2019: A Look Back

After the terrible things that happened in 2018, 2019 was bound to be a better year. We started the year waking up in Boston and ended it ringing in 2020 in Paris, so that says something about how wonderful of a year it turned out to be!

It was a very busy year filled with some big changes. Perhaps the biggest news for us is that we adopted a ten-year old blind rescue dog in October and named her Riley. She is our eighth Dachshund! She is the sweetest little dog and has no trouble getting around despite not being able to see, and even though we've only had her for three months, it is very clear that she is a quick learner! Ginny has slowly warmed up to her and they are growing closer all the time, which is good, because Ginny was really what made us consider adopting another dog when I'd sworn up and down I would never be able to because of the devastating loss of our sweet Maddy. Almost 18 months later, and I still grieve that loss every day. Ginny was also having a terrible time and developed severe separation anxiety, which was pretty shocking to us. I was home with her after Maddy passed away, and she also had my mom's dog, Ava, to keep her company, but Ava's passing in February of 2019 left Ginny on her own. She became kind of nuts, never wanting to be left alone, and howling and pacing when we went out for anything (we watched her on the security camera and it was heartbreaking). So adopting Riley has given her a companion and she is much more calm; we haven't seen any of that lunacy since Riley joined our family!

My mom sold her condo and moved in with us permanently. Even though she'd been living with us since the summer of 2018, we'd been taking take of her condo since then, so selling it was a relief to us all! We love having her with us, but not nearly as much as Ginny does!

We didn't travel at all during the summer, which is highly unusual for us! We called it the Summer of Family because we gained two new family members in August! My brother J and SIL R had a baby, so we have an awesome new nephew, and my brother G got married, so we have a wonderful new sister-in-law! We love them so very much!

We did take some great trips throughout the year, including Disneyland, Lake Louise, WDW in February, Paris, Disneyland Paris, Helsinki, WDW in March, Amsterdam, Brussels, WDW in May, Laguna Beach, WDW in November, WDW in November again, a Disney Cruise, London, and Paris. We never take for granted how fortunate we are to travel, especially when I wasn't teaching last school year and my schedule was incredibly flexible!

Speaking of teaching, I now have a new job as a Reading Specialist! While it has certainly been an adjustment, and it is very different than being a classroom teacher, I am incredibly lucky. The teachers I get to work with every day are beyond amazing and I get to see six grade levels of kids as they are learning and growing, which is not something I was ever able to do when I was a classroom teacher! I'm not going to lie, though…I miss teaching math so much! Maybe one day I'll be able to do both math and reading, which would be a dream come true!

If there was a lesson that I brought from awful 2018 into 2019, it was learning to say no. Life is short and life-altering moments can blindside you, so I decided I wasn't going to spend my time on things that didn't add to my happiness whenever I had the choice to opt out. I'd thought I'd gotten pretty good at it until this new job started, when I found myself saying yes to far too many things. Thankfully, C and my best friend noticed that everything was not ok despite me always trying to act like it was, and with their support, I dropped something pretty big from my to-do list back in October, and I am infinitely happier for making that decision. They are the best and their love kept me sane! So grateful!!!

2020 is already shaping up to be another good year! To fun adventures ahead!

Happy Tails to you!