2015 Retrospect

Every year I try and do a retrospect post of all the things that have happened in the past year. Last year was a rough year and I was very optimistic going in to 2015 that this year would be better than the last. Unfortunately 2015 ended up being a rough year for us as well. I didn't blog a lot, but between losing our first pregnancy, marital troubles, legal issues and other things, 2015 was pretty harsh too. I hope I do not sound like a broken record when I say I hope 2016 is a better year and I make you all positively nauseous with how great it becomes, but here is hoping.

Past retrospects:
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010

January

We spent New Years in the mountains with my family since we didn't see them for Thanksgiving or Christmas with them. Unfortunately I had horrendous gall bladder attacks the entire weekend and could barely move.

We also took our first trip to a local favorite, Mike's Farm, as pictured above.

Ryan and I decided to go in for a Tune Up of sorts.

Ryan had his IUT (or Training) Cycle as an instructor with SOI-E.

At the end of the month I finally had surgery to remove my gallbladder, hoping my stomach issues would subside. Not the case.

February

I spent most of February pretty sick recovering from my surgery at the end of January.

But we did manage to have a nice Valentine's Day together before I went back to work.

I spent the rest of the month sick, on and off, trying to gather myself.

March

Ryan was still going through cycles with work and I was still sick.
I did take some time to do a rare craft post on this blog with my wine cork wreath.

April

April things got better.
We spent a nice, quiet Easter together at home.
My brother Stefan came and spent his Spring Break with us.
And we attended our first Dining In together, which was a nice excuse to dress up!

May

In May we were officially gutted as my first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage on our fifth wedding anniversary. It was truly devastating. 

June

I went to my first ever Jane Wayne Day or, In Their Boots Day, as it is now called.
I blogged a bit more about our loss.
My baby brother graduated high school.

July

I didn't blog a lot in July, but I did a quick update with the 4th of July and the birth of our niece.
To get away for awhile I joined my parents, brother, aunt, uncle, and cousins at the OBX.

August

Stefan came and spent another week with us in August before he left for college.
Ryan and I took a day to be spontaneous and drove to Myrtle Beach SC and rode in a helicopter. It was so flippin' cool!

September

September nearly shattered me again. I didn't go in to details, but something happened that will change the course of our lives and it nearly broke me.
I turned 28 and time continued on. We spent the weekend with my parents at their new house.
And I did a random sort of post that talked about 9/11, football, Etsy shops and nail polish. Because, why not?
I got cast as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet at the local Community College Theatre.

October

I blogged my frustrations in the form of a Cha Cha and the author of the quote commented on my entry, which was very touching.
Romeo and Juliet was cancelled three weeks before the show thanks to shoddy administration at the college.
I became a blogger with Influenster
My grandparents visited my parents for a few weeks so we went to see them and I learned some important family traditions.
My major nerd side came out with Back to the Future Day
Plus we had a pretty epic Halloween.

November

Ryan and I went to the Polish Festival in early November, where it was over 80 degrees.
We attended the USMC Birthday Ball.
Plus we spent Thanksgiving in South Carolina with Ryan's family.

December

We met my family in New Bern and went to Tryon Palace to see it for Christmas. It was in the 70s.
Plus we spent Christmas in New Jersey, which made my heart very happy.
I auditioned with another local community theatre (NOT at the college) and got cast as the Judge in John Grisham's A Time to Kill. The show will start rehearsing in January and go on in March.

So there you have it, my 2015 retrospect. I overly optimistically blogged in my 2014 retrospect that 2015 couldn't possibly get any worse... naive I know, but let's hope for sure 2016 is accurate in that. It will be a fantastic year. My stomach will settle, our lives and jobs will be ok, and everything will keep moving forward.

Happy New Year my friends.

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.

 

2013 Retrospect

Another year in retrospect! Every year I try to post a blog entry with a basic list of what happened this year. I try not to get too into it, but there are links to past posts from 2013 and of course some pictures!

You can see my past posts here:
2012  

2011 

2010

Let’s start from the beginning shall we?

2013

January

We rang in the New Year with Nicole from Flip Flop and Combat Boots and a few friends.
I completely freaked out about having my wisdom teeth removed!
We had a freakishly warm day so we went to the beach with the Dup and some friends
I finally got to film as an extra for the TV Show Revolution. It was fun, but freezing!
I decided to start the Couch 2 5k Workout program… I made it less than a month. Fail, I know.

After 10 months of waiting I also finally got a job in Jacksonville!!

One of my costumes on Revolution

February

View from my new job training

I got cast in Moliere’s The Doctor In Spite of Himself at the community college.
For a change I blogged about something really deep for me, Faith and Love.
I was basically settling into a new job at the library, rehearsing a show, and trying to keep up the house… blogging slacked a lot this month!
Ryan also began Sergeant’s Course.

March

 

I did a Doctor Who MarchMadness where I linked up/blogged every day leading up to Season 7. My Mom said she was so tired of reading them that she was ecstatic when I finished. Thanks Mom.
I was absolutely mortified when a picture of my Poppy and I at the USMC Ball went viral on a popular Facebook page accompanying a crass joke. I had to fight (with my copyright) to get it removed. Facebook was zero help whatsoever and the admins of said page were terrible. I felt sick over it for days and it was finally removed, but that doesn’t help when 20,000+ people already saw your humiliation. 

Mom and Stefan came over and we hosted our first Easter in our new house.

April

I went to my first ever circus!
The show finally went on at the college. We had some hiccups opening night but that tends to happen to us so we just rolled with it!
Ryan finally graduated from Sergeant’s Course!
Right after Ryan graduates his unit goes into the field and the Dup eats our dining room chair! Luckily it is covered under warranty.

May

 

We celebrate our third wedding anniversary!
The episode I am an extra in for Revolution airs on TV.
I blog truthfully about being lonely.
We celebrate Mother’s Day in South Carolina with my Mother in Law and a WineWalk.
I get the crazy idea to completely blog what I do all day in my A Day in the Life post!

June

I catch my first cold in about 3 years. Yes that seemed worthy enough to blog about!
We drive up to NJ to visit my grandparents since Poppy is the Grand Marshall in our hometown parade. I was so so so so proud! (Technically May-June!)
Ryan and I spend a day together in NYC with my cousin. We visit Chipotle, the 9/11 Memorial and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Ryan’s best friend Josh comes to spend a weekend and I get very little sleep from that!
It gets quiet as Ryan drives with the Dup down to South Carolina to spend half of his predeployment leave with his family. I can only afford a week off of work so I cannot go with him.
When Ryan gets home we go to Myrtle Beach together for predeployment leave and have a wonderful time.

July

 

We spend the 4th of July at my parents’ house in the mountains. Ryan’s mom and her fiancé come up for a few days to visit as well. Ryan, my mom and I also have tickets to see Jeff Dunham and have quite the hilarious fun filled evening.
Kaylah from Laure Love Photography takes some couples pictures for us, considering we never did an engagement photo shoot or anything I really treasure these!
I don’t blog much as we are closely looming towards deployment and Ryan and I just focus on spending a lot of time together.
But I do get a blog overhaul and redesign by my friend Kayti!!

August

Time flies as deploymentday looms. We go bowling, to the beach, out to eat, and spend time with friends.
My grandparents celebrate their 66^th wedding anniversary.
Ryan deploys to Afghanistan.
I slowly try and find my footing for the deployment. I adjust to having my phone with me 24/7, crappy facetime connections that are still a blessing we never had when he was in Iraq, working and running the house on my own. Including a huge battle with the lawn mower.
My mom and Stefan come to visit and keep me company for a few days.
I go on a Beaufort Bike Tour for a girl’s day.

September

My best friend Sam flies from Rhode Island to North Carolina to spend Labor Day Weekend with me!!
I turn 26.
I have a low key birthday, I work and go to the bar with friends to watch the Giants start their epic losing straight, and get pictures of my present sent to me from Ryan.
I observe what happens during deployments.
I remember the important things, like being a blood donor.
I honestly blog about missing my husband, especially at night.

October

I get furloughed! Grrr,
I pull my back out, my poppy gets sick and my aunt’s cancer returns. It’s a rough time. Poppy gets a pacemaker but it’s still a rough road.
I realize the car registration is expired… way expired… and kind of lose it a bit!
I drive to South Carolina on my day off to fix the truck registration problems and try to weather the storm so to speak.
I cohost a TMoblie give away with some of the best bloggers ever!

November

 

I drive to my parents’ house in Western North Carolina to visit my family and see my cousin who flew in from California.
I have to write a note to myself.
I post for the 238^th USMC Birthday and Veteran’s Day, both feel kind of different with Ryan gone.
We have a Deployed Spouses Night Out to Wine and Design

I attend the Spa Night for our unit and help out at the Spouse Experience Camp Lejeune.
I fly to New Jersey to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Thank you God.

 

December

I start to get homecoming Jitters.
But they vanish as soon as I see my husband get off that bus. He is home! Homecoming!!
I share our homecoming photos
And we spend time adjusting to reintegration. We go to the beach with the Dup when it gets freakishly warm, I get sick, we go to the movies and out to eat… basically just going with the flow.
We drive to South Carolina for Christmas with my inlaws.

And here we are. I am back at work post holidays and trying to catch up again! Here is to 2014… I have a good feeling about this one! An international trip possibly on the horizon? Stay tuned to find out!