2021:
A Year In Photos

2021 was Tom‘s first full year of working remotely, and, frankly, he‘s loving it. He has a great home office setup, and he spent the year learning how to make a great latte! Since we no longer have a daily commute past a coffee shop, we purchased our own espresso machine last Christmas. Having a personal barista is perhaps one of the best investments for employee morale.

In January, Teresa finally set up her home studio with space for creating and storing art.

And she started a monthly art exchange with friends and family. Each month members of the group make a small artwork to send to another person in the group.

Because of the exchange, Teresa made more art in 2021 than she made since graduating from Pratt. It has been good to make time to be creative and create pieces with a specific audience in mind.

After a lot of reflection, Teresa pivoted careers and is back in graduate school! She is enrolled in a one-year, full-time virtual masters degree program through Johns Hopkins in Education Policy. Especially given the education landscape during COVID-19, she hopes to make meaningful change for teachers and students. So far the program has been a lot of statistics (multiple regression is tricky!) and writing policy memos (didn't know what these were six months ago!), but the professors and members of the cohort are driven and supportive (even in a virtual setting, like Blackboard).

Perhaps the biggest news of our year, we adopted a second dog! This is Raku, a name that is both a programming language and a ceramics firing technique. A former Texas stray, Raku took to us and his new home almost immediately. He is a Great Pyrenees / Border Collie / Anatolian Shepherd mix, or as our vet described him, “a Border Collie on stilts”. He alternates between goofy and stoic, graceful and awkward, and is the perfect addition to our menagerie of furry friends.

Ruby knew she had a new best friend as soon as we got back from picking him up. She must have smelled him on us when we got home, because she ran outside to meet him as quickly as she could. They have been playing fairly non-stop ever since. Raku has made Ruby happier and braver, and been the best sibling we could hope for.

Traila was … less sure about Raku. She does seem grateful at least that Ruby is less interested in her now, and that she has some perches where she can relax out of Raku's reach.

Though we personally haven‘t resumed flying yet, we did have a few great car trips this year once we were vaccinated. In fact, we booked our vaccine appointments a two hour drive away with the intention of turning it into a trip after dose two. Our “vaxcation” in late May was spent resting and hiking around Ithaca.

Ithaca‘s gorges didn‘t disappoint.

Other trips away from home included to Maine to visit (and meet!) some of Teresa's extended family.

And to Lake Placid to visit Tom‘s family and to enjoy the Adirondacks.

As part of Teresa‘s Education Policy course we traveled to Washington DC in August and worked out of an Airbnb. Though the orientation was not in-person due to the Delta wave, we were able to visit the Johns Hopkins campus, grab drinks with some of Teresa‘s extended family (not sure what better to call you, Matt and Martha!), meet a handful of Teresa‘s new classmates for brunch, and visit old friends of Teresa's in Virginia (MJ from Dubai and Kim from high school, and their respective families).

A busy trip, we stayed in an Airbnb that was walking distance from the National Zoo, so we spent an afternoon there too, hanging out with the otters (who were playful) and pandas (who were asleep).

In October traveled to see some of Tom‘s high school friends when we spent a weekend with Micah and his family in Vermont. Raku was in heaven — Micah‘s daughters lavished him with attention and pets for hours on end. (Ruby mostly kept to herself. She prefers kids to adults, but prefers solitude to the company of strangers.)

Liam and his wife also came to Vermont while we were there, and helped Micah prepare some of the best steaks we‘ve ever tasted.

Although we enjoyed our quiet Thanksgiving at home last year (Teresa prepared a feast for two), we were very happy to be able to celebrate with family again. This year we traveled to Buffalo to meet our new niece and to spend time with all of Tom‘s immediate family.

Though we‘ve visited Western New York together multiple times, we find something new every time we go. This trip we went to the National Comedy Center in Jamestown with Tom‘s mom, perused the traditional Swedish foods and decorations at a local farm, and hit up a few of Buffalo‘s many great breweries.

We were also excited to host more family and friends this year, some of them visiting the Hudson Valley for the first time (or at least the first time in a long time). Tom‘s sister, Kayleigh, and her family stayed with us for Fourth of July weekend. We took a hike near the Hudson River.

And after watching the Independence Day parade in Hyde Park, we walked around the grounds of FDR‘s home.

In August Teresa‘s sister, Carole, came for a week. It was our first time, but not our last, going to Storm King and seeing pieces by Andy Goldsworthy in person.

Carole and Teresa took a couple days for a midweek sisters trip in the Catskills, hiking around Ashokan (seeing a bear!) and staying at Scribner‘s Lodge. Carole was born in Catskill, but hadn‘t been back since she was an infant. It was nice to be together and find some places neither of us had been before.

Teresa‘s dad, Mike, and stepmom, Gaye, drove out from Iowa in November.

We hadn‘t seen each other in person since 2019, which felt like ages ago. It was Gaye‘s first visit to New York since Teresa moved here, and Mike‘s first trip to the Hudson Valley since Carole was born.

We‘ve also loved having friends come up from The City for day trips, like going with Jazmin to Dia: Beacon. We encourage everyone to visit the Hudson Valley, whether for a day trip, a weekend, or longer. We are always happy to host and show you around.

We really have readjusted well to living in a house with a yard in a small town. The dogs love it, too! Whether it‘s snowy …

… or sunny …

… we‘re hiking …

… snowshoeing …

… dining outside …

… playing mini-golf …

… supporting our Minor League team (go Renegades!) …

… or harvesting hops …

… we truly love living here.

We hope you enjoyed this glimpse into the fun parts of our year, and that you have been able to find joy and peace in these strange times we are in. Here‘s to a great 2022 for all of us, where we all get to see each other soon, more often, and without a screen in between us.