some 2013 highlights

Happy Christmas Eve!

I wanted to take a little time today to highlight just a few of the notable things that happened in 2013.

 In December 2012, I got my first SLR, and Jake and I adopted two kittens, Apollo and Ares. I was beyond excited about both of these happenings, but I had no idea how much they would change my life in 2013. Getting an SLR is has empowered me in a way that I never would have anticipated, and our little guys have amazing personalities that keep us smiling and laughing every day. If you're on the fence about either of these decisions in your life, I highly recommend taking the plunge.

I'll write more about my 2013 goals during the first week of January, but this one deserves special mention here. I achieved my goal of writing a minimum of 2,000-3,000 words per weekday. All year. This was another extremely empowering thing in my life this year. I had some of the busiest months of my entire life this fall (which says a lot because I worked full-time, went to grad school part-time, and started my Etsy jewelry shop while my husband was in med school). These fall months taught me how to be efficient in pretty much everything that I do in a whole new way and that includes my writing.

 

In 2013, I saw I'm Not a Pilot seven times and saw my brother perform with 3 different groups in 2 different cities on more than half a dozen different occasions. I saw two musicals: The Book of Mormon in Chicago and Wicked in Milwaukee. I got to see the MSO perform twice, including a performance at the Basilica in Milwaukee. I also saw Mumford and Sons and David Cook, and I got to see a live comedy show with the cast of Archer. Will 2014 top this staggering list? Only time will tell.

 I feel like I talk a lot about how blessed Jake and I are to have so many friends in Milwaukee. We had a hard time finding people to relate to and socialize with during the four years that we lived in Iowa City. Four years is a long time, especially when you live in a place with very little close family and no old friends. Milwaukee has been a completely different experience. We are constantly out and about here with a wide variety of different people doing everything from eating out to going to concerts to taking brewery tours.

My brother got married to an amazing woman who I'm honored to call my sister-in-law. I was blessed to see a lot of my immediate and extended family multiple times in 2013 for the wedding and wedding-related events in the fall as well as my dad's 60th birthday party over the summer.

I took...a lot of pictures. I don't have a total count, but it's somewhere in the range of 15,000-16,000 shots. I get a lot of questions about photography, particularly on the topic of improvement. The bottom line is that if you want to improve in something, you have to get out there and work on it. Every single week.

The path to a career as a physician is a long uphill road. While a lot of aspects of it have gotten better each year, 2013 wasn't just a couple more baby steps. It was a huge leap. It's hard to believe that Jake and I are finally nearing the end of this very long road. 2013 has not been an easy year, but it is one of the best that I've had in a long time.

What are some of your 2013 highlights? If you wrote a post about this topic, please feel free to leave a link!