2012 {The Best Year Yet!}

2012 was the most exciting, different, crazy, indescribable year of my life. I had the opportunity to travel to new places and experience so many new things! I started the year in Orlando finishing out a work contract. To kick off the year my sister came to visit me and we went to see Miranda Lambert.

And while my parents visited we went to Animal Kingdom with our sweet niece

Keith and I also took a mini-vacation to Naples to visit his family. We swam in January even though it was cold!

 

In February we started a contract in CT that allowed Keith and I to travel all over New England. One of our first trips was to Mystic, CT and we ate at Mystic Pizza. (Fun fact, I didn’t even know that there was a Julia Roberts movie called Mystic Pizza that was filmed there until we went!)

We waited all February for a snow day and finally had one. We were in the middle of a work day, but we went to the park across the street on out lunch break.

Got the chance to work with friends and eat at amazing places

My sister came to visit us in CT too, we had lunch at a fun little boathouse

Had a nephew born in March!

We went to NYC twice. Once by ourselves in March and again in April when my mom and sister came to visit. When my family was is town we made a stop in Coney Island so everyone (except me!) could get a famous hot dog.

Tried the Cupcakes at Magnolia Bakery (twice) and Sprinkles (once.) Neither compared to the Cupcakes at Bliss Cupcakery back home!

Lunch at my favorite place to get pizza in Little Italy

Saw the WTC Memorial

Stopped in Time Square

Tried the whispering corner in Grand Central Station (It works, and we thought it was amazing)

Visited Top of the Rock (Way better than Empire State Building!)

Conquered the Subway (No, really! I can navigate like a boss!) Also visited Central Park & The Central Park Zoo 🙂

We went to Nashville unexpectedly in March for a funeral. While we were there we went to the Grand Old Opry and loved it so much we went back the next night. We saw Brad Paisley, Allison Krauss, Gloriana, Keith Urban and Luke Bryan.

One of the craziest things we did this year was take a trip to Cancun in April. The only reason it was crazy is because we were only there for 23 hours. We had plenty of airline points so we hopped on a plane and stayed one night at the Ritz. It was beautiful! We just relaxed on the beach, got a mini-tan and flew back so we could work the next day!

Keith came home with an interesting tan line on his arm 🙂

We also went to Boston twice. Once by ourselves in April and the second time in June when my parents came to visit. Our favorite place in Boston to grab a bite was Legal Harborside. Keith and dad loved the “lobstah”

My mom’s birthday happened to fall when they were visiting and we all went to see Brad Paisley to celebrate. (We’ve seen him 3 times. He’s awesome!)

Made another trip to Naples and found some beach treasures!

My favorite trip by far was going to St. Thomas in June. We had our best friends come along and soaked up paradise for a few days. We took out a boat, swam with sea turtles, drank painkillers from the Soggy Dollar Bar on Jost Van Dyke, Snorkeled all over and made a trip to snorkel at the Indians, then snorkeled some more until my feet had blisters, saw beautiful sunsets, ate amazing meals, visited Sandy Spit (the island where they film the Corona commercials) and truly had the best time. I hope to visit again soon!

Went to Maine at the end of July to visit Keith’s great-grandmother

We were in Vegas (Keith’s Favorite!) in September and had wwwayyyyyy to much fun! We stayed at The Cosmopolitan and Mandalay Bay, saw the fountains at the Bellagio, Saw lots of shows and went to Lake Mead

Saw 3 Cirque Du Soleil Shows: O, Zumanity and KA (O was my favorite and if you go to Vegas it’s a must see!)

Favorite Restaurant in Vegas? STRIPSTEAK We went by ourselves and again on my birthday when my parents came to visit. I had the filet both times 😉

I didn’t buy Keith a Birthday present. I planned to buy him a “World Class Driving Experience,” but when he found out it was supervised he decided he didn’t want to do it. Our last day in Vegas I decided to rent him a Lamborghini for the day. He was beyond excited!

The car

Please ignore the hot-mess hair…

Ate at In N Out Burger

We ended out year in Seattle. We were there from October-December.  It was cold and it rained a lot, but we still had a little fun! Saw Pikes Place Market, The Original Starbucks, The gum wall, Took a ride on the Ferris Wheel, and had lots of dinners at Joey’s Restaurant on South Lake Union. It where we had our 4th anniversary dinner and there was a double rainbow to help us celebrate

 

We came home right before Christmas so we were able to spend time with friends and family. Some of my favorite memories from 2012 weren’t from traveling, but from time spent at home.

Chopped off all my hair

Spent a ton of time with this sweet girl

and time with this sweet baby

Voted with my baby sister (her 1st!)

Christmas!

I just rang in the New Year with Keith and our BFFs. We watched about 40 fireworks displays from our hotel window. I can’t wait to see what 2013 brings! We are flying to Jamaica tomorrow to start the New Year off right. I hope 2013 is a year of blessings for you all!

~xoxo, Brittany