a year in review

Last night I had the wonderful pleasure of meeting up with a dear college friend who was passing through DC on her way to spend the summer in Maine. It is so wonderful to live in an area where friends have reason to drive through (on their way to New York, Philadelphia, Boston, etc.) and that is exciting enough to be a great destination on its own.

The best part of being with Lara is that we catch up over several months, yet it seems like no time has passed when we visit. We probably only talk to each other once every 3 months or so, but when we do finally get a hold of each other, we will chat for hours. Lara made it to our wedding all the way from Florida. She was a lovely program attendant along with my high school best friend Lindsey, but before that I hadn't seen her in over two years.

Her visit had me thinking about everything that had happened in my life in the past year and it's really been an eventful one. So, I wanted to do a year in review:

Graduated with masters in clarinet from IU.
Sold everything I owned that wouldn't fit in my car.
Moved across the country to be with sweetheart.
Totally freaked out about student loans.
Got a crappy job at Starbucks.
Quit crappy job at Starbucks.
Enjoyed living in the greater DC area.
Met new friends in the military bands.
Got engaged!
Saw best friend from high school Lindsey get married.
Landed a job teaching elementary school band.
Planned a wedding.
Spent lots of time on Skype with family and friends.
Had anxiety dreams about paying for wedding.
Missed Pat while he went away on tour for a month...and I planned a wedding...
Forged wonderful, lasting friendships with middle-aged band teachers.
Got married!
Learned how to snow ski.
Took my first professional audition.
Had anxiety dreams about the clarinet and recitals.
Took on a second job as a nanny.
Bought a new (to us) car!
Decided to seriously save for a house.
Moved to a cheaper apartment.
Bought a big TV.
Joined Fairfax Wind Symphony.
Started a clarinet choir.
Conducted or assisted with 9 elementary concerts.
Attended the AF Band's clarinet symposium.
Swam in Smith Mountain Lake.
[Pretty much] finished my first year teaching.

A busy year, a happy year, and a very tiring year. And now, hello summer!