Year in Review

Happy New Year to my faithful followers! Thank you so much for sticking by me through another year of blogging about my life. Since I'm not at the point in my life where I want to send out an official looking Christmas letter and picture, I've decided to briefly recap my year in a short post on my blog. While I do have a few posts from 2011 to catch up on, we will all travel back in time when I get those done. :)

So, here's my year in review.

January: January started off with my grandfather's funeral. While it was very sad and hard to see him go, he was in so much pain from his cancer that it was almost a blessing when the time came. I had some very supportive friends and roommates during this time and I'm still so grateful for all of them. January also meant going back to school for spring semester.

February: If I recall, there was plenty of snow and even a snow day at college. Aside from the snow, I kept busy with work and classes. My roommate Hannah also celebrated her 21st birthday and her mom threw a "Minute to Win It" party for all of us which was an exciting Saturday evening.

March: More school and work, but I did revel in a week off for Spring Break which you can read all about here. I believe March was also the month that I got my center placement for student teaching which was nerve-racking and exciting all at the same time.

April: More school and work. Easter was also this month and I enjoyed Good Friday with dinner at Old Chicago and the student lead services at Nazareth Church here in town where my sisters boyfriend gave one of the talks. I also did my Level II's during the month of April at Price Lab school.

May: May was a busy month. I had a week of finals which were very busy. After a few short weeks of summer, my sister graduated from high school. The same day of Hannah's graduation was also the day of the AMAZING Taylor Swift concert.

June: In June I turned 21 (the last of my friends) and ended up celebrating with a big table full of friends at Applebees. Shortly after my birthday, I said goodbye to my friend Sarah as she headed off to Spain to work at Camp Adventure for the summer. The end of June brought Sturgis Falls and the engagement of two of my closest friends.

July: July brought what would end up being my summer routine: a mix of sleeping in, working at one of my 3 very part time jobs, and spending time with friends. I celebrated the 4th of July at my house with friends by having a potluck/barbeque, sparklers, and a bonfire perfect for roasting marshmallows.

August: I continued to work, but school also returned and I began my last semester of classes at UNI. Getting into the swing of school was tough at first, but I soon discovered that I would enjoy most of my classes very much. I also got to attend a wedding at the beginning of the month for a close family friend which was very fun and beautiful! Shortly before classes began, my family took a long weekend to Saint Louis and spent a lot of time shopping and visiting old friends.

September: September brought more of the same: work, school, and homework. I got into a pretty good routine and stayed very busy as my classes gave me a lot to stay busy with.

October: Another month involved with my typical school routine. I also celebrated my sisters 19th birthday (though I'm convinced she's still 12) and attended some of the homecoming festivities. For school, I started and finished my Level III's and loved the whole experience.

November: November was another month of much of the same, but I did get the exciting news of my official student teaching placement. I was very excited and sitting here a week away from actually starting, I truly cannot wait to start! I got the week of Thanksgiving off from school and spent a majority of it procrastinating on a paper and watching a lot of movies (no surprise there though, right?). We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year and the day was spent with my cousins playing various games and teasing each other. I also celebrated my father's birthday, though I still struggle to remember exactly how old the geezer turned. ;) November also marked the start to my obsession with watching Friends.

December: December, oh, December. December started with me taking my last finals ever and getting very sentimental realizing that I was nearly done with college and getting freakishly close to the real world. After finals, my family took a 5 day trip to Florida where we spent time at the pool and a day at Islands of Adventure so I could go to Harry Potter World. Since the trip, we celebrated Christmas and I rung in the New Year with friends eating potluck style and playing games. I've also spent the majority of my break being lazy, watching movies, and reading a few books, for fun I might add.

Hope this lengthy post finds you well at the start of this new year. I don't really believe too much in resolutions as I never seem to keep them. I suppose an overall goal would just be to be healthy and happy. 2012 is looking like it's going to be a busy year filled with student teaching, job hunting, and 3 weddings in the summer. Wow, crazy to think that I'm at the age where those things are actually happening. As I sit here and think about those things, I can't help but be excited.

Here's to a new year filled with new memories!