2014
January
My car died at the beginning of January. Buying a new one by myself was so stressful, but I did it and I'm happy with it! Now if only someone would clean the inside for me....
February
Mom came to visit for a weekend in February. I can't ever remember what all we did. We packed a lot in. We saw Cody Strand in the Book of Mormon and went whale watching in Newport Beach. Those were my highlights.
I also joined Breakthru Fitness gym in February and learned the love that is Noel's spin class.
March
Dad came to visit in March. We saw Cody in the Book of Mormon too. I love that show. We also went to Graumann's Chinese Theatre and the Peterson Automotive Museum and had delicious taco truck tacos outside of the LACMA. Oh, and the Santa Anita Racetrack!!
I went back home for spring break. It was so nice to get away.
We recreated a "famous" picture.
I managed to surprise this girl in St. Paul. I can't believe it worked and it was the best.
April
This is me somewhere. I went a lot of places in April. Disney Hall and some cemeteries mostly.
I spent Easter at the Renaissance Faire in Irwindale with Bob and Minnie.
May
In May, I went to see some friends' short film world premiere. I feel like that's what you do in Los Angeles.
June
In June, I started taking private Spanish lessons. I'm still terrible at it, but I love my teacher. This is from the park near where we meet, almost every week. I went super early the day I met her and I was so nervous.
July
July was possibly my favorite month. I decided to quit my job in Monrovia and I was mostly freaking out that I didn't have a job for the fall yet, but I survived. Michelle came to visit and we went to the Rose Bowl for fireworks and took a surfing lesson.
I did a meetup for an archery lesson. That was pretty cool. I also spent a lot of July at the gym, taking Noel's spin class four days a week because I love it.
August
August was insane!! I interviewed and got a job in Glendale about a week before school started. This was my classroom the Friday before we had kids on Monday. On Monday, it didn't look that much different. Thankfully, I have AMAZING Behavior Intervention Assistants. Seriously AMAZING and they have made all the difference in the world.
The first weekend after school started, I went back to SoDak to be part of Jen's wedding. I will never forget it. It was beautiful and magical and everything a wedding should be. I don't think I'll ever be so lucky to be part of such a special day again.
September
It was busy with school, but I managed to see a few things around.
Giant duck in San Pedro
Nutella truck on a ridiculously hot day
Lil Bub at the cat show!!
October
Rise of the Jack-o-lanterns. Not as cool as I wanted it to be. The dinosaurs were awesome. Otherwise, it was just faces. Eh.
Beverly Hills Art Show
Halloween in West Hollywood is an experience. I don't think I really need to experience it again.
November
Mostly busy with school and a test I had to take for my teaching license. I went home for Thanksgiving, which was great because I got to meet Chelsea's baby Molly (pictured) and Bob and Allison's baby Adrienne. I also went back to Bellevue and saw people I hadn't seen since I moved.
December
Zoo lights at the LA zoo was pretty cool. It can be really hard to get into the Christmas spirit here because I associate Christmas with cold and it's really not here.
The only picture I have with him from this semester. I'm a little impressed he actually let me take this one. Nope, still not dating. Just friends. I'm just using him for his East LA tacos.
Grand Park Christmas decorations
I was wandering around downtown last night, on the phone with my mom. I looked over and saw this sky. It reminded me how much I like it here and feel like I belong.
It's been quite a year. I've only included some of the highlights, but there have definitely been ups and downs because that's life. This year, I'm actually excited to see what next year will bring. Merry Christmas!
