We are approaching the end of the year and that means it's time for my annual year in review and oh my gosh what a year it has been!
We kicked off the new year celebrating with our friends, and with the clink of a glass our new year was off an running! We spent some time in January and February cleaning and prepping the boat for the next season, making a couple of trips down to the marina to get those tasks completed. While there we enjoyed some time at the Marblehead Lighthouse, and some of our other favorite spots, like Overboard bar, and the Gristmill.
February we attended the Dock Trash Yacht Club party. They had a great 80's night party, and we danced and sang along with Billy Morris (formerly of the band "Warrant") and the Sunset Strip, this was a fantastic band! Night two meant cover band Killer Flamingo's a Put In Bay regular. We ate, drank, danced, sang, and had so much fun!
And that brings us to March. March was very special indeed. On March 15th, 2024 we purchased my Grandparents home in Jackson MI. This is a home that they built for their family, in 1969, and made some rather grand renovations in 1991. The house is big, a little over 3000 sq. feet, and it needed some updating. But it was warm, inviting, and frankly our honor to breathe a little life back into. I have come to call this the Park house.
Throughout the remainder of the year we have worked to make the Park house our home. We had a few major projects like a new roof, and new furnace, but for the most part there have only been cosmetic changes. The layout of this house is great, ideal for entertaining (which you know I love) but still a warm and inviting space when it's just the two of us. You can look back through this blog at all the changes from this year at the Park House and i will continue to update on it here through out the coming year.
Buying the Park house also meant saying goodbye to our beloved home on Sharon Dr. We spent 18 years in that house. We raised our kids there. Had some really great times, and some really sad times there. We said goodbye to our sweet Logan there. It was a safe haven to us when we needed it, and protected us through many many seasons of our lives. It was a bittersweet moment to let it go, but we were so happy to see a new family come in and love it as much as we had.
Spring and summer brought more than just household renovations though! We were honored to watch Brianna receive her Bachelor's degree from the University if Olivet in their ceremony in May, having been a 2020 highschool grad it was nice to see her get to experience all of the joy if having a full graduation ceremony, complete with cap and gown!
The spring season also meant the kick off to boating season! And our beautiful boat "The Other Side" launched on the day of the total solar eclipse! What a sight! Port Clinton was in the path for viewing the eclipse in totality and it was absolutely breath taking. I wish I had pictures to do it justice.
We went on a number of boating trips this season, making our first ever visit to Middle Bass Island, Ohio. It was so pretty, a quieter island but still with a little night life to keep things fun. We travelled with a fleet of boats from our marina which made it even more enjoyable! This trip along with many to Put In Bay made for a fantastic summer on the lake! Here are a few of my favorite moments from our boating season.
August is Anniversary month and that means our annual Vegas vacation! As usual we had such a great time! We visited the new Arte Museum, went for a ride at Flyover Las Vegas, visited the new Blake Shelton bar Ole Red on the Las Vegas Strip, and hit up all of our favorite spots like Vanderpump Paris, Cosmopolitan's Barber Shop Bar, and even a few spots downtown on Fremont St. It was a great trip, we love it there so much!
In October we hosted our first get together at the new house for Halloween. We are known for our semi-annual Halloween parties, and this one was just as much fun! So much so that I barely have any pictures! We had a Wild West Ghost Town theme and everything turned out great! Amber and Dama helped pull the vision together, complete with Amber's versions of Wanted posters of all of us on display! It was a hoot!
Just a few short week later we hosted Thanksgiving with Andy's Mom and Dad, Brother, and cousins. Along with our own kids of course lol! We ate, and ate, played some games, and ate some more! It was so nice to have everyone together before Rick and Meri Beth were to leave to go down to Tennessee for the winter season.
*** I would insert a photo here but I was enjoying the moment and didn't take even one photo! 😂***
I spent the following weekend decking the halls for Christmas, it was interesting trying to decide how I wanted everything laid out in a new place for Christmas but ultimately, I am very happy with how it all came out! We hosted friends for an ugly sweater party in early December and spent the night in Port Clinton a week later for the Yacht Club Christmas Party and Change of Watch Ceremony. I am now officially the Vice- Commodore of Lakefront Yacht Club.
We had an amazing week this week, hosting Christmas Eve with my family, and Christmas day with the kids was as usual pretty awesome. Everyone got exactly what they wanted for Christmas, joy all around.
*** again living in the moment pretend there is a great photo here lol ***
We hope you all have had as amazing a year as we have. It was not at all what we expected but WOW what a ride! I can't wait to see what 2025 has in store. Sending all of our love and blessings to you all! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
~ Andrew and Courtney Bailey
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