2017 will affectionately be remembered as The Year We Attended Weddings. But before we get to all those... let's take a diversion to Mexico.
The year started in Cancun with my best friend Debbie and her husband Greg. We went on a vacation we affectionately nicknamed "Mexit." Specifically, we visited our Southern neighbors during the presidential inauguration, and stayed at a
resort chosen specifically for its lack of televisions. (Therefore, we could not comment on crowd size. Or even know that crowd size was A Thing. It was nice.)
Instead, we went swimming in a cenote (a type of cave) that was also home to some bats, snorkeled in a combination freshwater/saltwater lagoon, and toured around the pyramids at Tulum. And of course, we sat on the beach and drank margaritas made by Jesus. Thank you, Jesus! Literally.
Then we went on a
free trip to the Bahamas. For all of my hard work last year, I won a trip, and the reward(?) was getting to be the HR Lady to 12 coworkers and their spouses during a long weekend at an all-inclusive resort during St. Patrick's Day. "Maybe put down that 6th green beer you've had tonight and drink this delicious Bahamian tap water!" I enthusiastically said over, and over, and over again.
 |
| Sunset on Great Exuma. |
The best parts were: the resort had 3 cats and they lived in adorable tiny cat houses
and we met a staff member named Demetrius that was an overly enthusiastic high-fiver.
In May, we had Wedding #1. In fact, Chris officiated his sister's wedding! Turns out that becoming a one-time civil celebrant in Virginia is quite the process that involves letters of recommendation, getting an order signed by a judge, putting down a bond, etc.
Chris did a great job as the officiant, and we spent a lovely wedding weekend in Luray (which, fun fact: there is 1 taxicab driver in the entire city). We highly recommend
Gathering Grounds Cafe--get the pie. All of it. And bring us some.
 |
| Officiant Chris marries his sister Colleen and her husband Tyler. |
In June, my office moved from Manassas to Chantilly. The CFO and I were in charge of the entire thing (ask my about cubicle configurations, or better yet: don't). The new office is closer to my house but further from my sanity.
We celebrated Chris' June birthday in Denver, where he was for work.
Post-conference we ate every burrito smothered in green chili that we could get our hands on and did a Charity Bar Crawl that involved being chased by Volunteer Zombies that tried to kill you (by way of taking your flag football flags).
 |
| Charity Zombie Bar Crawl: we kept 3 out of 4 lives. |
July was crazy busy: We went to Rehoboth for the 4th, and the fireworks were precious, plus the beach weather was great.
We took a side trip to Cape May on the weekend when Chris Christie shut down the beaches for everyone except his family. Turns out that the ferry to the Cape has a
full service bar on top, so
you're not gonna ruin my fun, Governor!
 |
| Dude, maybe quit messing with the beaches. (And the bridges.) |
We successfully completed our 2nd Annual Game of Thrones Bar Crawl with my best friend and her husband. The highlight was the "
Make Your Own Bloody Mary" cart, or as I like to call it, the "
Make Your Own Glass of Olives with a Teaspoon of Bloody Mary Mix" cart.
We were
House Greyjoy last year, this year we were
House Targaryen. FIRE AND BLOOD! (And olives!)
 |
| Girls up to no good. |
Then it was off to Quebec, to see how much high school French I could remember. Also, Chris had a conference. While he learned about leadership, I went to the Citadel and to Parliament. I was asked if I was an American History Professor because I knew actual facts about Canada. I responded with the truth: I am not a history teacher, I just have a crush on Justin Trudeau, and could I meet him? (Apparently no, I could not. Sad.) When Chris wasn't conferencing, we walked alllllllllll over Quebec, and ate as much poutine as humanly possible.
If you ever go (you should go--there's lots to do!) we recommend:
Hotel Pur, the
Civilization Museum and the
Chocolate Museum (sadly not co-located),
Noctem Brewery, and eating as many
Sugar Shack breakfasts as you can get your hands on.
 |
| One of many delicious poutines. |
In August I had walking pneumonia. For the entire month. I do not recommend it.
September brought back-to-back weddings. Wedding #2 of the year was in the Outer Banks of North Carolina during Hurricane Jose. The beachfront property we stayed in (graciously rented by our friends Joe and Carmela) became Super Ocean Front when the hurricane took out the dunes and the boardwalk. Fortunately, the entire island dried out for a lovely Saturday ceremony. On Sunday, the area was evacuated for Hurricane Maria.
 |
| The break between the hurricanes. |
Then my cousin Josh got married in Wedding #3. Well, I mean, it was Wedding #1 for him. An I know what you're thinking: yes, Josh! The last time I checked he was nine! So Josh married Anna, who I adore.
The highlight of the wedding is that I got my newly retired uncle to dance to "No Diggity." Amy and I shocked our Baptist parents with our ability to dance really well. We'll just file that under 'things we didn't learn in youth group.' My grandmother (aka Mammy) said that the bride and groom dance was nice, but that the rest of the dancing was "just wiggling."
 |
| Girl Cousins + Josh! |
In October, I came in 4th place at my office's Halloween costume contest, dressed as Wonder Woman. Someone acted like a jerk, and I ended up escorting them out of the building in costume. I at least put my blazer on; even daughters of Themyscaria get cold sometimes.
Speaking of #4, November saw the final wedding of the year (unless one of you is planning a surprise wedding in December, which would be fine). We went to Portland, Maine to see Kyle and Zach get hitched, and I'm dying to go back.
 |
| Zach and Kyle, plus an adorable nephew and niece. |
Portland's airport is precious, their coffee shops and yoga studios are plentiful, and there is a
store entirely devoted to socks. Kyle made her own wedding dress which was gorgeous, and more importantly, had pockets!
 |
| My dress did not have pockets. Sad. |
Chris Brown has had allllllllllllll the accomplishments this year, and I'm super proud of him:
- First, his goal was to run 1,000 miles this year, and he's 9 miles away from achieving it. That means that he has run about 992 more miles than I have. (I'm more of a resistance training in a climate controlled room girl myself.)
- Second, he got promoted to Project Manager at AIAA, and will now be man-handling their second largest conference of the year, which is A Big Deal.
- Third, he's done all of this while he's been in school, getting all As and one B. (The B was in Business Law. He's determined that he does not want to be a Business Lawyer.)
As for my job, I've been experiencing the joy of being a Millennial female executive in a rapidly changing industry dominated by older men that prefer for things to stay the same. I will say this: it has not been boring.
And finally, we still have Beast, the small, spunky cat, and Roxy, the older, more chill cat. No one told Beast that he's not a dog, so that's fun.
 |
| "Hello, I'm crazy." |
Roxy just want to take a nap, because she's a girl after my own heart.
 |
| "I'm 'helping' Chris study." |
So all in all, a pretty good year for Team Brown. In 2018, we wish you all good things, whether you experience those in sickness or health, richer or poorer, better or worse...
Merry Christmas from The Browns!
