Now that it’s 2014, I have to admit that I’ve been slacking in terms of my blogging presence. The end of 2013 nearly did me in — I developed a bizarre virus that put me into the hospital just before final exams. When I finally recovered, two weeks later, I returned to my full-time job in the Accounting department of a real estate agency. Needless to say, I’ve been quite occupied. In 2014, however, I’m committed to expanding my blogger platform and sharing more topics, more frequently. Just to look back briefly on this past year…
In January of 2013, I started my first real job (one that actually took out taxes) when I worked for my university at the Late Night Film Series. Working with this crew was a complete blast — I learned the ins and outs of film, Photoshop, advertising, and minimalist design. After the semester ended, however, it pained me to sit through any movie after doing that nearly 20 hours a week for six months.
February brought sickness and stress. In all honesty, I think the majority of these 28 days passed with no lasting memories made in between. My boyfriend and I even chose to forego Valentine’s Day celebrations in favor of saving money for our upcoming anniversary. I spent most of this dreadfully cold month walking to and from work and classes in the blistering cold and snow. I can’t even listen to Ed Sheeran’s album + anymore because it reminds me of dark, cold days of this month. The only thing worth anything that happened this month was an adventure to West Virginia where I got to see Three Days Grace, Shinedown, and P.O.D. perform. Two days later, I met Shinedown at Wal-mart! Pretty crazy stuff.
March welcomed the fourth anniversary I celebrated with the love of my life, Cory. I made a trip to Bowling Green to visit and escape my stressful semester and job. March Madness took place, but was tragically uneventful without my school’s participation in the tournament. This month I ordered my very first passport in anticipation for my travels abroad in the summer.
April 2013 was where the fun began. At the beginning of the month, I traveled to Hilton Head with my boyfriend and Sigma Alpha Epsilon for my first fraternity formal. The weekend was a whirlwind and something I will never forget. This month, I quit my job at the Late Night Film Series, met one of my best friends unexpectedly, and finished up my first year of college. It was honestly incredibly bittersweet to move out of my first dorm room and leave behind one-fourth of this amazing thing called college. In the words of Gatsby, “I was within and without.”
May was fraught with days spent by the pool, with my sweetheart, and tying up loose ends before preparing to leave the country. I traveled to Cincinnati to visit my friend Ashley, who would be headed south with me in the next month. I had people over to my house to lay by the pool and revisited with friends from high school after we all returned to Lexington for the summer with a year of college under our belts. It was quite an interesting time and it’s safe to say that we’ve all grown up and/or changed quite a bit.
In June 2013, I had my biggest adventure yet: I got on a plane and flew to Mexico for a month. With not too much of a plan, it was one of the wildest things I had done in my whole life and I don’t regret a second of my trip. The last week of June was spent in Monterrey with a family I grew to love as my own. I got to see the beautiful mountains and terrain and finally got to use the language I had been working so hard to master.
July’s entrance accompanied a flight to Guadalajara where I found a little bit of paradise. In Maria’s apartment with the pool and the sweet puppy, Rico, I felt truly at home in this foreign place. In and around Guadalajara, I took buses and taxis fearlessly and even got to tour a tequila factory. Shortly after, Ashley and I boarded a bus for Puerto Vallarta, where I finally stood in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. On our last night on the beautiful beach, I received some heartbreaking news that my grandfather had been hospitalized after having what was thought to be his third heart attack. Doctors soon discovered that he had developed cancer and would have to undergo chemotherapy and radiation immediately for treatment. Upon hearing this news, I made the sad but appropriate decision to return to America early, cutting my Mexican adventure short by a week and a half. As sad as it was for me to depart early, I made the right decision by coming home and being with my grandfather during such a hard time when the future was so uncertain. On a happy note, the very end of the month brought the safe return of my big brother from serving our nation in Afghanistan! What a beautiful homecoming it was.
August was equally eventful — At the very beginning of the month, immediately after returning from Mexico and seeing my grandfather through treatment, I left for Maine. Even though my mother and my stepdad were married for thirteen years, I never had the privilege of visiting this beautiful state where he was born. Maine was a week and a half of good for and peaceful time with nature — I kayaked, swam, and laid many nights in the hammock next to the lake. What a truly relaxing escape. On the journey back to Kentucky, I also visited Boston for the first time and finally saw my Red Sox play in Fenway. Despite a loss, the energy in the park was unreal. My sophomore year at the University of Kentucky also began this month as did my first teaching position. I served as a TA for an introductory college course called UK 101 and got wonderful exposure to running a classroom. This month, I also became a member of the Her Campus Blogger Network that has dramatically improved my motivation for maintaining this site. I finally became employed again in August — this time at Ball Homes, as a part time assistant in the Accounting Department. Although, I’m not totally interesting in the content of my work, I am truly blessed to have such a flexible job, stable income, and caring coworkers. I moved in with a new roommate this month, a friend from high school and started building a new friendship with her. Last but not least, TAILGATING SEASON FINALLY ARRIVED. Enough said.
In September, I really started to feel the weight of school and taking 18 hours. My social life withered away as I dove head first into my first course for my Gender and Women’s Studies major. I got to see Ben Sollee perform for the fifth time and also welcomed Anderson Cooper to Kentucky when he spoke to students about his experiences and career as a journalist. A trip to Nashville for the WKU/UK game provided time with my love and a much needed escape from school stresses.
October, my 20th birthday rolled around and I finally left my teen years behind. I got to go back to my beloved Bowling Green, this time for the second SAE homecoming I’ve attended. It was such a fun weekend — It’s really nice being able to go back a year later and have everyone know you and to genuinely feel welcome. I got to see Sundy Best perform for the second time as well and love seeing local talent live. The month ended with my favorite Halloween to date. I’ve chosen to recognize it as “Halloweekend” because I literally had three nights of celebrating. For the first time in my life, I went out on a Thursday night and it was absolutely worth it. I WAS Amy Winehouse and no one can take that away from me.
November 2013 was actually when my fall semester began wrapping up because of a prolonged sickness I couldn’t seem to shake. I did spontaneously get to attend a Florida Georgia Line concert with Cory because his mom won tickets on the radio. The highlight of this month was definitely the opportunity to attend my second City and Colour concert in Louisville. Seeing Dallas Green, literally in the front row, may have been the highlight of my year. Getting to hear the brand new album live was unbelievable, but nothing compares to the performance of Day Old Hate. I don’t know if I saw half of it because of my tears. I spent the rest of November buried in studying and paper writing with the exception of a weekend escape to Louisville where I got to shop and tour Wild Turkey and Four Roses distilleries.
After spending the first half of December horizontal and slave to my illness, I mainly served as a workaholic making necessary money to afford the traveling I plan to do in 2014. Finally, I got to relax at last with friends and my boyfriend. With my family spread out all over the country, I spent Christmas with my boyfriend and his family for the first time and it was absolutely a blessing in disguise. I was able to ring in the New Year with all of my closest friends from high school and I wouldn’t trade that night for anything.
I am SO unbelievably excited to see what’s going to happen in 2014. I already have some amazing plans in the works that I will of course narrate here that even include leaving the country twice. (I also might die if there isn’t a beach in my near future). I’m sure a plethora of concerts will find their way onto my schedule yet again. I find making resolutions pretty much overrated because ultimately I’m going to do what I think is right in any given moment. What I hope comes of 2014: Earn/save/budget money, maintain my weight, grow my hair longer, get another scholarship, celebrate five years with Cory, gain another blog sponsorship, and who knows what else may follow! I can handle whatever comes at me.
With love from a new year,
Sarah Alexandra
