Looking back on 2017, this year will surely be hard to top. 2017 has been full of lots of fun, too many memories to count, adventures and a whole lot of laughs.
For the last 5 years or so, my family has always taken a summer and a winter vacation to start off the year. We started the year in Destin, Florida in the most beautiful home by the beach. Zach and I love coffee, so we made sure to find a local coffee shop (Bad ass coffee, you rock!). We ate lots of brunch, including the best cinnamon roll french toast I’ve found and spent lots of time in the hot tub, thanks to the 60 degree temperatures.
We celebrated Zach’s 29th birthday in Cleveland, by visiting the Rock n’ Roll hall of fame, had lunch where Zach had to specially request a steak at 11am, and ended the night by seeing the Lumineers together. 29 looks good on you sweet boy!
We went to lots of sporting events! We saw the Cavs, the Pirates (my family has season tickets so we saw them a lot), the Blue Jackets and the Steelers. There’s nothing I love more than experiencing life with Zach by my side.
We went to Washington DC with my family. We stayed at the Trump International Hotel, visited all of the National Monuments, saw the White House, watched the changing of the guard, walked through Arlington and feasted the most immaculate Easter Brunch.
Being with Zach since November of 2015, he has been by my side essentially my entire time at Kent State. Doing post-secondary in high-school, I finish my undergrad in two years. This means that Zach was by my side every single one of my finals weeks. He has been a real trooper over the past two years and really helped me through undergrad. A long with being by my side through undergrad, he was a huge support system during my time studying and taking the LSAT (for me to get into law school) and during the entire application process. Through the hard times, he was there and even more to celebrate the good times. This past year, I was blessed enough to gain admittance into Capital Law School with more than a 50% scholarship and graduate from Kent State’s Business College and the Kent State Honors College.
While the boys are away, the girls will play. Zach went away for military training for a couple of weeks so mom and I went on a couple adventures. We vistied Nemacolin Spa for some pampering and headed off to NYC for some girl time with some other women in our family. Our first day was filled with more food, we found Bantam Bagels, got some pizza, we got edible cookie dough at DO and ended the night by seeing Hamilton on broadway. I’m pretty sure I’ve never been more obsessed with anything more than the Hamilton soundtrack. We visited the 9/11 memorial (and what an emotional journey that was), we saw the Yanks at Yankee Stadium, we took a ferry around the city and took a pedi-cab around central park.
When Zach came home, we planned a trip to Cincinatti to see the Zoo and feed the giraffes (my favorite!!), eat a nice dinner out and spend the following day at Kings Island.
We celebrated my 21st birthday and Zach planned the best surprise 21st birthday for me back in Kent with the help of all my best friends.
We traveled to Cincinnati for Military Family day at Zach’s unit, then drove to West Virginia for Zach’s cousins beautiful wedding, and drove back to Columbus to jetset off on an incredible vacation to Phoenix, Arizona, Williams, Arizona and the Grand Canyon. We swam pool-side at our house near the mountains, went hiking through the Arizona canyons, rode camels at the zoo, ate a 30 inch hot dog at the Alice Cooper bar, caught a Diamondbacks game, visited Route 66, took a train equipped with food, drinks, live entertainment and train robbers, finally ending up in the most majestic place, the Grand Canyon. I’ve traveled through Europe, seen the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum, and the Swiss Alps but seeing God’s handy-work in the Grand Canyon was unlike any other.
After returning from Arizona, I moved to Columbus and began my first year of Law School. Zach also received a promotion at work and celebrated a year with the Department of Defense. We got professional photos done (thanks Bailey Lones Photography) in our quaint little area of German Village and I worked to get through my first semester.
Zach and I spent another Thanksgiving together, and 3 days later he asked me to spend forever with him (see my last post for the full story)!!
Between my first law school finals, Christmas and New Years the end of the year has absolutely flown by. This year has been unlike any other. Between getting into law school, graduating undergrad, vacations and adventures, our engagement and a semester under my belt 2017 is going to be hard to beat! Although this post was long, 2017 was very good to us and I couldn’t narrow down the memories.
Cheers to 2018,
A & Z
Loving you is eAZy 