1) As with the past two years, I might as well start off with my job status... In the summer of 2011 I began freelancing for a resort company, and really grew to love the overall nature of the work, as well as the gratification of seeing my ad designs in magazines. This past summer we started throwing around the idea of me coming on as a full time designer and marketing manager, and by the end of November my first day was officially scheduled for January 9th over in Central Oregon! This of course meant saying goodbye to the local company that I had been working for the past two and a half years, which was really bittersweet, but they were completely understanding and supportive of the fact that I wanted to chase my career goals and fully utilize my design degree. Needless to say, December was an extremely hectic month with ending one job, the anticipation of starting another, traveling for holidays, and making the proper preparations to move.
2) We went to so many amazing concerts this year!!! I wish we would have had time for a few more, but it was definitely one of the best concert years I have had to date, which included finally seeing the Deftones with Pat (in some amazing seats by the way), as well as getting to indulge my 18 year old self and see The Used for the first time. We also saw Silversun Pickups in Pioneer Courthouse Square, Thrice in their "final tour ever", as well as Dustin Kensrue who played a secret acoustic set after the show in an abandoned parking lot, Michael Franti and Spearhead in Eugene, a show that we scored free last minute tickets to, and last but certainly not least, Tenacious D in Bend. By the way, all of these concerts took place within a four month period, which was insane.
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| [[ tenacious d. deftones. silversun pickups. thrice/dustin kensrue. the used. michael franti & spearhead. ]] |
3) In June My baby sister graduated high school and started college in Southern California where she is on a tumbling and gymnastics team. I still can't even believe that she is old enough to be off on her own! I miss her not always being around, but I am extremely proud of her and know that she is going to have a ton of fun!
4) Me and Pat celebrated our seven year anniversary at King Estate Winery in July and had a perfect day together in the Oregon sunshine. I love this man so much more every single year we are together.
5) I spent A LOT of time in California this summer over three different trips. First, at the end of June me and Pat went on our summer vacation together. The first part of the trip was spent in La Quinta and Palm Springs with Pat's family. We also spent a day exploring Joshua Tree National Park, which was somewhere I had been wanting to go to for a long time. Next me and Pat drove over to Anaheim where we spent two days in Disneyland. Then we made our way north to San Jose where we met up with my grandparents, and then my cousins for a day in San Francisco before heading across the boarder to Ashland, and then finally making our way back home to Corvallis. It was a really fun summer trip full of exploring, and I loved getting to spend so much time in the car together just the two of us while we road tripped back to Oregon.
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| [[ la quinta. poolside. joshua tree. disneyland. san francisco. giants game. ]] |
6) At the beginning of July, after only being home for about a week and a half, I took a solo flight down to San Diego to meet up with my entire Blechman family for a reunion of sorts. I had been feeling a bit disconnected for a while since we live in Oregon and they are primarily down in California, so it felt great to see all of my second cousins who I had not run in to since I was a little girl. I also really enjoyed spending more time with my two first cousins Ashley and Nicole, whom I had not been able to see much within the past decade. Finally, seeing my grandpa Rodger spend time with his two brothers was a pretty amazing experience. Of course, the resort my parents were staying at, the pool, and the San Diego weather weren't too bad either.
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| [[ reunion. cousins & grandma. grandpa & his brothers. me & nicole. coronado beach. sisters. ]] |
7) In October I bought yet another plane ticket to California, this time to meet up with my older sister Leah, and visit my little sisters in Los Angeles. I had been really missing my baby sister Meagan since this was her first year in college, and hadn't been able to see Leah since June, so it was great to have the chance to spend some time all together. We did a little shopping, and lots of exploring the neighboring cities and beaches while my parents were in town, and were able to spend some sister time alone once they left. On our final night in town, me and Leah drove in to downtown LA and went to The Standard Hotel rooftop bar, which was the highlight of my trip. I had been wanting to experience a little bit of downtown Los Angeles and had a lot of fun doing it up above the city. We also went to a bar called Perch and had dinner at a trendy restaurant with some of Leah's friends before settling in for our morning flights. This was the shortest of the California trips (only three days), but it was definitely worth it.
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| [[ sisters. manhattan beach. santa monica pier. the standard downtown los angeles. me & leah. rooftop beer garden. ]] |
8) Me and Pat also took a lot of little local trips throughout the year. We went to Portland a ton, Newport twice, The Rogue Hop Farm in September and October, Brasada/Bend a few times, and the Bend Brewfest for Pat's birthday in August.
9) As usual, there were some really amazing celebrations this year with my friends. We spent NYE 2012 in Sunriver with our friend Rory playing in the snow. Colleen had a Spirit Animals themed birthday party in February where I dressed up as a red fox, Megan was a raccoon, and Tiff was a deer. Tiff had her birthday party downtown in April. Me, Tiff, and Megan went to 80's Prom at the Kennedy School McMenamins in May. At the end of August, me and Pat celebrated our birthdays together with a joint party. We started off with a really nice dinner at Departure, and then met up with most of our bestest friends at Rontoms for the rest of the night. And finally, me and Pat celebrated Halloween downtown at The Gypsy dressed up as Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World.
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| [[ spirit animals party. 80s prom. rontoms. birthday party at departure. halloween. ]] |
10) In addition to regular parties, there were three weddings of note in 2012. Pats step brother Chris and his fiance Mandee got married in Yachats Oregon on the beach in May. It was a risky move, but the weather turned out perfect for them and I was able to get some good shots of the bride and groom, as I doubled as both a bridesmaid and a "photographer". Pat was also a groomsman. At the end of June our friends Brad and Alia finally tied the knot in a beautiful outdoor wedding in Bend. Pat was the best man and looked quite dashing in his suit. This was definitely one of the most fun weddings I have been to thus far! Finally in September, me and Pat attended Nic and Molly's wedding reception at a winery following their wedding in Mexico from earlier in the summer.
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| [[ chris & mandee's wedding. brad & alia's wedding. nic and molly's wedding. ]] |
It was a great 2012, but I am looking forward to an even better 2013!
