It's always interesting to me how prone we are to summarize an entire year with a few words or sentences. To me, 365 days is a bit too much for that. A year will naturally be full of highs and lows, and I don't think it's fair to weigh them against one another to determine whether the year was "good" or "bad."
2018 was a lot of things for me, so I find it hard to sum it all up so simply. From the perspective of my social media (or even this blog) you'd see the fun trips I got to take - to Chicago, Disney World, New York and even New Orleans. But what you didn't see were the hundreds of regular days in between. The traffic filled morning commutes, the days I failed to get enough sleep and paid for it with mid-afternoon exhaustion. The days I felt discouraged for no reason, the moments that felt so ordinary and mundane. You also didn't see the most significant parts of the year for me, traveling aside. Like moving out of the home I'd lived in for nine years and coming to find that change can be so liberating, albeit difficult. Like learning more at work and feeling more fulfilled with what I do than I had in awhile. Like understanding God's love at an even deeper level, which is worth more than any adventurous vacation.
That was 2018 for me, and then some. And since I know how likely I am to forget it all next year, here are some of my favorite moments and photos from each month of it.
January
The year started off a little unusual with some snow and a freeze for us in the first few days of January. We'd already gotten a bit of snow in December, so to get it twice in one winter was really out of the ordinary. That was only preparation for what was to come though, as I headed off for a lovely three day weekend in Chicago near the end of January - which, fittingly, ended with a day of snow.
February
There are some months where I really fall in love with the creative side of Instagram, and February was one of those as I even dabbled in a little bit of Photoshop to create some Bookstagram shots. As much as social media can be complicated, my favorite thing about it is how it inspires me to be creative and motivates me to learn new things for fun. February is also the month of my favorite conference of the year - the M3 medical missions conference. I got to serve as a team leader this year, but my favorite part of the whole conference came from one simple word that God impressed on my heart during that time, which has held true throughout the rest of 2018.
March
With March came the beginning of the warm Houston weather. One silver lining to spring's arrival, however, was how beautiful the flowers are in the city during that season. I'm not sure if they were extra beautiful this spring, or if I was just paying much more attention. This month I also had to go to court for a traffic ticket for the first time ever, and it was a strange experience since I'd never done it before. Definitely don't want to go through it again, but it did end up making me feel less nervous about the prospect. I also got to see One Republic at the Houston rodeo sort of spontaneously. I wouldn't say they're one of my favorite bands, but I do love a lot of their songs.
April
April was a big writing month for me because of Camp Nanowrimo of course. I also started plotting out the scenes of one of my novels using index cards for the first time, and it was extremely helpful. In the same vein of trying new things, I started doing a little more cooking than usual and discovered that maybe it isn't the worst thing in the world. I also read a fiction book that I really liked, which seems to happen less and less often lately. Mostly because I really need to read more.
May
In May, I escaped a room for the first time with a volunteer team from my church. I also got to see my sister graduate college! May was also the month when my favorite show of many years, Once Upon a Time, ended, so I decided to commemorate it by spending way too long creating an Instagram photo as a tribute (and this blog post). I didn't add a photo for this, but is it weird that one of my highlights for the month of May was watching the royal wedding? I didn't expect to love it as much as I did, but it really was a beautiful moment to witness on TV.
June
I discovered my love for Steel City Pops in June, and had them as many times as possible because by the time June rolls around in Houston, you need to find a way to cope with the heat. One of my favorite parts about June this year though, was the World Cup. I don't really like watching sports, except for international soccer, which I could watch all day. The World Cup was exciting and dramatic and amazing as usual, and it only made me wish it came around more often. I also got to see the incredible Mr. Rogers documentary this month, and it was one of my favorite films of the year.
July
In another attempt to beat the heat, I visited a different part of Galveston than where I usually go, and it was probably one of my favorite days I've spent in our neighboring beach town. I got to see dolphins there for the first time, and a majestic Carnival cruise ship that headed out just as we were on our boat tour. Of course, July ended with the first part of our trip to Disney World, in which I walked and ate way too much at Epcot.
August
August began with Animal Kingdom, which I soon fell in love with. Magic Kingdom came a few days later before we wrapped up our lovely Disney World vacation. I spent the rest of the month getting acclimated to my new neighborhood, which included finding new tapioca spots, and spending time by the pool as I rode out the hottest part of summer in Houston.
September
I bought a lot of books to kick off September, some of which I might still need to finish... I also visited New Orleans for the first time to celebrate my sister's birthday. We stayed in the historic Hotel Monteleone for a night, and had beignets at Cafe du Monde before exploring the lovely French Quarter.
October
One of my favorite experiences in October was getting to visit the English Royals exhibit at our local art museum and drawing a few of the paintings for a morning. Another highlight was trail riding on my birthday, and visiting a pumpkin patch to celebrate turning twenty-six.
November
Took part in my civic duty to kick off November. I did a lot of writing this month too, leading up to my trip to New York, which was really great because I'd taken a lot of months off from writing after feeling discouraged about where my stories were headed. The week of Thanksgiving, I visited New York for four days with my mom and did some of my favorite things as well as new ones, like get to see the balloons being blown up for the Macy's Thanksgiving parade.
December
Finally, December called for a lot of Christmas parties and a lot of ugly Christmas sweaters. I also made tamales for the first time in a long time, and watched as many Christmas movies as I could manage. My family topped off Christmas eve by having to get a last minute replacement tree because ours was too dry, but that ended up being even better. This Christmastime was very peaceful and full of presents, and I only wish it had lasted a bit longer.
These are just a few of the highlights of 2018. Now looking forward to all the lovely moments of 2019. :)
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