Newsletter

Maybe it's lazy, but this year's newsletter is coming in digital form...

This year was, again, a busy one for the Juliens.  For the first time in several years, we didn't do a ton of work around the house!  That freed up a lot of time on the weekends for other things...

On the home front, Maya is blossoming awesomely.  She started a new school this year, and the change was a welcome one for everyone.  Maya knows all of her letters (big AND small), she can write her name (which she surprised us with all of the sudden one day), and she's starting to recognize (and sound out) words in books.  She also LOVES sports; basketball and golf seem to be the leaders right now, but we'll see how that changes.  She's the girliest girl I know (she would wear a dress constantly if it made sense... "spinny-out" ones are sometimes the only ones that will do), but she has no problem getting beautiful dresses terribly muddy and filled with leaves while she's playing hard outside.  She's a beautiful little girl, and she's becoming very interesting to talk to.  She has interesting perspectives on many things, e.g.,  adjectives, what constitutes dinner, being busy, vegetables, the use of claws, feathers, okra, foreign language, driving.

    

        

Tim's day-to-day has not changed much this year; he's still working at Central Texas Animal Hospital, and he still seems to like it.  He's still playing basketball fairly regularly, but I think it's safe to say that his running has now completely lapsed.

My biggest news of the year was my promotion... I received tenure at UT and was promoted to associate professor.  Other than that, work is actually basically the same.  It makes me feel old to say it, but I'm not so sure about the philosophy of the student body.  Are they called the "me" generation?  They should be.  I also had a bit of a medical emergency this year; I won't fill a holiday letter with that negative story, but you can read about it here.  I'm pleased to report, I've now been declared healthy.  At my six month check up the cardiologist was pleased with his handiwork, the hole is closed and I'm off all of the medicines they gave me (all except aspirin, that is).  And on the up side, I really haven't had a migraine since the procedure.  I've started "running" (gasp!); I have a goal in mind, and hopefully I will be able to report in a year that I've kept it up...

We did several little trips around Central Texas.  In January, we took a trip to see the VERY cool Longhorn Cavern State Park.  In February, Maya's cousins (and aunt and uncle) came to visit; it's always fun to re-experience your home town with visitors.  Over the July 4th weekend we took day trips to Enchanted Rocks State Natural Area and Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park (the birthplace of the country of Texas).  In August, we were surprised by a visit from cousin Lilly, Aunt Theresa, and Grandpa Tim.  In October, we drove (not very far, in fact) down to Hamilton Pool.  It's really neat! We spent a weekend in December in San Antonio; we'd heard that the Christmas decorations were nice, and we weren't disappointed.  And we ran into Santa... who remembered Maya from last year and commented on how much she'd grown.  Maya was enamored.

  

  

Our more wide reaching travel was again extensive this year.  In February, we went to Detroit to visit Tim's extended family and for a birthday celebration for Tim's grandmother.  She passed away shortly after our visit, so we were very thankful for the time we had with her.  In March, my parents and I took Maya to Disneyworld.  (Disney is free for kids under three... so there we were, three paying adults with one kid).  Maya had a great time (and, if we admit it, the rest of us did too).  Shortly after returning from that trip, I went to Mannheim, Germany for a conference.  It was a quick trip, but I did get to see Heidelberg, and Mannheim is actually a very lovely city.  In April, my mom and Maya went with me to Washington DC.  I had some meetings, but outside of those meetings, we spent a nice day along with our friend Jamie, her mom, and her son Alex in the city.  Tim arranged a trip to Galveston for Memorial Day weekend.  It was a nice getaway, though unpleasantly hot and humid.  We went to San Francisco in July for a conference for Tim.  It was a great trip because we had a ton of friends that were in San Francisco at the time, and it was great to catch up with everyone.  We spent Labor Day weekend in Dallas, for no reason at all except to get away, and we actually found plenty of interest to do.  Maya and I went to Atlanta for another conference (this one with child care!) in September, and then all three of us went to Santa Fe for yet another conference.  It's a beautiful city, as are the surrounding hills.  We saw some simply beautiful scenery and did one particularly cool hike.  And finally, I write this letter from Chicago; Maya and I are taking a quick trip to visit my brother and his family (cousins!) and Grandpa Tim and Grandma Shelly (and other aunts, uncles, and cousins).

    

The BIG trip this year was to South Africa.  Our parents jointly, kindly, kept Maya for two weeks... we thought the combination of both the 40 hour trip and the types of things we wanted to be able to do were not a great idea with a three year old.  I had (of course) a conference for the first week we were there.  The rest of the time we spent with some friends of ours driving around the south west part of South Africa.  It was an AMAZING trip.  You can read about what we learned and saw (and see some of Tim's fabulous pictures here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here... hey, it was a long and lovely trip!).

The year has been busy, hectic, and at times a bit stressful, but, as always, we're ever thankful for the experiences we have together has a family, the pure joy our beautiful child brings us, and the love of our family and friends.  We hope the year has brought you and your family similar blessings.  And we hope to see you all in the new year!