A Look Back On 2018

Well as this year is coming to a close I like to do what most do and reflect on all that has happened and the things I look forward to in the next year. If you follow along you know that 2017 had it's ups and downs with the birth of our first child and the low with our home flooding in Harvey. Good news though we were able to finally move back into our home and have loved all the changes we have made to the #bachelorpadfixerupper and having back our own space again. So this already gave 2018 a better outlook. 
Another item that has been on my list/goals on a personal and professional level was to finally to start the process on obtaining my masters. I was in a position with my new employer (already a year with them and I can't believe it) and the flexibility that came with it to apply and finally begin this next chapter that I have wanted to do for over five years. Remember I worked in oil and gas for ten years and traveled quite a bit and for extended periods of time so I had no opportunity with my schedule to do it. 
I applied to the University of Houston in the summer/fall to their dual master's program: Master's in Industrial Engineering (MIE) and the Professional Master's in Business Administration (PMBA) and got accepted into both. I started this fall with nine hours of MIE courses and did very well. Although working full time and taking a full course load was very difficult while finding balance with raising a toddler and other responsibilities so I don't know if I will take nine hours again. 

I did get asked quite a bit why I would want to go back to school while I already have a lot of work experience and my professional engineering license and I saw this quote that I thought sums it up pretty well. 

Needless to say I want to be my best self whether that is personally and/or professionally, always continue to learn, work hard, and be kind while doing it all. 
So in 2018 I'm back in my home, in the master's programs I wanted, working hard with this new company, which resulted to several four day weekends getaways where some of them piggybacked off of work trips. Travel is a huge passion of mine and I love that I got to explore new and old places this year (#ashleyryantravels). 
New Orleans: New Years Our first getaway was a favorite of ours New Orleans for New Years. We along with our parents rented an amazing place centrally located and met up with several friends for dinners and drinks to kick of the New Year. We had a blast and like always ate at amazing restaurants. 

Boston/New Hampshire: January My employer's main office is located in New Hampshire and they do their Christmas party in January due to the holiday's being to busy for everyone. So even though I had not even worked there a full month at the time I was graciously invited to the Christmas party. I was so thrilled because Boston, which I had never been before and really wanted to go, was less than an hour away. The husband and I stayed two nights in Boston eating and doing touristy things before heading off to New Hampshire to spend another two nights there. We are going again in 2019 and might the following year try to tack on Maine, but we still have a lot we want to see in Boston and the surrounding areas so we will probably do the a similar stay for 2019. 

Las Vegas: March Las Vegas was a trip that was part of my Christmas present; however, the concert we got tickets for was cancelled that weekend, but we still made the most of it and saw a few shows and ate our hearts out. We went with another couple which made it that much more fun and can't wait to do more fun trips with them in the future. 

Washington D.C/ Georgetown: August This weekend getaway was one of the ones piggybacked off of a work trip and another place I was dying to see. I won't share too many pictures because I feel it deserves it's own dedicated post, but Washington was surprisingly easy to get around, even though parking everywhere had two hour limits, I was able to walk to most of the sites. It also seemed like a very family friendly town so I would love to go back with the family someday.

Portland, Oregon: August This getaway was a surprise birthday trip I planned for Amos filled with tons of brewery tours and site seeing. I will probably also do a dedicated post to this trip since I took a lot of photos and the eating we did there was outstanding. 

Chicago: December The last trip we took started off all work and ended up with a surprise visit and stay with friends who live there. This was my second time visiting Chicago, the first time for Lollapalooza, and even though it was a bit chilly it was so great to visit and cross off  some more restaurants we wanted to try off of our list. This might deserve a dedicated post just for all the food alone. If you are a foodie like us you will want to stayed tuned for this food guide. Also in the meantime can check out #ashleyryaneats.

Hopefully y'all have made it this far and if so you are my rock stars. This year was one for the books and I can't wait to see what 2019 has in store.