2017...

I know 2017 has been over for two months now, but it was such a wonderful year that I cannot help but look back at some of the wonderful memories!

January

I passed the NCLEX and started my job as a registered nurse in the ICU!  We went on a lot of hikes with Miss Kya to celebrate!

New Years' Day hike

NCLEX celebration hike complete with champagne

February

We celebrated Ken entering a new decade of life!

The birthday boy and his baby

March

I ran 100 miles which turned out to be the hardest thing I have ever done.  It was also the first time I had ever run beyond a marathon.

Receiving the best hug in the entire world

April

We enjoyed a lot of family time including playing frisbee golf around outside our house.  Theodore also visited the vet in his husky sized kennel.

Family frisbee golf game

Poor baby Theodore

May

I got to spend a weekend in Denver with Jennie and Lindsay.  These pretty ladies are getting married this fall and I am so excited for them!

The kitties took advantage of all of the sunshine they could get.

June

June was filled with us going on an amazing vacation to Italy and Switzerland.  We had the best weather possible complete with only 10 minutes of rain while sitting under an awning eating dinner.  We will never get that lucky again with the weather.  It was so amazing.

Lake Como, Italy

Camogli, Italy

Gimmelwald, Switzerland

Hiking to First

Hotel Obersteinberg

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

July

We went to St. Louis and I finally got to go to Crown Candy and have an ice cream sundae!

August

Ken completed the MR340 on the Missouri River

So proud of this guy!

September

We took our annual trip to Colorado for hiking and Kya hiked her second 14er!

Grays Peak with Miss Kya

A beautiful hike complete with aspens and rainbows

Jennie, Lindsay, and Harper joined us as well!

October

Katie and I jetted off to Portland for a girls weekend, which included me running the Portland marathon.

Cannon Beach

Marathon #12

Wine tasting

Hiking near Mt. Hood

November

We spent our Thanksgiving weekend hiking in Arkansas with Kya.

Arkansas hiking

My two cuties

December

In December we took a trip to Germany and Austria to visit the Christmas markets.  It was an amazing trip!

Innsbruck, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Munich, Germany

Krampus

It was such an amazing trip with many wonderful memories made.  Once we got home, I darted off to Chicago with the girls for a quick weekend getaway.

Shenanigans, lots of shenanigans

The remainder of the month was spent celebrating Christmas, including taking Angel to look at Christmas lights, a Jackson family favorite!

Christmas lights for days

Christmas morning with the hooligans

2017 was one of those amazing years that surely will leave a lasting impact in our lives.  I am excited to see what 2018 has in store for us!

2016 Review...

Let's take a peek at what all happened in 2016, shall we?

January

We spent January hiking as many trails as we could all around Kansas.  

Frozen whiskers for a husky are simply the best!

My two favorite hiking partners!

February

We celebrated Ken's birthday with our traditional brewery tour all around Kansas City.

A fun day with Mike and Katie

March

We celebrated Katie's birthday at a wine event, celebrated a friend's wedding, and I spent a lot of time studying for my third semester of nursing school.

Katie at me at Uncorked

Ken and me dressed up for a wedding

The three best studying partners in the world

April

We did more hiking around Kansas and did our annual trip to the zoo on Easter.

These two are in their happy place

A fun filled day at the zoo

May

I wrapped up my third semester of nursing school and starting work in the OR full time for the summer.  We also celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary and jetted off to Europe for a few weeks!

Our last walk to Starbucks during the business day

Celebrating 7 years at Manifesto

Back in our happy place, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

The Lauterbrunnen Valley

A day hiking with great friends!

June

We started June off in Europe and spent the remainder of the month recovering from jet lag.  

Munich, Germany

St. Gilgen, Austria

Salzburg, Austria

Berchtesgaden, Germany

Hallstatt, Austria

Vienna, Austria

Vienna, Austria

July

Miss Kya had a small eye surgery and had her teeth cleaned while she was under anesthesia.  Poor baby did not feel well.

A pillow and a blankie make everything better

We watched movies and snuggled.

August

We took a trip to the Missouri State Fair for the first time and I started my final semester of nursing school complete with night shift clinicals!

Winning games like a champ at the Missouri State Fair

The kitties extremely concerned about their mama sleeping during the day

September

We celebrated my accepting an ICU nursing position after graduation and we played around in the sunflowers of Kansas.

Cocktails for the win!

Playing around in the sunflowers that are taller than me.

October

We took a family trip to Colorado for a little hiking.  We also had a few events that we had to attend and I ran the Kansas City marathon.

A husky and her dad

Happiness

March of Dimes Signature Chef's Auction

March of Dimes Nurse of the Year gala

Liberty Memorial as seen on the KC marathon run course

November

We celebrated my turning 36 and spent Thanksgiving with our friends Rob and Michelle.

A birthday martini

Thanksgiving day snuggles

December

We started off December with a trip to Chicago and then spent what seemed like the rest of the month celebrating my graduation.  I feel pretty bad because I feel like the last few months of the year centered around me.  That certainly was not planned!  We finished off the year celebrating Christmas with our little family.

Fun times at the Chicago Chriskindlmarkt

Proud new nursing school graduate!

Celebrating my graduation

Soaking up Christmas

Christmas lights with Angel

2016 was a great mix of very exciting times and everyday moments that I adore.  Our little family had a very good 2016 and I feel very fortunate for every single moment.  We have many big moments coming up in 2017 as well.  I have the impending NCLEX test coming up which will allow me to start my job as an RN.  Someone in the house has a big birthday coming up and an endurance event planned to celebrate the big birthday.  We have a few trips in the works as well, but are mainly looking forward to establishing the new normal again with me going back to work full time.  

Thanks for reading and Happy 2017!