Twenty-Fourteen

Twenty-Fourteen was a big year (meaning lots of changes) for us.

The first change happened in January when I started back to work as a dietitian at a nursing home/rehab center.  It was a challenging place to work for many reasons.  Mostly because I had a steep learning curve as it'd been a while since my last official dietitian job.  It required some late nights and lots of reading/homework, especially for the first several months.  Overall it was a good experience for all of us.  As it turns out, I like working in long-term care.  I'm also pretty good at it.  Since Jacob's job was more flexible, he took over the after school stuff with the girls (ballet, homework, chores, dinner preparation).  They had a great time together.  The girls learned simple meal preparation (fish sticks made frequent appearances at dinner) and how to do their laundry. 

The next big change came after months of uncertainty at IBM.  Jacob survived a couple rounds of layoffs, and then an announcement that his division was going to be sold to Global Foundries.  The uncertainty initiated a job search, and Jacob spent months studying and interviewing with different companies looking for a good fit.  IBM officially announced the sale of the division in October, the same week Jacob interviewed with Qualcomm.  The interview went well and North Carolina was appealing to us, so after a week of agonizing over all possible scenarios (as well as some impossible ones) we decided to move to Raleigh.  Jacob's first day was December 8th, and we officially left Vermont on December 21st.

In the middle of these major life decisions we thought it would be a good time to attempt another baby (go big or go home).  We were excited (and simultaneously terrified) when we found out I was pregnant in August (due in April).

Meanwhile...

The girls grew several inches.  They started 2nd and 5th grade.  They planned parties, and started little businesses with their friends.  They read book after book.  They rode their bikes through the neighborhood, and had adventures in the forest.  They learned how to skydive.  We read Harry Potter together.  We practiced our moonwalks.  We did fun things with our friends.  We visited Quebec City,  Queensbury (NY), Portland (Maine), Colorado, Utah, Ogunquit (Maine), North Woodstock (NH), Montreal, and Morton (IL).   We continued the photography business.  We enjoyed Vermont life including skiing, ice skating, maple sugaring, Ben and Jerry's, berry picking, swimming in the lakes and rivers, campfires (and dough boys) at Indian Brook, apple picking, Halloween, Friendsgiving, Church street, and Shelburne farm.   

I'm generally of the opinion that change is a good thing.  It's exciting, challenging, and provides opportunities for growth, new experiences, and new friends.  It is also disruptive, challenging, and causes heartache for what and who is left behind.

Vermont will always have a very special place in our hearts.  I believe we will look back on the last 4  years as a kind of surreal, charmed existence.  Especially as we become  more and more removed from it and forget some of the annoying stuff.  Vermont will be remembered for it's incredible beauty, idyllic quaintness, and the great people that were a part of our lives.  Compiling our slideshow for 2014 made our hearts ache for our Vermont life.  We love you all (including our friends and family in other places), and miss you.  Thank goodness for social media, blogs, Skype, text messages and phones.



DahleFamily2014 1280x720 23p976fps 10Mbps from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.
Music: Josh Woodword "Perfect", Orbit Monkey "Catching Memories", Zia Hanssan "A Love Like That"

The slideshow is taking longer than it should to load.  It might be less frustrating to watch it directly on Vimeo's website...https://vimeo.com/126134740.

A Look Back

 Sophie had a homework assignment about a month ago to write down some dates that were important in our family.  It was interesting to see what she thought were the important dates.  I also discovered that pretty much every year since Jacob and I got married has a major milestone/adventure.  2001...married, 2002...graduation, 2003...first house, 2004...Ella's birth, etc. 

Not every year can be a milestone year, but I was a little disappointed when I realized that 2013 doesn't have a standout event to mark the year.  No big changes or announcements for us to report this year.  In some ways it was a frustrating year.  We didn't make a lot of progress on some of our goals.  Despite our disappointments (or maybe because of them) 2013 was a pretty great year. 

It was a year of small moments...catching frogs, learning to blow bubbles, cardboard forts, overcoming the fear of diving, never-ending games of monopoly, good food, late night pillow talks, hangouts with friends, family reunions, volleyball nights, and musicals.  I hope we will remember 2013 as the year of ordinary days.  The year we learned to find contentment in the little things, and appreciate the bumps a long the way (both the literal and figurative ones).  Looking back, it doesn't feel insignificant.  The cumulative effect of all those simple days isn't so small.  2013 was it's own kind of adventure.



DahleFamily2013 640x360 23p976fps 5Mbps from Heather Dahle on Vimeo.

Credits:  
Songs: "Bonjour, Mon Amie" by Josh Woodward, "Hero for a Day" by Uncle Neptune, and "Follow the Road" by Josh Woodward

The higher resolution slideshow can be viewed here: http://vimeo.com/84178026

Merry and Bright

Halloween Festivities

I made the mistake last night of mentioning out loud that this was the first Halloween in a long time that one of us hasn't ended up with the flu.  Then Sophie woke up with a stomach ache.  When I called the attendance office this morning at the elementary school I had to resist the urge to add, "I promise she really is sick!  We didn't keep her out too late, and she didn't eat that much candy!"  Regardless of what the attendance office thinks, Sophie is my Netflix buddy today.  We've spent the day watching My Little Pony and editing photos.

Luckily we were all healthy enough to enjoy the Halloween Festivities over the last few days...

Pumpkin Carving:

Trick-or-Trunking:

 Meeting our friendly neighborhood Vampire:

Discovering Super Girl's secret identity:

(I recommend starting to hum the Super Man Theme right here as you scroll through the next few photos).

 

And...this one reminds me of Super Grover. 

Cataloging the Loot:

I discovered that my favorite Halloween candy is Skittles.  This revelation was a surprise to me because generally my favorite candy is something chocolate.  The only time I eat skittles is at Halloween.  Unfortunately, we only ended up with 3 little packs of Skittles.  

Tasting a War Head for the first time:

Happy Halloween!!!

"This was one of those perfect New England days in late summer...

...where the spirit of autumn takes a first stealing flight, like a spy, through the ripening country-side, and, with feigned sympathy for those who droop with August heat, puts her cool cloak of bracing air about leaf and flower and human shoulders." Sarah Orne Jewett.