Year in Review: Best Recipes and best Memories of 2015

Posted on Jan 9th, 2016

by Johanna

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2015 Year in Review:

2015 was a pretty amazing year that started with the trip of a lifetime and was filled with lessons about what’s truly important in life, exciting new beginnings, wonderful new friendships and lots of travel. I’m so grateful for the opportunities 2015 has brought me and the wonderful people who are in my life. Seriously, not a day goes by that I don’t think “wow, I’m a pretty lucky girl.” My new years resolution for 2016 is to harness that positivity; I have started a journal in which each day I record two lines: one thing I am grateful for and one positive thing I did that day. My outlook for 2016 is surely a positive one… I can’t wait to see what this year has in store!

January: I spent the entire month of January abroad. I’m so grateful that I took the time to travel between jobs, visiting Germany, Sweden, France and Spain. During this time, I also started my Master’s in Nutrition Education at American University, an online program that allowed me to work toward my future career goals while traveling the world!

While in Chamonix, France I got to ski in the French Alps and spend a week with Elliott, one of my best friends since middle school.

Eating my way through Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid with my Dad and Kippy. — I had an amazing visit with Dad and Kippy in Spain! Here we can be seen eating our way through Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid.

February: February was all about settling back into life back home: finding the good will not to kill my husband for transforming our house into what would embarrass a frat boy, catching up with friends and starting the job search.

Valentines Day ropes course in our matching onesies!

March: March was a difficult month, but a mistake taught me an important lesson about what I really wanted in life and the importance of pursuing that passion without distraction. “If you find yourself in the wrong story, write a new one.”

April: In April, I returned my focus to my studies and pursued some extremely fulfilling volunteer opportunities cooking with kids and introducing them to nutritious foods. I also did a lot of running, completing five ten mile races in five weeks!

My cousins visited for a week! We all enjoyed homemade pizza and s'mores. — My cousins visited for a week! We all enjoyed homemade pizza and s’mores.

May: In May, I took a temporary job with Bread for the World, helping plan their annual lobby day. I continued to volunteer with the kiddos and started my third course of grad school.

Fun weekend Philly, filled with lots of Cheese Steaks and a new 10 mile PR! This was the fifth of five 10 milers I ran in 5 weeks.

June: June brought lots of weekend trips out of the city with large groups of friends, enjoying time outdoors floating down the river and grilling out on the beach. Oh, and I celebrated my last birthday before 30.

Awesome weekend camping on Assateague Island! — Awesome weekend camping with friends (and the ponies!) on Assateague Island!

July: In July, the job search came to an end and my patience paid off! I started my job on the Field Team at Share Our Strength. I couldn’t have been more excited to join the No Kid Hungry team!

Alli and Mike are back in town! Great time at the ball game catching up with good friends.

Started my new job at Share Our Strength. So excited to join a team of passionate colleagues working toward a mission I care so much about!

August: In August we spent a relaxing week with family in Wyoming, hiking, visiting Yellowstone National Park, visiting breweries and searching for wild life. We didn’t catch many fish, but we had a good time trying! I also finished my forth grad school course (and got my fourth ‘A’!), but decided to take the Fall off to settle into the new job and decide whether I should continue the program.

I learned to fly fish in Wyoming and spent an awesome week with the family!

September: September was filled with adventures with friends. We celebrated Courtney’s birthday, went to our first Renaissance Fair where we watched jousting, ate turkey leg and drank honey mead, and spent a great weekend in Philly. I also gave a lecture to my first grad school class and took my first trapeze lesson!

Cruising with great friends on the South Dakota State Society boat cruise!

A memorable day at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.

Fun weekend in Philly with new friends and brand new friends!

October: October was filled with travel! First to Grand Rapids for two good friends’ wedding (and lots of beer!). Next I dusted off my passport and Vickie and I set off to eat our way through Italy! We had an amazing visit to Venice where we experienced the famous high tides (“aqua alta”) and spent two full days at the 2015 World Expo, a once in a lifetime experience for certain! Courtney and I went all out for Halloween this year, renting a party bus to go to Markoff’s Haunted Forest and dawning what I think are our best Halloween costumes to date!

Grand Rapids for Ashley & Jay's wedding. Lots of beers were tasted! — Grand Rapids for Ashley & Jay’s wedding. Lots of beers were tasted!

Visited the 2015 World's Fair in Milan: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life — Visited the 2015 World’s Fair in Milan, Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. All about food, this was right up my ally!

Party bus to Markoff's Haunted Forest! — Party bus to Markoff’s Haunted Forest!

"Fast Food Killing America" - possibly our best Halloween costume EVER. — “Fast Food Killing America” – possibly our best Halloween costume EVER.

November: We had lots to be Thankful for this November! Thanks to the generosity of my amazing friends, family and co-workers, our Friendsgiving potluck raised over $1,800. Our family celebrated Thanksgiving with a vegan holiday spread with vegetables wellington as the centerpiece. November also brought bocce, hikes, and our first ever espionage games.

Friendsgiving for No Kid Hungry: hosted nearly 30 people for a potluck Thanksgiving celebration, raising over $1,800 for No Kid Hungry!

December: December is always a festive month, and this year was no exception. My office celebrated the holidays for a week, culminating in a festive sweater contest; friends gathered for holiday cheer and weekly Christmas movies; and we drank lots of beer! While the holidays brought sadness as we grieved the loss of my Grandad, it was a great comfort to spend time with family in New Hampshire and Atlanta, and to spend time in the unseasonably warm great outdoors.