Top 16 of 2016

Each year we have put together a Top X of 20X list.  As the years go by we have to think of more and more highlights from the year.  Here is our compilation for this year.

In 2016 we checked off a few bucket list items:

1. Sea Kayaking-- We went on a sea kayaking trip along the Apostle Island National Lakeshore through sea caves, towering cliffs, and the crystal clear water of Lake Superior.  We both hope more kayaking is in our future.

2.  Attending a performance of Wicked-- We went on a double date for Valentines Day with my brother and sister-in-law to Springfield to watch the Broadway musical Wicked.  This has been on Arthur's bucket list for several years.  The music, costumes, stage, and production were amazing.

3.  Donating hair--  It's been on my bucket list (not Arthur's) to grow my hair out and donate it to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients or others who have lost their hair.  After about 2 or 3 years my hair had finally gotten long enough and I donated about 10 inches.

Besides accomplishing some bucket list items we also learned several new skills:

4.  Watercolor painting-- I have taken up watercolors and also talked a few friends into painting as well.  My big projects this year were a set of forest animals for our nieces' nursery and then about 50 Christmas cards.  I have really enjoyed a hobby that allows for me to be more creative.

5. Sourdough Bread-- Arthur cultivated his own wild yeasts to make a sour dough starter.  Throughout the year we had wonderful sourdough bread.  We even forget that you can make bread with yeast since we hadn't used any yeast in bread baking for so long.

6. Dairy items-- Arthur has learned to make some basic butter and cheeses.  He is hankering for a cheese press so he can branch out into harder cheeses.  I have started making homemade yogurt by the gallon.  I would like to think eating my jar of homemade yogurt with fresh fruit makes me the envy of the lunch crowd at work.

7.  Skiing--  Arthur had the opportunity to go with several men from church on a ski trip this year.  He graduated from ski school and was able to ski without falling down and was promoted onto the blue slopes.

8.  Italian--  We have both been learning to speak Italian.  Actually at this point we can't speak it very well but are able to read it.  We are dreaming about taking a trip to Italian next year so thought we would get a head start on learning the language.  Additionally we think it would be really neat to be able to speak a language that only we know  (Or at least we think the number of people speaking Italian in central Kansas in very limited) so we can have secret conversations.

While learning new skills and hobbies has been fun we have also gone to our 9-5 jobs most days:

9.  Changes at work-- I survived several pretty big changes at work from doubling our staff to switching to completely electronic documentation and scheduling.  At times it was mass chaos and other times I wasn't sure who would show up in our office or if I would still have my own desk.  I am happy to say that over the past month things have settled into a sense of normalcy.

10.  Flip Charts-- Creating a hundred plus page document showing where individual components was a tedious task consuming large amounts of drafting time.  I (Arthur) realized that I could use data from a couple of different documents to entirely automate the process.  It was  a big job, and to date is the most advanced programming I've been able to apply at work.

Even though we are both introverts several of our highlights were related to our relationships with others:

11.  Social organizer--  I have some how taken on the role of social organizer for my group of friends.  This included a few weekend get-together and camp-outs.  It was fun to reconnect with old friends and I have even met a few new friends too.

12.  Nieces-- We love being an aunt and uncle and we increased our number of nieces by 300% this year when my brother and sister-in-law had twins.  I would venture to say that our favorite people in the world under that age of 5 are our nieces.  Whether it is playing My Little Pony or wrestling with Harper or holding one of the twins we get a kick out of them.

13.  1000 days-- We celebrated 1000 days of wonderful marriage earlier this spring.  We really enjoy this being married thing.

One of the best parts of being married is getting to go on adventures together:

14.  St Louis weekend-- We took a long weekend to go to a wedding in St. Louis.  We went to a Shakespeare play, Truman's Presidential library, the art museum and zoo in St. Louis, along with some hiking and a bike ride that turned out to be a little more than we bargained.

15.  Camping-- It is hard to believe but we hadn't gone camping until this year.  Our first camping trip ended in pouring rain and a trip to IHOP for breakfast.  Camping on our St. Louis trip might have not been my best idea since it is hard to get a good night sleep when it is still 90F at 3 am.  Sleeping in a tent has allowed us to see some beautiful areas that aren't accessible without a tent.

16.  Our first backpacking trip--  We hiked for 4 days through the wild forests of Isle Royale- an area that is more of a wilderness today than it was 100 years ago.  We carried everything on our backs and there was blood, sweat, and blisters.  However there was stretches of beaches to ourselves, listening to loons at night, and the solitude of exploring together.