Happy 2014!

Happy New Year!

It's been a relaxing holiday break from school, and I head back tomorrow. I'm sure it will be nice to see my students again as well as my colleagues. It will be nice to be back in a routine again, too. I do best when I'm in a routine.

Jeff and I spontaneously decided to go out for dinner last night, not realizing that the rest of the world likes to come to Reston Town Center for a New Year's Eve dinner too (serves us right for not planning ahead). Our first two choices were booked for the night, so we had to jump at the first reservation we could get at our third choice, which gave us twenty minutes to get ready and ten minutes to walk to the restaurant. Hurriedly we got dressed to the nines and headed out into the brisk cold to head to Paolo's, a nice Italian restaurant right in the middle of things here at the Town Center. Jeff enjoyed his steak and I enjoyed my crab cakes, and we even indulged in chocolate mousse for dessert. A fun memory. :)

2013 was a year of upheaval for us. I look forward to gaining confidence as a teacher in 2014, and Jeff and I hope to make a decision about whether to stay in this high-rise apartment or buy a home. We love the urban lifestyle and the low-maintenance joys of apartment living, but do we want to invest in real estate? That would probably require us to give up the urban lifestyle. We are wavering constantly between the two options.

2014 will also be the year we celebrate five years of marriage! June 24 is our anniversary, and we plan to celebrate with a trip to Italy and maybe Greece as well! I'm excited to go, and I'm excited to show Jeff how beautiful Rome is! It is one of my favorite places on earth. :)

Tonight we are going to continue with a film series based on Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit, one of our favorite films. It's extraordinarily well done with an intricate, engaging storyline and intriguing characters. We highly recommend it! We first watched it several years ago, and so we're working our way through it again. I had better go so we can get to that. :)

Here's to a healthy and happy 2014!