I had a feeling that 2012 was going to be a pretty exciting year for me. I knew there were some exciting things in store, but I couldn’t have known about all the great things that happened. Here are some of the best –
Elise came and stayed with us for six weeks at the beginning of the year. It was great having her here, and not just because she cooked us lots of dinner and made us artwork.
We went up to New York for the weekend and I had a mini reunion with Melissa, Jen, and Elise! They are good friends.
Back in Maryland we hosted the long planned Around-the-World-Potlock with awesome people and more awesome food.
I made some of my favorite cupcakes to date. I love the visual impact of seeing them all together and it turns out they’re not so hard to make. I even wrote a how-to.
At the end of March, Andrew and I went to Mexico for a quick getaway. It was basically awesome.
Holy smokes! Friday the 13th will always be lucky for us from now on. Andrew and I got engaged in April!
On May 1st, I flew down to Florida with RBSP for four month adventure heading toward the launch in August.
Shortly after getting to Florida, I got to see my first rocket launch (and get rear-ended, but that wasn’t as exciting).
We also went up to MA to check out wedding venues and I got to visit my favorite place in the whole world.
Andrew came down to visit me in Florida and we got to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It totally lived up to expectations.
The Jackster came to visit and we went wedding dress shopping (success!). We also visited Kennedy Space Center and I got to take an amazing picture of my mother.
I drove out to Tampa Bay to see a Red Sox-Rays game and cross another stadium off my list to reach my goal of seeing a game at all 30 stadiums.
My bridesmaids all came down to Florida for a visit where we got to hang out on the beach, go dress shopping, and catch up. It was an amazing weekend.
I went to Miami to see the Marlins play. I then hung around town to see what all the fuss was about. Miami sure is a vibrant city.
After two false starts, on August 30th at 4:05 AM, RBSP finally launched out of Cape Canaveral, Florida. It was an incredible sight and feeling to see something you worked on for the past four years finally head up to space. They’re currently up there, working nominally and collecting science data.
At the very end of September, Andrew and I headed out on an extremely ambitious bike ride. It was an incredible trip with lots of ups and downs. It turned out to be abbreviated and even though it didn’t end the way I wanted it to, it was an experience I’m glad Andrew and I got to share.
We went back up home for Thanksgiving which is always a highlight of my year. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and getting to spend it with family and friends just makes it that much better.
At the end of November, I went out to Colorado for business. But while I was there, I got to see one of my cousins who I hadn’t seen in almost two years. We had a super fun evening.
The year ended with some fun celebrations. Andrew and I celebrated our four year anniversary. I’ve had such a blast during those four years and it’s kind of crazy to think in less than half a year we’ll be married!
And we capped off the year with some good friends.
When I look back on this year I can hardly believe how full it was. I hope 2013 is just as exciting (I think it will be)!