2018 Year in Review

Happy New Year!! 2018 – my year of fun things close to home
(mostly). Below are things I did in 2018. Photos! Happy New Year and may we all have great adventures in 2019.

I wrote a book!
Many people say they will write a book or they wish they could write a book, but few complete the task. I am proud to say that my co-author and I completed the first novel in our Fantasy series!

Running
Well, walking mostly. My husband, Scott, and I participated in quite a few races this year (he runs). I worked on getting my epic speed-walk pace up and even got to a point where I was able to jog some miles in the 5ks I did. I improved my time throughout the year. I did the virtual Save the Manatee Run with my sister, then Scott and I did the Indy 500 Festival 5k (where Tony Dungy was behind me at the start), Purple Stride Pancreatic Cancer 5k, Carmel 5k, Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 5k, Columbus Mill Race 5k, and the Indianapolis Monumental 5k. The Great Pumpkin Run in the fall was probably my favorite. We each got a small pumpkin to take home, running in the fields was rather fun and scenic, and we got Apple Cider when we crossed the finish line. I took that race easier as I had learned I was a few weeks pregnant!

Family (and friends)
My family now lives closer to me so I was able to visit and do lots of things with them. My grandma spent most of the summer up from Florida with us as well. My sister and her husband visited us as well. I hosted a tea party at my house with my friends and family gals in the spring. Other things I did: Kings Island, Brown County in the fall, Indiana State Fair, the Indy Children’s Museum, tea party for my birthday at Occasions, Mounds State Park, Indy Zoo, Apple Works Orchard with my grandma, and Scott and I tried out St. Elmo’s Steak House for the first time. Check out my fun times in the images below.

DragonCon
As usual, I went to DragonCon again with my friend Erin. This time I went to the Atlanta Botanical Garden and checked out their very neat display of Once Upon a Time (storybook and fantasy plant/flower sculptures). At DragonCon I dressed up as Ellie Sattler from Jurassic Park, got my photo taken with actor Henry Cusick (Desmond Hume in LOST) and Lou Diamond Phillips (among others, Henry Standing Bear in Longmire).

Gardening
Oh how I love plants! I planted a lot of spring bulbs and bulbs for the summer and got to see them come up this year. My favorites were hyacinth in the spring, dahlias and gladiolus in the summer. We also put up my 2017 Christmas present of a garden arch. I can’t wait to see my climbing rose grow up it this year. I set up my new bird bath that my husband got me for our anniversary. And, I built a flower bed in the front of our house for 5 new rose bushes. I tried to grow herbs and salsa ingredients indoors this spring to then plant outside but I failed. I should have made less seeds per starter pot and transferred the growing plants sooner. I’ll try again this year!

House and Life
I convinced my husband to get rid of our old Monte Carlo and get an SUV. It was a great purchase and is coming in handy so far this winter. We painted our dining room a sunset orange. Our anniversary consistent of a stay-cation where we ate at the Old Spaghetti Factory, had a picnic and walk in a park, and we played video games. For my birthday Scott and I went to glow-in-the-dark mini golf and an arcade; we also went to Ikea because Top Golf was so busy. I volunteered at the IWL Women’s Leadership Conference. I got a fancy chaise lounge like I’ve always wanted for my book loft. Our air conditioner broke so we got a new one. My dad helped us install new handles for our kitchen! And…. we announced my pregnancy (due in May 2019!).

Christmas Fun
We did a lot of fun things leading up to Christmas. We cut our own live Christmas tree (well, my dad cut it for us but we did the rest!), saw the lights at the Indy Zoo, and drove through a large light display in Frankfort.