Happy New Year!

Every year I like to look back at the fun things Dave and I did together and make a collage.  Here's this year's, which hopefully Dave got in the mail for Christmas, since we haven't seen each other yet!  You can find other years here.

Some of the pictures (LtoR): Kayaking while the van wouldn’t start in Tetons, Hiking in Cascade Canyon in the Tetons, solar eclipse at Waldo ponds, Gooseneck overview at Capitol Reef, fixing the van in Tetons, Matt and Allie’s wedding limo, hike in the snow with the new camera, Labyrinth in Jackson Hole after picking up the coil on our trip with Charlie, Central park in NYC with Brent, the shore pre-Sandy (Brigantine), Capitol Reef camp site after the Cohab Canyon hike, fixing the Westy at the garage, Tetons, wedding, whitewater rafting, me and the van at the falls in Yellowstone, Lake Powell, Time Square after nice work if you can get some, Jackson lake, Berties for Dave's 28th birthday in Kentucky on his move to NYC, Lake Powell again, Brigantine Beach, Norris in Yellowstone, Making a mosaic birdbath, My 30th birthday and new pots, Rehearsal dinner, Wildfire threatens our home, San Francisco (forgot Muir woods!), Mammoth caves, Hickman Bridge at Capitol Reef.

I think we did a bad job of taking pictures together this year, but I still wanted to show the breadth of things we did, even though we were living two time zones away for half of it.   I realized I forgot a few things and all of the pictures on Dave's phone and camera aren't here.  Ah well, it's still a fun overview! 

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I hope 2013 is amazing for all of us!  A year ago I was about to turn 30 and had no idea what this year would bring.  In the last year my car was stolen, our condo was threatened by a wildfire that was two miles away, my boyfriend moved 2000 miles away and lived through a hurricane, most of my graduate school friends have moved away, and my Grandma has been quite ill.  Despite all of this, I am proud of myself for making it through.  Sometimes it felt like I was barely surviving.  My home was a mess, my laundry never done, my eating habits pushed to eating out because I was too sad to cook.  My friend Yolanda was my savior through the hardest times.  I miss her so much, she moved away for an amazing job in November.  I saw her last week and cried after I had to say goodbye.  I think after all of this, though, I'm in a good place.  My job is still worth staying here for and I am thankful that I have it.  It keeps me sharp and makes my days go extremely fast.  I hope that I can continue to stay close to Dave, even though we are so far apart.  I also hope that my Grandma pulls through this rough time. 

Cheers to a new year, new chances to make yourself happy each and every day, and to hope!