Glitter In The Air: First Post of 2014 to honor 2013... Makes sense, right?

Hello to 2014!

I've had a very sad realization... I posted a total of 3-4 times in the entire course of 2013.... Whoa.

So, I've actually implemented a calendar event to remind me to (try) and blog at least once a week. Granted, I may not get to it EVERY week, but this may help me to post more often... I hope.

Nothing like starting off 2014 with a review of things that happened in 2013, right? Especially since I didn't blog about them. Okay, let's have one thing from each month....maybe... Be prepared for a ~~few~~... A LOT of pictures. :)

January - Started my "One A Day" Calendar Journal. Made it one whole year and kept it up. There was a time there when I hadn't filled in anything for about 2-3 months. I went back and filled in what I could by looking at posts on Facebook, going through my text messages and calendar and finding anything that I could. There are maybe 2-3 days out of the 365 that I wasn't able to find anything for. I'd say that's pretty good... Still have it going, 3 days strong for 2014!

February - Hm... Nothing monumental happened during February that I can remember. Travis and I celebrated Valentine's Day, of course. I got him The Complete Star Wars Saga on blu ray, so he was pretty excited about that. He bought me Open Heart earrings to match my necklace and then a new charm for my bracelet. ^_^

March - Started lia sophia. Jen had been hinting since Christmas 2012 that she wanted me to start up with lia sophia. Great incentives, work my own schedule, etc. So I started up...

One of my latest pictures of my collection thus far... October, for Halloween.

April - This was the month that I ended up getting a few inquiries about MelJean Designs, but most of them ended up falling through, mostly due to my part. I had one guy ask for a t-shirt design, but when I emailed the designs to him, I never heard anything back. Granted the designs here kind of weak.... At the same time, he really already had someone doing his designing.... I wasn't really sure why he asked me in. Another was the chance to take some photos for a wedding reception, but then it was cancelled because the wedding photographer became available. That is one I'm okay with canceling. I would have done the same thing if I were the bride. I'd only want one photographer handling both events, even if they're a few weeks or months apart. Sami asked me for a logo for her Looms of Love project she was helping with and Britney asked me for a logo for her Etsy shop, Maybe Baby World. I've been dropping the ball on those. Part of me thinks that I'm losing my drive for graphic design since I haven't been consistently designing... :( I just need to make time and work up that drive again. And soon.

May -

June - Changed full-time jobs. I went from Wal-Mart to Capital One. It was a pay increase, steady 40-hours a week with the same hours, and 10 hour days. Also, it came with monthly bonuses, $500 sign-up bonus, paid time off, and holiday pay. Couldn't really pass that one up considering my next promotion for Wal-Mart would have been 2 years out and a lateral move anyway... Yea, good choice. Never thought I would work in a call center, but it happened. I don't mind it... I know I don't want to do it for the rest of my life, but it's great for right now.

July - I had the privilege of taking Alex and Margaret's engagement photos over the summer. July was the last session we had. They were so natural as a couple and comfortable in front of the camera. It was the best photo shoot experience that I've had. It helped that I knew them and we were friends, but they made it really enjoyable... Sort of helped me realize that I do like taking pictures more than I probably had realized in the past. Here are just a few of my favorites...

August - If I remember correctly, I had quite a few parties for lia sophia this month, so that turned August into a busy month for me. Between my two jobs (Capital One and Aero), my lia parties and the design work that I was going, it was jam-packed. It was nice though... kept me moving and earn money so that was nice too, but exhausting all at the same time.

September - Callie and Nick's Wedding. Travis and I drove down for a few days, of course making a pit stop at the Lake House. Travis loved it there. It's just so relaxing. Planning on going back sometime this summer. Got to spend time with Grandpa Bob. Then, we made our way to Olive Branch and it was all hustle and bustle from there until we left. Running between the hotel, Callie and Nick's place, and the wedding location. Rehearsal, nails... We had her bachelorette party the night before.... The wedding day was chaos, but in the end it all came together.

Travis playing with Mika at the Lake House.

Mom, Hope, & I at the wedding.

October - Halloween was the main focus of the month. Travis put together a great costume to go with our themed party - Alice In Wonderland. I was the Queen of Hearts and Travis was a Playing Card, but not from the cartoon. His inspiration was more from the live action movie that had armored cards. There was also another big event - Alex and Margaret's Wedding! It was beautiful and amazing to be there. Travis was a groomsman so I tried to match the wedding colors a little. I think it worked. ;) They are moving away in a couple of weeks so this was one of the last time we got to spend time with them.

Posing for the camera in our costumes

Too matchy-matchy?

Mr. & Mrs. Wollman

Such a beautiful bride!

And I caught the bouquet! This was her actual bouquet!

November - I'd say this is the month that I either discovered new likes or ended up re-discovering some old ones. First, this year was when Wizard of Oz started putting out their 75th Anniversary Collector's Edition of everything... Back in August, I bought the Mattel Pink Label Barbies of Dorothy, Glinda, and The Wicked Witch of the West. I started to see Wizard of Oz merchandise EVERYWHERE. Christmas ornaments, calendars, books, games, etc. Luckily, Travis made that his theme for my Christmas gifts this year... so I have the ornaments, a calendar (thanks to Mom), the behind-the-scenes book (that I actually found at 50% off and had an extra coupon on top of that), and The Collector's Edition of Monopoly and Oz Fluxx. So, I now have a whole shelf for my Wizard of Oz/WICKED collection. Also, it was WICKED's 10th Year Anniversary.... so yea. On November 5th, Twilight Forever was released. I have NOT picked it up yet... I wanted to wait until after Christmas because I hate having to admit if a gift is a duplicate one... (Which ended up happening with the Wizard of Oz book... Mom actually bought me two because the label on it said "1 or 4" so she thought there were 4 different versions to collect. I felt horrible.) Over the year, my Twilight doll collection expanded... Now, I'm only missing 5 of 14. There are more books that I'm looking into getting, such as the illustrated novels of New Moon and the combined one of Twilight. (The original illustrated novels of the first book was split into two, but now they have it into one book! Yes, I need it.) There are a couple of Hallmark ornaments that I'd like to get.... more calendars... Yes, I am addicted. I know this.

All my pretties!

$40 + 50% off + 20% coupon + Barnes & Noble Membership = $14.40

The ornaments... at Lowe's of all places.

Wizard of Oz Pinball Machine... in the Empire Mall!

The yellow dot is where my picture fits into the mosaic!

My Twilight doll collection minus Carlisle and my Breaking Dawn Part 1 Hallmark ornament.

December - There was lots of traveling this month. I took a trip down to see Grandpa in the hospital. It was a little last minute because we weren't sure on a time frame. I feel very thankful that I was able to make it down there at all. It was more than worth it.

Holding Grandpa's hand

Then, Travis and I went to Iowa for Christmas with Mom, Randy, and Hope. We even got to see Charlie for a little while too. It was a nice four days away from home and time well-spent with family.