A Look at the Fabulous 2012

To say that I am not ridiculously excited for my first

year-in-review recap would be a total lie. 

I started this little blog of mine in January and if you're a new face around these parts, 

it will be very obvious that as the months went on I started to get the hang

of this thing and started babbling a lot more about life happenins and 

less skinny banana pudding recipes- which is still super delicious by the way.

We rang in the New Year in January 

and Bryan bought his very first boat!
Went fishing errryyy weekend in Jan. No joke.

February was pretty low key in that we decided not to spend a small fortune

on each other for Valentine's Day (ie. the year that we booked a flight to NYC the day before and spent the day and night in the city and then flew our spontaneous butts home. WAAHHH.) But a fancy dinner at Kres is equally exciting, no?? 

Also experienced my FIRST Daytona 500.

And what an experience that was. Left the house at 4:30. Arrived at 6. Started drinking

mimosas at 6:30. Passed out in the truck by 8AM. This year I will be more prepared. :/

The majority of March was spent realizing that I really am NO LONGER

a college student and that I don't have a seven day binge drinking vaca- otherwise known

as Spring Break. I digress. Still managed to spend a week in beautiful Islamorada- fishing on Bry's new boat. 

Please note the TEETH on that Barracuda.

Also celebrated our first St. Patty's Day as bar owners.

Eric Church hankerin was finally cured after seeing him and Brantley Gilbert in concert.

April marked Claire Baby's 1st birthday! After a rough 6 months of battling cancer, 

my sister in law and I had every intention of going all out for her birthday, until

we were informed that she would be spending that weekend in the hospital for

a chemo treatment. So we downsized and still managed to celebrate despite :) 

Also saw Jimmy Buffet in concert for the second time (note the super tropical maxi dress) and had an amazing Easter with the fam at Gram's. 

Enter the most exciting month ever: MAY. I bought my dream car!

I'm not engaged yet and I don't have a little nugget running around so I

will go ahead and dub this one of my most exciting life moments. 

Also saw Kenny and Tim in concert in Tampa- BEST. CONCERT. EVER.

My family held a huge benefit for Claire in June.

We raised almost $8,000 to go towards the family since my sister in law

was forced to leave her job once Claire got sick. Such an amazing feeling

to be a part of something this wonderful. :)

Celebrated the 4th of July at our new found spot- Disappearing Island.

(Click link for the Flag Cake!)

And took my nephew to Legoland! SOOO FUNNNN!

We saw Jason & Luke in concert in August

and I celebrated my 24th birthday in obnoxious pink and green on a golf course. 

In September we celebrated Labor Day on the boat (shocking)

and we opened Brew #2 and I went back to my brunette-self and, although my bank account was relieved to not be shelling out $150+ every 4-6 weeks, I'm about

ready to make the transition back to bleach!

A LOT of football also rings a bell in September...

In October we participated in the 4th Annual Rob McCoy Foundation

golf tourney

Brought Jake to his 2nd Pet Halloween Costume Contest

and celebrated Halloween adult-style and passed out candy. 

In November, Bryan & I celebrated seven years of dating

(I know what you're thinking...)

with an AMAZING trip to Boston.

Helped throw my girlfriend's Gator-themed bridal shower.

Had an amazing Thanksgiving with family :)

Anndddd made the trip to Tally to see my best friend

and watch my Gators beat the Seminoles. 

December was spent decorating my house

eeevveeen though I was back and forth to my parents' house almost

every dang weekend..

Survived the apocalypse.

Went to the Beef O'Brady Bowl. 

Had the best Christmas ever and spent a TON

of *QT* with family & friends.

Phhheeewwww.

Not gonna lie! 2012 is going to be a tough one to top, but

oh so ready for 2013!

See you in the new year :)

Christmas: The Week in Review

To say that I have been a taaaaad absent

lately is the biggest understatement in the history of.... ever.

Lemme catch yall up to date hererightquicckkk..

(my high school English teacher would punch me in the face

for actually going through with that statement- sorry Ms. Johnson!)

1. Hosted a super successful cookie exchange party. Clearly my Jewish friend
decided to represent.. Star of David anyone?? 

Sorry for the lack of pictures, the "Girl's Christmas Party/Cookie Exchange"
ultimately turned into a Miss Universe drinking game. 

2. Had possibly the most stressful work week in months. 

3. Watched my UCF Knights snag the Beef O'Brady title at their bowl

game in St. Petersburg. Stayed at my parents' condo in Treasure Island and woke up...
and the World was still there. Stupid Mayans.

4. Went home. For like a week. Needed that :)

Where do they have roads like this in Orlando, hmmmm??

5. Mingled with frans and did some interesting outdoorsy things- ie.
Biking the Santos Trailhead (hellooooo out of shape!) and foregoing
the typical skeet ranch and making our own in the forest (semi-illegal). 

6. Had an unforgettable Christmas Eve dinner with my family.
First time ever making Turducken, which is..
Vegetarians stop reading now
Turkey stuffed with duck stuffed with chicken.
Kind of exhausting sounding right?? 

7. Gave my niece and nephew the best gifts EVVEEERRRR.

Totally almost cried when Claire's face lit up once she saw her

 spiffy PINK CAR!

 

8. Spended QT with my man and plotted for our return to Ocala...

which won't be for years from now but, being proactive here people.

9. GOT PROMOTED AT WORK. Cheeeerrsss!

 

Now we're finally home and getting everything unpacked and situated.
New Year's Eve is right around the corner and 1-no idea what we're doing and 2-
no idea what I'm wearing. BUT! I did just purchase a 4-pack of mini
champagnessssss OHHH THE POSSIBILITIES!

via

Currently looking forward to Lyndsey's bachelorette party tonight (EEEE!)

and naturally I'm excited to be celebrating New Year's Eve

a la Charlie Sheen.

Ok that was a bit drastic.



12 Bars of Christmas... ouch.

Last Friday was the annual 12 Bars of Christmas pub crawl-

not annual for me, clearly, because by midnight it was apparent that I could not hang.

And yes, that is tutu that you see on my 24-year-old body.

I know what you are thinking.

While my girlfriends decided to be all cutie in their red and green, 

I proceeded to bust out the tutu and carried all my belongings in a stocking that night.

Ob-noxious.

I promise I wasn't the only one dressed like that!

Had I not been dancing around like a fool, trying to consume

as many shots as possible during the 2 for 1 special, I would have actually snapped 

a picture of the guy dressed as Buddy the Elf- who I tortured with the questions:

"What's your favorite color??!" all night long- or the man dressed in a

LEGIT, FULL Grinch suit.

So that was iiiiinteresting!

I did forget to mention that this was actually for a good cause.

You either bring a toy valued at $20+ or bring $20 cash

that goes to children of local families. 
Soooooo win, win! 

Saturday was Morgan's lingerie bridal shower!

Her and Jeremy (ok, so we played the "can't sat the groom's

name" game- and I feel like I will never be able to address him formally,

for fear that I will lose one of my little pins) are getting

married in THREE WEEKS and I can not WAIT!

Sorry for the ridiculously LATE weekend update, but CHEERS!

One Year

One year ago was the worst day of my life. 

My seven month old niece was diagnosed with cancer and immediately 

rushed into surgery and a grapefruit-sized tumor was removed from her adrenal gland.

Read Claire Baby's story here. 

My family has been through hell and back and, by the grace of God,

I can tell you that today she is a happy and healthy girl.

She is still brought in for routine MRI checks and will have to take

meds everyday for the rest of her life. But she has a life.

Sometimes things happen in life that make you take a step back

and realize how much someone really means to you. 

Make sure they know.

Aunt Rinny loves you, Claire cakes!

How to Behave at an Office Christmas Party

Overall ? I'd say Operation Don't Act a Fool: Success. 

This was year numero dos of my company Christmas party and I

have to agree with my bloggy buddy Ash over at 

Life After the Aisle- so far they keep getting interesting. 

Saw this and haaaddd to laugh:

How to Behave at the Office Christmas Party

Go ahead and do yourselves a favor and take a gander at that little link.

Typically only the office staff (we are a nation wide company

with our home office here in the beautiful F-L-A) partake in the Christmas festivities.

We do dinner and a white elephant gift exchange.

If you have never participated in a white elephant gift exchange-

lemmetellyasomethin

HOLY. TIME. CONSUMING.

I think it took us 2 whole freaking hours to get through presents.

Basically, each person choses a piece of paper with a number on it.

That number indicates the order in which gifts will be chosen.

#1 picks first and #20 (out of 20) would pick last, then #1

has the final choice.

You start by choosing a gift and once you open it and reveal its contents,

its the next person's turn.

They either have the option to steal your gift or pick a new one.

This process then goes on all night long. No joke.

I'm probably making it sound more exciting than it really is.

The whole gift-stealing process was EXHAUSTING and emotional, quite frankly!

If you get a sweet gift- don't get attached, girlfriend, because that thing

will be gone before your inappropriate self can order another cocktail.

MmmmmHmmmmm.

This year's most stolen gifts were:

These 3 items must have been stolen- I kid you not- 20 times.

I purchased the stemless wine glasses that came with a rustic, "wine-y"

kitchen towel, so that was particularly exciting to see stolen over and over.

I ended up with....

...WAIIITT FOR ITTT...

a motion sensor gum ball machine!!!!!

Is that not as exciting to you as it was for me??

ACTUALLY. I ended up with head phones and another iTunes gift card.

Waaahhh I got that last year.

So I forced one of the guys to switch with me. 

Unfortunately, the only photo I snapped was of me and this hot thing:

Team Bubble Bib Necklaces. YAY!

Anndddddd the night ended like this:

Aside from several secret trips to the bar trips to the bathroom,

I'd say we were all on our best behavior! Bottom line:

I love love LOVE the crazies that I work with.

:)

Innnnn other news, tomorrow is the 12 Bars of Christmas pub crawl.

Get exxciteeedddd :D :D 

I am more than ready to drink some rumpumpumpum 

IF yaknowwhatimsayin. 

Also, gave Jake a Christmas present a tad early this year.

I couldn't helllpppp itttttt!

It was a little pink, squeaky cupcake and Target gets me EVERY time with the dog toys.

Happy Friday EVE, yall!

Giving > Receiving

Holy ABSENT lately!
December is BUSY so far!

Basically the past ten days have consisted of a TON of work,
Christmas shopping, Christmas planning, Christmas decorating...
you kind of get the picture.

It's starting to look very Merry around these parts and I
finally have some presents under the treeeeee :D EEE!

Speaking of presents- know when you're getting old ?
When it's more fun to buy presents than it is to get. 
I don't even have my own little kiddos yet but I'm telling you-
I have been having a BLAST this year buying. 

Starting with my little Princess of a niece:

Remember those sweet little cars from when WE were little?!

Their called "cozy coupes" and I got a STEAL on Amazon!

Amazon is totally my JAM lately. 

Also. Let's discuss the book for a moment.

"If I Were a Bunny." Ever heard of it??

If you have a little nugget that you need to buy for- you MUST

purchase this book! Babies love the "touchy and feely" stuff.

Every page of this book has a different texture! 

I probably flipped through Claire's like a million times. 

Then there's my fave little nephew!

He is my only nephew, but I just love him to pieces and Bry and I

are totally trying to get him into football:

In other news, fun posts to look forward to this week:

Fabulous Christmas Wrapping

Kohen's STAR WARS Birthday Cake & Cupcakes!

12 BARS OF CHRISTMAS this weekend!!

Girls' Cookie Exchange/Cocktail Party Invites- woop!

Morgan's Lingerie Bridal Shower

Ok- short and sweet tonight, people because I still have a TON

of work left to do tonight! Today was exhausting to say the least- I won't

get into it but let's just say it involved my boots, a hard hat and a ton of mud.

Yay.

See you tomorrow! SMOOCH!