"The Year Consumed by College"
Wow, this year was certainly a busy one! From school to work to vacations to fun activities...I feel like I was always up to something exciting! I am so thankful for all of my friends and family, and all the fun experiences I was able to have because of them. There were new faces met and friendships that grew closer. I am very thankful for all the goodness God has brought me this year. The amount of adventures I went on, even despite my busy schedule, was in a large abundance. I am so humbled by His generosity and love. So, now I think I shall reflect on this past year and list some of the highlights. :)
Highlights
- On New Year's Day, Allie and I braved the blizzard and went bowling at the Brunswick Zone.
- My friend Nick worked his last day at Kohl's.
- We went to the Hawks game in celebration of my mom's 45th birthday!
- For my 19th birthday my family took me to see Frozen in theaters! I loved it even more than I imagined I would. I then spent the remainder of my birthday weekend watching more Disney movies than I dreamed possible. ;)
- I watched Tangled for the first time EVER!! :)
- My cousin Jill took me to see Justin Timberlake preform at the United Center!!
- Mitch turned 14!
- I was Employee of the Month at Kohl's. :)
- Jax's team got first place in his basketball league!
- Sookie turned 4!
- Mom and I became addicted to Game of Thrones and binged all the seasons in about a month.
- Jackson turned 12!
- I celebrated Easter with my wonderful family, as always.
- I joined some friends from work for Amarius's birthday dinner.
- Kohl's had several power outages while I was working.
- My spring semester finished, thus concluding my very first year at college. :)
- Mitch graduated 8th grade!
- I foolishly started working the truck at Kohl's, having to arrive to work by 5AM each day...
- I headed up to Wisconsin with a friend where I enjoyed four wheeling, fishing, jet skiing, and plenty of relaxation.
- I chipped my tailbone while running the Foam Fest 5K...it turned out to be one of the worst pains I've probably ever had.
- Some friends and I went and saw How To Train Your Dragon 2.
- My dad met Patrick Sharp! He got my t-shirt jersey signed for me. :)
- Jax's travel baseball team placed second overall for the season.
- I meet Adrianna on the Fourth of July. :) Our families had a blast watching Lemont's fireworks and playing Mario Kart all evening.
- My family headed to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, both for vacation and for Jax's baseball tournament. I completely loved getting to help coach the boys and spending so much quality time with all my favorite kiddos! In addition, I enjoyed a bunch of time at the beach swimming and hanging out with friends. (I also somehow managed to break my nose while on the trip.)
- On the way home, my family stopped in Tennessee for a few more days of vacation. We enjoyed going to several museums and lots of hiking!
- I headed to Wisconsin for one last vacation, this time for our annual family trip to White Lake.
- Adrianna and I hosted a baseball game with all the players and siblings of the Lemont Lightning baseball team. I was captain of the Majestic Unicorns while Adrianna was captain of the African Hippos.
- I attended Lollapalooza for the first time with Zack and his friend Nick. I got to see one of my all-time favorite artists, Eminem, preform.
- School started back up for the fall and I was happily reunited with my best friend Michael! :D
- I participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise awareness (and also donated $30 to the ALS Association).
- Zack turned 16!
- The Majestic Unicorns faced off against the African Hippos again—this time in a soccer match.
- My parents surprised me with a brand new car! I immeidately fell in love with my new 2014 1LT Chevy Malibu...aka "Elijah". ;)
- I headed to Soldier Field with my parents, Patty and Scott, and Erica to see Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, and Cole Swindell preform.
- Mike brought his Mustang to school and we went crusin' between classes.
- I took Mitch, Jax, David, and Erica for a movie night at Seven Bridges to see The Maze Runner.
- I attempted to unmask the "Water Bottle Thief" at Kohl's...and failed...repeatedly.
- Adrianna and I took some of the kiddos to Six Flags for Fright Fest.
- I convinced Michael to watch Rise Of The Guardians became he reminded me of Jack Frost. ;)
- Michael and I climbed the HEC building at school one night after our night class.
- Dad turned 45!
- I dressed up as the cutest scarecrow you've ever seen for Halloween.
- The Yackley-Shroyer wedding! I had a blast with family celebrating my cousin Raymond's new marriage! :)
- Mike's nephew, Peter Emile Marsceau, was born.
- I worked a twelve hour shift on Thanksgiving/Black Friday.
- Mike and I went on our very first (unofficial) date together: ice skating at Seven Bridges Ice Arena!
- Stormy turned 12!
- Mike and I celebrated school being done for the fall by going on our first "official" date at the Morton Arboretum to see their Illumination lights display. :)
- Michael, Adrianna, her friend Luke, and I headed to a Hawks game!
- I enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family—I got to spend a bunch of one-on-one time with my favorite baby cousin Aria.
- After opening presents with the family in the morning, my mom's side of the family came over to our house for Christmas!
- Mike came as my date to Adrianna's Christmas party. ;)
- The Multack's plus Kevin came over to celebrate the new year with my family!
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Unfortunately I didn't do a very good job of keeping track the books I read this year. So, here's the ones I did remember to journal. I got to enjoy several great YA books this year! I really loved getting to go to Barnes & Noble so often to pick out new books. :) I still have a bunch to read sitting on my shelf at home! Hopefully 2015 will provide for more time to cozy up with some good novels.
- Sky On Fire - Emmy Laybourne
- Insurgent - Veronica Roth
- Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
- Fire & Flood - Victoria Scott
- Allegiant - Veronica Roth
I watched a bunch of Disney (and otherwise "kiddie") movies this year! I can't believe how badly I slacked off...I missed seeing so many cute ones! Tangled is officially my all-time favorite Disney movie now. I cannot believe I missed out on seeing that one back when it was in theaters last November! Anyways, I'm not going to list every movie I watched this year; instead I'll just list all the ones I saw in theaters.
- Frozen
- The Lego Movie
- The Wind Rises
- 300: Rise Of An Empire
- Need For Speed
- Divergent
- Neighbors
- How To Train Your Dragon 2
- Transformers: Age Of Extinction
- Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes
- The Maze Runner
- Big Hero 6
- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
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You guys should definitely add me on Facebook so we can share photos and give "likes" and all that good stuff. ;) Oh! And I'm also on Instagram now, too! My friend Taryn convinced me to create an account over the summer right before we headed to South Carolina and I'm really enjoying posting photos there now too! If you wouldn't mind, give me a follow—you'll be granted with the gift to see all my daily weirdness up close and personal. ;)
