Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

If you’ve found this letter then welcome to Octane Acres Review! I haven’t posted as often as I would have liked to this year, but I have learned a little bit about building a website and creating a blog, and that’s been fun. I hope to do more in 2020!

2019 was another eventful year here at Octane Acres. We learned early in the year that our family was growing! After the initial excitement came the realization that we were out of bedrooms, followed by idea to finish the basement. We started with dirt work to resolve water issues and create a walkout with a patio. We also moved the stairs to create a better flow, finished the utility room, and framed a new bedroom, bathroom, and family room. We switched to an outdoor wood boiler too, which means we’ll still be able to heat with wood but the mess will stay outside! Our favorite part so far has been the installation of central air. Worth. Every. Penny. With any luck at all we’ll be done with this project in early 2020, and we’ve decided we’re not taking on any more projects anytime soon. 

 

In March I was offered a new job working at American Solutions for Business in Glenwood. It offered a much shorter commute, regular hours, and an escape from retail which have all been wonderful. They were also willing to work with me being pregnant, as we found out we were expecting right about the time I got the job offer.

We celebrated Eliza’s second birthday in May and continue to be amazed at the little person she’s becoming. She is so smart and has an imagination that doesn’t quit. After she turned two we were able to get her into daycare at the same place she had gone before when there were temporary openings. She has made new friends there and seems to really enjoy it there. She has also recently joined dance with her best friend, Aria. She wasn’t quite sure about it at first, but has since started to enjoy it, and dances at home all the time. Eliza’s favorite movies are The Little Mermaid, Brave, Sing and The Lion King. She also loves to cook in her play kitchen, and to pretend to be a mermaid and a princess.

DS Powersports has continued to grow. There really isn’t a slow time of year for the business anymore. Derrik has been busy renovating and expanding the showroom when he’s had a spare moment and during the process I learned how to tape and mud drywall. I’m not very fast but I’m effective, and cheap! We have a kiosk at the Viking Plaza Mall again this Christmas season and we continue to tweak our offerings and processes there to make it better year over year. Hopefully our early snow will mean more people out enjoying the winter weather and needing snowmobile and cold weather gear!

Arguably the biggest event of the year was the arrival of Seger in October. He has absolutely completed our family. Eliza likes her brother but hasn’t quite mastered the art of being gentle. She has also struggled a bit with sharing attention but that’s getting better. Seger is growing fast and recently started to smile! We’re usually up once at night, which I can’t complain too much about. He likes to be held, farts like a full grown man, and will soon be into six month clothes.

Life has been busy and we are truly hoping that 2020 will be the year we can slow down a little bit and focus on the things that matter. It’s been way too easy to get wrapped up in all the things that have to get done and forget to enjoy the season of life we’re in. It is easy to get caught up in thinking things will get easier when the kids are in school, or when our projects get done, or other arbitrary times, but I refuse to wish time away and my goal this year is to learn to embrace the chaos and enjoy life. I hope you all do the same. Thank you so much for being part of our lives! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!