Christopher's top 10 moments of 2013

Wow! 2013 delivered. Here's one year for the history books. Here are Christopher's top 10 moments of 2013. Maybe I can get Susan to do one too.

10. Moving to Houston. I'll tack this on to the end of the list because I'm not sure if this qualifies as a top moment, but it certainly was a big one. Moving 2000 miles was very expensive and very stressful, but with lots of help we made it safely and without major incident. It was also a great opportunity to spend lots of quality time with my mom, Bradley, and Susan's brother (who I hadn't spent too much time with since he came back from his mission), and her mother. So if we just forget all the high stakes planning, we can chalk this up as a road trip for the ages.

9. Editing President Eyring's biography. For my advanced editing class, we worked with the author of President Eyring's new biography to help edit each section. It was cool because it was professional quality work for a manuscript that I had a lot of enthusiasm for. The book is very honest, and has some interesting tid-bits most people would be interested in.

8. Free zoo day. When we came to Houston we immediately checked for when free zoo day was. We braved the traffic and headed to the inner loop. The zoo is beautiful, and knowing that we could go for free the first Tuesday of any month, we felt no pressure to see everything. So we just meandered. The highlight was definitely the long and winding Elephant exhibit with at least 6 elephants including a couple of babies. We can't wait to go back.

7. Video game design camp out. While living in Rexburg, I worked with the teacher's quorum. They loved video games and I convinced them that we could spend time on video games if they took it seriously. They bought in completely. And the culmination involved graphic design, story telling, and coding. It was great fun, and at the end we came out with a working video game.

6. Second anniversary. For our second anniversary, and since we're wicked poor, we celebrated in twos. We took a two mile walk. Rented some red boxes (2 for 1), got two ice creams, and spent $2.22.

5. Conference marathon. Before graduating college I presented at four conferences all along the Wasatch front. There is something thrilling about people who sit and listen to your literary analyses. The best of the bunch was the Association of Mormon Letters because I went with two professors. We became close, and chatted all the way from Rexburg to Orem and back. I learned a ton, and made a bunch of great connections.

4. Then I graduated. This wouldn't have been such a big deal, except that I decided to not wear a cap and gown, because wearing clothing that is specifically designed to brag about your accomplishments isn't very humble, or modest. And since as a Mormon I try to wear modest clothing, I couldn't in good conscious wear the cap and gown. Getting to explain this to people over and over all day fed my rebellious spirit and my insatiable ego.

3. 4th of July. Susan and I had the best fourth of July ever. We went to the zoo, because you know--Awesome--where we saw a baby lemur learning how to climb from its mother. Then we had a little BBQ at the park, where we brainstormed the idea for the middle grade fantasy novel I am now in the middle of writing. And then we got a spot where we couldn't see the firework show, but randomly the church we were behind had their own show. It was low key, and perfect for crowd averse me.

2. Reading poetry at Last Poet Standing. So three years ago I had an idea for Last Poet Standing. The little bugger has taken on a life of its own. This year was its third go around. But since I've always been helping I've never gotten on stage before. This season, our vote counting entertainment dropped out, and I had told them I could always fill in. I got on stage and did a short poetry set. It was a huge thrill, the crowd dug my poetry, and since I couldn't get voted off there was no potential blow to my ego.

1. Susan's having a baby! I bet you can guess what will be number one on this list next year. This was a delightful surprise, and the timing couldn't have been better. We learned just a couple weeks ago that we're expecting a boy. It's wicked scary, but once you accept that everyone who has ever had a child has been a terrible parent it takes a little bit of the pressure off.