Farewell 2015

I will always remember that 2015 was a great year.

It began with cashing out the equity from the sale of our 25th Street home. We quickly converted the cash into new bedrooms for Sophie and Ian, cement to extend the square footage of our basement, a new driveway, braces for two kids--I know, I know we are super exciting people, haha!

Brian travelled to Washington with my dad for three months for a welding job. And though we missed him, it paid all of our bills plus bought him a pick-up truck--something he has wanted forever.

I had three awesome months with Katie and Isaac doing homeschool. And, just when I thought my life was taking a major turn in one new direction (homeschool), it took a major turn in the opposite direction when I was offered and accepted a position with CCHC in May.

While I do miss the one-on-one time with them, this is a blessing for our family and I can't imagine more perfect teachers for them than the ones they have right now.

We got to go to Disneyland with my parents and my brother's family in June. What a wonderful memory that is!

On October 1, Brian started his new career as Marketing Director for GOAL.

Everyone is healthy and I cannot imagine a more charmed year than the one that is ending today.

I am still writing restaurant features. I had mixed emotions about it for awhile. I do still make money, but I get the feeling that the new management would just as soon that correspondents work for free.

The good news is that I have been given more creative license. For example, I can now write as a food critic if I want (rather than features only). When they told me, I asked if I could start being reimbursed for food. Because, sadly I have never been reimbursed for food. Shocking, no?

The answer was that I could turn in a meal receipt and be reimbursed OR get paid my regular amount, whichever was greater. This is why I think they think I should write for free (or maybe I should say for a free meal).

This has caused a great amount of introspection and I have come to the conclusion that I want to keep doing it even if it has become more of a glorified hobby than a job. After ten years as the restaurant writer (almost 17 as a correspondent-I can't believe it!) I would miss it terribly if it ended. I love getting to know all of the restaurant owners. I enjoy writing. And, there are a lot of meals that are at least discounted. It is fun to get to try the best menu items at every restaurant in town. And it is rewarding when the restaurant owners tell me my stories boosted their business. I will keep doing it for now.

Christmas break is coming to an end. I wish it could last a little longer. It has been very relaxed. Most mornings I wake up trying to think of where to go and what to do to entertain the kids only to find that they are happy to stay home. I think we all feel the pressure of the fullness of our lives right now and it is nice to enjoy some down time.

Last Monday, Brian needed to get some photos at Crystal Hot Springs for the newspaper's monthly magazine (Wasatch View). We met our friends from Honeyville and took an evening dip in the hot mineral waters. I think it was about 10 degrees outside, but the water was plenty warm and made the air steamy in a magical way.

After a soak, we went to our friends' house for a beautiful meal of homemade tomato soup, cheese sandwiches and an assortment of homemade ice cream. Wonderful night!

Now it is New Year's Eve and today is a milestone in my life to remind me that my family is changing. Sophie is going to a church sponsored activity at Weber State for 14-18 year olds. Ian is 13 and he is going to a party at a friend's house. This is the first year since I became a mom that I won't be with all of my kids on New Year's Eve.

It is a shift and perhaps that is why I don't feel motivated to host our traditional New Year's Eve party. Instead, Brian and I decided to take Katie and Isaac to Classic Fun. I always think parties like this (or, Boondocks) look like fun. But, I never end up going because I worry there will be way too many people there. Looks like I will find out tonight.

Last week, I wrote a restaurant feature on the New Year's Eve menu at Hearth on 25th--a fancy restaurant serving an even fancier 8-course meal. It made me wish I was having a grown up New Year's Eve at Hearth on 25th. At the same time, I didn't want to miss out on being with my kids to ring in the New Year. Things worked out well when we got to go to dinner with friends at Hearth on 25th last night. The food was amazing and the only thing that was off putting was when they gave us four choices of water. Three had fancy names like they had been through some complex filtration or osmosis. We opted for plain old (free) tap water. What? Tap water in Ogden is some of the best in the world! It made us feel a little silly. Other than that, everything was perfect.

Now it's time to celebrate one of the best years of my life with three of my favorite people (while two more of my favorite people celebrate with their friends - Yay!/Boo hoo).