Say everything you’ve always wanted
Be not afraid of who you really are
‘Cause in the end we have each other
And that’s at least one thing worth living for
And I will give the world to you

A million suns that shine upon me
A million eyes you are the brightest blue
Let’s tear the walls down that divide us
And build a statue strong enough for two
~A Great Big World: This is the New Year

I really hadn’t been planning to write the New Year’s list. Really, really I hadn’t. But then I sat reflecting on the fact that in exactly a month, we will have been married a year. And reflection turned to well…a review of the rants and raves and the undeniable need for recuperation. So then, how dare I deny a New Year’s list, you ask?

Deny I shall not; say I shall. 

2013 gave me much to rant about, much to rave about and much to recuperate from. I’m grateful for every gleeful moment, every tear, and every emotional outburst. It was a beautiful year and one that I now watch in the rear-view with reluctance and resilience. Here’s a snapshot of the first six months that we called life.

January: Sarah spends the New Year packing after a delightfully impromptu evening with dear gay men. Jason is still in Afghanistan, Sarah packs up her Raleigh world and shoves it in storage, Sarah and Iona move into a tiny bachelor pad in Wilmington, and Jason returns to the States. Sarah acquires the Afghan plague. They bolt to Austin to see the child. Sarah is officially hired by ICMI, Sarah goes to NYC. Boy and girl suddenly live together in the same house and same city and same country for the first time in their 3 years together; then they decide to move again. Sarah gets her worldly belongings from storage and the consolidation of lives begins.

February: Unpack, unpack, unpack. Sarah finds a spinning studio! There are Raleigh roadtrips and fabulous dinner parties. Sarah goes to Florida and then a weekend later the giddy boy and girl run off to NYC and get married on the top of the NoMad Hotel. MARRIED! MARRIED! The wedding night is spent at the LLS Black Tie, Black Jack event. Later that month there is the first fight as ‘marrieds’ and Sarah learns to ‘suck it up’.  

March: Parents visit! Jason goes to DC, Sarah back to Florida, and then boy and girl and child fly to Florida for a Disney cruise over the child’s Spring Break (first ‘family’ trip). Sarah gets an expensive trainer. Wine Wednesdays at Manna is discovered and date night is resurrected. Somehow there are rumors of another move…rumors solidify and Jason breaks to Sarah that they are indeed…moving. Again.

April: House guests for the Azalea Fest! Jason embarks on a months-long torture fest known as the back tattoo. Sarah heads back to Florida and then up to DC. Jason gets Sarah drunk the night before running the Nike Women’s half marathon and Sarah somehow PRs. They bike and drink and eat like rockstars with cute boys across our great capital.

May: There are more Raleigh roadtrips, LLS events, and wine extravaganzas. Sarah flies to Seattle for her biggest conference, meets up with her fabulous Dayna and they steal the show. Sarah’s 41st birthday is spent touring Norfolk, while Jason’s 33rd is in Virginia Beach. A far cry from the Paris and Rome of the year before. There are house arguments, evenings of wine and real estate, discussions of condos, homes, neighborhoods, beach versus city, oh my. The month ends with breakfast in San Francisco and dinner in the City of Angels.

June: Los Angeles. Ah. Here was once a home. Happy. Happy days are spent celebrating birthdays and weddings with friends good enough to call family. On a delightful Sunday morning over coffee, a verbal offer is made on a beach house across the country. A new game begins.  Jason’s sister has a baby. Sarah to Colorado while Jason flies home; home for a time is still Wilmington. Contracts are signed while sitting in airport lounges, pages are faxed from Fed Ex offices, stamps are purchased.The child arrives and summer begins. Sarah spends a week in Chicago and is back in time to pack up the child and dog and enjoy the last days of June standing on the back porch of the soon-to-be new home. Offer accepted, movers planned. Norfolk. Virginia. Norfolk. WTF?