12 Months, Hundreds of Memories!

So here's the thing. I have been meaning to blog since I got home from school. You know, update people on the end of semester and finals, then Christmas came, and then New Years, and still no update. So sorry about that! But since this is the start of a new year I thought I would take some time to review the year we just completed. (Actually, I was just on a different blog where she did 12 pictures from 2011, one for each month of the year and I thought I would try to follow suit. However, I'm not sure I'll be able to narrow it down to just 1 picture from each month! So many to choose from!) Anyways. Here's 2011 in picture review!

January:

(Daniel LaBelle took this great photo during our weekend in Door County!)

Started off 2011 with a weekend of hanging out with friends in the DoCo! I don't get to see my friends from the greater Zion area a ton during the year, and so it was great to get to spend some time with a lot of them! (This year too!) The rest of January I spent at home, doing some work for camp, and finding ways of otherwise enjoying time without school work to do. At the end of the month it was back to school for second semester.

February:

A picture from our annual soccer banquet with my dear friend Jenny. February was mostly filled with school, but check out the exciting adventure that also occurred during February here! Ok. So Greenville isn't the most exciting place in the winter... :)

March:

Came home for Spring Break in March. My family got tickets to a Buck's game, and though we don't really follow the Bucks much it was a pretty fun time and cool experience. I celebrated my 20th Birthday over Spring Break. And I started coaching my first soccer team made of four and five year olds! I had so much fun with my itty-bitties, and was hopefully able to teach them a little about the beautiful game.

April:

Over Easter weekend some friends from Greenville and I packed up Rachel Irwin's little car and drove to Tennessee for a weekend of camping. We spent the weekend at Land Between the Lakes campground. I had a blast camping with my dear friends, even if we had to cut the trip a day short due to intense winds destroying our tent.

May:

In May I finished half of my college career! But let's back-up a bit. This picture is from our soccer team's trip to St. Louis to help with tornado relief. St. Louis experienced some huge storms and tornadoes this past spring, and we drove in to help with the clean up one day. The destruction was incredible, and it was a good reminder of how blessed I am. *Note: The lady in the middle of this picture is not part of our group. She had NO clue as to what was going on! May also marked the summer of weddings, the first of which was my cousin Joanna's wedding.

June:

June was a remarkably busy month, but the most exciting event of this month was the wedding of my best friend to the love of her life! (Read about the whole wedding weekend here!) It was such an amazing, and surreal weekend. I'm so very happy for my dear friend, and so glad I got to see her this past week! It had been far too long. Also in June I flew out to Phoenix to spend some time with my grandpa, uncle and roommate as well as attend the wedding of Joel and Kim Robinson, two dear friends who graduated from Greenville a few years ago.

July:

Thanks Laura for this picture!

July continued the Summer of Weddings with seeing my other best friend married to the love of her life! Anna and Drew's wedding weekend was such a beautiful and fun time. The whole wedding party was some of my closest friends and we had a great time hanging out and being a part of our friends' special day.

August:

After a busy summer of work I headed back to Greenville in mid-August for soccer preseason. Gotta love Southern Illinois in August! And you gotta have a picture of the four soccer Rachels!

September:

Took an amazing trip to Texas with my soccer team in early September. Spent several days playing soccer, shopping and walking around the Riverwalk area, singing and fellowshipping with my teammates.

October:

October was filled with soccer and school. But we did manage to take a break from all that and have some fun at the Homecoming dance. Love me a chance to get all dressed up and dance the night away with my girls!

November:

Meeting Mario Vargas Llosa! Some members of various Spanish classes traveled to St. Louis University to "meet" and listen to Mario Vargas Llosa speak (Spanish author and political figure, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature). It was a unique experience that not many people will ever get to experience. In November I also was able to spend Thanksgiving with my dad's whole family at my grandparents house in Zion. It's always good to be with family!

December:

What would December be without an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party? Amidst studying for finals, finishing up classes, pulling some harmless pranks, and packing up my room to head back to Door County before studying abroad next semester, we were able to have some fun at Emily Rose's house in Springfield at an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. And let me tell you, we were ROCKING our ugly sweaters!

Well there you have it! 12 pictures, 12 months, hundreds of memories. Here's to the next 12!