2015 In Review
This time last year (at the time of writing this), in England, it was about 11 minutes out from midnight on New Years Eve. I had accidentally short circuited our house and Andrea and I were watching the movie 21 Jump Street. It was around this time we were putting warm clothes on to go to the park across the street and watch the fireworks go off around Birmingham.
This year I am half a world away sitting in my tiny studio apartment I just moved into yesterday, and am doing my best to ignore the last few boxes that need to be unpacked.
2015 was absolutely nuts. I will most likely never have a year like it again in my life. I never imagined it would be like this.
So let's go over some of the high lights!
-I visited five countries in Europe. Italy, France, Spain, Germany, and Scotland (I am counting this don't take it away form me).
In Italy I stood in the imperial palace and walked down streets that were thousands of years old. In France I stood under the Eiffel Tower and slept under the stars in a centuries old village. In Spain I visited cave paintings I had studied in undergrad, some of the oldest known to man, and got to lay on the beach while everyone back in England was getting rained on. In Scotland I hiked mountains covered in snow that went up to my waist and got to stand in the spot where ancient kings were once crowned.
In Germany I got to meet my family there for the first time. I saw the house my great grandfather was born in, and camped in the Black Forest with two dear friends. These are memories I will have forever, and are greater than anything I have experienced before.
-I graduated from grad school with my Masters and wrote a 15,000 word dissertation on sexism in celebrity interviews. How nuts is that? It was one of the hardest things I have ever done but I am so proud of what I accomplished.
-I went ice skating for the first...and probably last time. I fell flat on my butt. It hurt...a lot.
-I made some amazing friends. Leaving them behind was incredibly hard. Living abroad and making bonds with the people you meet is a wonderful thing, but saying goodbye not knowing if and when you will ever see them again is pretty miserable.
-I conducted a celebrity interview, and nailed it. I was recovering from food poisoning, and had a throat infection the day of the interview, but I still dragged my butt to London to attend a press screening of Pitch Perfect 2 and interview Elizabeth Banks. THAT is an experience I will always remember.
-I witnessed Track and Field history. I was there, in the press box, when Mo Farah broke the 2 mile world record in Birmingham. It was an honor to be there and I still can't believe it happened.
- I drank an entire cup of coffee for the first time in my life because I didn't want to be rude to my German relatives who had bought it for me. It was disgusting. Never again.
-I went whale watching for the first time. I saw humpback whales and more seals than I could count.
-I picked up my life and moved to Seattle....without a job. This one is a work in progress, and nothing has gone like I hoped it would, but that is life. As you get older it gets harder and harder, and you have to fight for what you want. I want this. I want to be here and I want to thrive.
This year has been truly astounding, and these memories are just the tip of the iceberg on everything I did. But this year was also really hard. Personally I have dealt with a lot of stuff, and it has been aggravated by the horrible things going on in the world, things that I wish would stay in 2015 but I know they won't. No matter what happens, 2015 shaped my life and I will always remember it as the year that everything changed. For better or for worse, it will always one of the most important years I have lived.
Happy New Year everyone! May 2016 be a year of growth, success, and peace.....especially peace.
