Becky

My Year in Review: 2018

Boy am I glad I ended up blogging consistently again this year. I was a little more active in 2016 but fell off in 2017. I didn’t mean to really blog a lot this year, but it just sort of happened, and I enjoyed having an outlet where I can share my thoughts and what’s going on in my life. And I got to meet some great new people this year!

January

I think January felt like it was three months long. I think that’s what happens when it’s dark and cold for 31 days. This was my first post of the year, and it’s about how someone I knew from college followed me on Instagram out of the blue. Other than that, not much was going on in my life. I was ~three months or so into looking for and applying for new jobs. So I came into the year unsure about a lot of things in my life.

I did finish the story I was working on. Those characters are still special to me, and I hope one day to give them a sequel.

February

Another dreary month. I discovered my love for the podcast “Brunch” and blogged a lot about sports.

My Valentine was purr-fect.

March + April

Another boring couple of months. I promise my year got more exciting. I was looking forward to spring training and opening day. And I got roped into fantasy baseball.

May

I officially got my master’s degree! I finished the online program in December 2017 but walked at graduation in May of this year.

I was the last person to graduate because of how the programs were organized and my last name. But I was excited that it was officially official, and I hoped having it would help me with the job search. Yeah, that was still going on, and I had a few prospects, but neither of them worked out at that time.

My dad and I started our brewery tour for his birthday, with our first stop at Thomas Hooker Brewery in Bloomfield, CT.

I also turned 24! We didn’t do much for my birthday—which I share with my mom. Since it always falls around Memorial Day, I make a five day weekend out of it and spent time outside reading.

June

This month was just running and scooping at the ice cream shop. I think this is when I started working more there during the week, which quickly escalated into 20-25 hours there a week.

My mom and I visited her best friend who fosters kittens. She is who we got our cat, Stella, from. She had a few litters of kittens over the summer, and we went over her house to see a few.

My dad and I hit our second brewery of the tour: Connecticut Valley Brewing in South Windsor, CT.

July

I went to my first Hartford Yard Goats game of the season! I went with my parents and one of my mom’s good friends. The Yard Goats played the Portland Sea Dogs, the double AA affiliate of the Red Sox. I knew of two of the Sea Dog players—Tate Matheny and Nick Lovullo—because I know who their fathers are: former St. Louis Cardinals manager/current Kansas City Royals special adviser for player development Mike Matheny and Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.

The Yard Goats won 5-0, and there were fireworks after the game. And, of course, I avoided the mascots at all cost.

My dad and I finished up our brewery tour at Powder Hollow Brewery in Enfield, CT.

I went blueberry picking for the first time, and it’s as tedious as you think it is. We ended up with about ten pounds of blueberries, which were yummy and great for me to bring to work as a snack.

I ran my first 5k in the middle of the month. Since you’ve all heard about it a million times by now, I’ll just link you over to the post.

I went to my second Yard Goats game of the season with two of the girls from the ice cream shop—Jill and Meg—and Jill’s boyfriend. It was all of their first times going to the park, and I was excited to get to go back. We grabbed dinner at City Steam Brewery in Hartford and avoided the spot thunderstorms that were sweeping through the city.

The Yard Goats were playing the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. And guess who I got to see play?!

Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Cavan Biggio.

I was way more excited than I should have been.

The Yard Goats lost 3-1, and it was Whaler’s Alumni Weekend at the park.
The Whalers were before my time, but they’re still a big thing in the state. The Yard Goats’ colors are the same as the Whaler’s to honor the team, and the players wore jerseys that looked like hockey jerseys. 

August

I went to the movies for the first time in like three years to see Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again with my mom and her best friend. I had gone with them to see the first one when it came out ten years ago.

It was really good and would recommend watching if you’re looking for an up-beat musical. (But don’t get me started on Pierce Brosnan…)

I caught up with a friend from college, Ben, during our yearly meet-up, which happens whenever I realize, “hey I haven’t seen Ben in a year” and then I text him and tell him that.

We met at the bar across from where we went to school (aka where I work now). There’s a little pizza place that’s connected to the bar that makes specialty pizzas and have them by the slice. I always get the french fry pizza: it’s french fries, cheese, ranch dressing, and bacon.

I went to Boston for a marketing conference for work and realized that I need to get out to Boston more. Or just explore more of New England. Plus we were right next to The Lawn on D.

We also celebrated Stella’s first birthday, and I was sidelined from running for a few weeks because of an old ankle sprain. Oh, and I got roped into fantasy football.

September

I ran my second 5k race at 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Yeah, I’m just as surprised as you.

I also went on my first and only date of the year. It didn’t end up working out because he realized he was busy and I basically had to ask him what was going on after he ghosted me to get any kind of answer. I wrote a post earlier in the year about dating and another about dating apps. I just don’t think it’s worth my time. I don’t want to spend time on someone who’s just going to stop talking to me or it won’t work out. (And I get the whole “You need to take the chance” thing but I really don’t want to waste my time. Because I always regret it in the end.)

In the middle of the month, I applied for a job at my old university and within two weeks had a job offer to which I asked my now-boss, “Are you serious?” (Thankfully he laughed, and I don’t think he thinks I’m crazy.) I put in my two weeks notice at my old job the last week of September and was set to start my new job October 15.

My parents and I went apple picking, and this time it wasn’t 80 degrees out like it was last year. That was weirdly uncomfortable.

October

I went with my mom to get pumpkins and mums for the fall, and I also answered some questions from you guys in a Q+A!

I dragged my co-worker/friend Kristen—the one who runs the 5k races with me—with me to Connecticut Valley Brewing since they released an apple ale, and it was really good. I’ve had some of their other fruity beers before and liked them. It was pretty packed on the Friday night we went, and there was live music and a food truck, too.

I left my first real job on October 11, after two years there. I came into Red Sox balloons, gifts and a card, brownies, and an iced pumpkin chai latte from Starbucks. Kristen organized everything, and after work, we all went out to a local pizza place as the last hurrah.

I’m so excited to be back at my old university and working there. It feels like I never left, and I wasn’t nervous to start because I was already very familiar with the campus and its culture and knew a lot of people on campus.

I have my own office, I can run the track in the field house after I’m done for the day, and I get to go to events and take pictures for social media. My first weekend there was homecoming, which maybe was a little fitting for me.

Kristen and I went to a local winery, because I made her go with me to CT Valley. We went to Brignole Vineyards in Easy Granby, CT. We did a tasting before each getting a glass of their pumpkin spice sangria.

THE RED SOX WON THE WORLD SERIES. THAT’S LITERALLY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY YEAR.

November

Most of the month was spent adjusting to my new job, which included celebrating first-generation students and participating in the Festival of Trees. I also did NaNoWriMo, writing about 27,000 words.

OH and I finished watching The Blacklist on Netflix. Best thing I did all year. (Still really mad I Googled something about the show and then found out a spoiler to season five. I won’t let myself live that one down.)

December

I participated in all of the fun seasonal festivities, including getting our Christmas tree, decorating my office, rekindling my love/hate relationship with Hallmark movies, and complaining about how much I hate wrapping.

Dogs came to campus! One of the student organizations brings therapy dogs to campus before finals. My boss and I went to take some pictures and of course get to pet some dogs.

The event is always a big hit with the students, and the dogs are so calm. There were a few Golden Retrievers, a few mixed Doodles, two Greyhounds, and more, with about ten or so dogs in total.

I just really like how festive my office looked with the Christmas lights, okay? Some days I would sit with the big light off and just the Christmas lights on.

So that’s my 2018 in a nutshell. Or rather a really long blog post. The beginning was gloomy and I didn’t really feel like myself, and my year definitely got better. I got out more, went more places, and did more things. The job search was what wore me down the most this year, as it took me just about one year from when I started last fall and 50 applications to find a new job. It definitely took time, and I think the universe was waiting for the right opportunity for me.

I checked out my blog stats for the year, and I had 153 posts and wrote 76,661 words with an average of 500 words per post. I’m happy with how my year ended, and I’m looking forward to 2019! I’ll have a resolutions post out on New Year’s Eve.

What was one of the best things that happened to you this year? What’s one place you went that you really enjoyed? How did your year start vs. how it ended?

15 comments

  1. Becky!!! You had such a jam packed fun year. You inspire me to get out and do more. I feel like I typically only “do stuff” while I’m on vacation, but I need to fit more into the regular old days that fill up the year.
    “I went to the movies for the first time in like three years.” –> This blew my mind. I come from a family and married a guy who love movies. We go to the movies all the time (well not much anymore, because I have to pee every ten minutes XD), but I can’t even fathom people who just don’t go to the movies. I’m glad you had a good experience though! More movies to come in 2019??
    I’m also so so so so so happy that you found a job that you like! I remember wanting to come hug you and tell you you would find something eventually. Sometimes I contemplate quitting my job and then remember how much I hate job searching lol so I commend you for sticking it out and landing something awesome!!

    Let’s see… best thing that happened to me this year: Baby Hazel for sure!!!! She will be the best thing for this year and next year! The place I went that I really enjoyed has got to be Portland, Oregon AND the Golden Gate Bridge. Hmm… my year started pretty basically… I was all gung-ho to better myself and challenge myself and then was hit with something I never saw coming that basically destroyed me for a few months… then I found out I was pregnant and all has been bliss ever since! Definitely looking forward to 2019!

    I can’t wait to read your goals for the new year! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • As I worked on the post, I didn’t realize that I actually really did a lot this year, especially over the summer. Yeah, I’ve never been much of a movie goer. We used to go a little bit more when I was younger, but now I just wait until something is available on Netflix. Maybe I’ll go to one next year; I’ll have to see what’s coming out.

      Awh I appreciate that ❤ It was a very long journey, and I don't think everyone experiences the same thing I did but probably something similar. It takes time but it's also sort of soul crushing. I'm extremely happy I ended up where I did, and it was worth the wait. If you ever start looking for a new job and need moral support, let me know!

      I love following along on your journey and I'm going to be so excited for you when she's born. I think you'll make a great mom. I enjoyed reading all of your travel posts and hopefully you can go explore more after Hazel is here.

      Happy (early) New Year and I can't wait for our planned and unexpected adventures 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

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      • Crazy that you mention traveling with Hazel… we are already planning our epic road trip for 2019 and she’s involved!! Traveling with a baby will be more challenging than we are used to, but we figure we have to introduce her to it young lol. We vowed not to let our children make it so that we can’t do anything (that sounds super selfish, but hopefully you get my drift), instead we hope to include them – especially when it comes to travel!

        Saaaame! Happy New Year right back at you (because I can’t remember if I already wished it to you!).

        Liked by 1 person

      • Oh wow! That seems like it’ll be challenging but I think if you’re well planned and also know that something unexpected will probably come along, you should be fine. And you’ll have to find baby-friendly things to do haha. That’s great that you want to travel with your children; I do think starting them young will help, although they probably won’t remember much when they’re so young.

        I don’t know if you did either but it’s fine! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    • Roped? C’mon man! I’m hurt too. LOL

      A great year. I enjoyed reading your posts. I’m gonna have to look up my writing stats too. Thanks for posting yours. Now I have something to compare and contrast with.

      As for me, I can say we have some similarities this year Becky. I too was able to celebrate the Red Sox. As you know, the highlight of my year was probably seeing Fenway Park in July. We went to a fantastic game with beautiful weather. We saw Boston, Toronto, Niagara Falls, the Northeast, and Cooperstown. I might have to say my best moment was the Baseball Hall of Fame. Either that or Fenway. Tough call. I guess I’ll call it a tie.

      Vlad Jr. is the bomb! I can’t wait to see him on the Blue Jays next year.

      Thanks for the summary.

      Reid

      Liked by 1 person

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      • I’m just frustrated with how my seasons ended for both baseball and football. Hopefully I’ll have better luck next year.

        Yeah, I had just sort of stumbled upon the stats and I thought they were interesting. It’ll be good to have an idea for next year because I’m going to keep up blogging more than I did in past years.

        Sounds like you had a good year too! I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame when I was in 8th grade, after the Sox won the 2007 World Series, which was cool because they had a lot of stuff from the game. I’d like to go back soon, since I haven’t been there in over 10 years. I’m glad you enjoyed Fenway! It’s definitely a unique experience.

        Happy (early) 2019!

        Liked by 1 person

      • The Hall is the best. Since you’re pretty close, you should go again, especially now that the Red Sox won again. Summer was a great time but there are too many Little Leaguers and their families in town in the Summer. You might consider an “off” time of year like now or Spring before the Little Leagues start up again. I could spend hours in that Hall browsing at awesome stuff. They have a new video that you didn’t see 10 years ago. It’s worth it. Plus the Shop! Dude! I spent so much cash in there it was outrageous.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Yeah, we went during the summer and I remember there were a lot of Little Leaguers. So maybe in the spring or fall would be better. I’ll see if I can find friends that’ll go with me, maybe in 2019!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. This is such a fun recap of the year, I love it! Also I’ve been living in Boston for over 3 years and I still haven’t gotten those pictures at the lawn on D so I’m super jealous you’ve got me beat there.

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