TuttleTree.com

Welcome back for another installment of What the heck did we do this year? Oh yeah that one thing. All things considered, it's been a quiet year for us. We didn't get any new jobs, houses, pets, or relatives this year. Megan obtained her Clinical Social Work License in May, the highest level of licensure she can obtain as a social worker short of becoming a doctor. She can now see Medicare clients, and works one day a week at the main office in Downingtown in addition to her normal schedule in Oxford. In August, Adam obtained a special "Advanced ColdFusion Developer Certification" from Adobe, which makes him more marketable to clients and a more valuable asset to his company. Speaking of which, E-Tech was bought in March by Perficient, but not much has changed for Adam. Just last week he had his 2nd yearly review and received a promotion, making him a Senior Technical Consultant!

In February we went skiing with some friends at Blue Knob. It was Megan's first time and by the end of the weekend she had worked up the skill and the courage to leave the bunny slope a few times. Adam was still in a lot of pain from his Crohn's/Spondylitis, but happy to deal with the pain just for the opportunity to spend some time on the slopes again; snowboarding is one of his favorite hobbies.

This summer we did lots of camping, canoing, and fishing; and to make our outdoor lifestyle a little easier Adam traded in his car for a pickup truck. He got a Ford Explorer Sport Trac, which has a full size cab with room for the dog and extra family or friends, and can easily carry our canoe on the roof. (Adam is also thrilled to finally have heated seats and four-wheel-drive!) We also took advantage of the good weather this summer to repair our fence (hat tip to Mom & Dad R) and plant a few trees along the back of our yard to provide a little bit more privacy. August brought the only wedding of the year: Megan's long time friend Luke was married in Detroit, making this the second farthest we've driven for a wedding to date. (No wiener-mobile this time, either.) Adam also started Remicade treatment in August for his Ankylosing Spondylitis and Crohn's Disease, and thankfully that seems to have ended months (that felt like years) of anguish and restlessness. It has helped him so much that he often forgets he ever even had back pain! And just in time!

In September we celebrated our second wedding anniversary by taking a week's vacation to Ireland. We saw most of the major cities along a loop of the southern third of the island, and took almost a thousand pictures! It was so much fun and so beautiful, we wished we could just bring it all home with us. In fact if you're all willing to come with us (because we can't just leave you behind), then we're ready to make the move to Kenmare. We were fortunate enough to get tickets to a Penn State football game in October (hat tip to Zach, his dad, and his parents), and took the opportunity to visit Megan's Grandparents B in State College, PA. It was great to finally see Penn State play in person, and apparently we were good luck because they brought home a win that day! So here's to another wonderful year from the Pennsylvanian Tuttle's and we wish you all a happy holiday. Much love, Megan and Adam