Blake & Catie 2011 Year in Review!

I've always enjoyed reading "year in review" blogs from people I follow, so Blake and I decided to do one for ourselves.  Click on the links to go back to blogs we've written over the past year, and have fun recapping our year with us!


January
In January, Blake and I started our second half of our first year of Medical and Law school.  Here are some things that we did:

• We made this silly video.
• I endured multiple interviews before landing a job at a local legal services organization.
• We got dressed up to go to Blake's Winter Ball with Georgetown School of Medicine.

February

• We got a visit from my Dad.
• We celebrated our first Valentine's Day as a married couple!
• I found new websites for when I need a laugh or just want to procrastinate.
• I used my spring break to hang out with Blake in class for a day!

March

• Blake became a stay-at-home husband for a week during his spring break at school.
• I skyped with a lot of people over the computer.
• I played a part in the Trial of the Big Bad Wolf for a bunch of elementary school kids.
• I learned How to Date a Medical Student.
• We hosted a birthday fiesta for our friend, Allen.

 April

• My dad came to visit again, and he and I got away from school and work to do some touristy things.
• Marcus and Suzy got ENGAGED!  
•  We tried out some new recipes.
• I finished my first year of law school!
• Blake also participated in MedWar, which we never actually wrote a blog about, and I was a volunteer for the race.  Here's the recap:

 A bunch of medical minded people get together in teams of three to go through an obstacle course complete with bike riding, canoeing, and stations of "injured" people.  At the stations, each team had to treat the injuries and assess the dangerous situations.  They are then scored by judges at each station and given points based on how quickly they finished.

Blake, Allen, and Nicole were on a team, and I was a judge at one of the stations. Go Beached Whales!

 May 

• We rearranged our apartment.
• Marcus and Suzy picked a wedding date, and Blake and I picked up tickets!
• I became domestic and made some fun new recipes I found online.
• I took a ten day trip to Tennessee, and I:
• visited my favorite mother-in-law,
• visited one of my best friends, Pamela, and made a Bollywood inspired video, 
• did clean-up in Tennessee in a small community where a tornado recently struck,
• celebrated Mother's Day with my mother,
• spent time with my family,
• and ate dinner with my girls from Lipscomb and saw Becca off on her trip to Guatemala!
• We also celebrated our first anniversary as a married couple!

June

• Blake finished up his first year of medical school and visited Knoxville for awhile! 
• We explored different parts of DC, including:
• Georgetown's Water Front,
• Dumbarton Oaks Park
• and Dupont Circle.
• Blake and I tried out new recipes too! Snacking foods, falafel, pizza tortilla and peanut butter granola!
• We took a roadtrip to Tennessee for two of our close friends' weddings, Lindsey and Lorie.

July

• I finished up summer school.
• Blake surprised me after work by buying tickets to see a play at the Kennedy Center called Shear Madness.
• We got a parking ticket dismissed!!
• My friends Heather and Brittney came to DC to visit! Here, here, here, and here!
• Marcus and Suzy tied the knot!

• A handsome guy I'm married to had a birthday and turned 24.
• Blake and I decided to go to the beach, and we had a blast!

August

• I finished working at my summer job, and started working at my fall internship.
• Blake and I both started our second year of graduate school.
• We took a trip to Ikea and built a Mega Desk for studying.

September

• We survived Hurricane Irene.
• Our friend, Blake, came to visit.
• We made skillet gnocchi.
• Blake and I made it to Tennessee where we were each in a wedding 30 minutes apart. 

October 

• This month, I visited Tennessee for one of my old bridesmaid, Ashley's, wedding and my cousin's bachelorette party.
• And then I went back to Tennessee again for my cousin's wedding!
• I turned 24 and blogged about it a whole bunch because school was stressful and my birthday was not!
• I went to a paint rave.
• I blogged about fun things I see around Washington DC here, here, and here.
• Blake surprised me with dinner after a long day at work.
• I had several fashion emergencies, one of which included  wearing two different shoes to judge a competition at the law school and the other included ripping my skirt straight up the back and fashioning a scarf into a skirt so I could make it to the bus stop. Awkward.
• Blake and I went as Dr. Pepper to the Halloween Pumpkin Party at our friend's house.

November 

• We enjoyed fall in the city.
• I began collecting pictures of Blake studying... of which there were A LOT!
• We studied a lot.  I'm not even going to give you a link because those posts were really boring. I mean reallllllly boring.  I will make an exception for this blog because Blake was just too cute!
• We celebrated Thanksgiving with some medical school friends and between the two of us.
• We decorated for Christmas.
• Blake and I narrowly escaped several close crime situations. 
• We found out that Marcus and Suzy are EXPECTING A BABY!

December

• Blake and I finished the first half of our second hear of medical and law school!  I am exactly half way done with law school now!
• We got down to Nashville and hung out with Heather, Courtney, Brittney, and family.
• We watched my cousin graduate from college.
• I got my haircut!
• On Christmas Eve, we took lots of jump pictures with my extended family.
• We visited my parents for Christmas.
• I got crafty with some pictures and my old wedding cards.
• We visited Blake's parents for another Christmas.
• We did a Christmas lights tour in Knoxville.
• We rang in the New Year with Blake's parents and Marcus and Suzy and our future Niece or Nephew!

Overall, Blake and I had a great--though busy and stressful--year in 2011.  I won't go so far as say that we loved it, but it was special and there were a lot of really sweet moments.  Plus, it was the first year that we were married from January through December! We're looking forward to 2012 and seeing what awaits for us there!