Looking Back | 2014

Check out my past "Looking Back" posts! 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013

So, 2014 has come to an end. I haven't made a post here all year, what is up with that? I'll definitely have to do detailed posts about everything that happened this year - eventually. For now though, I'll just do my annual "year in review" which I've been doing since 2010 (woah).

Looking back, I have to say this year has been absolutely incredible. I knocked some things off my bucket list (NEW YORK CITY!!!), I finally got to see British Columbia which took my breath away, I got my first job, saw tons of concerts, and went out of my comfort zone quite a bit. I'll let the photos do the talking, so starting with January..

For Christmas last year, Jared and Shanna got me tickets to see Panic! At The Disco who have been one of my favorite bands for almost 10 years now. We saw them January 30th and they were so amazing live, I would totally see them again!

On March 28th, I saw Hedley for the 3rd time on the Wild Live Tour! Their new songs were amazing live (especially Heaven In Our Headlights, man I love that song), and they never disappoint. Can't wait for the next album/tour!

In May, the Habs were having a few away playoff games televised on the jumbotron at the Bell Centre, so Jared, Shanna and I went to 3 of them! We saw them kick Boston out of the playoffs, and I have never seen anything like that in my life. It was insanity. Good times. But, not so good times when we saw them go golfing against New York. Still, though, I think I'll remember this playoff run for a very long time.

For my birthday, Jared and Shanna got tickets to see Twin Forks! They introduced me to them a while back and I really got into them so it was awesome to see them live. Plus, I met them and got my CD signed. The longtime Dashboard Confessional fan in me was pretty happy about meeting Chris Carrabba, haha.

This summer, I went to New York City with Jared and Shanna. Yes. NYC. Which has been on my bucket list since watching Home Alone 2 as a kid. And then when I got into Glee, even more so. We went to Battery Park where I got to see the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, we saw Aladdin on Broadway, Central Park, Bryant Park where they shot countless scenes of Glee, saw a Yankees game, Nintendo World, Times Square and just so, so much more. More than I ever dreamed of seeing. I swear I'll make a post about it sometime. Oh, and did I mention I got a book signed by Chris Colfer? Yeah. What a trip that was.

Mario and Zelda showcase at Nintendo World in NYC. Heaven!!

In July, Peanut unfortunately passed away at the age of 13. I've had her since I was 10 and she was my baby. I'll always remember her as being a happy girl who loved her ball. RIP my girl. ♥

In August, just a few weeks after NYC, my family and I travelled west to the beautiful province of British Columbia. My sister Katie lives in Victoria, so we all went to visit and did all sorts of fun things like the Butchart Gardens (pictured above), Beacon Hill Park, whale watching, and had s'mores by a bonfire. :) BC really is such a beautiful place and I can't wait to go back!!

On October 19th, I saw Demi Lovato, who I've been a fan of since 2008. I remember watching Camp Rock and was like "Who is this girl?!" and a few months later she put out her debut album. She's had her struggles along the way and it's really inspiring how open she is about it all and how she's overcome so much. Her song Warrior really talks about that and I was almost in tears when she sang it live. Her songs have made me a stronger person and to finally see her live was such an incredible and overwhelming experience. I can't wait to see her again. :)

I got my first job in September, and I've been saving quite a bit. So in November after I've saved enough money, I bought a Wii U with Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8! I LOVE it, and I'm so happy I finally bought one. The games are so much fun and the HD graphics are stunning!

On November 23rd, I saw Simple Plan for the 10th time. These guys... I can't even put into words. I was front row, and it was my first time seeing them play an acoustic set. AND they played a new song called "Boom" that will be on the new album next year! I told Chuck (top right) that this was my 10th show and he was so appreciative and kept thanking me and that he hopes to see me at all the next shows. I'll be there Chuck, I'll be there, haha.

♥

And finally, December. Which consisted of sisterly and family bonding time, an insane amount of Christmas baking, some new video games, shirts and pyjamas, Jakey in front of the tree, and a new iPhone which I was (thankfully) able to upgrade to! What a year.

December 17: Pride

You know what I really love? Watching my Montreal Canadiens play some awesome hockey. I've been a Canadiens fan for as long as I could remember... I've been watching Habs games with my brother ever since I was able to talk. Thankfully I didn't grow up watching hockey with my dad, because well, he's a Toronto Maple Leafs fan and that is definitely a no no haha! I cringe at the thought of that. :D
I really started to actually watch full games when Koivu became captain, ever since then I've watched him play and looked up to him as a hero - not only for his hockey career, but also for overcoming cancer. Even though he's no longer on the Canadiens roster, he's still such a huge part of this team and always will be for many years to come. I got over that trade, however it took me close to a year to get over it, and now I have new favorite players like Cammalleri, Gionta and Price who really make this team come alive. Of course there's more, but those three happen to be my favorites!
Aaaaand I've rambled long enough, haha. I can't believe Christmas is a week away tomorrow - it really came up fast!

Montreal Canadiens Hall of Fame

The statue outside the Bell Center where they play, very cool.

These are all their jerseys throughout the 100 years they've been around, and the street sign named after the Canadiens.

The Habs carrying the torch, very cool moment.

This is probably the coolest thing in the hall of fame. It's a replica of the locker room, it actually felt you were in their locker room, plus they had audio of the coach talking and the players putting on their skates and stuff like that, it was awesome, very well done.

This is Guy Lafleur, one of the Canadiens legends with the actual jersey he wore. And that's only one legend, there's more where that came from!

This is another one of my favorite things from the hall of fame. They're life-like statues of the current players on the Habs, with the scoreboard in the background and everything. It's pretty cool to see, it's like you're with the Habs...but not really, haha.

This is the sign at the entrance when you come in.

This is the street sign named after the Canadiens. It's pretty cool to have a street in your city named after a hockey team!

Today I went to the Canadiens Hall of Fame. I'm a huge Habs fan so this was a treat for me, lots of history in there, enough to give you goosebumps! The pictures above were the highlights of it, my favorite things from the hall of fame.

Montreal Canadiens

I went to the Canadiens game today, even though we lost 4-2, it was still a pretty good game and I was happy to take a few (more like 300) pictures!