I have neglected my blogging duties! I cannot even begin to explain the controlled chaos that has ensued since approximately December 2011! I didn’t even have the opportunity to complete my Advent series — FAIL! So shame on me! My 2012 resolution…..to get back into being a regular blogger. This year will mark my four year anniversary on WordPress. I feel like that warrants something from them — like one of those really cool backgrounds or my choice of font and design. I’m sure that those are options, but my blogging extent pretty much stops at putting words on the screen, uploading photos and linking YouTube videos. Hey, at least I have THAT much going for me! And I’d like to think that I bring people here, to our cozy, thoughtful and non-judgmental environment, because of the weight of my words — not the flashy computer design skills {or lack thereof}. So anywayssss…..here’s a recap of the end of 2011…….
December went ridiculously fast — I have no idea where it went. Oh wait, yes I do. Between my first ever attendance at the family Christmas cookie baking extravaganza, my December drill weekend, Christmas with my family and Christmas with Nick’s family — every weekend was consumed with something. Then throw into the middle of the week Christmas shopping, baking, decorating, parties, job hunting, and traveling, I now completely understand how and why people get stressed out over the holidays. But, with all that said, it was a truly awesome holiday. Being able to spend it with both of our families and getting to do things we haven’t been able to share together was an incredible move forward into our future. We came home from Christmas in North Carolina and the next day we left for a week-long trip to Europe that included time in London and Paris. Needless to say, there had been a lot of prep work put in prior to heading to North Carolina. But there was still a lot of laundry to do when we got home!
Our trip was wonderful. The idea was planted last summer when I was still on deployment. A close friend had asked us if we wanted to go to London for NYE with her and her boyfriend. We immediately said, “Absolutely!” and we were hooked. Our friends ended up having to back out due to schedule and deployment changes, so we invited a sorority sister of mine and her husband to come with us and we had a BLAST! From eating fish and chips at every pub we could find to touring all the major tourist attractions, we fell in love with London. On New Year’s Day, Nick and I hopped on The Chunnel and scurried over to Paris, where another dear friend who’s stationed in Germany met up with us. Again, I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun we had! From seeing the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame to seeing the real Moulin Rouge show, it was a blast. We then took The Chunnel back to London for our final night and left the next day. And oh BTW — we got engaged! {Don’t worry, the story will come in another blog post!} And then two days later after getting back home to Annapolis, I left for a month in Italy for Reserve duty — which is my current location.
It’s hard to believe everything we did and saw in just those few weeks of the holiday season. I count my blessings every day for having the opportunities that are in my life and more importantly, the people. Because without people you love and who love you back, those opportunities and adventures aren’t nearly as awesome and exciting. I sure am one lucky girl! 2011 was a pretty amazing year. It started in San Diego and ended in London. Nick came home from Afghanistan; I deployed three weeks later. While on deployment I got to see more of this amazing world we live in. I got out of the Navy and have spent the past three months having a glorious time seeing old friends, visiting old places and traveling to new ones. But most importantly, it’s my last year as a single girl!
So stay tuned for more exciting details on things to come in 2012! Ciao!
