2013 in Best Memories.

Looking back on a year is always bittersweet. You realize what moments defined your year, good or bad, and you see how much you've changed. It's interesting how these moments in time make up the years, and all the years make up a lifetime of memories. That's why I like looking back on the best moments of this small moment in time. I'm building my lifetime of memories with each passing year. So without further ado, here are my top 10 best moments from 2013 that I'm saving into my memory vault and taking with me forever.

10. Jack White

My roommate Leah was dying to get a cat when we moved in together. It had only been like, 2 months so I was a little reluctant for fear that if being roommates somehow didn't work out this might complicate things. But as soon as we went to meet the little guy I knew he was ours (technically he's Leah's but not-so-technically he's ours). He's been a complete joy in our lives - so well behaved and the cuddliest thing you've ever met. He's also huge, but that just kinda makes me love him more. Wanna know why we named him Jack White? He's got a little random white stripe on his back. Get it? My idea.

9. Anderson Silva get's KO'd

Yes, this was absolutely one of my favorite moments from 2013 because I got to see it live. It was totally historical. Anderson Silva, the Middleweight champion of the UFC with the longest title defense streak in history, gets knocked out by Chris Weidman. But not only that, he was acting cocky and taunting Weidman throughout the whole fight until it came back to bite him in the ass. It was historic. So much adrenaline was pumping through my veins that night. And although their recent rematch sadly ended in Silva breaking his leg in a serious injury and not at all in the way anyone would have liked to see it go, I'll always remember their first fight and how exciting it was to be there in person.

8. iHeart Radio

My mom passed up the opportunity to go with my dad to the iHeart Radio Music Festival (who does that?!) so he took me as his date for the first night, and it was incredible. I got to see so many big names and some of my favorite artists of all time in one sitting. Fun, Muse (for the second time this year), Keith Urban, Elton John (for the second time), Katy Perry, Queen featuring Adam Lambert.. just to name a few. It was epic. One of the greatest and most fun nights of the entire year. So hoping I get to go again next year.

7. Seattle

This year, my annual trip to Seattle was for Connor's big 21st birthday which I had been looking forward to for many moons. But it was made extra special because one of my lifelong best friends, Katie was spending the summer in Washington and was able to join us for the festivities. I haven't seen her in way too long, so it was just the perfect storm to catch up with her and partake in our usual shenanigans. Oh, Katie. You were most definitely a highlight of my year.

6. Surprise 24th birthday party

For my 24th birthday, Leah threw me my first-ever surprise shindig at our place with our good friend (and AMAZING chef) Justin who made gourmet burritos for everyone (my favorite food) before we headed downtown for a golf-style pub crawl. I even got up and sang at a piano bar. It was just one of the most thoughtful things anyone has ever done for me, and I'm still sentimental about it 6 months later.

5. Moving in with Leah

The stars really aligned for me and Leah this year. We found the perfect apartment in the perfect location, and the timing could not have been better. So far it's been the best roommate experience either of us have ever had, and I feel so lucky. I love our place, our cat, our first Christmas tree, our balcony overlooking Downtown Las Vegas, and especially our friendship. Moving in together was definitely the best decision we could have made for our budding lives out here in Sin City.

4. Meeting Annie

My cousin Sara and her husband Drew had a baby in August! It's the first baby to come into our family since Sara's brother Chad, 14 years ago, so it was a pretty big deal. Unfortunately they live in New York City, so we didn't get to meet the little nugget right away, which we were all aching for. Lucky for me, I had the opportunity to fly to NYC for a weekend on my way to DC for a business trip. It worked out perfectly and I got to spend some quality time with my niece-cousin in her second month of life. It was so special. I can't wait to watch this beautiful baby grow up.

3. Mumford & Sons

This show was a MUST for me in 2013. Unfortunately/not-so-unfortunately their closest tour stop to me was in San Bernardino, CA so as a double whammy, I got to drive to LA and stay with Cory for a couple days before she joined me at the show. When they first announced their tour, I had to sign up to even be invited to purchase tickets. So when I got the email that I was invited, I think I probably peed myself? It was one of those shows that tops the list of the most life-changing shows I've ever seen, made even better with my best friend by my side.

2. Life is Beautiful

Speaking of best shows ever...I went to my first music festival in 2013, Life Is Beautiful. Can you imagine seeing Janelle Monae, Childish Gambino, Capital Cities, Pretty Lights, Dawes, Imagine Dragons, The Killers, and Empire of the Sun right in your back yard? Because I did, and it was literally one of the best weekends of my entire life. I'm still struggling to put into words just how epic this festival was, and I'm counting down the seconds until LIB 2014. It's me and Cory's new annual tradition.

1. Ireland

In 2013, I went to Ireland. I finally made it out of the US and took a trip overseas. It was an enormous milestone for me both personally and professionally. Not only did I get to take my first trip abroad, I got to represent my company internationally which is a pretty big deal. This trip really sparked my budding passion for travel, and gave me the itch to see more of the world. I loved every moment spent on the Emerald Isle, and I'm making it my mission to get back to Dublin one day.

Overall, 2013 was a solid year. Music, travel, new family members, and friendship. That's what life is all about my friends, and life is beautiful.

The Emerald Isle.

I'm just getting back to my routine after a travel coma, which consisted of 8 jet-lagged days in Ireland, 14 hours of travel back to the states, 13 hours of sleep, multiple loads of laundry, and now laryngitis. It felt wonderful to get back to the US, but I'm already missing the Emerald Isle.

Our first big pit-stop: Kylemore Abbey Castle

My journey to Ireland was for a business trip, which was already going to be a huge opportunity for me both personally and professionally. First of all, I've never traveled outside of the US (except to Puerto Rico, if you count that, which I don't) so that in itself was thrilling. Second, the opportunity to represent my company is always an honor, and I was especially excited to have the opportunity to represent Digital Royalty in another country, while also broadening my own personal knowledge of the world. I've always felt so naive having never been outside of the US. There's a whole world out there with billions of people to meet, and it was refreshing to get a small glimpse of what lies beyond. I met people from Croatia, Zagreb, Amsterdam, UAE, Istanbul, England, and of course, Ireland. After meeting so many wonderful and unique people, I officially have the itch to travel all over the world, and hopefully one day visit these new friends.

So like I said, the trip was for business, but my colleague and travel partner, Erinn, suggested we tack on a couple extra days at the front end for personal time. I definitely couldn't argue with that, so I let her take the lead and she ran with it. She put on her travel agent hat and planned everything down to a T. After flying all day and night on Friday, we landed in Dublin early Saturday morning and immediately hopped on a bus across the country to Galway. We checked into our hotel and instantly passed out for a long nap. Unfortunately by the time we woke up for dinner, almost every restaurant in town was closed, but we eventually found something, ate, and then went right back to sleep.

The next morning when we finally woke up, we rented a car so we could do a bit of exploring. Let me tell you how terrifying driving in Ireland was. Luckily Erinn drove the whole time, while I white knuckled my seatbelt and door handle - not because of her driving, but because the roads in Ireland are ALL two way roads, one lane on each side, there's absolutely no shoulder, and the lanes are extremely narrow. Top that off with the fact that we were driving on the opposite side of the road and you could color us terrified (mostly me). But even though my pre-existing car anxiety was taken to new heights, it was totally worth it because we got to see a ton of the country which we wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

So we drove to a little town called Clifden - population: less than 1,000. It was a cute little down where we met a few locals and had a few drinks in one of the pubs. It was just how you would picture it - young people playing musical jigs on their accordions, and taking turns breaking out in Irish dancing. Seriously guys, it was exactly what I pictured Ireland to be like.

After a night in Clifden, we made another terrifying and treacherous drive to see the Cliffs of Moher. The drive from Clifden to the Cliffs was about 2.5 hours, up a winding road to pretty much the tip top of Ireland. I can't even begin to express how car sick I was at this point, but dear god it was worth it. You might recall this scene from the Princess Bride, or this scene from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. That's where I was, and it was one of the most insanely beautiful things I've ever seen in my entire life. I can't get over it. I'm still in awe that this exists in the world, and that I got the chance to see it with my own two eyes.

After the Cliffs, we drove back to Galway and stayed just outside of town in a place called Barna. We checked into a lovely hotel, and after a full day of driving and car sickness, we were excited to finally get a full nights sleep, and maybe, just maybe this would be the night we finally got enough sleep to kick the jet lag and officially be on Ireland's watch. That is, until we noticed a gigantic spider on the window curtains. By gigantic, I mean bigger than the size of my fist. So of course, we panicked and called someone at the front desk to come kill it (seriously, what would YOU have done?!), but by the time they arrived in our room (with only a tissue in hand) the spider had mysteriously disappeared into the curtains. And then we never found him again. Needless to say, neither of us slept a wink that night.

The next day, we returned our rental car and made our way to the train station where we hitched a ride back to Dublin. Both deliriously tired, we attempted to work on the train which was kind of a fail. When we got to Dublin, we checked into our beautiful hotel, The Morrison, freshened up, and made our way to the Guinness Factory. It was definitely a highlight of the trip, and the tour was pretty incredible. Not only do they teach you how Guinness is made and the history behind the beer, they also teach you how to pour the perfect pint and drink it properly (yes, there is a wrong way to drink beer). The tour ends at the very top of the factory in their circular bar that overlooks all 360 degrees of the city. And the beer tasted heavenly.

At this point, playtime was pretty much over and we started cracking down on work. We hosted our third live Google Hangout for DoubleTree by Hilton, and met all of the Socialites who flew in for our camp at a lovely dinner reception. The rest of the trip went swimmingly with 2 days of training and a special tour of the Jameson Distillery for all of the Socialites, where we got to do a whiskey tasting. All bias aside, Jameson just might be the one to get me to start drinking whiskey again.

From the left: Scotch, Jameson, Jack Daniels. Triple Distilled FTW.

We also had dinner at Ireland's oldest pub, The Brazen Head, established in 1198. I personally am most impressed with the fact that 800+ years after opening their doors, they've embraced Twitter. On our last night, I helped host my first ever Tweet-up event, another exciting professional milestone.

It rained the entire time we were in Ireland, and all the locals kept apologizing for the nasty weather, but it couldn't have been more perfect to me. Coming from the desert where it hardly ever rains, I was in heaven and enjoying the dreary, wet days. It made the city just that much more charming.

The flight home was long, freezing, and all around miserable, but I did make the most of it by watching the Breaking Bad finale which I missed while overseas, and 2 other movies in between shivering and failing to take anything that even closely resembled a nap (note to self: sedation!). However, I would take a 16 hour day of traveling to be able to experience another country any day. I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity, and it's one I will take with me and cherish for life.

Welcoming Katie and her Irish adventures!

One of my best friends, Katie has joined the world of blogging in order to photo document her 2 month internship in Dublin, Ireland this summer! So jealous that she gets to go have this amazing opportunity while leaving me behind in Parker, Colorado (tears!!). She will be uploading a picture everyday of her stay in Ireland which will just be fantastic for those of us who only dream of leaving the country for a while.

A little about Katie while I welcome her to blogger, she and I have been friends since the 7th grade. We were "link crew" leaders together in 8th grade, were on the swim team together all through high school, worked together at Black Eyed Pea (she got me my first job AND my current job), and we've even dated the same yucky boys (you know who you are!!) ;)

Katie is one of my very best friends. We have so much in common from our feminist ideas to our liberal politics to our sense of humor, and I love her so much. I know she is going to have an AMAZING time in Ireland (still jealous!!) and I can't wait to read her blog every day and hear about all of her adventures.

Check her out HERE.