Some might say that I'm presenting my year in review a bit late, but I don't like to half-ass things.  I like to do things with my whole ass.  That takes time.  And while I strive for perfection, I know I am not perfect and that none of y'all expect me to be perfect.  In fact, I am proud to show you the glimpses of reality and imperfection that is me and my life.  While I don't always get to present all of that here on the blog, you can watch any of my Facebook Lives or follow me on Instagram, or view some of my InstaStories to know I am a real person with real flaws and feelings and issues.  I'm not going to pretend to be someone I'm not.  That would be doing you and I both a disservice.

But I digress.

My 2018 was overwhelming in very positive ways.  Sure, there was shit.  There was anxiety and stress and failures (real and imagined).  There was heartache and tears and anger.  But mostly, there was love and adventure and excitement and new experiences.  I learned about others, about myself, about what I wanted, about asking for those things.  I can't possibly share everything about 2018 with you because we'd be here forever, but I can show you some awesome highlights!

The Outfits

Since I mainly like to talk about outfits and fashion here, let's start with my awesome looks from the year!  I had so many fun outfits that I loved.  I tried new things (like the plaid blazer, oversized cardigan, soft pants) and continued loving florals and cold-shoulder tops.  I continued working with Kiyonna this year, but I also worked with Catherines again as well and Simply Be for the first time!  At least a couple of the below looks haven't even been on the blog yet, but you can find the rest here.

KATU's Afternoon Live

In March, I started doing regular segments on my local station's afternoon show.  It was an opportunity I was really terrified and apprehensive about.  I didn't know if I could do it or if I would be any good at it.  After a little bit of thinking on it and running it by trusted friends, I decided to go ahead and try.  I was so nervous!!  I literally got nervous burps before my first segment and was so scared I was going to burp on live television.  I am happy to report I have not burped on TV, nor have I passed out or cried.  Everybody there has been lovely and welcoming and friendly and happy.  I have had nothing but a wonderful experience.  (And I've also received the amazing feedback that I am a natural!) I've even had the privilege to sit in on comedians' segments, and even met David Koechner, who played Todd Packer in one of my all time favorite television shows, The Office.  He was so nice!

It continues to be a challenge to think of new topics that are easy to show versus tell, and that include pieces I own.  I certainly enjoy bringing my style tips and "you do you" attitude to a broader audience.  I want other plus size women to know that fashion doesn't have to complicated.  You don't have to be someone you're not to be fashionable.  You don't have to follow all the rules, and you certainly don't have to hate your body.  We can all be happy and healthy, lead amazing lives, and do things we love no matter the size of our bodies.  And I hope the more I show it by living it, the more people will take it to heart.

January

January started off right with one of our first of many comedy shows of the year.  We've seen Guy Branum, Fortune Feimster, Bianca Del Rio, and James Adomian this year.

February

February always includes our annual Portland Seafood and Wine Fest adventure.  We go with friends and have so much fun!  I was a bit too tipsy this year. haha

March

In March, Sean and I went up to Seattle for Emerald City Comic Con.  I wore my fandom gear each day, we hit up Pike's, ventured to the Funko Headquarters, and even went out with friends who were in town that same weekend.

April

April brought our first visit to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival.  The boys did pretty well out amongst the people.  We loved watching the sunset light up the flowers.  Taking photos there was incredibly fun.

May

May is always a busy month for us.  We attended the spring Crafty Wonderland, then headed to the beach for my 38th birthday weekend.  We stayed in Long Beach and drove down parts of the Washington and Oregon coasts, taking photos and looking at the gorgeous scenery.  (I still have to post photos on the blog.)  Our first Red Dress was this year, where everyone in attendance has to wear a red dress.  Our friends are fantastic!  For our 10-year anniversary, Sean and I went up to Victoria, British Columbia for a little over a week.  (I still need to post about this trip on the blog as well.)  Victoria is so beautiful!  We managed to have a glorious trip of site-seeing and leisure time that included the Royal BC Museum, Butchart Gardens, Afternoon Tea, winery visits, a whale watch, and more!

June

In June, we went on our annual birthday wine tour to celebrate mine and Nigel's birthdays.  It is always such an exciting day we look forward to, spending time with friends and drinking lots of wine.

I also started doing Facebook Live videos over on my blog Facebook page.  I do monthly unboxings of my subscription boxes (Birchbox, Ipsy/Ipsy Glam Bag Plus, Sephora Play, and Weebox), and continue making videos featuring makeup and more.  I also presented a makeup-related series called "Build Your Face" about different steps of makeup application and how-tos.  In between, I have done videos with makeup reviews, swatches, a wrap-up of my 20-year reunion trip, and a Get Ready With Me.  The videos are still long compared to edited YouTube videos, but I have a lot of fun doing them and enjoy chatting to everyone during the process.

July

July was busy but scattered.  Sean had to attend his grandma's funeral in Wisconsin, so it was a more melancholy month of trying to balance responsibilities and emotion with the need to rest and mourn.

August

August was another busy month.  Sean and I finally got our semi-matching tattoos to celebrate our 10-year anniversary.  I don't believe in full-on matching tattoos or getting someone's name tattooed on your body, so we both wanted to make sure our chosen Celtic Love Knot design was in styles we found appealing.  Sean chose a dot style for his very first tattoo. This style hurt way less for his first experience.  I wanted my design to be reminiscent of metal with patina, like armor.  Mine hurt a lot, especially the healing process.

We attended our friend Geoffrey's End-of-Summer party, which is always too much fun.  We were also asked to be in our local humane society's 2019 calendar of local families with the pets they have adopted from the shelter.  I love how our photo turned out!  It is nice to have a professional family photo with the boys.

September

September started with my first (and probably last) Indy car race.  It just isn't for me, but I loved being there with these awesome people.  Nigel LOVES Indy, so I enjoyed asking him questions and getting to know more about the sport.  We did a little hiking, attended Rose City Comic Con in Portland (where we met Ralph Macchio, William Zabka, Catherine Tate, and  Karl Urban), and then headed to Savannah to spend time with my sister and her family before going up to North Augusta, South Carolina for my 20-year high school reunion.  (I still have to post the rest of this leg of the trip as well.)  It was a doozy of a trip, but I have so many wonderful, loving memories to look back on.

One of those memories is attending my friend Brandon's gig that weekend, where he surprised me with a performance of "Nothing My Love Can't Fix" by Joey Lawrence.  This song has such special meaning to me and I was just blown away that he would go to such effort to surprise me in an extraordinary way.  My heart was so full and grateful after that trip.  I haven't finished posting about it on the blog, but you can also check out my tearful video over on Facebook.

October

Most of October, for me, was spent resting and recuperating from all the excitement of our trip. Without my thyroid I need more rest, and while traveling and vacation is fun, it can be really exhausting and harder on my body.  It takes more time for me to recover from everything.  Also in October, New Kids concert tickets went on sale!  I am attending a couple of shows in the summer, so I had to make sure I got great seats to celebrate my birthday and being cancer-free!

November

If the month of Thanksgiving wasn't busy enough as we ramp up to the holidays, we had a load of other events as well.  Towards the beginning of the month, we went to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 tour and saw two showings over in Portland.  We also met Joel and Jonah at the VIP Meet and Greet!!  I was so excited!   That was between two separate weekends of Outlander-themed craft days with two local fan groups.  Those were both totally new-to-me events that I was happy I tried out.  I met a lot of awesome people and learned new craft techniques.

During the month I also had my thyroid ultrasound and follow-up appointment with my endo. I have been cancer-free for five years now - officially!  We also had dentist appointments, Friendsgiving, Thanksgiving, Bunco, and went to the Oregon Zoo's Brewlights event.

December

December always kicks off with the Festival of Trees to get us in the Christmas mood.  Crafty Wonderland's Holiday Market was a blast!  We decided to go to the Friday night pre-sale and man, was it worth it.  It helped my anxiety tremendously to be at the sale with way less people and commotion.  RuPaul watch party nights started up at Nigel's, and we had pet pictures with Santa and a Painting Your Pet class back-to-back.  Sean's birthday is on Christmas Day, when we started chillin' out and having some pretty lazy days to rest up from the busy year.