2012 Year in Review

It has been a pretty big year for Kyle and me.  I finished my dissertation, moved to Texas, started a postdoc, and got married! It has been an amazing year and while Kyle and I aren't exactly finishing the year with a bang since we are home sick, we have a lot to be thankful for and I think we have been exciting enough for the year, anyway. Hopefully we'll get better quickly and have a strong start to 2013 tomorrow!!

Bridal Veil Falls, 3-23-12

Bridal Falls, 3-23-12

I went on a hike to Bridal Veil falls last year with Michael and I got only a few decent pictures.

Artist's Point, 4-7-12

Artists Point, 4-7-12

I went on a snowshoe at Mt. Baker to Artist's Point last year with Bernard and Michael and it was incredibly beautiful the entire time, from the parking lot even!

Lake Serene, 4-22-12

Lake Serene, 4-22-12

Pictures from a hike to Lake Serene with Bernard and Summer on April 22, last year.

4th of July Pass hike, 5-6-12

4th of July, 5/6/12

Old pictures from a hike near Leavenworth near the 4th of July creek with Bernard.

Goat Lake, 5-26-12

Goat Lake, 5-26-12

Here are some more old pictures from a hike with Kyle and Bernard to Goat Lake.

Christmas in Austin

The carnage

Star Trek, framed

lookin' good

Kyle and I opened the gifts under our tree in Austin this afternoon! They were gifts from my family in Seattle mostly. We got more nice things!! I framed the Star Trek photos and posters we got as a gift to Kyle and they look pretty good! Kyle also looked pretty good wearing his new Star Trek apron to cook dinner in.

Back in Austin

Kyle and I flew out of Chicago Friday morning to head back to Austin. We had a nice breakfast with the Mandlis in the morning beforehand, and even got to see Meaghan, Andy, and Bennett. It was hard to leave everyone.

Back in Austin, we got to see Nicholas, Lauren, and Fiona briefly in the airport as they flew out because their flight was late. It was great to see them, particularly since they had stayed at our place the night before.

After sneezing all day, I was pretty sure by the end of the day that I had gotten a cold. Kyle and I have been laying low since we've gotten home trying to get all better!

Mailbox Peak, 5-12-12

Mailbox, 5-12-12

Here are some old pictures from when I hiked up Mailbox Peak in May with Bernard. I am way behind on a lot of my pictures, and I am hoping to catch up in the next few weeks!

Chicago for Tracie's birthday!

Kyle and I drove to Chicago with Tracie, Ray, Jordan, and Kelsey to celebrate Tracie's birthday and get us near the correct airport. We had dinner at McCormick and Schmicks, which had cool indoor windows of the Chicago, then walked to the theater to see War Horse. The play involved elaborate puppets of the horses which were pretty believable a lot of the time. Afterward, we went back to the hotel where Tracie opened gifts for her birthday and we played a few rounds of Bang. Fun time!

Two If By Tea

Dad sent some packs of political raspberry tea to Wisconsin, which people definitely enjoyed!

Trivia night

Kyle and I joined Kelsey and Jordan and two of their friends for a trivia night and won first place!! It is an exciting day for me as I haven't won at this before. The team name was Fanny Bandits, and we definitely guessed on at least several questions!

Christmas night

We got stuff ready for 32 people for Christmas dinner during the day. Tracie had lots of nice decorations and lovely food. We got to catch up with family, eat good food, and play a white elephant game. There were lots of little cousins around, including two babies. Afterward, we saw Les Miserables in the theater, which was excellent.

Christmas math

My dad printed out one of the more convoluted equations from my thesis defense and had it put onto a t-shirt for Kyle and me and I think for some others. It was a fun idea for a shirt!

More Christmas

I got to use my new Christmas stocking and it even fit on my leg! Kelsey Hung out in pjs with Santa and Olive didn't appear to like Santa much.

Christmas morning

Santa visited us and brought lots of nice things for the household! We also finished up the frosted cookies.

Christmas things

Tracie brought out their festive glasses from Arby's, which are surprisingly classy. I liked the look of them! Lexi and Rob's dog Olive was surprisingly amenable to wearing her Christmas antlers which were pretty cute!

Cookies galore!

I made ginger snaps and minty chocolate cookies at the Mandli house and they both turned out pretty well. Ray made cookies that we all decorated with various colors of frosting.

Kyle's birthday fun

On Saturday we celebrated Kyle's birthday with his family. He made dinner and his mom made a tasty German chocolate cake, and he opened some gifts. We wrapped the night up with a couple of rounds of Bang.

The next night we went out to dinner to celebrate since Kyle had made dinner the night before. He chose The Vintage, a gourmet brew pub place. It was tasty and they had a funny sign too.

Christmas shopping

Interesting intimate apparel options at Target.

Christmas with the Teelins, Part 2

Jordan managed to put on the ridiculous purple track suit that Jill brought as part of a white elephant gift, even though it was quite small. Hank the dog was a giant chocolate lab combined with a golden retriever, who was the sweetest dog ever.

Christmas for the Teelins, Part 1

We had Christmas with Kyle's mom's side of the family on Sunday. We traveled over to Baraboo with the family and had the event at Tracie's sister Lynda's house. There were lots of people including lots of kids and several animals. We ate lots of good food (mostly desserts for me!) and then had a fun gift exchange.

Lynda made a Batman mask which people were all trying to get (it is really cool!). Tracie got an old purple nighty of her mother's which was quite funny.

Kyle's birthday in Wisconsin

After the dinner, we celebrated kyle's birthday from earlier in the month with a great German chocolate cake that Tracie made and a pile of gifts!

Kyle's stir fry

Kyle made his tasty beef and broccoli stir fry for dinner at his parents' house for Tracie, Ray, Kelsey, Lexi, Rob, and me. It was great!!