2016 - A Year in Pictures

As 2017 comes around the corner, I wanted to pause and reflect some of the highlights of this past year.  In 2016, I got to experience some great trips and time with family.  We celebrated the life of my grandad, who passed away this spring.  In the summer, I discovered a love for spinning and renewed my love of running - which, combined, led to a much healthier/happier version of myself at the end of 2016 than at the beginning.  Here are some of my favorite pictures and memories from this year.

Holiday Festivities

Christmas of 2016 may be behind us, but I wanted to take a post (as I play catch-up) to commemorate some of the other December happenings that filled this year's Christmas season.

My mom and I kicked off December with a mother-daughter date night to see The Nutcracker at the Winspear Opera House in downtown Dallas.  We got dressed up and had a delicious meal at one of my favorite little spots in town, Joyce & Gigi's, before heading over to the opera house.

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, from our family to yours!!  I hope that you and yours had a blessed and enjoyable Christmas.

A Weekend in Seattle

Back in November, I took a weekend trip to Seattle, Washington to visit a friend.  The two of us worked together back in Indiana, and she actually helped me get my job.  She moved to Seattle soon after I relocated to Texas, so it was a real treat to get to reunite halfway across the country with her and to explore a new-to-me city.  It was cold and rainy, but I still found myself fascinated by the beauty of the city and the surrounding areas.

Dallas Half Marathon

When my friend Erin asked me this summer to train for the Dallas Half Marathon with her, I was very hesitant.  I have tried to train for a long running race several times in the past, only to be sidelined halfway through due to various injuries.  Having dealt with a back injury since college, I just figured that my body wasn't able to handle such an intense training regimen.  But I agreed, mainly because she told me I could back out at any time.

Summer Highlight Reel

This summer has been pretty busy around these parts!  Between Memorial Day and the 4th of July, Steve and I traveled every weekend but one!  So time has really flown.  Here's what we've been up to so far this summer, one picture at a time.

New Mexico Weekend

My family gathered in New Mexico over Memorial Day Weekend to celebrate my grandad's life at his memorial service.  My mom, dad, Steve and I hit the road on Friday afternoon for the long drive to Albuquerque.  It was my first time driving through the Texas Panhandle and we decided to embrace the experience with rattlesnake signs and cowboy hats.

Sara Does Dallas

One of my very best friends, Sara, came down from Indiana to visit last month.  It was her second trip to Dallas (she came down to see us this and I was determined to make it as fun and as Dallas-y as possible.  We had the best time!

San Diego: Day 3

{Check out this post, this one and this one for a recap of the first and second days of our girls' trip to San Diego!  And a huge thanks to my mom and sister for the pretty pictures in this post!}

Our third and final day in San Diego began with dessert for breakfast.  My sister found this little funky breakfast place that served the most delicious french toast and pancakes.  I ordered a pancake flight, which consisted of a plain cake, a peanut butter cup one and the special of the day, which included white chocolate chips and cream, topped with coconut.  Oh my goodness, it was heavenly.  My sister ordered the french toast special and we immediately went into sugar comas.  Totally worth it.

San Diego: Day 2 (part ii)

{Check out this post and this one or a recap of the first day of our girls' trip to San Diego!  And a huge thanks to my mom and sister, both excellent photographers, for the pretty pictures in this post!}

Our second day in San Diego continued after our trip to Nurtured by Nature with a visit to the coastline.  We drove over to La Jolla, parked along the cliffs and walked down to the beach.  The skies had cleared by the time we arrived, and the tide was low.  The Pacific Ocean was stunning!

San Diego: Day 2 (part i)

{Check out this post for a recap of the first day of our girls' trip to San Diego!  And a huge thanks to my mom and sister, both excellent photographers, for the pretty pictures in this post!}

The second day of our trip began with the ultimate purpose of the trip: a visit to Nurtured by Nature.  Nurtured by Nature is a wildlife refuge operated in conjunction with the Make a Wish Foundation.  The couple who runs the refuge were as sweet as can be, and well trained in caring for exotic animals.  They are known most for the opportunity to swim with their playful and cheerful residents - Chinese small-clawed otters.  That's actually what led us to plan our trip in the first place.  I saw this video a while back and sent it to my sister - the next thing I knew, we were booking flights to San Diego and the trip was underway!

San Diego: Day 1

My mom, sister and I spent a long weekend in San Diego a few weeks back to celebrate my sister's birthday.  We had a lot of fun enjoying our girls' weekend!  (You are safe to assume that any high-quality pictures in this post are courtesy of my sister, aka our resident photographer.  Thanks sis!)

After a quick stop at Starbucks (a necessity on any #halseygirlstrip), we hopped on an early morning flight and arrived in San Diego by mid-morning on Saturday.  We were able to check into our hotel first thing and get settled before we headed out for lunch.  Our hotel (Residence Inn) was brand new and located right on the bay, so we had a great view of Coronado Island and the USS Midway Museum.

Steve's Bar Celebration

We got some big news last Friday - Steve passed the Texas Bar Exam!  After months of studying, sitting for the exam and waiting for the results, we were finally able to bring this chapter of life to a close and celebrate!  And celebrate we did.

Spring Happenings

It's been a while since my last post - this spring has been a busy one!  So let's get caught up on the latest happenings, shall we?  Here's what I've been up to since we last chatted:

- A belated birthday trip to Houston, including a delicious brunch with my sister and the epic Houston Rodeo with my college roommate.

Thirty

On Saturday, I hit a big life milestone - I bid farewell to my twenties and entered a new decade of life as I celebrated my 30th birthday!  Since my birthday fell on a weekend this year, I got to celebrate my birthday all weekend long!  The birthday celebrations actually began with two surprises delivered to my office on Friday - the most delicious cookie delivery of all time from my sweet college roommate, and beautiful flowers from two dear friends in Indiana.  One more surprise arrived from a long-distance friend (and another is on the way!) over the weekend, and all I can say is how grateful I am to have such incredible friends who celebrated this milestone with me from afar!

Thoughts on being a swammer

This past weekend, I drove down to Austin to watch my high school swim team compete in the Texas high school state championship.  I graduated from high school over a decade ago now, and some of the swimmers that competed on Saturday were 6&under guppies that I coached in summer league back in college.  I hadn't been to a high school meet in ages - the last meet I attended was probably my sister's senior year in high school, nearly a decade ago.  But this year, I decided to drive to Austin and go to the state meet.  And I'm so glad I did.

{happy reunion!}

Texas Hill Country

Last month, my parents and I went on a last-minute trip to the Texas Hill Country over the MLK holiday.  When I learned that I had MLK Day off, I wanted to take advantage of the long weekend but, with Steve in hard-core bar study mode, I didn't want to pull him away from his studies.  So it worked out perfectly to get away for the weekend with my parents and be an only child for a couple of days!