Can't believe I haven't posted anything since March but most of the year was consumed with triathlons, which I consistently posted on my training site.
But, outside of racing we did have a great year. We were blessed to have many visitors this year and we appreciated seeing so many of our family and friends throughout the year. We had to reschedule a planned vacation but hope to do that early in 2015.
We celebrated Lane's 1 year anniversary as a member of the Bell family and while she has had some health issues this past year we have a new vet that has done a wonderful job of helping us manage those issues. Yes, she is SPOILED. She has beds in most of the rooms in our house, 2 in our bedroom, numerous toys and bones to occupy her and a good start to a hand me own Vera Bradley collection. We did have a fence installed so she has a pretty good side backyard that she can roam. Although she usually stays close to the house.
It's still hard for us to believe that we have been in Texas for over 2 years. Maryland chaos life seems so far away and we are thankful for that - although we do miss all of our DMV family. Rob continues to head back to MD twice a year so he is lucky enough to visit family and friends - I'm very jealous!
Our house continues to be work in progress, still so much to do in the yard and trying to decorate - but we are comfortable with the way things are and in no hurry to get things done and prefer spending our time as a family.
As the year comes to a close, I realize I'm lucky that I have been able to find a great balance between work and life. I'm happy that my priorities in life are me, Rob, Lane and everything else!
I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas with high hopes for 2015!
I can't make any promises that I'll be better about posting update - FB, email or a phone call might be better ways to get the latest and greatest with the Bell's.
Clearing property
Well we bought our lot we had high hopes of doing most of the tree / debris clearing ourselves but with Rob's back and my work schedule and tri training we really haven't been able to put a big dent in things and since we needed to do something before the fence guys came we decided to hire it out. We didn't have them do everything there is still some things we have to do but they got rid of a lot of the dead brush and dead tress.
Here are some before and after pics.
Here are some before and after pics.
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
The fence was delayed a bit with all the rain that we got last week but they are scheduled to be here on Monday to start that so hopefully before next weekend Lane will finally have a backyard that she can rome free.
Who would have thought
Two years ago today we took a leap of faith and purchased a lot in the Vintage Oaks community in New Braunfels, TX. Initially we bought the lot knowing that we would either build a house several years down the road or it would be an investment property that we could sell later.
Much to our surprise this kicked off a whirlwind 14 months for us:
March 23, 2012 - bought Texas property
March 30, 2012 - I quit my job
June 25, 2012 - Put Maryland house on the market
July 2, 2012 - Sold Maryland house
July 5, 2012 - Nicol back surgery
July 30, 2012 - Started building process for home in Texas
August 28, 2012 - Movers come to pack up Maryland house
August 29, 2012 - Closed on Maryland house
August 29-Sept 1, 2012 - Drive to Texas
Sept 1, 2012 - Arrived in Texas
October 2012 - Nicol starts new job in Texas
November 2012 - Construction on Texas home starts
May 2013 - MOVE to NEW HOME!!
10 months after moving in we still have plenty to do....but this is definitely home!
Most of my posts are here
A few people have asked me why I'm not posting more often. Well if you go here you will see I have been plenty busy......with training.
I know I have been horrible about keeping this site up to date pretty much since we moved into the house and Lane came into our lives.
Life for the Bell's continues to be wonderful although the weather here in Texas the past few weeks has been a bit chilly but I'm NOT complaining considering the weather everyone else is dealing with. Everyone tells me we must have brought some of this colder than usual weather with us because this has been unusual for Texas.
We still have plenty to do around the house - mostly yard work and some decorating. Hard to believe that we are coming up on 2 years being in Texas!
We are still trying to figure out our travel schedule for the year, we are hoping to get to Maryland to visit family and friends.
We will try to get some updated pics of the house and of course Lane posted in the future.
I know I have been horrible about keeping this site up to date pretty much since we moved into the house and Lane came into our lives.
Life for the Bell's continues to be wonderful although the weather here in Texas the past few weeks has been a bit chilly but I'm NOT complaining considering the weather everyone else is dealing with. Everyone tells me we must have brought some of this colder than usual weather with us because this has been unusual for Texas.
We still have plenty to do around the house - mostly yard work and some decorating. Hard to believe that we are coming up on 2 years being in Texas!
We are still trying to figure out our travel schedule for the year, we are hoping to get to Maryland to visit family and friends.
We will try to get some updated pics of the house and of course Lane posted in the future.
Happy New Year
Where does the time go? 2013 was very good to me! I was excited to start 2013 and I’m even more excited about 2014.
As 2013 came to an end I thought about all the things that happened and while there are too many to write down I wanted to highlight the ones that mean the most to me:
Best Friend – This year my hubby and I celebrated 17 years of marriage. He is my best friend, my soul mate and the person that keeps me grounded. Our life has been through some up’s and downs but he has always been the person I knew I could count on, that would have my back no matter the situation, that would talk me off the roof and would always make life better with a hug and kiss on the forehead. I could not imagine life without him! I can’t wait to see what the next 17 years bring us.
New addition to the family – We brought our Great Dane / Lab mix, Lane, into our family on August 5th and our life has changed in so many ways. I love that she talks to me when I come home from work and when she is hungry. I love those brown eyes that I can’t resist and I love that she is stingy with kisses but loves giving hugs.
Dream home – We moved into our dream home in May. The process of building our 2nd house brought many ups and downs but the finished product is wonderful. We built this house to be where we wanted to live the rest of our lives and while most people think we are crazy that our gym is the biggest room in the house it is what we wanted.
Olympic distance Triathlon – I have been doing triathlons for about 8 years and a few years ago set my eyes on doing longer distance races and for the past few years have wanted to do the Olympic distance however I have been side lined with many injuries but I finally achieved this goal in 2013 and have already committed to a 1/2 Ironman distance in 2014. Triathlons give me something to focus on, something that I strive to achieve for myself!
Peace & happiness – For me these are two things that are very important that come from within but have been missing from my life for awhile. I have made many changes over the past 2 years and I can say with a clear mind that I have taken every opportunity to live my life the way I want to live my live and not the way someone else wants or tells me too. I have stopped doing things to please others and do things that make me happy!
Family & Friends – Moving to Texas meant leaving behind family and friends. This was a hard decision but I’m so thankful that I have remained in touch with so many people and that for some of them I have developed an even stronger bond! I had several friends that had a rough year and I did my best to try to help from afar but it was tough knowing that I could not personally be there to give them a hug!
So what does 2014 bring, who knows. I stopped doing resolutions a few years ago but I hope to continue to live a healthy lifestyle and work off those last few pesky pounds. I hope that we are able to return to Maryland to visit family and friends and I hope that we all can live a much happier, healthy life!
I hope everyone had as great a 2013 as I did and I hope we can spend time together in 2014!
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