I've attached Casey's annual update she sends out every year. It does a fine job of highlighting what we've been doing the last 12 months. I hope you all have a good holiday season and I look forward to hearing what'cha y'all been up to. (We took this picture on Casey's 30th birthday.)
Greetings! It’s been a busy and productive year, filled with travels and entertaining. If we weren’t able to meet up this year, here’s why. Derek spent the month of February building a second bathroom on the main floor of our house (yes, he’s that handy). Aside from a little help with plumbing and electrical work, he did it all himself. The only interruption was when the dog (Neko) ate a sock and required serious and expensive surgery. In March we traveled to Hawaii and stayed for a week with Bryan and Serena. They were kind enough to lend us their convertible so we covered the island of Oahu, stopping at every coconut stand and beach for a swim. In April we attended Dakota and Audrey’s wedding in the hip town of Palm Springs, CA. I flew to Bismarck, North Dakota and danced my heart out at Jessica and Jason’s wedding and I was struck with the stark beauty of the land.
And then they came: Patrick and Anne, Derek’s family, my sister and her family, Jessica and Jason, Greg, Jerad and Kate, Kristina, Hans, Wiggins and Sreyoshi, and the LeBoutillier/Helget clan to name a few. From May to August we had visitors every weekend except for two. With all of these guests, we wound up traveling to Door County or the beach about every weekend this summer. We discovered our favorite spot in Wisconsin—Point Beach State Forest, located on the lake. It’s one of the few beaches that allow dogs and since we also discovered that Neko’s favorite thing in the world is to swim (he truly is one of us), we hit it up every weekend that the weather allowed. All of these trips to the beach with the dog solidified my suspicions—happiness is being able to bring happiness to others.
We chartered a fishing boat on Lake Michigan and went salmon fishing not once, but twice, with Hans and Kristina. The first time around the weather was so warm that the fish weren’t biting, but the one fish we did catch was enough to give us the itch. When the temperatures dropped in September we all went out again, in the dark and with flasks of black gold. Aside from the bitter cold and our lonely, creepy captain, who talked incessantly about women, we caught 11 salmon weighing in at over 100 pounds. If you’re in for a good laugh you should check out our captain’s website, which he recently had updated to include pictures of our big catch: http://www.bumsandbigshots.com/. (Note all the pictures of me and Kristina.)
In August we crossed the pond. We visited Wouter and Katrin in Antwerp, Belgium (our favorite city in the world). They were gracious hosts. After a few days in Belgium we traveled to Amsterdam, where we ate well, wore holes in our shoes from walking, lounged in Vondel Park, hit up some museums, and visited all of our old haunts. A week after our return we took the dog and met up with Dakota and Audrey at the Witzenburg’s cabin in Canada. By the time my 30th birthday came around, all I wanted was a quiet weekend camping and hiking in the woods with my boys (Derek and Neko).
We were Wisconsinized this fall! That is to say we attended two Packer games. It was a cultural experience. Derek has taken to watching football on T.V. now and I keep asking him what he did with the guy I married—the guy who never watched football. He claims it’s just work related (so he can swap sports talk at the water cooler) but I’m not convinced. We’ll see if the habit goes with him when we leave Green Bay. At least he hasn’t started hunting. Besides, he’s still the kind and supportive man I’ve always known. He helps keep me motivated to write—always giving me the time, space, ear, and encouragement I need when the rejection slips come in the mail. With all of the travels and guests, and with my continued employment with Pearson, my writing life has been suppressed. However, I continue to pluck away and find my voice, and I did have two publications this year. Derek was promoted this fall to the Deputy Director of Economic Development. He still functions as a planner, working on redevelopment projects throughout the city, but he feels the Economic Development department is a good fit because it enables him to see his projects through instead of just writing planning documents. I’m not sure how much longer we’ll be here—a year or so, certainly not two. We plan to spend the next year figuring out where we’re off to next. We hope to meet up with all of you along the way, and of course our guest room is always open. Happy holidays, and may your year be filled with simple reasons to appreciate. Wishing you peace and progress.
Love, Casey and Derek
