To be quite honest, this year has been an emotional roller coaster. I have experienced the deepest sadness, but also felt joy in many ways. As I reflect on this past year, I want to remember these moments that have defined the person that I am. It’s important to not discount and embrace the painful moments because they shape who you are and help you grow.
January
I hosted my best friends bachelorette weekly in Austin! It was filled with lots of hot tub-ing, pole dancing classes and explicit souvenirs (because duh). I’ve been to five bachelorette parties, including my own, and they have all been in Austin – but hosting one for your best friend somehow is much more meaning. It was so wonderful seeing how happy she was being surrounded by her bridespeople being celebrated and loved.
We all arrived on Friday night and played some fun games with prizes while munching on pizza and snacks. The next day we went to The Oasis on Lake Travis for brunch and tried to take some windy pictures. After brunch, we took a pole dancing class where we twirled, dropped and flipped upside down. Back to the house for pictures, gossip and hot tub before going to 6th Street for a night on the town. On Sunday we had breakfast and packed up to head back home!
February
In February we celebrated my mom’s birthday! Can you believe she is 57 in this picture?! She looks like our older sister. This was such a special day because we all got to be together (not pictured: our photographer, Drew). My mom had undergone 1.5 months of treatment and we were hopeful they were working. During this time we really learned the importance of family and how much spending time together meant to us. We ate P.F. Chang’s and tried on my mom’s new wig – it looked the best on my mom, second best on my dad, and third best on Drew, shockingly.
This month was filled with time with Mommy! I hosted a couples shower for my best friend and my mom came over to help set-up. At this point, Gordo never really posed for a photo; however, LOOK AT THIS PICTURE! He was straight-up leaning on my mom like, “Oh you’re taking a photo of me and my best friend? Hi!” I think dogs have a sense for good people, and Gordo and my mom are a perfect pair.
I didn’t realize then – but this was the last meal I would have with my grandma. She was the most petite lady in the room but with a fiery personality. What I did realize during this lunch was that she is where I get my Diet Coke obsession from…bad habit or good trait passed down? I’d argue the latter.
March
Each year, one of my good friends and I try to reunited and visit the Houston Rodeo. In years past, we have eaten fried food and painted our faces (partially and entirely). This year, we felt a little adventurous and decided to make a visit in the petting zoo. Those baby goats were just the cutest and had absolutely no sense of personal space. I was, however, terrified of anything that was big enough to chew or potentially spit in my face so we didn’t stay very long.
My best friend in the entire world married the love of her life! I know every says their own wedding day is the happiest day of their life, but Elizabeth and Dillon’s day was a close second for me. The joy and love everyone felt on that day was just pure magic – and that’s how you know you’ve met your perfect match. The venue was gorgeous, the atmosphere was incredible and the entire day went off without a hitch. My favorite part: Being their getaway driver!
April
We lost my grandma the morning of April 9th. It was the hardest day of my life and until then, I hadn’t truly experienced heart break. She was one of the loves of my life and I couldn’t imagine life without her. She was the life of the party, a loyal neighbor, and a great grandma. Her funeral was a bittersweet day, laying her to rest was difficult yet peaceful but it was nice seeing all of her friends there, just to see how much my grandma impacted their lives.
This time made me realize that my family is truly number one. I thought I realized that when my mom was diagnosed, but until I experienced true loss, I’m not sure I fully understood. If you’re lucky enough to have a family that is supportive and loving, cherish every moment you have with them. Call your parents, visit your grandparents, spend time with your siblings and friends. There is never enough time but enjoy the time you have.
A happier moment of this month was my mom’s retirement! She had worked at UTMB for over 20 years and her coworkers threw her a retirement lunch to celebrate her years with them. Everyone was so supportive and had such wonderful memories with my mom. She was so happy to be retired, and even made a retirement dance! If anyone deserve to live a peaceful and relaxing life, it’s my mom – she’s the hardest working and most loyal person I know so this was a wonderful day.
May
May brought a lot of quality time with our boy (bike rides and dog parks) and our family (road trips and dinner). Busy season was slowing down and I finally had my weekends back – so we made sure to spend as much time outside as possible. We took the Hike & Bike Trail from our house to Target with our Gords in tow. He absolutely loved it.
We made a trip to Austin one weekend to celebrate Drew’s sister and her husband’s MBA graduation. He loved being with his fur-cousins and running around their backyard! We took him in a fabric carrier but forgot to zip the top…but look how happy he was!
June
I took my all-time favorite photo of Gordo this month! Drew and I got brunch at Snooze in the Galleria area and our little munchkin just happen to look up at the perfect time. I use this picture for everything – socks, profile pictures, stickers. This was really the first time of the year that I had time to spend with Gordo and Drew on the weekends because we had been traveling or I had been in busy season. It was great to explore our city and enjoy the (rare) good weather.
My honey turned 26. He is actually 6 months younger than me so I’m always happen when he catches up. This year we had a relaxing Friday night but celebrated with a dinner (where we ate an entire pig head – it was disgusting), an escape room, and a night in the town. Drew is the most special person in my life and I love nothing more than to shower him with love and beer (he actually loves flowers and chocolate too, so he has some fancy taste).
July
OUR BOY TURNED ONE! Adopting Gordo was one of the greatest joys of my life, even while being an annoying little rat dog sometimes. We will be the first to admit that we spoil him rotten and aren’t the best at discipline, but I believe he came into our lives during a time that we all needed it (the day after my mom was diagnosed). He brings so much joy to me, Drew and my family. He is our number one ride-or-die, is always in a great mood and just loves to play with anyone and anything around. I love that kid so much!
August
One of my favorite cities in Texas is San Antonio – it was one of the first cities I “vacationed” in and it has just been a go-to spot ever since. Drew and I spent a much-needed weekend at La Cantera Resort in San Antonio where we relaxed by the pool and ate and drank all day. This time we split our long-weekend between the resort and downtown San Antonio. We always stay at Home2 Suites in downtown and scooter our way around the city. This year we stopped by a haunted bar: the Menger Bar and saw old gun shots and an ax-ed bar top.
We always stop by the Pearl Brewery area and luckily visited on the same day as the Farmer’s Market where local artisans and vendors set-up a booth and sell their products/produce. We purchased some salsa and soap. This year we discovered my new favorite place: The BookCellar located in the basement of the San Antonio Public Library. You guys – they books ranging from FREE to $3. I think we spent about 3 hours in there browsing and purchased way too many books, but this will be a must-see every time we visit.
Drew had recently redone our backyard and we were showing it off to my parents! We spent a lot of time with my family this month and really, I just love them. As you can see, Gordo, yet again, poses for a picture when my mom is around. Like I said, he knows good people.
September
I took the month of September off to spend some time with my parents and help my mom rehab. During this time, I spent an afternoon with a friend and discovered my love for watercolor. It is something that I have always wanted to do but I never sat down to do it. With a little time during my time off, I decided to break out my watercolor set and it was a blast. Spoiler: I haven’t really done much since then, but now I know it’s a hobby I enjoy!
Ever since Harvey, I haven’t looked at rain the same. Any time it rains in Houston, I always think there is a chance of flooding. Last July 4th, it rained for 15 minutes and flooded some of the streets of Houston. This was the result of tropical storm Imelda. Drew and I rode our bikes around to see how significant the impact was. We had never seen the freeway like this or White Oak as high and flowing as we did that day (we weren’t in town during Harvey). We wish there was more that we could have done to help but thankfully the water levels went down over the next day.
I HAD LITERALLY BEEN WAITING 6 YEARS FOR THIS DAY. The Jonas Brothers Happiness Begins concert was probably my favorite concert of theirs to date. I waited in the ticket queue for probably 2 hours to get tickets for this tour and it was worth it. It was the perfect mix of oldies with their new songs mixed in. I was screaming the entire time!
October
In preparation for our annual Halloween party, we redid the entire backyard. This included a DIY wall garden! We saved the bed frame from our old bed and stained/painted it to match the outside of our house. It was the perfect size for this section of our backyard. We screwed it to the wall and modified these planters/pots we got from Ikea and online. Drew had to screw on metal hooks so they could hook to each beam of the frame to hang and supports for the longer planters. Once we had the layout complete, we de-potted the plants and assembled and this was our final product!
Drew’s favorite holiday is Halloween, so we host an annual Halloween party where we deck out the entire house (inside and out) with decor. For our haunted hallway this year, Drew and his friend built out a crypt, which included a crypt keeper and skull-lined coffin. The inside had lots of cobwebs, bats and pumpkins. We dressed up as Colonel Mustard, Miss Peacock and Wadsworth (lol). I have started to look forward to this time of year and seeing our house so festive!
November
There are a few things that I am obsessed with: Diet Coke, The Parent Trap and DISNEY WORLD! This year we spent a week in Orlando with Drew’s family spending time at Universal Studios and Disney World. I loved every second. Drew and I hadn’t been in six years so a lot of things have changed – Star Wars Land, Toy Story Land, Snow White! The weather was just perfect and we timed our fast passes just right. I could go back to Disney every year and be happy.
We also discovered this place called The Void at Disney Springs. It is a full-body virtual reality experience where you wear a computer on your back and have a VR headset on. We did the Star Wars themed one where you are a storm trooper trying to do something (I honestly wasn’t 100% sure what the goal was). What I will say is that it was such a cool experience and really well done! It took a minute to get trust the system, but it was super fun once you did!
We hosted our first Thanksgiving this year! It was a bittersweet day because we got to spend time with Drew’s family, but my family unfortunately was not able to come and instead my mom went to the hospital. However, Drew did an amazing job with the turkey and his mom was so kind and brought all of the sides. Overall it was a good day because we got to spend time with both of our families. Hopefully next year we will get to celebrate together with both families!
December
To be honest, December was mainly spent in the hospital. My mom was admitted on Thanksgiving Day and spent about two weeks there – she was actually discharged on my birthday!
For my birthday, I wanted to do something different – so we painted Gordo! I found this class a few months back but wasn’t able to go so I figured my birthday was the perfect occasion. It ended up being a “private” class with just the two of us, so we got one-on-one instruction with our instructor, Carl. We sent in two photos of Gordo prior to the class and he had pre-sketched them onto our canvases. All we had to do was paint! He was super talented and a great teacher – check out his site!
We spent Christmas Eve with my family and spent Christmas Day with Drew’s family. My uncle (my mom’s brother) flew into Houston from China on Christmas Eve so it was a wonderful Christmas gift this season. On Christmas Day, Drew and I drove to his parents house with our boy and spent the afternoon opening gifts and eating delicious food his mom made. My favorite gift was my Couples Adventure Book and instant camera!
On New Year’s Eve, we had dinner with some friends and got to catch up with them before going to the hospital for our countdown celebration. My sister got beds, hats, and sparkling grape juice (our fave) and we celebrated the new year! We actually weren’t supposed to be at the hospital past 10pm but they were nice and let us stay until 11pm to ring in the new year (on New York time).
Drew and I went home and celebrated the new year with our favorite fur baby and a countdown on TV. We had some black eyed peas to start the year with some good luck!
Overall, this year has been a whirlwind but I’m happy to say it included a lot of family time and I am extremely thankful for that. I am hoping that 2020 will bring health, healing and a lot more adventure and fun in my life.
Goodbye 2019 – you taught me a lot, but I’m moving on to 2020!
