I can't believe it has been a year since I posted on this site...a lot of things have happened. A lot of people are saying that 2016 sucked due to the many celebrities we lost plus the weirdest presidential election in history. As a result I have decided to write a synopsis for each month of my 2016 as I find the positive. I know there were some negatives, but I'm believing the positives will outweight the negatives!

January
The year started out strong with plenty of teaching with Verbling. I was also living in Cascade, Idaho where we had a lot of snow! Sometimes I felt snowed in,but at the same time I felt very blessed to have a way to make an income while staying at home. My friend, Duckie, came and visited during the month and we took some adventures as she had a four wheel drive and driving in snow was no big deal for her.

February
February started out disappointing workwise as I learned that the Verbling groups I was teaching were being canceled as Verbling had changed its strategy. I did get a lot of private students as a result and picked up work through the Virtual call center I am a trainer for. I spent some time down in Boise with my friend Duckie and even had a chance to spend time with family. I also started getting more involved with the church up in Cascade.

March
I traveled to the Oregon coast with my friend Duckie and was able to work remotely from within my yurt thanks to modern technology. We even spent a few days in Portland and I got to see my friend RK who I haven't seen in a long time.

April
In April, I was fairly busy with tutoring and the online call center training, but not enough, so I started a nationwide search for a full time job with benefits. I didn't know if anything would come up, but I decided to try. I ended up getting five interviews from companies in Montana, Georgia, Wisconsin, Washington DC and Connecticut. I was quite surprised! I also spent a lot time driving down the mountain to go to my trio's soccer games. They even came up and spent the weekend with me without their parents! Duckie and I also took a short road trip to the only 'cheese factory' in Idaho. We also stopped and looked at Shoshone Falls on the way back. I also went on some adventures with family--one was a hike at Cleo's, which is a private park in Owyhee county with all types of inspirational signs and statues.

May
I was offered a job in Connecticut with Cartus, a relocation firm. I didn't accept it right away and took Mother's Day weekend to think about it. I went with Heidi's family on an adventure to Baker City, Oregon and the Interpretive Center. By the end of the weekend, I decided to take the job and so the adventure of moving across the country had begun. I was also the lead trainer for a project with the virtual call center and was having to juggle all of that at the same time. My family and friends were a huge help during this time. I also spent as much time as I could with my trio going to their soccer games and and other festivals. I finished my adventure in Idaho by attending the twins' kindergarten graduation. I left for Connecticut on May 27 and we arrived on May 31. My sister and her kids made the cross country trip with me. I look forward to taking the drive again!

Summer
After such a busy month in May, I spent the summer learning the area. I didn't take many pictures, but if memory serves I drove around the area a lot and spent many evenings working for the virtual call center, while I learned my new job during the day. I work in the Language department as a Language Network Specialist. I basically recruit language trainers for freelance/contract jobs in different areas of the country. I found that with my experience running ViTA, this was a fairly easy transition. Alpo was having a hard time, however, and I heard from neighbors that he spent a majority of the days barking, which was heartbreaking. I was able to find a dog daycare to take Alpo while I worked, which worked out great. I was able to find a church and even went to some restaurants with a couple colleagues after church and work. In August, I finally got a haircut after almost three years as I procrastinated that long... At work, my colleagues surprised me for my birthday and we even went out to a Brazilian restaurant plus some neighbors left me balloons for my birthday.

Fall
I found a church and starting going to a biweekly bible study in September. I also received the opportunity to go to a lady's retreat in New Hampshire, which was very exciting as I hadn't been to the other New England states. I even got to do the driving, which, for me, was amazing. October was a low point when a semi hit my car and the insurance company totaled it so I end 2016 with no car, but at the same time it was a blessing as driving was stressing me out plus the insurance is so high here compared to Idaho. Alpo is doing better although I can no longer take him to the day care and has accepted being alone. I traveled to Idaho in December and had a wonderful time with my family. Here are some pictures: (more pics on Facebook)

So, in retrospect--2016 has been a good year! Sure, the election was crazy and I have had more exciting years, but it wasn't all that bad... 2017, we are expecting an even better year- WooHoo!