Near the end of
2013, I received an email from someone with the subject line, “What a Year!” in
reference to some things that had gone on in my life. The phrase has stuck in my mind, as it really
was quite a year for me. I’m still new
to blogging and I’m still trying to give you a full picture of what my life
looks like. I figure what better way
than to re-cap the top 13 things of 2013
in my life. So, here goes…
1. Milestone
Birthdays
There are pros
and cons to marrying someone ten years older.
The fact that your milestone birthdays fall in the same year could
probably be considered both. Even though
you’re both a little sad about getting older, at least you have each
other! And from my perspective, 30
sounded pretty manageable since I was busy planning Brent’s 40th. Thanks to awesome celebrations with our
amazing friends and family, our milestone birthdays were definitely high points
and not low points of 2013.
2. Viva
Las Vegas (again)
We kicked off
2013 travel with our third trip to Las Vegas over spring break. We had originally visited Vegas about three
years before, and I’ll admit I was skeptical about the destination at
first. However, we’ve loved it every
time, which is what keeps us going back.
I highly recommend it if you haven’t been – there’s something for
everyone and it is what you make it.
3. NB
and TOY (if you aren’t a teacher, read on to see what that means)
In the midst of
turning 30 and going to Vegas for spring break, I was slaving away trying to
achieve National Board certification for teaching. This was the most challenging task I’ve
conquered since college, and I spent more than one night crying over my laptop
telling Brent that I’d made a mistake in starting the process. However, thanks to support from the
wonderful people in my life, including a fabulous student teacher who filled my
teacher shoes for six weeks, I got it done and submitted by May 31st.
But this really was an “event” of 2013,
because the scores didn’t come back until November! I was so excited and surprised that I
achieved certification on first try. Only
two weeks after finding out, I received another surprise in the professional
realm. One day while I was teaching, my
principal and assistant principal showed up at the door with flowers, a
balloon, and an announcement that I had been voted Teacher of the Year for my
school. My students screamed and jumped
up and down like Ed McMahon was at the door.
Their reaction was the best, but the feeling of knowing my colleagues
recognize and appreciate what I at least try to do well everyday was also
pretty good.
4. Lake White
A couple of years
ago, my parents bought a house at White Lake, a vacation destination from my
childhood. We’ve enjoyed some fun times
there the past few summers, and this summer was no exception. We also just recently discovered that the
only nearby town, Elizabethtown, has some fun shopping. This just might help the place live up to the
name that Donnay and I have given it: Lake White. We decided that fancier, nicer lakes have the
word “Lake” first, so we’d call it that.
This has caused plenty of laughs, but in all seriousness, I’d call the
clear waters and warm temperatures of White Lake pretty nice any day. (Especially today as I’m dreaming of summer
in these frigid temperatures!)
5. Everybody
Down in Houston Calls Him Texas…
This spring, I
got hooked on country newcomer Jana Kramer’s CD, which I’d highly recommend if
you’re a country music dork like me I
have every song memorized. I burned
copies of the CD for a few people close to me because I felt like I needed to
spread the love, and because I needed people to sing “Whiskey” with me at the
top of our lungs, before it hit the radio.
As luck would have it, Jana opened for Darius Rucker in May in Greensboro. Donnay got online and got us 4th
row tickets as soon as they went on sale and it shaped up to be a night to
remember for sure!
6. All Things Ashe County
The past few
years, Brent and I have been spending more and more time with our friends, Jeff
and Janice. While we’d love them even
without any added benefits, they have a cabin in West Jefferson that they
frequent on weekends. We love spending
time there with them when we can, and in the process we’ve learned to love and
appreciate all things Ashe County. We’re
hooked on the cheese, the restaurants, the people, the relaxation, the scenery,
and we’ve put numerous miles on our kayaks on the New River. My mountain boy at heart husband has been
trying to grow my enthusiasm for the mountains for years, and I think he’s
finally lucked up thanks to Jeff and Janice.
7.
A Random Road Trip
There really are
good things about getting older, and one of those is you get to be friends with
people that you used to babysit. Donnay and I have a joke with our friend Katie
that we used to be her “baby-sitters” because she once referred to us as that,
but really we were so much more. When
she was little, she was our pretend little sister, but it never really felt all
that fake and it still doesn’t. I hadn’t
had a chance to go to the beach with Katie in the past 10 years or so, so I
jumped at the chance for a quick road trip to join her, her grandma and her
aunt (whom I also love) at the beach for a couple of days. It was a lot different than it was more than
a decade ago – more sunbathing and less building sand castles, but it was a
2013 memory that I definitely look back on and smile.
8. Speak
Up, Step Up, Stand Up
Every year, I
plan my summers around two church events: Caswell and Vacation Bible
School. While the teacher in me loves
VBS, I must say that Caswell gets me even more excited. I’m probably a little off balance to get
excited about taking 15 or so teenagers to camp for a week each summer, but
what can I say? It’s a great location
and a really great group of teens. And
God always has a message for me as well.
This year’s theme was “Speak Up, Step Up, Stand Up” and it was so
encouraging to be there with our youth group while they took in this message
and to watch have watched them live it out upon our return.
9. Getting
to Florida with a little Floo Powder…
Ever since
Universal Studios opened the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I’ve been trying
to talk Brent into going. We went to
Disneyworld right after we got married and he hated it, so it hasn’t been an
easy sell. However, Donnay and Brendan
love Harry Potter even more than I do so once it became three against one,
Brent eventually gave in. We visited
Universal in August and had an awesome time!
Even Brent liked it and has agreed another trip is in our future.
10. My First Roller Coaster
You’d think this
one would go with the previous paragraph, but I avoided anything considered a
roller coaster at Universal, in true Deana style. I hate heights and I’m not a big fan of high
speed, so I’m usually the one holding everyone else’s sunglasses and waiting on
a bench. However, my friend Lisa and her
family had season passes to Carowinds this summer, so I planned a couple of day
trips with them, mostly for the company of her awesome kids, Tommy and Lanie. It turns out there is a roller coaster I can
conquer! Sweet Lanie held my hand the
whole way and taught me to love the ole Goldrusher. Brent laughed when I told him I was proud I
rode it, if that tells you anything. But
for me and Lanie, it was a big deal, and not a moment I’ll soon forget.
11.
Niagara Falls
I won’t belabor
this point since I’ve already written a whole post on it, but I couldn’t leave
Niagara Falls off my Top 13 of 2013. As
I’ve said, this destination exceeded my expectations and needs to earn a place
on everyone’s bucket list!
12.
It All Happened in the Country
While I already
bragged about my youth group previously in this post, I have to also give a
shout out to the kids at my church, who also add so much light to my life. In December, along with the help of some
other awesome ladies, we put on a full-length play at church for
Christmas. While I’m not so great at
Christmas festivities, I do love to direct a bunch of kids and teens, and while
the practices weren’t seamless, the kids and youth took the play very seriously
and did an AMAZING job! I was so proud
of them and this play is definitely something I’ll look back on when I think of
the highlights of 2013.
(*and I typed up
the entire script and lyrics on PowerPoint, so if you ever do this play at your
church, let me know…I’ll be glad to share!)
13.
Only Let Us Live
Last but not
least, 2013 will go down as the year I started blogging. I mulled over this idea for much of the year,
but once I decided to start, I wanted to go all in. It’s been a little scary but very gratifying,
being as honest as I’ve ever been publicly about where I am personally and
spiritually. I hope to increase the reach,
the topics covered, and the frequency of posts throughout 2014 and I hope you
will continue with me on the journey.
As we start a new
year, I thank Him for all He allowed me to experience during the previous year
and encourage us all to remember: only let us live up to what we have already
attained!
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