2011 in review...

2011 was very good to us, so it's somewhat bittersweet to see the year end and welcome in a new year filled with possibilities.

Since I clearly haven't posted much this year, here's our holiday card for 2011 for a year in review:

It's been another great year for K & m that found us enjoying more travels around the country and the world. We started the year off with a big bang in London! We then had a few visits to Ohio in the Spring for weddings of Kurt's childhood friends. We were also excited to welcome Melissa's brother to Austin in March for South by Southwest, a popular musical festival. In April, we enjoyed a getaway to one of our favorite locales in California to run the Big Sur Marathon Relay with a friend. We headed off to another favorite destination, Colorado, for Memorial Day where Kurt got his first taste of Pikes Peak and decided he was up for the challenge of running it in August. We had an enjoyable day of rafting on the Royal Gorge while there, even though Kurt nearly took a spill into the chilly waters after hitting the rocks on the aptly named rapid, Wallslammer. We headed back to Ohio in June for a vacation with Kurt's family in Hocking Hills. Then, we took another grand summer vacation to Europe where we visited 7 cities in 4 countries over the course of two weeks. While there, we watched the final three stages of the Tour de France since Melissa got hooked when we went last summer. After a few weeks of getting settled back in at home, we took off for Colorado again so that Kurt could run up Pikes Peak, certainly one of the more challenging things he has done. While there, we were lucky enough to see another professional bike race, which Melissa enjoyed. Shortly after that, we went to visit Melissa's dad in southern Florida where he recently moved and celebrated our third anniversary together. We just returned from a holiday trip to Barcelona and are getting ready for a pre-birthday trip to Seattle.

It's not all play and no work though! Kurt has taken on more responsibilities in his position at AMD, and Melissa's practice has continued to grow in her second year of independent private practice. We're still getting settled into our new house, even though it doesn't feel quite so "new" anymore after moving in last year.

Melissa has slowly made a comeback to running after breaking her ankle last year. It's been tough for her at times, but being active together remains an important foundation of our relationship. We're looking forward to running a half marathon together in Houston in January. There might also be a triathlon in Kurt's future, as he has recently added swimming and cycling to his repertoire.

We are already busy planning our travels for next year. Wherever the road may take us, we are excited to approach it together. And, if the road ever finds you in Austin, then please let us know as we'd love to see you!