New Year's - 2012

Robin and I have shared some pretty great New Year's Eves over the past twelve that we've spent as a couple: dancing downtown, gathered around our kitchen island with good friends in Austin, spending the entire night at a sushi restaurant in Chicago, in a St. Paul basement drinking way too many Old Fashioneds. We've done well.

I tend to enjoy the more low-key New Year celebrations. One of my favorite New Year's Eve memories was in 2008, when I was pregnant with Lydia. Robin and I had arrived into Austin from our midwest Christmas travels earlier that evening, and we had no plans. Instead of going out, we spent a cozy night in watching DVDs of favorite TV shows and nibbling on fancy cheese and fruit. We toasted the last year we would be a family of two.

This year while discussing our New Year's plans, we decided to make a night in a pregnant New Year's tradition. Tonight we will nibble on yummy snacks, watch old TV, and toast our last New Year's as a family of three and think back to highlights of 2012.

January: I confronted my demons and celebrated my 30th birthday in Chicago with a weekend away. We also (finally) sold our house in Austin, and Robin was offered his position at Coen+Partners.

February: Robin turned 30 and approached the milestone with a much more positive attitude than I did.

March: Lydia turned 3 and celebrated with family and friends at Michelangelo's Masterpizzas. I was particularly proud of our "conecakes." I also began classes working toward my Minnesota licensure requirements.

April:  We began our first Spring in Minneapolis since college and are affirmed in our choice to move back as we reexplore this beautiful city.

 

May: Robin and his dad completed the first of six homes designed and built in Madison.

June: We said goodbye to my Grandma Gloria when she passed away suddenly. Some welcome good news came two days after her funeral when I was able to surprise Robin with the news that we would be expecting a baby in February.

July: We traveled to Boston for our very first family vacation. We all loved the city and enjoyed the time spent as a family.

August: We celebrated the marriage of Robin's cousin Daniel and his wife Beth on a beautiful island in Maine. Seaside walks and field-grown blueberries were icing on the cake.

September: Robin was promoted to principal at Coen and continues to find immense joy in his work. Lydia loved being a flower girl in cousin Becky's "flash mob wedding."

October: We moved to our new place of residence in the East Harriet neighborhood of Minneapolis. We relish the family-friendly, more central neighborhood, and our new character-filled home. Lydia went trick-or-treating dressed in a Mom-made peacock costume. I spent a wonderful "roommate weekend" with dear friends.

November: We voted in our first Minnesota election since 2004 and celebrated the rejection of the Marriage Amendment and Voter ID Laws. Robin went on his bi-annual "Mancation" in LaCrosse.

December: We loved watching Lydia's joy and excitement around the holidays, and we rediscovered the childhood magic of Christmas through her eyes. I realized we really do live in Minnesota when, the morning after receiving 12 inches of snow, I was forced to drive to work as we didn't even have so much as a late start.