2012, You Were Good To Us

Another year come and gone, and here we stand at a whole new phase of life. Funny how one year can catapult you from the free-roaming, somewhat irresponsible, carefree side to the mother hen, I-am-suddenly-5 times-more-mature-than-I-ever-thought-possible side. These life altering occasions that seemed so momentous and grand when I imagined them in my head years ago somehow just melted and flowed easily into my world. There were no clear cut lines, no experiences packed into a nicely uniformed box as I like to think of them. Life was fresh, messy, sometimes tearful, unexpected, and beautiful.

Starting the year off right, we welcomed Luke AKA Nugget into the world in January.

February marked the month when after 24 years of life, I had finally found my most favorite outfit in the world.

In March, my parents once and for all admitted they adopted me from the Olsen family. Luke also learned how to suck his thumb.

April came out on top as one of the most fun months. We spent an obsessive amount of time at Disneyland, mini-vacationed in Palm Springs (multiple times), and I got bangs!

The month of May we celebrated our 3rd anniversary and adventured around Coronado.

June was a big month! Luke went for his very first swim, I decided bangs were no longer for me and started growing them out (so fickle, I know), Matt turned 27, got a new job, and we moved to Encinitas! It was all a rather big doozy, but the best kind.

July hurried by in a whirlwind. We unloaded all of our stuff from our move and turned around and went on a very extended vacation to Chicago to see Nanny and Papa, then to Utah to see Grandma and Grandpa (where Luke got his very first and desperately needed haircut)!

Then there was August. I started my Dare I DIY? feature and took lots of outfit pictures.

September was full of tears, mostly because my doc diagnosed me with Celiac's Disease (no gluten) and bread and I were forced to end our love affair of multiple decades. The good news was that we got annual passes to Sea World, so that kind of made up for my loss of all things pasta, cakes, and bread.

Luke's first Halloween happened in October. We visited the pumpkin patch and went trick or treating. That was all kinds of sassy fun.

November is always a favorite month because we get the excuse of eating obscene amounts of food and decorating for Christmas!

December was by far the best month in my book, because hello? My baby's first Christmas (besides January because it wouldn't have been without said baby)!

Phhhewww. That was exhausting fishing through all the archives and selecting my most-loved picks of the year, but 2012 was a marvelous year. Busy? Yes. Stressful? Uh-huh. A little on the chubby side at the top of the calendar? Just a smidge. Footloose and fancy-free? I like to think so. Would I do it all over again? You betcha.

2013, if you are half as great as this last go around of a year proved to be, I welcome you with enthusiastic open arms!