2021 Year in Review
2021 was great for us. Lots of high points and a lot to be thankful for — God continues to provide.
Trips
We were pretty mobile this year and enjoyed a lot of fun trips and events, including our first ever family City of Sound concert (Courtney’s brother’s band)!
Homestead
Not the best of year for Miller farms. We had a great maple syrup year with new and easier boiling methods — lots of excitement for 2022 season as we are armed with best practices this year!
The garden was mostly a bust. Raspberries came in nice, but nothing much grew in our very shaded plots. Diehard fans of the Miller newsletter will notice that this is two in a row since Neil took over, so we may be done as gardeners.
The chickens did well most of the year. We retired the cranky ones (i.e. sent them to live on a farm), leaving us with three that were doing great. All until a tragic hawk attack in November, and now we have zero chickens. RIP :-(
Hopeful for a strong maple season, new chicks in the spring, and trying our hand at acorn harvesting in the fall!
Neil
Neil now has long hair. He still works for The Digital Workplace and enjoyed another year of no long trips to India.
This year, he expanded his piano skills enough to play in the church band on occasion.
He also took an animal tracking class, did a few trail running events, and finished a Tough Mudder with Courtney’s dad in the summer.
At church, he produced a podcast that features black faith leaders in Indianapolis.
He also read the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy OUT LOUD, including different voicing for every character, which is just as cool as it sounds.
Courtney
Courtney had a big year of “stepping out”.
In the absence of a worship pastor at the church, she and her mom took over leading music one Sunday a month after a long season away for both of them — it has been a blast to sing together again!
Her company formed a kickball team; anyone from college days knows this was an easy “yes” for her. They were awful and it was a ton of fun. :)
This year was the start of Courtney’s 3rd year in real estate and her first year of working full-time. She ended the year having worked alongside 29 families, and started a coaching program at her brokerage for brand new agents. She is deeply grateful for the truly wonderful people she gets to work with.
Courtney is starting a weekly newsletter to answer questions such as “How’s the market?”, “Will the bubble burst?”, “What about all the forbearance properties?”, “Did my neighbor really sell for $xxx?”, “What’s causing the housing shortage?” And the occasional coffee giftcard. Sign up here if you want to be included!
Marcus
Our decade-old child continues to be our gentle giant. His size leads people to expect him to be a brute on the soccer and dodge ball field, but he’s known to cut some sweet turns to out-foot the opposition.
He has an excellent ear for music and has been experimenting on the piano this year by playing his favorite movie scores from Star Wars, LOTR, and Harry Potter.
He is observant, a gifted writer, wildly creative, absolutely loves having as many friends around as possible, and is one of the most likeable people you will ever meet. Everyone considers Marcus a friend.
Abigayle
Abigayle is 8. She’s a voracious reader, climber (she went rock climbing in California with her aunt!), snuggler, player, sleeper, party-er, and all around amazing girl. She’s got a sharp wit (and tongue) and it’s tough to not encourage her with our laughter. She has little interest in adding new friends and instead prefers her small group of people that she can completely be herself around.
She likes baking, Star Wars, climbing, and hanging with the adults. She hates kissing scenes and being misunderstood.
Quotes:
C: Which Lord of the Rings character do you identify the most with?
A: the Dark Lord
A: Can I make every single meal today? I’m going to make Brain beer.
M: Why can’t you just make a smoothie?
Joshua
Welcome the newest member to the Miller newsletter: Joshua.
Josh has been with us since Christmas 2020 and we love him. He is 16 (license in a few weeks!!), a proud sophomore at Carmel High School, and is giving Marcus stiff competition in the “likeable” category.
He is known to bring extra cookies from his job at Subway for everyone to enjoy. He is kind, considerate, and a talented drawer who has slowly been working on his personal art gallery (including his own!).
Neighborhood
It’s been a great year around the neighborhood. We’ve had a few new families come in, and said goodbye to some others. We still enjoy hosting a great backyard party and have added some lights and heaters to keep the party going longer throughout the year!
Saying goodbye
Sadly, we started the year saying a bittersweet farewell to Courtney’s grandfather. He was a huge and loving part of our family, and we’ll miss him a lot.
Here’s to a great 2022!
We’d love to hear how your family is doing! Praying joy over your year.
