2013 in pictures

2013 is coming to a close, and I feel like I say this every year, but it sure was a busy one!

 

We started off New Year's in Pismo Beach with family.

Obligatory silly pose.

 A couple days later we made our last big pilgrimage driving from California to Texas.

It was the 5th time in 2 years. That's too many times.

I celebrated my 29th Birthday with our friend, Jesse, who stayed with us

for a few days before moving to Austin.

 

 

I made 30 before 30 goals.

 

 I bought a running watch hoping it would inspire me to run everyday and New Year's Resolutions and bla bla bla.

 

 I ran once. And never again. Maybe I need new running shoes to inspire me.

 In February we went to New Orleans for the weekend and ran into my Aunt and Uncle from CA!

 

 We ate beignets at Café du Monde everyday. It was glorious!

 



 

In March we took pictures with blue bonnets.

 

 I turned one of our spare rooms into a shoe room. It was fun while it lasted!

 

 

We saw the Shins concert in San Antonio.

 

Andrew's parents came to visit us and we went to Austin and Dallas.

 

 

 In April we spent a lot of time in the pool because Texas was already hitting 100 degrees.

 

 

 

We saw the Lumineers in Austin.

 We also saw the Airborne Toxic Event in Austin.

 

In April I shared openly about our struggle to start a family during National Infertility Awareness Week. I am still amazed at the outpouring of love, support, and prayers you gave us. Thank you!!! An update on the infertility front: still not pregnant, still taking a break from treatment,

and still praying for a miracle.

 

Moving on... let's focus on our cute little fur baby, shall we? :)

 

  In May Maddie got an awful hair cut. It took her most of the Summer to grow it back.

 

Andrew and I flew to Boston for an English conference. We turned it into a 5 states in 5 days tour.

 

Here we are in Maine

 

We also spent a weekend in South Padre Island. We had to put sunscreen on Maddie!

 

In June Andrew turned 30 and we went out to dinner at the Tower of the Americas downtown.

His big present was tickets to the Coachella music festival in April 2014.

 

Our friend, Will, returned from teaching in South Korea and we hung out in Houston with friends.

 

My mom and dad flew out to Texas for one last hurrah and to help us drive home.

We had a blast in Houston at NASA.

 

June 30 we packed up our house and made the 2 day drive to San Diego.

We couldn't have done it without tons of help from my mom and dad. Thanks again!

 July and August are a total blur.

We spent a lot of time at the beach and had a couple bridal showers for my sister.

 

There were bonfires, house-sitting, and hikes with the Hoags.

The second week in August I got hired to administer California English Learners tests to students in Spring Valley and we literally had 12 hours to move from Pismo Beach to San Diego. Did I mention our apartment wasn't ready yet so we had to stay with friends for a week. Thank you Brian and Audrey!

 

I feel like most of 2013 was spent loading and unloading U-Hauls. Ugh.

 

A couple weeks later I interviewed for a full time teaching position at Bancroft Elementary School and

 I got the job!!!

Don't be deceived by the 26 smiling faces you see. Since this photo was taken, I have gained 7, yes SEVEN, MORE students. Suffice to say, it's been a rocky start to this school year.

There was no time to set up our new apartment, I had to set up a classroom lickety split!

 

The next weekend we squeezed in a trip to Vegas with friends.

 

The next weekend was my sister's wedding (September 7).

 

Such a beautiful bride!

 

The rest of September was spent trying to regain some semblance of sanity as a first year teacher.

I blocked most of that month from memory.

October brought a much needed Fall Break.

 

We went camping.

 

Andrew made a poor decision called "Edward 40 hands" and barely lived to tell the tale.

 

We went out for Halloween as San Diego sailors.

 

In November we went home for Thanksgiving

 

My parents came to visit us in San Diego.

 

We met up with Andrew's parents in Pasadena.

 We saw Switchfoot.

And so far December has been wonderful!

 

We went bowling with our friends last weekend. I am not going to share my score.

There is a bowling pin on top of the tree in the bowling alley for relevance.

 

 We celebrated Festivus and opened a very unusual white elephant gift.

 

We went to December Nights in Balboa Park and ate all the yummiest things.

 

We went to the Safari Park in Escondido with friends and saw the cutest giraffes.

 

I managed to drink hot cocoa every day so far this month and I don't regret it one single bit.

 

2013 went by way too fast. Aside from the school days the last 3 weeks that drag on and on. There were some surprises like a new job and fun trips. 2014 is starting off great with a cruise and my 30th birthday. I've failed to mention that I completely neglected my 30 before 30 list. I might have to go back and rewrite it to be all about shopping and food because, let's be honest, those are the only goals I can really achieve!

 

This weekend we are heading back up to Pismo to spend Christmas and New Year's with family again. Today is my dad's 50th Birthday (plus he retired yesterday!) and tomorrow is my little sister's 21st Birthday. We are going to Vegas next week to celebrate. The fun never ends!