top 10 pics of the decade

happy new year! i've been seeing decade recaps all over social media and the blog world and i'm a total sucker for this sort of stuff, so i thought in addition to doing a 2019 recap, i would do a (super high level) decade recap. i just couldn't fit it in before the end of the year ;) 2010 is the year i started my blog, so it's really perfect. here we go: 

2010 

the biggest thing that happened this year is we found out we were expecting azalea! we also traveled to florida, and seattle/portland. who would have guessed that 5 years later we would move to seattle?! (not me). thatcher and i celebrated 3 years of marriage. i was also a bridesmaid in my college friend dani's wedding in duluth. 

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2011

march 26th, 2011 azalea made her way into the world. it does not feel like it was nearly 9 years ago already, but here we are. we spent the year taking care of our baby and learning our new roles as parents. we enjoyed lots of firsts with azalea including our first family trip to bayfield, wi and duluth, mn. 

2012

thatcher and i celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and he turned 30. we took azalea to florida, colorado, and new jersey/manhattan. thatcher and i traveled to vancouver, bc for a work conference. (a big travel year!) our world was turned upside down when we found out my dad was very sick with stage iv lung cancer in october 2012.

2013

the biggest things to happen in 2013 was finding out we were pregnant with ashford in the spring and welcoming him into the world december 21st. the transition to two kids was not for the faint of heart, but we feel so lucky to be able to experience it. before ashford was born, we took azalea to florida and california. i went back to san diego for work and to chicago with my college roomates. i was a bridesmaid in my friend kaylee's wedding in kansas city. thatcher left the ackerberg group after 8 years and started a new job with hennepin county. 

2014

most of 2014 was spent adjusting to being a family of 4. my grandma marian passed away. we took our first family trip with all of us to florida when ashford was 2 months old. i changed from being in marketing to doing book keeping for my company and went down to 20 hours/wk. i turned 30! azalea started preschool 2 days/wk at the park by our house. we took the kids to duluth and grand marais in the fall. ashford celebrated his first birthday just before christmas. 



2015

2015 was the most trans-formative year of the decade for me. it marked two huge milestones in my life: moving to seattle and my dad dying of cancer. those two events happened within two months of each other and i still don't know how i got through it. in the first half of the year, we went to florida again (my last visit there with my dad), we got to meet my future sister in law nith who visited with anders, thatcher was offered the seattle job and we made the hardest decision we've ever made - to pick up and move. we sold our first house, and started a new life in our little seattle apartment, while making a few trips home at the end of my dad's life. even with the difficult circumstances, i felt at peace with our decision. i started working from home for my company 5-10 hours a week and essentially became a stay at home mom. we explored our new city, azalea started a new preschool, we hosted family visitors for the first time and we visited portland. 



2016

2016 was a welcomed with relief after the crazyness of life in 2015. we had many more firsts in seattle, we visited minneapolis in june and december, i celebrated 10 years at my company, we hosted lots of visitors, my grandma gin passed away, azalea started kindergarten, i was the matron of honor in my best friend kelli's wedding, anders and nith got married in laos (thatcher attended), i visited my dad's side of the family in new jersey, it snowed in seattle after a few years with no snow.  



2017

ashford and i joined a new co-working space (with childcare!), which lead to me being invited to join their board, we took the kids to vancouver, bc. took professional family pictures in portland, hosted lots of family and friend visitors (our new normal), thatcher and i celebrated 10 years of marriage, we traveled to the olympic peninsula for the first time, we traveled to minneapolis for 2 weeks, we traveled to eastern washington for the first time, ashford started preschool at the community center, thatcher's grandma dorothy passed away, the kids and i went to minneapolis in december and we all got the flu (and passed it around to our extended family). 



2018

azalea and i did the women's march downtown, we took another trip to vancouver, cedar came to visit for the first time, thatcher and i traveled to leavenworth, wa sans kids, my new jersey relatives came out to visit, took another trip to portland, we went to minneapolis for 2 weeks in the summer, azalea got an expander and braces, we bought a new car after 10 years, thatcher's friend nate came to stay with us, our neighbors and good friends martine, bruce, and beatrice moved to mexico city, my brother came for thanksgiving.



2019

i joined a gym (and stuck with it all year), we visited portland (x2), the kids and i went to florida over mid-winter break, thatcher went to colorado to see him grandpa, our nephew jack visited (with thatcher's parents) for the first time, our family did a 2900 mile road trip to san diego and back, we visited mount st. helens, thatcher and i celebrated 12 years of marriage, we found out we needed to move out of our apartment, went to minneapolis for 2 weeks, and 4 days later moved into a rental house 4 blocks away. azalea got her braces off, we went tent camping for the first time as a family, ashford started kindergarten, we visited victoria, bc for the first time, my brother came for thanksgiving again. 



i can't wait to see what the 20's has in store!