In retrospect, the insane night that was N.Y.E. 2010 was an absolutely hilarious foreshadowing of the wild year that was ahead of me. When this photograph was taken, I had absolutely no idea where I was going with my life. I had not the smallest inkling that in two months time, I would get to live with Meggie again nearly three years after our college roommate days ended. Just in town for the night, I had no idea that the hospital I would soon work at on my first travel assignment is in the background of this photog. For all I knew when this picture was snapped as the fireworks lit up the sky over Tampa Bay at midnight, my carriage was about to turn back in to a pumpkin and I was about to lose a shoe frantically running down a staircase to return to Tennessee... but twentyeleven had other plans for me: to fill my life with every opportunity to be with the people who mean the absolute most... and when I reflect back on all the places this past year has taken me {it was a whimsical ride on one incredibly scenic route, all right!} I think most about the people it brought me near and how much their presence has meant the moon to me by helping my heart fully heal and pushing me perpetually forward...closer to making my hopes + dreams + fairytales a reality... less on the suburbs and more smack dab in the center of my utopia.
Twenty-Eleven: The year I grabbed life by its sapphire-encrusted horns... and seized every opportunity that came with each new day.
In January, I took on the best job in the world: full-time Auntie to the most beautiful baby girl. My heart grew bigger each day spent with reesey bird and we began celebrating the small things, like snow days and southern traditions... mostly on Mondays. I took full advantage of the close proximity to Jess and our weekly adventures in Nashville got a little more exciting when we learned there wasn't just two of us consuming all those pickles and ice cream...
In February, Cupid delivered. The month started out with an unforgettable trip to D.C. to see Meg+Danny. And then I moved in to the Magic Kingdom for an entire week... it was definitely the happiest place on Earth with all of its copious amounts of Reese + sunshine. Valentine's Day was a lovely hybrid of sushi + old times... and the rest of the month was spent consuming vitamin d on the beach while preparing to go back to work on the twenty-eighth.
March was the month that I discovered my love for mangoes. My heart smiled as pathological optimism manifested in super-giddy swoons on Sundays. I was falling in love with my new/old roommates + enjoying days off in South Tampa. I got to celebrate Kate's 6th birthday + attend my cousin's dessert reception with Grams as my date. Most memorable, March was the month full of madness when I learned I was going to become a master.
In April, I was perpetually on spring break and I became Allegiant's Air most frequent flyer. Kara came down J. Buff + Megalina made me the best michelada. One fabu weekend in Seattle where I ate sushi next to the Olsen twins and my heart was officially set on the Pacific Northwest for the summer! April was awesome.
May was full of Spanish celebrations as the final days as roommates came to an end. I found myself back in Tennessee in the middle of the month for Liz's dream wedding in Nashville with my beautiful date before I flew to Costa Rica for a fiesta di divorcio with Laurel to scratch a few things off my bucket list at the end of May. Before leaving Tampa, I found the perfect bar and Kate + I went to the zoo, too.
I was lucky enough to have the entire month of June off where I spent every weekend in a different part of the country. San Diego was my favourite of the four: our annual roommate reunion {love these girls}. After a lovely ten-day Canadian vacation, Syd + I had the best road trip cross country. At the end, I was officially a grad student/seattle resident.
Oh my, July! Possibly my favourite memories of the year occurred on a sports field... and getting to be a part of Christopher singing the national anthem at a Red Sox game in Fenway Field was one of my favourite moments in time. Meg + David got engaged. Carly + I mastered the art of summering in LaLaLand and on every sunny afternoon in Seattle, you could find me on my rooftop.
Summer was in full swing in the P.N.W. in August. I spent the mornings perusing farmers markets, afternoons kayaking and evenings rollerblading at sunset. I made an awesome friend of the bi-weekly bestie sorts. We went to Lake Shuswap. Baby Ella finally arrived! Kara + Creed came to visit. And then I went to Las Vegas, where all memory {and dignity} was lost on the Strip.
September was full of celebrating to the maximum. I celebrated good music at Bumbershoot with a little Ray LaMontagne. I celebrated Miss Reese turning one year old. I celebrated my own twenty-fifth birthday. I celebrated in Vancouver and I celebrated with my closest friend in Seattle at Mount Rainier. I celebrated the start of the first official quarter of my master's program and the first day of Fall.
In October, the paradigms shifted and the beginning of my quarter-life crisis began. I was swamped with working + school full-time and missed my friends and family immensely. Nursing felt like the last career I should be pursuing to a higher level... I dyed my hair brown but didn't celebrate one Monday in October. I did, however, attend my very first Canuck game, baked my very first pie, go on my first, second + last blind dates + had a super fun Halloweekend in LA.
November to me meant a homecoming that was much needed in both of my "hometowns". After moving in with my wonderful new roommate, I returned to Winnipeg to love on my baby cousins and attend Sammi+Ryan's fairytale wedding. I saw every single person in Manitoba that mean so very much to me before flying to Florida for Thanksgiving. It was a whirlwind weekend with friends, family and a teenage dream that made the seventeen-year-old me feel alive inside. November was full of little scraps of magic, memories of something fine + strong.
...and that brings me to today, December. The final days of the year when I spend most waking moments reflecting on the last year. The lessons I learned. The way in which my priorities change as I grow up. Everything I've accomplished but how far I need to go to get to exactly where I want to be. Twentyeleven was one hell of a year and a parisian Christmas with Grams is the perfect way to close one ahhmazing chapter. I survived the semester. I made it through {almost} a full year of travel nursing and good lawd, did I have fun.
We're flying to London today to ring in the New Year with Big Ben. Here's to hoping 2012 adequately prepares me to be a nurse practitioner, adds more stamps to my passport, makes me a real photographer, allows me to optimize my prime and perhaps find the answers to my least favourite question of 2011: Where/when are you going to settle down?
Have a Happy New Year, my lovelies!!
1 comment:
You are ridiculously adorable and i LOVE your blog.
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