2012: In the Rearview

Well, folks, it's (almost) 2013. It's been a heck of a year, in some ways good and in some ways bad. But here is how my year went:

January: Well, first of all I started a blog! One of my New Year's resolutions was to start a blog, so that I could work on my writing. I also wanted to work on my actual writing; short stories, sketches and such the like. I've done decently on that, but my blog went well! I made 24 posts, so averaging once every two weeks. I'm actually doing pretty well! So I did well.

Also, I went back to school for what I thought would be my semester, but life had other plans. We'll get to that in a bit. Anyway, I also went out to Junction, Utah for a weekend with Glen and Mitch. In all honesty it was one of the highlights of my entire year. It was fun to hang out just the three of us shooting guns, playing video games, riding quads, and of course, eating lots of food. In short, biggest man-weekend I've had in a while.

I know, I'm pretty cool, you don't have to tell me.

Why yes, we are standing on a solid lake. and yes, I do miss this kid like no other. 

February: Not too much. I got into the swing of things at school. Started having more classes and, more importantly, more fun. 

I got to meet the real life Hitch! He was really cool and really funny!

We went out sledding one day. I was SO DANG COLD.

March: Spring break! What else is there to say? I dragged as many people as wanted to come to California with me. We went all around Southern California, enjoying the sights, visiting the beach, going to LA, and all around enjoying the fact that it was above 50 degrees! 

Santa Monica Beach picture with everybody

China town picture with everybody

We found the bench from (500) Days of Summer!

Hiked Fish creed. It was cold and would have been miserable, but I had good friends with me!

This was Mitch's idea of a breakfast..

We went to the local Novelty store, Charlie Brown Farms

And that's where this, my vote for picture of the year, was taken. 

We also went up North at the end of the month for Mitch's mission call opening and for Color festival. 

We got pretty dirty by the end of it. We took this as we were leaving.

Mitch's mission call!

April: Even though school was winding down, we still found ways to entertain ourselves. We watched Conference in Lone Pine at Melissa's grandma's house. It was also April Fool's. That whole weekend was full of the spirit, and the spirit of mischief. 

We sticky noted Kay's car.

We also got in a Sand Hollow trip. It took us a while to figure out that tent...

May: Said goodbye to SUU for what I thought would be the last time for a couple years. I said bye to everybody, too. Landon left for his mission, and I got back out to Kanab for his farewell.

This is what Landon's farewell was like. we just took a bunch of silly pictures. 

I hate saying goodbye and I hate mornings. 

Summer: I won't bore you with a month-by-month here because it's all a blur to me too (plus I didn't take all that many pictures...). But rest assured, it was full of beach trips, hikes, cliff jumping, and hanging out with some awesome people. Most notable here are (without pictures), Glen's farewell and going to see my sister out in Missouri. We had a death in the family, so we took a trip out to see her. It was great to see everybody again, despite the circumstances. 

The Beach! and some dudes...

My last trip back to SUU

Cliff jumping in California!

Cliff jumping in Utah!

We blew a tire on the way to the Brigham City temple open house. That didn't stop us from having some fun, though!!

Fourth of July up on the hill. What a sight! We got to see the whole valley's firework's show. 

Hiking Kanarraville! 

October: Full of hanging out with my friends here in California! I spent a week with my grandparents in Palm Desert, watched Diego and Tristen get their mission calls, and overall enjoyed some downtime before..

November: Probably one of the biggest months of my life. On the 26th I had the first major surgery I've ever had. I had a renalectomy, or kidney transplant surgery. Right now, while I sit here, I am typing with one less body part than 99% of the population. It feels pretty good to be different. Plus, it helped save my brother's life. Overall, worth it, despite the pain and slow recovery.

This was the night I got home! 

December: Aside from recovering, and saying goodbye to Diego (unphotographed), I went up to Utah to spend Christmas with my grandparents. It was a great trip because I got to see my brother Adam before he deploys from Afghanistan in January. I also got to see Breanna and Jason get married!

Breanna and Jason getting all married. 

We hung out at the wedding a bit. 

We went sledding. My parents are kinda cute sometimes. 

Anyway, that's been my 2012-- all the highlights, anyway. It's been a rough year in some ways, but a great year overall. I look forward to the challenges, hardships, joys, and memories of 2013. Here are some of my resolutions for the new year:

• Continue taking risks. I want to get out of my bubble and try new things. I pride myself on being open minded, but why stop at thinking about doing cool new things? :)
• Work out again. Because of surgery I've lost the ten pounds, basically everything I put on from working out this past year. So I want to start working out again and gain all my weight back. I was just starting to enjoy not looking like a total wimp, and I want it back! The actual goal: to work out at least three times a week every week, and to get back up to 150 lbs.
• Be nicer to those who treat me right. This is pretty self explanatory, and I think I do alright with this. But sometimes I simply repay them with a thank you, when I realize a proper thank you would be in a repaid favor or something like that. So I'm gonna work on recognizing people's sacrifices for me and repaying them better!
• Find a job- No matter what, I need to find a job. I want to become more independent, and money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure buys freedom. 
• Last, but not least, leave on my mission before my birthday. I plan to be fully recovered by March or so, and school ends in May. So hopefully by May or June I'll be gone, but I DEFINITELY want to be gone by August. 

Finally, in case I haven't told you, I will be attending SUU for the next semester. Because my recovery will be done at March at the soonest, I decided to not fall a year behind in school and finish up my Associates at SUU while I finish my recovery. I'm taking 17 credits and will be trying to find employment, so I might not be around too much. But rest assured, if you're at SUU we'll be hanging out! I'm leaving Wednesday the 2nd, and school starts the 7th!

Anyway, I hope that this finds you well. I hope you all have had a happy holiday and that you have a Happy New Year. Have a great day and have a wonderful 2013 all!