Goodbye 2019, Thanks for the Memories!
You know what they say: the older you get, the faster the time goes. I’m sitting here in January 2020 realizing just that…
The days and months of 2019 feel like such a blur — it’s like I closed my eyes for one minute and suddenly the whole year passed by without warning. The older I get, the more I see that time waits for no one; in the blink of an eye, minutes turn to hours, hours turn to days, days turn to weeks, weeks turn to months, and months quickly pile up to create a year.
As I look back on 2019 and all I accomplished, I’m realizing how great of a year it actually was. I feel so thankful for all the memories that were created: I started my blog, traveled a bunch, spent lots of quality time with my boys and my family, and snapped thousands of photos to capture and remember all life’s little moments in between. And so, before I switch gears to tackle 2020, I thought it’d be fun to reflect upon some memories from 2019.
April 21, 2019 — Alex, Mogul, and I took our first trip to hike at Lake Waccamaw State Park.
We love taking the pup to new places and Mogul loves long car rides, so we jumped in the car and set out for a new adventure at Lake Waccamaw! The hike around the lake was so much fun — well, minus the part about there being alligators in the lake (didn’t find that out until afterwards). Also, Alex got bit by a Lonestar Tick at some point which was pretty scary given the effects it can have on your health (diseases, allergies to red meat, etc.). He ended up with no observable health effects (thank goodness), but he does have little scars on his waistline where he was bit.
April 25, 2019 — Alex and I drove up the coast to spend an extended weekend in Connecticut.
The primary purpose of the trip was to attend our friends’ wedding, but we extended the trip and made a mini-vacation out of it, giving ourselves a couple extra days to explore the area. We love road trips, so this 10-hour trip was so fun and right up our alley. Though it was cold, windy, and rainy most of the trip, we enjoyed coastal Connecticut and time with sweet friends!
May 2, 2019 — The dog ate my glasses, so I had to get new ones.
Yep, I said that correctly — the dog chewed up my wire frames and ingested all the glass from both the lenses. Fortunately he was okay, but I was worried sick over it. In the end, I used the “opportunity” to get out of my comfort zone; I purchased my first ever pair of thick black frames from eyebuydirect and it was the best change I never knew I needed!
May 15, 2019 — Just Jen Things launch day!
I finally stopped procrastinating and sat down to write my first blog post. It was exciting and rewarding to hit publish and start the Just Jen Things journey. I’ve had so much fun posting throughout the year and I can’t wait to continue forward in 2020.
May 17, 2019 — The day of the “If Mogul were an emoji” picture.
It’s just a cute picture, what more is there to say?
May 30, 2019 — Mom & Dad came to visit, so we took them to Carolina Beach for the afternoon.
Southeastern North Carolina beaches are between 2 to 2.5 hours from my house, a perfect distance for a quick day trip. Anytime my parents come to visit, the beach is always one of our first stops. We had a perfectly fun, sandy, salty, sunny, ocean-windy beach day at Carolina Beach!
May 31, 2019 — I took my first trip to the Outer Banks of North Carolina and loved every minute.
I didn’t totally understand what was so great about the Outer Banks until I visited the first time. I heard it was touristy, but I was surprised (and very happy) to find it wasn’t as touristy as places like Myrtle Beach, for example. I loved a lot of things about the Outer Banks: the beautiful beaches at sunrise, the coastal lighthouses, the Scenic Byway (basically a two lane road with inter-coastal water on one side and ocean on the other), amazing seafood, and the wild horses roaming the beach!
June 16, 2019 — Happy 1st birthday, Mogul!
Time sure does fly, doesn’t it? Our dog is spoiled all the time, but we extra spoiled him on his birthday. We got him a sweet treat from the dog treat bakery — he loved it!
June 22, 2019 — I completed my first 5K!
Alex and I ran together in The Color Run and it was super fun! To make it even better, Alex, who is a natural runner, ran beside me the entire time, motivating me to keep my pace as we got sprayed with all sorts of bright colors. I’m definitely looking forward to running another Color Run in 2020. Check out the post I wrote about my running journey and running my first 5K!
July 4, 2019 — HBD America.
As it was Mogul’s first Fourth of July at the house, Alex and I had a cozy night in to make sure the dog was okay with all the fireworks. We love to get festive on Fourth of July; we always throw on holiday attire, take pictures, and sing Party in the USA all day long. Don’t judge us. More Fourth of July recapped here!
July 19, 2019 — Surprised Mom for a weekend getaway with the family in Door County, Wisconsin.
My mom knew she was going on a weekend trip somewhere with my dad and my sister, but she didn’t know I was coming back to Wisconsin to join the fun. Let’s just say, she was actually surprised when I jumped out of the car and asked if I could crash the party and join the trip. And a few happy tears may have followed…!
Surprise aside, the best part about our weekend getaway was that it brought all three Brandl sisters together for the first time in several years — it was so nice to be able to hang out like a family and enjoy each other’s company. Such a fun trip and great gift to Mom to celebrate Mother’s Day! PS, if you know the Brandl family, you know that keeping secrets is not our forte. How my sister, my dad, and I managed to pull this off is actually quite impressive.
August 13, 2019 — I took the happiest photo with Mogul.
On the weekdays, I almost always drive home during my lunch break to let the dog out. Let’s just say, lunch break photo shoots became a thing in 2019. I love taking photos with my pup!
August 28, 2019 — Mogul’s gotcha day! We celebrated one year since the first day we brought home our pup.
The photo on the left was taken on Mogul’s gotcha day; the photo on the right was taken exactly one year later. Funny story — right before taking the photo on the right, Mogul ran toward Alex (who was at the end of the driveway) and it caught me off guard, causing me to lose my balance, trip over the dog, and fall face down on the cement. I’m lucky that I didn’t hit my head, but my elbow scraped up really bad and now I have an elbow scar! I wrote a whole post recapping our first year with Mogul!
October 7, 2019 — Alex and I took a trip to a local pumpkin patch.
Truth is, Alex and I love going to the pumpkin patch. We love roaming through the patch, searching for perfect-to-us pumpkins with big smiles and goofy spirits. We took a lot of photos and I recapped our hayride and pumpkin patch adventures on my blog. I am not proud to admit this in January of 2020, but my pumpkins are still sitting on my front porch, oops!
November 2, 2019 — A little hike at Raven Rock State Park.
Alex and I love to get out and explore on the weekends. We spent the first weekend of November hiking around Raven Rock State Park (near our house) — it was so much fun! Hiking is such a good way to get some fresh air and it’s definitely something I want to do more of in 2020. Read about Raven Rock State Park here — I wrote a post about our afternoon in nature!
November 13, 2019 — I took my favorite photo of Klein this year.
He looks so majestic. I love him!
November 16, 2019 — A tree fell on our house and punctured a big hole in our roof.
Here’s the story:
Around 2:30AM, I was jolted awake by a loud “bang!” that rattled the house. Somehow, Alex slept through it and didn’t hear a single thing; meanwhile, the dog was going crazy about it, running around the house barking and barking. I didn’t think much of it. We live near an Army base where artillery strikes are common (both day and night), so I kind of just wrote the noise off as an Army exercise and went back to sleep. '
Anyways, around 5:30AM, the dog was going crazy again, barking and barking at the window in the back room. Alex got out of bed to see what all the commotion was about. He went to the back room, looked out the window, and yelled, “Oh shit Jen! You know that loud bang you said you heard earlier? That was a tree falling on our house.” Nice words to hear at 5:30AM on a dark, rainy Saturday morning amirite?
November 17, 2019 — A Sunday funday Jen Day after a not-so-fun start to the weekend.
The tree falling on our house did not stop me from getting out to enjoy a day to myself. Among other things, I took myself to a local cider brewery where I sipped ciders and got some blog writing done, then watched the sunset at a park in Raleigh. So much fun after dealing with the tree drama the day before!
November 28, 2019 — Celebrated Thanksgiving with my boys.
Alex and I took Mogul to the park on Thanksgiving. It felt so nice to get out, get some fresh air, and take a few cute photos as well! With Thanksgiving being a time to reflect on gratitudes, I also wrote a blog post about some of my 2019 gratitudes. 2019 was the year that made me realize just how much I have to be thankful for and it makes me so happy!
November 29, 2019 — Met Mom in NYC for a fun Mother-Daughter trip!
Mom and I had so much fun in NYC! I wrote a whole blog post recapping our every move throughout our five day adventure (it’s a long one!). Some of the highlights of our trip included a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, a horse carriage ride through Central Park, a stop in the Meadowlands to watch the Green Bay Packers play the New York Giants, and a trip to Broadway to watch Aladdin (our favorite part!). I love making memories through travel and I’m so glad I was able to spend this time with my mom.
December 25, 2019 — Enjoyed a very merry North Carolina Christmas with my boys!
Even though I was feeling under the weather, Alex and I enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home. We took lots of festive Christmas photos — check out my Christmas blog post to see them all!
As exciting of a year as it was, 2019’s biggest moment came on December 30, 2019. Alex and his family were on vacation in Colorado when they were involved in a serious head on collision driving back to their condo. At 8:30PM, my phone rang — it was Alex calling to let me know there was an accident. A kid in a jeep had overcorrected and swerved in front of the car Alex was in (55MPH highway). I was relieved to hear that everyone was “okay”, but it definitely opened my eyes to the fragility of life. He is home now recovering, but it was a scary situation all around.
That being said, my theme for 2020 is to always remember to be grateful & thankful. More on that and all my other 2020 plans (health, travel, and personal) in the next Just Jen Things post. See you then!
JB