Monday, December 31, 2012

Top 12 Moments of 2012

Well here we are on the final day of the year!  Can you believe it?  No?  Me neither!  I thought I'd close out the year by reviewing some of the best moments of 2012!  So without further ado, here they are in no particular order!

12.  Finding out my dad was cancer free.  Finding out that my dad's blood work came back showing now traces of cancer was the best gift I could have gotten this year.  I know prostate cancer is very treatable, but I was still a nervous nelly about his prognosis!

11.  My Chicago trip.  A weekend full of good friends, good conversations, lots of laughs, good eats, and sight seeing in one of my favorite cities was just what I needed to start my year off on the right foot!



10.  Julia Child Night!  I love this annual tradition and can't wait to see what we come up with for our 5th annual Julia Child Night next fall!!


9.  4th of July at the lake.  I was able to see most of my dad's side of the family at the lake over the 4th.  There were almost 40 of us in attendance (I think), and we had so much fun catching up and lounging in the lake!




8.  Attending Amber's Wedding.  I had so much fun checking out yet another beautiful area of British Columbia!  And it was so great to spend so much time with Amber, Kelly, and Anais (and their significant others)!


7.  Attending Nora's Wedding.  I also had a great trip to St. Louis for Nora's wedding in October and besides spending lots of quality time with Nora, I got to see Becky, Mandy, Alli, and Nilsa!



6.  Visiting my best friend Heidi in Austin.  Fortunately I was able to turn a work trip to Texas into a fun trip to visit my friend Heidi in Austin.  I did not take many great pictures that weekend, but her husband did snap this great photo of Heidi, her daughter Elle, and I!  I love that we are all wearing stripes (although you can't really tell that I am...).



5.  Running a strong marathon.  While I did not quite hit my sub-4 hour goal for my marathon, I am still really proud of my time and I had a really great time checking out the city of Des Moines that weekend!

4.  Exploring San Francisco with my co-worker and Kyria!  I was also fortunate to do some sightseeing in San Francisco while on a work trip!  I traveled really well with the co-worker that I traveled out there with, and I had a blast with Kyria on the tail end of that trip!




3.  Passing a licensing exam for work.  I found out in the fall that I had to take yet another licensing exam for work and had a hard time preparing for it amidst all the travel I was doing for work, so it was a HUG relief when I passed with flying colors!

2.  Meeting my boyfriend.  I am so glad I said yes when my friend suggested that I meet her co-worker.  I think we are a great match and he makes me very happy!  And I know many of you have anxiously been waiting for a photo, so here is one from his Christmas party earlier this month!  I always think he looks handsome, but he looks especially good in a suit!


1.  Passing Level II of the CFA.  Although these moments are not listed in any particular order, this was certainly one of the biggest moments of 2012 for me.  It was such a huge relief as I was quite stressed that I would not pass despite putting so much time, effort, and tears into the studying.  But phew - I passed!

Whew!  When I list it all out like that, it was quite the exciting year for me!  What were some of your best moments of 2012?  Any exciting New Years plans?  We'll be celebrating at the house of my boyfriend's college friends, which will be fun as I think we will be playing games (I am a huge fan of games!).

I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year!  I'll be back later this week with a book review and my monthly recap, and next week I'll be sharing my goals for 2013!

31 comments:

abbi said...

What a wonderful 2012! Hope you have a wonderful 2013 and can squeeze in plenty of fun between all of your work and career obligations!

Kelly said...

Yay that is such a great photo of you two! So glad you said yes and that you two met! You definitely had an exciting year! You also saw a lot of bloggers this year haha. I'm so glad I got to officially meet you in 2012 and hopefully 2013 brings us some hang out time as well!

Erin said...

Looks like a pretty good year, Lis!!! :) I hope 2013 is THE year we finally get to meet up :) Love the pic of you Phil! Hope you have a sweeet New Year's kiss tonight!!!!

Stephany said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Stephany said...

Oh, my goodness, that is such a great photo of you two! He's a cutie! I am so thrilled for you. :)

You have had an exceptional year and I can only hope 2013 brings you as much success and happiness as 2012 did.

Cheers!

Unknown said...

Happy New Year, my dear! I love this post. Enjoy your New Year's Eve!!!! We are going to Kent's and Margie's.

A said...

What a great year! I'm so glad I got to meet you! I can't wait to see all the awesome things you do in 2013. That's a great picture of you two, by the way :) Happy New Year!

Marlys said...

Great year and so much to be thankful for! Great picture of you and Phil! We look forward to meeting him in 2013! Have a great New Years! Love you!

Caroline said...

Such a big year! I love reading these posts :) Have a great NYE! Games sound so fun. I'll be in NYC

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

You had such a great year!! I love the picture of Phil, you both make such an attractive couple!!
Have a great night tonight - games are always a safe bet for a good time!
Happy New Year Lisa!!!

Raquelita said...

I especially love 12, 2, and 1 for you, but I'm so glad that you had such a great 2012, Lisa! Happy New Year!

Cherry Blossoms said...

Great roundup and I am so happy that you are ending 2012 on a blissful note. Chris and I are so happy for you. Hopefully, I will be able to meet Mr. Romeo this spring/ summer.
Miss you!

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Wow! What a year! My boyfriend and I are cracking open a bottle of really expensive wine, cooking a sea food feast and hanging out at home together. We might venture out to a movie since the theatre should be pretty dead, but we might not. Depends how much of that wine we drink!

Carolina John said...

That's a big year! I would totally crumble if I had to tackle any singular event on that list. CFA II, boyfriend, no way. All of that travel? I'd be lucky to get one of those cities/trips in. You had a great year, and i can't wait to see what 2013 will hold.

Lauren @ Sassy Molassy said...

You had a very busy, fabulous year, Lisa! I still am bummed when I see the pics of Amber's wedding. It just looked so gorgeous and fun, but I know it wasn't the right time to try to swing that trip. Anyway, hope your 2013 is even better! So glad you met your boyfriend!

Charis Faith said...

YAY for the boyfriend pic!!!!
What a year you have had!!! Thank you so much for sharing your journey!!! Here is to an amazing 2013!!!! HUGS!!!!

Allison said...

Such a great list! Happy New Year!

Elizabeth said...

What great things and I'm not surprised to see many of those wonderful moments on the list! Big Amen about your Dad---can imagine that's a HUGE weight off your shoulders and here's hoping he continues to stay in remission. Looks like a wonderful and busy year! Happy New Year and here's to what I know will be another great year ahead for you!

Shoshanah said...

You did so much traveling in 2012, both for work and pleasure! I may be a little jealous of that, and hope to travel more in 2013. And I love the photo of the two of you together!

For us, I have to say the highlight of 2012 was getting married. :)

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

Love the photo of you and the man! We traveled down to our friends house and had fun while our kids played together and then stayed up far tooooo late playing phase 10 and eating yummy snacks!

Lisa-Marie said...

The lovely thing is what this list says about you - you love your family, you like new experiences, you work hard, you take chances, and you appreciate the results. You are pretty ace, Lisa D. I hope your 2013 is amazing. :)

Leigh said...

You had some amazing experiences in 2012! Love the photo of you and the boyfriend. You guys are cute together :) Hope you had a great NYE!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

I love this post and am so glad that I got to be a part of your top 12! I love that photo of you and your boyfriend; you guys both look great all spiffed up! You really had a great year full of friends and family! Here's to another in 2013!!

missris said...

You guys are so super cute together! Here's to a great 2013!!

Alli said...

So glad that you had so many great moments in 2012. And yes the bf does look very handsome in that picture!

Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks said...

I love how this post sums you up brilliantly: family, friends, the lake house, travel, running, your career and your boyfriend!!

Melissa said...

It has been such an amazing year for you... Such a great picture of you and the boyfriend! I'm seriously so happy for you. You guys look REALLY great together :)

Becky said...

I'm super behind on your posts - I love all these moments for you! Can't believe it's been almost a year since Chicago!

Amber said...

What a great year for you!!! And that is such an awesome picture of you and P! Hope 2013 is equally as amazing :)

Linda said...

Love this post, especially no. 1! I also remember when you blogged about Julia Child night! LOVE.

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