2014 Retrospect

I try and do a retrospect of my year (at least via my blog) every year. Here is 2014. This was a rough year for me and for my family. We had a lot of things go wrong, dear family members passed away, relationships faltered and regained footing, accidents happened, illnesses... definitely not one of my better years. I am severely depending on 2015 to be better than this!

Past retrospects:
2013
2012
2011
2010

January

We spent our New Year's Eve in Morehead City at the Crystal Coast Countdown. New Year's Day was spent watching the Capital One Bowl.

I started working out again, this time weightlifting. Also didn't last.

Then we booked our AMAZING trip around the Mediterranean. I spent many later entries blogging about it afterwards, but the trip itself was in January. It was fantastic but...

The week we returned my beautiful Aunt Joan lost her battle with cancer. Our family was devastated.

 

February

I was still reeling from my Aunt's passing and as soon as I returned to North Carolina I started rehearsals for a show at the community theatre. I honestly didn't blog the entire month save for one give away. Probably the least amount of blogging I did since I began this thing five years ago.

 

March

I spent most of March blogging about our Trip from January.

Getting There and Pisa, Italy, Florence, Italy, Monaco, Toulon France, Barcelona, Spain, Valencia, Spain, Mallorca, Spain, At Sea and Tunisia, Africa, Palermo, Sicily Italy, Naples and Pompei Italy

I was cast in a production of A Doll's House that performed in March and April.

April

I blogged about acting and the show again.
I realized how badly I was slacking on my blog and talked about it. Plus I made Pisanki.
And I worked Easter Sunday. Which kind of stunk.

May

Ryan and I celebrated our Fourth Wedding Anniversary.
We had tickets to see Lady Antebellum in Raleigh, our first country concert!
I acknowledged how awesome all the mothers in my life are, especially my mom, for Mother's Day.
Ryan and I took a trip to Duplin Winery to celebrate our anniversary.
I attended the Paraprofessional Library Conference
And my BEST FRIEND in the whole world GOT MARRIED and I got to be a bridesmaid for the first time! Plus Ryan and I had a day to play in NYC and see a Broadway show together for the first time.

 

 

 

June

 

I blogged about being frustrated.

Then, a first for me, I angrily posted about a current event... I never do that!

Hurry up and wait strikes again. The Career Planner didn't submit my husband's SDA package (it sat on his desk for two weeks) so my husband had to come up with a Plan B.
 I had my first major sickness of the year and ended up in the ER... they thought I had meningitis but luckily that was not the case.
Plus we went fishing. And had lots of Stormy Weather days.
And Josh Groban answered me on Facebook, completing my life.


July

We had my sister in law Hannah here and spent the 4th of July with friends.
Ryan asked me out for a special Date Night.
I made some Observations stemming from my job.

August

 I mention my lack of blogging again, a theme for this year.
I was shattered when my childhood icon and favorite actor Robin Williams passed away.
I QUIT SMOKING. Finally.
Then Ryan and I got into a serious accident in our truck. We were lucky to walk away with cuts and bruises but our truck was totalled. We went to the ER to get checked out to be sure we were ok, my second trip this year.


September

I turned 27.
 Ryan and I had a "redo" of our Labor Day Weekend, what we would have done originally had the accident not happened. First he had a goodbye dinner with his shop since his SDA was finally approved and then we started our time together at Battleship North Carolina.
Then we did Hungry Town Bike Tours and Fort Macon.


October

I officially mention Ryan starting his SDA and we attend Oktoberfest.
 Then I got really sick. Sick enough I was out of work and rehearsals for about a week. ER trip number three as well as Urgent Care and my regular doctor.
The Dup turned 3!
I was in another show, Dracula, over Halloween weekend playing Lady Van Helsing.


November

The Marine Corps turns 239.
I finally got some answers as to why I was so sick. My gallbladder basically stopped working.
Ryan and I spent some much needed time together.
We attend the Birthday Ball for SOI in Wilmington.
I blog about being Thankful, regardless of the rough year.
We spend Thanksgiving in South Carolina with both of our families.




December

My childhood dog Dippy crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 13 and a half years old.
I shared our Christmas Decorations.
Ryan graduates SOI Instructor School.
My surgery gets scheduled for January 28th, 2015... adios gallbladder and nausea!
We spend a cozy Christmas at home together.
And for New Year's we plan on visiting my family in the mountains. I will probably blog about that in the New Year.

I hope you all had a fabulous 2014. Our was a little rough, one of our roughest, but there were still some great high points. I don't blog about everything, most of the good and bad made it here, but some things do not need to be shared with the internet. I know many bloggers braver than I who do share everything, but I am not able to do that. Know things are getting better and I am optimistic for the year ahead. I hope 2015 strengthens my relationships, my faith and gives us more ups than downs. I know Ryan's work schedule will be absolutely INSANE but I hope I use that time constructively too. I hope I am happy. I hope when I do my 2015 retrospective I make you all positively nauseous with how amazing the year is.

 

Happy New Year everyone. Once again, thanks for sticking with me through another year.

 

Europe - Monaco

Day three we were in Monte Carlo, Monaco!

I never expected in my life to go to Monaco. Princess Grace? Glamorous casinos? Luxury at it's finest? Done!

We slept in a little bit since we were trying to catch up a bit and had a late breakfast in the cafe. When we got off the ship we got in line for the Hop On/Hop Off tour bus. As another bus disembarked a gentleman handed us his tickets and told us just to use them. Score!

Our view from the ship eating breakfast... so gorgeous!

Stepping onshore in Monaco. The yacht to the left is owned by the guy who owns the Atlantis in the Bahamas!

We got off the bus at the second stop because the Japanese Gardens sounded interesting to walk through. Peeking through the trees on one side was the Mediterranean and the other was the city of Monte Carlo. A definite calming oasis in the middle of the city, complete with koi ponds, sand circles and lovely gazeboes.

Walking past the gardens was the Grimaldi Forum. It was closed at the moment but it seemed like a gorgeous venue for conferences and the like.

Naturally we posed for some pictures right near the Forum. A friend told me Ryan looks like a giant based on the angle I took this picture from... oops!

Monaco is very, very expensive. Even though we had the free bus tickets Ryan and I decided to walk around simply because there was so much to see and experience. Ferraris are sharing the road with Rolls Royces, MacLarens, BMWs and Lamborghinis... insane! Everyone was in designer clothing and carrying designer bags... I even saw an Hermes! I have never seen one of those in person and I was pretty bummed not to get my camera out fast enough. That wouldn't be creepy at all. So needless to say passing stores like the one below was normal. Yikes!


BABY Dior. Not even Adult Dior!

After wandering a bit more we found this church on a side street. I wanted to stop in and light another candle so we walked around there for a minute. I couldn't find a name on the chuch anywhere, traveller fail, but it was beautiful.

Walking down the streets we had such great views. The mountains surrounding Monte Carlo are just beautiful. We literally walked the entire city end to end, which is basically the entire country of Monaco just about! Needless to say our feet were sore. There are such hidden gems when you explore like that though. And, since it is Europe, churchs are hidden anywhere! The one below was in the middle of a large construction zone off a main pathway. It was tiny but simply beautiful.

I also loved the orange trees they had everywhere!

Next we decided to head up to the palace. Literally, up. It was quite the hike from the street! I know what you're thinking, they have bus tickets! But we were on a roll and wanted to do it the hard way I guess. So upward we went.

I love that the iPhone has panorama!!

The view as we climbed was gorgeous, you could see the entire city. Then you turned a corner and the stone walls closed you in until you went through the gate below.

Then it opened up to a whole different part of the city and the palace. The red and white sign hanging between the buildings is the Rimaldi crest and those things were everywhere.

And the gorgeous palace!

We missed the changing of the guard apparently, but we still walked around the courtyard and enjoyed the views of Monte Carlo below us. The Mediterranean whited out behind me, but it was there! One day I will own a camera that doesn't white out the sky or backgrounds...

We ducked into a small shop and I got my mom a keychain. When my aunt travelled she always got my mom a keychain so I thought I'd get her one in that spirit. I just didn't realize the next time I'd get to see my mom to give it to her would be at my aunt's funeral. It was very bittersweet but she cried happy tears with her keychain.

At this point we were kind of tired so we did get back on the bus. I was bummed since the next stop was the Cathedral where Princess Grace was burried but Ryan didn't feel like getting off the bus, especially for another church. Men. But we did drive by.

Fearless leader deciding what stop we should go to next!

Naturally when your husband holds the map you end up at the casino. Casino Monte Carlo is famous and of course we had to go in! After 2pm admision is free but sadly I was not too impressed with the casino itself. It was super quiet and pretty empty. 85% of it was closed off to the public unless you were in formal attire and a high roller. Ryan decided to play one game of roulette and the prices were ridiculous! To bet inside was 5 Euro minimum and outside was 25 minimum! Usually we play $1 minimum inside and $10 minimum outside! Needless to say he took the 32 Euro I had in my wallet and lost it in one spin of the wheel. We were done after that!

Apparently no casino is complete without a Chanel store right outside. And Prada beyond that. Oh be still my overpriced heart. We wandered around to the back of the casino and enjoyed the view before walking back towards the harbor.

After the casino it was getting late so at the harbor we hopped on the Bateau Boat which was only a euro extra with the bus tickets so we took the boat back to our ship. We stopped for a late lunch in the Blue Lagoon and it was the only time on the trip I really was not happy with the food I got on the ship. My tuna salad sandwich was severely lacking in tuna and it took a long time to get the food. We tried not to eat there if we could help it, but it was open 24 hours so for late night snacks it worked better than for an actual meal.

After relaxing in our room for awhile we made our way to the cigar bar. Most of our nights went in this fashion. Get back, lie on the bed and watch part of whatever movie was on the English movie channel (or BBC news), then head to the cigar bar. We met a circle of friends (from Texas, Kansas City, Denver, England, France and more) that we would drink and smoke and talk until we got hungry and went to dinner! Sometimes it would just be Ryan and I, other times our good friends Kristii and Debbie (the mother daughter duo of awesomeness from Texas) would join us. Then back to the cigar room until the evening show (ranging from Magic Show to Acrobats) and then to the various lounges and bars until we were ready for bed.

Gorgeous sunset when we left the harbor in Monaco.

This is the typical night for us. An Old Fashioned of sorts for Ryan from the whiskey bar, Prosecco for me from the champagne bar, and a lovely cigar from the cigar bar. That night we hung out in the Medusa lounge and slow danced to a few songs. Older couples blew us out of the water with their foxtrot, tango and waltzes, but we tried to wing it for a few slow ones. We also listened to a stupendously talented band in the atrium that blew our socks off. It was a great evening.

Next stop - Toulon! Provence, France





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