Favorite Faces

We know what he's thinking, we'll let you do the guessing.

Christmas '13

Feel free to check out our blog from the last year for life updates, thoughts, and random musings.

Thinking about this last year, we included a few thoughts here that haven’t made it out yet but have been brewing in our minds!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!! 

Jeremy, Maria, and jones

Looking Back

Life

Baby jones has been by far the biggest adjustment to our lives since we’ve been married. In fact, he consumes us. But we can’t be more thankful for a healthy baby and transitioning to parenthood has been incredible, while hard. Having a baby has also shown us the pure miracle of it…we’ve become painfully aware of the many cases of miscarriage, birth complications, or just couples that haven’t been able to have kids. It’s been a good reminder to never take our kid for granted and to thank God for the treasure He’s given us…even when that treasure is screaming at 2am. We aren’t selfish, so if you need a baby fix wash your hands and come over and hold him. We’ll even let you change a diaper, or four of them.

Death

This past year we lost two cousins, a great-grandma, twins born to another cousin, and Jeremy’s long-time barber. It’s been strange to have family & friends that have been around most of our lives suddenly gone. It’s also been a great reminder that we were made to meet our maker, and if our lives don’t reflect that reality then we’ve somewhat missed the point. 

Holiday Rant

The commercialism and the materialism that has seemed to become associated with the holiday season has us a little frustrated this year. Black Friday deals starting on Thursday, Cyber Monday that lasts all week, and just the idea that we need more, better, or bigger. I guess it scratches American consumers right where we itch, and we shouldn’t be surprised. 

It also has us thinking about what to teach our kids about Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years. It’s been good to unravel the holiday lies we’ve latched on to, and focus on what really matters. Christ’s birth truly is something to celebrate. Saint Nicholas is quite different than the Santa portrayed today. New Years is about more than resolutions that last a month. We truly do have lots to be thankful for, not just the seasonal bargains. 

Our proposed alternative: how about Black Friday deals for milk, eggs and bread!!

Looking Forward

We are really excited for the holidays, even if this post sounds grumpy :)

We love the thought of:

-       - Spending time with family.

-       - Holiday foods like Mom T’s strudel, wassail, peppermint nougats, and candy canes.

-       - Starting a New Year. Dropping old habits, and implementing better ones.

-       - Singing Christmas Carols and being sung too.

Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

Vacation: 2013

Vacation for us has become a little bit where we go, and mostly who we go with. Here's a few from 2013.


We drove down to Florida for a New Year's cruise and I'd recommend this for several reasons:

1. The Caribbean in January. Enough said.

2. Cruise lines usually have some good deals last minute, making for a fairly cheap 5 day getaway.

3. Driving there was long, but was a great time for us to connect through conversation and time spent together. It also showed us some beautiful country through the Appalachians. 

4. New Years on a cruise ship was just fun. Making new friends. Sitting by a pool with a 360 degree ocean view. Private island for a day. Food anytime. Naps anytime. Reading books, crazy I know.

 

In February we did a sibling stay-cation in Fort Wayne, complete with home cooked breakfast, a trip to the library, mustache & eyebrow glasses, and the occasional appearance of one warthog.

2013 was Dad & Mom T's 40th anniversary so we all celebrated with them in Orlando. Hanging with the kids is always fun, I'm just glad I didn't have to fly with them. 

Made it to our first PGA tour event while down there...was pretty cool watching Tiger, DJ, Rory, Westwood, and others up close. 

Seeing Gpa & Gma Pfister in Venice was awesome too! Gpa served up the typical Gma-Style Ham Sandwich with an ice-cold Yuengling I still haven't forgotten about.

July with Dad & Mom S was at Sapphire Valley in North Carolina. I used to think other places than NE Indiana were pretty because they were different, but now I'm convinced that the flatness of where I live just can't compare to the hills, mountains, valleys, and forests of MI, OH, NC, and VA. Pictures can't do justice for those sights, only stir memories.

 

July was also the Tuckers usual in the UP. I love this place the more I go back. Best part is poor cell service, once we hit the lake road, the cell goes off. That's the real vacation.