Year in Review

January
This month, my good friend gave birth to her adorable little girl. I was excited to finally find a church that I loved after seven months of hopping around, and I was able to sit in the President’s box at the Kennedy Center, right next to a circuit court judge!

February
After five years of staying off the slopes, I gave it another try. I went skiing with two friends from back home, and I was petrified the entire time. I didn’t tear my ACL like the last time, but just the thought of it kept me tense all day.

March
My little sister came out for a visit, a week after she was supposed to (thanks to a canceled flight). We packed a lot into just a few days! My Nebraska friend, Shae, also came to visit for the second time.

April
I went home for Easter weekend, celebrated Best Friend’s 26th birthday, watched her say goodbye to her sweet grandpa in the hospital, picked out bridal shower invitations with her, met Chloe and Luke (my friends’ new babies), and loved being with my family. Business travel took me to Philadelphia where I stayed in a hotel that was “pretty money” and raved about the food on South Street. This month, my bedroommate EB and I painted our living room in six hours, something we should’ve done a lot sooner, and I also went to my first professional hockey game. Meh.

May
The Queen visited the White House, and I was there, only ten feet from the path she and the President took. My favorite co-worker, New Girl, left the company and moved back to Boston. I made friends with my neighbors, and they took me for a ride down the Potomac on their boat. I met a blog friend, K from Seattle, and my cousin's new baby girl, Michael, was born (they live in D.C.). Best Friend and I took a fabulous trip to Fort Lauderdale this month to celebrate our friendship and the end of her singleness.

June
I made the decision to leave my Bible study, the group of girls that had become my friends just a month after moving to D.C. (Fortunately my decision was made easier when everyone decided the study should end and people could separately join other small groups.) I went to Baltimore for the first time to visit a Nebraska friend and see the cool parts of the city, and I took a fun weekend trip to the Jersey Shore with the Bible study girls. On June 23rd, I walked down the aisle as maid of honor in my Best Friend’s picture perfect wedding, and I couldn’t have been happier. I came back to D.C. when my aunt and uncle were in town visiting Cousin J, and we ended the month with a dinner on the patio.

July
Only ten days after I’d left, I flew back to Nebraska for the week of July 4th. It was great to be home again, this time without the wedding busyness. For the first time that summer, I slalom skied and tore my MCL which required four weeks of physical therapy and a brace. Fortunately it didn’t mean I wouldn’t be boating – I was invited out to the lake by the same guys I’d spent the 4th with last year. Best Friend and her husband moved from Nebraska to his hometown in New Hampshire, and her dad blessed me by paying my way to see them and attend their second wedding reception. That weekend, we drove up the coast of Maine to see the quaint little towns and the Bush family compound. Instead of flying home, I road tripped all night (driving through Manhattan at 2am) to the airport (to get my car), thanks to a friend of the couple who was headed that way. Back in D.C., I said goodbye to my wonderful bedroommate EB as she moved to North Carolina for law school.

August
My new bedroommate, Lyn, proved to be just as awesome as EB although a pretty opposite personality. A fantastic cook, she made me a delicious crepe cake for my 26th birthday, and I didn’t even cringe at the new number. My former youth leader and two other Nebraska friends hopped in my car, and we drove to Virginia Beach for a day and night. I went boating with the same boys again this month, as well (which is worth noting since I love it so much)! Mom came to visit for the first time, and it was fun showing her a different side of D.C. (ie: not museums). I went on a few dates with Local Boy this month, and I met The Texan at the first game watch (cue booing, haha). More importantly, he introduced me to his friends who I still enjoy and keep in touch with.

September
Alabama came to visit this month, and the highlight of her trip was getting box tickets right behind home plate at the Orioles game.

October
I dated The Texan all month. I also went to Portland, Maine for work and spent the rest of the weekend in New Hampshire with Best Friend. I met Tall Sassy Gal and speaking of her home state, my friend Alabama moved to D.C. this month. I also had a work retreat at the beach in Delaware. . but I never saw the beach.

November
Best Friend came to visit which was tons of fun! Did I ever mention that she had a bad feeling about The Texan upon meeting him? She didn’t tell me until later, though. Coincidentally we stopped dating this month, and I had the worst weekend of the year when he started flaking out on me. Ugh. But I had a fantastic trip to Austin for Thanksgiving with my cousins, and I met Pink!

December
I joined a gym, and it’s going well so far. I had a Christmas tour of the White House, went caroling for the first time, and spent a wonderful twelve days in Nebraska over Christmas and New Year’s.