Picketts in Poland: Happy New Year…Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku

Last day of 2012…

….time spent reflecting about this year….

….Mark working all day….

….Melissa and I visiting the 33rd floor observation deck of the Cultural Palace….

….shopping at the Złote Tarasy mall….

….a New Year's Eve party….

….a fun last day of the year!

I love new beginnings….and I was excited to start planning goals for the new year. But first, I spent some time reflecting on what this past year has meant for me, for Mark and me, and for our family.

I have had a good 2012…I have smiled, I have laughed, and I have cried. I have had new experiences, and I have been challenged. Most of all I have been blessed and have gone to bed each night with a grateful heart.

Mark, Melissa and I spent New Years' Eve at the home of one of Mark's co-workers…Brandon. He was a great host and we enjoyed being with many of Mark's co-workers.

We had great food, good conversations, fun music, and a fun evening.

Brandon lives very close to the Cultural Palace in the Centrum area and has a great view of the colorful Cultural Palace at night!

The temperature was cold outside, but the view was worth going out to see!

Happy Happy New Year's Eve….

Starting a few minutes before midnight, and lasting for at least 30 minutes, we were treated to one of the best fireworks shows we had ever seen! There were fireworks across the entire horizon of the city. In addition to several public fireworks displays, there were many private fireworks going off at the same time.

Though this picture is dark, we were all given fun noisemakers to welcome in the new year!

We loved having Melissa with us…she enjoyed visiting with many other Polish young adults…and had fun dancing too!

The new year came 6-9 hours earlier for us than it did for our family and friends in the U.S., depending on which time zone they are in.

We thought of them….missing familiar traditions, but having so much fun in Warsaw.

We didn't leave this party until after 2am…and didn't get to bed until 3:30am!
We can't remember when we last stayed up so late!

Mark and I have had a good year living in Poland…we had fun saying good bye to 2012…and happily welcomed 2013 with our Melissa!

January 1, 2013….After what seemed like just a few hours of sleep….wait, that's right, it was a just a few hours of sleep…we had a late breakfast and went walking in the Kabaty Forest, where I go on my weekly walks. Because there hadn't been any new snow for quite a while, we thought that it would quite easy to walk there.

To our surprise though, the trails were completely covered with ICE….and since we did not bring skates, we opted to walk off the trails and on the sides.

Since we woke up late and the sun went down at 3:30pm, this would be one of our shortest days of sunlight ever! It seemed like we had just begun the day when the sun began to set just barely above the trees.

Mark and Melissa are actually standing on an easy part of the trail…most of the trails were covered with ice and we could not follow any regular paths.

We walked for over an hour, not really knowing where we were going or where we would end up….as all of my familiar paths were gone. It was cold but not unbearable…and it was great exploring the forest with Melissa .