2013: our year in review

looking back over the past year, it is hard to believe that so much has happened in the last twelve months!  here are a few highlights from our 2013 . . .

in january, we rang in the new year with family, and we set a few goals for 2013.  we celebrated one year of having leko, and we celebrated my birthday with our family.  we took a trip to nyc on my birthday too.  while we were there, we went on the nbc studio tour, walked around rockefeller center, and went to the top of the rock observation deck.  we also spent an afternoon in chelsea, and visited the cake boss cafe where we got to see buddy valastro (and a few other people from the cake boss show) in person!  we went to an ice hockey game to see a local team play, and leko had to be rushed to the veterinary emergency room.  (thank goodness he make a quick recovery!)  we went bowling for the first time in years (and ryan won all three games).  we also enjoyed walking along the river by our house in the chilly weather (here and here).

in february, my grandfather came to visit from arizona.  we watched the superbowl, and had our own little super bowl party at home just for us.  we celebrated valentine's day with dinner and dessert at home.  we also celebrated national love your pet day!  we watched the oscars at home, and poor ryan got sick with a cold for a few days.

in march, we took leko on another car ride.  i did a little d.i.y. project to make my own graphic print sweatshirt.  we went to a flower and garden show with my parents, which really put us in the mood for spring!  we celebrated ryan's mom's birthday by going out to dinner and to see the celtic women tour and then again later in the week with a birthday cake at ryan's parents' house.  toward the end of march, we finally started to see a few little signs of spring around our yard.  we also celebrated easter with our families too.

in april, we attended our friends' baseball themed baby shower and we made a baseball themed cake and cupcakes for them.  the weather warmed up, and it finally started to look and to feel like spring.  we took our bikes out for a sunday morning bike ride along the river trail.  i got a much needed hair trim, and kitten enjoyed the spring time sunshine.  we went to a baseball game to see a local team play and to check out their newly renovated stadium too.  our trusty old lawn mower finally died, so we bought a new lawn mower!  we also enjoyed the nice weather and biked around gouldsboro state park too.

in may, we traveled to north carolina for our nephew's first birthday party (here, here, and here).  we celebrated our mamas with a mother's day brunch.  we also went on our dream vacation to hawaii!  when we came back from vacation, my parents adopted three new kittens too!

in june, we hiked around nay aug park.  we celebrated with krista as she graduated from 8th grade and performed in her piano recital.  we enjoyed the beautiful flowers blooming in our yard.  we celebrated our dads with a cookout on father's day, and we celebrated ryan's dad's birthday too.  we went to a butterfly release with my family.  we shared our recipe for a happy and healthy marriage.  we also went strawberry picking at a local farm, and we went to a local water park for free too!

in july, we spent a very rainy day in nyc walking around manhattan and brooklyn.  we celebrated the fourth of july with my parents.  we cooled off in the pool (with pina coladas).  we enjoyed the local farmers market.  we celebrated ryan's grandmother's 92nd birthday with our families.  we spent a saturday walking around the quaint little town of honesdale, and we went to bar hill to hear our friend sean sing.

in august, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary by going to ocean grove, new jersey for a little weekend getaway (here and here).  we took a bike ride while wearing our new t-shirts from our friend brendon's bike shop.  my parents and i took a day trip to peddler's village.  we went to the county fair and got completely soaked in the pouring rain.  we took a little road trip and bought a tandem bike!  we celebrated ryan's birthday by going out to dinner and then out for ice cream.  then, we celebrated ryan's birthday again with our parents with a seashore themed birthday party.  i went to a bridal shower for my friend jenn.  we also went to an engagement party for ryan's cousin, and a christening for our friends' baby boy.  we made our annual trip to the west end fair with my mom and we grew a tomato!  we closed out the summer by celebrating labor day and taking a trip to the italian festival.

in september, ryan shared his experience working behind the scenes as a stage hand.  we kicked off the fall season by going apple picking at a local orchard.  we took a trip to nyc to walk around the san gennaro festival.  while we were there, we also saw the freedom tower and the 9/11 memorial at ground zero, and we spend some time walking around the city too.  leko turned two years old.  we took a little weekend getaway to the historic town of jim thorpe where we stayed in a bed and breakfast, road a train, and walked around the town.  we took another day trip to nyc where we walked around central park and ate some great food, and we made a little video of our day in central park too.  we also made our annual trip to roba family farms to enjoy the fall season.

in october, my blog turned two years old!  i got my hair cut.  ryan's brother and his family came to visit, so we celebrated christmas early with them.  my parents celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary.  i spent a week in washington, d.c. for a conference for work and i even got to meet vice president joe biden while i was there!  we carved pumpkins and we celebrated halloween by handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood.

in november, we celebrated my dad's birthday with dinner and a show.  we took a trip to a local cider mill for apples, apple cider, and apple cider doughnuts.  we saw a display of 6,750 american flags for veterans day.  we celebrated thanksgiving with our families.  we also took a trip to christkindlmarkt to see ryan's dad sing with the wandering singers and we walked around the former bethlehem steel plant.  we put up our christmas tree with a lot of help from leko too.

in december, we went to the annual christmas tree lighting ceremony where we work.  we celebrated my mom's birthday by making brunch and then going on a local inn tour.  we went to nyc in the middle of a snow storm to see the city decorated for christmas.  while we were in nyc, we also had hot chocolate at the city bakery, saw the holiday train show at grand central station, and enjoyed walking around the city.  we sent out our christmas cards, and we went to my friend jenn's wedding.  we celebrated christmas eve at my parents' house and we celebrated christmas day at our house with our whole family.

hope everyone had a great 2013!

happy new year!

love, laurie

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past year in review posts here: 2011 and 2012