2012 In Review

Happy New Year!

2012 was a year of highs and lows for me. We began the year with a funeral and a home invasion. But we also picked up Lilian along the way, and that has enriched my life in more ways than I could ever have imagined.

In February, Kristian and I flew out to California to vacation with my sister and brother-in-law and so I could run a half-marathon with them. Running a half marathon while 12ish weeks pregnant is probably one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life. But I’m damn proud of it. It’s hard to believe that I was able to pull that off. Especially since I’m still not finished with Couch to 5K. Later on in February, I announced my pregnancy to the world. The outpouring of love and support that we got was pretty amazing.

This Spring, I finished my last classroom based course for my Master’s degree. And it pretty much kicked my ass. I have never been more proud of an A-.

(Apparently, 2012 was the year of “hardest.”)

In May, we took an epic road trip to Louisville, KY to watch the Kentucky Derby on TV at a party. Oh, and see my step-sister and her husband. Because we love them and don’t get to see them enough. We drove down in an RV with three of our best friends in the whole wide world. I want to drive an RV to Kentucky with our friends every year.

In June, we drove to Vermont to eat strawberries and I took the bus to NYC to celebrate my nephew’s birthday.

In July, my friends Kid and Kathryn were foolish enough to have me perform their wedding ceremony. They got a real marriage certificate out of it any everything! I was also lucky enough to have my friends and family throw me an amazing baby shower. This is also when my feet started swelling up like balloons. Those things were truly terrifying.

(Shudders).

Moving on…

In July, I also took Lilian to her first Red Sox game. Of course, she was still in utero at that time. And we were still calling her gummy bear. But, hey, it was a nice night. The Sox might have imploded last year, but we managed to go to a great game.

I don’t think I blogged about it, but it was right around this time that my sister and her husband moved to CT from California. I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am to see them 2-3 times a month.

August was pretty well dominated by Lilian’s arrival. My life changed forever at that moment. And, mostly, for the better. I spent the rest of the year filling my iPhone with baby photos.

In September, I started working on my thesis. Because writing a thesis while caring for an infant is a completely realistic goal. And I’m more than a little bit crazy. I also turned 31. I was lucky enough to spend 12 weeks on maternity leave and I enjoyed every minute of it. I met some amazing moms through a meetup group, traveled far and wide to see family, and even got a few naps in.

October featured my first nervous parent moment. And an awesome visit with all of my (biological) sisters. We rode out Super-Storm Sandy with the same amazing friends that we drove to Kentucky with. And then I dressed my baby up like a lobster.

In November, I once again attempted NaBloPoMo. And, as often happens, I eventually forgot to post something. We had family photos taken by the same (amazing!) photographer who shot our wedding. I attempted to soak up as much time with my baby as I could, and then I went back to work. It went surprisingly well. But it was still really hard.

It took us until December, but Kristian and I finally went on a date. We really need to do that more often. December was a whirlwind of holiday parties, but we finally settled down and had a cozy Christmas.

So, that’s 2012 in a nutshell. I’m looking back at the year and realizing a) that it was a much better year than I had remembered. Although I have a tendency to post about the positive, and to pretend that the bad stuff never happened. So, I am looking at my year with slightly rose-colored glasses. I’m also realizing 2) that I need to blog more. I have a vague recollection that a lot more stuff happened this year. And damn if I remember any of it. I know we went to NYC for a visit in October, but I can’t find a post for it.

How was your 2012?