Happy 2015 & A 2014 Recap

Hello, 2015 and goodbye, 2014. I meant to write this a few weeks ago, but better late than never. I wanted to do a big recap of 2014. I thought about it for a while and here are some of my memories. If I took the time, I would have a picture for each month—maybe later! I just want to post something so I can get this blog going again.


January 2014 – My husband, Eric and I rang in the New Year after a fun trip to Seattle at the very tail end of December 2013. I got to go to a Seahawks game and spend some time shopping and dining out in Seattle. We flew back on New Year’s Eve day so we were still at home for the actual ball dropping. I know I was so glad to say goodbye to 2013 and I had big expectations for 2014. I thought it was going to be my year. I was going to make a vision board (fail) and I wore a wish bracelet and all these magical things were supposed to happen. Where did I go wrong?


February – I am someone who remembers everything but I really only remember a few things about February. Seattle winning the Super Bowl! That was awesome and a big highlight. And Valentine’s Day – I remember that, the flowers and dinner. And I won front row (ring side?) tickets to a Minnesota Gophers hockey game on Twitter and we were on TV. I thought that was kind of cool.


March – I did dog sitting for a Shih Tzu named Roxie while her owners (Susan and Anna!)  vacationed in Costa Rica and the whole Midwest froze. I always love when she comes and stays with me, although my dog, Violet, might think differently.


April—Finally April came and we were off to Southern California, a trip we had postponed just a little so I could keep my promise to my friends and take care of their dog. I am that kind of friend. I was soooo happy to be in California. I brought my dog Violet and really in California she can go almost anywhere including Nordstrom. I had a great time and it was so good to leave the winter behind. We were in Los Angeles and San Diego and Newport Beach and really we were in heaven. I met my friend Gina for drinks in our hotel bar – I finally got to meet her – we became friends through blogging and now I am kicking myself because we did not take a picture together! But we did drink a lot of Riesling!


May – I did the Humane Society Walk for Animals with Violet and Noodles and a team I organized at work and we raised money and did good and we did not totally freeze this time. I went down to Northeast Iowa and Eric and I and my brother took my mom out for Mother’s Day, although we had a tough time finding any restaurant open on a Sunday. They seemed to all be closing at 2:00 p.m. We settled on Pizza Hut. This was the month I chopped off about 6 inches of my hair. I am now growing it out long again.


June – I went to Des Moines for a bridal shower and bachelorette party for my friend, Amber! I also started documenting 100 happy days through photographs. Every day I took a picture of something that made me happy.


July – This had the 4th and that is really what sticks in my mind—we went on a dinner boat cruise with a few other couples and watched the fireworks. I also took care of 2 wiener dogs for my friend, Trish. I found $20 in the street after saying I wish I would find money on all of my many walks. That wish came true! I accidentally swung my car door into somebody else’s car in the parking lot of my yoga class and she was dreadful to me. To this day, I hope I don’t run into her at any of my classes. I offered to pay for the damage as who wants yellow paint on black but she would rather be a beyotch about it so whatever. I was also lucky to get a new next door neighbor named Katie who is so much fun and is also now a friend! And last but not least, Amber got married in Northwest Iowa. I definitely got to see a part of Iowa I had never seen before.


August –August had two trips – a big family vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia, and then I also flew out to San Francisco for a few fun days as Eric had a work conference and I had enough frequent flier miles for a free trip. I literally went from one coast to another, both historical places.


September – When I think about September, I mainly remember that after 11 years, Eric finally traded in his old SUV for a new Jeep Cherokee and he also traded in my second car—my backup car. Goodbye Buttercup, the 2006 Chevy Cobalt. Now we are back to a 2-car household. Although in the future, I plan to buy another car and keep my car Daisy around. 3 cars make sense to me! I also started taking an Astrology class every Thursday night. I am fascinated by astrology.


October – What can I say about October except it is my favorite month and my birthday month and this year it was a big, significant birthday. Eric went all out and threw me a surprise party and totally fooled me. And I am a hard person to fool as I am very observant, but I was not expecting any kind of party so therefore I was not at all suspicious—my best friends and co-workers were in on it with my husband, but nobody let anything slip. I thought I was going out to brunch with a few close girlfriends. Then we got to the restaurant and SURPRISE!!!! It was one of the best birthdays ever. October also had two trips – one to Mackinac Island (my favorite place!!) and then out to Boston and Salem. These were both great trips.


November – A concert month. We flew to Vegas for the Britney Spears concert and then the following weekend was the Motley Crue concert here in Minneapolis. At Thanksgiving I was pretty sick, maybe borderline flu but I somehow managed to go out for a meal with my husband but because I was so sick I spaced making reservations at anywhere nice and we wound up at a pretty sub-par restaurant. I am NOT a food snob but this food was pretty bad. I won’t say where! And anyhow this cold/flu hung on for about 10 days into December.


December – One of my favorite times of the year. I love the holiday season. But this year was a little disappointing. I went into December pretty sick with that stupid cold and so I was late in getting my tree and decorations up. My favorite thing about this Christmas season was the cookie exchange my friend Peggy had and my other friends, Donna and Lisa, were there and so it was super fun. I spent the actual Christmas Day at the emergency vet with Violet—her back went out. Only I didn’t know what was wrong with her; I just knew she wasn’t herself. Through the miracle of steroids she is back to herself now but Christmas was sad and we spent 4 hours at the clinic. An emergency vet clinic is a sad place to be on any day, but extra sad at Christmas. Then I personally got sick again a few days after Christmas and by New Year’s I was really sick with another cold/flu type illness. I somehow made it to the Foreigner concert which was how we rang in the New Year.


And now it is 2015. And the Seahawks are going back to the Super Bowl! And I don’t have the same expectations for this year—I will just let things happen and hope they are good, and maybe there are nice surprises ahead of me!

 I applaud you if you read this whole thing! THE END