This past year was definitely one for the books…
In January, I spent a weekend in Vegas with some of my closest friends.
In February, after the sweetest proposal, Sam and I got engaged.
In March, I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with some close friends. From a homecooked breakfast in the morning to some pizza in the evening (and a few beers in between), we had a pretty great day.
In April, Sam and I officially booked our wedding venue and our engagement suddenly became 6 short months. I also spent a weekend in Chicago with the other TAF Program Directors to kick off planning for TAF 2013. It’s always a wonderful experience to work together with people who are passionate about something you hold so close to your heart. It also doesn’t hurt when they’re some of your lifelong friends 🙂
In May, I went to New York with some friends for a music festival. It was exhausting but so much fun!
In June, our friends threw us not just one, but two lovely wedding showers and we spent some relaxing weekends at a friend’s lakehouse.
In July, I went to TAF and served my final year as a Program Director. It was a wonderful year, and I couldn’t imagine having a better co-PD or staff. The fact that we still all group text each other makes me so happy.
The Youth program has my heart – now and forever.
In August, my first nephew was born (!!!) and my best girlfriends threw me quite the bachelorette party.
In September, I married my best friend and celebrated with my favorite people in the world. I’ve never been one of those girls who dreams about their perfect wedding, but it ended up being everything I could have wanted and more. You can check out more of our photos on our friend and photographer Anna’s blog here!
In October, I celebrated Halloween and my close friend Lou’s birthday. We were basically the only people out that night in costume, but we still had a blast.
In November, Sam and I celebrated Thanksgiving twice – once with a Thanksgiving brunch in Cincinnati (he had to work that evening) and once with both of our families together in Columbus. We’re definitely blessed to have families who get along and like to spend time together 🙂
I also did one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions – went shopping with my friend, Hope, to fill our boxes for our church’s Thanksgiving Food Drive. It’s always so much fun and a wonderful feeling to be able to give back to our community. Each year, we try to do one more box than we did the previous year. Those carts got pretty hard to push towards the end 🙂
In December, Sam and I celebrated Christmas by having dinner with both of our families. My mom cooked a TON of delicious Taiwanese foods, and it was wonderful to have everyone together. My brother couldn’t be home because he had to work in St. Louis, but he was there in spirit!
It was a fantastic year, filled with lots of memories, great friends, challenging moments and new experiences. I can’t wait to see what 2014 will bring – I have a feeling it will be awesome.
Precisely Those Things 