Off to Europe!

Well, under 24 hours until Katie and I take off for Europe. We fly through Toronto and then into Frankfurt. We land at 7:00am Christmas morning. Our plan is to spend Christmas and the following day with Katie's sister Kelly and visit a Christmas market in the North of France. Then the fun begins.
On the 27th we all fly from Brussels to Barcelona. After three days we head to Rome to ring in the New Year. After Rome we wrap up with 3 days on London and then take the train back to Brussels and eventually to Kelly's.
We are so excited and as you know, I will be taking a ton of pictures to share with everyone.
Merry Christmas everyone and I will touch base with you after we return on the 8th.

Take care.

Annual Holiday Blog

Here goes, the annual holiday blog. This has now become my tradition to let all of you know what is going on in my life. This year I thought I would summarize my year in a poem, enjoy.

Twas the night before Christmas and all through my head
Danced images and memories of the year that was at end
The time flying by and the days moving fast
Made me stop and think about the year that has past
I think back to a year filled with challenges and victories
From work, to school, to swimming… oh the stories
I finished my MBA, yes, that’s two masters to date
With hopes of that corner office with a view one day
The swim season was amazing, full of fast times and wins
We dethroned some champs and made our mark felt with our swims
My sixth year in the books, oh how the times flies
My passion keeps growing, that I cannot deny
The work front has changed, a new role I will tackle
I am scared, nervous, and excited about the new obstacle
My life is amazing, the people, my family and friends
I cannot deny that I am blessed beyond end
Thank you for your enrichment and joy you add to my life
Many wishes for a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year’s Night

Thanks for the wonderful cards, pictures and updates from all. This Christmas is an exciting one. Katie and I will be joining her sister in Germany for a 15 day trek around Europe. I will miss my family, but was blessed to see the CA crew over Thanksgiving and then my mom, dad, Steve, Gretchen and Myles last week.

We are off next Friday. Wishing you all a wonderful season. Check back for updates from the trip.

Love you all.

Beth

San Diego- See Em, I told you I'd do it!

Over the Labor Day weekend, Katie and I travelled to San Diego to see Emily and Katie's family. It was great time as I had never been to San Diego before. We spent time at the beach, shopping and even had lunch with my old friend Shannon and her husband Marc. We went to the zoo with Emily and her sister, took the trolley around town with Katie's mom, and just relaxed at the pool .

We spent a day with Katie's mom at Old Town and La Joya. Some cool stuff, a haunted house, and bought some good old style candy, and ate some good breakfast every day! Below are some pics from the trip, it was a great one.

Where in the world???

I know, I know, where the hell have I been? Good question. You want the long version or the short version? Short version, I've been all over. Work, Swimming, a little vacation and more work. I spent 10 days in CA and AZ filming some new videos. I also go to attend a NASCAR race which was quite the experience. I also got to spend some time in CA over Thanksgiving with the little guys. I will have some pics of them soon. Then there was swimming. To say we had an amazing finish is an understatement. We swam our tails off at the state meet after qualifying someone in every event. After Friday night we had swimmers in 8 of 12 events. The coolest part was that our lowest seed going into the night was 4th. And we came out of the night not lower than 4th in any of those events. For the first time ever I had two state champions. Our 200 and 400 free relays won and our 400 free relay swam the second fastest time in state history. To say we were proud would be an understatement. We ended 4th as a team which is one spot lower than I wanted, but it was a 3 way battle for 2nd - 4th. We swam very well.
Work has been work. I took a new job within Polaris but have not started yet as I am wrapping up the last projects from my old role.
What's next?? After a couple more weeks of work, I will be off for my European vacation!! Katie, her sister and I will be off for a couple weeks of tooling around Europe. We will land in Frankfurt on Christmas morning and then start a 10 day trip to Barcelona, Rome and London. I am so excited for the trip!
I will do some more detailed blogs about the last few months, but wanted to give everyone a quick update of my life. Although I think I talk to almost everyone that reads this, but updating every once in a while is fun.
And of course, look for the new installment of the holiday blog coming soon......