2017 Year in Review / The Farm Sale Begins / Abby Has a Baby!
2017 was, overall, a year about finding a new normal as a family. In the last twelve months, we've begun to come to terms with the death of my father a year ago while I've created a new family of my own. It's been a good year and a rough year at the same time.
January was my father's funeral; a time of incredible loss and struggle as the family came together and began to deal with such great change. I was given the task of giving the eulogy at the service. In February, Nicole and I began a collection of vinyl records and the equipment to play it. Today, we have dozens of old records and quite a wide collection of random stuff. In March, my cousin on my father's side, Daniel, accepted a job in Portland and moved to town from Alabama.
April began a series of joyful months: Nicole's best friend, Abby, married her beau, Richard. Fortune continued to smile upon them as they conceived a child during their honeymoon! In May, while on a trip to Montana to visit newlyweds Abby and Richard, I popped the question to Nicole and our engagement began! In June, we announced our engagement to friends and family and set a date of October 12th.
In July, my new family continued to grow as we adopted a young Pomeranian dog, Chip. During August was a one-in-a-lifetime event where we were lucky enough to witness a total solar eclipse from a nearby town. In September, I fulfilled a big bucket-list item by meeting and shaking the hand of my childhood idol and hero, "Weird Al" Yankovic, when he came to Portland during a pop culture convention.
Nicole and I began our lives together in October when we tied the knot in a very quiet ceremony at a local courthouse. We immediately left for a wonderful mountain cabin honeymoon in rural Washington State. In November, we drove down to California to be with Nicole's family for Thanksgiving and I got my first opportunity to meet her extended family. Finally in December, Nicole's father suffered a surprise heart attack and a whole year after my father's passing, we tried to have a "normal" family Christmas.
And we did have a great Christmas. My immediate family came together and the day felt as good as it can considering a family member is gone. With each passing day, I can't tell if the hurt gets easier or harder or what. I just know that we have to keep going and everything will ultimately be okay. 2017 really was a good year and even more so considering it followed a terribly sad awful year. All these lives around me changed and also certain special bonds have grown. I'm not sure what 2018 will have in store for us. We'd like to get into a real house but our finances might prevent that for another year. And that's okay for now. Nicole and I are a team and that's what matters. We have some real goals now plus the added responsibilities of a marriage and a pet and all that's a huge change for me. Furthermore, it's not even about "me" anymore: It's about "us".
So for the first time in years, I'm able to say this with genuine hope and less heartache: Happy New Year, everyone! And here's to 2018. May it not suck.
In other news, my mother's sisters have decided to sell a plot of land in North Dakota that I own 1/12th of. The land was an inheritance from when my grandfather died in late 2014. My mother, distrusting of her sisters, signed her share over to my father. When he died, his share was split between my siblings and me. It's been an interesting year being able to call myself a landowner, but selling it would mean a huge life-changing payday. The whole property is worth more than a million dollars so it's easy to daydream about what we could do with even my small share. It feels like winning the lottery. I don't feel right not immediately turning the money over to my mother, but we've had talks about this and with this money we could finally get into a real house and actually settle down. Any sale is a year or longer out, but the process has begun.
The last major event of 2017 was to celebrate the birth of a new family member. Abby and Richard welcomed their baby girl, Mabel Rae, into the world on December 29th. Being extremely close friends of theirs, Nicole has been named Mabel's aunt which I guess makes me an uncle and Chip is her fur-cousin. They plan on moving back to Portland in April, which will give us all many new chances to be together. That sounds pretty nice. Maybe 2018 will be pretty wonderful.
January was my father's funeral; a time of incredible loss and struggle as the family came together and began to deal with such great change. I was given the task of giving the eulogy at the service. In February, Nicole and I began a collection of vinyl records and the equipment to play it. Today, we have dozens of old records and quite a wide collection of random stuff. In March, my cousin on my father's side, Daniel, accepted a job in Portland and moved to town from Alabama.
April began a series of joyful months: Nicole's best friend, Abby, married her beau, Richard. Fortune continued to smile upon them as they conceived a child during their honeymoon! In May, while on a trip to Montana to visit newlyweds Abby and Richard, I popped the question to Nicole and our engagement began! In June, we announced our engagement to friends and family and set a date of October 12th.
In July, my new family continued to grow as we adopted a young Pomeranian dog, Chip. During August was a one-in-a-lifetime event where we were lucky enough to witness a total solar eclipse from a nearby town. In September, I fulfilled a big bucket-list item by meeting and shaking the hand of my childhood idol and hero, "Weird Al" Yankovic, when he came to Portland during a pop culture convention.
Nicole and I began our lives together in October when we tied the knot in a very quiet ceremony at a local courthouse. We immediately left for a wonderful mountain cabin honeymoon in rural Washington State. In November, we drove down to California to be with Nicole's family for Thanksgiving and I got my first opportunity to meet her extended family. Finally in December, Nicole's father suffered a surprise heart attack and a whole year after my father's passing, we tried to have a "normal" family Christmas.
And we did have a great Christmas. My immediate family came together and the day felt as good as it can considering a family member is gone. With each passing day, I can't tell if the hurt gets easier or harder or what. I just know that we have to keep going and everything will ultimately be okay. 2017 really was a good year and even more so considering it followed a terribly sad awful year. All these lives around me changed and also certain special bonds have grown. I'm not sure what 2018 will have in store for us. We'd like to get into a real house but our finances might prevent that for another year. And that's okay for now. Nicole and I are a team and that's what matters. We have some real goals now plus the added responsibilities of a marriage and a pet and all that's a huge change for me. Furthermore, it's not even about "me" anymore: It's about "us".
So for the first time in years, I'm able to say this with genuine hope and less heartache: Happy New Year, everyone! And here's to 2018. May it not suck.
In other news, my mother's sisters have decided to sell a plot of land in North Dakota that I own 1/12th of. The land was an inheritance from when my grandfather died in late 2014. My mother, distrusting of her sisters, signed her share over to my father. When he died, his share was split between my siblings and me. It's been an interesting year being able to call myself a landowner, but selling it would mean a huge life-changing payday. The whole property is worth more than a million dollars so it's easy to daydream about what we could do with even my small share. It feels like winning the lottery. I don't feel right not immediately turning the money over to my mother, but we've had talks about this and with this money we could finally get into a real house and actually settle down. Any sale is a year or longer out, but the process has begun.
The last major event of 2017 was to celebrate the birth of a new family member. Abby and Richard welcomed their baby girl, Mabel Rae, into the world on December 29th. Being extremely close friends of theirs, Nicole has been named Mabel's aunt which I guess makes me an uncle and Chip is her fur-cousin. They plan on moving back to Portland in April, which will give us all many new chances to be together. That sounds pretty nice. Maybe 2018 will be pretty wonderful.