Our Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas!

2013 has been a year filled with blessings for Nick and I. We’ve enjoyed our first full year in our first home and are working on small changes to suit our tastes. Scout loves all the space and fenced in back yard!

We celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary on March 1, 2013. We both agree that we have no idea where the time has gone! Nick surprised me with a dinner at Charley’s Crab with a table overlooking the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. He even had the restaurant personalize the menu for us!

Nick and I both started new jobs in 2013. I started working as a Human Resources Assistant in April and Nick took his packaging skills to a new company in November. We both enjoy our roles at competing office furniture manufacturers. On top of my HR role, I have started blogging at A Cute Angle. You can read my blog by going to http://acutelifestyle.blogspot.com.

To celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary, Nick and I traveled to Europe in May! We visited Munich and Nuremberg, Germany, Prague, Czech Republic, Salzburg and Vienna, Austria, and Budapest, Hungary. We had a blast navigating the cities together, tasting the local fare, and taking in all the amazing architecture and history. We met so many amazing people from all over the world in our tour group! We learned that we both love wiener schnitzel! I was excited to visit the Czech Republic to see where my ancestors came from, and really enjoyed The Sound of Music Tour we went on while in Salzburg. Nick appreciated how friendly the people were in Germany and said he would go back! Other highlights included a nighttime dinner cruise down the Danube in Budapest, the Hofsburg section of Vienna, and the abundance of gelato! While in Europe, Scout stayed with some friends of ours and made a new friend himself – a little dog named Lily!

My dad and sister visited in July. Nick took my dad, his dad, and his great uncle to an auto race in Ohio while my sister and I enjoyed some girl time. I was excited to have my dad and sister see our house for the first time! Also in July, we welcomed our newest niece, Demi Grace.

Nick and his cousins went on a five day four wheeling trip in the “U.P.” (Upper Peninsula) in September. Nick took his new toy out every chance he got during good weather. He often visited Atlanta, Michigan and Silver Lake.

We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Pennsylvania this year. It was the first holiday we’ve gone home for in two years! We enjoyed time with the whole family (especially the time we got with my nieces and nephew Emma, Halie, and Graham), visited with friends, and I went to New York City with my sister, Courtney, and sister-in-law, Amber.

This year we will be hosting our first Christmas! The Fleurys will be over to share in some holiday cheer, and I will be making my first turkey!

Sending love and prayers for 2014,

               Ashley

Nick says, “GO GREEN!”