Happy New Years Friends!
WOW! Was 2018 a life-changing year or what!?
My 2018 was filled with curveballs being thrown at me constantly. My life, my career, and my family. Reflecting back over the year, and going through my photos from 2018 brings forward a lot of different emotions. Some are great, and some are awful – it has been quite the adventure.
January
The year started with Logan and the fur babies moving in 🏡 I went from living single in my one-bedroom apartment to a household of 4 with a 2:2 human: fur baby ratio. Quite the change! On top of consolidating homes, I kicked the year off ✈️ visiting my first National Park of 2018- Death Valley 🏜 camping under the desert stars with the love of my life celebrating our 1 year anniversary. Not a bad month!
CHECK OUT MY POST ON DEATH VALLEY, the PARK IS OUT OF THIS WORLD GORGEOUS!
February
Not our favorite month this year! The fur babies both had very expensive, debilitating surgeries. Putting our whole family out of commission, with no time to travel as Logan and I spent the next couple of months home nursing our babies back to recovery.
March
April
April brought warmer weather and hope that winter was nearing its end. The fur babies were doing much better and the recovery was getting easier for everyone. I took my first trip since the girls’ surgery- and flew to California for business. Logan hadn’t been to California since childhood- he flew out for the weekend to explore the Los Angeles area and visit Harry Potter’s castle at Universal Studios.
May
May was a giant whirlwind! I made up for the lack of traveling the past few months. As I spent most of the month traveling. It started with Grace and me packing up her life in Chicago and heading west to Seattle. Along the way, we made a few stops…
Read more about my trip to the badlands in this one-day guide to Badlands National Park!
May was an extra special month this year. Because I turned 30!!! And almost instantly grew at least 50 grey hairs. I celebrated my birthday surrounded by my favorite travel crew in a new country – Iceland!
Read more about my Iceland adventures here!
Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer in the midwest. Logan and I still had our suitcases from Iceland packed as we headed north for the weekend. After 10 days away from our fur babies, we were looking forward to a weekend away with them to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Read more about our adventure to Michigan’s UP in my article The Perfect Weekend in Michigan’s UP Central Region.
June
June Logan and I spent the summer weekends camping around Michigan ⛺️ and chasing lighthouses.
July
July started by exploring Seattle with Logan for the first time. We spent a couple of days camping and hiking on the Olympic Peninsula. Another quick trip to Los Angeles for work, and ended with a baby shower to celebrate the future princess 👑 Charlotte Long.
Read more about my trip to Washington in my 3-Day Guide to Olympic National Park
August
August was 4 new Michigan State parks along the west coast of Michigan with all the family!
- Warren Dunes State Park
- Muskegon State Park
- Brimley State Park
- Tahquamenon Falls State Park
Check out my post HERE for the Perfect Weekend Camping on Michigan’s West Coast!
September
September I explored Mexico for the first time! I spent a week in the state of Quintana Roo exploring cenotes and celebrating Logan & Grace’s birthdays!
Next, I headed to Los Angeles again for work ✈️
With little time to breathe- ✈️ I took a quick weekend trip to Boston to visit family and explore the historic city. Overall, September was another crazy busy month of traveling!
October
October Logan and I bought a 1965 Cree! Our Michigan-made camper joined us for just 1 of our 3 Michigan U.P. Trips this year (Rest assured it will be on 100% of 2019 camping adventures 👏🏻). October is my favorite month in Michigan- all the leaves begin to turn colors. The green leaves turn into bright yellows, or bursting oranges and reds. The whole state transforms into a magical place. We also visited some new parks this month:
- Porcupine Mountains State Park
- Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
November
A work trip took me back to LA for my last flight ✈️ of the year, and an experience I’d never forget. Logan joined me after the work week for the weekend, and we drove outside of the city into Joshua Tree National Park.
With the time difference across the country, we only had one day to explore before we had to catch a plane home. After we spent the day exploring the park, we stopped at the Salton Sea. It was hard to see the disaster we were witnessing in front of us. As we were driving back to our campsite, we were rear-ended on the freeway. Thankfully no one was physically injured, however, I couldn’t help but feel this was an omen of sorts.
December
December began a new chapter in my life 🌱that will continue into 2019. The journey hasn’t been easy and I anticipate it will only get harder with the new year. But I learned long ago that what doesn’t kill you- makes you stronger. I am so thankful for each and every person in my life- thank you all for another amazing year!
