2013 in Review

Hello readers! Congratulations to everyone because we have all collectively made it to the end of 2013! I'm sure there were some superstitious folks at the end of 2012 doubting our very exsistance at the end of 2013 because of the bad luck surrounding the number 13. Yet, we have prevailed and proven them all wrong by living through the entire year of 2013 without even a scratch! Ok, the government shut down was pretty awful leaving thousands of people jobless and bored and fretful about money for 17 days but other than that, we made it!

At this special time of year most people are bustling about finding gifts for loved ones, pondering on life improvements for the coming year and wrapping up final projects for work or school. We have decided a good use of our time would be to summarize our highlights, dimmer lights (things that have both positive and negative aspects so they are neither high nor low), and lowlights of the year 2013 for the benefit of you readers. Search for Easter eggs throughout the post for more detailed descriptions of our 2013 journeys.

Taking our lead from ESPN and Darren and Carey, top 5 lists are best done leading into #1. Therefore, without further ado, our 2013 Year Wrap Up!

Top 5 Highlights:

5 - Scott and Kiersten (for the rest of this post, known as S&K) moved permanently to Virginia!

4 - S&K both received full time jobs in their chosen fields of study and are beginning their adult careers.

3 - S&K went on a National Parks and Landmarks cross-country road trip.

Grand Canyon, Arizona

2 - Scott graduated from BYU in April with his Bachelors in Geography with an emphasis in Geospacial Intelligence.

The Graduate with brothers Darren and Brenton

1 - S&K celebrated two years of marriage in May.

Top 5 Dimmer Lights:

5 - S&K are graciously living free of rent in Manassas, VA with Kiersten's parents helping them save money for a future place of residence in the Northern Virginia area.

4 - S&K are called as Valiant 10 Primary teachers with a class average size of 7-9, rambunctious 11 year olds. We now have a deeper respect for full time teachers. You are saints!

3 - S&K struggle (slightly) with living so close to both sets of parents and with spending equal time with both, especially during the holidays. It's a blessing and a curse really. Those of you who have experienced this know what we mean.

2 - The Jackson family bid a fond farewell to both Brenton and Jenna (Scott's younger siblings) as they departed on full time LDS missions to Brazil and Portugal respectively. We are so happy they are serving the Lord but there presence is sorely missed. We look forward to their letters and emails every week.

Elder Brenton Dean Jackson

Sister Jenna Lindsey Jackson

1 - The National Government SHUTS DOWN leaving Scott bored at home while Kiersten continued to work.

Top 5 Lowlights:

5 - Kiersten broke her thumb in November of 2012 but didn't know until January 2013 and she got her first cast ever for 2 weeks.

Drawing on cast denotes how I was injured... it was as a soccer goalie on a spectacular save.

4 -Scott was injured while running but survived to tell the tale with only a scar on his chin to show for the trouble. For the record, it's still not funny.

3 -Brenton (Scott's younger brother) was delayed from his missionary service for 3.5 months battling to recover from Lyme Disease, including an intense medication regiment.

2 - Mr. Kitty, the Jackson's family feline for over 12 years, was laid to rest unexpectedly in August.

Mr. Kitty in his natural habitat

1 - After many long years of love and support for her family, the Jacksons said their earthly goodbyes to the one and only Maxine Dean or Grandma Dean, as we knew her, in March.

The late Grandma Dean holding a crying Baby Scott

As a final end to 2013 we say thank you for your friendship and love to you readers. Without readers, this blog would just be cluttering up the cosmic void of internet space so thanks for making our blog seem less useless. We will try in 2014 to be better about posting events in our lives but we can't promise anything. As #4 of our Top 5 Highlights mentioned , we have full time jobs now and we don't have the time we once did as college students so be kind when we go days or weeks without updating you on our tremendously exciting lives. We leave you with a final picture and wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!