2019: A Year in Review
I have to admit it's a little depressing to write this. My year was in no way especially interesting or exciting. In fact, after spending time in Europe for the last SEVEN YEARS STRAIGHT, this was the first year since 2011 that I didn't leave the country at all. I know I'm spoiled, but I'm allowed to be nostalgic, ok?
January and February of 2019 were mostly spent working and in hibernation. Wisconsin decided to throw the coldest winter in 30 years at us. We had record-low temperatures and record amounts of snow.
I actually loved it because I was pretty stressed out by my job. I don't know if I would have gotten through the school year without those 6 blessed days of cancelled school. The school district where I worked had not cancelled school in 10 years, so you can see how miraculous that was.
We started to thaw out March and April and I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel for summer break. One of my highlights of the year was babysitting Buttercup's sister Hattie. She helped me convince David to get a westie someday, which I am very thankful for- that's one of my life goals!
May is our birthday month. I was definitely not thrilled to enter a new decade but I did have fun celebrating with good Italian food and shopping at Zara in downtown Chicago. David lived his best life when his birthday fell on Memorial Day and he got to be even more patriotic than usual.
June meant FREEDOM from work. It also meant my first trip to the West Coast for a family reunion in Washington. I enjoyed sightseeing in Seattle and spending time with family that I hadn't seen in years.
July brought us two visitors from France. David was reunited with his parents after not seeing them for a year and a half. They stayed with us until mid-August. Besides showing them around Milwaukee, Chicago, Cedarburg, and Madison, we went on a week-long road trip circling Lake Michigan. Highlights were definitely Mackinac Island and the sand dunes.
I started a new job in August that makes me a lot happier than my employment situation last year. I'm working full-time as an aide in a 4th grade class at an Orthodox Jewish school. I really enjoy not being stressed out and having no work to take home, learning interesting things and keeping up with my Hebrew, and just the atmosphere of a small private school in general.
Because I can't say no to fun opportunities, I added 2 other part-time jobs to my plate this month. On Tuesdays, I teach ballet to kids between 3-12. On Wednesdays, I coach a 1st and 2nd grade poms team and help out with some other age groups as well. On Thursdays, I am tired.
Our last road trips of the year were in September and October- thanks to all of the days I have off for Jewish holidays. David loves nothing more than checking new states off of his bucket list.
We visited Notre Dame's campus in Indiana on our way to Kirtland, Ohio and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky on our way back from Nashville, Tennessee. I always love reuniting with my buddy Stephanie and seeing her family!
After our lovely white Halloween, the rest of the year flew by with the holidays, fun shows (Swan Lake, Hamilton, and Harry Potter 4 accompanied by the Milwaukee Symphony), and family time.
This year I am proud that I made it through a full year of teaching, achieved my goal of reading 100 books, and that we made a lot of progress on our house (created a guest room, got a new roof, and more!).
January and February of 2019 were mostly spent working and in hibernation. Wisconsin decided to throw the coldest winter in 30 years at us. We had record-low temperatures and record amounts of snow.
I actually loved it because I was pretty stressed out by my job. I don't know if I would have gotten through the school year without those 6 blessed days of cancelled school. The school district where I worked had not cancelled school in 10 years, so you can see how miraculous that was.
We started to thaw out March and April and I started to see the light at the end of the tunnel for summer break. One of my highlights of the year was babysitting Buttercup's sister Hattie. She helped me convince David to get a westie someday, which I am very thankful for- that's one of my life goals!
May is our birthday month. I was definitely not thrilled to enter a new decade but I did have fun celebrating with good Italian food and shopping at Zara in downtown Chicago. David lived his best life when his birthday fell on Memorial Day and he got to be even more patriotic than usual.
June meant FREEDOM from work. It also meant my first trip to the West Coast for a family reunion in Washington. I enjoyed sightseeing in Seattle and spending time with family that I hadn't seen in years.
July brought us two visitors from France. David was reunited with his parents after not seeing them for a year and a half. They stayed with us until mid-August. Besides showing them around Milwaukee, Chicago, Cedarburg, and Madison, we went on a week-long road trip circling Lake Michigan. Highlights were definitely Mackinac Island and the sand dunes.
I started a new job in August that makes me a lot happier than my employment situation last year. I'm working full-time as an aide in a 4th grade class at an Orthodox Jewish school. I really enjoy not being stressed out and having no work to take home, learning interesting things and keeping up with my Hebrew, and just the atmosphere of a small private school in general.
Because I can't say no to fun opportunities, I added 2 other part-time jobs to my plate this month. On Tuesdays, I teach ballet to kids between 3-12. On Wednesdays, I coach a 1st and 2nd grade poms team and help out with some other age groups as well. On Thursdays, I am tired.
Our last road trips of the year were in September and October- thanks to all of the days I have off for Jewish holidays. David loves nothing more than checking new states off of his bucket list.
We visited Notre Dame's campus in Indiana on our way to Kirtland, Ohio and Abraham Lincoln's birthplace in Kentucky on our way back from Nashville, Tennessee. I always love reuniting with my buddy Stephanie and seeing her family!
This year I am proud that I made it through a full year of teaching, achieved my goal of reading 100 books, and that we made a lot of progress on our house (created a guest room, got a new roof, and more!).
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Rubinos!
Read about past (more interesting) years here:
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