2013 was a crazy, fun, and adventurous year.
Here are my top moments of 2013 by month. Some months, it was really hard to pick only one thing, and some months, I had to stretch a little. Enjoy!
January - Spa Day with Mom
January is a weird month in my life. It includes the tail end of the holiday break, which is usually relaxing and enjoyable. Then, school begins and life gets crazy. January is a bit bi-polar. However, January includes my mom's birthday and Jack Jack's birthday. My mom is one of my best friends, and I love spending time with her, so for her birthday I planned a spa day for the two of us. My mom had never been to a spa before, and I had been once before. I scheduled massages, facials, and pedicures for the two of us. We had an absolute blast on a relaxing day. In fact, it was so fun, we've decided to make it a yearly tradition for her birthday and are going again this year! Whoop!
February - Southwest Educational Research Association Conference in San Antonio
This was my first year to get to attend this conference, which is a small, graduate student-oriented conference. The whole purpose of SERA is to allow graduate students a chance to present their research in a small, non-threatening environment. The conference was in San Antonio (which is my favorite major city in Texas) so getting there was not a big deal. I only gave one presentation but enjoyed getting to meet graduate students from other universities. We walked around the River Walk, ate good food, listened to presentations, and had a great time. This is one of my favorite conferences, and I'm so excited to return this year. Even better, the 2014 SERA conference is in NOLA! :)
March - Intervention and Arizona
Ok, I'm cheating a little. March was one of those months that was hard to pick just one thing that was wonderful. First of all, March marked the beginning of an intervention study I was working on with third-graders. I was one of the intervention teachers and got to start visiting the kiddos and implementing the intervention in March. Here, I fell in love with our little babies that were part of the study and was reminded daily how much I love teaching.
Also in March, I got to visit my bestie and her husband in Arizona. I love visiting Arizona because I miss my bestie all the time. We ate good food, shopped, and went to a Diamondbacks game. It was so nice to take a break from life and just be with people that I love so much.
April - American Educational Research Association in San Francisco
I was given the wonderful opportunity to attend the largest education-based conference in the country last April. This is "THE" conference for education research with anyone who is anyone presenting and in attendance. This past year, the conference was in San Francisco. I was not a presenter but just attending was a great experience. Before the conference actually began, my bestie and her husband surprised me by showing up! I was floored and loved getting to explore the city with them. We went to Napa Valley and enjoyed wine tasting, then walked around San Francisco enjoying the sights. At the actual conference, I got to see some of my research heroes present and attended several receptions where I got to eat good food, drink fabulous wine, and rub shoulders with important people. This year, the conference is in Philadelphia, and I am presenting work! So exciting.
May - Road Trips with Friends
May is always a crazy month for me. My sister's birthday, one of my childhood best friend's birthday, mother's day, my dad's birthday, and my parents' wedding anniversary are all in May. It's nuts. This May, I enjoyed all of those celebrations, but also got to plan two great road trips with friends. My two best childhood friends and I decided to go to Houston and Corpus Christi for Memorial Day. We wanted to go to the beach and just enjoy ourselves and that is what we did. We had a blast! What more can you ask for: seafood, the beach, and great friends. The last weekend in May, I finally made a trip to Dallas to visit my best friend and her husband. I hadn't seen my best friend since her wedding the November before so this trip was long overdue. We had a great time just enjoying each others' company with no rush or obligation to do a lot of stuff. We were college roommates, and I often miss our days of living together.
June - Summer Fredericksburg Trip
My family really wanted to go on a vacation this summer, but my work and school schedule just didn't allow for it. We decided to do something low-key and planned a weekend camping trip in Fredericksburg. I love Fredericksburg! Wineries, cute little shops, peaches, wooded areas, rolling hills. All of it makes my heart sing. We only stayed three days, but enjoyed walking around the shops, tasting fun wines, and cooking all of our food on a grill outside. It was a tranquil weekend away, and I have been dying to go back to Fredericksburg ever since.
July - 98 degrees, New Kids on the Block, and Boyz 2 Men
I am a child of the 90s. I love boy bands. My iTunes are still filled with the Backstreet Boys, 98 degrees, and N'Sync among others. This past summer, my bestie surprised me with tickets to see three popular boy bands from my childhood in Phoenix! Obviously, I had to go. Not only did I get to see a great concert and have a really fun girls' night with my bestie and some friends, but I got to go to Arizona again. The concert was amazing, and the memories from that evening are irreplaceable.
August - My "Golden" Birthday
2013 marked my "golden" birthday (the birthday where you turn the same age as the date of your birth). I didn't plan anything extravagant for this birthday, but it was wonderful all the same. I was spoiled shamelessly by my friends and family and reminded that I am truly loved and appreciated. My family was in Colorado for their annual hunting trip, so they were MIA, but my mom had preplanned for a cake and flowers to be delivered to me. The cake was perfect. When I was about 9-years-old, I attended a birthday party in which the birthday girl had requested a strawberry cake. I did not like strawberry cake, but luckily, the mom had planned ahead and also made a yellow cinnamon cake with chocolate fudge icing. I have dreamed about this cake for years, but never got it again. My mom had called a bakery in town and asked them to make this cake special for me. It was delicious! I got to enjoy a birthday dinner with my grandmother and aunt, and two birthday dinners with friends. I'm spoiled.
September - Alabama vs. Texas A&M
The historic Alabama vs. Texas A&M game that A&M won in Tuscaloosa just so happened to be the date of my best friend's wedding. Needless to say, I did not get to watch the game. Because of our fantastic win, the game this past year was hyped up like crazy. My best friend, bestie, and their husbands all came down for the big game. I literally had my favorite and the most special people to me together at once, and I could not have been happier. While we didn't win the game, I was just so happy to get to see everyone. And, we've built some new friend traditions as well.
October - Auburn and Kappa Delta Pi Convocation in Dallas
The only game I got to actually attend this year was the Auburn vs. Texas AM game which was the annual Maroon Out game here in Aggieland. I got to go with my bestie and her family, who have become like a second family to me. We enjoyed a fun weekend of shopping at Aggieland Outfitters, eating great food, and watching the Aggies. We toured the Bonfire Memorial which I haven't been to in years and shared many laughs.
Also, in October, I attended the Kappa Delta Pi Convocation in Dallas. I'll admit, I did not want to go to this conference at all. I was assisting with two presentations, but October was such a busy month, I had no desire to be in Dallas. It felt like an inconvenience. I was so pleasantly surprised by the conference. It was practical, teacher-oriented, and a great networking opportunity. I think I got more connections and opportunities out of this conference than any other in my experience. I definitely was proven wrong on the value of this conference. It's so nice to be proven wrong sometimes.
November - Thanksgiving
It sounds silly, I know, to say that Thanksgiving was the highlight of November because Thanksgiving happens every year. That being said, last Thanksgiving was TERRIBLE. About a week before Thanksgiving, my hard drive crashed on my computer, and I lost everything. I was going to be traveling to San Diego to present at my first professional conference the week after Thanksgiving and now had none of my data or my manuscript. That means last Thanksgiving was spent tirelessly scrounging to get everything finished. This Thanksgiving, I got to relax, spend time with my family, and not worry too much about work and school. It was a great breather before the end of semester stress kicked in.
December - Work Hard, Play Hard
I can't think of a better way to describe December. December is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the holidays and wish it were the holiday season all year long. But more than that, December is a fun month. The beginning of December is always really hard because I have a bunch of grading to finish, papers to write, and end-of-semester stuff to get together. Once that is completed though, I get to rest a little, take a break from work, spend time with my family, and reenergize. This December, I got to enjoy parties, end-of-semester celebrations, and an excellent Christmas. Basically, the entire second half of the month was celebrating, not worrying, and enjoying fun times and memories with people I love. If every month were like that, I'd be in Heaven.
It was quite a year for me. I have so many great memories with friends, traveled to new places, and worked really hard. I can't wait to see what highlights 2014 will bring!
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