{new year & new life}

{via}

Today I will have lived in Arizona for 6 whole months.

AMAZING.

2010 was a wonderful year, probably my favorite so far. The past six months have been quite a journey, and the six before that were just as incredible. I can't believe some of the things that happened, the adventures I went on, and the things I saw! A summary of the highlights:

January: I made the new years resolution to put more effort into my blog, and actually did it! Not only that, I actually did all 5 of my resolutions. Probably for the first time ever. I also started the first day of my last semester at WSU, as soon to be graduating senior. I froze in the snow, and tried to fight off a serious case of senioritis.

February: Devin came to visit me, my oldest friend. We had a great time touring around Pullman, practicing party hair, and catching up:) In the mushiest way that February can bring out in a person, I fell in love all over again with a certain someone, and a week after Devin's trip, got a lovely surprise! Visitors are my favorite.

March: Spent my last spring break of college in Seattle, visiting happy hour hot spots, working for the Mariners, and day dreaming about beaches in Mexico. Out of that came the wild idea to tour Europe once graduated, and I found myself a travel partner! After a long time researching and wasting hours upon hours of budget online flight shopping, I booked Chris & my plane tickets to Europe.

April: Washington started to look more and more springy, the last month of college was in full swing, and nostalgia set in. Classes were getting hard, friends were getting sad, and exhaustion was a constant state. In true holiday fashion, I dyed Easter eggs and baked pucker worthy lemon bars.

May: An unbelievable month. Quite possibly my favorite month of my entire life. I took a leave from my blog to focus on other things, I graduated from WSU, I took a trip to Arizona to see Chris graduate, we left for Europe, I saw La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Vatican, discovered real pizza in Rome, kissed my boyfriend on the top of the Eiffel Tower on his birthday, visited Mona at the Louvre, saw Alicia Keys in concert in Paris, and drank all sorts of delicious espresso.

June: Made it back alive from Europe! Had in interview for an internship the day after I landed, kept my fingers crossed for 2 days straight, and got the job! Which prompted my big move to Arizona. I spent the rest of the month wrapping up loose ends, saving money, saying goodbye to friends & family and packing. 

July: Bright and early on the 4th of July I was up, packed, sad but excited and on a plane to Arizona. Antsy as always to get back to traveling, Chris and I took a trip to the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! We saw Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, and spent the day hanging out with his family, riding rides, and sneaking off to California Adventure. I settled in to my internship, rode the bus AND lightrail to work everyday, and was constantly sweating...(gross).

August: Arizona summer was officially getting to me, so we took a nice little vacation to Mexico. We drank fruity cocktails, parasailed, worked on our tans, and tried to avoid the whole border violence thing (fear). Working hard, still squatting in Chris's apartment, I got the offer to join the agency full time in the public relations department. We celebrated!

September: I found an amazing apartment in Phoenix, bought a car (from my mom!) and bought a plane ticket to Seattle to round up my things to move them to Arizona. September was the month I fell head over heels in love with interior design and got in trouble for buying things for my apartment when I wasn't moved in yet! I spent my 22nd birthday in Seattle surrounded my favorite people, then started the official journey - a Man Vs. Food trek through Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles with a packed car functioning as my moving van. A highlight of the trip was watching the sunrise over the Golden Gate Bridge, something I will never forget!

October: I moved into my first real apartment, and spent the majority of the month hunting for furniture on cragslist. I hosted my first annual 'Ghoul Gruel Dinner' (which sadly never made it into a blog post) and made spOoOoOky cupcakes for the office Halloween party. I dressed up as Sammi Sweetheart and a Vampire for Halloween, had cool fangs but no trick-or-treaters. 

November: I entertained during visits from my dad in early November and my mom for a week over Thanksgiving! I made my 'signature' apple crisp, made a dent in my wallet on black Friday, and put up Christmas decor.

December: With Christmas season in full swing, I drank many gingerbread americanos, listened to N'Sync Christmas on repeat, and finally bought a bed! Chris & I ate way too much peppermint bark, we watched his best friend Brandon play in the NFL, and I got the present of my dreams! I spent Christmas in Seattle, saw twinkly lights downtown, and counted down to the new year with my pledge class.

If this year is even a glimmer of last, there should be some great things headed my way!

 Happy New Year!