Saturday, May 28, 2011

Weekend Fun

Getting back to work after such a long vacation has been tough.  So even though I usually work on Saturdays, I think I'll take the day off to go to Valley Fest 2011 which is an awesome beer and wine festival with live music at a local ski resort.  Of course I'm going with the RHH (Real Housewives of Harrisonburg)

Here's a throwback picture from our first wine fest together:

And we're using the perks of Jessica's sisters pregnancy for a designated driver this year, so we're sure to have lots of fun and lots of pictures!

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

My Friend, Meri

This is my friend Meri

I met Meri when I started my new job in July 2010. I was scared to start my first "big girl job" but I ended up meeting some pretty cool people in the process.

Meri and I bonded quickly as the midgets of our workplace (we're both hovering around 5 feet) and even though I've known her less than a year she has become one of my dearest friends.  Recently her and her husband Mike were presented with an opportunity to move back to Meri's hometown of Seattle. 

Less than a month after Mike's initial job offer my new friends are moving cross country.  Mike went out a few weeks ago, and tomorrow it's Meri's turn to head to the west coast.
Luckily I find myself in Vegas almost yearly so tomorrow is not goodbye, it's "see you later."

Meri, thank you for being my friend and awesome co-worker.  Some days you were one of the few people who kept me on track at work and in life. Thank you for your magic sprinkles. Love you even if you are twenty-seven hundred miles away. Don't forget to facetime :) And I'll see you later, in Seattle or Vegas.

You can follow Meri's blog here as makes her big move.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Weddings, Harry Potter, and Siesta Key

Warning: This post has gratuitous self pics :)

So we're finally all back and settled in.  I don't think I ever needed a vacation as badly as I did before our 10 amazing days in Siesta Key, Florida.  One of Steven's childhood friends got married on May 14, and Steven's entire family was invited.  His parents were generous enough to rent a townhouse for us all to stay at, and decided to turn the trip into their yearly family vacation.  Not only was I excited because I love weddings and I love the beach; it was also my first family vacation with Steven's family.   They've been on two since we started dating, but it never worked out that I could come.

Steven's parents left the Monday before the wedding and Steven, Kara and Jimmy (Steven's sister and her husband) and I went to meet them a few days later. We were so excited to get to Florida, we left Wednesday evening and drove through the night. This was obviously mine and Kara's idea...as you can see the boys were thrilled:
 Steven and Jimmy on the final leg of the drive.

Once in Florida, the first order of business was the rehearsal dinner and wedding of Steven's friends Michael and Blair.  Steven hates taking pictures and rarely has to dress up, so I took these events as an opportunity to force him to take an excessive amount of photos.
Steven and I at the rehearsal dinner
Kara and I

Steven when I tried to make him pose for more :)


 The following day was the wedding, which was beautiful of course at a huge church right by the ocean. Followed by everyone's favorite part of any wedding, the reception.

And I even got Steven to dance with me! If you know him, this is an amazing feat!

 I am quite a bit wedding obsessed and watch way too much Say Yes to the Dress, My Fair Wedding, Rich Bride, Poor Bride, etc, etc and I've always loved the idea of the photo booth.  Well, Michael and Blair had one and I was so excited!
 You can probably tell these were taken near the end of the evening and we were feeling a little silly!

After the festivities, we had the next six days to relax and have some fun. We spent a LOT of time on the beach.

Sadly Steven's mom gets left out of photos since she's usually the photographer
Steven's dad was thrilled to metal detect some new territory

Kara and I were determined to see manatees and we even went on a kayak tour with Jimmy in tow to try to get up close and personal with them. Sadly Jimmy was the only one who caught a glimpse despite 3 hours of paddling.  Then later in the week while Kara and I were inside having lunch FIVE manatees swam right by Jimmy and our beach chairs!  Although disappointing, Jimmy was dubbed "The Manatee Whisperer."

Another exciting part of our trip was being so close to Orlando.  I went to Disney when I was a teen, and although Disney would have been fun, I've had my eye on Harry Potter World at Island's of Adventure since it opened.  I LOVE Harry Potter and remember reading them to my little cousin and brother growing up.  I can't believe it's been 14 years since the first book was released. FOURTEEN YEARS!  The last movie marks the end of an era! But that's a different post. Kara has never read the books, but she was nice enough to accompany me to fulfill my Harry Potter dreams!

So happy to see Hogwarts!


And we got Butterbeer!  Not to disappoint, but it's non-alcoholic and sickeningly sweet.  Have I mentioned I love, love, love Kara? I was lucky to meet Steven, but when his family got thrown into the deal, it was even sweeter!

By the end of the week, I had gotten the rest and fun I've been looking forward to.  I needed some time away from reality to recharge.  Also, I fell in love with Siesta Key.  I mean, who would ever want to leave a place with sunsets like this?

Especially when you get to enjoy it with an awesome family like this:



 I know this was a long post, but it's my first extended trip to the beach since Jess got married last May, and I love sharing pics.

Where is your favorite place to vacation?

Sunday, May 22, 2011

I'm Back.....

So, after a  10-day vacation to Siesta Key, Florida with Steven and his family, we are home.  And I'm not happy about it one bit.  So after I catch up on my blog reading, compile my pictures and shake the sand out of my bags *sob* I'll share with you one of the best weeks of my life :)

Here's a sneak peak:

See why I never wanted to leave?
And see how happy we were there?

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Making Big Changes

Yes, I'm a slacker when it comes to blogging.  A few times since my last post I've sat in front of my laptop and fallen asleep thinking of something to write about.  Not sure I'm ready to touch on the work subject yet, at least not until I figure out all the privacy settings.

I keep thinking, "Why would anyone read this?"  After all, my life is pretty boring...but the more I thought about it, I realized that my life isn't boring, it's just changing.

Just two years ago I was a recent college grad and I was loving life.  I went out EVERY night.
To concerts...To parties...To bars.
Me and Natasha with Cross Canadian Ragweed

Me and some of my awesome girlfriends (3 of us would be future 3020ers, but we didn't know it yet)

And I was a bartender at my favorite bar with some amazing people...


Halloween Crew
The Pub Girls(with Scottie and Bill)

And since I had relatively no responsibilities I could run off to wine festivals on the weekends, and Vegas any time I wanted...

With friends at the Horton Pig Roast/Wine Festival
Angie and I at the Venetian on an impulsive Vegas trip

But the best part of all? I lived with my best friends in the infamous 3020 (our townhouse number)...
Jess, Me, Katie and Lindsey AKA Fox
Me and Angie (I know, Angie overload! But she is my BFF!)

And we made an happy family with little Bodie...and took horrible pictures like this one

I feel like we should have more pictures of Liz?

These days we all have big girl jobs...Jessica is MARRIED which is still hard to believe since I've known her for 10 years now...yes Jess TEN years of L.O.V.E. Angie is living with her boyfriend, while Fox and Liz hold down the 3020.

These days when I'm really lucky, I get some time off work to spend with the Real Housewives of Harrisonburg, which includes the 3020 pictured above, Natasha (pictured at the beginning of this post) and these two lovely ladies:
Heather (Jessica's sis) and Kristin

And my idea of a crazy night?
Cheating on my diet...yummmmmm

And it's perfect if it's followed by this...
Yes, a LOT has changed in a short amount of time, but I think I could get used to this :)