Nick's Year

This year was the year most people got out of their Covid hibernation, and we did too, to an extent. Most of the year we enjoy being at home and trying a new restaurant here and there but this summer we went all out on a two weeklong vacation spanning both coasts.

First Logan, Caitlyn and I flew to Seattle for a week. We took Logan to all the touristy things we had seen when Caitlyn and I had gone with our friends a few years back. While in Seattle we went to nice restaurants and made fresh food from Pike’s Place in our AirBNB. From Seattle we flew to New York and our friend Dave met us there. In New York we saw the GhostBusters FireHouse, saw a Broadway show, visited Times Square, ate great pizza, visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, and that was all in 1.5 days. From New York we drove down to Manchester, NH and there we met up with my friend Justin. In New Hampshire we visited the capitol building, my hometown, fun spot, mini-golf, art museum, my friend’s costume shop and even made a trek up Maine for a Lobster Roll. To wrap up the trip we drove down to Boston and spent a couple days there doing touristy stuff before we Flew back home.

I’m still working for Kimley-Horn in the Solar department and couldn’t be happier. I was hired in January 2020 as the fourth member of the team and now we are 13. Solar work does not seem to be slowing down and I am able to take on more responsibility and I like it. I even got to fly out to Wisconsin to visit one of the sites I designed and while there I met up with my childhood friend Chris. Earlier in the year I was feeling my work/life balance was no longer balanced and I asked for and was granted
a reduced schedule and it’s great. I work 85% of a traditional schedule and it has made me so happy at home and work. I am now able to pick up Logan from school every day and he seems to be a fan.

Outside of work and our big trip this summer we still have season tickets to the Golden Knights and have attended quite a few games. We also frequent the Smith Center and saw three shows this year. Like I mentioned in the start, we try to make it out to new restaurants and my two favorites in recent history are The Codfather and Aroma, if you are in town and in the mood for either of those places, I would strongly recommend them.

Caitlyn's Year

It has been a wild year and I do not find that to be an exaggeration. After spending weeks in the hospital for my now diagnosed kidney disease, it took a couple months of recovery. Other than forcing everyone in the house to eat less sodium, I’m good now. In that time I became a professional engineer. Caitlyn Alcantara, P.E. is my new title though it may be a small, expected, step in the Zahedi Family, I am proud of my new accomplishment.

Our little family took a long vacation of two weeks to Seattle (Logan’s never been there), New York (Dave joined in there), and New England, which is a collection of states I found out! Including Nick’s hometown, it was due time since we visited my hometown, Hawaii, the year before. I met Justin, Nick’s childhood friend and had a great time looking through his family’s plentiful costume collection and scaring Logan. Like in Hawaii with Nick, I had a blast trying to speak the dialect. How does Fanulli sound like Daniel?

For the coup de grace, I decided to change jobs to the Public Sector instead of the Private Sector. Left my job of six years at Westwood Professional Services making drainage studies for a job at the City of Las Vegas judging those same drainage studies. It is interesting… working for the other side.

A couple of side notes we went to see Hamilton, Nick and Logan love it now and listen to it all the time. We saw Weird Al, went to Omega Mart, and Tournament of Kings for Logan’s and Dave’s first time. I went to Arizona with my family for my brother’s 18th birthday.

Either way it has been an eventful year full of change. Now I am ready for a break.