Out with the Old and In with the New

It's a new year, 2017. We have said goodbye to the previous year of 2016, and now we can look ahead to the future.

But before we do that, let's take a look back at the past year.

Blue Oyster Club.

January: The highlights in January included the beginning of an extended visit from my sister and niece, and a Fog Hat/Blue Oyster Club concert with friends.

February: Not much to say about February. Moving right along...

March: Mom and I had a great time hanging out with friends for St. Patrick's Day at O'Conner's Pub. March also saw me rocking some new glasses.

April: EPIC FAMILY GAME NIGHT! Ok, maybe not so epic, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to wrap up my sister's visit before she and my niece returned home.

UK Group

May: The nice weather brought about patio usage at home--but across the pond, I was able to experience authentic English weather. I visited friends in the UK, attended a Supernatural convention in Birmingham, and toured London.

June: The weekend of June 2nd, I once again volunteered for Phoenix Comicon. Then the weekend after that, I spent Friday evening at the Supernatural Phoenix Convention held at the Renaissance in Glendale. I joined my friends to get photos with Rob Benedict and Richard Speight Jr, which led to me and my friend Amber winding up in the opening credits of the duo's new series, Kings of Con.

Amber, Rob Benedict, Me, Dick Speight Jr.

July: My sister and niece returned, along with my brother-in-law, to visit for just over a week. We got to celebrate my adorable niece's 2nd birthday. July also saw the final matches of the Copa America Centenario and the Europe Cup; both soccer tournaments ended with sad results for Argentina in the Copa and Germany in the Europe Cup.

August: GISHWHES! Yes, I once again participated in the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen. This year I dressed as a cheerleader in a grocery store, except my outfit was made of vegetables. I sang a rap about Leif Erikson while dressed as a viking. I also painted my face as a portion of the Arizona flag for our group photo. It was a lot of fun, as always.

Annaleis, Neil, Nine and Zero.

September: Napa F**king Valley (That's a shout out to the twitter account run by friends, Neil and Annaleis)! Mom and I drove to Napa, CA to visit Neil and Annaleis, my friends and the hosts of the Dark Angels and Pretty Freaks podcast. We had a fantastic trip and Neil and Annaleis were kind enough to let us stay in their home. I think our favorite part of the entire trip was getting to tour Skywalker Ranch, where Annaleis works.

Podtoberfest 2 in Michigan.

October: At the beginning of October I went on another trip, this time to Michigan. The plan: finally meet podcasting friends (Jay, Grant, Bill, Dave, Doug, and Paula) in person and take part in the second annual Podtoberfest. Podtoberfest was the 24 hour podcast fest created by a group of podcasters and writers for the 7 Days A Geek podcast. In 2015 it was 24 hours straight through and this past year it was broken up into two 12-hour segments, followed by lots of hanging out time. Not to mention, a first date with Jason (now officially the boyfriend).

Jaimee, me, and mom in Bisbee, AZ.

November: In November, mom and I took a trip down to Southern Arizona to visit my friend Jaimee in Sierra Vista. We accompanied Jaimee to Bisbee, AZ for a music festival, which found us wandering the streets and bar hopping to see a bunch of different bands.

Hanukkah gifts 1-4.

December: One of my favorite months of the year yielded my first experience with Hanukkah presents from my thoughtful and excellent gift-giving boyfriend. It was also an interesting Christmas. My mom flew to Tennessee to spend the holiday with my sister and niece. This left me with an option to spend Christmas Day differently, which I did, by visiting my friends Matt and Val and their adorable children, Kaitlyn and Evelyn.

Hanukkah gifts 5-8.

This is certainly not a complete list for the year 2016, many other things happened throughout the year. But I intended this to be just a highlight of things that occurred each month. Other things that went on consistently were this blog of course, and my Gotham fancast (podcast) Gotham Lights. I also guested on quite a few other podcasts: Little Geek Lost, Book Versus Movie, Diamond Minds, Chronicles Unwritten, Dark Angels and Pretty Freaks.

So now with a clean slate (so to speak) for a new year, the opportunities are endless. A new year is a time for new beginnings. Whether those new beginnings equate to starting new hobbies, finding time to pick back up old hobbies, making room for new experiences or meeting new and interesting people and spending more time with friends and family.

For myself, I have a couple trips planned: to Pennsylvania in March and Germany in April. The Germany trip is long overdo and I am excitedly looking forward to my grandparents finally getting to meet my little niece. Speaking of which, I'm looking forward to seeing my niece, it's been far too long. She is starting to speak and the things that she picks up on, at such a young age, is amazing. Pennsylvania will be fun as well; I've never been but Philadelphia has always been on the list of places to visit.

In June of this year, I will reach my ten year anniversary at work. It's an achievement I've been looking forward to for some time. This year will be big for milestones. This past Tuesday, I turned thirty (January 17th) as well. A couple years ago, I was of the mindset that approaching thirty was a scary thing. But now, I am excited to be thirty and for whatever 2017 will bring. I mean, what's not to love about being thirty? I'm still being carded at bars because I don't look it, that's fantastic.