So, I know that tomorrow is New Year's EVE, but I was thinking back on 2018. So, we'll start at the beginning.

January - I had to retake my Sociology class because I did really badly last year. This year I had to take a test and actually got an A in the class where last year I did really poorly. It's not that I didn't study, it's just that it was hard to understand.

February - My grades in Sociology were passable. Last year, they , but this year I did REALLY well. Also, in February, I had a customer come into Sears Outlet in Streamwood and as I was helping him look for a washer, I realized he was the spitten image to my late uncle Spencer. I know that everyone has a twin, and I think I just saw my uncle Spencer's twin. He was the same height, weight, age, voice. So uncanny.

March - I had to get a tooth pulled due to my dentist wanting to fix my tooth, but never getting around to it and it got infected. So, had to get it pulled and never had a tooth pulled before. It was sore and hard to eat on the other side of my mouth. Not to mention, having to deal with the blood. Ugh.

April - was the hardest month. My mom ended up in the hospital on April 7 (my birthday is April 6). She wasn't herself. She would get mad at me and say things to me that is unusual for her. We found out when we took her to the hosptial, that she not only had a heart palpitation, but her Epilepsy medication, Depakote was "frying" her brain. So, her neurologist took her off of Depakote and now she's a totally different person. Now, her neurologist wants to see about getting her off the Dilantin too. We'll see. Mom and I also celebrated her 8 year anniversary of being cancer free. Mom and I also lost weight due to her being in the hospital. For the four days she was in the hospital, I would stay with her the WHOLE day after work and/or after school. I only ate hospital food and let the men in the family eat whatever they wanted. Mom was my priority.

May - I passed my spring classes with a B and a C. Mom and I decided to spend time outside and we watched planes come over our house. We saw the following come over: United/Continental Airlines, American Airlines (old and new designs), LOT Airlines (Polish), Lufthansa Airlines, SAS (Scandinavian Airlines), British Airways, Spirit Airlines, and Cathay Pacific (Hong Kong). We had a LOT of fun.

June - because we had lost weight, my mom is now at a size 18W instead of a 22W in pants. I now fit in a size 16 instead of an 18 in pants. So, happy.

July - found out that I'll be graduating in August from college! Started our vacation. We started in Libertyville, IL at Motel 6 (awful hotel) and finished our vacation at Bloomington, IL. During that time we were on vacation, I had to deal with my homework and do a LOT of driving. We went to Zion, IL and saw the Volo Automobile Museum and drove on and next to the famous Route 66. We celebrated me graduating at an Olive Garden restaurant in Bloomington, IL and the server gave me a plate with a piece of cake on it and under it, its says "Congrats" in chocolate. On our way back home we stopped at an old 1932 Standard Oil gas station that is now a museum on Route 66. 

September - I was supposed to go and see BTS in concert, but realized that their prices were WAY more expensive than when I went to see GOT7. It bites that I couldn't go see them. Hopefully, I'll be able to see BTS in concert someday.

November - had to get another tooth pulled on the opposite side because the other tooth was infected due to having to eat on one side because of the other tooth pulled prior. Now it's even harder to eat hard food because of the missing teeth.

December - I started up my wreath making. I had to stop due to my 6 years of going to college. I would buy plain wreaths and then decorate them for spring, summer, fall, Halloween, winter, and Christmas. I graduated on December 15th from college. So happy that I don't have to deal with school anymore. I also found out that I graduated with a golden stole and golden tassel due to being in the Honor Society. I graduated with a GPA (Grade Point Average) of 3.5. I also found out that the Honor Society was celebrating their 100th anniversary as seeing they were established in 1918. If I would've graduated in 2017 or 2019, I wouldn't have been part of the 100th anniversary of the Honor Society.

I'm hoping that 2019 will be a little better than 2018. Mom and I are still planning taking our trip to Minnesota next year. Not sure exactly when, but we have to sit down and figure out when and what hotels we'd be going to. We also found out that we have some family in Wisconsiin, but they are too far out of our driving path, so who knows we either might see them later on the vacation, or if I have any extra vacation time left, we might go see them.

Sorry for being a long post, but I wanted to look back on 2018 and see the happy times and the sad times in 2018.

Raven.