Allison's Wonderland: 2013 in Retrospect

2013 in Retrospect

Posted by Allison ,

I seriously haven't written in forever. Maybe not having internet at my apartment has something to do with it. Sometimes you just can't have it all. :)

I love New Year's Eve and all that it symbolizes. Even though I love it, welcoming the New Year always makes me kind of nostalgic and sad. I don't know what it is. Maybe I don't like change, but I do like new beginnings. I think that's why I have a hard time staying in one place. The newness of it all is a fresh adventure and when you start something unfamiliar it's kind of a rush....anyway, moving on.

I wanted to take a moment to look back on 2013 to revisit all the things I've accomplished and all the things I well, haven't. When you look at the new year it can seem so daunting, then December 31st rolls around and you wonder where the time went. I normally make a list of everything I want to accomplish. This year has been different. I have no goals for this year. I'm desperately trying to think of some on this New Year's Eve Day, but none are coming to mind. A lot of the goals I wanted to accomplish in the past seem so empty and sometimes unattainable. Anybody got anything good they want to accomplish for 2014? I need some inspiration.

We started out the 2013 year with a bang. All my family was in New York and we went to downtown Buffalo at the Lafayette Hotel to bring in the New Year James Bond style. We had a great time and my cousin Tim and I just played all the casino games. We played with fake money so it wasn't as fun as it could be, but it was fun nonetheless. I was in New York living with my grandma just blocks away from my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. It was wonderful. I absolutely loved it. I also had the best job ever which was working at The Orange Cat Coffee Company in Lewiston, NY with some of the most amazing people I've ever come in contact with. I miss that job so much! Why did I ever leave?

2013 brought quite a bit of firsts which I hadn't realized till I actually sat down and wrote this blog. January found me going to my first NHL Hockey game. The Buffalo Sabres vs. the Boston Bruins. I'm not a big hockey fan but I really enjoyed it. I was also able to go on my first sailboat ride on Lake Erie thanks to my Aunt Beverly. We had a great time even though there was no wind. I was able to go to Syracuse for the first time to have some great eats at some of the best Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. Went to Kitty Hoynes, Pastabilities and Eva's European Sweets for amazing Polish food, which I've never had before. My Aunt and I also had a great time going to the Rochester Lilac festival which I've never been to before and also touring the NY Finger Lakes with some of the best wineries in the country. I was also able to go to three of Frank Lloyd Wright's masterpieces. I was able to go to the Martin House in Buffalo, NY, Kentuck Knob in Pennsylvania, and his most famous private home, Falling Water. t really has been an amazing year as I look back in retrospect.

One of the highlights of my year was crossing one of my 30 things to do before 30 off of my list. SKY DIVING! That was a huge leap for me since I really don't like planes and I'm afraid of heights. I've been wanting to do this for awhile so when it was finally all said and done I was so happy! And I even did it without health insurance! Now that is what you call taking a risk.

During the year 2013 I've seen quite a bit of great concerts as well. Started the year by seeing Rihanna in Buffalo with my cousin. We had a good time because we were together and got dancey, but Rihanna was pretty bad. Come to find out she had the flu and she canceled the three following concerts after Buffalo. She lip synched the whole time and was 2 hours late getting on stage. Not the best concert but still. I went with my cousins to see Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson. Adam Levine running around on stage. What is not to like?

Now I'm not trying to be a braggart...so if you want to stop reading now you can. This blog post is kinda more for me anyways. SOYEE!

Now there were some big life events for people in my family I love very much. My cousin Katie got married to her love Tim McFadden. All the family was up for the wedding and we had a blast. My brother graduated from Duke Divinity School which was also a huge accomplishment for him. Some things in the family weren't so happy though. My Aunt Elaine was diagnosed with colon cancer. She's doing pretty good, but it's still very scary. My grandfather also passed away this year. I didn't really know him well since he decided not to be apart of our lives, but it was still a very sad time

2013 was a big year for babies. Four of the closest people to me all had babies. 3 of them were their first. Crazy! People love to multiply these days. One of those babies would be my first nephew! The first lil man child in our family since my brother, which was 29 years ago. His name is Reuben and he's such a cutie! I really do want to eat him!

We had some great family vacations this year as well. Emerald Isle was a great time with all of my VA and NC family for Thanksgiving. Our usual camping grounds at Cook Forest, PA was another great family vacation with all of my NY family. 2013 was kinda a great year. I'm hoping 2014 will be just as good!