Rachel, Day by Day
I don’t think I ever shared this photo (I took it near the beginning of the year). I thought it was cute!
Well, 2012 is almost over. It’s time to write all of the highlights in my life this year! Well, for this year in general, it seemed like a lot of bad and good things happened. It was a good year for gay marriage (woo!), Obama won re-election, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes broke up (I don’t really care about that, though), Kate Middleton is pregnant, Draw Something and Pinterest became really popular, Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen was a popular song, and the Olympics in London were awesome.
As for some not so great things, there has been no hockey season so far, too many violent things happened like the Colorado theater shooting and the Newtown Connecticut shooting, and Hurricane Sandy. But, I don’t want to talk about bad things right now.
I saw many movies this year, including Dark Knight Rises, Avengers, Men in Black 3, Beauty and the Beast (in the theater!), Brave, Lincoln, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Vow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Argo, Taken 2, and The Artist. Out of all of these, I think Dark Knight Rises, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Argo, and The Artist were my favorites. You should check them out if you haven’t!
As for shows, I was into Revenge, New Girl, Amazing Race, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, Cougartown, and Chopped. I think HIMYM might be the favorite of the year. I also got into the band Mumford & Sons and Fun. And, yes, I do actually like Gangnam Style by Psy!
Alright, so let’s start at the beginning of 2012. I rang in the new year at Christina’s house and went out to dinner earlier in the day for my Uncle John’s birthday. Both were lots of fun! I also spent the night at Mel and Larry’s and we ate yummy pancakes the next morning. Good times!
I started the Color Challenge early on in the year (click here for the first day and click here to read more about the challenge). I actually came up with that on my own and had fun with it. If you are a regular reader, you know what I’m talking about. 😉
My friend Nicole had a baby in February! Her name is Eleanor (and I just saw her a day or two ago). She is so cute and I hope I get to see her more. Andrea had a baby in September named Jacob! He’s a cutie, too. I can’t believe my friends are having babies!!
We celebrated Scott’s mom’s birthday early in the year at the casino in Peoria and at the Burger Barge. We did the same for Stacie’s birthday in August, too, and both places are A LOT of fun. I hope we go back soon!
On a not so great note, I found out this year that I have asthma. I tend to notice it around dogs or cats, so it’s ok most of the time. I can handle it!
Let’s see… I had some fun movie nights with Mickey, went to a fun wine bar with my mom, went out with Anne Shea a lot when I lived in Champaign, enjoyed dinners with Stacie and Maggie, played lots of tennis in the spring and summer, had fun getting pedicures and manicures with Anne, enjoyed dinners with Zach, had many guitar lessons, had a nice Valentine’s Day with Scott at Biaggi’s, loved good times at the Essig’s house, saw Venus, and had a great time playing some softball over the summer with the Human Kinetics folks. Those are some quick highlights since I’m typing a lot!
We had lots of fancy and regular happy hours with my Champaign friends throughout the year. The fancy ones at Radio Maria and Destihl were awesome. Another memorable time was when Kate, Anne, and I went to Boltini and got our palms read! Good times.
I went to Christina’s birthday party back in February at Mel’s house. We also went to Flat Top Grill. I miss hanging out with those people! Then the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Elmhurst the next month was a good time. Mel and Larry visited us in Normal near the beginning of the year, too!
We went on a big trip this year to Gulf Shores, Alabama! We spent lots of time at the beach, stayed in an awesome condo, ate great food with great company, spent time on the enormous balcony, went to the Battleship Memorial in Mobile, Alabama, shopped in Fairhope, had a shrimp boil, and basically had an AWESOME time! Here’s a photo from Gulf Shores:
Let’s see… what else? I made a scavenger hunt for my family on Easter, hung out with Christina in Champaign one weekend, went to Drury Lane for brunch on Mother’s Day, spent the day at Arlington Racetrack, went to Hannah and Sydney’s (my cousins) 8th grade graduation party, went to the Taste of CU, celebrated Scott’s birthday at Alexander’s, went to a carnival in Normal, went to Stacie’s awesome 30th birthday celebration, went to the Shakespeare Festival with Anne and Brendan, went to the Mackinaw Valley Winery with Scott, and went to Bruegala Beer Festival. Woo!
Mel, Christina, and Brittany visited me over the summer. We had a great night at Boltini, spent time at the pool, and hung out. It was awesome! I hope we get to do that again soon. My Aunt Carol, Sydney, and my mom visited me in Champaign, too! We hung out, mini golfed, got ice cream, and ate some good food. I love having visitors! I got to see Sydney in a few musicals this year: Aladdin and Sound of Music. She was great in both of them!
My family and I visited my Uncle John in Michigan! We saw many beautiful waterfalls and parks. The parade was fun and the Pictured Rocks Boat Cruise was awesome! We saw fourth of July fireworks on a boat on the lake, which was cool. We also went to a casino and mini golfed. Good times! Here’s a photo from Michigan:
I went to the Blackhawks Convention with my family! I met Jonathan Toews again with my cousin Sydney, which was probably the highlight of the weekend. She was SO excited! We went to a wonderful meal at RL (Ralph Lauren’s restaurant) that weekend, too. We also visited Buckingham Fountain and danced in Grant Park. For my birthday, some friends and I went to Boltini, Cream and Flutter, and Destihl for a drink. Good times! Here’s a photo of Sydney and Jonathan Toews:
I guess the biggest thing that happened this year was that I moved in with Scott. I now live with a boy! Weird. It’s been awesome, though. 🙂
Want to hear more? Well, Scott got his wisdom teeth pulled, which was an adventure. It was funny seeing him try to eat yogurt. We had a Labor Day cookout with my family, celebrated my grandpa’s 85th birthday at The Clubhouse, went to the Apple and Pork Festival, carved pumpkins with Scott’s family and threw a Halloween party at our house with work friends (and went on a haunted trail!), saw Mary Poppins in Peoria, and saw Singing in the Rain at Drury Lane.
I’m almost done! Scott and I saw the documentary Man on Wire at the Art Theater and got to meet Philippe Petit! It was awesome; Scott was so excited. We had a great Thanksgiving with Scott’s family and even did a scavenger hunt! The Turkey Trot was fun, too.
It was great seeing my family on Christmas Eve; we ate Cuban food, sang, opened presents, and played Cuban Bingo. Christmas Day was great, too; we saw most of Scott’s family, exchanged presents, ate a lot, played Minute to Win It games, and had a White Elephant exchange. Good times!
I just went to Brookfield Zoo recently with Uncle John and Scott. I haven’t been there in a couple of years, so that was great! And I plan on ringing in the new year by having dinner with my family and then going to Christina’s house. Woo!
This year was truly a great one. I got to spend time with some awesome people in amazing places. Yes, I know I just typed up a lot and some of you might not take the time to read all of this, but I like looking back on everything I’ve done in a year. To my friends, family, and Scott, you are all such wonderful people and I don’t know what I would do without you. Here’s to a great 2013!
Randomosity 