Highlights of 2013

Okay, so that time of year has come once again, the time where we (or mostly I) review the year that has passed!  It has been, perhaps, the most amazing year of my life.  This won't be a terribly long post, but it's pretty mandatory in order to keep up the tradition from the past two years.  So!

What's happened in 2013?  Hmmm.  Let's think.

Gosh, what could it be?

Oh, right.

Québec.

The main highlight of 2013 was, of course, traveling to Québec City, Québec and studying there for five weeks with Lauren.  It was an experience I would never trade.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Kat had been there with us.  We missed our bestest friend like crazy, but thank God for Skype, right?

So!  Highlights!

• June 16 - July 3 - I got to fly up to Michigan to spend my grandparents' fiftieth anniversary with them.  It was a wonderful time, and I'm so grateful that they were willing to put up with me for two weeks.  I got to see everyone from that side of the family: my brother and sister, my grandparents, my aunt and uncle, my cousins, and my nieces and nephew.  Not to mention I got to see my father, stepmother, and siblings for the first time in five years.  I got to spend some special time bonding with everyone, especially my father when he and I went out to lunch one day.  I also drove around and got lost in Marshall with my sister, Sarah - that was fun - before going with her to pick up Dawn, our older sister.  I have so many great memories of those two weeks.
• July 4 - We spent Independence Day in Canada!  I was amused.  This was also the day we arrived in Québec, which was definitely monumental.
• July 4 - 7 - Lauren, her family, and I got to spend a few days as tourists in and around Québec City.  We saw la chute Montmorency, la basilique Ste-Anne, and we even  went to Trois-Rivières to see their favorite jazz artist, Emilie-Claire Barlow, at le Festivoix!
• July 13 - We tried poutine for the first time.  It was incredible.
• July 27 - Lauren and I took a three-hour bus ride, getting up at 4:30 in the morning, to Montréal.  I got to meet and have vocal coaching from one of my absolute favorite singers, Gabrielle Destroismaisons.  She was so nice, and beautiful, and talented, and it was such an incredible experience.  Not only that, but Lauren got to stay and meet her, as well!
• July 28 - I got to meet my friend, François, for the first time after meeting him several years ago on NaNoWriMo.  He was, apparently, surprised that I liked so many Québécois musicians, me being American, so we got to talking.  We finally met, and he made fun of my French, and we went into a library, rode in the elevators, and left.  It was awesome.
• August 3 - Lauren went back to Montréal for the day and I got to hike up Mont-du-Lac-des-Cygnes.  My feet are still tired.
• August 8 - The big finale of our trip in Québec.  Lauren and I took the ferry to Lévis and saw our favorite singer of all time, the reason we are friends, the reason we were in Québec: Bruno Pelletier.  We got to meet him before his show, we got to meet Ekaterina, a woman we knew online but never in person, we got to see his sound check, we were right in the front for the show itself. . . . Everything was perfect.  It was amazing.
• August 10 and 11 - Not a good highlight.  Lauren and I had a nightmarish trip back to the U.S. thanks to the incompetency of Delta.
• August 29 - I turned 22!  WOO!
• Some point in November - I got a job as an assistant in the school's Special Collections for next semester.

Okay, so it wasn't a short post.  I lied.  Obviously most of the highlights of the year are due to Québec, but that's okay.  I can't wait to go back.  Hopefully I won't have to wait another four years.  All in all, 2013 was absolutely amazing.  Here's hoping 2014 is just as good!