2013: My Year in Review

Well, that's it. 2013 is officially over. Weird. This year was, by a long shot, the strangest, most unpredictable year of my life. It went by incredibly fast, though, at times, it felt like time could not move quick enough. The year was full of ups and downs in my personal life. Luckily, though, the ups seemed to outweigh the downs. This post is to take a look back on my year and remember those good times. These are basically in chronological order.
When 2013 began, I was heading into my second semester at Judson College. Nothing spectacular was happening, I was working a little bit on the weekends at Chelsea Coffee House.
In February, I got the privilege of being the 8th grade girls D-Now leader with my good friend Emily. This weekend was a ton of fun, and it was an awesome experience.

Emily and I ended up wearing extremely similar colored shirts and pajama pants to sleep in. It was a little strange.

My little seester. You'll see from more pictures later that the kid has changed a LOT this year.

We made this delicious chocolate chex mix at, like, 2:00 that Saturday night because we're crazy like that. 

Moving on to March, I was still at Judson, and Spring Break came and went. The week after my break was my siblings', so I actually got to skip classes part of the next week to go to the beach with my family. Though it rained basically the whole time, it was fun hanging out with all the baby cousins. Mandy also celebrated her 13th birthday while we were there. 

Love these sweet babies! And its always fun to spend vacations with them. 

Somewhere in all of this back and forth to Judson, I went to Winter Jam and met JASON CASTRO! AAAHH! 

Also in March, my suitemate Katelyn and I got to go see Maroon 5 in concert! Honestly, one of the best shows I have ever seen. Love me some Adam Levine. (Or Adam LeFine, as Katelyn and I say.)

Over the next couple months, not much exciting happened. Me, my roommate Elise, and our friends Kimberly and Megan decided to make a 4 hour trip to Mobile just so Elise could go to her orthodontist appointment and we could have CiCis. These are the times I miss most about not being in college. 

We got mustaches at Cicis. This happened on the drive home. 

Also during the my remaining time at Judson, these two pictures happened. They are two of my favorite pictures ever. 

Right at the end of my time there, we celebrated J-Day at Judson, and that night, a crew of us went to Airwalk. 

And this concludes my time at Judson College. It was a hard decision to make, but definitely a necessary one. So began the craziness that was my summer. It started off with getting a job at the marina at Oak Mountain State Park. 

Then came the wedding madness. My best friend Mara got married on June 8, and the weeks leading up to it were fun and, at times, stressful. To let off some steam a few days before, Mara and I made a trip to the thrift store in Alabaster. This is something we did on a regular basis in high school, and this, without fail, always happened:

I know we're weird. But, ya know. 

Now the wedding madness began. The two days before were filled with bachelorette parties and a ton of fun with all of the bridesmaids. 

No pictures from the bachelorette party were taken by me, and if they were, I would not be posting them. Hehe. But, here's one from the shower on the Sunday before. 

And right before the bridal luncheon. 

(That's Mara in the middle if you didn't know.)

Then we blinked and it was wedding time. The day went by really fast. I cried. A lot. 

This was taken at the reception, right after the ceremony had ended. I had just stopped crying, and was a little delirious. 

After the wedding, it was like my summer was allowed to happen as it fell. All of my planning was for the wedding, so the rest was just a ride. 

My uncle came home from Korea in June, and we spent a day on the lake with him and his family. 

(Had to throw in this one of Dad crashing on the knee board, hehe.)

In July, I went to Oaxaca, Mexico with some people from church to help some IMB missionaries spread the gospel around the area. I made some great new friends from other churches that had come to help. 

My Aunt got married just a few days after I got back from Oaxaca. This is one of my favorite pictures of all the girl cousins. 

In August, my family and I packed up once again to go spend a few days at the Hiwassee river in Tennessee. The water was freezing, but it was fun. 

Also in August, one of the greatest things I've ever experienced happened. My sister and I drove to Atlanta to see some of our favorite YouTubers do a concert. AND WE MET THEM ALL! 

(Okay, before we get into this next set of pictures, please excuse my face. I was hot and extremely excited, so I looked a little ridiculous.)

Sam Tsui

LANDON AUSTIN! This guy is INCREDIBLE. He is half of the reason we made the trip to this concert. 

LUKE CONARD! He's the other half of the reason we made this trip.

I had never heard of King the Kid before this. They are amazing, and EXTREMELY nice when you meet them. I was told by Jose (the one in the black shirt) that he "needed my hug to survive." His exact words. 

Other than that, the rest of this year has been filled with small, sweet moments. I have pictures of a few.

My sweet friend Mary had her daughter Aubrey in August. I got the privilege of taking her pictures. I love this baby!

I went to the Fun. concert in Tuscaloosa with my Judson friends in September!

I met this precious little guy who I've babysat quite a few times. I love him!

My brother started dating the beautiful Caitlin, who I have grown to be great friends with (we're best friends on Snapchat!).

Finally, the year was spent making new friends and growing closer to old ones. I love all of my friends and I can't wait to see what 2014 has in store for us!