2010 Recap

I think we can both honestly say 2010 was the BEST year of our lives!  Here is a recap of our fantastic year!  Beware...it's a long one!

January
The year started with a bang, as we rang in 2010 with friends and a NYE party at our house.  The next day we headed to Iowa for my cousin Rachel's wedding.  Other January highlights included Sarah's Texas Roadhouse birthday dinner with friends, new bedroom furniture (after painting the walls grey and red), and who could forget that 24-14 Orange Bowl win for the Hawkeyes!  Oh, and multiple (I think 3) snow days in a row for Sarah!

February
February was when wedding plans seemed to kick into high gear and our "wedding pile" in the basement started growing big time!  Sarah started a wedding planing blog and had tons of fun keeping far away friends and family updated on all the plans.

March
We finished painting and re-decorating our guest bedroom in March and soon after we had weekend visitors from Des Moines--my college roommate Sarah and her husband Ryan!  It's always fun to have visitors and I appreciated the helping hand on some wedding prep stuff!  Spring Break also gave me the opportunity to accomplish tons of wedding stuff, including putting together all 200 wedding invitations with the help of some amazing friends!

April
April meant bridal showers galore!  My sister hosted one in Iowa, friends Erica, Rachel, and Jamie hosted one here (my mom, dad, and sister came the same weekend), and the dance girls surprised me with one, too!  Craig's family also made the trip here in April for a soccer tournament.  Unfortunately, I lost my voice for 4 days straight and couldn't talk whatsoever when they were here!  That was the worst!!!!

May
Our wedding invitations were finally mailed!  We traveled to Wichita for Mother's Day and enjoyed a chilly day at the Sedgwick County Zoo with Craig's mom, sisters, and sisters' families.  We also participated in Crawl for Cancer (the same pub crawl we met at two years prior) and celebrated Memorial weekend by boating/camping with our friends Josh and Rachel at Lake Jacomo near Lee's Summit. 

June
I taught summer school once again (morning session only this year) and continued working on all the little wedding details that I enjoyed so much.  I also headed to Emporia with the dance team for the annual summer camp.  It was my first camp experience as a coach...let's just say I was thrilled to see my fiance and dog once the three days were over! =)  Craig's (and my soon-to-be) second nephew, Mason Angelo, was born on June 10...exactly one month before our wedding!  Though I don't know much about the details (and not sure I really want to know), Craig apparently had a blast on his weekend bachelor party in Lake of the Ozarks.  And we headed to Noel, MO with friends for our first-ever float trip as a couple!  Finally, we cleaned and re-stained (well payed someone to do it) our deck and fence.

July
BEST MONTH EVER!!  The first weekend consisted of my dream bachelorette party--an afternoon by the pool, dinner at a Hibachi Grill, and then a night out at Power & Light.  Even better was the fact that almost all of my friends were there...high school friends (one flew in from Wisconsin and the other from Hawaii), college friends (except for Casey... :( ), co-worker friends, and KC friends.  It was an absolute perfect way to spend the weekend before my wedding!  The wedding, of course, was the best part of our year!  We are very grateful for the friends and family who traveled from near and far to make our day the best ever!  Everything was a blast from the rehearsal dinner, getting ready, pictures, dancing, etc.  If we could pick one day from our entire lives to "do-over", it would definitely be July 10, 2010.  After our wedding weekend, we flew to Jamaica and stayed at Sandals Negril for our 7-day,  6-night honeymoon.  It was pretty great, as we enjoyed ziplining, snorkeling, a couples' massage, a candlelight dinner on the beach, and so much more!  Back to reality meant back to work for Craig.  I was thankful to still be on summer break for a few more weeks, in which a made a website for all of our wedding photos (it's still not finished...)!  We enjoyed using many of our new wedding gifts and purchased new, stainless steel kitchen appliance with our Lowe's gift cards! 

August
August was a fairly slow month.  The relaxation was much needed after our month of July!  We did head to Iowa over the Labor Day weekend for the Iowa football home opener and I began my fourth year of teaching (crazy!). 

September
Craig celebrated his 32nd birthday.  He also attended the Monday-night Chiefs home opener with co-workers (Chiefs won!).  We also attended a KU football game and began remodeling our basement bathroom.

October
In October, we attended our first Chief's game as a couple (and my first NFL game ever) with our friends Jamie and Jay.  Again, the Chiefs won and the season started to look very promising for the first time in years!  Our basement bathroom remodel was completed, but Craig immediately started to demolish our main floor bathroom.  We spent a weekend in Wichita for Craig's mom's birthday and enjoyed a festive afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch.  October came to an end as we celebrated the wedding of our friends Travis and Alissa.  And, of course, I can't forget the beginning of our "Seeing Both Sides" blog!

November
Back to Arrowhead for another Chiefs game!  This time with Wichita friends Brandon and Jessica.  And surprise--another win!  Up went our Christmas tree and decor around the middle of November!  Thanksgiving was spent with my family in Iowa this year.  We braved the Black Friday crowds with my mom in Iowa City, and purchased an early Christmas present for ourselves (a new plasma tv).  

December
Such a busy time of year!  I hosted a baby shower for our good friend Rachel (who's due in February), while Craig went to yet another Chief's game with co-workers (and they won!).  Our main foor bathroom was finally completed.  We got new carpet throughout our entire house.  We went to a KU basketball game at the Sprint Center, hosted the Xerox Christmas party, attended the Mill Valley party, and celebrated Christmas with both of our families (mine the weekend before, his on Christmas Eve/Christmas day).  Finally, we spent the last few days enjoying each others company, as we are both on vacation.  As this day - and year - draws to an end, we are celebrating in the exact same way it began - NYE party at our house with some of our closest and best KC friends.  The party hats, noise makers, and bottles of champagne are ready to go.  Can't wait!

Happy New Year to all! :)

Chalkboard Anyone?

We have a shuffleboard table in our basement...pretty popular anytime people come over to our house.  Craig had the brilliant idea of painting a chalkboard on the wall next to it to help keep score.  (Because it's too hard to keep score in your head, ya know...)  He's been obsessing about it all week, so finally yesterday, his thought became reality. 

Drawing the patter with painters tape


I helped paint

Nervous about getting it on the new carpet!

This is the paint we used

Next up-the letters




Finished product


With some chalk tallies and the matching pucks

And just in time for our NYE party! =)

December Date Night

In addition to me being on Christmas break, Craig typically takes the week between Christmas and New Years off!  We have been enjoying our extra time together and went on a "date" yesterday!  First up--Trans Siberian Orchestra at the Sprint Center at 3:00 in the afternoon.  It was good, but not as amazing as we had expected.  It was also super long...almost 3 hours!  I think we were both ready to go the minute it was over!  After the concert, we headed to the Plaza for dinner at the Melting Pot!  The Melting Pot is one of my faves--a fondue restaurant!  It's pretty expensive, so we only go once or twice per year, and usually only on special occasions.  After the Melting Pot, we wandered around the Plaza and looked at the Christmas lights.  The Plaza is known for it's Christmas light display.  I really wanted to go for a carriage ride, but we had to get home to the KU game instead. =)










His and hers fondue skewers

The yummy meat and ravioli

Dessert=the best part!

Too full to smile normal


Pretty Plaza lights

















I Heart Break!

I've been on Christmas break now for 5 days.  Here is just some of what I've done with my much-appreciated time off! 

Christmas in Iowa






Craig got two cases of beer, two bottles of wine, and a "This Guy Needs a Beer" tshirt!

He's officially part of the fam now.  Stocking my aunt made (and makes for all the "kids")

Our family


Enjoying the sights (and smell) of our new carpet!
















Cookie Night with the Girls (Craig helped too)









BFF Sarah's Bridal Shower

Relaxing on the Couch with Kinnick

Reading (amazing book by the way!)

















Holiday Baking




Finished Christmas Shopping at the Mall


I have very much loved every minute of my vacation so far, and I can only imagine the remaining 11 days will be just as great!