This past year marked the birth of a few awesome little ones to some of my closest friends and it has been truly a joy to get to see them become the awesome parents I always knew they would be, and for some, continue to be. It also brought forth the announcement of a few new little ones to join us in 2015, which I truly cant wait to meet. It may even require me to finally make that trip to Arizona I've been promising for years!
2014 also saw a resurgence of this little endeavor called Banana Daiquiris and Life Lessons. I fell short of the 52 blog posts I had hoped for by about 12, but still, that's far more than I had ever done and after 40 posts in one year I still enjoy doing it and occasionally we even bring in a reader or two.
Looking back at my new year's resolution post from a year ago I certainly didn't complete everything I had hoped to in this past year, but I had somme pretty amazing experiences, met some extraordinary people and have somehow been able to turn the massive amount of what could be mundane days that make up a year into one extended learning experience that undoubtedly has taught me a number of life lessons as well as has left me a better person.
One of the coolest things that happened for the blog this year was that we have coaxed a consistent contributor into the fray with Mike Braget. I know he must be somewhat in for the long haul with us as we even made his Christmas card this year! I know I had mentioned that I wanted to convince a celebrity to blog with us this year but I feel like its an even cooler experience to have Mike write a post from a hammock in Mexico!
Speaking of writing from Mexico...
My first post of 2014 was written from my desk at my house with just me and a glass of Jameson. It was a great experience and a post that looked towards the future without any real sentiment for where the year would bring me. As I sit here on my veranda in Playa Del Carmen overlooking the fantastic pool where I have just spent a good portion of my day enjoying Banana Daiquiris pool side I can honestly say that looking back 365 days there is no way I thought this is how I would be spending my new years 2015.
I spent most of 2013 trying to make up for a poor summer where we put far more money into our business than we ever had as well as some other poor financial decisions. I was pretty much flat broke living pay check to pay check and having to borrow money from my sister just to make it through the tax season.
We still didn't have a block buster year for our summer business but we did make enough to actually receive a pay check this year. We lost all of the month of June to rain, but when our crowds started to come back in July and August we dealt with far more families than ever before and really started to love what we do again. Even if we had simply broke even or not lost nearly as much as the previous year but still got to deal with these amazing people, it would have been worth it.
But we did make a little money, and after a bad couple years for me, my sister decided it was important that we take a vacation together. My brother, Ryan, had already booked a trip with his girlfriend over the same time period that we were going so we undoubtedly miss him on this trip, but it has been exactly what I think we all needed.
This escape to Mexico has been super relaxing (except for the near death experience on our trip here) and has led to a series of days spent sipping Banana Daiquiris and other frozen cocktails by the pool. Fun fact, when you spend your whole day day drinking, you tend to have pretty early nights. Our biggest worry for tonight is actually making it all the way to midnight! Our latest night so far was last night where Joe and I forced ourselves to stay up until 11:30! It helped that we met some new friends from Texas who were a lot younger than us, but day drinking, it appears, has the same effect on all of us!
This trip was just what the doctor ordered. It's a trip where we get to be together as a family (at least partially) in a situation where we aren't working. We probably spend more time together than any other siblings our age but those hours are almost exclusive to work, this is play, this is relaxation...this is quality family time.
So as this is the last blog of 2014 I'm not really going to delve into what I hope to accomplish in 2015, I just wanted to touch base with you as a recap of the year that was and say that it has been a good year for me as well. I'm not sure where I'm going from here, but I know where I am today...and today, my friends, is a great day.
Happy New Year from all of us at Banana Daiquiris and Life Lessons! We hope you have a fantastic night ringing in the new year with the ones you love, and don't forget to have yourself a daiquiri or two to ring it in!
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