Obligatory Post about 2013

This could be a 2013 In Review! post, but no one wants that.  2013 was awful, and I'm glad to see it gone.  I'll just do a quick list to remind myself of all the big things that I actually want to remember.

1. I taught myself how to knit.
2. I won a singing toothbrush for having the best sentence in a Periodic Sentence competition.
3. Caledonia High School had something like 5 snow days in February alone, giving me ample time to watch the first 2.5 seasons of Downton Abbey.  (I stopped at a time when everyone was reasonably happy and I could blissfully ignore the fact that it was all going to hit the fan in the next episode.)
4. I read Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and Lord of the Flies within the span of two months, learning that a) I can actually read well and fast when I try and b) I do actually like Lord of the Flies, contrary to my 7th-grade self's opinion.  (I mean...no one actually likes Lord of the Flies...but you know what I mean.)
5. I watched Ted Dansen in Gulliver's Travels the equivalent of four times.
6. I made Professor Vande Kopple's face bleed from a too-cold snow ball to the nose.
7. Grand Rapids was voted Beer City USA
8. Amy, Luke, Jake, and I went bowling and the people who took our order of food and drinks messed up and brought us double of everything.
9. I bought two tactical scarves and a set of Game of Thrones pint glasses.
10. My cousins got married to my awesome new cousins.
11. My brother got drunk at one of the weddings and went fishing in the hotel pond.
12. I saw Mr. Sampson for the first time in years.
13. I made a big, spur-of-the-moment decision that I almost completely don't regret.
14. I went to California for the first time.
15. I left California.
16. I bought Mario Kart Wii.  Easily the best purchase of my life.
17. I went to a Muse concert with some of my favorite people.
18. I reread Ender's Game.
19. I took Fudge to dog parks.
20. I am no longer 23 so people can like me again...please?
21. I bought a new Christmas tree and way too many ornaments second hand and spent a total of about 100 hours doing nothing but sitting in front of my Christmas Grove, staring at its beauty.
22. My best friend gave me a very pretty ring and a handy excuse to stare at it from time to time.
23. I survived and thrived through another Colorado Christmas.
24. I made it through this year and it didn't kill me.