Highlights of 2018

Started off the year with a Notre Dame bowl win over LSU, a snow day, and…an endoscopy to diagnose gastritis. Not the most enjoyable event of the year, but at least I was able to start healing.
Got to see Liz’s first ultrasound in January!

Celebrated an Eagles Super Bowl win!
Went to a family baby shower in January and welcomed my cousin’s new baby in February.

Went on vacation to California with Liz in March and revisited the area where I used to live. It had been four years since I’d been back!

Our hotel room had an amazing view.

We took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Aquarium of the Pacific.

SJC — Made a visit to San Juan Capistrano.

And of course we went to Disneyland. :)

Hosted a goodbye party for Liz & Aaron when they moved to the Midwest.

Went to the Big East Championship at Madison Square Garden and celebrated a Villanova win.

Celebrated Easter with family.

Saw another Villanova NCAA championship win, as well as an incredible buzzerbeater win for the Notre Dame women’s team!

Welcomed spring when it (finally) came after a late snowstorm in April.

Sadly, this photo was taken in April.

That’s more like it.

Continued babysitting for the Sisters of Life and visiting with friends I’ve made there.

Went to two retreats at Villa Maria Guadalupe: A silent Ignatian retreat in February and the spring Frassati retreat in April.
Dogsat a few times for Aughie, my sister’s dog.

He can swim, but he is decidedly not a fan of the pool.

Went to a friend’s wedding in Buffalo and made trips to Toronto and Niagara Falls along the way.

First visit to Canada! Toronto had a cool aquarium.

We stopped by the harbor to see Lake Ontario and walked around the campus of the University of Toronto.

Got a chance to catch up with college classmates at my friend’s wedding and visited Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House while in Buffalo.

Niagara Falls!

Another amazing hotel room view. At night, the falls were lit with the colors of the American and Canadian flags.

Saw three Broadway musicals (The Band’s Visit, Hamilton (for the second time—now a Flag Day tradition!), and Mean Girls) as well as three off-Broadway shows (Sorin, The Rainmaker, and All Is Calm) over the course of the year.

Met Sr. Miriam James Heidlund of the Abiding Together podcast.

Got a goose egg on my forehead after a curtain rod fell on my head.

Celebrated my cousin’s high school graduation and met baby Hayden.

Got a scar on my foot after an unfortunate run-in with a metal porch door.

Celebrated the Fourth of July at a friend’s barbecue and got an excellent view of the fireworks from the bridge on the car ride home.

Spent a weekend visiting friends in Indiana.

Met up with cousins in the city.

Saw Taylor Swift in concert (in the pouring rain, which I could have done without…although admittedly it does fit a lot of her lyrics).

Went to a family birthday party for my cousin’s three-year-old (featuring Elsa!).

Celebrated Hayden’s baptism!

Spent some quality time with a good friend who was going through a tough time this summer and joined her on a spontaneous trip to Disney World.

Grieved the ongoing crisis of clerical abuses within the Church and entered into a period of fasting and prayer for healing, in solidarity with many other Catholic women.

Attended the Frassati Ministry Leaders’ retreat.

Liz and Aaron welcomed baby Bridget in August!

In 2018, the world was graced with this human emoji.

Got dinner with Michelle in September—I hadn’t seen her since she moved away last year.

Said goodbye to my manager at work and went through a transition period on our team.

He actually requested this cake.

Visited my cousin during her first semester at Penn State and went to a football game.

Came home to find tiles falling from the bathroom ceiling in my apartment.

Never a dull moment.

Continued writing weekly Frassati reflections and launched a new reflections website.
Celebrated my cousin’s wedding in October.

Flew out to Indiana for Bridget’s baptism! And got to spend some quality time with the baby.

Went out to Notre Dame for Band Alumni Weekend and got to relive the marching band experience during the Pitt game! Also got to catch up with a lot of great friends from college.

John was very interested in my rental piccolo.

Continued teaching the same CCD class and began their final year of Confirmation prep.
Carved pumpkins for Halloween.

Enjoyed the views from Top of the Rock on a beautiful Marathon Sunday in NYC.

Notre Dame came to New York for my birthday! The Shamrock Series was in town that weekend, and I got to see the band perform right near my office. And ND had a great win against Syracuse in Yankee Stadium!

The Empire State Building was lit in blue and gold on my birthday!

Met up with Liz and Bridget for a day as they stopped through New York in December.

Enjoyed December in the city (and braved the crowds of tourists in Rockefeller Center).

Celebrated Christmas with family.

A new addition to the long list of Yankee Swap gifts that have featured my dad’s face on them.

Read 37 books over the course of the year. Also curated a collection of children’s picture books to give to Bridget, John, and all the other kids in my life.
Watched Notre Dame finish an undefeated regular season and go to the College Football Playoff…where we had a disappointing loss to Clemson. (Still not over that one yet.) But overall, 2018 was a good year for the Irish—12-1 is not too shabby!

On to 2019!

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