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Wednesday, January 6, 2016

2015 :: Year in Review

I am so crazy that I started writing this post in February to keep it up-to-date and ready to go instead of throwing it together at the end of December.

Project 365:2015 posts here

Goals for 2015

*join GoodReads {done} and keep track of all of the books that I read {yes!}
*import photos to LightRoom and edit them before importing them to iPhoto {yes!}
*take at least one DSLR photo a day {again} {see them here}
*buy a new lens {actually done 29 December 2014}
*floss teeth every other night {I only forgot twice!}

January


I rang in 2015 with some wonderful friends at a New Year's Eve Party. It was the first time that I went out on NYE, and we saw my dear friends WiFEE and the HUZz Band. My "little sister" Abi and her mom surprised us by driving eighteen hours back home from their Christmas trip to see us.


I did some baking and reading, and I went on a nice winter drive, where I visited Cave Point for the first time.


The best part of the month, though, was when I went to St. Petersburg, Florida. It was my first time in Florida and I stepped into the Gulf of Mexico for the first time as well. It was so great just driving around and visiting museums and parks. I got to see my friend Geri X perform in her hometown, and had my first whiskey with her. We had a lot of fun the next day walking around and visiting places downtown.

some posts
*New Year's Eve 2014
*goals for 2015 {and 2014 year in review}
*never have I ever {not all correct anymore}
*Cave Point & Door County winter photos
*St. Petersburg, FL posts
*January NatureBox
*January Instagrams

books read
*Only Earth and Sky Last Forever by Nathaniel Benchley
*We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
*Pointe by Brandy Colbert
*Worn Stories by Emily Spivack

February


The first of February was quite the travel day, due to some winter storms back in Chicago, where I was headed. After driving, flying, failing to get a cab, taking the train, and walking, I checked into the hotel at midnight. I slept in a super comfortable bed and had Sprinkles for the first time!


I was thrown back into things at both jobs when I returned, and some of my lovely friends were here for the week of Valentine's Day. It was, as always, so wonderful to see them.

{Abi is taller than me, but I am wearing heels which are cancelled out by the fact that we were standing on a sloped floor! haha.}


Another Door County drive to take some snow pictures. I went out to Kangaroo Lake for the first time and learned that Coyote Roadhouse is in fact a real place. (:

February is also Ruby's birthday, which meant a WiFEE and the HUZz Band and Adam Mackintosh and the Last Dancers show. (I missed getting to see Purgatory Hill though.)


I was playing around with my camera one day, and I took this picture which I made my profile picture on Facebook. (By the way, I find it super awkward that Blogger airbrushes every picture that it thinks is of a human face. Totally creepy.) Of course I got comments about how I should smile, but I just really like this picture!


My sister came up for her baby shower, so of course my mom wanted some pictures of the three of us. We got some pictures with my sister's husband in them as well, but he's a bit taller than the rest of us, so my mom thought they looked awkward.

some posts
*Chicago mini trip
*Valentine's Weekend
*February NatureBox
*February Instagrams

books read
*Secrets of a Shoe Addict by Beth Harbison
*Yes Please by Amy Poehler

March


In an effort to be in front of the camera more, this happened. And people wonder why I'm not smiling in every picture! It's hard, that's why. (;


March doesn't seem quite as interesting as the previous two months. I got to drive around a few times and take pictures here at home in Door County, which was fun.


I got a few inches taken off, and while no one seemed to notice, I did and it felt better!

We were pretty busy at the motel, with little to no vacancy on the weekends, which is really great for this time of year. I guess it's probably in part to the fact that the weather started to warm up and was in the 50s a few times. At the Y, in continued teaching my three classes a week, with a few extra subbing classes, and we started planning for summer camp!

Most importantly, I shared the following goal list on Facebook.

new life goals:
- make a conscious effort to tell people that I am thinking of them
- make a conscious effort to call people by name!
- give out gold stars to people doing good things for other people


and as always:
- travel.
- love.
- capture the moment.

some posts
*#333
*What I Ate Wednesday (4 March 2015)
*a noninconclusive list of things I love
*some political talk
*March Door County photos
*March NatureBox
*March Instagrams

books read
*I worked on reading The Complete Poems and Tales of Edgar Allan Poe

April


I totally failed on getting in front of the camera this month. I am absolutely in love of this shirt though!


April wasn't too interesting of a month. Easter was spent at my grandparents' house on the water. I made chocolate chip cookies to bring, and then I made them again to send for my sister's birthday. Luna got waxed and looked pretty for a couple days. (: I also got to babysit my three-year-old cousin, who is super adorable!

some posts
*about some politics in Sturgeon Bay
*favorite preschool books part one
*April StitchFix
*April NatureBox
*April Instagrams

books read
*Scoop: Notes from a Small Ice Cream Shop by Jeff Miller

May


I had to go down to Madison for a fundraiser at the beginning of the month, and I got to see some great friends! Yes, I really love this shirt, and I have paired it with the same sweater and tank top the first two (and probably more) times that I wore it.


I went out and took pictures of the cherry and/or apple blossoms not once, but twice this month!


My Memorial Day was pretty relaxed. It's one of the few days each year that I never end up working, so I went up north and finally took pictures at the Gus Klenke Garage in Ellison Bay. I drove all the way up the county and came back and other than stopping to get some jam, this was the only place I stopped. I looked around a thrift store back in Sturgeon Bay and then went grocery shopping. It was a really exciting day, clearly. (;


So, I got rid of the not-smiling profile picture on Facebook for this one, and now they say that I look like I'm up to something with that smirk! (;

some posts
*blossoms {5/13 & 5/22}
*Gus Klenke Garage {Memorial Day}
*May NatureBox
*May Instagrams

books read
*The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
*Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America by Leslie Knope

June


with my father for a tribute to our dear friend Chris Aaron. thanks to Jen Brilowski for capturing this moment.


so Ty (right) and Abi have always wanted to get me drunk, and I had promised a few people that I would have one drink at the end of the week. Ty wasn't supposed to be drinking that night, so I had him find someone to do a shot with me, and somehow he ended up with DanO. I was just a little excited for this (; (thanks to Abi for the picture and Ty for lightening it some.)


these three photos are all from the same day! Abi took this one as well of me and my sweetest gold star Lumberjack Cash. it was so wonderful to get to know him better while he was here and to know that he is really even more of a gentleman than you could ever guess.

June is always such a crazy month for me because at the same time of the motel's biggest event, we are also getting ready for camp at the Y! it's a very exhausting time, and this year I discovered how wonderful a short nap can be! the event went so well this year (it seems like it's always getting better) even though we were missing some of our dearest. we had such great kids for camp this year as well.

I did make some time for a couple adventures, one of which was driving Cash down to Milwaukee, and we went to our friends Greg and Ariana's new house for a barbecue, so that was fun!

some posts
*June NatureBox
*June Instagrams

books read
*Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
*Girl Walks into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle by Rachel Dratch

July


I met my two-month-old niece at the beginning of July!


WiFEE and the HUZz Band for the 4th of July at Sunset Park! Oh how I love them.


causing trouble at camp. (:

Is it bad that I can't even remember what else happened in July? It was such a blur of working with the camp kids and at the motel! I do remember going shopping in Appleton for a dress to wear for my birthday party but not being able to find one strapless dress. I didn't know that that was even possible. Oh! I also got really sunburned on my chest because I sat out in the sun for an hour in a tank top with sunscreen only on my arms. That was fun, and also right before my birthday.

some posts
*July NatureBox
*July Instagrams

August


I love this picture of me and my little ducklings at Whitefish Bay Dunes!


Birthday month!!!

Instead of rehashing everything that happened for my birthday, I'll just direct you to the post, which is here. Let's just say it involved some fun with WiFEE and the HUZz Band, like last year.

Other fun things that happened in August included getting to see another one of my favorite bands, Thy Dirty Deuce and then actually making it to one of the Musicians Loco 333 open jams.


God bless my mother and her patience in trying to get a picture of me the way that I want it. This wasn't my original vision, but what I wanted was actually impossible. Do you know that it's really hard to be behind and in front of the camera at the same time?

Also in August, my car decided to die while I was at the place where I get my car fixed, so that was fun. And then Abi and her mom and niece came up and we got to have a fun afternoon and I tagged along to her senior photoshoot and got to see one of my photographer friends in action, which was amazing. Such an inspiration!

some posts
*22nd birthday recap
*August NatureBox
*August Instagrams

books read
*Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

September


it was such a surprise to see my dear friend Miss Meaghan Owens in early September! she had been living in Hawaii for the past few years, so it had been over a year since I last saw her. Meaghan has such a sweet soul and I am thankful for her presence in my life and her wonderful advice.

on Labor Day I went horseback riding. it had been probably seven years since I last went, so I was so excited and happy to go!

I sort of started swimming again in September! I wanted to go every Tuesday and Thursday early morning, but that didn't quite work out so well. I did manage to go twice, though, swimming 900 yards (just over half a mile) the first time, and 1000 yards the next time. I find that not only do I feel better after doing that, but I also feel like I can accomplish more things in the day.

My niece (I always spell that word incorrectly) was baptized at the end of the month, and I was one of her three sponsors. That night I got to spend some time with family that I haven't seen in a few years.

some posts
*forgotten summer photographs
*a melancholy Tuesday afternoon post.
*September StitchFix
*a post on divorce
*September NatureBox
*September Instagrams

books read
*Whiskey & Charlie by Annabel Smith

October


I got my hair cut at the beginning of the month, and it was definitely more noticeable than last time. I'm pretty sure that was the longest I had ever had my hair, and it was just really getting to be a pain with gymnastics class because it was always falling out of the bun that I would have it up in.


I made some time for photography, exploring, and reading, and it was glorious.

some of my loves came home for a week for Halloween, and it was exhaustingly glorious.


matching unicorn tattoos from Tattly.

some posts
*what I wore :: Halloween week
*October NatureBox
*October Instagrams

books read
*American Gods by Neil Gaiman (I didn't actually read more than a third of this because I just could not get into it)
*The Clasp by Sloane Crosley
*Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins

November


I started the month off right by staying out all night. literally. we went out to breakfast at the Inn at Cedar Crossing, and they let us in shortly before opening at 7:30. then we went and opened up a bar down the block, where I tried to get some sleep because I had been up for over 24 hours on 5 hours of sleep. that was fun... I started crying when Abi and Geri were trying to wake me up. (thanks, Mike, for that picture.)

I went out with a few of those people and some others a couple days later and learned that I shouldn't try to do gymnastics after having any alcohol. Lesson learned.


I got new glasses and sunglasses!!!


Mondays usually included a drive somewhere to take pictures.

The week of Thanksgiving, I got to see some friends again which included a few late nights that were well worth the time spent with lovely people. Thanksgiving was spent with family and included winning a game of Candy Land and my sister announcing her pregnancy.

some posts
*real talk Tuesdays :: on being the quiet one
*What's in My Bag? v.5
*favorite November outfits
*November NatureBox
*November Instagrams

December


On the 30th of November, I heard that an apartment became available in an area I wanted to live in, and so I went for it and found out in early December that it would be mine! Because of all of the moving prep on top of working and holidays, December was a pretty busy month.

Christmas Eve was spent at my grandparents' house, as always. There's always a lot of food and laughter and the brothers tell stories of the crazy things that they did when they were growing up. That night, I also worked on moving things to the new apartment (in a dress and heels) and met up with my second parents later in the evening.

We didn't get any snow until a few days after Christmas, literally the few days that I was moving all my stuff, so I was listening to Christmas music on December 29th.


New Year's Eve, oh New Year's Eve. What a fun night with who else but WiFEE and the HUZz Band. Oh how I love them and the rest of the  #songfamily who was there. Special thanks to Abi, Ariana, Ty (who took the photo above and many more), and Barrett.

some posts
*fall landscapes 2015
*Influenster Spice VoxBox
*small space living (before)
*December NatureBox
*December Instagrams

xoxo.

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