2014 By The Numbers

I like making lists. On our drive to Canada the other week we made a list of all the things we could number about 2014, a little list of counted blessings and adventures.

Visited 7 countries while traveling- France, Monaco, England, Spain, Germany, Canada and the US.

Went to 7 major US cities- Washington D.C., Miami, Orlando, Dallas, Salt Lake, Honolulu, and New York

^^Friends in DC^^

^^Friends in Dallas^^

Visited a few smaller cities- Arimo, ID, Martha's Vineyard, Bar Harbor, ME, Concord, NH

^^Arimo^^

^^Martha's Vineyard^^

^^Bar Harbor^^

Sarah planned two major parties - a wedding reception and the Ward Christmas party

Went to 3 concerts - Dave Matthews Band, Fleetwood Mac, Jim Gaffigan

^^Fleetwood Mac^^

Hosted 13 friends and family members for visits and tours of the city

Saw one Red Sox game, the US Open, BYU v. UConn football and BYU v. UMass Amherst basketball

Sailed on a boat 4 times including one trip all the way up the coast of Mass.

We planned and co-hosted 7+ summer BBQs and made 18+ racks of ribs

Thomas played 25+ games of tennis and Sarah crocheted 20+ blankets and other projects

Sarah had one sibling get married (Annalie to Keveren) and another get engaged (Seth to Miranda)

We celebrated 2 years of marriage, Sarah's 28th birthday and Thomas's 30th

So long 2014! You've been interesting and hard and full of adventures. Bring on 2015!

I'm On A Boat

Some friends of ours have a sail boat at Swampscott harbor. Every Thursday they race some of their friends around the harbor and are always looking for a crew to help out. We decided at the last minute this to sneak out of work an hour early and help sail one of the seven seas this week. Thomas grabbed his three-corner hat and I screwed on my peg leg and we headed out. Just kidding, I put on my eye patch. I don't have a peg leg.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, not too hot or humid like it's prone to be here in July. There were the fluffiest marshmallow clouds floating across the sky all afternoon. It's been so rainy this week so I loved seeing the sun peek through.

Can you see the Boston skyline over there?

We unfurled the sails and out captain started giving us orders. He taught us about the different sails, the ropes we needed to pull and how to do it without smashing a finger off. We caught some good breezes and did a little practice loop in the harbor. When it came time to start the race we were a little ways from the start line and the wind completely died down. It' took us forever to actually get to the starting point, we were barely moving at all. Luckily this isn't too serious of a race, just some friends that like some competition every week.

Essentially these indicators were telling us we were standing still.

The Dr. got to steer for a few minutes. 

The captain's son entertained us by reciting almost the entire Lego Movie from start to finish. It was amazing! 

We ended up floating around for a few hours and getting almost nowhere. We had a great time though, there were a few other friends that came to help sail so we got to know them a little better and the sunset was amazing from the water.

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me!