where has 2011 gone?!

so my last blog was 10 months ago...where in the world has this year gone?!

so much has happened in the last 10 months that i don't even know where to begin! here is a quick rundown...

enrolled as a consultant with thirty-one in january...jon and i went to jamaica for (my) work in february (it was awesome!)...worked like crazy from january through march (except for the quick trip to jamaica!)...my best friend had a baby boy in april (theodore tobias mappus iv aka tucker)...my brother and his family came to visit in june...another good friend had a baby boy in june (wallace rudolph bowman aka ace)...my sister and her family came to visit in july...jon and i went on vacation with my brother and sister-in-law in july (an amazing cruise to st. thomas, st. maarten, and nassau...good times had by all!)...jon's brother and his family moved to los angeles in july (can't wait to go visit in november!)...we took a last minute trip to south beach miami (with jon's brother (and business partner) and sister-in-law) for his work in august (so much fun and so relaxing!)...i became a senior consultant for thirty-one at the end of august...we traveled every weekend of september (pawley's island, greenville, atlanta, georgia to see my sister)...and now it's freakin' october already! once again, where in the world has this year gone?!

that sums up this year so far...and there are still many good times and events to come! love my life...and those that surround me!

ready for a vacation....

this week has been HELL at work. although, it is january so i guess i should expect nothing less! this was my first year preparing the nearly 19,000 w-2's that i must send out in the next couple of weeks. i finally have everything balanced and ready to print after some extremely long days this past week. now it's time to get all of the other monthly work completed.

luckily there is a light at the end of the long (stress filled work) tunnel...jon and i are going to jamaica on february 10th!!! my company puts on an annual conference for all of our franchise owners each year, and this year it's in jamaica! neither jon nor i have ever been there, so we are both really excited about visiting a new tropical place (and of course relaxing and getting away for a few days)!!!

we've been trying to catch up with friends that we haven't seen since before christmas, so last night we had katherine, tee, and amy over to hang out! the boys ended up playing jon's new playstation 3 (he's been wanting it for a couple years now, but i wasn't so sure if i could handle a playstation 3 addicted husband!!!) and having a blast! they were actually kind of cute in the their chairs in front of the tv talking about the game they were playing! of course, the girls chatted and caught up on all the recent happenings while the boys played!

speaking of catching up, katherine is having a baby!!! theodore tobias mappus the 5th aka tucker is due on april 15th! i'm so excited for them and can't wait to meet their baby boy!

getting pregnant seems to be the thing to do right now!!! our friends rachel and aaron are also pregnant and are expecting their bundle of joy in june! they are going to wait for the surprise on the day baby bowman is born, and i can't wait to find out if it's a boy or girl!

babies, babies everywhere! i must say, i think we might be getting a little baby fever but not enough to go all in yet!!! it will happen soon enough! :)

new car, short work week, movie night with the girls...

this week is full excitement! jon arrived home friday night around 7 with our new car...and wow is it awesome! the features it has are crazy! i'm still a little nervous driving it (it's definitely bigger than the altima!), but each day i'm getting more comfortable with it! will post pictures soon....

there's only one more day in the work week...good friday is a paid holiday for my office, so friday will be play/errand day for me! i'm looking forward to sleeping in, meeting amy for lunch, getting a pedicure, and just enjoying the day! the weather is supposed to be great here all weekend, so that makes it even better!

tonight i'm joining the girls for a trip to the movies! we are going to see the last song (adapted from the book by nicholas sparks!), and i'm really looking forward to it. i read the book around christmas (my parents got me a signed copy as a christmas present - they actually live in the same town as nicholas sparks!) and thought it was great...i hope the movie is just as good as the book! now i just have to make it through the rest of the work day and a couple of hours of preparing tax returns...then it's on to the movie theater!

recovering from the weekend...let the good times roll!

it's monday afternoon around 4:30, and i'm so tired i can barely keep my eyes open at my desk! i would love to blame my lack of energy/sleepiness to the time change, but i think the majority of it has to do with the fact that i stayed out with the girls entirely too late on saturday night and was too wound up to go to bed early last night!

katherine, liza, amy, and i had a blast in hilton head...it was relaxing with plenty of fun! we chilled out in our room after dinner and caught up on the happenings in everyone's life friday night, hit the gym saturday morning, did a little shopping on saturday afternoon, relaxed in our hotel room until we decided it was time for dinner, had a great dinner at wild wings (with lots of good people watching!), headed to a fun bar/dance club, made friends from charleston at the bar, sat by the indoor pool at our hotel room (after changing into our pj's and the girls dragging me out of the room at 3:30 - actually it was 1 hour earlier than that, but the time jumped ahead at 2 in the morning!) and hung out with our new friends, then we got up and hit the road to come home after about 4 hours of sleep! it was an awesome girls weekend away in hilton head...i just wish it had been about 10 degrees warmer!

once i got home jon and i got things done around the house and then were focused on a possible new purchase on ebay for entirely too many hours of the day (don't want to share details yet though - at least not until we find out for sure if it's our's - fingers are crossed)! we were both wound up after all of it and didn't go to bed until after 11.

my brother and his family arrived in charleston today from indiana, so i am super excited about hanging out with them this week! they are staying at the isle of palms, so i'm hoping for some beach time (definitely no bathing suit yet!!!) tomorrow and lots of time with my niece and nephew! i can't wait to see the little munchkins!

i'm loving life right now (except for the fact that i'm so sleepy and still have to head to my other job for the evening!) and enjoying every minute of this amazing journey it involves! let the good times continue to roll...

dependency on my cell phone...not a good thing

so today i have decided that i am way too dependent on my cell phone! it started doing crazy things last night, and it's not any better this morning. it's like my connection to the outside world has been cut off completely...although i am sitting in front of a computer all day long! of course this happened on a friday when i am leaving to go out of town! verizon store here i come, as soon as i leave work today!

once i get my phone situation straightened out, katherine, abby, and i will be hitting the road for our girls weekend in greenville! there are lots of fun times to be had and great memories to be made this weekend! happy friday!

waking up to another day of this amazing thing called life...

each day i wake up, i'm extremely thankful for all of the gifts god has given me! i think back on my life, and there has definitely been some rough times; i realize that i wouldn't be the person i am today without those rough times though.

i have an amazing husband...i love falling asleep next to him every night and waking up to him every morning...i love the fact that he makes me laugh every single day...i love traveling with him and seeing new sights that neither one of us has seen...i am madly in love with him and everything that he is...thank you, jon, for just being you...i love you, baby!

i have a wonderful family...parents (in laws included), siblings (in laws included) and their husbands/wives, adorable nieces and nephew (only 1 nephew as of right now!), and my extended family (aunts - including aunt 'laine (the one that left this life too early!), uncles, and cousins)! they are all the best family that anyone could ask for! to those that i've grown apart from over time...hopefully one day the fences will be mended! to those that live far away...i'm trying hard to stay in touch with each of you (through facebook, email, etc.) and please know that i think of you often and hope to see each of you at least once this year and each year going forward!

i have the best friends in the world...my college roommates (wow, what great memories we shared during our four years at cofc (the good and the bad!) and continue to share during our girls' weekends!)...i love you girls like crazy and think of you every day! the friends i met after college...i look forward to hanging out with you guys every chance we get! thanks for the great memories we've made so far, and here's to many, many more memories in the future!

much love to my awesome husband, amazing family, and great friends...thank you for all that you bring to my life! :)

end of 2009 and beginning of 2010...crazy happenings

so the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010 has brought some crazy happenings and exciting news! where to begin...

...while in new york, jon and I received the news that we were going to be aunt heidi and uncle jon again thanks to jon's brother, kirk and his wife, laura...surprise! the oldest (kate) will be 2 in february, the youngest (reese) will be 1 in july, and the new baby is due in august! they are amazing parents and i'm sure they will make life with 3 kids under 3 seem easy!

...jon's brother, kris and his fiancee, anne have started making wedding plans and hope to be married in october of this year! i'm so excited for them...anne is so cute and so much fun and kris is so happy...what a great couple!

...while in boston, i received a text message from my college roommate, emily, with a picture of a beautiful engagement ring! the one roommate that we knew would eventually find a guy who would knock her off her feet has met her prince charming! i'm super excited for them!

...more baby news...another friend of mine (i used to work with her mom at mbw) found out she is pregnant and is due in august, and the operations manager at our company just told everyone today that she is pregnant and due in july!

...one of jon's college classmates had an adorable baby (Emily Reese - love that name!) on january 5th...congrats josh and stacie!

...my brother just found out his dad has a cancerous tumor on his kidney. he's having surgery on wednesday in the hopes of removing the entire tumor, so please keep him in your prayers!

lots of stuff going on in 2010...and what a way to close out 2009 with some very exciting news! here's to another great year!

a weekend of relaxation

jon and i have had a wonderful weekend of relaxation! we celebrated one of our friend's 30th birthday last night, but other than that we have stayed on the couch and watched movies all weekend! i finally got my suitcase unpacked, did some much needed organizing in our office/back bedroom, and started organizing our tax information...then joined jon on the couch with a blanket for the rest of the day! it's been nice to catch up after being on vacation, spending the night in the airport last weekend, and then going back to a busy work week last week! it looks like this week will be even busier for both of us, but at least we will be well rested and ready to face it...i think!

nyc & boston...awesome vacation part 1

vacation has been wonderful! we started in new york city last sunday (with katherine and tee), headed to boston (and met up with pat, jay, and brittany) on wednesday, rang in the new year at the davidson wedding, and are attempting to get home to charleston tonight or in the morning!

new york city was awesome! we went to see chicago (starring ashley simpson-wentz!) the first night we were there...

we saw many sites in new york...rockefeller center (with the christmas tree!), the empire state building (from top of the rock), times square, the statue of liberty (from battery park...in the frigid temperatures!), 5th avenue (fao schwarz & tiffany's) and we took a movie sites/tv show tour around the city!

katherine and i even got up one morning and went to see the today show...but only for a little while because it was only 23 degrees!

jon and i headed out of new york on a bus to boston on wednesday...and wow, was it an interesting bus trip! the bus was packed and it was a long 5 hour (supposed to be 4) trip! we were very happy to finally arrive in boston!

more on the rest of the trip tomorrow....getting tired and hoping our plane arrives from washington, dc soon, so we can at least get part of the way home tonight! we were supposed to fly out of boston at 7:15, but so far we are still here thanks to the weather in washington and boston! i think tonight will be spent in the washington-dulles airport! a first for me...spending the night in an airport! it will be worth it though since we have to be there for our flight to charleston 5 hours after we arrive!

christmas eve eve party

december 23, 2009 marked the 2nd annual christmas eve eve party at our house! this year we decided to toss in a fun little requirement of the attendees...everyone must wear a tacky christmas sweaters! we've all seen them, but it was hysterical to see our friends in them! the night also included a 6 pack of beer exchange for the guys and an ornament exchange for the guys....we had a blast and can't wait to do it again next year! here are some pictures...what awesome memories!

on the road again...

in a little while jon and i are hitting the road with katherine and tee to head to litchfield beach for the weekend to hang out with jay, brittany, and will. this is a little bit of a spur of the moment trip which should be a lot of fun! there are always a lot of laughs when jon, jay, brittany, and will get together! (in fact there are moments when i have the thought that i might wet my pants while laughing at them!)

i'm hoping that tomorrow and/or sunday involves shopping in myrtle beach because i have a few more gifts to buy (and a couple things i would like for our new york trip)! the boys are playing in a golf tournament all day on sunday...and the rest of the fun will fall into place as the weekend goes on!

thirty more minutes and then i'm heading out the door and leaving work behind for the weekend...

personal matters...not facebook news stories

facebook is great...as long as it is used for the purposes in which it is intended. unfortunately some people think it is for airing dirty laundry and personal matters. a couple that i am close to is separated and today the husband announces on facebook that his wife has told him she wants a divorce...today - which also happens to be their anniversary. i know that she told him several days ago, but to the facebook world it looks like she dropped this huge bomb today and that he had no clue it was coming. divorce is a personal and private matter...not a facebook news story! it is a sad situation and i feel especially sorry for the wife (one of my closest friends) who now looks like a terrible person to her husband's facebook friends. she is not a terrible person though, and i love her and hope that they both will get through this unfortunate situation.

another awesome weeekend ahead...

today is friday...and i love fridays! they usually go by pretty quickly at work, and i always look forward to awesome weekend activities! this weekend is funfilled...a party with friends tonight, the reindeer run with amy in the morning, my work christmas party tomorrow night, slumber party at katherine's tomorrow night (since the guys will be camping), and relaxing on sunday!

21 days until christmas and 23 days until NYC!!!!

birthday celebrations...

today is my 28th birthday...and the celebrating began last night! jon had beautiful fresh flowers for me when i got home from work yesterday and had my (technically it's ours, but it was my birthday present!!!) new camera all ready to go! he studied the manual yesterday and learned all about the cool features it has, so i am ready to snap loads of photographs now! we went to dinner at california dreaming and then watched grey's anatomy! it was an awesome evening of celebrating!

the celebrations have continued today with birthday breakfast bagels at work, lunch with abby, and tonight is dinner with kat, tee, amy, liza, and kris! (jon is going out of town for a bachelor party this weekend, but thankfully i am extremely lucky to be surrounded by amazing friends to celebrate with while he's gone!) i'm super excited, and so far it's been a good day at work...no stress (yet)! tomorrow morning i will begin the day with a walk over the bridge with amy to make up for all of the yummy food i am partaking in today! i love birthday celebrations!

girl time

today was packed full of girl time with amy! jon went to the usc football game with tee, so amy and i went shopping and out to dinner! it has been a lot of fun catching up with amy and having girl time...no boys allowed! :) tomorrow morning she and i are going to walk the ravenel bridge for some much needed exercise...especially after the calzone and peppermint chocolate chip milkshake i had tonight! i love my husband with all my heart, but girl time is definitely necessary in life! much love to all my great girlfriends out there...you are awesome and i'm extremely lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful friends!!!! xoxo

citadel homecoming...and good times!

this weekend was tons of fun! it was full of good times with great friends! saturday was citadel homecoming, so we packed up the necessary tailgating supplies....alcohol, food, radio, and chairs....and headed downtown to the the citadel! the weather was perfect, and there were a lot of friends in town that we don't get to see very often! these were all the ingredients for a perfect weekend!

fair food and people watching....

jon, amy, and i went to the coastal carolina fair tonight...and had a blast! we didn't go for the rides or the games...we went for the food and people watching! we started our fair meal by sharing cheese covered french fries, then it was on to some fresh squeezed lemonade (which was a let down!), next came a piece of pizza and a funnel cake (which jon wanted, but of course i had several bites of it!), and jon and i ended the night with a caramel apple! (i haven't had a caramel apple in many years, and it was pretty good!) i have to say, the food was pretty good, but i believe the funnel cake was my favorite...it was really fresh and delicious! the people watching was pretty good too! our 2nd annual trip to the fair was another great success! now we have another year to prepare our bellies for more scrumptious fair food!

halloween partying...

so we went to a halloween party last night with all of our friends and partied almost until it was time to turn the clocks back an hour. we had fun getting dressed for the party at our house...bowman, rachel, pat, and amy were all there for the pre party/getting dressed! jon and i were a pimp and hoe...quite impressive costumes for throwing it together in a few days (i thought!). i had a blast hanging out with our friends, and bowman and rachel (aka shrek and fiona) won the costume contest! pictures to come...

unfortunately today is not looking like it's going to be a very productive day! i can't seem to pull myself off the couch to do some work i brought home from the office, and my eyes feel like the need to be held open with toothpicks for any length of time! partying late seems to be kicking my butt anymore! i'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that i'm getting older! :)

another fun weekend down and another one to go next weekend...citadel homecoming weekend...and the fair in between! thursday night we are heading to the fair with amy, dan, stefani, and spencer for some fair food and people watching! i can't wait!

my girls...

i love my girls...those girls being my college roommates, who are like sisters to me! unusual circumstances brought three of us together this weekend, and although the fourth one couldn't make it, we were certainly thinking about her all weekend. i honestly don't know what i would do without the 3 of them...emily, katherine, and abby.

we've been friends since we moved into berry hall (dorm) our freshman year of college in 2000. who knew that we would become inseparable in the next 9 months! we've been through a lot with each other and i know that no matter what, those three girls will always be there for me. unfortunately we don't all live in the same town, but we can pick up quickly where we left off when we get together! i look forward to girls weekends with them from the moment we start planning them!

em, kat, and abby....our lives have gotten busy since we've left college, but i know that no matter what we will always be the bestest of friends! i love hanging out with you and always look forward to seeing or talking to each of you! love you girls to pieces! xoxo

another great weekend...

this weekend has been a fun one...and it's only saturday afternoon! last night we went to a restaurant in mt. pleasant with katherine and nick. it is a whole in the wall seafood place that only locals know about and it was awesome! afterwards we hung out at our house with kat and tee. this morning was a great morning of sleeping in and dunkin donut balls for breakfast (definitely going to the gym tomorrow)! then i decided i was in the mood for a little shopping. i found some good buys at the outlets and finally bought myself a sewing machine!

my goal this fall is to learn how to sew! i want to be able to make pillows and fun stuff for gifts, and i really want to be able to hem my own pants! hopefully next weekend i will have time to begin my sewing adventure!

tonight we are heading to tee and kat's to hang out with friends, eat yummy appetizers, and watch some football! then i believe we are going to hit the town with nick before he heads home tomorrow! it's been a fun weekend so far, and there is still half of it left!