Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore

Basilica di Santa Croce

Galileo’s Tomb

Michelangelo’s Tomb

Finished up, A Bitter Brew, the rise and fall of Anheuser Busch.

Off to Florence.

17 and champagne at dinner. When in Rome.

The three of us enjoyed the tasting menu at Anico Arco on one of the seven hills overlooking Rome. Delicioso.

Santa Maria della Vittoria

Bridge over the Tiber River

The Capitol

The Pantheon

Piazza Navona

Trastevere

We visited the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain before the Jet Lag set it. We’ll hit the ground running in the morning.

Hawaii is the natural choice for our Christmas vacation, but #85 made me think outside of the box. Just being out here in the crisp air made me realize there is no “best time” to travel abroad.

Just passing through.

Sorry Hemingway, we’ll be back soon enough.

Being prepared is no less painful, so this goal will not return in 2013.

Brittany got an early Christmas present today when she was accepted by her top choice, the University of Seattle.

Brittany and her cousin having fun with their grandpa.

Vallartas is a grocery store that caters to the latin population in California. We love their selection of meats, so we like to shop here when we’re able to convince Sonia to cook dinner. The lines always move because no one’s basket is ever overflowing with food, which is why we chose a random Vallartas to spread some Christmas cheer. We wanted to anonymously pay for people’s groceries, but the manager didn’t know how to handle it and thought he may somehow get in trouble. So, instead we had to buy a handful of $100 gift cards and pass them out to random families. Even that took some convincing as we were met with skepticism. But in the end, the smiles came and Christmas dinner will taste a little better.

A good unconventional romantic comedy.

Brittany got her first early admission acceptance letter today from the University of San Francisco and she did it without the aid of soccer.

Brittany was named top 45 seniors to watch by the Los Angeles Daily News.

Office party for all of the sewers at Basically Me.

Meh.

Having two girls in the house is hard on my boy.

Finally left Vegas with more money than we came with. Close to even for the year.

Enjoyed dinner at three michelin star awardee Peter Gagnaire’s restaurant, Twist.

Last Vegas Weekend of the Year.

Nothing is official until signing day, but Brittany has decided to commit to the University of California, Riverside. Her High School soccer coach probably jumped the gun with the announcement on the website because things can change between now and February.

Aggressive may not be the right word, but the creation of our 401k is the third pillar in our retirement plan.

X-mas cards are on their way. Hopefully they’ll never be as awkward as these.

Sonia endured three years of torture for this moment.

Burgers at Bills in Evanston. Might have to add another weight class to the weight loss goals in 2013.

A most excellent Chicago brunch.

Hope to repeat this goal in 2013. Here are the places I needed to adjust my watch.

1. Pacific (California, Washington)
2. Mountain (Utah, Idaho)
3. Central (Chicago)
4. Alaska
5. Eastern (New York City, Atlanta)
6. Europe (Spain)

Gene and Judes straight from the airport for a couple of dogs.

I won the luggage lottery. First bag out.

In addition to the above, Brit’s High School team played their first match (pre-season) on the new field. They won 3-1. Brit scored two.

Fast food, mediocre scenery, lots of cows and road trip karaoke.

Best parts…

1. The beginning. Brittany discovers she’s being recorded.

2. At 48 seconds, Sonia is unfazed by me singing over her question.

Brit was offered a significant scholarship to join the current Big Sky champs, Idaho State Bengals. She’s got a tough decision brewing.

Full day at Idaho State today.

Salt Lake to Pocatello, Idaho.

Applications are in. Brit’s future plans are starting to crystalize.

We thought we were being brought in for an unofficial visit, but at the end of the meeting with the head coach, Brittany was offered a scholarship to play for the Division I UC Riverside Highlanders. Still get choked up thinking about it.

Toured UC Riverside today. We were all very impressed. I wish I was the one going to college.

With a minute left in the game, the ref inexplicably called a penalty in the box and handed the other team the tie. That lead to sudden death PKs which Brit’s team has only won once in about a dozen tries over the last five years. Make that a baker’s dozen after today’s loss.

Despite being a minute away from making the finals, the girls had a great run. Brit played fantastic and seemed to have left an impression with several college coaches of D1 programs. We’ll see.