2012 Recap - Part 2

I posted a review of the first half of 2012 right over here, so here goes the second half of the year!  The adventures just kept getting better.  Enjoy!

July was crazy, and busy, and fun, and new.  I left my old 'day job' at a corporate gym, and moved onto a job at a smaller, wedding industry job.  We celebrated my niece, C's, 1st birthday with a wonderful circus theme party!  I traveled, again, to Huntington Beach to stay with my godson, P, while his parents went to Palm Springs for an anniversary getaway.  I also went to the CrossFit Games in southern California!  What an experience to be so close to the action and see all the things that people can do with their bodies.  July was an exceptional month!

August maybe even beat July!  I turned 24 in August and felt really spoiled by all the love I got and all the time I got to spend with people who mean the world to me.  Early in the month, I ran in another 5k. Just so you know, The Color Run is a seriously fun run!  I celebrated my birthday at home with outings with friends, and a visit from two of my favorite kiddos from Oregon, B and Z!  Then, I went for a spur-of-the-moment "Birthday Weekend o' Fun" in Huntington Beach.  I hung out with my godson and his parents, and my best friend took me on an awesome birthday date where we painted our own little jewelry dishes!  I'm one lucky girl.  

Ok, maybe the year was just getting better and better as it went!  September was amazing, too.  My dad took my mom, my aunt, and me skydiving.  That's the second time I've done it, and I really hope to get certified someday and jump all the time!  I went to Yosemite with friends and went on what may have been my most favorite day hike, ever.  We hiked to the very top of Mt. Hoffman, which happens to be the geographical center of Yosemite.  It was a humbling and amazing experience!  Then, my godson and his mama (for clarification, his mama is my best friend) came up for a visit.  He and my niece, R, are totally in love and had a blast playing in an old tub in our back yard.  Then we took him to Santa Cruz for a day, but he was kind of being a grumpy almost-two-year-old.  It was still a blast!  I'd have to say the only downfall in September was a really bad date with a guy who ended up being a little bit crazy.  But, hey, we'll call it a learning experience! 

October was all about my godson, P, and his second birthday!  I still can't believe he's two already.  Early in the month, we had a big dinosaur theme party here in Northern California.  Then I went down to Huntington Beach for his actual birthday weekend, and we went to the pumpkin patch, carved pumpkins, spent two days at disneyland, and took lots of pictures!

In the way that October was all about P, November was about R's 2nd birthday!  Again, seriously, weren't you just born, little cutie?  R had a super cowgirl theme second birthday party at my house complete with petting zoo!  What an adventure!  We also threw a baby shower for my cousin who's expecting this month, and celebrated Thanksgiving at our cabin as a family.  

As the theme for the year continues, December did what it could to be the best month of the year.  And, I'll say, it was pretty darn great!  I threw a special baby shower for my friend J, (the one who should be in labor any minute now).  It was "little man" theme, and it was amazing!  I'll write a post about it soon.  I spent some family time in Santa Cruz with the B family, and took pictures of them for their Christmas card.  Isn't my niece, C, adorable?  I'm glad that I snuck in for a photo or two, also.  Then I headed down to Huntington Beach to celebrate my best friend's birthday.  I love birthdays!  We went to the Renegade Craft Fair in LA, went to Disneyland, got manicures and pedicures, and ate too much frozen yogurt.  It was a great trip!  Oh, and when we were in LA, we had an impromptu photo shoot with little P, awesome right?  The rest of the month was full of Christmas prep, holiday parties, and time spent with family!

Wow, 2012 was a blast!  These review posts have been all about my personal life.  I'll have to put together a post about the millions (well it felt like millions) of weddings and parties that I did for work in 2012!  

I hope you enjoyed reading about my year.  How was your 2012?  Did you write about it?  I found it was an awesome way to reflect. 

Thanks for sticking around!

2012 Recap - Part 1

After writing about my intentions for 2013, I decided i should also write a recap of 2012.  It was a pretty good year for me.  I got to travel a little bit and spend lots of time with my nieces and nephew.  I also started a new part-time job early in the year, and had a job change mid-year for my "day job."  

Since so much happened in 2012, I had two break up the recap into two parts.  So, here is the first half of my 2012!

January was an interesting month.  Early in the month I was offered a position with Lowe House Creative as an intern, with the plan to transition to a paid position after a few months.  I jumped on this opportunity, and have loved getting to work with Elizabeth over the last year.  My best friend Ashley and my godson came into town early in the month, and we celebrated her mom's birthday.  My Uncle Chris was really sick in January and passed away at the end of the month.  He was such an amazing human and a difficult loss for our family.  I miss him desperately.  What I really remember about January was being so happy to see the calendar switch over to 2012, since 2011 had been an especially rough year.

February was a fantastic month, overall!  Some things I did in February:  Planned an executed a phenomenal Celebration of Life for my Uncle Chris.  Watched my niece, C, be baptized.  Helped plan and execute an incredible surprise 30th birthday party for my best friend's husband.  Attended a benefit concert for Camp Jack Hazard, where two of my favorite alumni, Brett Dennen and Nathan Dennen, put on an incredible show!  Attended and took pictures at a spur-of-the-moment Leap Day wedding for family friends.

March was a pretty great month.  I got to travel to Huntington Beach to visit my best friend, and go to Disneyland with her and my godson!  I also saw Mason Jennings in Santa Cruz.  And I had a special St Patrick's day photo shoot with my niece, R.  Isn't she adorable?



April brought another trip to Huntington Beach, and I ran in my first 5k, which was also a mud run!  It was a blast, and totally exhausting!

May was a fun filled month!  A Mother's Day trip to our family cabin, a sun-filled weekend at the CrossFit NorCal Regional Competition cheering on Diablo CrossFit (followed by a wicked sunburn!), and our annual family Memorial Day Weekend trip with both my nieces, C and R!

June brought some fun adventures, and some great physical activities (my favorite)!  I ran/walked in a 5 mile run that also had a bunch of CrossFit workouts built in!  The picture on the right above is me right after.  It was quite a butt kicking!  I also found out in June that my good friend J was pregnant, and I went to her first ultrasound with her.  Fun fact, she's due to pop at any moment with a little boy!  In June, I also raised $300 for CrossFit for Hope, and participated in the workout.  Myself, my mom, my aunt, and a close family friend spent my mom's birthday, and the days surrounding it, on an amazing backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains. The trip's purpose was to memorialize my Uncle Scott, so we hiked to his favorite place on Earth.  It was a beautiful trip, and I wouldn't trade the memories for anything!

So, there you have it, the first half of 2012 in a nutshell!  Check back for the second half of the year, coming at you soon.