2014 in Review

I thought it would be fun to do a review of the last 12 months of our lives.  As I look back over the highlights of our year, one thing sticks out.  Travel.  Lots of it.  We had plenty of ordinary, boring days too, but geez, our suitcases and passports got plenty of use this year.

As for 2014, here we go...

January

In January, Olivia start playing football (that's soccer for all you Americans) with some of her school classmates. Come to think of it, I'm not what they they did really qualified as "playing football".  More like run around in a gym and occasional kick ball arounds.  

We also tried to stay warm and dry as January 2014 was the wettest in the UK in 250 years!  

February

On the 19th, my sweet baby turned 1.  We celebrated with a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed birthday party.  

March

Spring started to tease us into thinking that summer was right around the corner.  However, in my two years here, I've learned that weather that doesn't require a jacket and scarf doesn't regularly show itself until practically July, so I tried my best not to get fooled. 

April

Geoff put his running skills to the test in the Paris Marathon, finishing with an outstanding time of 2 hrs, 55 min. While there, we once again enjoyed taking in the sights of the beautiful city. 

Thanks to the month long school holiday that Olivia was on, our Paris trip was quickly followed by a long weekend trip to Istanbul, Turkey.

May

The big event in May was our trip to Greece.  Loved, loved, loved Greece and I would go back in a heartbeat.

June

We hit up the beach scene in Nice, France and the lovely French Riviera for a few days.  

At the end of the month, we had visits from both my brother Stephen and sister Emily. 

July

Home sweet home happened in July when we returned to the good ole' USA for three weeks to see our families and visit friends.  It was so good to be on US soil again where everything is familiar and you don't have to think about how life operates because you just already know. 

August

After practically suffering from heat stroke while we were in Texas, we returned to London only to experience an early arrival of fall.  So on the 10 days of decent summer weather we actually got this year, we made sure we enjoyed every moment of those days.

We threw in a last minute trip to Norway and the stunning Norwegian fjords.  My jaw is still slack 4+ months later from the incredible beauty we saw there.  Definitely one of my favorite destinations we've visited so far.

September

Olivia started full-time school in early September when she started pre-reception (pre-k).  She goes to a British school up the street from our house and with the British accent she's acquired, she fits right in!  It took all of us a couple weeks to adjust to the new schedule, but she absolutely loves school and it's been a great year so far.  

The start of school was followed by Olivia's 4th birthday when we celebrated on the London Eye.  

October

October was CRAZY.  I think I'm still recovering from October!  

I snuck in a 40 hour whirlwind trip to Paris to spend a day and a half visiting the city with my brother.  

Our Halloween activities included a little lamb and Cinderella participating in a neighborhood Halloween parade. 

I ran the London Royal Parks half marathon and finished with a new personal best of 1 hr, 45 min.  It was a fun course that included running by Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Thames River, Kensington Palace and then all over Hyde Park.

My mom came to visit us for a week and boy, did we cram in lots of activities. 

We capped off the month with our holiday all over Italy where we dined on endless pasta and pizza for 8 days. 

November

After spending the first six weeks crying during the bulk of each of her swim lessons, Olivia finally started enjoying herself and making progress!

Lots of Frozen and Let It Go clips were watched on YouTube.  I think out of the 300+ million views that the Let it Go song from the movie has on YouTube, my girls have watched around half of those.  

December

In December, lots of baking happened and my little ladies were there right beside me (very literally) to make huge messes help.  Glad we were making memories together though.  Or at least that's what I kept repeating to myself over and over again as I cleaned up the disaster areas.

We had a super fun christmas party with our friends that involved making fun gingerbread houses.

Sandwiched around holiday activities, we found out that Geoff will be starting a new assignment at work early next year.  His new assignment will again be based out of London.  So we're calling London our home for another couple years.  It's what we wanted so we're excited!

We stayed in London for Christmas and didn't have any family make the trek over to see us for the holidays.  So just our little family of four celebrated Jesus's birthday with presents and birthday cake.  Blog post recapping our Christmas up next.

We concluded 2014 with one final trip.  This one over to Bruges, Belgium, a charming old European town.  Bruges highlights coming soon!  

Thanks for following along on the adventures of our lives this past year.  We are excited for what's to come in 2015.  Happy New Year!!!