January 31, 2014: Breakfast with Brandon this AM, then I looked at the weather…. more snow on the way.  Last minute decision to get out of town next week, so we went to Target to get swimsuits and started packing.  We’ll be at the beach in less than 24 hours!

January 30, 2014: Sweet, sleeping A.

January 29, 2014: Day trip to the east coast.  15 hours of travel for a 90 minute meeting, but it was a great day! 

January 28, 2014: Em went to the ‘beach’ today to escape the cold. Beautiful buck in the backyard today. Surprise 30th birthday party for Dan at BoomBozz Taphouse! Always fun to try a new restaurant.. even better with 30 people! :)

January 27, 2014: Nearly spent the entire day by the fire. Worked there all day and as soon as it was quitting time, we went “camping” in the front room. Had some venison chili and cooked s’mores on the fire. Jen and I kicked off our study of Proverbs tonight, by the fire of course!

January 26, 2014: Em was looking all grown up in her curls today for church! Mexican for lunch followed by basketball. Lost by 2 today but we played hard with no subs against a great team, so that was positive!

January 25, 2014: Swim lessons with Em followed by a daddy/daughter lunch date. Thai food for dinner followed with my homemade sticky rice and mango. Yum!

January 24, 2014:  TGIF. #workoffweekendon

January 23, 2014: Em and Jen made some bird feeders to hang out the windows, so it’s been fun watching them come around.  Today Em was playing by the window while a bird hung upside-down outside trying to get a bite. Haha!

January 22, 2014: Another lazy night at home.  Read some books with Em and then Jen and I played Expedite and made s’mores over the fire. The conversation went something like this:

Jen - “Do you want to work out?”
Brad - “Well, I just started this fire.”
Jen - “We could make s’mores.”
Brad - “Ok.”

:)

January 21, 2014:  Long, long day. Wakeup, 7am. Drive 8am - 12pm. Work 12pm - 9pm.  Drive 9pm - 12:30am. Avoided a night in a hotel though, and got to see the Harlem Globetrotters for a bit so.. win win.

January 20, 2014: Date night!  Rockstone Pizza and Pub followed by a visit to the new Fresh Market.  We found Jeni’s Ice Cream there! Brambleberry it is.

January 19, 2014: She always ends up in some weird way, haha!

January 18, 2014: Adventures in backyard sledding. Checking out the creek!

January 17, 2014: Jen gave me a ‘12 Months of Dates’ gift again for Christmas this year, starting off with a bang!  Tickets to Josh Turner at Hoosier Park + $50 for the casino.  We turned the $50 into $83 on about 20 minutes at the roulette table and then headed to the concert.  And it was AWESOME.  We had terrific seats and he was great live.  Would definitely go to a Josh Turner concert again!

January 16, 2014:  More snow at Siena.  Eventful trip home totaling nearly 6 hours in flight delays.  But hey, I’m home.

January 15, 2014: Beautiful, foggy morning at Trinity College.  After work, Matt and I stopped by Red Rose for some amazing cheese garlic bread and it was off to the Basketball Hall of Fame from there! So many great memories from the 1990’s in that place. Played basketball on the main court for about an hour and then stopped by the Birthplace of BlueFuego before heading off to Albany.  Great day!

January 14, 2014: I woke up at 3:45am to a voicemail that my flight was delayed. 15 mins, no big deal. I was offered a new flight through EWR at check-in with earlier arrival, so I took it. Got to gate, the pilot was actually in Moline. 3 hour delay. So I switch back to original flight. Board. Light is out in rear galley. Maintenance comes. Ended up with a 14 minute layover in Cleveland. Would have been 17, but the door got stuck half way open on arrival. Of course. Ran so hard I almost threw up. Made it to Terminal D. “Are you Mr. Ward?” Asks the lady at the top of the escalator. (No, I run 15 minute miles on layovers for fun. (epsteada)) She radios Gate D3, they hold, I board, and I make it to Boston. That calls for a #deboardingselfie. Success. Yeah, it was only 10am.

Made it to work, then headed to Boston to have dinner and catch up with the one and only Howard Kang. Good to see him!  From there a quick stop to see Adam (most popular) in Woooosta.

January 13, 2014: For the past 6 years we’ve spent a night each week in a small group, but this year we’ve decided to take a break. But… we’re keeping our weekly babysitter!  Let the year of date nights begin. Cheers :)

January 12, 2014: The Peppered Filet Hash at Capitol Grille is possibly the best breakfast meal there is.

January 11, 2014: What a terrific Saturday.  Spent the day with some of our closest friends at a marriage conference that Jen and Katie put together for us.  Afterwards we went downtown for dinner together a Buca di Beppo.  Jen and I stayed the night at the Conrad while my parents watched the girls. It was fun to get away for the night and get out of the house after a week inside! Love these people.