2012 HIGHLIGHT REEL

Well, this past year was a busy one but was pretty quiet at the same time. I think that wedding planning/showers/honeymooning took up the majority of the beginning of the year so we tried to cool it down after we got into June. Here are some of my favorite highlights of the past year, and decidedly the best one yet ;)

January - Winter volleyball and wedding planning were about the only things going on, it was the quiet before the storm!

February - I took another new job. Although I was glad to be back into the design field I took a move that would be more beneficial to my work/life/drive/cash-flow balance and began as an assistant to an attorney in downtown DSM. Although this is not a huge push for me mentally I am usually content, so I consider it still to be a positive move!

March - We took off to Omaha for a friends wedding and experienced 80 degree weather, it was amazing! I also had my first bridal shower hosted by wonderful friends in Lake City. I think this is when my emotions started going crazy, as I began to realize just how many people were supporting Murph and I.

April - Welcome to crazy town! We were in KC for Easter, had a shower in Clarion with Murph's family, had my bachelorette party (where I latched onto a serious cold that seemed to last forever!), went to the Drake relays and made our final wedding arrangements back home. Talk about burnout! The last weekend in April marked our 7th weekend in a row being busy, 5 of them were on the road, I am sure I had told Murph to meet me at the courthouse over lunch no less than 10 times at this point!

May - The start of summer volleyball, Murph's bachelor party and a quick trip to LC and a trip to Ledge's where we got engaged took up the first of the month while our wedding day was the 26th and we left for Jamaica on the 28th for a week! By far the best days of my life, I am still looking at our pictures remembering how great those days were. I am glad we have pictures because I certainly don't remember much else about that day, it went too quick!

June - June was pretty quiet, and we liked it that way. We began putting our house together, went to a concert with friends, celebrated birthdays and I went to and 80's bachelorette party for another friend of ours getting married in July. I also officially moved out of the townhome and helped Nic get settled into her new digs, a very bittersweet day indeed.

July - We went to BrewFest at Principal Park, took our 2nd trip to KC and hit up Schlitterbahn with Murph's brothers for the 2nd year in a row and watched our good friends Kyle and Sarah tie the knot. Murph also turned 33! The weather was so hot and volleyball was miserable but we survived thanks to a few cold er warm pitchers of beer.

August - Our annual Booze Cruise birthday bash for Nic and I started the month off right eventhough the weather was terrible (seriously one of the 2 weekends it rained all year). We got some new furniture, hit of the fair for my birthday, I turned 28 and we participated in one of my favorite events of the year Resturant Week! The dinner at Alba was fantastic per usual. We also played in a charity volleyball tournament (it also rained that day) and wrapped up the longest summer of volleyball to date.

September - Iowa Hawkeye football dominated September as they had a home game each weekend except Labor Day which we spent in Clarion.

October - We ran the Color Run with friends and began taking a class at our church called Financial Peace and got our finances in order. I NEVER thought I could live on a budget, but each month gets better and better, and the best part? We rarely ever argue about money! It was absolutely worth the time and effort! We also went to Les Mis at the Civic Center and Murph also kicked butt and ran a 1/2 marathon. We finished out the month with  our 3rd and final trip to KC to see the mini-Murph's and came home sick. It took me over 3 weeks to shake!

November - We finished up our finanical class mid month and Iowa's terrible football season came to an end.  We both took some time off over Thanksgiving to paint the entire first floor of our house and spent time in LC and Clarion and began hibernating! We also hosted a dinner for high school friends at the house which was a lot of fun.

December - It was another quiet month but we managed to attend the Hy-Vee Big 4 Classic to watch Iowa, ISU, UNI and Drake play. We spent a couple days in both LC and Clarion over the holiday's and were again easily reminded of how many people love us. We said a sad goodbye to Murph's little brother shortly after Christmas as he headed to Germany where he will be studying / interning until August. While we are overjoyed with this amazing opportunity he has taken we are also sad knowing we won't see him for the next 8 months.

Clearly 2012 was a great year filled with love and unforgettable memories. Murph and I are beyond blessed and can't wait to see what 2013 has in store!