2013

2013 has flown by. Just like all the other years. And one of the things I'm thankful for this year is social media. Because it's allowed me to document all the coolest stuff I've done and it just stays there, out in the internets, for me to review whenever I want a little trip down memory lane!

From the fun little year-end social network review I did recently on facebook comes this one. I'm feeling pretty grateful for the wonderful life I have.

In 2013, we started our year with a trip to DISNEY WORLD in late January! It was such an amazing vacation, and even though we were just there a year ago, our family can't stop talking about going back someday. We made a ton of great memories, and it was the best vacation I've ever had.

Speaking of travel- I was able to visit Utah twice this year for work. Once in March, so the snow was still icing the tops of the mountains, and a second time in July for our annual conference, when all my work friends were there and we had great times staying up too late before work meetings.

 One of the nights we were in Utah, Rachel, Jill, and I rented this sweet convertible for a drive up to Park City to see the sights. Unfortunately, we only got to have the top down for about five minutes, and I had to drive up and down a crazy big mountain in the RAIN (I may have freaked out a little, but kept it mostly inside I think).

Hot chicks in a red convertible

Writing this post, I realize I went lots of places this year! Matt and I joined his mom, aunt, sister, and sister's boyfriend for a weekend in Louisville this year.  His lovely mom, Marta, was turning 50, and celebrated by apparently losing her mind-- since her big plans for the weekend included ziplining and skydiving!

I attempted the zipline... I managed to complete the practice line, and then, paralyzed by my fear of heights, cried while the 8 year olds went ahead of me on the first real line. And then I waited outside for the rest of the group to have an adventure and I read a book like an old lady. I also spectated while the rest of the group (except Matt's aunt) went skydiving. It was super cool to watch them jump, and see the nerves before they went up in the plane, and the true relief to be on solid ground afterward. ;)
 

Marta's birthday dinner before they all tried to kill themselves

Matt and I went to Ohio a month later for our 1st wedding anniversary! We originally planned the road trip to Ohio to see Wicked when Matt managed to get some pretty amazing seats to the show... and then we just made a whole vacation out of it! We stayed in several different cities-- Columbus first, to see Wicked, check out breweries and the cool children's museum  where we got to see REAL rats playing basketball! 

Then we drove over to the NFL football hall of fame in Canton, and then up to Cleveland, where we stayed at the GORGEOUS hotel pictured below, and gambled at the Casino and toured the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

Hyatt Regency at the Arcade

Rounding out our unplanned tour of 3 of the 4 neighboring states of Indiana, we drove up to Detroit for the Oddball Comedy Tour to see Dave Chappelle and The Flying Conchords in the fall. The show was great, and Matt and I had fun as usual doing our typical road trip things, like stopping by wineries, casinos, and restaurants recommended by the urban spoon app.

pre-concert tailgating selfie

The kids and I took two short trips to waterparks too. One for each of their birthdays- once to Great Wolf Lodge in May, and once to Kalahari in October.  They had a blast. :)

Ethan and his BFF also named Ethan at Kalahari Resort.

I did a lot of running this year.  I decided to tackle the couch to 5k program... and after many months and much struggle, finally actually RAN the whole 5k distance with my friend Jessica at the Monumental 5k- which was the same day our friend Nikki ran her first marathon.

I started the season by taking it easy, and enjoying the first 5k with the kids, Matt, and his family at our first Color Run! Aside from getting WAY too much colored chalk in my ear canal, it was a really fun time! 
 

Color Run

After the Color Run, the kids and I did the Zombie Outbreak 5k. We even made custom Plants Vs. Zombies Tshirts! This was one of the first 5ks that I actually tried to RUN. I thought doing it with the kids would help, but I was wrong. Ethan, the natural runner that he is, left me in the dust from the start line. And Emma and her boyfriend apparently leisurely strolled the whole 3 miles. Since it was July, I sweated and huffed and puffed and dragged my sorry butt the whole way by myself, while avoiding zombies. Dang useless kids.

Next up was the Glo Run, which is a nighttime run where everything is glow in the dark and blacklights and neon colors. I ran this one with Nikki, Dana, and Jessica, and we had a blast. The glo-light glasses were one of my favorite parts.

After that was the Wine at the Line at Mallow Run Winery with a bunch of friends. It was rainy and muddy but fun, and the wine at the end was a nice reward. 

Ethan is the true runner- which he proved by performing great this cross country season, including getting an award for the most PRs of his whole team this year!

Ethan running at a home meet (he's in the middle)

Speaking of my awesome kids, Emma continues to make me proud-- she applied for and was accepted to her first mission trip, and she will fly to Nicaragua for spring break! She's also learning to drive, which makes me freak out with the realization that she is old enough to get her license.

Emma and I got to see Wicked together this winter-- second time for me this year-- which was wonderful! She loved the show, and we had a fun dinner beforehand... during which multiple servers offered her wine because apparently, at a nice restaurant on Mass Ave with dim lighting, while dressed up, she looks over 21. OMG. 

A few other cool things happened:
Matt built us a DECK as my anniversary gift, and had it built as a surprise while we were in Ohio!

My awesome new deck!

Matt and I spent many Sundays at Lucas Oil Stadium watching Colts games and spending way too much money on stadium pizza, fries, and beer. Pretty awesome.

The place we prefer to watch the game from, since our seatmates were so annoying. And who wants to climb all those stairs?

What a FANTASTIC 2013!!
This doesn't even account for all the other great ways I spent time... playing board games with my kids, nights out dancing or dining with friends and family, movies, etc. Plus I got a promotion this year, and Matt had continued success in his career.

If you are a blogger, please oh please write a wrap-up of your year (excessive pictures optional) for me to peruse. :)

If you are not a blogger, an extremely lengthy facebook post would also be appreciated.

Happy New Year!