A Girl in the Real World: Looking back before looking forward

The older I get, the more time seems to fly by and blur together. It always amazes me what I can forget happens in a year, even with this blog to keep record. So, I started a list at the beginning of this year and just kept adding to it as memorable things happened. I'm glad I did because Jeremy was reading over it last night and even he was surprised of all the things that we ended up doing this year.

So, I wanted to make this post to take a look back over this last year. Something things I blogged about, other things I didn't. Some things were only documented via pictures. I'm going to try and gather it all together here in this post. Forgive me if I ramble..if there are too many pictures..if this goes on a little too long. But I don't want to forget ANY of this stuff. This is my life and it has been one wild and crazy year.

We started the year with a trip to Austin for Jeremy's birthday. It involved cinnamon roll pancakes with family, tattoos, and oysters.

I had all four of my wisdom teeth taken out. Although the procedure itself could not have gone better, it was still pretty traumatic for me. I have dentist issues and when I was in the chair getting prepped for the procedure I couldn't speak to the dentist or stop crying. I hope he didn't take it personally.

We said goodbye to our oldest cat, Squeak. It was nothing dramatic or drawn out, thank goodness, but it did hit us like a ton of bricks because we didn't have time to prepare ourselves. He was 13 years old, pretty fitting for the cat that we use to joke was so unlucky.

We remodeled the guest room and the office. I need to get around to posting the finished product on the office/man cave. If we get around to remodeling anything else this coming year, it will probably be the bedroom. I'll keep you posted.

Valentine's Dinner at one of my favorites, The Cork and Pig.

I had my first mammogram. It was precautionary, just to be safe. It was not as bad as I thought it might be..and everything checked out fine.

Otto was diagnosed with Feline Diabetes. We learned all about insulin levels, cardboard tasting diabetic cat food {that he eventually refused to eat}, needles and insulin shots that have to be given twice a day. When we started the insulin he was bumped all the way up to 6 units twice a day (that's a lot, and the bottles are small and very expensive). Luckily, between the insulin and diet control, we've been able to back down and keep steady at 2 units twice a day. Some people might think we are crazy to treat him, considering the cost of money and time (vacations aren't so easy to plan anymore). But he is part of our family and we'll do whatever is within our means to keep him healthy.

I attended a themed fundraiser for our local humane society, which I did some volunteer work for. It was flapper inspired and I had fun finding just the right dress.

We participated in a few 5K's. One was a fundraiser for a local guy who is fighting leukemia. He's still recovering but doing very well. We did a Color Up run. And I did a sorta 5k Mutt Strut walk/run to support animal rescue.

We had dinner guests (of people that are not related to us) twice this year. This might not seem very noteworthy, but for as long as we've lived in this house we have never really had dinner parties.

We also had a few UNINVITED guests. A cat, yes a CAT. And a mouse. Both problems have been resolved. One, the back door that had a habit of popping open has been replaced. Two, our neighbors who were having a serious rodent problem (which spilled over to our house) have fixed the issue...with a few hundred phone calls on my part to the city.

We celebrated 13 years of marriage.

My engagement ring given to me November 1997.

My friend and I attended a sip and paint evening. It was tons of fun and I keep trying to schedule another one!

I tried a Chiropractic service for the first time ever. I had a total of four appointments between May and August. I can honestly say it helped so much. My shoulder and neck feel so much better. And its nice to know if the same issue creeps back up I have someone to go to that can help alleviate the issue without having to pop any pills.

I tried (and failed) to give up coffee. I have made peace with this. I love my coffee, there is just no way around it.

There was a baby explosion. My friend, Jennifer, had her baby boy, Action Jackson. My friend, Ashley, had her first ever baby..Maggie. My cousin, Natalie, had her third baby boy, Beckham.

Beckham's baby shower.

Jeremy with Baby Beckham

Ombre Hair. I probably should be a little more adventurous in the hair department, but I'm chicken. So, it's subtle. And, I've decided to grow my bangs back out...for now.

I celebrated my 15 year service anniversary with my company. I picked out a new set of knives from the service anniversary catalog. Guess what happened?

He was cutting up a watermelon. It cost him two stitches.

I organized the making of a few 'adopt me' doggies vests and donated them to the local humane society.

I tried my hand at a lot of new recipes. See here, and here, and here, and here.

Thanks to a Saturday marathon, we discovered the greatness that is Firefly. All the comments and pin's I've seen about the show now make sense. We just signed up for Netflix, so we've started Sherlock and I'm sure Doctor Who is to follow.

We went on vacation with my Mom and Sister to South Padre Island.

I transferred jobs within my company. It's suppose to be temporary. I'm just going with the flow at this point.

Jeremy didn't shave this November.

For the first time ever, I hired someone to make over my blog. I'm still in love with it. It makes me smile.

My co-worker rescued this dog from the street...he is old and arthritic..and very close to being put to sleep because he had no home to go to. I begged, and pleaded, and basically made a nuisance of myself on Facebook until finally..after a month and a half..someone stepped up to take him in {Thank the stars above for kind hearted people}. Only thing was she was in Oklahoma and Pumpkin the dog was here in west Texas. So, with the help of many people, I found a way to get Pumpkin from here to there. For Christmas, Pumpkin was in his new home. I don't know how much time he has left, but I'm so glad to know that he will be safe and loved during that time.

Thanksgiving, which involved my crazy cousin taking me out shopping. That's right..I drank the kool-aid. We were at JCP at 8:00pm so that she could try and get some boots. Yeah...that did NOT happen. I never knew shopping could be like that. It was a wild and crazy ride, but we had a ton of fun and I found some great deals. But we both agreed..never again.

Second Thanksgiving. Since my sister couldn't be home on Thanksgiving, we did it all over again the next weekend at our house. I think that's only the second time we've ever made a whole turkey.

Dress shopping for a wedding. I locked myself out of the dressing room.

I went to Dallas to visit my sister. I drank too much, much to my sisters amusement. I don't normally get drunk..or rarely even buzzed..but that shot of Patron put me right over the edge. I nearly fell asleep in a smoky karaoke bar. Not on the same night I was drunk. I just can't hang like I use to. And just like with coffee, I have made peace with this. I'm sure my sister's friends think I'm a riot. I also got to see my friend, Jonessa, and her funny little boy, Jethro.

And, of course, there was the wedding. That weekend was a whirlwind of activity.