2013 Recap

Welcome to 2014! Whether you were ready for it or not, it's here and we already almost a week in. For me, 2013 had many rough patches but it also held some great times for me. I wanted to do a little recap of everything wonderful that happened during last year to remember, just in case I forget someday. :)

January 2013-The big move to Galveston, Texas. Traveled through Kansas, Oklahoma, and the desolate part of Texas where tumbleweeds are a major part of the population. I was not happy about this new change at all, but I knew it was something that I needed to do. Started a new job, lived on the Gulf of Mexico, met some new people that would test my patience, and learned some important lessons.

February 2013- My 49ers made it to the Superbowl and this year the Superbowl was in New Orleans. I made the executive decision that we would go to New Orleans for the weekend even though we were not going to be able to go to the game. We ate great food, drank a lot of delicious hurricanes and frozen, girly drinks(worst hangover of my life the next morning) and got to watch the game with a bunch of fellow 49ers fans. We lost the big game and I was pretty bummed, may have even cried a little bit. We ended up getting free tickets to see Journey(it's not the same without Steve Perry, I'm 27 and I know this). I also celebrated my 27th birthday. We went to a Burlesque show in Houston where the bar had all the drinks 1920's Prohibition themed. It was a great night.

March 2013- I started a new blog that showed my love of Happy Hour. We tried to go to all the Galveston bars and I would type up a follow-up of each one and what their specials were. It was fun while it lasted, but a couple months later I decided to take it easy on the drinking and spending money. My best friend came to visit and we went to Austin for a weekend. We had such a great time! We also went to NASA Space Museum. Celebrated St. Patricks Day in downtown Galveston which was the most boring holiday ever. There was nobody out having fun!

April 2013-This month was pretty terrible and uneventful. Just blah!

May 2013- I pushed my confidence to the next level and participated in the annual Bathing Beauties Competition. Everyone dresses up in their 1940's bathing suits and celebrates their love of vintage. I did not win this year, but I still had so much fun taking part of this awesome time and meeting some awesome girls with the same passion for vintage I have. 

June 2013-We finally moved off the Galveston Seawall into a much bigger, more quiet place on the water. We fell in love with our new apartment and it felt like something that was our own. In our previous place, we were in a 2nd floor apartment that was furnished by seniors. It was tiny and we had terrible, loud, nosey neighbors. Living in our very own place with our own furniture was such a relief. Moving is never fun, but this was a welcome change. 

July 2013-Celebrated the 4th of July at our new place with good friends. Grilled fish tacos, burgers, and fished. Spent a little bit of time at the beach and endured the tourist season with as much patience and grace as possible. 

August 2013-Got to see Dave Chappelle and Flight of the Conchords live at an outdoor venue in Houston. We had a great time but Dave Chappelle was not as funny as I thought he was going to be. 

September 2013-I realized that it was time for a lifestyle change. I realized that I put on some weight from the way I had been drinking, eating, and not exercising. My friend Libby got me started with Insanity and I started changing my diet around. It was time and it needed to be done. Football season started and I got involved in a Fantasy Football league again.

October 2013- At the beginning of the month we went to Denver. There were multiple reasons for our trip. We had to move all our stuff out of the condo I signed a lease on right before we moved here(I really didn't know that we would be taking these jobs till pretty last minute after I signed a brand new lease) so there was that. The other reason was we decided to volunteer our time at Great American Beer Festival. Thousands and thousands of beers to try and not having to pay a dime for admission. It was a wonderful, fun experience and I broke my diet to try all the wonderful beers. Got to see old friends and be in the city that I pretty much call home. We came back and it was time to celebrate Halloween and dress up like undead necks(aka zombie rednecks) for a party. I love being creative with costumes and makeup. 

November 2013- Oh the month of traveling. At the beginning of the month we went to Reno, Nevada to celebrate an early Christmas with my family, as well as attend my cousins wedding in my hometown of Chico, California. I got to spend a few days with my mom and sister which was much needed because I tend to get depressed if I don't see them for a long time. It was time to remedy that. We opened Christmas presents, drank white Russians, and pretended that it was the holidays. It really did feel like Christmas with all the family there and my mom's Christmas decorations neatly arranged in her perfect interior designer ways. A few days later, it was off to Chico to attend Kristin and Kevin's comic book themed wedding. I spent the previous night before this showing Nate, Sarah, and Jacob all the hot spots that Chico has to offer. We had a great time, drank a lot, and I even sang some karaoke. My sister did too, and she rocks a lot harder than I do. So, I did my cousins' wedding makeup extremely hungover but still had a great time making her look and feel beautiful on her special day. Then we traveled to Pennsylvania a couple weeks later to spend time with Nate's family and friends where we also celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving. I got to drink a Christmas Ale in Ohio(awesome beer) and eat a great Thanksgiving dinner in Pennsylvania an hour later. It was part of the country I have never seen before and even though it was cold, we still had a good time. 

December 2013- This was a pretty relaxing month for us since all the traveling craziness was winding down. We adopted a puppy from the humane society here in Galveston. Her name is Lucy and she is an American Bulldog/Chocolate lab mix. She is the cutest, sweetest thing ever. She is a puppy and bites and chews stuff she is not supposed to but we are getting through that and she is learning fast. We love her and could not be happier with our new "child." Since we were spending Christmas alone we decided to make the best of it and make our own memories. We went to the Festival of Lights here in Galveston on Christmas Eve and walked around looking at the amazing light displays while drinking hot chocolate. We then came home and watched Christmas movies and ate cheese and crackers and drank Christmas Sangria that I made. We each got to open one gift. I bought Nate a charcoal grill and he got me a new peacoat. We woke up around 10 am the next morning and opened gifts. We each had the idea to make one gift homemade for each other. He made me these awesome coasters with our photos on them from different events in our relationship. I made him a canvas with maps from all the cities we have lived since we have been together and our hometowns with a saying from a song we both like that says "Home is wherever I am with you." I like this new tradition because it comes from the heart. I had decided that I did not want to cook so we had the wonderful idea of going out for Indian food. It did not disappoint at all! New Years came around just like that....

Last year was very eventful and I learned some interesting lessons. I learned a lot about myself and about others. One of the lessons I really embraced last year was time is valuable and it goes by so fast. We need to make an adventure anywhere we can. We are only a week in to 2014 and it's never too late to start living.