Year in Review

To 2012... 
     So long, farewell, auf Weidersehen, goodbye...

Overall, it was a pretty stellar year in Kayla-land. 

• I celebrated by 25th birthday. Yes, I am a baby. 
• I started a new job. I didn't switch companies, I didn't even really switch departments. I just got a title change, a raise, and moved up the stairs in the same building.
• I went to Italy. I visited Rome, Florence, Bologna, and Venice. (I also spent 7 hours on a cold tile floor in Madrid.) But anyway, visiting Europe = success. (Read about the trip here and here.)
• We drove to Nebraska on a whim. We made the decision at 9pm, took 30 minutes to pack, and walked out the door. We spent the next day at the Omaha Zoo. It was the best spontaneous road trip ever. (Read about it here!) 
• Draco turned two. And yes, I am crazy enough to include my dog's birthday on the list of important events of the year. 
• We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. 
• We moved out of our apartment and started renting a house. We'll probably move again in 2013. 
• We became Sporting Kansas City season ticket holders. And we won the US Open Cup. That is a big effing deal. 
• The US Men's National Team came to Kansas City. We sat in the front row, right at midfield and watched them practice, and then watched them beat Guatemala in a World Cup Qualifier. 
• My department at work went through a huge restructure. I moved back downstairs and had to learn a lot more new stuff and have more responsibility. 
• There was an election and the results in several states made me very happy. (And no, I'd rather not elaborate.) 
• We went to the Wizard World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios, Orlando. 
• We started to get more serious about our financial goals. 

There were some sad moments, too. We lost our friend, Shawn, entirely too young. He passed away in January - his last Facebook post was about what he would wear to my line-dancing birthday party that weekend. We also lost another friend in October, our friend Julian. We had met both of them through work several years ago, and it was a rough year for the company (husband still works there, I do not). 

We also struggled with the husband's maternal grandparents being very ill and his paternal grandfather fighting cancer. But all three of them are still here, and we are incredibly blessed to have had this year to share with them. 

So, while 2012 was not without heartbreak, there were so many positive things that happened to us this year - and we're excited for what 2013 has in store. 

Next up: A 2013 preview!