Happy Thursday! 2018 has been an amazing year for Jake and I. We went into knowing it would be great, due to his much awaited medical school graduation in the spring. We also knew it would give us the chance to travel a lot for interviews and around graduation time. The travel bug hit us hard in 2017 and we were lucky to visit a lot of places on our travel bucket list in 2018. Although 2018 was amazing, it did have some challenges, like moving away from family, and it brought me a lot of anxiety as I waited to hear where we would be moving for Jake’s residency. 2018 was a year full of change and learning. I have rounded up some of the biggest moments of the year. Stay tuned, I will be sharing my 2019 resolutions on Monday.
A Review of 2018:
- Rebranding my blog from “Life of a Med School Wife” to “A Byers Guide”:
I knew when I created my blog in 2017 that “Life of a Med School Wife” wouldn’t be my permanent name. 2018 was finally the year for Jake to finally graduate from medical school, so a name change was necessary. You can read more about why I changed my blog name/more about the story about the name here. - We Traveled to Denver, CO:
Our first trip of 2018 was to Denver, Colorado. Jake had interviewed there for residency and it was one of our favorite trips. You can see my full guide to Denver here. - I turned 27:
For my 27th birthday, I rounded up 27 facts about me here. - We Visited Birmingham, AL:
Jake and I visited Birmingham knowing he wanted to rank it number one for residency. We visited to make sure I would like it, too. You can read about our first trip to Birmingham here. - Match Day Anxiety:
The new year brought a lot of anxiety for me as I waited to hear where Jake matched. I am the type of person who hates surprises, and not knowing where we would be living for the next 4 (or 5) years gave me a ton of anxiety. Match taught me that I am not in control and I got really personal in this post and shared a testimony of how I found peace. I explained here what “Match Day” is/more about how medical school/residency works. - We Matched:
To this day, my blog post about our match results is my #1 viewed one. Full post on Match Day/my feelings here. - We Explored Oklahoma City:
Before moving, we fully took the chance to explore the first city that Jake and I called home together. We absolutely loved our time in Oklahoma City, and I realized I still needed to do a post and share my favorite spots. You can see more about our favorite district in OKC here and about a winery visit here. - We Visited Las Vegas Twice:
My mom had a big birthday, so we visited to celebrate her and my dad’s birthday (they have the same birthday), and we also visited Las Vegas for a second time for his aunt’s wedding. Full guide to Las Vegas here and here. - We Bought A Home:
I announced here that we bought a home in Birmingham. We absolutely love it and you can see some posts here with our decorations. I am still not fully done decorating, so hopefully I’ll share more posts soon once we finish. You can find my Christmas Home Decor post here and my Mud Room post here. - We Visited NYC/ Pittsburgh for Jake’s Sister’s 21st Birthday:
Full post on NYC here , rainy guide day to NYC here and Central Park here. - We Attended the Kentucky Derby:
Full post here. - We visited The Napa Valley:
Full guide to Napa here and Napa Valley Wine Train post here. - We Visited San Francisco, CA:
Full guide to San Francisco post here. - Jake Graduated From Medical School on May 18, 2018.
- We Moved to Birmingham, AL.
- We Celebrated 4 years of marriage
After Moving I Went Through A Major Rut: 
I got personal in this post and shared more about it here. - We Explored Birmingham:
We absolutely love Birmingham and I shared several posts about our new city. Birmingham Botanical Garden post here, Market At Pepper Place post here , Garden Shop here, and Life Lately In Birmingham here . - I Started A New Job:
After months of looking, I announced here that I started a new job in October. - We Visited Nashville/Franklin, TN:
Full Guide To Nashville post here, Cheekwood Estates post here, and Franklin, Tn. post here. - We Visited The Pioneer Woman Mercantile in Pawhuska, OK.
Full post here - We Visited Sea Island, GA:
Full Post here. - We Visited Atlanta, GA:
Full Guide To Alanta post here. - We visited New Orleans:
This was our favorite of all of the trips. Full Guide To Nola post here. - We Visited Kansas City,KS/MO:
I will share a post soon, but we visited for our annual tradition of going to a Kansas City Chiefs game around Christmas. - We Visited Our Families for Christmas and New Year’s:
We ended the year strong and got to celebrate with both of our families.
Thank you so much for following along in 2018. I cannot express how grateful I am to have shared this year with y’all. 2018 was a huge year for me and brought me so many opportunities for the blog. I look forward to see what 2019 has in store for everyone. I hope the new year will bring you many blessings.
Love you and love your year!! So many fun trips and many accomplishments! Absolutely love you guys and so enjoy following along 🙂
Katherine | http://www.oneswainkycouple.com
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Aww love you too! It was such a fun year. It looked like y’all had a great year too. We love y’all both and we also enjoy getting to follow along your journey.
Love looking back on your year! Sounds like 2018 was full of excitement and adventure 🙂 I can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for you! Happy New Year!
Taylor | http://www.livingtaylored.com
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Thank you so much Taylor! It’s been such a great year and I’m so excited to see what 2019 will be like. I know your 2019 is going to be amazing.
Wow, all that in one year! My goodness it’s been a busy year for you two. I wish you an even better 2019!!!
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It really was a huge year for us. My last year in review post was wayyyyy shorter. I am so excited for 2019, but know it wouldn’t be quite as busy.
You had such a big year! I loved following along on your travels and can’t wait to see what 2019 holds for you guys.
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It really was a big year. Aw thanks, Amanda. I love following your travels as well. We probably won’t get to travel much for a while due to Jakes schedule, but hopefully we will still get a lot of traveling in.
Hi Courtney, 2018 was a year of change for you! Starting in Oklahoma city and making the big move to Birmingham. I was glad to follow your adventures along the way with your visits to a lot of parts of the country. Napa was a great trip and I loved Nashville , and everywhere else in between!! The photo of you and Jake at his graduation is so awesome, your dress is gorgeous ! I really like the photo of you at your front door of your new home, and that dress also. I love so much coming to your site and following you, Best wishes for 2019
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Hey Terri! it really was a big year of change for us. Aww I am so thankful that you’ve enjoyed following me/we’ve connected. Happy 2019
It was great following your wonderful adventures Courtney, hugs, Terri xo.
WOW. I’ve been following your posts, but seeing them compiled here really puts it into perspective for what an incredible, but busy, year you had! Congratulations on all that has happened this year! What an exciting year for you two.
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Aww thanks, friend! I so appreciate you following me this year. I have really enjoyed following you <3
You had a great 2018!!
Jennifer
Effortlessly Sophisticated
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I really did. I hope you did too.
You really have had one heck of a year!! So many great changes and the opportunity for a lot of fun travel!! Xo, Nikki
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Thanks, Nikki! It really was an amazing and eventful year with lots of change/opportunities. 🙂