Is this thing on?

I'm pretty sure Christmas cards get more frequent updates than this blog. Not sure really where to start...

Looks like the blog ended with our graduations about a year ago. I'll give the reader's digest version (at what point will that reference be too old?).

Renee has been doing incredibly well as a nurse. She started on the night shift working 7pm-7am and recently moved to days. No longer do I have to leave for work in the morning and say, "See you tomorrow morning for 15 minutes before I leave for work again." She was also recognized by the March of Dimes as a finalist for Nurse of the Year in the Rising Star category. She was asked to be part of leadership committees and Magnet champion committees. She even put together an awesome nomination for her mentor and her mentor won a Mentor of the year type award. I can give you dozens of examples of how she has gone the extra mile for her patients and just as important, for their families. She is always loving the action of the ICU and also has fun stories that she likes to tell. Patient care is really the reason why she loves being a nurse and all the other awards and committees don't really matter to her, but it's always nice to be recognized.

I continue to work at Vanguard in a Team Leader position. We are now the largest mutual fund company with well over $1 trillion dollars in assets. Our department of about 50 people manage about $35 billion dollars. It's a little crazy when I think of it that way. It's been rewarding seeing some of my direct reports get promotions because I spend so much time with them and it's cool to see their hard work pay off. I've been in charge of a lot more initiatives in the past year on top of developing my team and I've started seeing a lot of success recently. I feel that I'm ready for the next level where I would be leading leaders but it's going to take another two years which is a little frustrating. At the end of the day, knowing I have a promising secure future in this economy is pretty good so I shouldn't be complaining.

At home we have been busy. We installed new floors, maintained the cars, learned some new cooking recipes, and really enjoyed our time together. Some close friends of ours recently got engaged and seeing how excited they are really reminded us of how awesome it is to be married. We've grown a lot from the one bedroom apartment in a shady part of Phoenix when we first moved here. We now have careers, pets, friends, favorite local restaurants, furniture, a guest room, and a knowledge of wine that is a little more than red or white. Not much, but enough to not feel like total buffoons.

We've also been fortunate to have traveled to some incredible places. We went to Europe last year and saw a little part of Spain, Renee's roots. Seeing her face light up at something as little as the white birds, because it reminded her of her Yayo, was such a special experience that it's hard to describe. Taking a train eating bread, cheese, drinking an authentic bottle of Italian wine, and playing continental was one the most memorable parts of the trip. We were also able to see the Vatican in Rome and give her a Yaya a rosary that she kept until the very end. It was a sad time for us when she passed away, but it went as well as those things possibly can. At the funeral, the priest said some really nice things because he knew both of them (but he was in some weird hurry and cut Renee off when she wanted to say some words, we're still a little bitter).

More recently, Renee and I spent a weekend in a quaint cabin in Sedona. It was fun to take the dogs on the trails and spend a couple nights with just our little family. The views were great, we did our fair share of getting lost in the mountains, and even did some grilling.

I left out a ton of other things we have done this past year. We're looking forward to spending more time with family this year and can't wait for Renee's parents to move to Phoenix. Cheers!