Happy New Year

2010 was a good year for us. 2010 was less about doing work we had to on the house and more about having some fun. So I thought I would steal a good idea from our friends over at Robin Hood's Hideaway and do a recap. Here's our first 2010. The major happenings for 2010 were parties, races, good food, traveling, and generally having fun.

January started out cold and snowy. We had some frozen pipes and I cut the back out of our closet.

In February we traveled to Texas where I raced in my second 50 mile trail run, the Rocky Raccoon. It was a hard race, but I set a new PR and it was nice to leave the cold snowy weather for a weekend.

In March the weather warmed up some and I worked on building the raised beds for the garden. We ended up building 5 4ft by 8ft raised beds hoping to keep the garden under control.

In April I traveled some for work and the garden kept growing. We traveling to New Orleans where Sam raced in her third Ironman 70.3. Even though she managed to swim through some rusty sheet pile, she got a PR and had a good race.

May was spent working in the yard and getting ready for our first party of the year. I finished some concrete planters for the side deck. Sam filled them so they looked right out of a magazine. Everything was planted in the garden and we harvest our first vegetables of the year.

In early June we worked furiously getting the house ready for the first annual tiki party. We had 50 or some friends over for a welcome to summer blast.

I finished one of my favorite concrete projects. I build a green top for a patio tulip table.

Also in the end of June we traveled to Italy for a conference and some much needed relaxation.

By the end of June the garden had become well established and was starting to look like we were having an attack of the killer tomatoes.

July saw one very hot and unsuccessful race by John and l lots of vegetables coming from the garden.

We came back from Italy to find some soft baseboards in the kitchen. After further inspection the previous January's cold weather had split the supply line to the dishwasher. Lots of bleach and a new dishwasher later everything was back to normal.

Also in August I did my first triathlon. I had fun and it was a nice break from just running. It gave Sam a chance to watch a race, usually it is the other way around.

Also in August the garden had become a giant unruly mess. I had to venture into the forest to find tomatoes.

In September we ventured to Oklahoma for Sam's second big race of the year. Although it got pretty hot towards the end, Sam managed another PR at the 70.3 distance.

In preparation for colder weather, I insulated and sealed the overhang by the tub. Hopefully this keeps our pipes from freezing this winter.

2010 brought one happening I never expected. In October I had the opportunity to marry a couple friends of ours. The ceremony was very nice and much to my concern, legal. After being sick and undertrained I dropped out of the Heartland 50 at mile 25. Until this year I hadn't dropped from any race, but my schedule didn't allow the training I needed. But, I raced another 50 miler at the end of October and set a new PR and took 3rd place. With some peer pressure I signed up for the rocky 50 miler again in february.

November weather was pretty good in Kansas City and we spent some serious time outside. Sam did her first adventure race and loved. She also was part of the sock monkey relay team at the Kansas City marathon. Roe Circle raised the bar for yard day by renting a man lift to do tree trimming. I had much appreciated help clearing all of the scrub trees in the backyard. They were blocking half of the garden so it will be interesting how things grow next year.

In December we had our second party of the year. We welcomed winter with beer, cheese, and brandy old fashions. Sam raced in her second adventure race in so many months and started looking towards her engineering exams next year. The blog got our first national exposure linking to a post about our new electric composter. In preparation for one of next year's projects, the second bathroom, I installed some convieniently-sized shelves.

The house looked very festive as we wound the year down.

All in all 2010 was a good year. It's over and let's hope 2011 is even better. Happy New Year!