The Best of 2019 in Photos
After a soul crushing break-up, and then an unexpectedly heartwarming reunion, I begrudgingly moved back to Wisconsin from Austin, TX at the end of December 2018. I started a new and very demanding job on December 26th and had little time to slowly settle or transition into my new life in Madison.
Quite honestly, 2019 felt like one long and painful adjustment phase as I moved in and out of full-time and part-time jobs, got used to living in the very quiet and awfully boring suburbs, and struggled to make new friendships or even keep existing ones. I never felt like I had a strong foothold on my career, relationships, money, or community, and a year later, I'm just now starting to feel better in some of these areas.
I continue to miss a lot of what I created in Austin, but have hopes that with time, I can create a different version of this here in Madison - and if I can't, we're freaking moving to Boise or Greenville, Nick!
January
In January...
I became the new CycleBar Hilldale General Manager! I worked a billion hours a week, but loved every second of it (until I didn't). I was thriving at membership sales, loved meeting our members, and enjoyed training our part-time employees.
We took Aaron to the New Glarus Brewery. The space was cool, but the self-guided tour was average at best.
We tried out our first yoga classes at Perennial and were OBSESSED with the space and the vibe (still are). They have an incredible vegan cafe, Surya, that I would live at if I had actual money.
We went to our first UW Men's Hockey game.
I read 1 book. I was working 80+ hours/week and had little time/energy to incorporate much reading into my schedule.
February
In February...
I worked 90+ hours/week and did nothing but spend time at the studio or respond to work-related emails from home. I also lost a bunch of weight and took this photo.
I did find the time to try out Dragonfly Hot Yoga once or twice.
I read 0 books
March
In March...
We went up to Cable, WI and stayed in a yurt for two nights. We were incredibly underprepared (shocker) and arrived around 9pm, when we then had to hike (fall over and over into the thick snow as we didn't have snow shoes) over a mile into the park to find our yurt lodging. The wood that was already in the yurt for us was wet and didn't stay lit for very long, so we froze our tails off for both nights! During the days, we went show shoeing (got some for cheap at a museum in Cable), had breakfast at a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives-approved spot (twice), hung out at a cool bike-themed coffee shop, and drove into Hayward to explore.
I was in the top five for total sales in the entire CycleBar company.
I read 2 books
April
In April...
I celebrated my 34th birthday.
We enjoyed a fantastic night of theater at UW-Whitewater with an incredible performance of RENT (my third or fourth time, Nick's first!).
I logged my first trail miles of the year at the Arboretum to prep for Ragnar Snowmass.
I read 3 books.
May
In May...
We went up to Door County for a long weekend. Nick sprinted through the Door County Half Marathon in a few minutes, we ran into Audrey and Cricket, and then shopped and ate our way around the county - enjoying fish boils, local ciders and wines, and all of the dips.
We went to Devil's Lake for a beautiful hike - Nick's first time there!
I got a new keyboard to help amp up the creativity in my life and decrease the stress and anxiety.
I enjoyed my last day as the General Manager of CycleBar!
I read 4 books.
June
In June...
I went to Colorado for a week and participated in my second Ragnar event - Snowmass - with my favorite buddies. We camped, slept, and each ran three different loops. Then we relaxed at a nice air B&B up the street for a few days, toured around Snowmass and Breckenridge, and hiked up to see Maroon Bells.
I went to Devil's Lake and tried outdoor rock climbing with Tyler and his friend. It was beyond my skill level and humbled me immediately.
I started a new part-time job serving coffee and bakery goods at Colectivo on Monroe Street.
I began interning 3-4 days a week at Heartland Farm Sanctuary, spending some of my favorite hours of life with the pigs, cows, emus, llamas, ducks, chickens, goats, and sheep.
I enrolled in German classes at Madison College, but only got through about 4 weeks of classes as the instructor was the worst.
I loved on Bitsy the Cat as much as I could.
I read 7 books.
July
In July...
We celebrated the 4th of July with Jesse and Tyler in downtown Madison. The fireworks lasted about 14 minutes and then there was a shooting next to us, so it wasn't exactly the best holiday ever. We did enjoy the 20+ miles of biking there and back much, much more.
We completed our first trail half marathon, Dances with Dirt at Devil's Lake. It was freaking hard as crap with all of the never-ending hills, but we DID IT - together!
We attended our one and only MLB baseball game of the year - Brewers vs Cubs. Much to our delight as we were surrounded by mostly Cubs fans, the Brewers won!
I moved over from intern to volunteer at Heartland Farm Sanctuary and volunteer every Monday night doing animal care.
We spent beautiful summer days watching the sun set at the UW Memorial Union and relaxing at the Biergarten at Olbrich Park.
I read 3 books.
August
In August...
I quit my part-time job at Colectivo and took a week-long trip to Philly, DC, and New York City to celebrate my last week of summer before starting my new job with Promega.
I stayed in a decent hostel in Philly and spent my time wandering around downtown and the historical aras, seeing Independence National Park, the Liberty Bell, Reading Terminal Market, City Hall, and Chinatown.
After a full day in Philly, I then took a morning train down to DC and hung out for a few days with my hometown friend, Branton, who has lived there for many years working for the government. I visited nearly every Smithsonian museum, got some bomb ramen, cried at the Holocaust Museum, cried at the National Library, cried at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, finally saw the Lincoln Memorial/White House/US Capitol, and put about 60,000 steps on my feet between the two days of walking the mall.
After an incredible time in DC (seriously, let's go there every year), I took a bus up to New York City and stayed in an amazing hostel in the upper west side of Manhattan (HI New York City Hostel). It was crazy busy because August in NYC and I struggled a bit with the pace/congestion of the sidewalks/streets/everywhere. I felt like I was just being pushed along in a sea of people for two days straight and could never manage to get to shore to rest and recharge.
Despite this constant sea, I had an incredible, incredible time - I saw To Kill a Mockingbird at Shubert Theater with Jeff Daniels, touched almost every foot of Manhattan, did the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tour, walked the Brooklyn Bridge, got all of the NYC floppy pizza, photo-opped at The Office set in the shops of NBC Studios, and headed down to the financial district and the raging bull. At midnight, I bussed back down to Philly and sat in a freezing cold airport for 5 hours until my flight back to Milwaukee.
I started my new job as the Service Operations Specialist in Instrumentation Services at Promega!
Nick and I attended our first Madison Forward soccer game and met Leslie David Baker - or Stanley - from The Office!
We saw John Mayer at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. It was AWESOME. He put on a phenomenal show - and he played for nearly three hours with two encores!
I joined Nick's family for a road trip up to Nevis, MN where we hung out with the entire extended family for three days in the middle of nowhere Minnesota. We spent quality time on the lake in their backyard, going kayaking, paddle boarding, pedal boating, and water skiing. It was delightful.
We celebrated Mal and Fiona's birthdays at their pool party in Fort.
I read 7 books.
September
In September...
We brought in Labor Day with a long weekend in Minneapolis. We toured around the U of M campus, fell in love with Angry Catfish - a bike shop/coffee shop with the best latte I've ever had, enjoyed brunch and bloody's, checked out Fulton Brewery, bought nothing at the Mall of America, and finally made it to the Minnesota State Fair - which was INSANE (and we got the damn bucket of cookies, and they weren't that great).
I had my first Promega-related work trip at a hotel in downtown Chicago. It was a gorgeous week to be in the city, so I spent most of my nights wandering around Michigan Ave and the Chicago River. Every visit makes me love the city that much more.
My SPIRE and Ragnar buddy, Clare, got hitched! She had her celebration at this incredible venue in Walker's Point called The Chef's Table. The space and decor were perfect for the event and being able to see into the kitchen while the food was being prepared was so cool. Highly recommend if anyone's looking for an event space in Milwaukee!
We cheered on the Ironman Wisconsin competitors from our apartment balcony, and then saw them triumphantly cross the finish line downtown after hours and hours and hours of swimming, biking, and running around town.
I read 4 books.
October
In October...
I got a new lunch hour dog walking gig with Harry, the 3 month-old Chihuahua.
I launched my new blog/website, Tiny Steps: 18 Months to Better and set a goal to post 2-3 times/week on various topics like running, vegan eating, habit formation, books/reading, travel, personal finance, and goal setting.
Nick dominated his first marathon, the Lakefront Marathon, and finished in about 3 hours and 30 minutes.
We celebrated Steve and Emily's adorable love at their Wisconsin wedding reception.
Our Ragnar team met up for a crew class at SPIRE and brunch in Riverwest. It was soul-quenching.
I joined the Promega Toastmasters group to improve my public speaking skills and gave my first mini speech about goal setting!
I met other local trail runners at the Madison Trail Runners' Trail Summit meeting at Movin' Shoes.
I attended Promega's Oktoberfest beer tasting event and have plans to make my own beer for next year's event.
I received my first paycheck for freelance research/writing work about Italian travel and ski trips.
We went to the movies for the first time in years to see Brittany Runs a Marathon.
I had a delicious vegan dinner with dad at Green Owl.
I amped up my trail running and fall foliage views at The Arb.
I got my first pair of lash extensions at the Aveda Institute to help a beauty school friend pass a test. They looked great for a few days, but I'll never, ever do that again...mostly because they cost a ton to maintain every month, but I spent the next three weeks trying to pull them off of my face - so uncomfortable!
I signed up to run my first marathon, the Milwaukee Marathon, on Saturday, April 11th!
I read 8 books.
November
In November...
We went to our first men's Badger basketball game (they won!) and got to enjoy great free seats and a parking pass due to the generosity of a new colleague.
I joined the Madison Friends of International Students leadership team as the Fundraising Queen and became an International Conversation Partner with a student from Iran.
We invited Jesse and Tyler over to our place for a vegan taco lunch and then helped my Brewer brother and Tyranena celebrate their 20th Anniversary as a VIP! We got to see Mal and Brian there, too!
We had some spicy ramen and then saw Hamilton at the Overture Center. I learned that I need a history lesson.
We stood outside in the frigid freezing cold for hours cheering on the Madison Marathon runners near the finish line, including Audrey and Cricket!
I got my first week-long cat-sitting gig!
We went for our first trail run at Governor Dodge State Park and did what we could to avoid the hunters.
We celebrated Thanksgiving by eating a massive meal with Nick's family in Milwaukee and dancing at the Bavarian Bierhaus after a liter of beer.
I attended a professional development training with the City of Madison, called Creating Your Professional Development Plan.
I tried oil cleansing with Argan Oil because attractive, clear-faced influencers on Instagram told me it would make me beautiful too. It went horribly awry and my facial skin and nose skin are still destroyed. Don't believe everything that you read on the internet, friends.
I read 6 books and kept working toward my goal of reading 1+ book/week.
December
In December...
I made my very last student loan payment, with the last $21k taking three months!
We rang in Nick's 37th birthday with bloody mary's and brunch in Madison.
I participated in #FFHolidayChallenge and started marathon training - didn't miss a single workout or run!
I joined the BibRave Pro squad and committed to participating in a bunch of races in 2020!
I went to Dallas, TX for a short work trip and was reminded how much I miss that state.
We went to our first Madison Capitols Hockey game as part of Promega Night...and felt there was a lot to be desired from this small-town league experience.
We celebrated in a snow globe at the Monona Terrace for my first Promega Holiday Party!
I was a guest on my friends' podcast, The True North Collective, which will be live in January!
We finally got to see Laura and Joey's new digs in the Chicago suburbs, enjoyed some hot wine at the downtown Christmas market, and took in some Jazz and cocktails together.
We celebrated Christmas with Nick's family in Milwaukee and ate our weight in cheesy potatoes and green bean casserole.
I tried out a new boxing class at Canvas Club Boxing, which helped get my butt in gear for more strength and core classes this year.
I read 7 books and reached my goal of reading 52 books this year!
We brought in the New Year with Chris, Bethany, and Murphy the Golden Doodle in Wauwatosa with veggie tacos, cold lagers, board games, and staying up to watch the ball drop at midnight (for the first time in several years!).