It is hard to even know where to begin when I think of summarizing the year that was 2017. It feels like everything I ever wanted to happen happened this year. One of my favorite authors has a practice she does every year called “Begin as You Mean to Go On.” All this means is that you set aside a small amount of time on January 1st to do something you want to do more of in the new year. She lists cleaning, learning a new language, and writing as examples. I am not 100% sure yet what mine will be, because I have a few different things in mind that I really want to make priorities going forward. I thought one way of helping me decide what is most important to me is going back through the year and looking at the things that made me happy and decide what I really want to spend my time on in 2018.
We really started the year off with a bang. January was full of SO much joy and excitement.
The night before my wedding, January 14, 2017, my amazing friends and bridesmaids threw me the greatest bachelorette party/lingerie shower. Seriously, it was the most fun I have had in a long time. We had the best snacks, the best wine, and because it was at the Tutwiler Hotel, I got to sleep in the most comfortable bed.
As amazing as this day was, I don’t think anything can ever top January 15, 2017. I got to marry my best friend at the most beautiful venue in strangely warm weather.
Our wedding was seriously everything I ever dreamed of. It was the most fun I have ever had, with so many people we love and who love us. Jocelyn got her own cake (my friend Lauren is just the most amazing pastry chef and she made all of my cake dreams come true). Our favorite restaurant catered. We had wine and beer. We danced the night away. I honestly wish I could relive this day again and again because it all went by so fast!
The next morning we slept in and headed back to our apartment where my family met us and made us a huge breakfast before we said goodbye and hit the road to New Orleans, LA for our honeymoon.
We listened to a lot of Linkin Park and Hamilton on the drive. And we just kept looking down at our newly ringed fingers in awe.
We stayed at the Ace Hotel and we had such a great time that we extended our trip by 2 days. Our honeymoon was mostly about food, honestly. We had muffulettas at Central Grocery, beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe du Monde, an amazing dinner and drinks at la petite grocery, and of course I had to have a Hand Grenade on Bourbon Street.
It was kind of hard to come back to Birmingham and real life after being treated like royalty and having access to all that food and history. BUT we did it. I came back and changed my last name and the year went on, full speed ahead!
February was full of stuff as well. For Valentine’s Day, Brandon and I went crazy in Fleming’s thanks to our friends giving us gift cards for our wedding! I got the big girl glass of rosé, of course. Jocelyn also attended (and we forcefully volunteered) at her LAST Winter Festival at Shades Cahaba Elementary.
Jackie, Eden, and Desmond joined us. Which made this year’s festival a lot more fun.
We also had brunch at Roots and Revelry (girl only!). Those mimosas were so good.
March was particularly exciting because my best friend welcomed her third baby girl, Murphey into the world. She is such a precious angel and every time I get to see her she is smiling!
Joss got to hold her and not too long after, she found out her dad and his girlfriend were having a baby too!
In April we got to celebrate my cousin Cameron and his wife Amber and their soon-to-be-born little baby Jewel. My aunt Jeri threw an amazing shower for them and I honestly had no idea how much I would end up loving this little baby.
We also got to celebrate Easter with a lot of my extended family at my mom and dad’s house. Which meant I ate A LOT of deviled eggs. I also wore a tank top in public, which I hadn’t done in a while, due to body insecurities.
The Crones of Dunshire (our male Crone, Brandon, taking the picture) competed in Parks and Rec trivia at the Homewood Public Library. We definitely did not win, but I think we had the best team name and costumes, and we had a lot of fun. We even made waffles!
In May, I got to see one of my favorite bands play the entirety of my favorite album by them in Atlanta. Coheed and Cambria are even better live, and this was one of the greatest shows I have ever been to. We also got to attend Jocelyn’s first dance recital at the Alabama Theatre where she performed a ballet and a modern dance number. She did great, but she wanted to take a break from dance this season. I also got to celebrate a fantastic Mother’s Day with my little family. Hard to believe I have been someone’s mommy for 8 years now.
We also bought a big yellow house! Our first home and we love it. We are slowly renovating one thing at a time. It is a lot of work, but I absolutely love it. We love our neighborhood and we really love Jocelyn’s school. We also welcomed two baby girls into our family, both cousins, Jewel and Tara!
We celebrated what an amazing stepdad Brandon is and bought him a new 4k television just in time for our move! We also got to see my sweet new cousin Jewel! June and July were just a whirlwind of painting and packing and unpacking and work and just trying to make sure we took advantage of every single weekend we had to get our new house ready.
At the end of July I got to throw the coolest space themed baby shower for Stephanie and sweet baby Ronan! This was so much fun and everyone did such a great job. He got so much amazing stuff and a TON of books for his new library!
My sweet girl turned EIGHT years old on August 5, and we celebrated with a Pusheen themed birthday pool party! My aunt Jeri did another amazing cake for Joss. She is so loved and we had so much fun partying.
Jocelyn also started 3rd grade at her brand new school. I was definitely more worried than she was. I hate learning new rules and have anxiety about things like how carline works and establishing a new morning routine. All in all, everything has been great. Her school is amazing. Her teacher is basically Ms. Honey from Matilda. She is so, so happy here.
The world also got to meet Mr. Ronan on the very last day of August. I try and go see him as much as I can. He is so precious and I already love him so much.
We also found out some pretty big news towards the end of the month
WE ARE HAVING A BABY! I found out SO early on in my pregnancy. I was so afraid it wasn’t going to stick. I had to try really hard not to tell EVERYONE because I wanted to make sure I at least saw my doctor first. I also found out days before I was supposed to leave for Washington and California on a birthday trip to see my sister. I definitely had a lot of first trimester symptoms, but nothing compared to the exhaustion. It was so hard to keep living life normally.
On September 13, 2017 I had birthday dinner with some of my best friends at Chuy’s and got WAY too full considering I still had to come home and pack for my 6 am flight to Seattle, Washington.
My sister and I met at the Seattle airport, having arrived 30 minutes apart. We picked up our rental car and explored Seattle a little bit. We ate amazing food in Pike Place and ended it with some delicious french desserts.
After that, we drove to Anacortes where we checked into our Airbnb and settled in. Washington was so beautiful and the food was so good. So was the coffee and the book stores. I had a lot of fun, but I was so exhausted that I stayed behind while my sister rode the ferry to whale watch.
We saw Mt. Erie, Deception Pass, amazing beaches, terrifying bridges, the ocean, and beautiful lakes. I even wore a hat!
The weather was perfect and I could definitely live there. Alas, we left Washington after a few days and flew to my sister’s in southern California. We didn’t do too much, as I was not feeling very well. But we definitely ate In n Out, because what is a trip to California without animal fries!? We also went to the LA Museum of Natural History, which happened to be free that day!
As soon as I got back to Alabama I finally saw my doctor! We had an ultrasound and she said my due date was April 28, 2018. So I decided to wait until I was closer to the second trimester to tell everyone, just to be safe.
That was harder than I thought it would be. I was showing WAY earlier with this pregnancy and I was also SUPER sick. I had to sit through hot soccer games on Saturday mornings and try and make it to work without puking on myself. It was rough.
BUT I made it to October 3, 2017 and I decided I was ready to tell.
It felt so good to share our joy with everyone! People have been so kind and genuinely excited for us. Jocelyn is probably the most excited, as she has been begging me for a sibling for like 5 years now.
October also brought Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone live with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, which was so amazing. I liked it even more than I thought I would (I also had to represent Ravenclaw, duh)! We also went trick or treating on Halloween with Jocelyn and her best friend Kansas. She was a unicorn and now she wants long blonde hair.
November is one of my favorite months. It has Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday, and it was also the month of my grandmother’s birthday. This November, we got another baby cousin, Cash. He is the only boy being born amongst all these girls!
I also really love Thanksgiving because we get to see our whole humongous family. It is so nice to just eat and catch up with everyone before things gets too crazy at Christmas.
At the beginning of November, my sweet friend Jessica threw us a gender reveal party where tons of our friends and family came to find out with us!
We are having a GIRL! Clara Eleanor Barrow will hopefully be with us at the end of April!
December has been a crazy, busy month. We celebrated Brandon’s 27th birthday! We got a Nintendo Switch. Baby Mia was born and Jocelyn became a big sister! We got to see the new Star Wars movie, thanks to Brandon’s work, on premiere night. I also celebrated Friendsmas at my home.
We also had our first snow and our first Christmas in our new home! It was so beautiful and the roads were still drivable!
Jaciene’s parents were visiting from Korea and her mom made us a huge Korean feast. I ate so much bulgogi I don’t know how I fit in my car.
I also entered my sixth month of pregnancy and we got to see baby Clara at our anatomy ultrasound. We received a lot of amazing baby items for Christmas from our families and now it is really starting to seem real.
2017 has been such an amazing year for me and my family. These were just SOME of the amazing things I saw and did and experienced. It is hard to dwell on the bad when there is so much good happening.
2018 is bringing with it a lot of change. A new season of life. One I am very excited for. I have so many goals and ideas, and I almost feel overwhelmed with where to start.
I know one thing I will be beginning as I mean to go on, and that is to write the best thing about each day. Every day. One small thing or huge thing. It doesn’t matter. So long as I take the time each day/night to scribble in one of my 300 journals something positive that I experienced each day. I may occasionally also write about it in here, but I can’t make any promises about consistency.
I am going to finish sipping my grape juice and go to sleep now. Tomorrow we get a whole new year!
try one, try two 