Firsts/New things
-I started my year with a new job at Tri-City Orthopaedics. It's a great place to work and I love my coworkers. Patients are crazy (but I already knew that) and I came to the job already knowing a bit about working in a medical office so I feel like I had a leg up. Crazy to think I've been there a year now. Time flies.
-With a new job I got my first very own new medical insurance! I really felt like a grown up then. I was feeling fancy so I sprung for dental too. I'm very grateful that my employer pays my premium and also pays into my HSA account. It's been fun!
-Got called as the Activities Chair-I'm not gonna lie, I've hated it. And that's all I have to say about that.
-My branch got shuffled back to the Keene building and since there are four wards we had to move to 2:00 pm church. Blerg.
-Hiked Badger Mountain up the back side for the first time
-Gained three new "nieces and nephews"-Ryken, Miranda, and Levi (Haven't met them all yet!)
-Went to the Circus for the first time and I loved it! The elephants were my favorite.
-Shot some pretty wicked awesome guns out in the Horse Heaven Hills and then floated the Yakima in Benton City, it was pretty fun.
-In preparation for my Africa trip I got a ton of vaccinations. Hep A/B, Tdap, Typhoid, Yellow Fever. I'm pretty much invincible now.
Movies/TV/Music
Lincoln
I feel like I saw this one last year, but as it's not in my countdown maybe I watched it early this year? Daniel Day Lewis was Lincoln. I read the book it was partially based on and the movie was so good. Some people thought there was too much talking but I loved the speeches and the fight for the abolition of slavery.
42
This is the story of Jackie Robinson and how he broke the color barrier in major league baseball. The actor who played Robinson did a superb job. It's one of my top favorite sports movies. And Harrison Ford even did a decent job as the growly manager.
Despicable Me 2
Minons!
Monsters University
Loved the "collegiate" feel!
Frozen
Just saw this one, great Disney magic. Idina Menzel-that girl can sing! And a shout out to hometown peep Santino Fontana voicing "Hans"!
Saving Mr. Banks-haven't seen yet but I'm sure I'll love it
Star Trek: Into Darkness
Me and mom loved Benedict. He was a really good bad guy.
West Wing
The fam got into this one on netflix. We enjoyed it when it was on tv the first time. Smart and witty writing, so easy to get hooked on. And kind of freaky that 13 years later we still struggle with the exact same issues they wrote into the storylines.
Call the Midwife
Netflix again-Midwifery in the 1950's East End of London. Not for the faint of heart. But very real and characters you care about.
The Giant Mechanical Man
Long Way Down-
got into this show after my trip to Africa, it's actor Ewan McGregor and his buddy riding motorcycles through Africa. A good buddy trip adventure. I really enjoyed the episodes where they went through Africa and I got to see a lot of the same things I saw on my trip. Watched the previous series, Long Way Round, as well.
Sara Bareilles-The Blessed Unrest
-different from her other albums, only liked a few songs at first, then the rest grew on me. Favorites are Little Black Dress, Manhattan and I Choose You
Josh Groban-All That Echoes
-the universe gave this to me for my birthday, and it was AMAZING. Don't know if this is more favorite than "Awake", but could be. Also, saw the concert for the cd three times between going to the movie theater twice and having it shown on PBS. Josh is so funny, mom and I were dying!
Books
I had a bad year with books, lots that had potential but ended up being trash. It's so easy to publish now. All year I struggled to find something good to read. These were the best of what I could scrounge up.
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Felt good to support a WA author but also enjoyed reading a book that had a Native American as the protagonist.
The Remains of the Day
Interesting story, very British, but probably the most intelligent writing I've come across in awhile
Escape from Camp 14
How this guy who was born and raised in a North Korean prison camp escaped. Incredible story. N. Korea is so messed up, btw.
The Witch of Blackbird Pond
A really great YA novel
Argo
This is the book about the incident depicted in that movie, the book wasn't too hard to read, but what a crazy story!
See my Goodreads for any other book I read this year.
Trips
-DC/NYC in April with Michelle to visit Stacey and Jenny. We had a blast. I gained a new love for New York City and felt confident that I could get myself around. Highlights include seeing "Newsies" on broadway (OMG you guys. Sooooo good), accidentally finding the beautiful New York City Public Library, seeing the Empire State Building, and finally getting to play in Central Park. I also got to see Marissa and her Adelyn and we trekked around Georgetown for an afternoon-lovely!
-Utah for a weekend in September to see G and Stephen, we went to Lagoon, saw a concert and spent time together. I love to get out of town.
-Pendleton for the day to see the Pendleton Round Up. A hot day, but a great roedo!
-Seattle in October with Mom, Dad, Bub and Michael to see Josh Groban. The weekend was everything we wanted and more. Beautiful weather and time to play with Bub and Mike. Can we have a repeat?
-Africa! (Need a whole post for this one) I was blessed with the opportunity to go to Uganda with my friend Michelle for a medical service trip. It was an amazing experience. I met so many wonderful people and really got to experience something different than what I know. I learned a lot about the culture and the people of Uganda. They are so humble and happy. I miss my new African friends.
Concerts
-James Taylor-SLC, UT in September. I won the lottery to get tickets. Met up with Stephen, Gretchen and Auntie P and we enjoyed the JT/Motab concert. He played a good number of my favorites and even sang a few with Mobtab which was a little weird but worked. JT is not so old that he can't sing his songs anymore. He sang "Sweet Baby James" and I was happy. It was my first time seeing James Taylor and I'm glad I got to go.
-Josh Groban-me and mom decided that next time we just need to go to two concerts because one just wasn't enough. Although I didn't touch Josh this time (!) it was a great concert for other reasons. Dad and Michael got to come and they both enjoyed it. Mom got us second row seats that we switched some Asians for and got seats all together and I was on the end for direct JG access if he ever came nearby. Josh sang all the great/favorites and was working the crowd. I myself had a moment where Josh was singing and I waved and then he smiled and I'm sure it was because he saw me. And another time he came back after his mid-show break and walked by me (the lights weren't on him yet) and I was startled and said, "Josh! Hi!" Josh has so many songs in his catalog now that there are so many he didn't sing. It's a shame, mom and I could stay there for hours.
Other commentary for 2013:
-One of my goals for the year was to not get pulled over-I've got three more days but I think I've done it!
-I got rid of so much stress from my crappy job last year. But I gained it in my calling at church. So much frustration. I've become very surly.
-Even though I've been 26 practically all year, for some reason I've reached that point where I forget how old I am. People ask me and I really have to think about it. Also, I tend to think I'm 27, which is a total lie. Not sure why that's happening, maybe because I hang out with mostly older people.
-Stacey's visit in July pretty much made my summer. I did all my "summer" things while she was here and I'm so grateful she was here so I could do them.
-Also had a good visit with Kams while he was here in August. Several great chats and hanging out time. It's so good to have friends you've known for 22 (yikes!) years.
2014 is already shaping up to be a good one-I've already got a jury duty summons, a trip to AZ planned, Sherlock is back (guys, we'll finally see the conclusion to the Reichenbach Fall!) and the Sochi Olympics and that's only the first two months. Party time.
