a 2013 Recap

(Why is blogger changing the color of my image?!  I've uploaded this image, in varying forms, multiple times.  It should be white.  I finally got fed up, yelled a big eff you blogger, and just left it this way.)

And now I'm too frustrated to write a proper introduction so how about I just jump right into my we recap the year of 2013 in blogland?  I figured this would also be good because I have a few new friends reading my blog and in my last recap was done in very poor blogger fashion with zero links or photos.  You know, all the things that make a post interesting.

I will be completely honest is telling you that I thought 2013 was going to be a crappy year.  It started out that way so why I think anything differently?  First of all, it started with an injured dog and a huge vet bill to accompany it.  In addition to that, I started the year out sick.  Hooray for 2013!

But the end of the month started looking up for as Nick finished Primary and we attended his platform selection where we found out his fate (complete with a cute video) in the aviation community (hence the "rotor blades" part of my blog title.)

In February, I found out if I ever wanted to stow away in Nick's seabag, it was possible.  I dealt with another impending diagnosis anniversary date and ended up having a good day and added another wonderful Valentine's Day celebration to the books.

Sadly things took a huge downward spiral as I encountered my very first cancer scare since being in remission.  I realized the hardest part of everything isn't anything pertaining to yourself, but instead, to you family.  It was a difficult time and my poor brain was all over the place.
Thankfully I had Nick's birthday to focus on and the start of his helo training and the next phase of our military life.

My health issues continued into March, unfortunately as I underwent some testing to get answers.

But again, there were some good things to happen to take my mind off the fears.  For instance, I got a new job and  we celebrated Easter.  I also finally wrote out why I blog and wrote one of my more popular posts about not being an asshole and thinking before you speak.

April started out wonderfully as I learned it was all, in fact, a cancer scare and I was still cancer free.  Nick got to take his first solo in his helicopter and I attended another Relay for Life in Pensacola Beach.  My crazy honey badger celebrated her 2nd birthday and I share my thoughts on whiny babies on social media who are just unhappy with their lives.  I also tried out a couch cleaning method that just so happens to be my most popular post thanks to Pinterest.

It seems to be a pattern of partially good months and partially shitty months.  May started out as great as it could because family came to visit us!!!  My dear sweet husband also celebrated MSAD and Mother's Day with me.  I also got to do some DIY and help throw a beautiful bridal shower for my dear friend.  Sadly, the month ended horribly as my Grandfather was diagnosed with cancer and it quickly turned into the hardest thing I'd ever have to deal with.

At the beginning of June, I traveled home to be by Grandpa's side during his surgery.  (During this time my best friend also showed me why she is more than a best friend.)  I had to say goodbye to Grandpa and head back to my home in Florida.  We were cancer buddies and it was hard to not be there with him.  I didn't mention it in the blog because we were keeping things private but it was now that we learned the severity of his cancer.  It was this surgery that the surgeon told us, worst case scenario, we'd have Grandpa another one to two years.  However,  by mid-month he was doing great and we were confident he would win his battle.

Thankfully upon returning to Florida, I had my anniversary to look forward to even though the real celebration had to be postponed.  But I recapped my 2nd year of marriage and page views suggest that was popular for some reason.  We ended the month with a trip to Meridian, Mississippi to see one of our best friends, our little brother (from another motha, obviously) be winged!

This was  MUCH better month!!!  Mom came to visit (woman is seriously my best friend) and later that month, Nick's family visited (which ended with my first ever allergic reaction).  The highlight of the month was when Nicholas and I finally got to celebrate our anniversary...in the most magical place on earth!!!  I was no longer a Disney Park virgin!!!

And although they aren't talked about too much on the blog, the doggies were still doing well and we actually enrolled them in more training.
July had one tiny hiccup as Grandpa started treatment and experienced a few complications but I was looking forward to seeing him the following month.
We ended the month with one of our favorite things, the St. Louis Cardinals!  We took a quick trip to Atlanta where we watched them take on the Braves.

This was by far the worst month of my year.  Actually, the worst month of my life.  It didn't start out too badly as I underwent another endoscopy, but that all came back clear and good bill of health!  I recapped my trip home to St. Louis, which had some fun parts to it.

Sadly though, the anticipation of Grandpa receiving his gift from us never happened because everything took a huge downward spiral as Grandpa got sick, ended up in the hospital and passed away.  It was the hardest thing I have ever experience and now, 5 months later, I'm still struggling.  His wake and funeral were like an out of body experience and I didn't truly believe it was happening.
I took the longest and saddest plane ride of my life back to Florida but was able to put a smile on my face and feel the most pride I have ever felt in my life as I witnessed my amazing husband accomplish his dreams.  Only our wedding day can compete with the joy I felt as I pinned those wings onto his uniform.  The month ended with us officially getting our orders to report to our next home.

The month started out with some nostalgia as we had our two year anniversary of living our first real home as a married couple.  The home we were just weeks away from leaving.  We packed up our life and moved to Jacksonville (after house hunting for a week and putting in an offer, which I didn't talk about on the blog just yet because I didn't want to jinx our contract).  After moving in with friends, I went to stay with my sister while Nick was at SERE and I talked about what I learned while living in Pensacola.  I also poured my heart out about my thoughts on missing my Grandpa.

This was a good month.  It started out with what every blogger has, an obligatory post about how fall is now upon on.  We spent half the month living with friends and I talked about why being homeless suck but on October 17th we finally closed on our beautiful home and officially became homeowners.  A few nosy people questioned why we bought and I shared those reasons, which has prompted so many of my friends to begin looking into buying as well!  Hooray for homeownership and being a good influence!  We bought the girls Halloween costumes and tortured them for some photos and of course made them wear them on Halloween as we handed out candy.  I joined my first blog link-up and wrote about all the things I will do someday.  Ironically, the second and third to last things have been done!!!  Pat on the back for Melanie!  And because I loved that first link-up so much, I participated in another Halloween related one about all my sins.

I started the month out promising you all a home tour.  I provided you one of my beautiful kitchen but sadly, I failed and that's the only one I've given you since!  But along the lines of a new home, our dogs got to see how awesome their new neighborhood was when they hosted a doggie swimming party for them!  The biggest highlight of the month was landing a dream job and then buying a new car!  And just like every November, we celebrated my remission anniversary (what we cancer survivors call a Lifeaversary) and my 29th birthday ... twice!!  We ended the month with a short but sweet trip back to St. Louis for Thanksgiving.

And now we're recapping current events.  At the beginning of the month, I blogged about Nick finally beginning training on his new helicopter (and I ended up lying in that post).  I wrote two blog posts that were pretty much just getting to know me and one was done in a fun fashion.

Pretty much every other post was about my meth-like  addition to Christmas.  We put up the tree, celebrated St. Nick Day, baked cookies, built a gingerbread village, went on a Christmas sunset sail, and didn't send out Christmas cards. I also had two dog posts in one month!  Of course one revolved around my honey badger dog and the other was about how impossible photos with them are.  Of course, this blog wouldn't be a true representation of a human being if I didn't dig inside my mind and heart and write something raw and not all sunshine and rainbows.  Which is when this post happened.  Of course I didn't stay down as I recapped our visit at home for the holidays, gave you a glimpse into our Christmas celebrations, and blogged about our own Obie little Christmas back here in Florida.