The Best Of...

Once again, it's a New Year's Resolution at it's finest. Blog more. I did accomplish that from 2011/2012's resolutions, although it wasn't as much as I thought it would be. Who has time these days? With full time jobs, part-time jobs, a boyfriend, and the need and want of a social life, this pretty much gets shoved aside. And while it may seem unnecessary to still be blogging, I really never got into Twitter, and even if I did, the posts are not nearly long enough! I need room to run and breathe and... write.

But I also had a thought of how this blog should be forever transforming. I know I want it to be ME, because frankly we lose ourselves in our work, our kids, etc. And while I'll write about these things as they come along, I want to remember to not let them consume me! I recently read an article about how people's Facebook photos become wedding rings and baby photos and of pets, but not an actual picture of YOU. It's because we let other things in the world define US. And while yes, YOU is made up of the things we do and have in our life, I think there still needs to be a piece of us that still talk about US amongst the chaos of OUR life. Does this even make sense? I hope so. Again, I'm just writing what is in my head so it may not make sense.

Anyway, I thought I should do a happy recap of last year. Based on what you ask? No! Not the blog, that'd be silly considering you all have probably READ the entries. So here are the top 12 things (based on 1 per month) from my... PLANNER. Thrilling right?

January: EASY. I got a job as an assistant editor! That actually might be the highlight of my YEAR for pete's sake! While it's been challenging, and troublesome on the weight category, it's been an excellent learning experience. The drive is awful, but the pay is decent and the vacation time is... splendid. Did I just get the last 11 days off with FREE PTO? Um. Yes. I did. Thanks for asking. ;)

February: The Attempt of Lent/Raccoony Massacre: It's a toss-up really. For Lent I tried to watch a sermon everyday. I failed for sure. Mostly because I wasn't used to the new work schedule and we had just recently opened the new Buffalo Wild Wings location. But I was pretty proud of all that I had learned from the sermons I DID watch. As for the Massacre... it wasn't funny at the time, but it is now. Basically I was living with Seward, and her dog got ahold of my beloved Raccoony (Quick catch up: Raccoony is a stuffed animal I've had for at least 20 years) and ripped it's ENTIRE FACE OFF. And Seward managed to sew it back on. And I thought he looked funny when I found him that night... and Seward came in freaking out and told me the story. It was horrible and hysterical. UPDATE: His eyes are yet again gone... due to a 1-year old niece and little dogs at my parents. What can ya do?

March: Michael's Birthday/2-Year Anniversary/1st Financial: I thought this would be easier to pick a clear winner. It's not. Michael's birthday was awesome merely because I went in with a few people to buy a ginormous gummy bear. I mean it was big. We all ate off of it and took a long time to finish. Well probably a lot of PEOPLE, but I think it was quickly devoured. My 2 year was excellent. Vertical Endeavors, a great Thai restaurant, cheesecake, a great boyfriend. And 1st Financial... well that was the month I finally paid that Mother F'er off. I had had that credit card for about 7 years! And always with a high balance. And ALWAYS at 29% APR. yikes. So it was nice to get rid of that horrible thing. 

April: Moving: This was the month I moved from Seward and Andrew's back to my parents. Doesn't seem like a GOOD thing, but it was. I moved closer to Justin, continued to have zero rent, and got to see my family more! I mean the drive to work is really bad these days, but I love being by Justin. The bad thing about this month was when Justin got fired (so ridiculous).

May: Being Alone. That doesn't sound good. And it really wasn't. Justin was in New Orleans for his cousin's wedding for a week, and it was the longest week of my life. It was bad because originally we both had decided not to go, but he went last minute and I was left behind. Big bummer. But I got to see friends and catch up on a million little things. 

June: Gyno/Kara's Engagement/Blue Man Group: What a crazy month. They gyno... well that was the first time I had ever gone. and I mean EVER. The reason it was a big deal was because they found a lump in my breast, which lead to a sonogram or whatever of it, which lead to a biopsy. It was terrifying to think there was a possibility that I had cancer. Luckily everything was normal and it went away. And my lovely friend Kara got engaged in a very public and romantic way (it was surprise, but a bunch of us were present for it) and if that was the engagement, I can't WAIT to see what happens for the wedding! Also for Christmas, the Knapps bought us tickets to Blue Man Group. I had no idea what to think of it, and that was probably for the best. I loved the surprise of what the show actually WAS. 

July: 4th of July Break/Ali Visits: Both were very relaxing things. Our work moved offices the weekend before the 4th, and we all got almost the entire week off. I didn't do much because Justin was gone YET AGAIN, but again, it was a good time to relax. We also saw some amazing fireworks in Uptown at Lake Calhoun, and I vow to go there at least a few more years. And later that month Ali visited, and that's NEVER A bad thing. 

August: Tennis/Wakeboarding/Justin's Birthday/State Fair: August was probably one of the busiest and fun months of the year. It's the perfect time to be outdoors doing the things you love, like tennis and wakeboarding. I was really happy we got to fit that in a lot... more so in August than any other month for some reason. Probably because Justin didn't go on a trip anywhere. We went to the State Fair for Justin's birthday, and we of course were there ALLL DAY as usual. I ate so much food! Great times. 

September: Evelyn's 1st Birthday/Applefest/ROADTRIP/Kayaking Tour: Okay, I lied, September was just as busy as August, and just as good. Evelyn, my little V, turned ONE! Yes, everyone has a birthday, but by now you should know that I LOVE them and I especially love when V gets older and gets a bigger and bigger personality. We'll be the best of buds someday! Applefest, Seward's family tradition, is always fun because we get LOTS of apple cider at the end of the day. And it's held at the beautiful Hobnail Farms ( aka her parent's house) and it's fun to be outside, enjoying the nice weather, and meeting up with good friends. The roadtrip was awesome. Milwaukee, Chicago, Frankenmuth, all great places with great people. I could say more, but there is NO room. Kayaking tour was Justin's birthday present and it turned out awesome. We kayaked for about 5 miles and then drank wine and this beautiful winery! Perfection. 

October: Birthdays/Cascade Lodge: Cascade Lodge was a cabin we went to with the Ussets and Heitke's and a few others. It was on Lake Superior, a place I had never been before. It was BEAUTIFUL. Cold (we got our first taste of snow) but fun to hike around, play games, eat, and just relax from all the chaos that occurred in the past few months. Everyone needs a weekend like that. :) As for Birthdays... it was like a birthday MONTH! Mom, Holly and I got to eat at Benihana's, I had a murder mystery party, Ali was in town again, Joe and Debbie got us tickets to see Beauty and the Beast at the Orpheum (Almost cried in the beginning because I was SO excited), went to Mystic Lake, shopped, and it was pretty much everything I wanted. 

November: Running/Thanksgiving Weekend/Relationships: So running was at a high this month. I ran my first ever 5.25 miles... and I have NEVER run over like 4 and some odd miles previously. That made me feel like I'm doing something right. And I ran the Turkey Trot for the second time. While my time didn't improve as much as I would have liked, it was still pretty good. It also makes Thanksgiving not so bad since you get a good workout in beforehand. Thanksgiving weekend was good because I got to go Black Friday shopping, eat food, and I finally got to hear Justin tell me that he LOVES Me. Yes. It's been like 2 1/2 years since we STARTED dating. Yes you read that right, he FINALLY told me. It was a long time coming and it came at a much needed time. God has his reasons for things. Either way, it made November amazing. :) So happy and in love. 

December: Christmas: Let's just put it like that. Everything in the month of December is basically based around Christmas. Christmas parties, actual Christmas, great gifts (Kindle, new TV), time off (11 days to be exact... mentioned previously), movies, snow tubing, etc. And of course New Years. :) 

Wow.... that was longer (and harder) than expected! But much like my New Year's Resolutions, I do NOT give up! :) This year I plan to : Read the Bible/Blog more/ Workout harder/ Lose weight/ Move out (what? pay for RENT?!)/ and consider my options of going to grad school. Loftly? Probs. But I think I can do it. Cheers to the New Years Folks!