Reflections of 2007

Sitting here thinking I wish I had a witty way to start my blog. Considering the number of people who will actually read this - that's kind of funny.

Annual Christmas Letters - Love them or Hate them?

I actually like them. Love is probably too strong - but I definitely don't hate them. I like getting updates from friends that I've otherwise lost touch with. Just because we don't keep in contact doesn't mean I don't want to know what is going on in their lives. We are all so busy that it's really hard to keep in touch.

I haven't written an annual letter in several years. I stopped when we decided to stop sending out Christmas cards. We stopped sending Christmas cards after we realized how many people just send them because they think they have to. One year we were really late getting them out - and after we did we noticed how we all of a sudden received a "batch" of cards. All from people we sent cards to. Maybe they were all just as late as we were. Or maybe they got ours and thought "oh no - I didn't send them one - I better do so now". Whatever the case, it doesn't really matter. It made us realize that the only reason we sent them is because we thought we "had" to. We still get some, because some people really enjoy sending Christmas Cards.

The annual letter was much easier to write when Vicki was a baby. Our lives were much more eventful when we were in our 30's. We moved home, bought a house, had a baby, moved up in our careers, dabbled in our own businesses and paid off our house. Now we are in our 40's and life has become much more relaxed. We're both happy with where we are in our careers. We both have great jobs that allow us to have the perfect balance of making enough to afford our lifestyle along with having enough time to enjoy it. We don't have a fancy lifestyle - but we truly enjoy it. Neither of us is a big fan of expensive vacations and fancy dinners out. Some people may think our life is pretty boring if I can't think of any big events to report on for my annual letter. Those that know us though know that our lives are definitely not boring.

2007 was a fast year. Our daughter became an official teenager in 2007. It seems like she was just a baby. She's a great kid. She's got a great head on her shoulders, and she's also very smart. Sure she pushes the limits, along with our buttons from time to time. She's a teenager, if she didn't I'd be more worried! We took a road trip up to Northern Idaho with both of the dogs. They were both so well behaved and we all had a really good time. We turned a business trip for me to Washington DC into a family vacation this fall, which was a great experience, even though we got stuck in Atlanta overnight on the way home and our luggage didn't arrive home when we did!

2007 was a good year. I think 2008 is going to be even better!