This Is the New Year...Well, Technically Not Yet

Video of the Week: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OihpIHUYYU

Life Update: Happy New Years Eve, folks! Between family time, travel, and a little work, this past week has been quite enjoyable. Last Wednesday was Christmas, so we opened presents at our house in the morning and then went over to my grandparents' house in the afternoon for dinner and to have our family gift exchange / crazy game night. Best gift (in case you were wondering) - new camera!

Christmas Family Pic

I spent most of Thursday hanging out with my best friend at Starbucks (and Target) drinking coffee and playing cards. I hung out around the house on Friday so I could read and play some games with my sister. We ended the day by going to Lights of the South and looking at the stars out in the country.

Lights of the South

Saturday was spent sleeping, working, and doing stuff at the Humane Society. We went to church on Sunday morning and then went over to my grandparents' house for dinner (and we ended up playing some more fun games). Here's a picture of the 2 cute puppies we had this summer that you may remember as Phineas and Ferb - now Remmy and Bauer. 

Two Brothers

Well, this brings us to yesterday - a random road trip including a visit to the zoo. Here's the final picture before I move on to the actual content of this post.

Look at the Animals!

Hopped on Over to Oz

If You Doubted Our Sisterness...

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The year has almost come to a close...I can't believe it! And with that being said, I've spent some time lately (as I'm sure most of you have too) thinking back over this past year. I have to say that 2013 has been a pretty great one for me! I'd like to essentially take this post to reflect on the stuff I've done / been a part of this year that is so quickly approaching its end. 

I'm going to try and take the next couple of minutes to just write little one or two sentence blurbs (is that a word?) about some of the highlights of my life from this year.

- I went to Passion 2013 in the Georgia Dome with a group of friends from high school.

- I volunteered with the Augusta Futurity in January and got to meet some of the cool cowboys.

- I had the opportunity to shadow the wildlife ward at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine for several weeks. I got to see some really cool cases, including ducks, cockatoos, rabbits, and herons. (In the meantime, I also got to perform necropsies to dissect lungs and identify ticks.)

- I got to be a part of the ISM Restoration dance - which was completely awesome, by the way. (I was also on leadership for ISM with the Wesley Foundation.)

- I shot some engagement pictures!

- I visited my best friend in Atlanta and we got to go eat at an authentic Italian pizzeria.

- My friend from China got to come home with me to celebrate her birthday.

- I adopted M.J., the coolest dog around!

- I took part in the End It Movement's Stand for Freedom at UGA.

- I was a part of the group who began the Pencils of Promise chapter at UGA after hearing Adam Braun come speak on campus.

- Tiffany, who is practically like my sister now, had her bachelorette party AND married my cousin, Brent!

- The CSRA Humane Society, once again, hosted its annual Paws in the Park.

- Laila and I made our first Athenian Steak n Shake run!

- Lauren and I went to Banning Mills (just outside of Atlanta) to spend a Saturday zip lining. Then, she spent the weekend with me; we went to The Big Dance concert and the Botans.

- I went to the Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, and Thomas Rhett Night Train concert at Sanford Stadium in April!

- Laila and I went to the rodeo. Yeehaw!

- I went to the Passion Band tour (with Kristian Stanfill and Brett Younker) in Augusta and helped tear down / made a midnight food run for the band.

- I WENT TO NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIA with the coolest people on earth. (Check out my posts from the other side of the earth. I literately could fill up this list with stuff I did over there. From swimming with sea turtles and sharks in the Great Barrier Reef to horseback riding through the same land in New Zealand they used to film Lord of the Rings, it was the experience of a lifetime.)

- Our family went to Disney World. Yes, that included Harry Potter World!

- I rode my first real roller coaster at Six Flags in Atlanta.

- We took a family vaca to Edisto Beach, and  I got to take Lauren's senior pictures in Charleston.

- Lauren and I went to see The Script (with Gavin DeGraw) in Charlotte, NC.

- I moved in to a new place (a townhouse) with 2 awesomely fabulous roommates (and my dog)! We try and have at least one night a week where we all do dinner together, and that has proven to be fun.

- I took one of the best classes I have ever taken this fall. We got to visit loads of farms and even took a behind the scenes trip to the zoo that included bottle feeding tigers!

- Lauren and I went to see Parachute in Atlanta! (And I ran into one of my high school friends.)

- M.J. went for her first hiking trip in the North Georgia mountains.

- I became an officer for UGA Club Italiano and even played for a few seconds in the soccer game, La Coppa Di Gilbert.

- I got baptised!

- Repro class. 2 Story became a second home for Laila and I.

- I got to meet one of my friends every Tuesday morning for breakfast/coffee. 

- Football games.

- I went to the corn maze at Washington Farms with a group of friends.

- I helped make a tiger toy out of fire hose with some other members of the Pre-Vet club. We then went to Noah's Ark to install it in the tiger enclosure.

- I worked the merch table at the Passion tour stop in Athens. I met some great people there!

- My sister was a fairy godmother.

- The CSRA Humane Society had its annual Pet-A-Fair, and I helped run concessions.

- Our family finally made a fall trip to the mountains to see the leaves changing. Beauty.

- Dairy Fun Night happened. I ran side-by-side with a heifer and plunged my face into ice cream. What more is there to say?

- I went to the Homecoming Carnival with a group of friends and managed to not get sick or dizzy in the spinny ride.

- I showed a sheep in Little I. Button was her name. 4th place was her game.

- Laila and I made a very spontaneous last-minute decision to go see Hillsong United in Atlanta. Worth it? I'd do it again in a heart beat. (Including the part about the toothpaste and waving to the man at the red light.)

- Laila and I slept in random places. #FinalsWeek2k14

- Bonfire night with high school friends.

- Christmas.

- New Years Eve!




Happy New Year,
Megan

Fun Fact: The word of the year for 2013 was..."selfie."