Thank you and Top Twelve

Well, the year 2013 is rapidly coming to an end, and I first wanted to say thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. When I started this blog, I didn't think I could last a month. In fact, this is the very first New Year's Resolution I have successfully accomplished, and I couldn't have done it without each one of you, my readers.

Some of you have read because you are related to me and are obligated to, some of you have read because you are my friends and you support me no matter what, and some of you hopefully have read simply because you are interested in/can relate to what I write. I've been so inspired seeing that my readers have come from the US, Serbia, Russia, China, Germany, France, Belgium, Bangladesh, Honduras and Malaysia. Knowing (or hoping) someone out there is reading my blogs has kept me going. 

I plan to keep blogging, and I'm completely changing up the format, so tune in tomorrow to hear all about No Other Day the Same 2014! 

Today, however, I'm choosing to think back on 2013. Some posts have certainly been more elegant and well thought out than others, yet here we are, 365 posts later. It's odd in a sense. When you take each day and write about it, a year seems very long and very short at the same time. Looking at my posts collectively, I've noticed a few trends. This year, I have taken the bus - A LOT. I have said goodbye to my teaching career (for now). I have frequently experimented with baking. I have experienced plenty of absurd encounters that seem to only happen to me, and seem to only happen in Philly. I have continually embraced my awkward nature. I have laughed at myself. 

Below I've listed my favorite post from every month. Well, you're getting a Baker's Dozen this time. I feel as though March was a particularly good month for me, writing-wise, and I couldn't choose just one.

January: Yo dropped your smile - I remember on that particular day feeling very down in the dumps. Taking the time to notice this sign and write this post changed my entire mood.

February: The art of getting lost - Looking back on this post reminds me to never stop having adventures, even if they aren't the adventures I have planned to have.

March: Neat Stuff - I've been wanting to enter this store for six years, and I couldn't believe my luck that I finally got to see inside. It was everything I had been hoping for and more.

Bonus: If you can't spot the weird person on the bus, it's you - After all my ranting and raving about bus rides, I loved laughing at myself for being THAT PERSON.

April: I feel the streets! - I will always remember taking my 3rd graders outside that day, after the craziness that was the hellish standardized testing.

May: The man with the shirt that blows in the wind - This, like "Neat Stuff", was another Philly mystery I was delighted to crack this year.

June: YES - I will never forget how free I felt on that day, running through the fountain. 

July: Picture memories - Even though no picture accompanies this post, I can still see the lake in Maine in my mind.

August: Baking my cake and eating it too - I will continue to bake, to the frustration and worry of those skilled bakers around me!

September: Trying to bike like I'm French - I will never manage to bike like the French, yet somewhere this year, I managed to embrace those moments of complete awkwardness I have every day.

October: Frank Sinatra is a liar - I will never stop looking for Dr. Evans in that coffee shop, and I continue to be haunted by his story.

November: The intricacies of the trees - My grandma has taught me to see the beauty in the unexpected, and I loved being able to pass along that message. 

December: Now and Then - I believe that part of moving on in years is having the ability to reflect on how the world is changing. 

I remember telling a friend early on this year that my posts would be short, a paragraph at most! I didn't quite hold true to that promise!! Goodbye, 2013...