2013 In Review

You likely don't care about my year, especially since I gave up on blogging for the majority of it. Anyway, if I don't post it somewhere, I might never remember what I did in 2013, so with the help of my Outlook calendar and Instagram feed here it goes!

January
Stevie was still a relatively new addition to the family, and I enjoyed very much getting to know my little lovebug.

February
Not a whole lot happens in Michigan in the winter. Especially by February when we're all burned out. We did have a fun Valentine's Day bowling outing with friends!

March
Even though I didn't officially get hired until later this year, March was when I found out that I would be hired and I also helped begin Steelcase's first young professionals group. We started super grassroots, just organizing volunteer events and happy hours, and we took off from there. Now we even have a budget!

I also got to see the one and only Kate Nash perform for the first time. Best show I saw all year!

April
There was a crazy flood in Grand Rapids! According to my twitter, it also snowed. Ugh. I almost forgot how short this summer was.

May
I got to attend TEDxGrandRapids! It was such a great event!

I finally was hired at my first 'real' / 'big girl' job at Steelcase in Grand Rapids. I love everything about it - from the culture, to my role in social media, to being a mobile worker. Getting this position also allowed me to really de-stress about money, which feels so, so good!

Right before I began working at Steelcase, Andrew and I visited our friends Ricardo and Kathryn in Palo Alto and also my cousin in San Francisco. We got to go north of SF one of the days and saw some real beauty in California. Andrew and I spent our last day in Napa, which was gorgeous!

June
I helped plant three trees with the United Way for Filler' Up Fuller. It felt so good!

I also hit the streets for Festival of the Arts in Grand Rapids. I was on the PR team, and we launched an Instagram contest. It was a ton of fun!

I also got to see Hillary Clinton speak and Lord Huron play a show in the same night.

July
Andrew's sister got engaged. Her wedding is in about 2 months! I also had a great 4th of July, visiting my Grandma and shopping at the nearby outlet mall. I apparently was pretty engrossed in Pretty Little Liars in the month of July as well. Lastly, I won tickets to see Rodrigo y Gabriela!

August
I went on an amazing vacation in Turkey and Greece with Andrew and his family! I can't believe I didn't take a break from not-blogging to blog about it! I will have to soon.

September
I was able to find one of the stray kitties (Brave, below) a home with friends. They love having him so much! The other five kitties disappeared a couple days after my birthday and I haven't seen them since.

I turned 25. Two weeks later I rented my first car when I took a business trip to Alabama. Booyah!

October
Andrew and I attended our third annual Alpaca Fest.

I got to attend JiveWorld in Las Vegas. It was my first time seeing the city, which I liked better than I thought I would! Plus, the first snow in Michigan fell and melted while I was away, so that was a bonus.

November
I won an iPad mini from the conference I attended in October for participating in their gamification series. So awesome! Thanks, Jive!

Also, Kate Nash followed me on Twitter!

December
I received my first pair of boots that fit over my calf. Although snug, I am so happy they zip up all the way! I also got to visit my Grandma and my Grandpa and spend a week at home with my family and my cats. A very nice December!

Michigan Alpaca Fest 2012!

Last year, Andrew and I saw an advertisement for "Alpaca Fest." We hyped up the event for weeks, not fully understanding what it was, but determined to attend. Although no one else ended up accompanying us, we went and had an amazing time. Odds are, we know more about alpacas than you. We got to pet alpacas, learn about the two different breeds, see them get judged, and it was all free!

This year I had just assumed that they would move the show elsewhere since it's for the state of Michigan, but thank goodness I saw a tweet that led to a google search where I found that Alpaca Fest was this weekend! I would have been so upset if we had missed it! Anyway, we roped our friend Gaby into joining. She seemed hesitant, but she loved it like we knew she would. And here is what we saw:

 Keepin' cool.

Alpacas are judged on the density, color, and luster of their fur among other factors. Behavior is not one of them.

Rosie and me!

Sophia and Gaby 

Rosie and Andrew. Aw.

I also grabbed some literature on alpacas that I will relay to you to share my wealth of knowledge: 

"Alpacas are members of the Camelid family and are native to South America. Their fiber is very soft and is used to make yarn. Adults reach an average height of 36" and an average weight of 100 to 175 pounds. They have one baby a year that weighs about 15 to 20 pounds at birth. Alpacas come in many shades of brown and tan as well as white, gray and black. There are two species of alpacas, the suri and the huacaya."

The suri are the ones with dreadlocks and the huacaya are the ones you see more of, without dreadlocks. They are all super soft and adorable! I can't wait to start an alpaca farm one day! Or at least live in a house with a backyard so I can own a couple of my own.

And what did you do today?