Kissing Off 2014......A Good Year for Sluggy!

** I am a bit late with this post but still wanted to get it published.  Blogger was giving me fits last night trying to get this finished.
Ok....maybe it was the 3 glasses of champagne too.  8-)))
Enjoy!** -Slug



Ok, so in reality my 2014 was much better than my 2013.
Almost dying(which I tried to do in 2013)is not a fun way to spend your year.
So I look upon 2014 with fondness by comparison.

Good things happened in 2014------

My health improved.  Despite the stress of having to deal with all the medical crap that was thrown at me.

And I celebrated a milestone birthday......

 

 

#2 Son graduated high school.......

And did well his first semester at college.............

 

 

The Daughter got a salaried management position at her work and we helped her buy a house........

#1 Son continues to be gainfully employed and has a good relationship with his girlfriend.  They came to visit and we went drinking.....very strange to go drinking with your adult children it is!

Hubs work continues to value his business contribution and rewards him well monetarily.

I was able to make us live well below our means in 2014 and sock away cash giving Hubs more options on when he can retire.

I/We traveled a great deal in 2014.......to Louisiana and back......

And met some internet friends in person too..........

 

 

to Washington, D.C. to Hubs' conference.......

 then to the Midwest and back.......

 to Virginia........

 and to Ocean City, MD

I tried to step outside of my comfort zone in 2014--first by attending the Bloggerpalooza in Rehobeth Beach, DE......

....accompanying Hubs to DC and then by traveling to
Pittsburgh/Illinois/Wisconsin/Iowa/Missouri/Illinois again......2 trips taken solo and the 1 havinhg to amuse myself alone in DC. (I am very proud of myself for doing all of these.)

I met a lot of internet peoples in person on these two trips and every one, without exception, was nicer and more welcoming than I expected.

I/We paid cash for a new car in 2014.   And it's purple.  8-))

Though we didn't do much gardening this year, we did 4 outdoor projects--power washing the house..........

having our Driveway paved and prettifying the ac/heat compressor area.........

And Hubs & College Boy took down the swimming pool.............

And 2014 was the year Hubs started making his own beer...............

 

While this wasn't MY accomplishment, like those little kids in the Shake n' Bake commercial, "I helped".

Though there wasn't mush gardening it didn't keep me from making my yearly batch of pepper relish.............

I worked on my genealogy a good bit in 2014 and made some breakthroughs and connected with kin.
I found another internet friend was related to me too. 8-)

I blogged a whole lot!  Hey, it keeps me sane......
I also did 5 giveaways in 2014.  I like making people happy giving stuff away.......

I de-cluttered a great deal in 2014.
First I finished emptying out my storage unit in Jan. 2014.........

And got rid of lots of garbage........

Then we sent 8 loads to Salvation Army over the course of the year and 2 old cars to other charities to auction off.

I bought some furniture and actually turned my living room into a living room in 2014.

That only took me 14 years to do!
And I made curtains and recovered chairs/made tablecloths too.......

I finally got around to doing some sewing in 2014(note curtains/tablecloths above as well as some clothing), though not as much as I hoped to do. 
I was on a roll until I left for my road trip in July and then just got busy with other things once I got home.....more trips mostly. ;-)

And there were lots of adult beverages in 2014...........

 

 

 

And then there were some not so great things that happened in 2014-----

Our last dog died in November........

College Boy didn't get accepted at Temple but OTOH he is LOVING the school he is attending and he made Dean's List his 1st semester so PPPPPbbbbbbbbbbtttttt to you Temple! 8-)

Gee, that's about the only really bad things I can think of for 2014.

Ok, I had a brain fart and almost bought a church...........

before I came to my senses.
We has some big expenses in 2014.........the repaving of the driveway, a hefty $4K health insurance deductible with a new plan we were on, a car purchase and pay for COLLEGE($$$$!)but it wasn't anything we couldn't financially handle.
Sometimes you just have to spend that money....

2014 was a good year financially as well.  More on how we did earning and keeping some of our money in our own pockets in blog posts in the coming week.


I did a LOT of Rite-Aid shopping after I returned from my Summer Road Trip too but that doesn't cost nearly anything.
But keeping the stockpile you end up with in order IS a chore....

And between giveaways, gifting to friends and family and donating.........

we "shared the wealth" and spread the joys of stockpiling around.



Now that I think back on 2014 I think I WILL miss it!
Or at least most of what went on this past year.

And I enjoyed myself more in 2014.

So how was your 2014?
Are you sad to see it go or can't wait to close that chapter of your life?


Here's to everyone who survived their year and let's all look forward to all the GOOD THINGS coming our way in 2015!



Sluggy