Last year, around this same time, we asked our clients and friends to send us their "big wins" for the year. We heard from many of you and subsequently sent out a "Client Shout Out" blog post that highlighted clients accomplishments throughout the year. When reflecting on blog post statistics, (as my dorkiness requires), we realized that this post was one of the most clicked on (opened) email blogs of the entire year. This insight revealed that you all really like to hear about each other (or yourselves!).
Since it seems to be a popular tradition, we again encourage you to share with us any important news you would like to tell our community of Arete folks. Whether it be a race you completed, a tournament you played in, a charity event you chaired, or a wedding announcement. If something had a positive impact on your life we want to hear about it, even if it isn't health and fitness related. You are all "whole" people, with varied interests that stretch WAY beyond your workouts. Our humble hope is that by staying fit and committed to your own health journey, you can continue to pursue all those extracurricular activities you so enjoy. So tell us, and everyone else, what big moments made your own personal shout out list for 2022.
These are just snippets about us in case you only get grunts and counting to 10 from your interactions with Myles.
2022 has been a year of settling in and branching out for us. We had all of our "first" year events and holidays in our new house and new neighborhood. We have made some good friends and have really enjoyed the pace of life in Gig Harbor. Myles continues to travel up to the Bellevue studio two days a week and the commute hasn't killed him yet!
Our permitting has finally gone through so we are going to be breaking ground on our barn/studio/gym on our property in the next few months. Wish us luck with this endeavor- oy vey!
The girls are both doing well. We have some amazing caregivers for Elin. This has been a godsend for my sanity after so many years of quarantine and poor Elin was sick to death of her mom. Elin has also started using an eye gaze device to communicate. It's basically a big screen that I program and she uses her eyes to control the cursor. It's been a HUGE breakthrough in her ability to communicate with us. We can't wait to see what amazing things she can do when she gets better at using it.
Anya is in 7th grade and 13- so she's a teenager and we know it! ;) She is a great kid though and is playing piano in jazz band and clarinet in regular band, riding horses, and started canoe racing this year for the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team. She practices all year round and these boats are super narrow and tippy so they occasionally fall into the Puget Sound even in the winter. She'll be toughened up if nothing else!
We have been procuring animals throughout the past year. We got our Goldendoodle puppy- Lanna, last December and just recently a horse for Elin, Anya and I. Elin qualified for a Make A Wish and after several years of trying to figure out what she would really want we landed on a horse. Here is a sweet video we made for Make A Wish about why Elin so wants and deserves a horse. Rio is super cute and chill and we are slowly getting him acquainted with Elin and his new barn and herd. I'm spending a lot of time at the barn and learning TONS about horses and everything that comes with these creatures.
Myles loves driving his "tractor" around (it's actually a riding lawnmower, but tractor sounds cooler) and finds any excuse to be out in the yard cleaning up or building stuff. He recently finished fencing in an area in our yard so we can have a big raised garden without the deer eating all of our plants. He also got a Hobie Cat sailboat and enjoys working on that and sailing it when it's not broken!
Here is our TOP 10 list for 2022
We love Gig Harbor
Getting a puppy
Kids going to school full time
Taking 2 awesome vacations (sailboat trip to San Juans, and Thanksgiving week in Kona with friends)
Making new friends
Getting Covid and no one getting super ill (ie Elin)
Getting Rio- Elin's Pony
No overnight stays at Seattle Children's Hospital (lots of urgent care visits- but these we can handle)
Myles getting his Hobie Cat sailboat (and some much needed "me time" out on the water)
Finding joy in everyday things again, a return to normalcy that we all desperately needed.