Saying goodbye to 2014...

I know it's redundant and it's cliche, but I CAN'T BELIEVE we are saying goodbye to 2014.  I just can't believe it.  This year brought us so many incredible memories between the two of us & with our families.  Every year, it's definitely bitter sweet to see a wonderful year come to an end - and I'm always skeptical about the next year being able to live up to the one prior.  As always, there were definitely some low days of 2014, but the high days were REALLY high.  I'm going to be a little nostalgic as I reflect on everything that we've experienced over 2014 - so thank you for coming along for the ride!

What better way to recap 2014, than...you guessed it!  A COUNTDOWN!  You've read all the blog entries, so I wont bore you all with too much rehashing of memories, but here is a look back at the crazy year The Mobleys had in 2014 (starting from 8, because 9 & 10 are just too high!):

8! years of girls trips - Wow!  Not only have we known each other for over 12 years now, we've been taking these trip since we graduated from college!  8 years!  St. Thomas was a gorgeous way to celebrate over a decade of friendship with some of my favorite ladies.  These girls trips are a mandatory of every one of my years, and this one was perfect.  Thank you so much to my sweet girlies for your commitment to keeping up this trip and our long-distance friendship every year.  You guys, and these girls weekends, mean the world to me.

Party of 7! in Key West - What a way to ring in your 30th birthday!   Key West was everything I could have wanted for my big 3-0. Being surrounded by great parents and great friends made me completely content and at peace with leaving my 20's behind me...because this great party of 7 was going to be around for the next decade!  Now if only we can figure out a way to have milestone birthday vacations every year, because this one was pretty epic!

6! Visits to places I've never been - Some of them near, some of them far, some of them little, some of them big, but all of them NEW!  Part of what makes life exciting is exploring the world - even if it's just in your backyard.  We've lived in New York for almost 5 years, and I had never made it out to Nantucket until this summer!  And if my cousin didn't get married in Providence, RI, I'm not sure I would have ever gone out there to spend a weekend.  This year every new city I saw this year was charming in different ways - but that might not be the case every time you see a new place...and that's ok!  But discovering new little destinations, good and bad, is really what life is about.  I'm so grateful to my husband for being the best international travel partner, and to our friends and family for also bringing us reasons to see the gems that our great country has to offer! 

5!  Years of Cape Christmas - FIVE YEARS with amazing friends and festive hosts.  Every year we start to plan this escape in like February...MONTHS before it's even close.  But it one of the weekends we look forward to most in the year, and we're looking forward to a 6th year in 2014!

4! Different countries visited - When I vowed to make 2014 a year of zen, I didn't say that would mean that we'd stay home and be hermits all year.  We were "zen" alright - but we were "zen" in different countries!  Instead of taking our typical itinerary-filled vacations chock full of reservations, sight-seeing & appointments, we took our travels abroad to RELAX!  We went to Turks & Caicos with no agenda.  We went to Greece with a stack of books and an endless supply of sunscreen.  And we went to England & Scotland to spend time with family in our cozy little Highland cottage.  This year, we proved that even with a jam packed agenda, and multiple exotic trips - you can still find a way to just wind down....even if you have to force yourself!

3! Meet & greets with our favorite bands - Mike & I love a summer concert series!  But not every year is this packed with the best shows. This year brought not only the LAST EVER tour with Motley Crue, but it also was our first time to see KISS together!  And let's not forget that we got to meet the legendary Def Leppard!  Def Leppard was one of the first concerts Mike & I went to together (Alkaline Trio was the REAL first!), so it was a life highlight to get to meet some of our favorite musicians ever.  In our early days of dating in LA, some of our friends so lovingly called Mike & I "Team Metal" - and we absolutely lived up to that this year.  I mean....did you SEE our Christmas card???

2! DuPont weddings - I've spoken about these two events quite a bit, but my brother & my cousin's weddings were the biggest news of the year.  Not only the actual special days themselves, but all that went into the exciting times for both of the gorgeous couples.  Weddings bring great parties, but they also bring showers, engagement parties, bachelorette parties, and in some cases, a SECOND reception!  So our year was pretty eventful and exciting between all of the fun surrounding the two DuPont weddings.  We're thrilled to have new family members join the DuPont side & can't wait to make more memories with the newlyweds!

1! Hunt to find the perfect home - I mentioned in my previous post that Mike & I have been moving full steam ahead with our house hunt.  We're so excited to end 2014 on this note, and hope to be able to share more exciting news with you early on next year.

2014, we're so sorry to see you go and we appreciate all the amazing memories that we've made over the past 365 days.  We're grateful for all the health, happiness, and ZEN you brought the Mobleys.  As we go into 2015, we look forward to more of the things that completed our year above.  More of the travel, more special moments with friends, more reason's to have big gatherings with our family - immediate AND extended, and more adventures with the love of my life.  So before we toast to 2015, cheers to YOU 2014, take a bow, you were fantastic.  What a year!