It has been another wild year for us complete with job changes and another cross-country move. I'd say that we're hoping to slow things down a bit in 2009, but the truth is--we kind of enjoy a wild ride.
Here are the highlights and lowlights of 2008 for us:
January - March:
HIGHS
•Getting to visit with Liz and Mark at their new place in New Hampshire; a day of skiing in NH's White Mountains; and having lunch with Catherine, who drove down from Maine.
•Winter in our new house in DC's U Street area; watching the snow fly while enjoying a blazing fire.
•Jake taking a new job in Seattle at KIRO-TV as managing editor
•The prospect of being close to Jen's family and returning to the West Coast
LOWS
•Learning first hand the not so joyous part of home ownership; toilet, dishwasher, washer/dryer all needed repairs
•Jake leaving behind friends and a job that he loved at WRC-TV for a new adventure in Seattle
•Jen staying behind in DC to job hunt while Jake left for Seattle
April - June:
HIGHS
•Jake starting a new job in an beautiful new city; finding a temporary place to live just a couple of blocks from the station
•Exploring Jake's new home: visiting Snoqualmie Falls, LaConner's Tulip Festival and Olympic National Park
•Jen convincing the Smithsonian to let her telecommute from Seattle one week per month; earning lots of frequent flier miles traveling back and forth between DC and Seattle; and thanks to iTunes, using all of that flight time to finally figuring out what all the buzz is about with the TV series Lost
LOWS
•Jen's cross-country commute and Seattle job hunt
•Renting out our DC house
•Packing up and moving our belongings across country
July - September:
HIGHS
•Finding a fabulous apartment in Belltown with a 180-degree view from Elliott Bay to Mt. Rainier
•Jen finding a new job in Seattle as an associate at Davis Wright Tremaine in the Communications, Media and Information Technology group
•Jen taking one last walk on the National Mall on a warm August evening
•Jen's 6 week break between jobs, involving one last NYC hurrah with Catherine and Karin; a trip up to AK to visit family and a visit to Grandma, Grandpa and Rich in New Albany, IN
•Living together under the same roof again
•Taking a fabulous driving vacation through Eastern Washington's wine country, Montana's Glacier National Park, up through Alberta's Banff and Jasper National Parks and finishing in Pacific Rim National Park and finally the city of Vancouver, BC
LOWS
•Jen leaving behind her job at the Smithsonian and good friends in DC
October - December:
HIGHS
•Both being able to walk to work
•Surprisingly rain-free and lovely fall weather in Seattle
•Hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park on a sunny day; catching a clear view of the mountain; listening to the glaciers crack
•Exploring the restaurants in our 'hood by trying a new spot every Friday
•Jen learning the ropes at a new job and enjoying the new job honeymoon phase where everything and everyone is wonderful
•Jake working like crazy to improve news coverage and ratings at KIRO
LOWS
•Jake working like crazy
•Experiencing some of Seattle's famous cold, dark and drizzly winter weather (but much less of it than we expected!)
As you can see, it was a pretty busy year. Unlike the stock market, the HIGHS far outweigh the LOWS. We're hoping for a similar ratio in 2009 and wish you the same!
January - March:
HIGHS
•Getting to visit with Liz and Mark at their new place in New Hampshire; a day of skiing in NH's White Mountains; and having lunch with Catherine, who drove down from Maine.
•Winter in our new house in DC's U Street area; watching the snow fly while enjoying a blazing fire.
•Jake taking a new job in Seattle at KIRO-TV as managing editor
•The prospect of being close to Jen's family and returning to the West Coast
LOWS
•Learning first hand the not so joyous part of home ownership; toilet, dishwasher, washer/dryer all needed repairs
•Jake leaving behind friends and a job that he loved at WRC-TV for a new adventure in Seattle
•Jen staying behind in DC to job hunt while Jake left for Seattle
April - June:
HIGHS
•Jake starting a new job in an beautiful new city; finding a temporary place to live just a couple of blocks from the station
•Exploring Jake's new home: visiting Snoqualmie Falls, LaConner's Tulip Festival and Olympic National Park
•Jen convincing the Smithsonian to let her telecommute from Seattle one week per month; earning lots of frequent flier miles traveling back and forth between DC and Seattle; and thanks to iTunes, using all of that flight time to finally figuring out what all the buzz is about with the TV series Lost
LOWS
•Jen's cross-country commute and Seattle job hunt
•Renting out our DC house
•Packing up and moving our belongings across country
July - September:
HIGHS
•Finding a fabulous apartment in Belltown with a 180-degree view from Elliott Bay to Mt. Rainier
•Jen finding a new job in Seattle as an associate at Davis Wright Tremaine in the Communications, Media and Information Technology group
•Jen taking one last walk on the National Mall on a warm August evening
•Jen's 6 week break between jobs, involving one last NYC hurrah with Catherine and Karin; a trip up to AK to visit family and a visit to Grandma, Grandpa and Rich in New Albany, IN
•Living together under the same roof again
•Taking a fabulous driving vacation through Eastern Washington's wine country, Montana's Glacier National Park, up through Alberta's Banff and Jasper National Parks and finishing in Pacific Rim National Park and finally the city of Vancouver, BC
LOWS
•Jen leaving behind her job at the Smithsonian and good friends in DC
October - December:
HIGHS
•Both being able to walk to work
•Surprisingly rain-free and lovely fall weather in Seattle
•Hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park on a sunny day; catching a clear view of the mountain; listening to the glaciers crack
•Exploring the restaurants in our 'hood by trying a new spot every Friday
•Jen learning the ropes at a new job and enjoying the new job honeymoon phase where everything and everyone is wonderful
•Jake working like crazy to improve news coverage and ratings at KIRO
LOWS
•Jake working like crazy
•Experiencing some of Seattle's famous cold, dark and drizzly winter weather (but much less of it than we expected!)
As you can see, it was a pretty busy year. Unlike the stock market, the HIGHS far outweigh the LOWS. We're hoping for a similar ratio in 2009 and wish you the same!
RSS Feed
