In January, I joined Kimberly-Clark in the IT department on the Desktop team that manages all of the corporations PCs along with the hardware/software for the PCs.

Ollie Baxter

In March, we added a new member to our family. We picked up a little male Yorkshire (Yorkie) Terrier we named Ollie Baxter. With a house that once had only a cat (who didn’t like dogs)… it was an interesting experience. But, the cat adjusted and we adore Ollie as he’s brought tremendous joy in a year we needed it most.

My strongly independent and brilliant mother passed away on May 5^th at the tender age of 55. The holidays were her favorite time of year. She loved spending time with her family and sharing unique gifts she’d collected throughout the year. It brought her great joy to watch as others opened her gifts.

During the first week of July, I had the opportunity to go wakeboarding in the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri with a group of friends from work. It was a wonderful time!

Penny Lou

In July, we welcomed another member into our family. Her name is Penny and she was my parents’ very mild and gentle golden retriever mix who is approximately 12+ years old. But don’t tell her she’s a “senior” as she’s learned a few new tricks from Ollie. Penny is a wonderful addition and she means a lot to the family.

In August, I (following in my mother’s footsteps) got my motorcycle’s license.

In September, Daniel turned the “big” 3-0. In October, I officially turned 29 (and holding).

Shiny and New Dishwasher

After a few years of convincing, we are happy to say our kitchen includes a shiny and new dishwasher along with a garbage disposal. In order to create storage space where some was lost (as we had to remove a cupboard), we re-organized our hall closet with adjustable metal shelving.