2013: Highlights

For me, 2013 was a year of many ups and downs. There were a few heartbreaks and also a handful of triumphs. Read on for a recap of my last twelve months.

January:
The year started off with a bang when I found out I was pregnant. I was shocked, thrilled and absolutely terrified.

February:
February started off without a hitch, and I felt incredibly lucky on Valentine's Day to be celebrating a new chapter in our lives — I even made a card themed around how big our baby was supposed to be that week: an olive. Unfortunately, a few days later, I was devastated when I was blindsided by the beginning of a miscarriage.

March:
My beautiful mother-in-law Berta visited us in March. It was a beautiful, peaceful visit and we were so grateful to have her company while we continued to try to wrap our minds around the miscarriage. I also had the opportunity to interview local artist Skip Hill and lost track of time visiting with him in his studio.

April:
I had the opportunity to launch a new project at work called N-town and was proud of the results of our first publication. I had a fabulous girls night where we hired an artist to give us henna tattoos. One of my favorite photographers took unbelievably gorgeous photos of me and made me feel like a million bucks! And we took a trip to Texas to visit family and watch one of my best college girlfriends marry her love.

May:
May was a month of both profound sadness and incredible joy for me. Right before we left for San Diego for a best friend's weddings I covered the horrific aftermath of an EF-5 tornado. You can read my blog posts on that here, here, here and here. I also had the delightful experience of visiting with a new friend, wrapped up my second N-town, I started directing public affairs for my church in my area, and discovered some beautiful photos of my grandparents.

June:
This month I started teaching fiction writing to an 11-year-old,  and celebrated our three-year wedding anniversary as well as my 24th birthday and Nathaniel's 26th.

July:
In July I covered the Toby Keith Twister Relief Concert — which wasn't as much fun as you'd think it should be. I also attended my first ever "Hard Hat Society" meeting and enjoyed a day at the lake with friends.

August:
Besides the comings and goings of covering events in August, my favorite thing that month was writing a story about boys living in a group home for juvenile delinquents.

September:
September was a busy month: I hosted a girls' art night, visited with two psychics, chopped my hair off, laughed at my writing students' jokes, hooked my student up with a phone interview with Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, and celebrated the first birthday of our friends' baby.

October:
I followed up a busy month with one that was even more crazy. I was acknowledged as a Business Person in the Arts, put together my very first photo shoot and put out a Halloween-themed N-town. I also interviewed Santa and attended the Oklahoma Arts Conference. My childhood friend Dana came to visit, as did my parents and brother for an OU football game. My wonderful grandad sent me a beautiful note and we had a blast celebrating Halloween with puppet-themed costumes.

November:
I had an incredible visit with artist Paul Moore in his studio, promptly followed by a trip to Lubbock to visit both of our families.

December:
December was packed full of fun: A photo shoot and trip to Disney World and Miami.

Alright, 2014...let's do this!

Always,