Year in Review: 2012

Well, we survived the Apocalypse and had a fantastic Christmas, and to make up for all the times we're too busy to tell you what we're up to, here's a quick review of everything that happened (that I can remember) from this year--good and not so good.

January: At the turn of the New Year, we were living with my parents in Draper. I quit my job at Iggy's Sports Bar (in Salt Lake City) to devote more of my time to working at the Farm at Canyons (in Park City). We spent most of our free time running around with friends and trying to save rather than spend. We went to my first NBA game (Jimmer!). We also started a calling in Primary teaching the 6-year-olds.

February: I was reaccepted to BYU - Idaho! I managed to get Valentine's Day off to go out for some delicious Greek food with my handsome husband, which would have been a lot more fun if I wasn't on heavy pain killers for a nasty root canal. I'm surprised I remember the evening. Casey also finished watching Battlestar Galactica that month.

March: We had the pleasure of going to the sealing of sweet Zoe to Matt and Amy (my cousin) Dotson.  It was a perfect day in St. George. Back in the Salt Lake area, I managed to track down some of the famous Girl Scout Cookies, which for some reason seemed to be hard to get ahold of. Plenty of rehearsals finally came to fruition in the Broadway Family Favorites show, which I was in with my Mom and sister, Madelyn. A couple of my friends/coworkers from the Farm came to see it, and we had a great time afterwards. We wrapped up the month with the Festival of Colors, a nice tax refund, and just missing Schlittentäg at Canyons.

April: General Conference was lovely, and a couple days later we went to Colorado for our first funeral of the year--an old friend of Casey's. We came back to Utah just in time to pack up our lives and get ready to move. On the 13th we had a big pizza and packing party, and a surprising number of friends and family showed up to help us load the U-Haul and bid us farewell. The next day we hit the road, and despite having only one friend (thanks, Barnes!) to help unload, we had the entire truck empty in just an hour or two. School started just a few days later and suddenly realized that we had moved ourselves to a small town.

May: I spent almost the entire month doing homework, while Casey fought with the terrible free internet. It didn't take long to sig up with a different provider so he could work from home without issues. We made a few friends in our ward quickly, and I loved the only missionary phone call on Mother's Day with both my brothers--Lars' first call and Stephen's last. To celebrate Memorial Day Weekend we went to Jackson, Wyoming for a day, which got really intense in the hail storm on the way home.

June: Bill Cosby came to BYU-Idaho, which was actually really good. Funeral #2 (Casey's Grandma Evva) and both of our birthdays came on and around two trips to Utah. I started volunteering as tutor in the on-campus Spanish Conversation Lab and was inducted into the local chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the Spanish National Honors Society. I also started taking pictures on the cheap for some friends (hint hint).

July: Casey purchased NCAA 13 for the Playstation 3 and  subsequently disappeared for hours at a time. It got worse when the real football season started. I survived the spring semester without dying (which believe me, was a feat) until the 7 week break started. We were going to housesit for my parents until surprise! Stephen came home a couple of months early from his mission due to his knees not working anymore (this is not a joke). We were ready and waiting at the airport with my family, posters, and a big Brazilian flag.

August: A breeze. I had the entire month off from school, work, life, etc. I gave all the plasma they would take that month. Mid-month we road-tripped to Utah to celebrate a beautiful wedding or two and Stephen's homecoming. Casey was a groomsman at Brett & Chelsea's wedding, so he bought a really awesome grey suit that is awesome. At the end of the month, Casey dropped me off at the SLC airport, and he spent a weekend with Cory while I spent the weekend in Florida (yes, I went to Harry Potter World!)

September: I kicked off the month right, in Orlando at JQ's wedding. I got to see a couple other friends in the area before heading home after spending more hours in the MCO airport than I care to admit. Casey, playing as the South Carolina Gamecocks, overcame two early-season losses to upset #1 Clemson and then #1 Texas A&M in consecutive weeks to earn an unlikely spot in the BCS National Championship game. Despite ultimately losing, it was his greatest achievement of the year. I went back to school on the 10th and started two great jobs, one as a TA and the other as a writing tutor.

October: Our third and final funeral of the year (my sweet Grandma Helen) took us to Arizona, where I misplaced my license (ugh). I got my first interpreting gig (awesome). We celebrated our 2nd anniversary (yay!) a few days in advance as I spent our entire anniversary on campus (ugh). We moved Expert Textperts to its very own dot com address (yay!). I had to drive to Logan to get a new license, for which they made me take a picture. If you want to see it, let me know: it just stares you down, and I look exhausted and angry. The very next day Casey saw me truly nervous for the first time ever--that afternoon I took the Spanish Praxis. I spent the rest of the month brain-dead.

November: I got hired for a third job as director of the conversation lab I mentioned back in July. Casey watched a lot of football. We got photos taken for the first time since our wedding. For Thanksgiving we went to Utah and spent a fun couple of days with my family, and Casey's mom followed us back up to Idaho to spend the weekend with us up here in Rexburg. I tried really hard not to be stressed out through the entire month over my impending Praxis score, and in the end I passed with flying colors anyway (yay!).

December: We all survived the Apocalypse! The semester ended well; we fled the state after my finals and work were finished. We managed to see almost all of our Utah friends (shocking, I know) and enjoyed the company of family from Salt Lake to Spanish Fork. Technically it's not over yet, but I think we can safely say it was a good month and a great year.

Now we just have to get on making those darned resolutions...

Happy New Year!