Tiffany's Tuesday Tunes: Looking Back at 2013

This year?  Kind of amazing.  Probably the most creative, fun filled, growth filled, challenging year I have had in my adult life.  I have spent so much time working on myself as a person, and while I am miles away from being perfect or even where I would like to be, overall I am really happy with me and with my life.  So many awesome things happened this year, we must review the highlights.

We papered our floor with book pages.  It took two months, and was back breaking work, but we transformed our living room into a work of art.

I completed a 35 Day Project in honor of my 35th birthday.  35 days of random acts of kindness.  Many of my friends and family members participated as well.  It was amazing.

We watched our nephew graduate from high school.

We reached two geocaching milestones.  We found our 200th geocache, then we cached every day for the entire month of August, our longest streak ever.  I also got to introduce my niece, nephew and his girlfriend, brother and brother in law to geocaching.

We watched our good friends get married.

We visited many of the filming locations from the movie The Shawshank Redemption.

We watched my brother get married.  Later on in the summer we got to visit them and see their new house as well.

We went to our first comics show.

I saw the largest yarn bombing in America, also known as Knit the Bridge.  It was while my niece was visiting us, so I took her to see it.  It was one of the many awesome things we did together during her visit.

We saw John Hodgman perform, and met him after the show.  He totally knew our names, because we had been all over social media talking about the show.  Later, when I reviewed the show, he shared my post.  I was so ridiculously star struck over the whole thing.

We saw the giant rubber duck make its way into Pittsburgh and attended the huge party on the bridge.

We took a whirlwind trip to New York City to see John Roderick and The Long Winters perform.

I made an entire Christmas Tree's decorations out of old book pages.  It is so beautiful I cannot yet bring myself to take it down, despite the fact that it has been up since before Thanksgiving.

I was offered pretty much the perfect job for me.  I have been there for a month now, and the giddiness still has not faded.

So, this a look back at my year.  Pretty amazing, right?  I kind of think of it as a montage.  And every montage needs a soundtrack.  So here are some of my favorite songs from 2013 to go along with my look back at this wonderful year.

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, adieu 2010

Well, 2010 is coming to a close.  I thought the best way to reflect on my year was through pictures.

January

What a rough winter.  I felt like the snow was never going away.  So the only option we had was to make the best of a bad situation and go play in the snow.  Even Nora made some snow angels.

February

Our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife!  I wanted to make it really special, so I decorated the house, cooked a delicious dinner, and made a cake.  Hubby came home with roses for me.  It was a perfect day.  This is also the month I started my blog!

March

We are adjusting to life with a puppy.  Dexter joined our family after Valentine's Day, and we immediately fell in love with him.  Our lives will never be the same.

April

Hubby took me and Dexter on a mini vacation to Deep Creek, Maryland for my birthday.  It was a little chilly, but that did not stop us from at least dipping our toes in the lake.  We visited Antietam and Harpers Ferry,  as well as Burkittsville, and thoroughly enjoyed the trip.  On my actual birthday, we left to come home, but not before going geocaching.  Once home, my friends threw me a surprise birthday party.  Once again, it was a perfect day.

May

We surprised our friend J, whose girlfriend E planned a birthday night out at Ruths Chris.  He had no idea we were going, and we had a great time.  After dinner, we, along with E and J, and J and M, frolicked in the fountains in Pittsburgh.  Later on in the month, E and J got engaged in Paris.  It was a great month of surprises for wonderful friends.  Also, Hubby and my dad replaced our dining room floor, and built a fence for our yard.  It is finally sinking in that this is home!

June

Hubby and I went to visit my brother and Paul in Columbus.  We packed so many fun things into just two days.  We went to Katzinger's Deli, the Book Loft, a cute little seafood restaurant we dubbed The Old Man and the Sea, I introduced them to Rita's Ice, and Paul gave me a fabulous photo shoot of glamour shots.  It was so much fun!  This month J and I went to the Arts Festival, and Hubby and I participated in the Relay for Life.

July

This month was packed with celebration!  There was the Big Butler Fair, July 4th Baker party, Ford City Heritage days, my parents' anniversary, the Folk Festival, just so much summer fun packed into this month.  It's no wonder I decided late in July to try to start losing weight!

August

August marked the one year anniversary of us buying our house, so we celebrated with an ice cream social.  So many of our wonderful friends came to the party, many of them seeing the house for the first time.  We had tons of goodies, lots of laughs, and (gosh I am getting repetitive) it was a perfect day.  And I started seeing some weight loss this month as well.

September

This month was Hubby's birthday, and we had a whole weekend of celebration!  We went to visit Fort Necessity on his birthday, went to a Pirate's game, and had a Labor Day cookout with family.  Later in the month we went to Podcamp, participated in our block party, and also hit up some fall festivals.

October

One year of marriage down, a lifetime to go!  It was our first wedding anniversary this month.  We went on an adventure, had a wonderful dinner, then later shared the top layer of our wedding cake with our friends.  It was delicious!  Later, the month was filled with 80s birthdays, spooky parties, fun fundraisers, and a zombie opera.  Lots of Halloween fun!

November

So much awesomeness this month!  We redid our bathroom and dining room, I got my first massage, we reconnected with Podcamp friends, and got to dress up once again for Prohibition Night!  We also attended and had tons of fun at a teen birthday party.  This is also the month I started getting really involved with the Kindness Movement, and tried to raise awareness for Pancreatic Cancer.  We went to my first ever Light Up Night.  Oh, and in between all these things, I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my family, and we went to our first official Pens game.

December

Yet another busy month!  I collected Toys for Tots, we got our first snow of the winter, did some Christmas Caroling, had a wonderful Christmas, and got another puppy!  Whew!  You know, a lot of people think I have no life because I am so involved with social media, or because I do not work full time, but looking back over the year, I can easily see how busy, full, and enriching my life actually is.  I would not have it any other way!

So, there is a snapshot of my year.  It was full of wonderful memories, supportive family, fabulous friends, and the unconditional love of my Hubby.  Is it any wonder I rave about how blessed I am?
Happy New Year to you and yours, from me and mine!