Friday Funnies - 12.28

Yes, it is another Friday Funny AND the last one of the year!!!! Before I get to the funnies, I have an announcement to make: today marks the three year anniversary when Jordan and I started dating! Who knew that three years ago when he overheard me complaining in the Dance Marathon office and three nights of studying together for finals would lead to the life we now have together?! And this afternoon we are heading to Chicago for our friend Kev and Mandi's wedding, another DM couple! Jordan is an usher and singing their first dance song plus we get to see a lot of friends all reunited so it should be a fun weekend together! I hope everyone has a fun and relaxing weekend after the holiday madness and rush of the season....or if you are traveling somewhere for New Year's Eve, have a great weekend celebrating and safe travels!

loving life pool side...

hating life airport terminal side...

Here's something funny...in less than six hours, we went through a 75 DEGREE TEMPERATURE CHANGE...

    

  

                      

too bad I wasn't feeling this good and ready to paarrrrrrty on our flights back home!

But this scene (and movie as a whole!) never gets old!

wedding weekend recap

Love Hug dressed and ready to go to the Weibring-Bogue Wedding!
Dress: Target, $19.99 (on sale!)
Tights: Target, $4.00
Heels: borrowed from Leah
Jewelry: made by my mom!

Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Bogue

first time as wedding guests being Mr. & Mrs. Easton :)

party on! 

3 shades of Grey

slow jam dance together...

sending off floating lanterns to end the night!

We had the most amazing weekend and got to witness a truly beautiful and incredible wedding ceremony between our close friends, Jared and Heather. The sun was shining and the wind held off so it made for a perfect fall afternoon to watch them exchange their vows outside with all the fall colors, sounds and smells surrounding them. Seeing Jared cry as he watched his bride make her way to him down the aisle was enough to get me choked up but once they started reciting their own vows they each wrote, well, that really made me (and every other guest there, besides Jordan) turn on the waterworks. Their love for each other that they share is so evident and it shined through in every aspect of their wedding--from their vows to the songs and readings all the way to the speeches their families and friends gave about them and to the way they looked at each other while dancing. We had a blast celebrating with them and with all of our closest friends! Jordan and I are so lucky to have such awesome people in our lives who encourage us to show the same sort of love and respect to one another like what we witnessed on Saturday. It was a magical day filled with family and friends, one heck of a party and mounds of love and laughter! Here's to your happily ever after, Mr. and Mrs. Bogue! Congrats! :)

October coming in hot!

It's Monday and it's a new month...rabbit rabbit, October is here folks! And what a great weekend we had to kick off this fabulous month! I would have recapped about it yesterday but I felt the need to give one last plug about September being Childhood Cancer Awareness month because let's be honest, that's 1000000x more important than the drunken chaos we caused over the weekend! But let's recap away:

My good friend Caputo got to town on Thursday night so we stayed up late chatting and giggling like girls always do when they're with their friends and slept in late Friday morning. After going to lunch and doing some shopping for some of her family members for new Iowa gear, we came back to our place to lounge. We quickly realized that there was a day long marathon of Say Yes To The Dress on and well, after we realized that, it was a done deal. We were committed to the couch and recliner for the rest of the day! The rest of the crew didn't show up until 7:30 and Jordan was gone working until 9:00.....the best part of it all was we got a notice on the TV screen that said "Going into energy save mode due to inactivity of 4 hours." Yes, that means that we didn't even touch the remote for 4 HOURS! We just can't resist a good TLC marathon of SYTTD! Once everyone got here, we had a few cold ones, got all dolled up and hit the town. Of course, by hit the town, we went to Brother's and only Brother's. We met up with several other people and had a great time. Lots of dancing, lots of laughing and not so much drinking because we wanted to keep it somewhat together so we could make it to tailgating early in the morning!

Saturday morning rolled around and we all woke up to ACDC's Back In Black...it wouldn't be a Hawkeye Saturday without waking up to their intro theme song! Once we all pulled it together, we headed to Melrose Madness to enjoy some good ol' tailgating Hawkeye Style! I love the atmosphere of gameday in Iowa City and I don't think it will ever get old to me! Unfortunately, I had to go to work for the afternoon so it was a tame tailgating morning for me and I went to work for a few hours....but when I got back, the game still had half left so I caught up pretty quick to everyone! Turns out everyone tailgated all day long for the whole game...and then some! And the Hawks won which made it an even more exciting Homecoming weekend! Way to kick off the conference play and start with a win Iowa! We all made the trip back to our place, crashed and napped but then since we were all recharged, we started round 2. And what other way to start it off than by doing a Game Day powerhour and a Disney powerhour?! We got loud. We got rowdy. And we got out of control. But we didn't get any knocks on our door from neighbors and no one got injured. We had a riot and thinking of 13 adults all screaming out the name of the Disney movie as the powerhour clip would change still makes me laugh. Man, we have some awesome friends. 

We wrapped up the weekend by making breakfast on Sunday morning and all lounging and recovering watching some NFL football. One by one, our friends had to leave but at least we know we'll all be reunited at the end of this month for our close friend's Jared and Heather's wedding....can't wait! All in all, what an awesome, entertaining and fun loving weekend. It's weekend's like this that make Jordan and I so thankful for joining Dance Marathon because that's where we met all of our closest friends and the ones who were here with us this weekend! Already anxiously awaiting our next reunion at the end of the month! 

ready for a night out on the town with my girls!

the hubs.

Hawkeye Love Hug

happy alums after a Hawk win!

Cabin Party Round 2

Minus the Hawks blowing the game and losing it at the end, the weekend was still amazing and a huge success. I'm not sure how it couldn't be given the circumstances....all three Cross kids, Jordan, Kat, Suz and good friends of Scott and Kat's, Nate and Amber then add in the cabin in the woods, bon fire, lots of beer, good food and snacks...and like I said, the best people I know to spend a weekend partying with at a cabin. And well, that all adds up to one awesome time. Even Paisley had a fantastic time running around wherever she pleased while not hooked up to a leash or rope and she got to dig in real dirt (as opposed to our bed or the carpet). And holy shit can she dig! I am now fearful of our future yard that we have because I think she'll tear it up like it's her job....hopefully we can get that under control or if anything, maybe I can train her to just till up the yard in places I want to plant a garden?! I can dream at least. Anyway, she was a filthy dirt and burr covered, stinky (from rolling around and laying on anything and everything that smelled "good" to her...like dead birds and deer poop), exhausted pup by the end of the night! 

bros and their mexican sweatshirts

cabin chicks

what goons

fun weekend getaway together!

So many insides jokes and so many good chats with everyone. Great group of people and I couldn't have asked for a better weekend trip to Wisconsin! After making the drive home, Jordan and I both took a nap to recover and then I gave Paisley a bath...she definitely wasn't happy but there was so way I was letting her up on the furniture or in our bed looking the way she looked! Now she's all fluffy again, smelling good and free of burrs! And it's bedtime for all of us because Cabin Party Round 2 officially wore us out! Already looking forward to next year because I think we're getting t-shirts!!! CABIN TEAM, ASSEMBLE!!!!

Pumpkin Scones

The chill is in the air, the leaves are changing and the shelves are starting to be lined with Halloween candy which means one thing...fall is here so here comes lots of pumpkin and apple flavored food and drinks! YUMMM!!! Now that I'm a wife (and secretly still trying to impress Jordan when I can) I've been whipping up different meals and desserts but here is one that is blog worthy! I made these Starbucks Clone Pumpkin Scones from the Iowa Girl Eats blog! And boy were they delicious...they will definitely be a repeater for us, especially as the temperature keeps dropping! What is it about the pumpkin and apple flavors that are SO good in the chilly weather and so comforting?! Whatever it is, I'm not upset about it! 

I followed the instructions for the recipe but doubled it because I knew they would get devoured rather fast....and it's a good thing that I did! I also added a few extra pinches of cinnamon and nutmeg to make them even more flavorful. Ok and I increased the glaze ingredients a little to give them plenty of coating. AMAZING! And the best part about all of this is that I made this batch of 16 total scones for what 3 of them from Starbucks would have cost me! So, here's what you need so you can start making your kitchen smell delicious and fill you tummy with a great fall treat:
Ingredients:

2 cups flour
7 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
3 Tablespoons half & half
1 egg
6 Tablespoons cold butter, cubed

For the plain glaze: 
1 cup + 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons half & half

For the spiced drizzle:
1 cup + 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons half & half
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch ground ground ginger
pinch ground ground cloves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees then line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a large food processor (or in a large bowl) combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Pulse or whisk to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until well incorporated and mixture is the texture of cornmeal. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, half & half, and egg. Add to flour mixture and pulse until just combined. Alternatively, stir until the dough comes together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 4 or 5 times to bring the dough together, then flatten into a circle 1″ thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half, then cut each half into thirds.
4. Place the wedges onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 14-16 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
5. When scones are cool, whisk together the plain glaze ingredients, then spoon on top and spread slightly. Let harden for 10 minutes, then whisk together the spiced drizzle ingredients and drizzle on top. Let harden completely, about 1 hour, before serving. Store in an air-tight container for 1 day. **don't stack with parchment paper between rows of scones in container...just use more containers to avoid stacking them otherwise it makes the glaze runny! I learned this the hard way!**

YUM!!!  These are perfect for breakfast, mid-morning snack,
afternoon snack, dinner dessert, and bedtime snack!
So good!!!!

So besides baking, I'm really looking forward to the weekend! We all need a weekend getaway from time to time, right? Right. This weekend Jordan and I are hitting the road and heading northbound to Beaver Dam, Wisconsin for a good ol' fashioned cabin party!!! The cabin party is my sister-in-law Kat's parents and it's in the middle of 50 acres of land they own aka the middle of no where aka  there are NO NEIGHBORS!!! So what if we're all in our mid to late twenties and like to party as if we're still 19 and 21 years old?! Can't wait to see my siblings and all party together around a bon fire and explore the woods! And the Hawks play in the morning while we'll be driving up there so hopefully they give us a good game to listen to and cheer along with! Let's go Thursday and Friday, hurry up because we're looking forward to a great weekend!

Welcome to 25

Whoever said turning 25 is a bad thing? And why do people always say, "wow now you're closer to 30 than 20!" like it's such a bad thing! I am gladly welcoming turning 25 with open arms and if this past weekend was any indicator as to how the rest of the year is going to go, then I know it will be a good one! Janelle got to town late Friday night and right from her bus, we went downtown for some early birthday celebrating. What started out as "just a few drinks," turned into staying out until bar close, going to aftie's with some friends, a trip to Wal-Mart at 4am for wings and fries...and of course, The Hunger Games on blu-ray!!!! Needless to say, it was a fantastic start to the weekend! Saturday we got to Des Moines and hit up the State Fair for some drinks, people watching and fried food before the concert. Fried pickles and beer were a huge hit. So soooo good!!! Then we headed into the concert... It. Was. Awesome. Loverboy went on first then Pat Benatar came on stage and totally rocked it. Jordan and Scott got a kick out of how many of her songs that Janelle and I knew! I mean, who doesn't know "Heartbreaker" and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot!" Throw back 80s jams are the best! And then the real entertainment of the night hit the stage....JOURNEY!!! They were amazing! I am not sure if any of us stopped singing and dancing and rocking out right with them and everyone else there! The best songs were definitely "Faithfully" and of course, "Don't Stop Believing"....they ended the song with confetti and streamers blasting everywhere! Epic concert and we all loved every minute of it. Big shoutout to my parents for the tickets for all of us! It was a blast for the 5 pack to be together so thank you for the fun outing!!!!

early birthday celebration!

Sisters at Brothers!

State Fair Fun!

Awesome electric guitar solo playing
The National Anthem!

Don't Stop Believing!!!

The Fab Five!

Birthday Week!

Whoo whoo it's time for another birthday week!!!! Of course, I know this year won't live up to last year's birthday considering Jordan proposed and between him and my parents, I got the most adorable puppy to really top off the day! Seriously, it was the best birthday ever! It's so weird to think that we've had Paisley for a year already this Saturday, that we got engaged a year ago and two weeks ago, got married! We're celebrating my 25th birthday by going to the Journey concert at the Iowa State Fair along with Pat Benatar and Loverboy. It's going to ROCK!!! And The Hunger Games comes out on DVD....on my birthday! Looks like the odds are in my favor! Here's to a great birthday week and a fantastic weekend of celebrating with Jordan, my siblings and our friends!

WE'RE MARRIED!!!!

All of our family and friends have come and gone....our place looks like a tornado came through here....there's a pile of thank you's staring at us already.....we are exhausted but happy, excited, in love and each of us have a shiny pretty ring on our left hand! Holy crap, we're finally married!!!! After a 352 day long engagement that was most definitely full of its ups and downs (thankfully more ups than downs), some really special time spent with my mom and sister, an awesome bachelor party for Jordan and an amazing bachelorette party for me, and this past weekend getting to be surrounded by all of our family and closest friends to celebrate our wedding, made it all worth it. All of it. So what if we had an argument here or a disagreement there? The wedding still went on and it was magical and really, we all learned something about each other along the way. And that's what made it such a fun journey and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect guy to stand beside me throughout it all.

Our wedding weekend can be summed up in one simple word: epic. It was literally epic in every sense of the word. From the moment my parents got to town up until the moment we said goodbye to them and finally kicked back on our couch to take in the past few days. I don't want to brag, but it really was one of the most amazing and kickass receptions I have ever been to. Which rocks, since it was my own. And that's exactly what we wanted it to be, a huge party to celebrate! My Dad kicked things off with a very heartfelt, humorous and emotional father of the bride speech. He had all of us laughing our ass off one second and the next, crying like a baby, and just like that, laughing again a minute later. His love for me has always been obvious but his love for Jordan, and for us together, shined through and it made my heart so happy. Your parents can tell you that they're proud of you or that they love you, but when you can see it show through without hearing the words, that's just when you know. And the whole time he was speaking, I just knew and knowing that he's proud of me and Jordan, and loves us and supports us, well, that's a pretty great feeling. After all of the typical dances got out of the way, we kicked off the reception dance for all of our guests by having a "snowball dance" which basically started with the wedding party on the dance floor, and when the music stopped, we had to go get someone from the crowd to dance with us and this went on and on until everyone was out dancing! And the dance floor wasn't ever empty or clear all night from the beginning!!! The DJ was amazing and our family and friends were even more amazing! They know how to party and party we did...all night long! Party a little too hard? Maybe. Feel bad about celebrating my wedding a little too hard and drinking maybe just a little too much? Not at all. Jordan and I had the time of our freaking lives! All of those people were there because of us for our wedding and it was a very surreal moment when I looked out at the crowd and realized, "I know every single person here. And they're here because they love me and Jordan, support our decision to get married and want to help us celebrate." I don't know if I've ever experienced a moment like that but it gave me chills and I could just feel myself light up. Best moment ever. And like I told Jordan at the end of my toast, the best is truly yet to come for us and for our lives together. And I can't wait to see what is in store for us!

morning of the wedding...done with hair and make up!

Mom making sure everything is centered and looking good...fighting back the tears!

Teagan, the cutest flower girl and niece ever!

exchanging vows...I Do!

Hawks for life in front of Kinnick!

4 sisters!

our first dance to Matthew West "When I Say I Do"

and my second favorite dance of the night with my Dad
to The Temptations "My Girl"

I can't wait to get back our professional pictures! And to start using some of our awesome and neat gifts that we got! AND to plan a honeymoon with Jordan thanks to my verrrry generous family! How lucky in love are we?! Here's to celebrating 4 days of marriage and a life time of them to come!

Eeeek It's Wedding Week!!!

Well, it's wedding week.

My parents get to town on Wednesday!

My sister gets to town on Thursday!

All of our best friends and wedding party get here Friday for the rehearsal dinner and pre-celebration party!

And we are getting married on Saturday!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhh!!!!!

I can't wait for what's about to be the most amazing, entertaining, fun-filled, awesome, and memorable week and especially weekend of my whole life! Ready or not Jordan, we're walking down that aisle and saying "I Do!" in 5 short days!!!!

the bachelorette party extravaganza

I'm getting married!

We survived. I've been home since Sunday late afternoon and am just now coming back to life. This past weekend had to of been one of the most epic of epic bachelorette parties ever. EVER!!! My awesome and amazing sister (and maid of honor, whoop whoop!!), Janelle, planned the whole shin-dig and it was fabulous. Every single minute of it! On Friday, Janelle and I drove up to the Wisconsin Dells with our sister-in-law Kat and we got to the house we had rented for the weekend a couple of hours before everyone. The house was pretty bomb too. It had two bedrooms with a queen bed in each room, two full bathrooms, a giant kitchen and open eating area and then a huuuuge living room with two couches that pulled out to queen size beds. It also had a pretty sick patio complete with patio set for us to sit out on and chat it up. After unloading all of our stuff, Janelle kicked me and Kat out so she could do some decorating. To pass the time, we loaded up some cold brewhas and made our way to the pool...really, we didn't mind at all. After an hour or two, we made our way back to the house, oooh'd and aahhhh'd over all of the decorations and dove right into all of the snacks. Janelle had bought and brought with her all of my favorite snack foods!! M&M's and popcorn, chips and dip, puppy chow, chocolate chip muffins, donettes and pickle wraps...nom nom nom soo good and such a great surprise! And an even better surprise was the hilarious and delicious cookie cake! Thankfully, none of us got pissed off and stumbled around the yard with it like in the movie Bridesmaids. We actually devoured it and it was super tasty. After making sure things were all in order, we got cleaned up and the rest of the girls started showing up...it was the perfect sized group of 9 of us girls and I was so happy to be with my best and closest girl friends for a whole 3 days. We spent Friday night snacking, sipping on some drinks, and somehow it turned into everyone sharing their most crazy or drunken story involving me....so that was pretty entertaining. Lots of belly laughs and happy tears all night long!

ready to tear up Noah's Ark!

Saturday we got up bright and early to head to Noah's Ark! This is the world's largest waterpark!!!! We got there before the door's opened, loaded up on sunscreen and set out to tear up the park. And tear it up we did! I'm sure some parents/people around us in line didn't appreciate us from time to time as we were dropping plenty of f-bombs and being downright ridiculous but that's what happens when all of us girls get in our own world together! The day was mid-80s and slight overcast so it was perfect outside and none of us got fried thankfully. It was a blast being there and super fun to let loose with all the girls. We got the most out of our money before calling it a day to head back to the house for the real event of the weekend.

got your ass straps?

So, like I said, there were 9 girls staying in the house for the weekend. 9 girls. 2 bathrooms. 4 mirrors. Thankfully we all started showering and getting ready when we did because I'm sure it could have been a disaster and taken all night but we knew we had more important things to do, like make scenes downtown the dells and rage, so we got to it. All of my friends got me some awesome gifts and turns out they know I like to drink wine because I got at least three bottles, some new nighties and lingerie and a really sweet hanger for my wedding dress that says "Mrs. Easton" on it so that was awesome. Do I have the best friends or what? After the gift giving, we busted out some games and only played the game "The Game Of Things". It is a riot and had every single one of us laughing soooo hard! We played that for awhile, passed around a few bottles of celebratory champagne, took some group pics and headed downtown. And got really fricking crazy. Really fast.

watch out downtown dells, here we come!

trifecta love

and here starts the dance party....

queen of the hair flips

best maid of honor and best best friend

I'm getting married in 4 weeks. What what?!

Basically, to sum it up here's how Saturday night went down: we all collectively downed two bottles of champagne before leaving the house and had our fair share of "coma in a cup" and "strip and go naked" drinks so we were well on our way to a great night. We thought we'd go on a bar crawl, and well, one bar was all we needed. We took over and had a giant dance party going and hung out with a bachelor party group that was there. People were getting iced left and right. I successfully ruined an intense game of pool and a game of shuffleboard. I also started throwing ice....from people's drinks. Yes, just put my whole hand into their drinks and would throw the ice. Hilary was breaking her neck doing hair flip after hair flip. Kat was demanding my friends to make out with random dudes. Lisa was getting hit on by the creepiest guy in the bar. And Janelle was watching all of this happen and loving it and babysitting us. Before we knew it, the light's came on and it was bar close. We all got together in a group and somehow made the walk home in a giant single file line like a row of ducks with Janelle at the end being our Mama Duck. All in all, 100% successful night. 150% amazing bachelorette party out celebrating with my best friends.

Sunday was a rude, rude awakening. I've never had a more miserable 4 hour drive before in my life. And I wouldn't of traded it for anything. But before we left, all 9 of us girls crammed into one bedroom and laid all over the bed and floor to piece together the night and we spent all morning laughing. Best way to recap and relive the night ever. We also looked through all of the pictures which just added to the humor and hilarity of it all. So thanks ladies for the amazing beyond amazing and most epic of all bacheorette parties ever. I truly couldn't have asked for better friends who always love and support me, give me a shoulder to cry on, an ear to complain to and will stumble home right beside me at the end of the night! I can't wait to have another dance party and celebrate with you all at the wedding. Whomp there it is!!!!!!!!

He's home!

Yipeeee he's homeeee!!!! I stayed up until 1:15am last night to wait until Jordan walked through our door and I've never been happier! I'm not sure how people do the whole long-distance thing where they don't see each other for weeks, months or even years but I would NOT be good at that! I need the personal touch and contact in real life... skype and facebook can only hold me over for so long and talking on the phone isn't the same! And now that Jordan is home, I no longer will live off of ramen noodles, donuts and sour gummy worms. And I can start sleeping like a normal person again....go to bed before midnight, wake up by 9am.....not toss and turn all night or sleep with a light on and weapon in my nightstand! Clearly I'm just a wreck without Jordan. I guess the saying is true, "you don't marry someone you can live with, you marry someone you can't live without." Guilty. Jordan, thanks for keeping me sane (most days) and loving me even when I'm acting like a crazy person.

Vegas Baby, Vegas!!

Well Jordan left today for LA to spend a few days with his best man, Justin before they head out to Vegas for a weekend with all the guys for Jordan's bachelor party!! His friends are pretty awesome and are actually treating him to the whole trip....bought his plane ticket and paid for his share of the hotel room. Oh make that the pent house sweet of the Bellagio that is! Yeah they must think that they are high rollers are something! I'm sure he'll have a great time and I'm sure I won't hear half the stories about what happens while they're out there and that is ok with me.....probably safer that I don't hear it all anyway! Paisley and I plan on sleeping with the nightstand light on and with a knife in the drawer. I'm not even making this up. I am the most paranoid person I know so while Jordan is having the time of his life, I'll be watching chick flicks non stop and jumping at every little noise I hear. I already can't wait for him to come back home but it makes me that much more excited for my bachelorette party in a few weeks! We're lucky to both have such great friends in our lives! Here's to hoping we both survive the next 5 days!

You win Blues & BBQ fest, you win.

Well, yesterday we went to North Liberty's 6th Annual Blues & BBQ festival. Of course, we went after Jared and Heather's housewarming party and had a BBQ fest of our own there with plenty of beer to boot. I'm about 90% sure that none of us actually needed to go to the beer tent, but we all had free drink tickets so technically, we had to go. I mean, how we could let those tickets go to waste?!! Anyway. The housewarming party was a lot of fun. There's not much better than being surrounded by good friends, cold brehaws, and yard games going on all during a perfect summer afternoon. After we threw down at the new house, we all stumbled over to the festival. And of course they only had all fancy beers on tap, I'm talking the 8-9% beers. Not exactly what I needed at that point. Crazy dancing did indeed happen in the tent.

Two brides to be in a beer tent!

Official kick off to summer! 

And the two crazy guys we put up with!

Thank you to Jared and Heather for throwing a housewarming party and the first party of the summer! We're lucky to have such great friends nearby, we love you guys! It was an entertaining day but now I think I'll go back to laying around and soaking up this Lazy Sunday for all it's worth. Tomorrow is the start of another work week!

Peace Out 2011

It's New Year's Eve!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! The first thing I think of when New Year's Eve comes around is the year my friends and I snuck out of my parents basement to go see some boys in a small town near by. Oh yeah, we were rebels like that...even though my mom knew what had happened before it even happened. How do Mom's do that and I hope I get that superpower too. Anyway, we were all 16 years old, made the 11 minute drive, awkwardly flirted and then were back home by 11pm (ya know, so we weren't on the road with all the drunks and crazies!) And then we drank Mountain Dew Code Red. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this or not while drinking Code Red but we're convinced that it has either alcohol or some sort of drugs in it. Because our drunken level was a rising like crazy. And it was hilarious!!! We pulled it all nighter and were loud-cackling-screaming-hysterical-obnoxious 16 year old girls until the break of dawn. And I loved every minute of it. Oh the good ol' days...... :) 


Now New Year's Eve is like a whole different world it seems. Full of ridiculously priced drinks and cover at bars, lots of hoochie and slutty dresses and drunk dudes on the prowl. Umm no thanks. The other night we went out to celebrate my friend Hilary's 24th birthday and some bro asked me my name and then said, "Katie? Oh that's a beautiful name." To which I said, "and so is the ring on my left hand. You see those guys playing buck hunter over there? The one in the North Face is my fiance." And that was on the 28th...I don't even want to know how tonight would be downtown. Puke. Which is why Jordan and I are having a New Year's Eve Party!!!! Clearly this is a brilliant idea. We'll have our own beer and drinks, lots of good food and snacks, our closest friends with us and lots of games/music to keep us entertained all night. This is a win-win. No creepers. No slutty dresses. No dumb overpriced cab fares. And tomorrow, we all get to lounge and recover together while watching Sunday NFL ticket all day. I love me some football and lazy sunday with Jordan and our friends. 


2011 has been quite the year. Unlike others, I'm kind of sad to see it go but ready for 2012. So many things happened in 2011 that it's kind of mind blowing....Jordan and I participated in our last Dance Marathon as undergrads, we moved in together, got engaged and a puppy and we both started grad school.....my parents moved to Texas....my friend Marco moved to Egypt for a 2-year teaching position....I watched friends lose parents and grandparents.... As I sit here and I think, it makes me realize that I have been beyond blessed and lucky throughout this year. It has been truly amazing. And so far from the looks of it, 2012 is shaping up to be just as awesome, but will definitely be much more amazing and special. Jordan and I will be married in 7 quick months and I will officially become a wife (And the more I think about it, I realize my mom was right when she said, "I think you would be perfectly happy being married and having kids..." because this raging baby fever just doesn't seem to want to go away....yep. I'll post about that another day) Ok enough of that. I hope 2012 brings everyone plenty of love, happiness, good health, quality time with family and friends and many awesome memories. I'm looking forward to the future and am excited to celebrate 2011 tonight! May you all have a safe and fun holiday! See you next year :)