Happy New Year, Everyone! I thought it would be fun to do a little review of this last year! It was a pretty good year, with lots of activities, lots of growth and new experiences! I chose a couple things from each month to share… So here goes!

JANUARY–

it was a new year and time for a new look! Bangs! It was the year of bangs… hadn’t had bangs since I was a kid, but I loved them. May have to try this look again soon…

And Dave started school at the community college to get a certification in computer information science! This was the first time that Dave was home the whole year, no more tracking for his job. ( if you are new here, Dave had been a merchandise manager on different tours for 5 years and he decided he wanted to change.)

FEBRUARY–

My beautiful niece turned, Charlie, 1 ! And Dave got an internship at O’Reilly 🎉

MARCH-

I began this fun journey of blogging and I have so loved getting to know so many of you and being a part of this new fun world! I actually began my blog on St. Patrick’s Day!

April–

Dave and I met up with his old roommate to see one of the most amazing performers ever, John Mayer! It was a fantastic show and we got to stay for free at one of the nicest hotels on the country club plaza in Kansas City!

MAY-

May was a harder month for us. My classroom flooded and my class had to be moved to the small gym for a week- that was an adventure. I had been dealing with my orchestra classroom flooding for the last couple years, but this one was the worst. <<<<<<<<
ndma Hefta, my dad’s mom, passed away. She was the most beautiful, loving, caring, joyous, Christian lady I have ever known- she was the closest person to Jesus I have ever known. But while we miss her, we know she is in the Heaven, and I like to think she is walking around with my grandpa, admiring his gorgeous garden!<<<<<<<<
iolin with my cousin, Tia, for my grandma’s funeral.

JUNE–

I started a confidence campaign to raise money for a local domestic abuse shelter in the area and I was so happy to be able to raise $180 in a month for the organization.

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ed and hosted a fabulous 50’s Summer Party to kick off the summer! I had so much fun dressing up, having the friends over, and all the decorations! Want to see more? Check out this post:

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d veganism for a week with a friend and made the hubby join! I tried being a vegetarian before and I enjoyed it for a while, but this veganism this is a while other beast. It was tough and super interesting to try and figure out new recipes.

JULY–

This was the month of travel! The first trip of July- I went to Nashville to visit the family for the Fourth of July. We went to the farmers market, tried Hattie b’s and enjoyed fireworks together. AND I found out I was gonna be an aunt again!

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d trip was a fun Hubby/ Wife trip. Dave and I went to Rogers, Arkansas to see Dave’s favorite band , Third Eye Blind. This was the second time we had gone to see them, but the first as a married couple.<<<<<<<<
ird trip of the summer, was my trip to Chicago to visit my mom and dad for a weekend! While I was in Chicago, I got to meet my blogger friend, Stephanie. She has an awesome blog too- check it out

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t hurrah of the summer was the lake trip with my friends for my best friend, Cat’s 30th!!! We rented a boat and got an air b&b and had an awesome day on the lake.

AUGUST–

Out wedding anniversary is on August 10th and we celebrated by going to our favorite little restaurant, Nonna’s! <<<<<<<<
Tenors PBS special showed and I got to see the final product of all our hard work over that fun weekend in September. Read more here

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got to be in my new classroom! A couple friends, myself and Dave went in some over July to paint and get my new classroom ready for the school year, and it turned out beautiful!

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SEPTEMBER-

One of my best friends got married and it was a beautiful Indian Wedding! That was my first time wearing a sari and being a part of an Indian wedding. I got to wear the most beautiful sari and my friend, Felicia, looked so incredibly gorgeous in her vibrant Indian wedding dress.<<<<<<<<<<
00 days of practice challenge!

Check my Instagram to see more: @erinruscel

OCTOBER–

My niece, brother and sister in law visited our apartment and got to see my orchestra kiddos first performance of the year!

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w a fun Stranger Things 2 watch party! Here are a couple pics from the party! Want to see more, click here

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een I got to be Sandy from Grease- it was a dream come true.

NOVEMBER–

Dave and I got to see all of his family for Thanksgiving… even his sister and brother in law in Alabama came up! It was such a joyous time!

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os had there second concert and it was my first time asking for donations and we received $270 in donations!!! I was completely amazed and humbled!

DECEMBER-

December is crazy, yet fun for me. Being a professional musician, it is the bigger gig time for me and I had some fun gigs this last year. One of my favorites was with James River Church, in which I got to wear a gorgeous dress, play some really fun music, and perform a rocking solo. Here’s a glimpse of the solo:

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ised me with a 30th birthday with my friends! Since my birthday is the 23rd of December, I rarely get to have parties or hang with friends. With it being my 30th, it was so special that he planned something for me.<<<<<<<<<<<
I got to spend the day with my family, visited my favorite little cafe, went to the cute shops in downtown Geneva, and went to see the movie “the greatest showman.” If you haven’t seen it, you have too- it was AMAZING! My sister wrote an incredible review on her blog- read it here

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hristmas break- Christmas was so enjoyable with the family. We waited to open gifts until Erik, Kate and Charlie arrived ( my brother, sister in law, and niece) from Nashville. It was a relaxing day with great fellowship, conversations, and fun.

Chicago with family!