2014: our year in review

here it is: the annual year-in-review post!  i have really enjoyed putting these massive posts together the past few years.  it's such a nice way to reflect back and to close out the year.  looking back over the past year, it's hard to believe that so much has happened in the last twelve months!

here are a few highlights from our 2014 . . .

in january, we rang in the new year with family and we set a few goals for 2014.  we celebrated two years of having leko, and we celebrated my birthday.  we got a lot of snow and leko enjoyed watching it out the window.  i did a little d.i.y. project to make a sleeve for our ipad too.

in february, we watched the superbowl at home.  we got a big snow storm and we enjoyed a snow day off work.  we went bowling, then we got hit with another snow storm and it snowed for 3 days in a row!  we celebrated valentine's day by getting take out for dinner, making a heart-shaped cake for dessert, and going to see the tour of jersey boys.  ryan's brother and sister-in-law had their second baby boy.  the weather warmed up for a little bit, so we enjoyed a walk along the river too.

in march, we celebrated mardi gras/fat tuesday/fasnacht day with some homemade doughnuts.  we also celebrated ryan's mom's 65th birthday.  i worked on a few sewing projects, and leko "helped" me out as i made d.i.y. potholders for our kitchen.  i got my hair cut.  i also made my own graphic print sweatshirt and came down with a head cold too.

in april, we went on a little date to get rita's italian ice and custard.  leko made friends with the lady bug who took up residence in our bathroom, and the weather was absolutely crazy.  we celebrated easter sunday with our families.  we also built a set for a show called "twisted theatre" which i directed and scenic designed.  leko enjoyed discovering our disco ball too.

in may, we took a caribbean cruise from san juan, puerto rico to the islands of st. thomas, barbados, st. lucia, st. kitts, and st. maarten.  we spend some time exploring the town of old san juan before we flew home, and we really enjoyed the carnival valor cruise ship.  i shared ten tips for flying too.  we celebrated memorial day with a picnic at a local park and some biking.  we also took a trip to quiet valley living historical farm and to boulder field at hickory run state park with my parents.  ryan bought an orange road bike at a garage sale too.

in june, we enjoyed seeing all of the beautiful flowers blooming around our yard.  we went to the wayne county historical society's annual secret gardenscapes tour with my parents, and we stopped by prompton lake.  we celebrated father's day with good food and a hike around jacobsburg state park.  we took a trip to north carolina with my mom to visit family friends in surf city on topsail island.  while we were in north carolina, we also got to visit ryan's brother's family and to meet our new nephew.  we went strawberry picking at a local strawberry farm too.

in july, we celebrated the fourth of july at home with our families, and my parents and i hiked around eight waterfalls at bushkill falls.  we went to a local minor-league baseball game and saw fireworks after the game.  we celebrated ryan's grandmother's 93rd birthday.  we went raspberry picking at a local farm, and we took a walk around lake scranton.  ryan found a four-leaf clover too!

in august, we celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary by spending the weekend in nyc.  we spent some time in manhattan and saw wicked on broadway.  we also spent a day in brooklyn and rode the east river ferry.  while we were in nyc, we stayed at the andaz wall street hotel and loved it.  we went blueberry picking with my parents.  we also went to the wayne county fair and saw fireworks.  ryan turned 30 and we celebrated his birthday by ourselves and with our family.  we took another trip to nyc to see newsies on broadway just one day before it closed.  we also visited a bunch of the filming locations from the movie you've got mail on the upper west side.  we biked on the lehigh gorge bike trail in jim thorpe.  we went to the italian festival and saw fireworks too.

in september, we celebrated labor day and welcomed ryan's mom home from north carolina.  we went apple picking and took our annual trip to roba family farms.  we went back to the place where we were married for a little dinner date.  we celebrated leko's third birthday too.  i got my hair cut and we enjoyed trips to the local farmers' market.  we went to nyc to check out the new urban space food market in the garment district and we walked all around the city enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

in october, my blog turned 3 years old and we celebrated with a whole new layout and design!  we took a trip to ritter's cider mill with our parents.  we toured grey towers and we enjoyed seeing some fall flowers in our yard.  my parents celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary and we all took a trip to pohopoco creek alpaca farm.  ryan's brother, sister-in-law, and two nephews came to visit from north carolina and while they were here we celebrated christmas in october.  we carved our pumpkins, had a happy halloween and enjoyed handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters.

in november, we celebrated my dad's birthday and we saw a local comedy show.  we saw a display of 6,800 american flags for veterans day and the weather got super cold.  we went to nyc to see the rockettes perform in the radio city christmas spectacular, and while we were in nyc we enjoyed seeing the city all decorated for christmas and we ate at max brenner's chocolate restaurant.  we hosted thanksgiving at our house and celebrated with our family.

in december, we sent out our christmas cards and we decorated our house for christmas.  we attended the annual christmas tree lighting ceremony at work, and we celebrated my mom's birthday.  we got several inches of snow and our yard looked like a winter wonderland, and we went to see a philadelphia flyers hockey game with ryan's dad.  we finished out the year by celebrating christmas with our families.

hope everyone had a great 2014!

happy new year!

love, laurie

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past year in review posts: 2011, 2012, and 2013