2012 in Review

Happy New Year! Josh and I celebrated the new year by sleeping in and then eating out for breakfast. It was a magical beginning, but this post is all about reminiscing on the past 12 months. I went through some pictures this morning and pulled out some that help illustrate what a fantastic, magical year 2012 has been for Josh and me. So many wonderful things happened and I thought it would be fun to show what we got to experience this past year.

I went back to college after a year-and-a-half break last January. It was...stressful. Josh was in school, of course, and we were both working, but I was working full-time and taking 5 classes and working an extra part-time editing job on the side. It was a dark time for me and Josh remembers it as the time when I yelled a lot, but we got through it. I finally graduated.

 

In between the winter and spring semesters, my sisters came up and we all went to April Conference. It was pretty fun, and a surprising snow fell that morning, completely baffling me and delighting my sisters.

Before the graduation ceremony in August, we had another little surprise. On Father's Day, we both found out that I was pregnant. It was incredibly welcome news, although we weren't expecting it for a few months yet. I was pretty sick for the next couple of months, including on our July trip with the family to California, and at graduation, but no one seemed to notice.

I did not look this pregnant in June

Also before the graduation ceremony in August, Josh's parents rented this gorgeous beach house in California. Rachel was training at her new job in Chicago, so she couldn't make it, but the rest of the family went to a ton of different and beautiful beaches, Sea World, and Disneyland. I was pretty horribly sick almost the whole week, except miraculously on Wednesday when we went to Disneyland. I call it a Disney miracle.

Our next adventure happened the day of graduation in August, when Josh and I announced our pregnancy to both sets of future grandparents. There was much rejoicing. I really think we managed to surprise them, which was the goal, because what is more fun than surprises? We gave "congratulations" cards to both sets of parents, with a picture of the first ultrasound in each. We tactlessly requested the ultrasound photos back, because they were originals. Copies proved impossible to make and we really want to keep Scarlet's first pictures, but everyone seemed cool about it.

Then the very next day, Josh, Jonathan, Rachel, and I flew to London and spent two weeks in Wales and England, revisiting old haunts and finding new fun places to explore. It was a wonderful trip, sapping all my vacation days and giving me a pretty awful five-day cold, but worth every minute. I'd do the whole thing over again in a heartbeat.

We got back at the end of August and I started WGU's MBA program in September. The schooling isn't too difficult, although it isn't too interesting either. Plus, I started a week later because we had to travel to Las Vegas for Super Family Fun Day, which is just a weekend-long family reunion. We played a lot of Skip-bo, apparently.

I got through two whole months of schooling before the next fun visit from family, which came at the end of October. Nicole and Rebecca brought five nieces and nephews for a weekend visit to the corn maze at Thanksgiving Point and trick-or-treating at the Hogle Zoo. One booth at the zoo gave Jonathan two bags of Doritos, which he kindly split with me, making the whole trip that much more fun.

At the end of November, Josh and I enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with his family before trekking down the next day to Las Vegas to spend Second Thanksgiving with my family. The weather was mild enough that we were able to set the tables outside--something we can only do every couple of years or so. The sun was pretty bright for those sitting on the north side of the table, but Josh and I were lucky enough to snag the shady side.

 

December marked the end of Josh's undergraduate experience, but since graduation happens once a year in May for U of U students, there are pending photos of that event. To reward him for all of his hard work, I bought him a computer game and an Xbox for Christmas. Also for the final month of the year, we made plans to double-dip at both families again, visiting both sets of parents for the same holiday. We spent the weekend before Christmas in Las Vegas but traveled back on Christmas Eve day to make it in time for Christmas brunch in Salt Lake City. It was wonderful to see everyone again, and we really tried to make it work out with both families for Thanksgiving and Christmas in case Josh gets a job that takes us far away from everyone.

This is us eating (again) in Las Vegas for Christmas dinner, which I think we actually had on Sunday the 23rd. Eating seems to be all we do at my family according to these pictures, but we sure do it well.

This year was just splendid. We had two amazing vacations. Josh and I both graduated. We spent several holidays with family and are preparing for the next great event, when Katie Scarlet is born in February. That event alone guarantees 2013 will be even more magical than 2012 was!

It's impossible to make out, but the gift tag reads, "Do not open until February 16, 2013."