2013: Year in Review

It's a time of nostalgia for most bloggers, and I'm not one to be left out.

I mean, I am one to be left out. But that's because I was the baby of the family so I always think I'm more left out than I really am.

But that's neither here nor there.  On this, the last day of the year, I wanted to share my Top 13 2013 Memories. They're in chronological order, not order of importance. Unless you value the importance of chronology.

Valentine's Day

This year was the most adorable Valentine's Day I've had. I mean, John took out an ad in the paper to advertise our love. It was amazing. And made me feel all squishy. And I still have the ad pinned in my cubicle. PLUS! This was the first day we went to Monti's (more on that in another post).

Florida Keys Vacation

Oh my god. Just looking at the pictures from this trip makes me so sad we're not going again this year. It's absolutely BEAUTIFUL down there. Nevermind the fact that I got seasick while fishing and snorkeling. It was still a great trip filled with beautiful memories.

Kristin's Wedding

This was also the year that my cousin/first best friend ever got married. It was such a beautiful ceremony filled with so much happiness and fun.  And family. So much family time!

Grand Rapids Trip

In May, we also went to Grand Rapids, AKA our one true love, for a whirlwind 24 hour trip. It was everything you could hope for in your favorite city - beers, video games, snugs.

6 Year Anniversary

This June, Johnboy and I celebrated 6 years together by taking the day off work and lounging around at the beach. We followed it up with a trip to a restaurant that gave John a plate of meat. So that was amazing.

Pam Beesly-Halpert Retweeted Me

Normal people don't necessarily have retweets on their top of the year lists. But I've never claimed to be normal.  And Jenna Fischer retweeted me and thanked me for the nostalgia and it made my month.

98 Degrees/Boyz II Men/NKOTB Concert

Oh my godddddd. This concert was the shit. 98 degrees should have sang longer and more directly to me, but otherwise it was phenomenal. Kelly and I were fangirling all over the place when they took off their suits and wore wife beaters (that term is ew) to serenade 4 lucky ladies.

New Job AND Apartment

This summer involved a promotion at work and a move to a new apartment. As hectic as the move itself was, I am still absolutely smitten with our apartment. It's in a way better location (6 blocks from our last one) and we have so much more to do.

Maroon 5/Kelly Clarkson Concert in Indy

Sadly, this year involved one of my favorite people moving to Indianapolis. Luckily for me, that's not too terribly far and I was able to visit quite a few times.  One of which was for my birthday when Laura took me to see Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson in concert. It was AMAZING. I was so shocked that I loved it so much but I really did.

Wolf Sanctuary

Speaking of Indy...in September, I dragged John out there to visit and we got to go to a Wolf Sanctuary and play with wolves. I mean, that's an awesome experience that most people don't experience everyday and I won't soon forget it.

Diana Genevieve Zechar (11/24/2013)

Uh. Guys. I have a new niece as of November and she is ADORABLE. I mean, I haven't gotten to meet her in person yet but she's so stinking cute that I can hardly stand it. I'm excited to see her and pinch her cheeks at some point in 2014. :)

NYC Trip

Obviously this is on the list. NYC was as beautiful as ever. And I got to visit areas of the city that I had never seen before with one of my oldest friends. So there's that. ;)

Hazel Time

I wasn't sure where to put this one because I hung out with Hazel (my other niece) a lot this year and it was AWESOME. She's grown up a ton and I've been able to see it happen through Skype and visits. She's easily working her way into BFF territory here.

Anyway! That's a little snippet of my year from 2013. I know 2014 will prove to be just as amazing. I'm already proclaiming it to be the year of people visiting Chicago. So get on that. ;)

What are your favorite memories from 2k13?

xoxo
Amanda

Music Monday: Lydia, the Tattooed Lady

The Muppets are amazing. So the fact that my step mom relates this song to me is a-okay.

Any time I tell them I got a new tattoo she just starts singing this and I love it more now that I've seen this video.

Oh, btw, I got a new Tattoo.  In case that slipped right by you. I'm thinking of naming her Lydia.

Happy Monday! 

I'm back in the office today after a week of travel and Christmas and working from home. So I'll be looking into a Chrome extension that blocks websites and forces me to be more productive.

How was your holiday?

xoxo

Amanda

Music Monday: Lily Allen - Somewhere Only We Know

This week's Music Monday is brought to you by Christmas. Maybe you've heard of it?

This song has been on my mind since the commercial came out. Oh, you haven't seen it? It's so sweet!

I'm willing to buy a clock if it'll keep a bear awake for christmas with his forest buddies.

Plus, Lily Allen kills it on her version of the song.  So while it's not exactly Christmas music, it gets the sentiment across nicely.

I hope you're having a great start to your week!

xoxo
Amanda

Home Alone: The Drinking Game

It's the weekend (almost)! And a holiday (almost) weekend at that!

If you're looking for something festive to do this weekend, look no further! This is the alcoholic holiday good time you were looking for.

The Home Alone Drinking Game

Take a drink whenever:

• Kevin's family makes fun of him 
• Harry's gold tooth *pings*
• Marv says "Wet Bandits"
• Buzz's tarantula is seen
• Anyone knocks over the statue in front of the house
• Old Man Marley looks totally menacing
• John Candy says "polka"
• Anyone in your group says "keep the change, ya filthy animal"
• Someone mentions how ragged McCauley Culkin looks now

Chug for the duration of any scream.

I'm keeping the rules minimal. Because you're going to be drunk no matter what.  Feel free to ad lib too!

Happy Holidays, and go easy on the Pepsi, Fuller.

xoxo
Amanda

Power Ballad Thursday: Guns N Roses - November Rain

Okay, the original reason that I picked this song (other than it being awesome) is because in college, we had a hamster with giant balls. And we searched for info on hamsters and illness and found this site full of hamster info that had a midi file of November Rain playing. So I can't hear it without laughing about hamster balls.

I'm a grown up.

But NOW....now I'm insane. I've watched the video like 3 times this morning. I got roped into the story.

First there's this trashy (and amazing) wedding dress. AND THEN (spoilers) the bitch is dead. After this big rain storm during the reception.

Originally, I thought she died of pneumonia. Because it was just so rainy.

But then it looked like people were jumping out of the way like there was a shooter at the reception during the rainstorm. Mainly, one guy jumped THROUGH the wedding cake. Which seems extreme for just getting out of a rain storm.

Cut to - funeral. Where there's a partition down the casket with a mirror reflecting half her face to make it look like she's got a normal face. So, something (gun shot) happened to her.

THESE ARE THE THINGS I SCREEN CAP

And then I read that the video was based on a short story by Del James (Axl's friend) about a blues musician who's ex shot her self. Which implies that the bride shot herself. There was like 1 seen where she looked sad in the car...I guess that she could be depressed.

And also, Slash walked out of the wedding to play an emotional solo in the desert. So maybe he loved her. And maybe she killed herself at the thought of being with Axl forever instead of Slash (sounds right to me). Or maybe Slash killed her during the reception. Is he at the funeral? I'll rewatch and tell you. He was at the funeral. So he didn't kill her.

I mean....come on

I'm sticking with suicide. It's the most plausible.

How is it only Thursday? What am I doing with my life?

xoxo
Amanda