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!