Happy Holidays and Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope everyone is

happy and well and

had a great 2014.

This year my biggest adventures

included:

Visiting Costa Rica

Starting the process of buying

a house (!)

Early in the year I took a long-arm quilting

class ...

... and had some fun in the field for work...

... which nicely off-set the hours I spent digging

around trying to find the septic tank cover ...

I went up to Vermont for a week around Memorial Day -

I snagged an on-line deal and got myself some spa time...

I saw a bit of the World

Cup—and enjoyed the

Germany-USA match

with one of our German

Colleagues at work ...

This spring, Mom had a fall and fractured her

shoulder :(. But, as shown here, has recovered.

We’ve also had a few splendid skies this year :)

One of the highlights of the year was my vacation to Costa Rica—

for 17 whole days!

We started by driving from San Jose to the Arenal region—(Arenal

volcano, Lake Arenal, and the village of Arenal)

We stayed first at Arenal Volcano Observatory, where

we were woken by Howler Monkeys, took nature

hikes, learned about tropical rainforests, and saw all

different kinds of wildlife.

Boruca Masks Toucanet

Early morning view of

Arenal Volcano

Day Trip: Monteverde

Cloud Forest

Traditional ox-cart

Palo Verde National Park

Red-Eyed Tree Frog Palo Verde National Park

Fishing off the Pacific

Guanacaste—Rincon de la

Vieja National Park

Culebra Bay

Fresh Fruit!

Tortuguero National Park

Palo Verde National Park—the highlight of the trip

for me was seen in Green Turtules nest.

(photo from galleryhip.com, cameras were forbidden)

The other big event this year:

Signing a purchase agreement for a new

Townhouse ....

I expect to move in June or

July!

I saw more movies this year.

Those that are recommended: The Grand Budapest Hotel - I think that this was my first Wes

Anderson movie, and I found it charming

The Edge of Tomorrow - clever movie, and a good use of Tom

Cruise, who makes a very convincing coward

Guardians of the Galaxy - I never thought I’d go to see, never

mind enjoy the hell out of, a movie with a talking raccoon

John Wick - beautiful and

stylish, and a tight story that

supported the style

Captain America: The Winter

Soldier - fun and nice to see

some shades of grey in the

universe.

Big Hero 6 - very funny and

charming.

Chef - fun, and lovely

surprising cameos.