Happy New Year

      As 2013 comes to a close and we are just hours away from rolling into 2014, I find that a little introspection is cathartic and good for the soul. Yep....... 2013 was a year. Now that I have the introspection out of the way I can write what I want......

      2013 was truly a banner year for us. We started out the year finding out that Jessie and Garrett were expecting a baby. What exciting news it was, since he is our first grandchild. In January, I also decided that I would retire at the end of the school year. With that decision made, the rest of the year flew by. So many times. I would think, "This is the last time I will......." and while I wasn't sad about it, it certainly made me recognize that the end of a season in my life was coming fast upon me.

     As we moved through the Spring, I would constantly badger Jill that she should retire with me. My line was "C'mon Jill, grow old along with me." It took until Memorial Day for her to make the decision to jump off of the employment train, but I am so glad she did. The past six months have been truly wonderful as we have played hard and not driven each other crazy.

     June saw the end of my teaching career and a trip of a life time. We left on June 14th for a one month tour of the National Parks in the west. Up to this time I had only been west of the Mississippi twice. Once 40 years ago when I flew to Hawaii, and again in the late 90s when the girls and I were in Memphis. We crossed over the Mississippi into Arkansas, drove up to the next bridge and drove back into Tennessee, just to say that we had been in Arkansas.

    Driving across the country to Breckenridge, CO in 3 days was a push, but we needed to get out there. Once there, we slowed down and visited:
  Moab Utah, and Arches National Park.
  Mancos, CO and Mesa Verde National Park
  Four Corners
  The Painted Desert
  The Petrified Forest
  Route 66 in Holbrook, AZ
  The South Rim of the Grand Canyon
  The North Rim of the Grand Canyon
   Zion National Park
  Bryce Canyon National Park
  Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake
  Yellowstone National Park
  Cody, WY
  Little Bighorn National Battlefield
  Colstrip, MT
  Trails End Mansion, Sheridan, WY
  Devils Tower, WY
  Mount Rushmore, SD
  Custer State Park, Custer SD
  Wind Cave National Park, Custer, SD
  The Lincoln Home, Springfield, IL
  4 days driving home.
We traveled with Jill's sister and her husband, whom we vacation with frequently, and the four of us had a truly phenomenal time. To be gone that long traveling with another couple and still be friends says a lot about how great the Nivens are!  We got home on July 12 and left for five weeks at the beach on July 13th.

     While we were away Jill released her second novel, Will Power II: The Courtship.
On August 18th we celebrated 35 years of marriage AND the birth of Benjamin Randall Copeland.  We cut our beach trip short and came home to welcome Benji.

     August saw some not so happy events as well. On August, 4th, we went to Irish Eyes Restaurant in Lewes, with Jane and Mike,  with  after eating a half dozen really tasty raw oysters and a really delicious soft shell crab, I went into anaphylaxis and left the restaurant in an ambulance. They determined it was a shellfish allergy, and my days of clams, crabs, oysters, shrimp, scallops, and lobster are now behind me........ sigh.......

    On August 17th, Jill's mom broke her leg. After a stay in Chester County Hospital, and Bryn Mawr Rehab, she came home, and Jill and I moved in with her until she was on her feet again. Literally on her feet.  We found ourselves keeping the roads between Unionville and West Chester hot as we cooked dinners and helped Jessie and Garrett out with a newborn at home, and stayed with Mom as she convalesced.

    October came along and Jill found out she had food allergy issues that we are still dealing with.
October also found us reclaiming the yard from landscaping that had gotten out of control. 1000 pounds of brush, weeds, branches, and bushes were taken to the dump, and we were able to claim a partial victory! Spring will see us cleaning up and starting over as far as replacing plantings go.

     November and December were a blur as we moved in a blink from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Jill released her third novel, The Long Climb Back and had a book signing the 22nd of December in Rehoboth. This third book, while not a part of her Will Power series, is her best story to date.

     We got home and Christmas was upon us. It was a warm happy Christmas season that was spent with family.

    That brings us to tonight, New Year's Eve. Jill had another allergic reaction to something, so we spent 4 hours in the ER, and another hour in the pharmacy. So it has been quite the exciting time all the way around.

     I have enjoyed this year and retirement immensely. I tell everyone that asks that it is the best gig ever. I highly recommend it to all. I also realize that having Jill by my side in this adventure helps make it so exciting, and I am so happy she decided to retire as well.

     We are starting 2014 by driving to Florida to visit friends for a couple of weeks and attend the wedding of my nephew in Charleston, SC.  I am looking forward to the warm weather and the fellowship of good friends and family.
I wish you all a  happy, healthy and blessed,  2014, I pray that it will be as exciting as this year was for us.

So there is my 2013 in review. It really was a very good year, and I am okay with that.