I've noticed that 2013 wasn't the luckiest year for people, and for that I'm sorry and hope that 2014 brings better days. There have totally been years where I thought, "phew glad that's over". And others where I enjoyed them and looked forward to the next one.
But for me, the year 2013 was the luckiest, happiest and greatest year of my LIFE!
I started the year as a girlfriend, but hoped to be engaged by the end of 2013. Little did I know that one month into 2013 I would be engaged and seven short months later I would go from a Miss to a Mrs. This past year was chalk full of love, happiness, joy, family, friends, with a sprinkling of heartache, frustration and sadness as well. I learned what a BLESSED lady I am and will forever look back on 2013 as the year of celebration, family and LOVE!
This year I chose to try and compile all the big stories that were here on the blog. And a few that I never managed to capture. There are so many moments I don't want to forget, so forgive the massive post! :)
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January: We celebrated the New Year with all of our closest kickball friends. There was also a quick trip to SC for a cousin's wedding. We also celebrated Le Beau's birthday and took a gun safety class. The last part of January saw a fun trip to Nashville, [our hopefully new city in 2015].
February: I started my monthly goals list, celebrated my BFFERs 30th birthday, traveled to the FIRST kickball tournament of 2013.....oh and ya know...GOT ENGAGED TO BE MARRIED!!!!
March: Less than a month after our engagement, I scheduled my FIRST dress fitting [and though I didn't know it at the time found THE DRESS] which was a BLAST with my family, bridesmaids and girlfriends. I blogged about my 'Come to 30' moment, listed out my TO DOs for the wedding and created my bridesmaid gifts.
April: We started off the month with Easter and some heartache. I lost some of my birthday mojo due to a loss in the family. Luckily, I have amazing family and friends and was able to fully enjoy my DIRTY THIRTY birthday and birthday party! The weekend after my birthday I ran my FIRST TOUGH MUDDER with le Fiance, the sissys and a friend and became officially hooked!
May: Four months out from the wedding meant consulting with our florist for the first time. It also meant registering and SAVE THE DATES!!!! We also traveled back to Cincy for C's nephew's christening and Kentucky for my cousin's HS graduation. I got my first reflexology massage and also participated in the Blog Every Day in May challenge.
June: SUMMER finally arrived and I was thrilled! I took a bit of a blogging break to get settled and came back ready to rock, no matter what life brought my way. I asked for opinions on wedding cake and changing my name and you ladies didn't disappoint! My cousins came to visit and we had a blasty. I even tried my hand at fashion blogging [ha, so not a fashion blogger]!!!
July: I really started feeling the pressure of wearing a wedding dress so I started to track my workouts on the blog. We celebrated the 4th of July in Cincy, had our first wedding shower and picked/designed our wedding cake. I experienced a bit of a meltdown, but was able to get things turned around quickly. C and I celebrated our three year anniversary and I had the BEST bridal shower ever!
August: The month before the wedding was JAM packed, but it was amazing. The first week in August we were in Knoxville for our annual visit to see family. This year was the best because the PARENTS MET for the first time and we had a small party on the lake. To stay in shape, we ran more races, I enjoyed Body Sculpt yoga at a new studio and I became a SWEAT PINK ambassador. I said goodbye to some of my party girl clothes and talked about NOTHING but wedding stuff. Speaking of wedding stuff, I had the BEST day of my life [prewedding] when a bunch of my closest girlfriends, mama and sissys celebrated my FINAL FLING before the ring. Literally, it was one of the best days of my life and I still tear up thing about HOW amazingly blessed I am to have such wonderful ladies in my life. After the HIGHEST HIGH, I was hit with the lowest low when I was in a car accident ten days before my wedding. God blessed me with amazing people and I was able to perservare through the drama. The last few days of August brought on packing up my SINGLE girl apartment and posting my last single girl THOUGHTS!
September: WEDDING MONTH! WEDDING MONTH! WEEEE!!!! I posted my last post and then BECAME A MRS!!!! The weekend after the wedding we traveled to VA BEACH and won a kickball tournament, where I made a super fly play. DC experienced heartbreak in the form of Navy Yard shooting, which hit really close to home. We celebrated Babyspice's bday, but really took it easy the rest of the month. It was all about enjoying each other, our new marriage and just being together!
October: We celebrated our first month of being married by heading to LAS VEGAS for a kickball tournament. Sadly, we lost and I was pissed. A week later the whole family ran the 10 miler and despite not training, we actually did alright. I started my wedding recaps; the DRESS, BOYS prep, and of course GIRLS prep. There were also quite a few posts on REAL LIFE, my first MARRIED thoughts and happy thoughts.
November: I decided to participate in NaBloPoMo, just because and actually completed the challenge. Le Husband and I went to NOLA for another kickball tournament and wouldn't you know we LOST again. While it was frustrating, it was neat looking back on where we were last year. I shared some fitness tips, recipes and some more weddingesque posts; the ceremony and our formal portraits. This was also my first Thanksgiving away from my family, as we traveled to Cincy to be with Le Husband's. It was a wonderful time and I am so blessed to have such a wonderful new family!
December: Christmastime = my favorite time of year. Everything sparkled a lil brighter being a newlywed! Amid the Christmas parties, tree decorating and fun there were a few moments of delicious marinating in the season. I also blogged about my new normal, sharing some funny wife thoughts. We kept with our tradition of visiting the National Tree and I blogged about our Formal Couple portraits and the first two parts of our reception [complete with awesome video]. I put together our first Christmas cards and got them in the mail before December 1st :)! After three Christmases separate, we spent our first Christmas together with my family and I'd have to say it was the best Christmas to date.
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Tomorrow we will be celebrating the New Year with a deliciously fancy three course meal in DC and then champagne at home. Yes, a bit of a boring, married NYE, but one that is perfectly us. I'm anticipating a great evening and possibly a few tears on my part as I say goodbye to the best year ever. Here's hoping 2014 can do something fabulous to try and top 2013!
Wishing you and yours a very happy NEW YEAR'S EVE! Be safe, be smart and party/dance your lil hineys off okay?!?!
