New year, new goals, new experiences.

We rang in the New Year with some of our closest friends (and some people we had just met). It took place at a friend’s house, but it was far from the ordinary New Year’s experience.

In a basement-turned-speakeasy, we participated in our first Murder Mystery party. Set during prohibition, everyone got into their costumes and characters.

And we had a blast!

I’m definitely going to try to convince them that the basement should stay that way. And I totally want to do another Murder Mystery again.

The new year started off cold — much too cold for my taste.

But the weather gave us some indoor time to reflect on the past year.

Last New Year’s Eve, we spent the night at Stone Brewery in Escondido, California with our friends Fabian and Marie. We were saving up money for our trip back to Minnesota, balancing work and play as best we could.

In May, we said goodbye to our friends, park, and jobs in Southern California.

And we set out on the road for another adventure, traveling up the West Coast to see some truly amazing places.

We visited Hearst Castle, Glass Beach, the Redwoods, Big Sur, Portland, and more. We headed west through Washington, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota before eventually reaching Minnesota in June.

After nearly six weeks of travel, we slowly adjusted to life back in our home state.

I picked up a new job and started freelancing for the newspaper in California instead of working as a staff member. Andy started working on some projects for our families. And we both tried to settle back into life in Minnesota.

We lived in our motorhome through the summer and fall, finally moving indoors in December after a trip back to California. And now we are busy figuring out what the New Year will bring!

Right now, it has brought cold weather and snow — and winter memories I am not sure I’m pleased with.

But the winter wonderland can certainly be beautiful sometimes!

We are trying hard to get out and spend time outdoors, even with the cold weather. We even took the dogs sledding the other day! (No pictures because it was cold and snowy.)

Happy New Year from the Wandering Dolphin crew!