October
October was definitely my busiest month of the year. I write too much as is, so I like to keep the maximum amount of things I write for each month 3. I could have easily chosen 5 or 6 haha. Anyway, on to some of my best memories from this month!
My nephew turned 4 this month! We went all out and rented a bounce house and had someone come paint faces. It was a Spiderman themed party, so Kenny (my nephew - I don't know if I've mentioned his name yet) LOVED getting his face painted. I researched so many bounce house rentals, and I'm pretty happy with the one we used. It was the cheapest, and it definitely did the job, but it most certainly wasn't the one advertised online.
I laugh whenever I think about this. Like I said, it was a great bounce house, but it wasn't as cool as the one I saw online. Had I thought about it when we actually got the bounce house, I would have said something. I don't know what that would have done, which is why I'm glad I forgot, but I'm still sad we didn't get the one on the left. We still had a fantastic party, so I'm okay with how things turned out :)
This month I finally carved a pumpkin! The last time that happened was in the 90s, back when I was in elementary school. It takes a lot of work and isn't too fun when you're the only one carving (and not doing a very good job), but I am really happy with how it turned out! Before you see the picture, remember: I HAVEN'T CARVED ONE SINCE THE 90s. Lol
Honestly, I am really happy with how this turned out. I wish I would have gone a little slower and not made the cuts so jagged, but it looks really good for not having done this for 15-20 years ;)
The best thing that happened this month was getting family pictures taken! Going to university introduced me to some amazingly talented people. My friends, Kimmee and Jordan, have recently started a photography business, so I contacted them to do family pictures for me. The last time my family had professional pictures taken was in the early 90s. I've wanted family pictures for YEARS. I'm so glad I was finally able to have this done. Here are a couple of my faves:
That handsome little man is my nephew. There are times when all he wants is his picture taken, and then there are times when he throws a fit if the camera is on him. Thankfully, this day was a camera hog day. We had about 82 pictures sent back to us, and he is in at least 79 of them haha.
I have a blog planned to write about White Pine Photography (Kimmee and Jordan's business), but that will be after they get some stuff set up. Until then, if you have any questions about them, let me know! They will gladly answer any questions you have.
November
While October is my favorite month, November holds my favorite holiday: Thanksgiving! I was planning on writing a blog post about it, but I really didn't have anything to say. Maybe next year I will have more to write about the holiday that everyone forgets :P
The first thing about November has to do with my grandma who passed away from lung cancer (I've posted about her before here and here). I have written a blog about how involved with Relay For Life I have been in the past (read that here). While I was at an event one year, I saw a tent that had ribbon decals. I ended up buying a plain white ribbon decal and putting it on my laptop. After a couple years of wear and tear, the decal needed to be replaced.
I contacted my friend's aunt who has a decal business (here is the Facebook page). On the page, there was a picture of a decal with a name as part of the ribbon. I fell in love and knew that's what I wanted. I ended up getting a decal with my grandma's first and middle names, and it looks absolutely amazing.
I'm bummed because my laptop is textured, so the details in the name got messed up while transferring it. It still looks amazing, and the price was great too. For this decal, I paid $4.50 including shipping. And she was really easy to work with. I sent her a message describing what I wanted, we figured a few things out, and it was sent out as soon as I paid. I love it and will definitely go to her with future decal orders!
I haven't seen my best friend in years. She has moved around a few states, and hasn't been to Michigan in a while. We keep in contact on Facebook and texts as often as we can, but we definitely don't talk as much as I would like. She, her ma, and her sister are all pretty crafty, so she was excited to send me a package of gifts! While I have an idea, I'm not entirely sure who made what or who helped out with what, but I do know that I love them all!
She saw my decal and used that as an inspiration for a scarf. Her ma started making the bears a couple months ago, and the pillow is a Christmas gift from last Christmas or the year before...I can't remember. In case you're wondering about the color choices - my favorite color is orange and hers is pink. Whenever we buy or make something for the other, we make sure to have both colors on it somehow.
December
Remember in March, where I posted that Eric Whitacre favorited a tweet of mine? Well, it happened again. I know, 2 favorites within a year. We're pretty much the best friends ever.
Backstory: Eric has virtual choirs about once a year. He started a few years ago, and I first learned about them when the 3rd one rolled around. I was in VC3, VC4, and Glow. With "regular" virtual choirs (VC1, VC2, VC3, VC4, and the youth choir), anyone who submits a video is in the choir. For Glow, people sent in videos, but not everyone was accepted. The first acceptance was in November of 2013, but then they decided to select more people, and those extras were chosen in December 2013. I wasn't chosen in November, but I was chosen in December. Also, I call it Glow, but it's actually the World of Color Honor Choir (that's such a hassle to say).
I cried (shocking, I know). I had such a confidence boost after I saw I was chosen (not that I've done anything since...haha). Anyway, I was looking through my timehop app and saw that it had been one year since I was chosen. I tweeted him, thanking him for the experience, and he favorited it (here's the YouTube video I posted in the tweet).
As with every other VC I've been in - I didn't see myself in the video -__- at least I'm used to it. If you're interested in any of the virtual choirs, you can definitely ask me, or go to Eric's website here. I wish I still had the recordings of each part that I used to practice. I love dissonance, and when I would practice listening to the tenors, I got chills (I'm an alto).
The final thing for December, and my year, was a surprise visit from my grandparents this past weekend. My ma woke me up on Saturday morning by lightly knocking on my door (I'm such a light sleeper). After a few minutes of trying to fall back asleep (she never said anything haha), I decided to get up and see what she wanted. She ended up telling me that my grandma called and said they were on their way up from Indiana.
I haven't seen them since my graduation in May, because they don't travel up here too often. I was excited to see them, but I was also so confused as to what was going on. I didn't think it was real for the longest time...and 4 1/2 hours later they were here! I always enjoy spending time with them, especially since I don't get to do it often. My grandma called my uncle and even had him come over. I hadn't seen him since my nephew's 3rd birthday. It was nice getting all the family together for some quality time. I wish it happened more often.
Here is a picture of my grandma, my ma, and myself :) (my front-facing camera on my phone is such crappy quality)
2014 was a pretty good year. It is so easy to get hung up on all the bad things that happened, so I'm glad I did these blog posts. I like to be a positive person, and this makes it easier to remember the good. It is something that I can look back on in years and see what happened to me. I can't wait to see what 2015 has to offer! :)
Click here for January - March
Click here for April - June
Click here for July - September
What are your best memories from this past year? I would love to read them!
XOXO
Jen
Jen
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