This year has been amazing and filled with a tremendous amount of change both personally and professionally. We started out the New Year in Oregon celebrating New Year's Day with mom and dad Wolfe. Soon after we returned to Orlando to pack up the last of our things and move to Washington DC!
Ty separated from active duty with the US Army on January 8th and immediately started a position with Lockheed Martin at Fort Belvoir, VA in the intelligence community. (He's so smart!) I transferred positions within Lockheed Martin and started at Corporate Headquarters supporting the VP of Leadership and Organizational Development as an OD Analyst and Executive Assistant.
In February we celebrated Ty's 30th birthday at Roundtop Ski Resort learning to snowboard. I have been skiing several times before, but this was both of our first times trying to snowboard. Let’s just say that we were a bit sore after the day had ended!
In March we went to Asheville, SC to the “Hi Neighbor” volleyball tournament.
April was special month for me as Kirsten and Bella visited all the way from California! We had a great 4 days together and I cherish every minute with my best friend and my “niece.” Although Bella will probably not remember, she got to see the nation’s capital for the first time!
The end of April marked the start of softball season with the Baylor Capital Alumni Network (CAN) League. After being self-proclaimed as “rusty,” Ty ended up with the second highest batting average on the team! I, on the other hand, ended the season at the bottom of the rankings…I think that I’ll stick to what I know from now on- socializing!
I’ve been a fan of chiropractic for some time and this spring I was introduced to a fabulous chiropractor, Dr. Michael Gaitonde. I subsequently introduced Ty to chiropractic and it’s hard to tell if he likes the adjustments or the doc better! We've become good friends with Michael, his wife Emily, and their darling son Evan.
Granny celebrated her 80th birthday and we traveled to Texas to help celebrate her birthday and Mother's Day.
We celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary on May 26 with a trip to Cozumel, Mexico to attend Kristen and Chris’ wedding. We had plans to both go diving but unfortunately Ty was a bit stuffed up and therefore only I got to go. The diving there is amazing!
At the end of June we closed on our house in Falls Church, VA and became proud owners again! We moved in over the 4th of July weekend and the home improvement projects began! In July mom and dad Selman came for a visit and the boys worked to finish the garage while the girls went on a wine tour for the day in nearby VA. We all have our priorities!
In September mom and dad Selman along with Granny and Pop made their way to North Carolina from Texas. We spent a week in a beach house enjoying each others’ company and on September 20th we attended the beautiful wedding of Tamara and Jeremy.
In October I took a photography class with a local adult education program and we celebrated Halloween with a trip up to Pennsylvania to see Dave, Rachel, Jackson, and new baby Sammy.
November marked the start of volleyball season for me and also my 29th birthday which was celebrated to the fullest extent and ended with a trip to see Cirque du Soleil's Kooza!
Thanksgiving was spent with the always entertaining company of Emily and Michael. Emily's parents graciously hosted us at their home for a scrumptious turkey dinner!
December marked a sad and exciting time for me. I accepted a new job with ExxonMobil in Fairfax, VA where I will begin work as an HR Advisor in January. It will be sad to leave all of my great friends at Lockheed Martin, but I know that they are all just a phone call or email away! I am looking forward to the new opportunity and can’t wait for the New Year!
We will celebrate Bauer’s 2nd birthday on Christmas Eve. I can’t believe how fast he’s growing up! ;)
Well, if you’ve made it this far down the letter then you know that we are not lacking in things to do! One of the best things of all was that I was able to spend extra time with my friend Jennifer from high school. She travels to the Washington DC area for work often and our new house is a half a mile from her brother Jason’s house!
We will spend this Christmas in our new home. You, our family and friends, will be in our hearts and on our minds. From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
That's West Virginia's state motto and they about nailed it on the head! We took a little trip out to WV for the weekend and stayed in a cabin in the woods. There's just something about having no responsibilities that makes you relax....and the fireplace wasn't bad either!
Last night we went to the annual Lockheed Martin Holiday Party. We had fabulous food, entertainment, and people watching!
My friend Tiffany
My birthday was a ton of fun! I got tons of cards, gifts, messages, and texts from friends and family. Thank you to all that made my birthday special. Tamara, Jess and I got facials and pedicures and then a group of friends got together for dinner and drinks. I'm still celebrating and will wrap up my birthday festivities tomorrow night at Cirque du Soleil's Kooza.
Thanksgiving day we spent with our friends Michael and Emily and their little man, Evan. There was plenty of turkey and laughs, too much dessert and just enough football. Go Cowboys!
The big activity for the day- pumpkin carving. As any self-respecting perfectionist would do, I hopped on the internet prior to partaking in my carving activities. I decided on a haunted house that I could draw and started researching how to keep my pumpkin in tip-top shape for the entire week (i.e., not mold or dry out and rot like last year). The best and cheapest advice was to coat the inside with petroleum jelly to keep it from drying out. I diligently carved and painted my pumpkin then proceeded to coat the inside while Ty cooked the pumpkin seeds.
Thanks great-Granny for my costume. I get "frozen" in fear when I have clothes on, but otherwise I like the attention in my goblin outfit. I get to go trick-or-treating in Philly this year at "Uncle" Dave's house...more pics to come. 
