2012 and 26

Happy 2012, everyone!

We're not even two weeks into the new year, and it already feels like a lot has happened. For one thing, I turned 26 a scant three days in 2012, so I'm starting off the new year closer to 30 than 20. It's sort of a weird feeling, I guess, to be on the mid/late side of my 20s. What did I ever do in my early 20s anyway? Shouldn't I have a lot more accomplished by now? Like popped out a kid or three?

Anyway, 2012 is going to be a big year, I can feel it! I feel older and wiser already. For instance, instead of eating a cookie for dessert tonight, I'm munching on a bag of healthful Quaker Oatmeal Squares. (Okay, who am I kidding? Oatmeal squares, while one of the more delicious cereals, is no excuse for a Pepperidge Farm Nantucket soft-baked cookie. Sigh. Really, I should just stop trying, since I know I'll end up eating the cookie anyway. Might as well skip the cereal altogether and save a few calories.)

Before we launch into this brand new shiny year though, I'd like to take a look back at 2011. Just briefly, since my memory is poor and I haven't been keeping up with my journaling as well as I should. Here we go:

January
Year began on a wicked awesome note, with Tyler and me watching fireworks at Navy Pier in Chicago.

February
Experienced Chicago's worst blizzard in a decade, including the phenomenon of "thunder snow." I know, I didn't think it was real either...until lightning started zipping through the snow storm. Very eerie.

March
I apply, on a whim, to a job in DC that a friend sent me, also on a whim.

April
I'm sure something happened in April. Hmm. But what?

May
Ditto. I vaguely just remember it being really, really cold that spring. Oh right and I got called in for an interview at DC job and had to fly out to the East Coast very abruptly. Thought interview went horribly. Also developed a weird itchy skin condition. That might be TMI. Sorry!

June
Week 1: Got the job! Week 2: Got engaged! Week 3: We find out my dad has late-stage stomach cancer.

July
Subletted my apartment in Evanston. Found lodging in Arlington. Began new job. Lots of fretting. Lots of praying. And we also attended two weddings, one in Atlanta, Georgia, and one in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.

August
Settled into the routine. Attended another wedding, this time in Ohio. I think in Columbus, but maybe it was Cincinnati. Or neither.

September
Went on my very first business trip! Visited our colleagues in Seattle, Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska. My new work spouse and I also took in a flight-seeing tour in Alaska, where we got to land and explore a glacier. Seriously one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. Also picked out bridesmaid dresses.

October
I find my wedding dress. Dad gets surgery. Brother's birthday. Wedding #4 in Danville, Illinois.

November
Tyler moves to VA! Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in many years. Black Friday shopping at Tyson's with the one and only Sunny.

December
First couple's weekend with Anna and Kevin in Williamsburg, Virginia -- very fun! Kind of weird to be back at my alma mater, but not in a bad way. Somehow not surprised to see good ol' Tucker Hall smothered in scaffolding and tarp...about time the old girl got a makeover. Like maybe the sewer hole can finally be filled in, and not covered with a bulletin board. Anyway. Then Christmas in the Midwest for the first time ever. I was sick for most of it, but it was still tons of fun. Def looking forward to many years of holidays with the Blues.

And here we are. Wedding planning in full swing. My dad's treatment ends on January 18, and none of us can wait for it to be behind us. 2011 was a crazy year, but I have a good feeling about 2012. It's going to be a good year. It has to be.