Random Superlatives of 2013

I can't believe we're already here!  2013 was, in my opinion, a great year.  We had some really great things happen this year.  The biggest event in my eyes, of course, was going to Costa Rica.  So I'm going to try really hard and not have 'Costa Rica' be the obvious answer for every single item here!

Favorite new place I ate at: Buca di Beppo.  We had gone to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse (right after they had opened) and it was packed so we went next door to Buca di Beppo.  We've always wanted to eat at Buca but never think to.  It was yummy.  In fact, later when we went to Longhorn, we wished we'd just gone back to Buca.  Irony.

Best new addition to our house: the patio awning we had installed in June.  We were actually able to enjoy our Summer outside this year.  Makes for great parties, too.

Favorite Book read: I've loved Harry Potter (more on that over at my goals) but the ones that surprised me the most were this new-to-me series by Sherrilyn Kenyon called the Chronicles of Nick.  I can't wait for the next one to come out!

Favorite Movie I saw in Theaters: Catching Fire.  Even if S and I still got out to see a lot of movies, I still have a feeling this would be my favorite.  The best books to movies, so far, that I've seen.

Favorite Movie I saw at Home: Warm Bodies.  Loved this movie.

Worst Movie that I thought would be better: Taken 2.  I loved Taken and was really disappointed by this one.

Favorite new crafting tool: Silhouette Cameo.  I haven't actually used it yet.  But I just know it's going to be awesome.

Most time-consuming project: hand-sewing a few dozen stuffed monsters as take home gifts from Boy's birthday party.  I sure hope all of their eyes stayed on.

Most daring new article of clothing/accessory: 4 inch shiny red high heels for my sister-in-law's wedding.  How on earth do women walk in these things longer than 20 minutes at a time?

Favorite new recipe: I cooked a lot of new recipes for dinner, baked a lot of goodies for birthdays and the first thing that comes to mind is the cake-pops I made for Boy's birthday.  Not because they were really super delicious but because I have always been intimidated by cake-pops and was pleasantly surprised by how well they turned out.

Biggest 'oops': Backing out of our driveway, right into S's car (not his truck, thankfully, that would have been worse.)  I even knew it was there but I had mommy-brain and didn't remember until I heard a crunch.

Worst luck: getting sick before each race I was supposed to run, Bean getting sick the night before her Christmas recital, and then getting sick again Christmas Eve.  I hope this isn't a trend.

Favorite date that wasn't in Costa Rica:  Rafting down Provo River for our anniversary.  There is a lot of really cool stuff to do close to home.  Sometimes I think it's easy to forget.  The firefighter banquet was fun, too.

Favorite new song: Glowing by Nikki Williams.  Oh my gosh, I love this song.

Favorite artist that I just became acquainted with: Ellie Goulding (Dead in the Water and This Love Will Be Your Downfall are two of my faves!)

Best App: Heads Up! (Ellen's)

Favorite moment at work: Getting 'dressed up' as cows 15 minutes before Chick-Fil-A closed just so we could get a free meal on cow appreciation day.

Best vacation: Costa Rica.  Duh.