2022 Wrap Up

What a year 2022 turned out to be!  Lots of big changes were in store for us that we could not have foreseen.  We traveled internationally for the first time in over two years in April when we went to Portugal.  In May, both Scott & I got sick with Covid.  In July, we sold our Bonney Lake house and in August we moved into an older house in Tacoma, which has been quite the adventure with all the renovations we've done so far with more to come.  We also found out in August that we are going to become grandparents! In September we bought a truck we named Larry and in October we said good-bye to our CRV Lucy that we'd had for 12 years.  In November we took a trip to the Florida Keys which was amazing. In December we found out Corey is having a girl!

Scott & I are both still working from home full time which has been a blessing.  We are loving our new area; it is literally so close to everything!  We are looking forward to finishing our renovations by spring and hopefully spending more time next year exploring more of our new area.   

Our goal for 2022 was to walk/hike at least 500 miles. I used my Apple Watch to keep track of our walks, which was convenient for keeping track of our mileage. We finished the year with 613.28 miles, way above our goal! 

The breakdown: 

• January 41.93
• February 47.34
• March 62.51
• April 59
• May 51.44
• June 49.03
• July 46.55
• August 56.28
• September 48.87
• October 61.03
• November 43.29
• December 46.01

We haven't decided what we want to do for our 2023 challenge.  Right now, we're just hoping to have the kitchen and main bathroom completed before 2024! Happy New Year! 

Christmas

Christmas 2022 was pretty low key for us. Since we don't have a kitchen right now, we didn't host a dinner. The kids came over on Christmas morning and we opened up presents.  We tried to tone it down this year a little bit, but I think everyone was happy with what they got. 

Scott received a new beanie with a built-in light for walks in the dark with the pups, a new Classic Car calendar, and a Jeremy Bearimy T-shirt (from The Good Place). I got a certificate for an Afternoon Tea at the Fairmont Hotel in Seattle (on 1/15) and a mini food processor. We got combined gifts of a new board game (Concept--which was really fun but hard), a certificate for dinner & a movie, and cute little poop bag holders that you hang on the leash.

Corey received some baby books, onesies, a cute baby outfit, two sticker books, a 3-glass jar set, and a chocolate lava cake bake set that included ramekins.  Terrell got two white dress shirts, a Coug t-shirt, Coug socks, and a new Ticket to Ride game.  They also got a combined gift of a glass jellyfish for their nursery or to hang outside to use as a windchime.  

Gabby got new pants, a water bottle, a bottle of Empress Gin, and a bunch of candles.  Ethan got new boxing gloves, sunglasses, a black sweatshirt and a Venom T-shirt. They got combined gifts of a bird jigsaw puzzle (from Gamma), an immersion blender, and a bird sticker book.  Everyone also got cash and some gift cards to Target (everyone), Red Robin (Corey), Dominoes (Terrell) and Grub Hub (Gabby & Ethan).  Santa brought them some good stuff in their stockings since they were all good this year. Oh, and the puppies each got a bone to keep them busy while we opened our gifts. 

After opening presents we played some games then headed over to Terrell's grandma's house for food.  Unfortunately, she was not there because earlier in the week she fell on the ice and broke both ankles and was in the hospital!  We hear she is doing better and has now been moved to a rehab facility.  What a way to spend Christmas!

I didn't take many pictures but here are a few.

Santa always brings her a candy cane filled with peanut butter cups.

Kitchen Remodel

Well, both good news & bad news. First, the good news. Our long-awaited kitchen remodel project has begun! We purchased our cabinets through Lowes way back on September 17th, they arrived on November 14th, and after waiting for redeliver of some damaged pieces, the demolition of the kitchen happened on Tuesday.  The demo actually went better than expected; not too much damage was found and they finished in one day.  We weren't sure what we would find once everything was ripped out so that was a relief.  Now onto the bad news. The next day (yesterday), they came back to install the new cabinets.  However, it was then that they realized that the store had ordered the wrong sized upper cabinets (42") which is way too tall for our short ceilings. They also ordered the wrong sink cabinet as we are having a farm sink installed and the cabinet they ordered was for a regular sink.  Needless to say, things did not go as planned.  Right now, we are sans kitchen and are awaiting information on when they can order us the right cabinets and how long it will take for them to arrive.  In the meantime, we just have to make do with microwave meals and eating out.  Also, since we have no sink, we have to use disposable dishware and cutlery, which is not ideal.  The silver lining is that we are really pleased with the color of the cabinets that we ordered.  We will update as progress is made.  Here are some before and after demo pictures, as well as a few of the lower cabinets that they staged in the kitchen.

I really hated this peninsula. I felt like it really closed off the kitchen and made it feel way smaller than it was.

Our new fridge which is way lower profile than what was there originally.

Our new stove which I love.

The puppies wanted to be in the pictures!

I snuck in and took these mid-demo pics when the guy was on lunch break.

Entirely empty!

Found a piece of original flooring. I actually like it better than the flooring that they covered it up with (the ugly gray stripes). We will replace the kitchen and dining room with wood looking LVP once the cabinets are installed to make the two rooms more cohesive.

Some drywall damage where the sink was next to the window.

We have to keep it blocked off from the dogs.  Our new cabinets!

We are missing a small cabinet here.

Corner cabinet with a lazy Susan. 

The sink cabinet that was ordered incorrectly as it's not for a farm sink mount.

Day in Seattle and Gingerbread Houses

On Saturday we picked up Corey & Terrell from their apartment, then headed up to Seattle to meet Gabby & Ethan at the Sheraton Grand Hotel to view their annual Gingerbread Village display.  This was the first year they've had it since Covid hit in 2020.  The theme this year was "Buzzing Back" so all the gingerbread displays were decorated with a Buzz Lightyear theme.  We were surprised there was no one in line when we got there; maybe people don't know it was back yet?  It was kind of nice not to be crowded with so many people like in the past.  The displays were cool, but I don't think they were on par with the ones we've seen in the past, when there were way more pieces.  Afterward we walked down to Pike Place Market. We passed a cool park area across from Westlake Center where they had installed some light displays.  Ethan had to break off early to start work; he is now doing cheesemaking at the Beecher's shop in Pike Place. It was fun to get to see him in action!  The rest of us had lunch at a yummy Chinese food place, then we did some shopping before heading home.  It was fun to see everyone!  

We all wore our masks this year since the CDC recently started recommending that we do it again.

Same display all lit up.

Kind of hard to see him because the windows were all fogged up on the inside.

Cushman Trail Walk

Yesterday afternoon Scott & I took the puppies to check out the Cushman Trail in Gig Harbor. We have walked on the middle portion of this trail many times before when we participated in the Burma Walks. However, this time we started at the beginning of the trail and, thankfully, it was much flatter.  We did nearly 3 miles out & back.  It was a bit noisy as this part of the trail is right next to Hwy 16, which we weren't expecting as the portion of the trail we have been on was further away and much quieter.  There were a surprising number of folks out even though the day was cold, damp and overcast.  It's a nice wide trail, so if we ever get bikes we may have to return and try to complete the entire trail, which is 6.2 miles one way.

Christmas Tea

For Christmas tea this year we decided to go to the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle.  The restaurant was beautifully decorated and the food was plentiful and delicious.  So wonderful to spend time with great friends!