2013 Year in Review

Wow 2013 you sure went by quickly!! It seems like each year flies by faster and faster than the previous year. I'll try to let the photos do the talking. :)

January

With busy season I honestly don't remember what happened or didn't happen in January.  However in late January Scrubmates hosted Winter Wine & Tea.  We were fortunate enough to have the Colt's super bowl trophy to take pictures with.

February

This didn't happen in February but it aired, our TV debut, on Pawn Stars!

March

A work trip to Dallas to see my buddy Reggie happened in early March.  Then, at the end of busy season, I was rewarded with a trip to the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 to see Louisville on their run to the National Championship.

 April

By April, Darren's interviews were in full force.  We coupled an interview at Mt Sinai with a long weekend in New York City. 

 May

During Darren's last interview leg in May, we ended up doing a road trip to Durham, Charleston, Asheville, Savannah and Gatlinburg.   Also in May we went to the Indy 500 for the first time.

 June

In June we went out and celebrated Mollie's birthday with a beautiful cake and a tasty dinner.

 July

 In July we had a BBQ for the 4th and the following weekend went to Chicago to celebrate the wedding of Kristin and Tim.

August

In August I went to my first official soccer game and saw Chelsea beat Inter Milan.  Then we jetted off to Vegas and met up with Jason and Michelle for a long weekend and then spent the rest of the week in Los Angeles. 

September

A weekend in September ushered in football season with the Bears playing the Vikings. 

October

In October we celebrated our first anniversary by taking our first trip to London!

November

In November I got to join Bryan and Carolyn for their baby shower in Chicago and then that same weekend we went to a second bears game against the Lions.

December

Christmas.  So grateful we got to celebrate with both of our families again this year.

London! - Churchill War Rooms

Wow it has been a really busy 6 weeks or so!  Sorry I haven't been back on blog in awhile.  Catching up with work, preparing for Christmas and busy season!

Well what started off the craziness was that Darren and I were able to take a trip to London at the end of October.  We left late on Friday night arriving in London around lunchtime.  By the time we got through customs, got our luggage and got to the hotel it was mid afternoon and we had a few hours to do something before crashing!

We tried to go to Parliament but it was already sold out for the day so we walked to the nearby Churchill War Rooms.

This bunker was used by Churchill and his command during World War II.  This room was the main meeting room where strategy for the Allies and the British was determined.

This room was Mrs. Churchill's bedroom on the rare occassion she stayed in the bunker.

This was called the "map" room, another room where strategy was discussed.

This was the kitchen used to prepare meals for the Chrurchill's when they were in the bunker.

This was Churchill's bedroom for when he stayed in the bunker.  It was also his private office for receiving visitors and making private phone calls.  He often napped here taking short power naps.

This was the door from #10 Downing Street when Churchill was Prime Minister of Great Britian.

NFL Hall of Fame

From our trip to Canton and our visit to the NFL Hall of Fame.

My Travels

We also visited the rapids called the White Water Walk and on the American side of the falls visited the Cave of the Winds.

Bears vs Minnasota

A few weekends ago Darren got Bears tickets off of Ebay so we headed up to Chicago for the weekend.  The tickets were nearly as good as my first Bears game but we did have a great time despite the drizzly weather

Team introductions.

 The skies did brighten up for part of the game.

 View from our seats.  They were about 20 rows up in the upper deck on the goal line.  Relatively good view from where we were sitting.

 Selfie for kicks. 

 On a last minute drive the Bears won 31-30!! Great ending!

Endeavour

Since it was sold cold our last day in LA we decided to instead go to the California Science Center to check out the Endeavor.  We got there a bit early and the museum is right next to the LA Memorial Coliseum where they held the Olympics, where the LA Raiders used to play and where the USC Trojans currently play.

 

The wheels from Endeavor.

The view from Endeavor from the entrance from its temporary home until the new space center is built.

The underbelly of the space shuttle with the heat resistant tiles. Apparently the ties are very fragile and will basically shatter when touched.

The backside of Endeavor

The space shuttle was much smaller than I anticipated.  Also I figured we'd get to see inside of it but apparently there are no plans for that.

Maid of the Mist

I think one of the most must do's at Niagara Falls is to take a trip on the Maid of the Mist. Up close and personal to the roaring waterfalls.

Reagan Presidential Library

Darren and I are both suckers for Presidential history.  While in California we decided to go out to Simi Valley and check out Reagan's Presidential Library.  If we hadn't decide to go to the Dodgers game later that night, I would have stuck around and tried some of the local wine but we didn't think about it when planning our day.

The front of the library is very unassuming

And a casual Reagan greats you at the front door.

 Inside Ronald and Nancy are nice enough to stand posing for pictures.

Inside there is a replica of the Oval Office when Reagan was president down to the photos that sat behind his desk.

The most famous item in the library is the 737 that served as Air Force One for Reagan.  This plane was retired after his presidency and a 747 was put into place.  We got to walk through it but unfortunately you couldn't take pictures within it.

  

   

The room that held the plane had the most amazing view of the valley.

Other modes of transportation were there including this limo that served as Reagan's presidential limo during his time in office.

 The view from the terrace outside of the 737.

 

A portrait of Reagan made from Jelly Belly jelly beans.

The museum also featured a touring Abe Lincoln exhibit.  This is one of only three stove pipe top hats of Lincoln's that are known to exist.

A lifelike bust.

On the way towards the car we walked around their own rose garden.

And paid our respects at Reagan's final resting place.