Last day of 2011

For our last day of the new year we relaxed at home in the morning and then headed out to the zoo in the early afternoon. The weather was gorgeous, so we had to take advantage of it. Michael's parents have given Isabella a zoo pass the last two years for Christmas- it is the best gift ever! They were able to join us at the zoo.

(Yes, shorts in December!) It was Isabella's first time to go since she has been walking. I think she saw more of the zoo than she ever has before and enjoyed exploring.



For New Years Eve, my mom graciously offered to stay in with Isabella if we wanted to go out, but no one seemed to be very set on going out. So we stayed in and brought in the new year with Heather and David in our home.

Our meal started with homemade tomato basil soup and a delicious barefoot contessa salad with homemade dressing.

The we each built our own pizzas.

Then a few hours later we enjoyed molten chocolate cakes with either peppermint ice cream or homemade raspberry sauce. And I just noticed there are no pictures of people...just food. Awesome. Well, we had a fun time together talking and laughing and ringing in 2012. Happy New Year!

Celebrating 30

We celebrated our 30th birthdays while we were in NYC, but this week was my actual birthday and we celebrated it up!

Michael made the traditional number pancakes for breakfast.


I went to lunch at my favorite, 501, with the girls in my family.


For dinner we stayed in with take out fajitas from Mama Roja. Then Michael made my favorite chocolate cake for dessert.
It was a fun low key day with my favorite things: good breakfast, running with my cousin, yummy lunch with family, hanging out with my girl, napping, very fun presents, and great dinner and cake.

Thursday night I had a celebration with some girlfriends. I had joked a couple years ago when Michael asked how I wanted to celebrate my 30th birthday that I would like to get a limo and go look at Christmas lights. (To which he said, Oh, that's easy, I thought you might want to take a trip.) I had seen a deal on Seize the Deal for a Christmas light limo ride in early November, so we bought it. But it turned out to be a major ordeal, and a week before my birthday I still didn't have anything set up. The owner was impossible to get a hold of and not easy to work with. I ended up being able to get my money back because the deal was not able to offer what it was actually for, but then I had no plans. But Michael came through in the last minute and booked me one with another company. I had imagined making some really cute invitations, but instead I was sending out facebook messages at the last minute.
But in spite of the stress getting it scheduled, the night was how I wanted it to be, a fun time with my friends. Another example of how things may not always go along with my vision, but can still work out to be great.

Me with the two Heathers in my life.
Heather A came over early to fix my hair. It made me miss (just a tiny bit) those days of living in the dorms with girls to share clothes and jewelry with, and fix hair. My sister, the baking wizard, out did herself making delicious treats.


I just used things I had left over from Isabella's party.


For desert we had brownies, lemon bars, chocolate chip cookie sandwiches, peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate ganache filling, chocolate cupcakes with raspberry filling, and lemon blueberry cupcakes with lemon icing.






At the Yukon Christmas lights






Thank you Michael for making this night happen, my sister for all the baking you did, Heather for fixing my hair, and to everyone that came- I had so much fun talking and laughing with you all!
So here's to 30! I need to do an update on my 30 list. I didn't complete it all, but I still plan to do them all. I have been very contemplative this last week with turning 30, thinking about the past year, and what I hope to do and accomplish in the coming year. But there is no more time for this post, so that will all have to wait!

(And yes, I made a wish)

In my twenties I:
-Graduated with my bachelors degree
-Got married
-Moved 6 times
-Bought a house
-Graduated with a masters
-Got my Marriage and Family Therapy license
-Traveled to: California, South Padre (many times), Chicago, Arizona, the Grand Canyon, Florida, Pennsylvania, NYC(x2), Belize, Mexico, Austria (x2), Czech Republic, London (x2), France (x2), Switzerland (X2), Germany, Italy (x3), and got to take Michael to Australia to see where I lived my childhood and meet many dear friends.
-had a baby
-started a private practice

Of course many other things happened- new friends I've made, old friends I've loved, I lost grandparents, read many books, learned how to cook, cried many times, laughed many times, but that is just a list of some of the major milestones. My twenties were full of many experiences and numerous blessings. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father, family, and dear friends that make my life so rich. I'm excited to see what the next decade holds!

Merry Christmas

Saturday night I set the table for our Christmas breakfast.

And then Santa came!
And at 12:05AM Michael and I decided since it was in fact Christmas now, we would exchange our stockings and gifts to each other. That might be a fun tradition we started to exchange with each other in the quiet of the night.


Isabella woke up, and came in the living room. Several people asked us if she "got it" this year. But she didn't. She had no idea it was Christmas, and didn't even pay attention to the tree at first.


But then she saw there was a stroller for her.


And she didn't really care to look at anything else after that.


Pink TOMS!


I love the look of concentration on her face!


Our family ready for church.


Playing in a box my serving piece came in. Aren't the boxes just more fun?!






Our best gift of all.


We enjoyed church with my parents Sunday morning and spent the day at their house.
We had a great Christmas this year, and got to spend time just hanging out at each of our families' homes. Michael and I spent some time last night talking about our year and goals for 2012. We have so much to be thankful for. We are so blessed by our families and friends and I feel so grateful. Merry Christmas!

scenes from our day

Michael and Isabella cuddling up this morning before we started on our day.

We spent our Christmas eve with Michael's side of the family.
We had brunch then opened presents.

Isabella checking out her new laptop.


And ripping open her big gift.

I got an awesome new camera, that I'm very excited about!! I just need to learn how to use it now.





Isabella playing with Michael's toddler taxi from his first birthday.


Love this sweet pic of Iz and her great grandma.






We had a great day with family and delicious food!

Then we came home to unpack and get ready for tomorrow.






Merry Christmas eve to all, and to all a good night!

Creating

Here is some of what I've been up to lately:

This past rainy Monday, Beth and I made paper snowflakes. It was my first time to make some. It seems like that should be an elementary school graduation requirement!


I strung them on some green ric rac.


I had a photo I wanted to make an ornament out of so I started looking online. But the ones I looked at online were $12-30 and I wanted several. So I thought I would try to make some. I found these clear ornaments at Michael's for .79. Then I just added some glitter, photo with cardstock on the back, and a string to hang!


I made a snow globe for a gift card that I'm giving. I'd seen this on a website and gave it a try.


I decided to make some more cinnamon rolls to give as gifts. Who doesn't like some ready to go cinnamon rolls in the freezer? (Except the ones that I baked a bit too long!)


And lastly, I'd seen some jars like these from Anthropologie for $25 or so. I saw someone had made some on pinterest and gave them a try. I still need to find a large mason jar to use and add a little more snow.

That's it. My next project needs to involve wrapping up our gifts. One step at a time!