Christmas Eve Eve 2022
Another yearly entry on December 23rd. A bit earlier than last year, but not by much. It's currently 10:24pm. I'm working on finishing Christmas Cards. Most of the wrapping for Christmas is now finished. Just a few loose ends to tie up, cards to be delivered to the mailbox, and a few DIY projects that may or may not be finished before we're ready for the big day. I was upset this year because we were, once again, scheduled to have a half day on Christmas Eve Eve, but we received a call from the school last night around 7:30 that we would be having a snow day. Although it was completely unnecessary, I was appreciative for the extra time to prepare and the ability to sleep in. :) This morning, I went to Blue Mountain Candles with Mom, and then Dollar General and Rite Aid with Mom and Dad. Adam got us all Wendy's for lunch and then we spent some time tidying up the house and I wrapped all of our gifts. The temperatures plummeted today from around 50 in the morning to single digits tonight (causing the "snow" day), so it's been a frigid and blustery day--the perfect Christmas prep weather. We got Domino's for dinner and watched 2 movies. We're watching Nick and Noel once we go upstairs.
Anyway, enough about today. Yearly recap time:
January: ZOW 2022 was literally a dream. I complained about the show in the last entry and if I ONLY knew what was to come, I never would have. I loved the show, I LOVED my role, and I ADORED the cast. Absolutely my favorite year of ZOW. Don't know if we'll ever top it. "FID" days at school are amazing and I don't know how we survived without them. I love not having to make up snow days at the end of the year. On a sad note, Adam's cousin Ardan passed away very unexpectedly early in the month.
February: Not too much excitement in February... I dyed my hair dark for the show. That was fun. Dress rehearsals were super fun (again, all-star cast, I'm not even kidding). ZOW season is always stressful and doesn't leave a lot of time for living, but we managed to go on some hikes with the dog and make time for sushi dates and other adventures.
March: Show went off (mostly) without a hitch. Adam and I did forget our lines on stage on opening night, but we got back eventually. Still traumatic. We chose Wizard of Oz Junior for the kids' musical this year and started rehearsals the week after ZOW ended. A much bigger cast than we had for Frozen led to some more backstage drama than we had last season, but the kids were pretty cool and we had a good time rehearsing the show.
April: April always brings some new energy to the year. It finally started getting warmer and we went on some fun adventures with pup. We also met with Megglez and Cheyenne (and their boys/kids) in Kutztown one night which was fun. I went to my first pickle ball practice with Mom and found that I loved it. I also flipped over the handlebars of my bike and busted open my lip on that same day. April 18th will go down in infamy... Cinder turned 3!! And we supported Marian, Lehighton, and Palmerton students in their spring musicals.
May: Full of performances. Wizard of Oz was great, other than the fact that Dorothy broke her ankle a week before we opened. We made the best out of a bad situation and Lilly was a total trooper. The audience loved it. Band and Chorus concerts also went MUCH more smoothly than the concert in December. We went to the drive in to watch Mary Poppins with ZOW/ZOW Jr. which was a lot of fun, took a trip to Knoebels, and celebrated Grandma's 85th birthday and Nannie's 78th. Brandon, Eliza, and I also went to Philadelphia at the end of the month for a Harry Potter exhibit at the Franklin Institute, where I had Ramen for the first time. Life changing. We went to an Iron Pigs game with some of the teachers from PJHS and enjoyed the fireworks there too. May was a busy month!
June: School let out on June 2nd, which was awesome! We got to have pool day and field day this year, as well as the class field trips, which was so nice. ZOW had a performance in mid-June for Mary Poppins in the park. I was "hired" (for free) to walk around town and take pictures with the kids (that weren't there). Best part was going to Insurrection Distillery dressed as Mary Poppins and having a rum punch. More pickle balling ensued on Mondays and Wednesdays throughout the summer. Dance recital took place on June 20th, and on June 22nd, we left for the Bahamas! We had the BEST trip. Sandals never disappoints and my parents/Brandon/Eliza LOVED it. Want to go back. We also found that we won 225 dollars on scratch-off tickets from two of our ZOW Jr. kids. Woah! And we did some paddling throughout the month as well as a paint and sip with Brianna on June 28th and a trip to World's End State Park with grandma on June 29th. I love June!
July: July started off with a bang--I think July 1st was literally my favorite day of the summer. We went to the lake with Cinder, and then stopped at Funk Brewing Company on the way home. A perfect summer day. Lots of swimming, walking, and enjoying summer occurred throughout the month. I got to finally spend time with Harper (Adam and Sarah's littlest) and she was precious. We went to another Iron Pigs Game early in the month. Adam and I also planned a spontaneous Finger Lakes trip with Cinder from July 12th to 13th. We went on lots of fun hikes and drank some great wine. Cinder had a great time too! (Oh, and she finally swims now!) We went golfing and to the Dutch Apple Dinner Theatre with ZOW (both super fun) and then went on our annual beach trip, which was great... until we all came home with COVID. Oops. Guess it was only a matter of time. Mom and I left on our annual trip on July 31st.
August: Started off with Mom and my trip to Tennessee and surrounding regions. Despite us both recovering from COVID, it was an amazing trip. We loved Dollywood (SO many great coasters and the DRONE SHOW!!? Holy cow.) and all of the other stops too. Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg was an awesome area to visit and I even got to go in the Titanic exhibit which was a huge bucket list item I didn't even know I'd be crossing off!! Driving along the blue ridge parkway was beautiful too. We're fun people. Later in the month, we went on a rail bike ride with the Reichards, which was also a lot of fun. We got our dad-daughter-Dorney-day in the books as well. It was also during August that we decided to move Grandma into the MapleShade Nursing Home in Nesquehoning for her failing memory. Cleaning out her house wasn't fun, but we did make some memories together by doing this.
September: This month involved more house cleaning, organization, an Iron Pigs game, and a final summer-weather trip to the lake. School puts a damper on the "fun" stuff, but it was nice to return to in-person instruction without masks this year.
October: Began with a trip to close up the cabin. This month was super packed with fall festivities, vacations, and weddings. We went to the Mazezilla corn maze early in the month, then the Lighthouse Challenge in the middle of October. Mom celebrated her 59th birthday (We got her a pickle ball net!) Immediately after returning from the Lighthouse Challenge, Adam and I re-packed our suitcases for Florida to attend Caity's wedding (and go to DISNEY!). We stayed with Bethany too. We had a SUPER early flight down to FL and a super late flight home. Then discovered Adam's catalytic converter had been stolen while we were away. Good times. But the trip was a lot of fun, albeit a whirlwind. We even got stuck on Thunder Mountain Railroad! Dad and I went on one last Dorney trip at the end of the month.
November: I turned 29. What the heck... An okay birthday this year. (It was a Tuesday). I did get Betty's AND Chipotle in the following days so it wasn't a total loss. :) The Christmas Dance recital happened on November 12th. Chaos as usual, but fun. Thanksgiving was here before we knew it and the Christmas season began. There's never enough time to enjoy everything to the fullest, but we tried our best. The house just looks happier with Christmas decor. We found our Christmas tree at Yenser's this year and enjoyed picking it with our pup. Another sad note for this year in November: Adam's Uncle Shawn ALSO passed away very unexpectedly.
December: Finally, December arrived. Cannot believe another Christmas is upon us. We had lots of Christmas performances this year: Cantata, School Concert, Elementary School performances, and I'm glad to say they're over. On December 5th, in the midst of all of my concert prep, we found out that Grandma had passed away. We were able to see her the day prior and were happy that she would no longer be suffering, but the loss is still very difficult for all of us. Yesterday, Marlie was also put to sleep. Sad to go into 2023 without two of my favorite old ladies. :( The ZOW show for 2023 is Anything Goes. Excited to see what the season will bring. Trying out for Reno and maybe Bonnie, and if I don't get either I'm totally content with a tap dancing chorus role. :) Hoping for a healthy and productive 2023. Excited to see what it has in store for us. Hoping for a year with NO funerals.
See you next year, LiveJournal!