A Year in Review

So, I know that I'm over a month behind on writing this post, but since the main reason behind starting the blog in the first place was to have a visual reminder of the fun adventures in the Lyles' house- it's better late than never.

Here's a review of 2014 in the life of the District Darling.

2014 in Review

JANUARY 

We rang in the New Year with our friends by hosting a pre-party at our house and then listening to dueling pianos at Iron City as the clock struck 12AM.

We survived Snowpacolypse 2014 in Birmingham, Alabama. John walked 3 miles in the snow to make it home that night. True love, y'all.

I surprised John by getting his friends and family to write to him for his birthday. 26 letters for 26 wonderful years.

FEBRUARY

We celebrated Valentine's with a picnic in the Botanical Gardens and a photo scavenger hunt around the city. It's hard to believe that it was warm enough to do such things since now February consists of bundling up in 4+ layers and praying for no blizzards. 

MARCH

John and I found out that he was matched for pediatric residency at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

As soon as we found out John's placement, we jumped in the car and went to the lake to celebrate with my dad.

APRIL

We took a quick up to D.C. where we found a place to live and I found a job all in a day's work. 

MAY 

Our dear Birmingham friends thew us a fabulous going away dinner party. 

With the help of our friends and family, we packed up a U-Haul, said goodbye to 2614 Beverly and moved ourselves to D.C.

John graduated from medical school and officially became Dr. Lyles. 

We had our first house guests, John's parents. While they were here, we went to Mount Vernon, Old Town Alexandria, the Memorial Day Celebration at the Capitol and Baltimore. 

JUNE

Our friends Collin and Elizabeth came for a visit and we took our first stab at kayaking the Potomac.

John and I were honored to march in the Pride Parade through Dupont Circle. 

I had the awesome opportunity to co-direct a week of summer camp with one of my very best friends, Andrew Heckathorn, at one of my favorite (if not my favorite) places on Earth- Camp Sumatanga. 

JULY

John and I celebrated the 4th of July at the Capitol.

My friend Meagan came to visit me for an early birthday surprise!

I celebrated my birthday with friends new and old. 

My mom also came to visit for my birthday and we went to ride the ferris wheel at the National Harbor per her request. 

AUGUST

We cheered on the Tide at the local Alabama bar which is conveniently located a few blocks away from us. 

SEPTEMBER

John I took a road-trip up the Northeast coast. 

We went to Philadelphia...

New Haven, CT.

Boston.

Portland, ME.

Burlington, VT

After taking a road trip of the Northeast, we took a trip to the South for our sweet friends, Lauren and Lee's, wedding in Memphis, TN. 

We also took a day trip to Charlottesville with our friends the Browns. While there we checked out some of our favorite Charlottesville haunts and also went to Ash Lawn Highland and Jefferson Vineyards for our first time. Such fun!

OCTOBER

My dad came to visit for a fall weekend stay. We spent the time showing him our favorite restaurants and D.C. establishments including the Georgetown waterfront. 

We took a day trip to Virginia and went apple picking for the first time, 

We attended our first ever Dupont Drag Race which happened just a hop, skip, and a jump away from our home. 

The "Witch Doctor" and "Life of the Party" celebrated Halloween with the Browns by going to a gourmet candy tasting, hitting up Halloween on the Hill and wrapping it up at a local speakeasy. 

NOVEMBER

My mom visited again while John worked a slew of nights. We spent the weekend shopping, taking in the sights and attending the Metro D.C. cooking show. 

John and I celebrated the holidays and our anniversary early by having a weekend get-away in NYC which included seeing the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. 

Since John had to work on Thanksgiving, the Browns took me in and let me have a meal with them and their family. John was actually able to join for a quick little bite before heading to work!

DECEMBER

John and I spent Christmas in D.C. and celebrated by making new traditions. 

It was a fun year full of new places, new faces, and a new city to experience it all in . This by no means covers everything, but just flipping through these highlights makes me realize just how thankful I am for the many blessings that I have. Cheers to another fabulous year in the District!