.
Speaking of our dogs, perhaps the best thing about 2016 was
that we did not have to say goodbye to any of our gals. This might seem like a morbid thought, but in
2013, we lost Gunni, in 2014, we lost Duchess, and in 2015, we lost
Chelsea. So there was no heartbreak in
2016 and for that we are extremely grateful.
I also realized in August that I've been married for half my life! That was an eye-opening
realization because I still cannot believe we've been married as long as we
have. Time really does fly when you're
having fun!
Finally, on December 31, we celebrated 22 years of marriage!
Not just any marriage, but really, a ridiculously happy marriage. I count my lucky stars every single day!
Here's to a great 2017…we've got some exciting trips planned
and unknown adventures await!
Happy Tails to you!
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