A Year in Review: 2011

So every Christmas my parents send out a Christmas poem that my very talented dad writes. I shared last year's here and thought sharing this year's would be a nice way to round out the year...


To all of our family and to all of our friends, the Christmas poet has done it again
It seems to happen this time every year, happy thoughts from us to bring you good cheer!
This year as always was better than last, so here are some highlights from our recent past.

The calendar turned, we were all off and running, planning an event that we hoped would be stunning
Jessie and Doug had chosen a date, planning a wedding put a lot on our plate
July was the target, the fun just beginning…flowers? A venue? Had all our heads spinning!

Decisions were made as the months flew on by, we were all really anxious about 30 July!
In the week just before Doug made Jessie his spouse, they closed and moved into their very first house
The wedding was perfect, a sight to behold, and both our kids married had us feeling…well…old!


John and Ashley were blessed with really good news, even in the midst of the housing market blues
All over Orlando they decided to roam, searching and searching for that perfect home,
And of all of the dwellings that they had seen, they closed on their favorite this past Halloween!

Some paint and new floors were what was desired, and after three weeks we were all pretty tired.
They hosted Thanksgiving, new memories were made, all the food, and the love was clearly homemade.
That creature that’s stirring, why, that is no mouse…Its John, Ash and Ruger in their new house!

In October we took some much needed leave, and went to Seattle to see Krista and Steve
A trip to the coast would help keep us sane, and the weather was perfect, with very little rain!
We saw all the sights, and Oh! Mount Rainier, in all of her beauty, made us smile ear to ear.

The events of this year have provided much joy, and we are thankful that Phil will never deploy.
Those days are long gone as we continue to grow, trying to find normal in Orlan-do
As you hustle and bustle your way through this season, never forget that HE is the reason


And to finish it off -- here is our year in review: ENJOY!

January

Jess and Doug's engagement party

February

I caught my first Grouper

March

Ate a Krispy Kreme doughnut burger

Celebrated our first wedding anniversary

Our very sweet friends got married

April

Went to Red Robin for my birthday

May

Donated my hair to Beautiful Lengths

June

Went to Vito's Chop House for Father's Day dinner with J's Dad and family

Attended a surprise bachelorette party

July

Went to a surprise wedding reception

My baby sister got married

August

Saw Volbeat at HOB

September

Went on a family fishing trip

October

Saw 3 Doors Down at Hard Rock with my dad

 

Halloween parties galore!

CLOSED ON OUR HOUSE!

November

Hosted Thanksgiving (after completely refinishing the inside of the house)

December

First Christmas at the new house

Here is to an amazing 2012! Have a fabulous weekend everyone and be safe!!

Christmas Lovelies

Christmas is always a great time for me and my family =) It has been especially wonderful sharing the last four (this year marks the fifth) Christmas with The Husband. This year was a little different than previous years: football was Saturday so that changed some of our plans for Christmas Eve and the way we did food. We wanted to have a progressive dinner but we were already at my parent's for the games SO we decided to nix the progressive dinner idea. I made some cheesy spinach and artichoke dip - I will definitely need to share that recipe as it was AMAZING! My parents cooked the traditional Christmas meal and then we got ready for church.  I really enjoyed church this year - I don't know if it was the church we attended or the place I am at this year but it was amazing. I felt at peace and jubilant =)

On Christmas Eve we always exchange gifts as a family - so after church we went to my parent's house for dessert, pictures and our gift exchange =)

 

 

Christmas morning, we got up and went to my parent's for our "Santa" gift and breakfast. Afterwards, we went home and J and I exchanged gifts. We showered and changed and made our way to J's parent's house to exchange gifts with them and OF COURSE took more pictures =)

 

After eating at their house and exchanging gifts, we made our way to my sister's house where she was hosting Christmas Day dinner and where my grandparents would be to exchange gifts with them...and of course more pictures =)

I was so spoiled this year:

 

I can definitely say I was seriously spoiled this year =) I love all the thought that went into my gifts AND I LOVED being able to give gifts to our families. My favorite part is putting together gifts for everyone and seeing how happy our thoughtfulness makes people. =)

Oh and one more gift of note -- I bought the husband a gun:

Yes, yes it is a Nerf Gun =)

Did you get all you hoped for this year? Do you have any special traditions??

Christmas Alpha Style

Hey hey!! Goodness, me! It has been a little bit since I checked in here!
Last week was a busy week at work! We had theme days every day last week to make the week more exciting. It helped get us through the week AND we didn't have to struggle with what we would wear every day - we just needed to play along with the theme! =)

Monday: Festive Red

Tuesday: Winter White

Wednesday: All That Glitters

Thursday: Wacky Tacky Christmas

  

Friday: Christmas Lights 

I am so fortunate to have a wonderful work family - seriously these people rock =) I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas; I'll be sharing some family pictures from this weekend tomorrow and then a 2011 recap on Friday! =) Don't miss it!

Our Home: Kitchen and Nook

Hello my Lovelies! So last night was AMAZING! I had such a great time at my office party after work...so much so that I missed most of the Christmas Cookie Party which means no pictures from that =( I did make it out there to try some of the delicious cookies and those sweet ladies even sent me home with some! How sweet, right?! I'm still going to share some pictures of the house -- we are ALMOST finished the with Home Tour.  I still can't believe everything we accomplished in 22 short days! I wanted to share with you the rooms we spend a LOT of time in -- especially over the past couple weeks:

Kitchen and Nook

I LOVE how warm and cozy everything turned out. I was a little skeptical when the paint started going on the wall but I'm so glad we kept going with the color!

Before

 

After

Before

 

After

I'm still unsure about the giant signs I made. they are starting to grow on me but at this moment they are REALLY big! I am attributing most of the awkwardness I'm feeling towards them to the fact that there was nothing on that wall for a few weeks and that is what I had gotten use to.

What do you think?

Our Home: Spare Room and Game Room

Happy halfway through the week!!! WOOO!! We are nearing the singled digits for Christmas! Who is excited?! THIS GIRL! YAY!!! I'm just itching to give gifts - I LOVE LOVE LOVE gift giving. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy =)

Tonight is my office party - we have a private room at Carraba's where we will be feasting and having a white elephant type gift exchange! So excited!

THEN I will be making my way to my dear friend, Christy's mom's house for our 2nd annual Christmas Cookie Party! I am so excited about tonight and spending time with my girls =) Fear not! I will have pictures to share...I just can't decide if it will be in the midst of my home tour or if you will have to wait! =) Stay tuned!

I will be sharing 2 rooms again -- the spare bedroom and the game room.

Game Room

This room had dirty tan carpet that was removed by moi before this picture was taken...but you get the idea =)

Before

After

Spare Bedroom

This room seemed a bit dingy and small...after the makeover and adding furniture, I know the room is still not HUGE but it is definitely brighter and warmer.

Before

 

After

 

As you can see in a lot of these pictures, we haven't decorated completely. Many of you know that will take some time...we need some inspiration...and TIME to complete what projects I have in mind! ;)

Happy ELEVEN days until Christmas =)