2011 In Review

2011 has been one of those years that I will remember for the rest of my life. I am so happy I decided to do this post because it made me look back at all the pictures, stories and memories I've created in the past year and how special each and every moment was. 

So take a look back with me....

+ Our after-Christmas/New Years vacation to Waikiki on Oahu, HI. I feel so blessed to be able to go to such a beautiful place with someone I love so much. 

 + I celebrated my 22nd birthday (the 4th one celebrated with J) and was spoiled rotten! 

 + Our poor Ollie got horrible blisters on his feet but did so well as they healed and

+ We spent far too long without furniture waiting for the new stuff to arrive

 + J's birthday was spent with friends from out of town, lots of margaritas and days spent relaxing by the pool. 

 + We graduated! It was a long four years with lots of stress, studying, and wondering when it was going to end but I finished my bachelors degree and J finished his masters. 

 + We spent lots of time taking our pup swimming in the ocean. He loves it so much it's hard to get him out. 

+ J and I celebrated our 4 year dating anniversary! I cannot believe how quickly the time has past and how many amazing memories we've created together. I love that man!

 + We got to spend some time back in CO this summer to celebrate the wedding of two of our great friends. While the drive from SD to CO is never fun we wouldn't miss trips like this for anything.

 + After a lot of stressful paperwork, specific deadlines and lots of finger crossing we finally bought and moved into our first house! We have loved being able to do whatever we wanted in the new house and there's nothing quite like home. 

 + We've done lots of work since we moved but it is all so worth it. A yard for our pup to play in and a guest room to host family and friends.

+ Now that we have this amazing new house we decided to host Thanksgiving for my mom and sister. Our turkey was a big success, I made homemade gravy for the first time ever and we spent some time at the beach. Noting says Thanksgiving like the sun and the sand!

+ The holidays are definitely my favorite time of the year and I was so excited to finally be able to decorate outside as well as inside wherever and however I wanted. I can't wait to make holiday traditions in our new home. 

+ And last but definitely far from least.... J and I got engaged on Christmas Day 2011. I promise that I will do a post soon specific to the details about this but lets just say I have never been happier in my whole entire life. I cannot wait to start planning this wedding and continue to grow our lives together!

Thanks 2011.... 

for an amazing, spectacular, whirlwind year that I'll never forget. 

Vacation Home to Colorado pt 1

About two weeks ago J, Ollie and I took a little vacation back to the good ol' Colorado. We hadn't been back in quite some time and some of our very close friends were getting married so it was the perfect opportunity to take a week off and head home.

However, now that our little family includes the fur baby, it makes traveling a little bit more difficult. Because of flying regulations it is basically out of the question for us to easily fly with our pup. And since we live in an apartment and don't have any family out in SD, it makes it hard to leave him behind without having to board him or pay someone to watch him. (Both of which we don't want to do)

So what does all this mean?

It means we all hop into the car and drive home. From SD to CO. And for those of you wondering, its between 15-18 hours of driving depending on the conditions. Here's a peak into our road trip.

This is the typical view of the inside of my car. And yes, I told J we should make funny faces, we don't always look that goofy.

Ollie decided to sun bathe for a while when the sun was low enough to get to him in the back seat. We never really knew if he was sleeping or just closing his eyes because it was bright. What a weirdo.

Our trip takes us through California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah and eventually Colorado. With my car getting good gas mileage we have to stop three times along the way to stretch and get gas. This was in Prim, Nevada. Right at the border between CA and NV there are already casinos.

O-dog does surprisingly well in the car and we are very thankful for that. Most of the time he sleeps, sometimes he looks at us and catches some of the AC directly. We bought a car hammock for him in the backseat and it is definitely a purchase we would do again. It makes the back seat a lot bigger/more useable for him and makes it a bit safer for him back there.

Finally we made it to CO and I always do a little happy dance when we see the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign.

Because finally we get to see views like these. Rolling hills, bright blue skies, white clouds and mountains in the background.

Rain clouds filled with thunder & lightning (something we don't get here in SD).

Mountain tunnels, steep rock walls, waterfalls and pine trees.

We had a fabulous time while we were home and as much as we dislike the drive it takes to get there, we'd always do it again to spend quality time with friends and family. I'll be posting some highlights of our trip within the next few days as well as new updates about our new house so stay tuned.

Welcome home?

Here's the layout of my day yesterday

5:33 am: alarm goes off, I've been awake since 2:57

5:45 am: packing the car with last minute things

6:18 am: off we go to start our drive

8:07 am: traffic in San Bernadino because of construction, losing time

10:09 am: venti Starbucks in Barstow (yum), Ollie eats breakfast standing at the gas pump

2:44 pm: "Check Engine Soon" light turns on

2:45 pm: shoot, what does that mean? Freak out. We have 500 more miles to drive. Do we pull over? Good thing we have AAA

2:47 pm: Tim says it's fine. "Keep driving till the car starts to smoke"

4:41 pm: Richfield, UT. Enough said. Hopefully we'll make it the 180 miles where there's no services and cell phones don't work

7:10 pm: Yay Grand Junction. This means we're finally in CO

8:00 pm- 11:16 pm: white knuckles, icy roads, no visibility, hills, blind curves, and down pouring snow. Seriously, CO? Thanks for the welcome home.

11:17 pm: Thank you Eisenhower tunnel. Only 40 more miles and way less snow

11:59 pm: We're finally out of the mountains and on C470. My butt is soo flat, I need out of this car

12:22 am: Pizza before bed because I'm starving.

It was a long, pretty easy drive until we hit the blizzard in Vail. Needless to say, I'm tired today. On the agenda for today, running some errands, wrapping some presents, hopefully a nap and.....

best of all hanging out with these loves. I love my two boys and they are just two peas in a pod already.

Travel safe this Holiday Season.