You're gonna miss this...

Goodbye 2008, hello 2009!  Tonight is the night that we get a fresh start for a new year. 2008 was such a special year for me; it is hard to see it go in some ways.  It was the first whole year as husband and wife for Drew and I and for that alone, I am most thankful.  We celebrated our very first wedding anniversary, moved into a beautiful apartment and have so much to be thankful for.  

I have heard several people over the last few weeks say "I hope 2009 is way better than 2008."   Their 401k was cut in half (or worse), the economy is bad, gas is up and down.  While I fully admit that all of things can be worrisome, why focus on things that for the most part are out of our control?  We live in such a blessed country and are afforded opportunities that most are not.  I have high hopes for 2009 but 2008 will be hard to beat!  I will now step off of my soap box...

On another note, why does blogger hate me lately?  I upload my pictures in a precise manner and all it does is turn around and put them any place it desires!  Whatev I guess.  :)  I have ATTEMPTED to include some pictures of my fave things from 2008 but I assume I am at the mercy of blogger - we will see once this is posted.  Some of the pictures may seem strange but trust me, there is always a perfectly hilarious story to go along with them.  Others are just "things" that I fell in love with.

UPDATE:  Blogger got me again...looks like the pictures are at the top despite all of my hard work.

As I mentioned before, I will be posting my goals for 2009 - stay tuned and keep me in check!  I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year's Eve and stay safe!  Talk to you on the flip side!  Enjoy the Champagne.

Cheers to '09

XOXO

Oh, and one more thing...

I have ashamedly ordered my very own personalized stationary. I know, I know but they had so many cute designs to choose from and I couldn’t pass them up! Now I just need to actually sit down and write some letters! You should check it out… RockPaperScissors.

Monday is here so I guess it is back to reality and back to work! I had a fabulous four days away from work so I can’t complain but it always so difficult to peel myself out of the bed and get to work after a holiday. (It is especially hard when my hair refuses to look right, my clothes instantly wrinkle and I don’t have anything to bring for lunch.) Drew and I spent the weekend in Grapevine with his family for another Christmas celebration and had a ton of fun as usual. Everyone in his family is so fun to be around and we shared a lot of laughs which is always a good thing. If there is one thing everyone should know about me by now it is that I LOVE to laugh!

My sister-in-law turned me on to a website that I really want everyone to check out if they get the chance. It is an awesome website where people share how they have overcome struggles in their lives – you will hear from athletes, musicians, actors, you name it. It really is worth looking at if you can! Iamsecond.com

Can you believe it is almost 2009?? What the heck is going on? Sometimes it feels like life gets going way too fast and I wish I could slow it down – but then again it reminds me just how precious every day is. I love spending time with my family and Drew’s family and I treasure every minute with Drew. I hate that feeling that creeps up that makes me think that I am going to run out of time with Drew – but that just makes me appreciate each day that I get with him. I am excited for all that 2009 will bring…every year I tell myself that I am going to set at least five goals for the upcoming year and every year I forget to actually do it. Not this year! Not only am I going to write down five goals, I am going to put them on the blog so that more people will hold me accountable…I am doing it!

Speaking of 2009, Drew and I are lucky enough to be spending New Year’s Eve in Austin this year with some of our best friends! I am so excited and cannot wait until Wednesday night – I promise to take pictures this time since I have am proud to report that I have located both my camera and the charger. This reminds me…I should most definitely incorporate organization into my goals for 2009.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day and week – I will be seeing some of you VERY SOON! Yay!

XOXO

Merry Christmas and a Pink Martini!

I can't believe that Christmas has already come and gone...time flies waaaay too fast!  Christmas was wonderful this year and again, I feel overly blessed.  We went to an AWESOME Christmas Eve church service at RiverPointe on Wednesday - and I really do mean awesome!  They have the best music and we had a really fun time.  My family does things a little differently when it comes to opening presents.  On Christmas Eve we open our stockings - which reminds me that every year we get scratch off lottery tickets and every year I convince myself that I am going to win big.  Soooo...2008 was not my year, maybe 2009!  Anyway, I did end up winning $1 and Drew won $4 but the most hilarious thing ever is that my mom's best friend's son (who is 5 years old) won $2000!  We couldn't get over it...they decided to take a family trip with his winnings.  After our stockings were open, Drew and I headed back to our apartment to gear up for Christmas Day.  I can't believe that we have already spent two Christmases (not sure if that is really a word) as husband and wife - Drew is by far my greatest gift ever and I have never felt more lucky than to have him in my life.  

On Christmas morning, Drew and I opened our gifts to each other.  Out of all he beautiful things he gave me, my favorite has to be my fabulous martini set!  I love martini's of all flavors and of all the kitchen things I have already accumulated, I was missing martini glasses.  Kitchen completed!  I have two favorites that you really should try if you like fruity drinks...both are pretty tangy but I can't get enough of them.  Oh and you have to like vodka!  ;)

Flirtini

Lemon Drop

Then we headed over to my mom's house for breakfast, mimosas and more gift exchanging...I LOVE more than anything to watch people open gifts - they always look so happy.

So now it is off to Dallas for Christmas with Drew's family.  We are really looking forward to seeing everyone and I know that it will be tons of fun.  I am sure there will be more delicious food which really is the LAST thing I need but hey, my goal is to gain as much weight as possible before New Year's so that when I start getting back in shape it will be far more noticable!  Not really...but it sure is a good excuse!  ;)  

I hope all of you had the most fabulous Christmas and I wish you a wonderful start to 2009!

XOXO

Merry Christmas!

A short note since I don't have much time to write at the moment...but I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! We are all so blessed and tomorrow is the perfect time to relax with friends and family. I will update after Christmas and hopefully, I will have some pictures to share. It all depends on if I can dig out my camera. I can't wait to hear about everyone's Christmas eve/morning!

Always remember the TRUE reason for the season.

XOXO

December is here!

I hope everyone had a super wonderful Thanksgiving...I certainly did! My stomach is just now recovering from the massive amounts of food that were consumed…it will take my waist line a while longer I am afraid. Anyway, I really enjoyed some extra time away from work which meant extra time to spend with Drew and the fam (and extra time away from my fax machine that always has “paper jams”). As mentioned in my last post (I think) my brother brought his girlfriend down from Wisconsin for her first trip to beautiful TEXAS! She was so sweet and was up for all the crazy things my family likes to do. It was crazy to see my little brother interact with a girl but we could all tell that he really likes her so that makes me feel happy and old at the same time! Speaking of old, my birthday was yesterday and I am now officially a quarter of a century…that is right, the big 2-5. If Thanksgiving wasn’t enough to make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world, my birthday sure sent it over the top. My sweet Drew got me a “beautimous” purse that I have really been wanting and my mom went way overboard as usual. I totally don’t deserve all of this and in fact I felt guilty after receiving such nice things. I will try to make it up to them at Christmas time!

I have CHRISTMAS on the brain! Drew and I helped my mom and step-dad decorate their house for the holidays…they live in an area of town that is known for tons and tons of decorations and it is by far the best place to take a look at Christmas lights. This brings to mind a hilarious story from this past weekend…

My step-dad was in the attic bringing down the Christmas lights when all of a sudden, he fell through the ceiling! He was OK at first but after a few minutes his body just shut down and it caused him to have a small seizure. SOOOO, we had to call the old 911. They came and checked him out and deemed him alright. After all of that, I think his ego was bruised more than anything else! Good times.

But back to Christmas decorations…I can’t wait to decorate our apartment. The only problem is that it will have to wait at least another week because we are moving this weekend (sigh). I am overly excited about moving but can’t stand the thought of physically moving all of our stuff. Luckily, Drew’s parents, as well as mine, have kindly volunteered to help! I will try to stay relaxed but I am ready to have it over with. For those of you that know me rather well, my relaxed equals most peoples’ nervous. Like I said, I will TRY to stay relaxed. The good news is that a week from now we will hopefully have at least a Christmas tree and our stockings put up. For now, I will have to settle for decorating the blog. There are so many cute blog templates (or whatever they are called, I am not cool) that I can’t decide which one to keep…this will give me the opportunity to change them often! Just like always. I can’t make up my mind.

XOXO