2016: A Year in Review

I’m not gonna lie, as I reflect on this year I can’t help but feel relieved it’s about to be over. While many good things happened, a lot of crappy things happened, especially towards the end of the year. Here’s a look back on my 2016.

January

• Rang in the new year with my friends at our annual New Year’s Eve Party.
  
• Started the January Cure but never finished it
• Went to the spa and got a facial
• Saw Star Wars: The Force Awakens again, this time with Dani and my mom.
• Got acute Achilles Tendinitis
• Decided to start trying out Stick Fix to help make my wardrobe a little more stylish
• My brother in-law Bobby was sworn in as a Sheriff of El Dorado County
• Saw The Hateful Eight.
• Microsoft FINALLY killed Internet Explorer!
• Joshua and I saw Chris Hogan’s Retire Inspired Live event up in Roseville. We went with Joshua’s dad and stepmom, and it was a lot of fun!
  
• Had our 2016 Vision Presentation and Lunch with Three29. It was like a year in review and what we could expect for the upcoming year.
• On Joshua’s birthday weekend, we had joint celebrations with our family and friends. On his actual birthday we went to Cattlemen’s for dinner with his parents and my parents, and the next day we had a brunch at BJ’s with Dani and our friends. As fun as it all was, my cold was in full swing those two days, so I spent the weekend in bed and literally only came out for those two meals.
• Started a challenge this year to read a book a month/12 books in a year. First book I read was A Patient’s Guide to PCOS.

February

• My birthday weekend started on Friday the 5th where Joshua and I went out of town for one night. We stayed at the Jack London Lodge; it was part of a groupon gift we got from Joshua’s brother for Christmas. We came home on Saturday and then later in the evening we went to Melting Pot for my birthday dinner. We would have gone on my actual birthday, but this year my birthday fell on Superbowl Sunday so Melting Pot was closed.
  
• On my actual birthday, I went to LowBrau with Joshua, Dani, and my mom followed by seeing Disney’s The Little Mermaid musical.
  
• Upgraded to a new MacBook Pro and got a cute BB-8 decal to go with it.
  
• Started teaching Dave Ramsey’s FPU again
• Read Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable…about Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business

March

• Mr. Big was featured in a Huffington Post article
• Saw Deadpool L
• Got both Joshua and my brother-in-law Cedar to attend their very first yoga class!
  
• Joshua and I took a small road trip to Oregon so I could attend Maxine’s baby shower! I also got to visit with my friend Debbie while there too.
  
  
• Started taking Metformin to help with the insulin resistance portion of my PCOS. By the end of 2016 I lost 20lbs.
• Saw My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2.
• Hosted Easter Dinner at my house for my family.
  
• Got hit with a 24hr stomach flu that both Joshua and Dani had before me.
• Read PCOS for Dummies. By far the most informative book I’ve read on PCOS so far.

April

• April Fools’ Day – The first appearance of an ongoing prank throughout the year known as The Wise Guy.
  
• Went to Brittany’s bridal shower!
  
• Started the One Room Challenge and began work on turning our backyard shed into a She Shed.
  
• Saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and loved it despite all the haters.
• Celebrated my grandpa’s 98th birthday. Didn’t think we’d make it to this point given how his health was going down hill badly at the beginning of the year.
  
• Took my brother-in-law Cedar to Studio Movie Grill for his birthday to see The Jungle Book.
• Read Fifty Shades of Grey.

May

• At work, we finally moved into our new office!
• Attended Brittany and Paul’s wedding!
  
• Celebrated Danielle and Adam’s graduation from University of Nevada, Reno!
  
• Saw Captain America: Civil War
• Saw The Huntsman: Winter’s War
• Read Fifty Shades Darker

June

• Saw X-Men: Apocalypse
• Took a Gut Health and Fermented Foods class at my local yoga studio. Very informative!
• Saw Me Before You at Studio Movie Grill.
• Took Renee to the El Dorado County Fair.
  
• Celebrated my one year anniversary at Three29.
  
• Started watching Outlander and became HOOKED!
• The site I designed for OBO’ launched!
  

• Saw Independence Day: Resurgence and was very disappointed.
• Visited our relatives in Tahoe
  
• Read Fifty Shades Freed

July

• Got to see Hello, Dolly! at Music Circus.
  
• Went on the Mercedes-Benz First Sunday Drive in which we FINALLY got to take my car!
  
• Celebrated the 4th of July at the lake with Joshua’s family where I went kayaking for the very first time.
• Went bowling for the very first time with my Three29 crew for our End-of-the-Quarter event.
• My very first app that I designed launched in the App Store.
  
• Celebrated my niecey-poo’s 7th birthday
  
• Saw The Legend of Tarzan, my favorite film of the year.
• Saw Star Trek Beyond
• Saw Ghosbusters
• Became super obsessed with Philips Hue lights.
  
• Read Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian

August

• Mourned the loss of Kenny Baker, the actor who brought R2-D2 to life.
  
• Saw the movie Suicide Squad
• Celebrated Danielle’s Bridal Shower at Annabelle’s Chocolate Lounge!
  
• Applied and was accepted to be a speaker at WordCamp
• Forced myself to learn Git and GitHub. We started a challenge at work where we’d commit everyday, and the first person to forget would buy the rest of us lunch. We lasted a month and half.
• Read Eat Pretty: Nutrition for Beauty, Inside and Out

September

• Launched The Lovely Geek!
  
• Celebrated 4 years in our home.
• I finally reached the stage in my life where I needed glasses. I got my first pair mid-September.
  
• Started Dave Ramsey FPU again.
• Attended two baby showers in one day. One was for my former project manager, Jillian, and the other was for my sister-in-law, Olivia.
  
  
• Mr. Big turned 3!
  
• I reread Fifty Shades Darker after the movie trailer for it came out. So stoked!
• Started reading Outlander but didn’t finish it due to being in the middle of rewatching the show with Joshua.

October

• My brother-in-law Ricky passed away.
• Joshua, Dani, and I had the honor of being in the bridal party for Danielle and Adam’s wedding. Dani was Maid of Honor, I was a bridesmaid, and Joshua was a groomsman.
  
• On October 12 I took a pregnancy test and found out I was pregnant.
  
• I hosted a bridal shower for my sister-in-law, Serena.
  
• I got to meet one of my idols, Rachel Cruze. She was doing a book signing at the Barnes & Nobles down the street from my office to promote her new book, Love Your Life, Not Theirs: 7 Money Habits for Living the Life You Want. Not only did I get to meet her and have my book signed, but I also won the raffle and got her new wallet.
  
• Not only did I attend WordCamp with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law (and my colleagues from Three29), but this year I was a speaker!
  
• My brother-in-law Bobby made a career switch and was sworn in as a Sheriff of Sacramento County. I was fortunate enough to attend this swearing in ceremony on my lunch break.
  
• I went to TopGolf with my Three29 crew as part of our End-of-the-Quarter event.
  
• Attended my brother-in-law Ricky’s funeral.
• I dressed up as Mary Poppins for Halloween!
  
• Read Slide: ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations to prep for my WordCamp talk.

November

• I started to participate in NaBloPoMo where I blogged (almost) everyday for an entire month. I would have been successful, but when I had my miscarriage I took a break from blogging for a little while.
• Saw the movie Doctor Strange on opening night in Downtown Disney.
• Joshua and I celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary in Disneyland. On our actual anniversary was when I told Joshua that I was pregnant.
  
• On Election Day I had to report for jury duty. Luckily I didn’t have to serve thanks to the fact I was leaving for Seattle the next day. But the fact I had to watch Trump get elected president ruined my whole day.
• Celebrated my sister-in-law’s marriage up in Seattle. Had a great time with family since we also took the opportunity to do a mini family vacation.
  
• I had my first ultrasound.
  
• We had a major power outage thanks to a transformer box blowing up in our backyard.
• Newlyweds Danielle and Adam hosted their very first Friendsgiving in their new apartment.
  
• I took a hand lettering class with Dani and Jackie at Paper Source. Dani has gotten into hand lettering big time, and I’ve been wanting to get into it for awhile, so it was a great opportunity to get started.
• I had a miscarriage. By far the worst thing to happen to me all year.
  
• I spent Thanksgiving by going to my in-laws house in the afternoon followed by dinner at my parents house. As you can imagine it was very low-key for me. I spent most of my time working on my blog post discussing what happened.
• I got really excited about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life because I was one of many that was disappointed in how the series ended. As happy as I was to see the Stars Hollow gang back in action, my reaction to the whole thing was: THAT’S IT? I really hope we get more than that because that wrap-up was almost as unsatisfying as the season 7 ending itself.

December

• Saw Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them. Absolutely loved it and I’m excited for the next several movies!
• Had our 2016 Holiday Party for Three29. We got a private screening of Rogue One followed by a delicious dinner at Sutter Street Steakhouse.
  
• Celebrated Dani’s 24th birthday. We took her out to Korean BBQ on her actual birthday, has a joint dinner with her and her best friend Danielle the following Saturday, and Sunday night was a delicious steak dinner with family.
  
• Spent my last Christmas in Placerville with one set of in-laws, and I hosted Christmas at my house for my family.
  
• Mourned the loss of Carrie Fisher. By far the most devastating celebrity death to me this year.
• Finally started reading Love Your Life, Not Theirs: 7 Money Habits for Living the Life You Want. Didn’t finish it time for the end of the year. For my book challenge I ended up reading 9 out of 12 books. Not bad, but definitely want to improve for next year!