Every year I post highlights to reflect on everything that happened — good and bad. I usually post it at the very end of the year or right at the beginning of the new year. I’m a little bit late posting this one because our weekends have been jam-packed with stuff. It’s been difficult to find a few minutes to write about an entire year. <\/p>\n
First, here are links to past annual recaps to get you caught up:<\/p>\n
So what happened last year? So much! Probably too much to condense into a single update but I’m going to give it my best effort. <\/p>\n
We started the year off strong with a Plank Challenge<\/a> and we were very optimistic about blowing our goals out of the water<\/a>. However, it didn’t take long for us to succumb to life and being busy and we were back to our lazy selves in no time. <\/p>\n I hosted my first Zumbathon\u00ae<\/a> and we raised a good chunk of money for Big Brothers Big Sisters<\/a>, a cause that is near and dear to me. All of the crazy fundraising we did during the “For Kids’ Sake” campaign paid off. I was the top fundraiser at our annual company “Bowl for Kids’ Sake” event. <\/p>\n Brian and I attended more events this year than we ever have and were even inducted into the Society of 1895<\/a>. I couldn’t make that luncheon but Brian attended for the both of us. Here are some of the other events we had the privilege of attending last year:<\/p>\n We also discovered a winery just South of Wichita<\/a>. Besides selling great wine, they also host an amazing outdoor concert series<\/a> every summer. <\/p>\n The Keeper of the Plains statue that Brian helped design<\/a> was finally installed in our atrium at work. And, it’s magnificent!<\/p>\n I celebrated my 15th service anniversary at work<\/a>. I also switched teams at this time. I’m still in Customer Care but now part of the Business Solutions team. <\/p>\n Brian and I traveled to two places we’d never been. First to Alaska<\/a> over Memorial weekend, where we went to visit Sheryll and her family. Then, later in the year, we celebrated my 40th birthday in the Bahamas<\/a>. Both trips were memorable in their own way and we feel truly blessed that we had the opportunity to go. <\/p>\n We hosted a couple of fun parties at the house. The one over Fourth of July weekend<\/a> resulted in Brian finally completing the installation of the automatic garage door opener for our third car garage<\/a>. The second one was the first Zumba World Party party<\/a> that I’ve had in a long time.<\/p>\n Besides installing a garage door opener, Brian also installed a Nest thermostat and some smart switches<\/a>. <\/p>\n Brian and I completed a couple of drink tours: the Wicked Brew Tour<\/a> and the Carlos O’Kelly’s Summer Drink Tour<\/a>. The former got us these cool, limited edition shirts from Visit Wichita<\/a>. The latter got us really cool hand-blown glassware. <\/p>\n Besides the #DanceForKids Zumbathon that I hosted at the beginning of the year, I did a ton of Zumba. We had more Zumba in the Square<\/a> events than ever. There was Zumba at the Relay for Life<\/a> event, where we danced from Friday night into Saturday morning. I added a new class to my Zumba teaching scheduled — 5:15 AM on Fridays. And then, of course, there’s the annual Zumba Instructor Convention (aka #ZINCON)<\/a>, where we spend four days of nonstop Zumba<\/a>. <\/p>\n Speaking of Zumba, I finally made Zumba Wear 3 Star Insider<\/a>! My friend Missy and I made it during the same quarter. <\/p>\n Other firsts include visiting local sunflower fields<\/a> for the first time and playing in a ping pong tournament<\/a> with some friends. I have to say 2017 is the year that I saw my ping pong game truly improve. <\/p>\n This was a banner year for me because it’s the year that I left my 30s behind. Supposedly 40 is the new 30 so I’m looking forward to what this new year will bring! <\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Every year I post highlights to reflect on everything that happened — good and bad. I usually post it at the very end of the year or right at the beginning of the new year. I’m a little bit late posting this one because our weekends have been jam-packed with stuff. 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