Hi friends & Happy New Year!!
It’s that time of the year again where I reflect on the previous year by finding at least 1 good thing that happened each month. It’s something I started in 2018 because I just swore 2017 was a horrible year for me. That was until a friend pointed out just a few great things that happened in my life, so I decided to look at each month & quickly realized it was pretty darn great! It’s one of my favorite things to do now and this is one of my most favorite blog posts to write! I hope you don’t read this as bragging but more as a way to be more appreciative of your life. Just when you think you’ve had a crappy year, I recommend looking through old photos and reminiscing on the good that happened. Whether it’s celebrating another year of life, taking a trip, celebrating others or something as simple as just eating a really good meal (lol). There is so much to be appreciative of in this life and I think we people often look past the little things.
JANUARY
So with all that being said, I pulled out my iPhone, typed in Jan 2019 & picked out a few of my favorite moments. Starting with ringing in the New Year with 2 of our best friends at Hotel Sorella. We had SO MUCH FUN sharing a hotel room, playing Mario Kart, listening to music and dancing the night away. I partnered with Bridal Extravaganza where they invited myself + 3 friends as VIPs to the event where we got to meet the one & only, Mindy Wiess! I died my hair after years of not doing anything to it, celebrated my 26th birthday with friends & family where my mom spoiled me with gifts as always, showered a girl-friend who was a bride-to-be, started a new job where just a week later my best friend got hired too, celebrated my nana’s 74th birthday, partnered with Weddings In Houston & attended the I Do Soiree! at my future venue and shockingly started ANOTHER new job LOL. True story. 2 new jobs in one month. Never again.
FEBRUARY
In February, Henry & I drove up to Austin where we visited his bestie Sean and asked him to be Henry’s best man! Such a sweet moment. There, we ran into henry’s sister and ate brunch at the infamous Bangers. I did the cutest Valentine’s Day themed shoot with my best friend & fiance (see more of that here), celebrated that night at home with a heart-shaped pizza, cinnamon rolls, and wine, duh and I celebrated one of my best friend’s birthday with a wild Sunday Funday that I never want to experience again, LOL.
MARCH
Ahh, March is when the hunt for a wedding dress began. I cannot even begin to tell you how many dresses I tried on. That’s for another blog post! We celebrated baby Levi’s first birthday :’), visited more wedding dress shops, and was really enjoying the new job! Through my job, I was able to meet a really famous Houston chef, Hugo Ortega!
APRIL
My favorite month of them all will forever be April. Henry & I celebrated another year together with dinner at Lucio’s, we did our first food tasting for the wedding menu, took a road trip to San Antonio where we caught up with old friends and attended Fiesta where the food was too good to pass up on a photo.
MAY
In May we celebrated another year with my mom, celebrated the Kentucky Derby – Houston Style, had my first mint julep (I don’t recommend), visited my favorite radio station twice! Once with my mom, I celebrated my first dog-mommy day where my mom went above and beyond to get me the cutest gifts ever, gosh I love her! Celebrated the Prahl’s getting married, finally took a trip to the Silos in Waco with the girls in the family (so much fun), fostered a momma & her two girls (what an experience!!), and last but not least, tried on the dress I’d eventually say yes to!!
JUNE
I said yes to the dress in June (AHHHH!!), celebrated my sweet boy turning 21 aka 3 just a couple of months after his actual birthday but who’s counting, took my first business trip to California where I, unfortunately, did not run into the Vlog Squad (cries), died my hair (again) the same day we were driving down to the river (lol, oops), and lastly, visited Seattle which is where my sister n law and her husband were living at the time!
JULY
In July, we celebrated my sweet niece turning 8 going on 18, I partnered again with Bridal Extravaganza and attended their summer show, celebrated the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and worked my butt off that month, took B to her 4th concert ever and it was to Shawn Mendes *heart eyes*, and last but not least, FINALLY uploaded my first Youtube video! Such a huge milestone in my life as it’s something I wanted to do since highschool. Baby steps. 🙂
AUGUST
August was one of the slower months for me, I worked a lot, attended a work conference in Austin and did our cake testing for the wedding!
SEPTEMBER
In September we were not ready to say bye to pool days, I had a very fun project at work that allowed me to walk the field where the Texans play, sit in the Press Box and watch out Houston Texans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, attend interviews in the locker room and much more. We celebrated my bestie turn 25, went to more weddings, had a girls night in and did a fun shoot in the flower field, Thanks Van!
OCTOBER
October is the month I finally started to like my hair. It only took 7 different appointments (sarcasm), the girls and I went to Dallas for a church conference, I started leading again, and this time with my best friend Jess, I took the sweetest photos ever with Bentley Boy thanks to my friend Kristen, MET JASON NASH (top 5 best moments in my life), said see ya later and congrats to the Prahl’s who left to the big apple, had round 1 of engagement photos and also celebrated a year of being engaged, went to our annual Texans game, dressed Bentley as a hot-dog (haha, get it?), went alllll out on our Halloween costume this year and went to London for business!!!
NOVEMBER
I started November in London, watched the Texans beat the Jaguars AGAIN, and enjoyed London as much as I could since it was my first time there. We went to the Nutcracker Market, where I spent WAY too much money, I learned how to make pupusas from my mother n law, we got to witness an experience Kanye’s Sunday Service at our home church, took Bentz to Dog Day & FOMO, Henry & I went to TWO weddings in one night, we had round 2 of engagement shots, took Brea to our church for the first time and celebrated Thanksgiving with the fam.
DECEMBER
In December we started alterations on the wedding dress, I met the one & only Benito Skinner!!!, we celebrated Henry turning 30 with the most amazing dinner ever (if you know, you know), I took Christmas pic with my bay boy, we started our wedding registry and picked out our dishware, hosted 1 and went to several Christmas parties, went to a Christmas themed bar in Houston (check out those koala’s!!), received final engagement photos, celebrated Christmas with the fam, shouted about the fact that we hit double digits till the wedding, and started the fitness goals a week before the New Year!
What a year 2019 was! It was a year I really focused on myself, my new job, continuing to strengthen my relationship with Henry and tons of wedding planning! Did anything stand out for you in 2019? If so, feel free to share in the comments down below.
Xx, Es
What an amazing year you had, and I love You more 🥰😘