"Sometimes life gets in your way.
It gets all up in your damn way.
But it doesn't get all up in your damn way because it wants you to just give up and let it take control.
Life doesn't get all up in your damn way because it just wants you to hand it all over and be carried along.
Life wants you to fight it.
Learn how to make it your own.
- Colleen Hoover, Slammed

As you know (since you are most likely one of the five people that read my blog... hi mom), I am a big reader. My kindle is probably 70% full of fiction books that fall into the categories of dystopic futures, fantasy or sci-fi, but every once in a while I do read books about real people in the 21^st century. One of the best books I’ve read this year (actually, probably ever) falls into this category: Slammed by Colleen Hoover.

Two of my biggest pet peeves with novels are poor writing and characters that make unrealistic/unbelievable decisions. Slammed’s characters are genuinely relatable and the writing is fabulous. I often found myself laughing out loud and, yes, even shed a tear or two at the end, which I think are both signs of a well-rounded book.

One of my favorite parts of this story is a cute tradition the characters have at their family dinners. Every night, the group takes turns going around the table and shares with everyone their “suck and sweet” of the day – their highest and lowest points.

It was brought to my attention by one of my loyal readers (hi dad) that my last post was kind of depressing. Although for me it was a positive experience to write, I understand reading about my shitty year probably wasn’t the highlight of your day. Seeing that I spent a whole post sharing my “sucks” of 2012, I am going to dedicate this post to the “sweets” since (believe it or not) there were a number of things that made me genuinely happy.

D.C. friends: Moving to a new state without a pre-existing group of friends is extremely difficult. This I know from experience after moving to Chicago two and a half years ago. At the end of the summer a lot of things started shifting in my life… these changes gave me the opportunity to meet and connect with some amazing people who I now consider some of my closest friends.

New roommate: After receiving a number of responses to my Craigslist ad from people who would clearly not be a good fit for a roommate, Jillian replied to my post. After a mutual friend confirmed she was indeed normal and not the Craigslist killer, she moved in the first week in September. What I thought was going to be a difficult transition from my previous living situation turned out to be a blessing in disguise and I couldn’t be more thankful.

   

New job: It’s no secret that I disliked my previous job in Chicago. In contrast, I could not be happier with where I have ended up and my new position at AIA. As the communications manager at the leading aerospace and defense lobby firm in D.C., I have had amazing first-hand experience with a hugely influential political campaign, coordinated national press conferences on Capitol Hill and worked on behalf of an industry that I truly believe makes a difference in this country.

Traveling: Although it is difficult being in a different state from my family and friends, I love the opportunities I get to travel and visit them. The 4.5 hour bus rides home from New York may be painful but the weekends I get to spend with my best friends from college are worth it. Moving from Chicago was very difficult to do since I was leaving behind the best group of friends I could have asked for and never imaged I’d have living in the Windy City. Going back has been wonderful and I’m looking forward to visits (and weddings!) this year as well.

Ollie: This little nugget may never understand what ‘heel’ means and will probably never stop eating socks but she was such a blessing to have in my life this past year. Seeing how I could write a whole post about her, I’ll just end now and let the pictures speak for themselves.

With all of these positive things in my life as support, I am looking forward to the year ahead and am pretty sure 2013 is going to be amazing.

xo
AG