2013: In Review

Well, I guess it's already that time again! Time for another end-of-year review. I swear it seems like yesterday that I was doing my 2012 in review post! Time really does fly! I enjoy doing these posts though because it helps me keep track of things we've done each year (since I am so bad at writing in a journal! Which I need to get back to doing!!)

Anyways, here's a very brief summary of what went down in 2013 for J and I:

Jason and I started 2013 in the Philippines. We were living in Borongan in my father-in-law's house. J was doing his garden and music things. I was semi-doing my little baking business. And we both kept busy with all our jungle dogs. It was a quiet, relaxing and peaceful life we were living out there. But you know, with so much free time on our hands, our minds start to wander. By March, we decided we wanted to pursue other things and left Borongan.

We spent a few weeks in Manila with J's grandma. I'm not a huge fan of Manila. In fact, I really dislike it. But we were able to get out quite a bit. We went to Intramuros one day and walked around. We even went on a roadtrip to explore Banaue and Sagada with J's sister and her fiance who were vacationing in the Philippines. We had an adventure of a lifetime! We were really happy that we decided to join them and experience a part of the Philippines we had never experienced before. We really enjoyed it and we hope to explore more of the Philippines the next time we're there (which will be soon- hopefully!)

Then in mid-April, we left the Philippines after living there for 9 months. It was bittersweet. It was our home for the last 9 months and we were getting used to it, but we were also ready and excited for some new adventures!


Since we were in Asia and had a little bit of extra money, we decided to go go Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before we headed stateside. J and I LOVED KL. The food, the people, the diversity, the interesting history and culture... there was just so much to love! We even had to make an episode of The Hungry Backpacker, even though we were only there just a few days.

We were quite sad when we had to leave KL. We wanted to explore other parts of Malaysia, but ran out of time. We loved it so much there, we even talked about how we could see ourselves living there one day! Hmmm... maybe. Just maybe. You never know with us!

 At the end of April, we were in California. We were able to make it just in time for my mom's birthday, which she loved. We were in California for about a month. We spent the whole time spending time with our friends and family. We were able to go dirtbiking,  go camping with a bunch of friends, go on a 3-day, 30-mile hike, and just have good times and enjoy with our people (like making this video for a Justin Bieber cover we did).

All the while, we were getting ready for our next adventure... NASHVILLE!

We made a cross-country trek on our move to Nashville. We took our time and made an epic roadtrip out of the whole thing. First, we stopped at the Grand Canyon and camped there a couple of nights. Then part two was going through NM, OK, TX and AR. Then we spent a few days at the Ozarks, which we really enjoyed. And then, finally, we made it to Tennessee!

We settled in a house in East Nashville after a few days of being homeless. We loved the area. I got a job a few weeks after that. Then, in August, we were flooded out of that house. Not something I ever want to experience ever again.

After some more time of being homeless, we finally found a place close to my work. J finally found a job. And we've been trying to recover from that flood since then.

On a lighter note, in July we were able to make a roadtrip to Maryland and spend 4th of July weekend with Jason's family. It was a great time and so hard to leave and go back to reality! At the end of August we celebrated our 2-year wedding anniversary. In September, we celebrated J's birthday. We celebrated our third Thanksgiving and Christmas as a married couple. In December, I was able to go back to California for a few days where I also got to spend my 29th birthday.






And all this leads me up to today and this 2013 in review post. It started off as an awesome year, with some tough spots in the middle, and at the end, we're trying to get those tough spots out. But things are looking up. We always try our best to stay positive. We're blessed to have amazing people in our lives who have always loved and supported us. We never forget that.

Here's to a better 2014! Cheers!