2013: A Year in Review

     One of my biggest regrets of 2013 is not blogging through it.  One of the things I love about Swamp Gravy is being able to go back and read about how I was feeling at different moments of my life.  As I reflected back on the last year, I realized this blog wouldn’t be much help; I missed a lot of important moments.  I can’t really explain why.  I don’t really think there is any one reason.  But I know that I want 2014 to be different.  I want Swamp Gravy to be a reflection of the excitement that I know is headed my way in the coming year.  But in the mean time, I want to take a moment to remember all the wonderful things, documented and undocumented, that 2013 brought.

     January started off pretty slow, in the usual January way, so Wes and I decided to pick things up and spend a long weekend at Disney.  I took about 100 pictures as we traveled around the world in Epcot, finding iconic places to pose in each country. 

     February brought a visit from Jim and Stacy, a surprise weekend in Amelia Island, and a special Valentine’s Day getaway to Fort Lauderdale for some much needed R&R and my first “Wicked” experience. 

     In March I ran my second 5K and broke all my records.  We had lots of visitors to sunny Florida and even ventured up to Kentucky over spring break. 

     There aren’t enough words to describe how awesome April was.  It was a pretty amazing month from the beginning what with celebrating my grandfather’s retirement and getting to see Taylor Swift in concert with my mom.  But it officially blew my mind when Wes got down on one knee and asked me to marry him.  I think April definitely takes the cake for the best month of 2013. 

     With May came more Florida visitors and another Orlando trip.  Not to mention locking down all my beautiful bridesmaids and my first ever trip to Crab Island.

     In June I wrapped up my school year at KIPP and said goodbye to Florida…a bittersweet end to an amazing era that brought me more memories and life-changing people than I could have ever imagined.  But that ending was only the beginning of our new life in Lexington, which would prove to have a pretty amazing start. 

     July found Wes and me traveling from coast to coast.  We got to spend a week in California traveling up the coast and then another week at Hilton Head with his family. 

     August was full of adjustments as I got used to my new job and our new place.  Wes and I celebrated our one-year anniversary and even made it to Lake Cumberland for a weekend.

     In September I made it to Rupp Arena for the first time and we had our engagement pictures taken.  My parents even made the trip up to visit for the Florida/Kentucky football game.  Fall started to settle in on Lexington and I fell even more in love with our new city. 

     It was a busy fall break in October checking many things off of our “wedding to-do list”.  We celebrated both Wes’s and my birthday and even made it back to Florida for a dear friend’s wedding. 

     November was the calm before the busy of the holidays.  It ended with another trip back home to Florida, Thanksgiving with my Georgia family, and celebrating my parents’ 27^th anniversary.

     As it should be, December was filled with family.  Wes and I cut down our first Christmas tree and filled our home with the holiday spirit.  My parents made the trip up to Kentucky for the holidays and we had a Bunning/Downing Christmas in Maysville. 

     January will be here again in a few short days, but I am already anticipating all the excitement 2014 will bring: my first niece and nephew, a wedding to the man of my dreams, an amazing honeymoon, and maybe even a new house…the possibilities are endless.  But one thing is for sure…Swamp Gravy will be around for all of it.  Because I know if 2014 is going to be anything, it’s going to be inspiring.