Remember how I do that November blog thing? The one where I attempt to write a blog post every day for a whole month? And remember how I realized that it wasn’t feasible so I decided to write just one per week? No? Well I don’t blame you, because it’s November 1, 2018 and the last time I wrote a blog post was November 7, 2017.
Woof.
So let’s try, try again and kick this month off with a year in review (and then attempt to write at least 4 more this month…and then more blogs than just in November…maybe)…anyway… Tally ho!
November 2017
I failed my #NaBloPoMo challenge (I blame Hannah). My parents and sister came to New 
England for Thanksgiving and my birthday, and I was soooo sick that I was miserable the whole time (no really, I almost passed out while making a pumpkin pie). But all in all, the month was filledwith a bunch of beer and good cheer.
December 2017
I spent my first official Christmas with Robert, the kiddos, and Robert’s mom. On Christmas. Around a tree. With a ridiculous amount of gifts. We laughed and snuggled and watched movies before the kids went off to their mom’s. Oh yeah, and Rob and I sat 
just behind court-side for the Boston Celtics Christmas game courtesy of Rob’s boss at the time. Followed up with a quick trip to Portland, Maine in FREEZING temps and a great NYE playing True American. 2017 was such a dumpster fire, that when December turned out so many lovely things, it was easy to look happily into the coming of 2018 without resentment.
January 2018
I didn’t go home to Minnesota for Christmas, but there was no way I was going to 
miss Mr. Caleb’s baptism! A quick weekend trip to NoDak was just what I needed in the midst of missing all of my loved ones through the holidays.
February 2018
February brought a Pats loss for the Super Bowl, but it also brought an English surprise when Benjamin came to visit without my knowledge and appear in a random restaurant. Hilarity and spontaneous decisions ensued.
March 2018
It was a good thing that I filed my taxes early because the radiator blew on my beloved Subaru and resulted in me getting a new car much earlier than anticipated. Farewell Carlisle and helloooooooo Edna!
April 2018
Twenty-five years is a loooooong time for two people to be married, and we all celebrated my parents’ wedding anniversary in Vegas (did y’all know that there’s an entire mall made out of shipping containers guarded by a giant metal praying mantis? Because I sure didn’t…).
May 2018
In the spirit of “why can’t I have nice things?”, my brand new car (no, seriously, I had 
only put 750 miles on it in the first two months of having it) was rear-ended on my way back to campus from Robert’s house one morning during rush hour. And thus, Edna was forced to have some plastic surgery to fix the damage.
Beyond car shenanigans, I also experienced my last group of RAs graduating before I took some big steps in my personal life. After three years of working with them, I thought that I would be excited to see them off into the world. And honestly, though I was excited, it was so tough to see the young people who I had watched grow as leaders take their final walks across campus. I’m so proud of them!
June 2018
On June 15th, Robert and I officially moved into our new apartment together in Providence! After what felt like months of searching for the perfect place to live, we 
found a HUGE 3 bedroom apartment for next to nothing in the Armory District. I’ve loved every minute of our time in our space so far.
Oh, yeah. And I quit my job. Without a plan. And lived off of my savings and the love from Robert for a while. I played a lot of video games (if you haven’t played Mario Odyssey on the Switch, I highly recommend it!), applied for a bunch of jobs, and played the house wife all summer long. Such an adventure that I never thought I’d take, but boy, I can tell you that if you have the ability to take a sabbatical, DO IT.
July 2018
Shortly after parting ways from my old job, the McFamBam took a vacation to Minnesota for some family camping fun over the 4th of July. Though it wasn’t the kids’ first time on an airplane, they definitely were not feeling the long flights to and from Minnesota (2.5 hours is a long time, okay?!) This vacation left everyone asking when we got to hang out by the lake again next.
August 2018
After almost two whole months of not having a job, I finally landed an awesome position with the Office of Residence Life at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). When I tell you that I’m obsessed with the work I do and the students who I get to work with, it’s probably more of an understatement. This institution is a breath of fresh air from where I was and I get free reign to work on a lot of different projects. I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store for me here!
September 2018
After months and months and months of planning, Robert, Chad, Amber, and myself took
a much-needed vacation to Europe. Meeting up with Benjamin again in England, making our way through Amsterdam with some of the tastiest baked goods I’ve ever had, and ending our adventure in Munich where I drank so much beer that I couldn’t take a sip of alcohol for almost 3 weeks after we got home. I was exhausted by the time we got home, but I’m so pleased with the experience.
October 2018
And finally, October. This was a month where we had the kids three weekends in a row, with a full week in the middle and all it felt like we did was eat, sleep, and go to soccer practice. I think all four of us grew as humans during these three weeks of closeness and it makes me even more in love with being a step-mom than I had ever been before.
And there you have it folx: A whole year in review! It was so weird thinking about what the major things that happened in my life were for each month, because it simultaneously felt like they happened only yesterday and 20 years ago. Hmm…Why does that happen, anyway? Eh…who cares.
Anyway, my goal for this NaBloPoMo is to write at least 4 more posts after things. Hannah, as usual, is coming in clutch with ideas for what I should write about this month, and maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally create a habit of blogging that doesn’t involve one post every year (one can only hope).
So until next week..?
cheers.
as told by melynda 