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! :)

crazy happenings + new endeavors = life

life...where do i begin?!

i got the news last week that my boss will be leaving on medical disability as of august 1st. so this means i will be taking over as controller of the company and hiring an assistant to take the position i'm in now. this is great news for me in regards to my career and something i knew would eventually happen, but i just didn't know it was going to happen so soon! i will be spending the next 3 1/2 months soaking up as much of her knowledge as possible and learning every possible thing i can learn about her job!

since jon and i got a new car several weeks ago, it finally came time for us to sell my altima. we put it on ebay last monday and it was sold when the auction ended this monday. jon handled everything with the buyer yesterday and i met them to sign the title over to her and say goodbye (after 6 years) to my very dependable altima! it was a bittersweet moment! (i'm definitely loving the bmw though!)

jon's business has picked up (thanks to summer being just around the corner and their only employee in north carolina resigning a few weeks ago!) and is working like crazy! he's been working 6 days a week, not getting home until at least 10 every night and spending the night out of town on others. it's definitely great that business has picked up, but he will definitely be ready for a short vacation when we head to vegas the beginning of june!

yes, that's right...we are going to las vegas! i finally booked the trip, and we will be celebrating jon's 30th birthday there on june 5th and staying for a few nights! i've never been to vegas, so i'm super excited to see all the sights! only 6 weeks from friday until we board the plane!

that sums up the last 2 weeks of my life...i think! now it's time to see what the next 2 weeks brings my way!

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 3

part 3 of our trip was not much fun...it involved delayed and missed flights and sleeping in the airport! our flight from boston to washington, dc was continuously delayed until about 10:30 saturday night...over 3 hours after we were supposed to take off. we missed our connecting flight to charleston, and were booked on separate flights (me at 7:55 and jon at 12:25) the next morning to charleston. once we got to dc, they were able to confirm jon on the flight with me...thank goodness because we'd both had enough of airports at that point! we got a couple of hours of sleep in the airport that night and couldn't wait to get home and go to bed!

when we finally arrived home around 10:30 am, we headed to bed and didn't wake up until 7 when we woke up and made dinner. we stayed up for a few hours and then went back to sleep until it was time to wake up for work this morning. not quite the ending to our vacation that we expected, but at least we made it home yesterday morning and didn't get stuck in boston because of the weather!

nyc and boston were amazing! what an awesome vacation...christmas and new year's were the perfect time to experience these cities! i love traveling!

nyc & boston...awesome vacation part 2

on wednesday we said goodbye to tee and katherine in nyc and loaded onto a packed bus for boston! it was a long and pretty miserable trip...more than 5 hours with no stops and not very much space. but we finally made it to boston and met up with brittany, jay, and pat at our hotel...and this is where part 2 -boston began...

thursday morning pat, jon, and i walked to breakfast at a diner down the street, and while we were eating it began snowing like crazy! snow is definitely not something i see often, so i must say i was pretty excited about it...at least for the first few hours of it! here is the view from our hotel room...the snow had covered the ground within a couple of hours!we walked through boston commons (a huge park) and then headed back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding....which we missed...and the reception on new year's eve! yes, we missed the wedding (ceremony only though!) thanks to the snow and traffic trying to get out of the city! the reception was lots of fun and we had a great time ringing in the new year and celebrating mike and toni's special day!

friday brought lots of fun and an interesting experience...we went to a real chinese restaurant in the chinatown section of boston! pat, jon, and i were the only americans (and english speaking people) in the restaurant, but i must say, the food was awesome! we also took the subway to the prudential center and went up to the observatory...what a spectacular view of the city! jon took tons of pictures and it was really neat to see everything in boston from a distance since we didn't have time to see many places in person! here is just one of the awesome photos of the city...

we ended the day with dinner at an authentic italian restaurant in the littly italy section of boston and grabbed some canolis to take back to the hotel for dessert! jon and i slept in saturday morning and then visited the bar that they used for the tv show cheers. we also watched sherlock holmes before heading back to the hotel and catching a taxi to the airport!

once we got to the airport, another adventure began....that's part 3 of our awesome vacation!

it's a sickness time of year...

so after all of the windmueller family christmas festivities this weekend, i ended up sick monday night! i started feeling bad in the afternoon and got worse as the night went on...i knew it was bad when i woke up at 5:45 am with a really sore throat! unfortunately i had to take my first sick day ever from work (i usually get sick on vacation or when i'm already scheduled to be off!), so i went to the doctor first thing yesterday morning! luckily it was a 20 minute doctor visit and then on to walmart i went for prescriptions. i relaxed and slept all day yesterday (except for some baking and laundry last night!), and i felt so much better this morning!

it seems like this is the time of year for sickness...anne and reese were sick this weekend, kris woke up sick yesterday, jon was sick last week, and there have been several people at work who have been out sick recently! i'm hoping since i got it this week and jon was sick last week that we will have a healthy vacation in new york and boston next week!!!!

christmas eve eve party tonight....2 days until christmas....4 days until new york city!!! love this time of year....

fun times in indiana

jon and i arrived home from indiana around 9 last night. we had a great weekend with my brother, patrick, and his family. my niece, zoie, and nephew, maddox, are absolutely adorable! (i so wish we lived closer to them!) we got in late friday night, so we crashed as soon as we got to their house. we started saturday morning with zoie's first soccer practice and then headed to the iu/western michigan football game! we were able to get a little tailgating in before going into the game! saturday night we relaxed with some of their friends after a busy day!

sunday was zoie's 5th birthday...i can't believe how quickly she is growing up! the morning began with putting up the jump castle and getting a few jumps in before the birthday party guests arrived! she got lots of neat things for her birthday (and maddox even got some cool things too)! we got to see my cousin, holly, and her husband, matt, at the birthday party, and we haven't seen them since our wedding last year! sunday night we headed to greenwood, in to meet jon's friend from the citadel, josh, his wife, stacie, and their adorable son, aaron at the cheesecake factory (what an awesome restaurant)! jon and i hadn't met aaron (we'd only seen pictures), and he's even cuter in person! what a fun little guy!


monday was a big day for jon and i...we kept the kids while valerie and patrick went to work! what a day...we played, we went to the mall, and we jumped in the jump castle! we had a lot of fun with them, but it definitely made us realize how much work kids are...we decided we aren't quite ready for that full time responsibility! :) our time will come though...just not for a few years!

tuesday was a fun last day! we went to the indianapolis motor speedway for a track tour and to see the museum! we got to ride around the whole track in a bus while learning neat facts about it...jon and i definitely want to go to the indy 500 within the next few years! we met holly for lunch at buca di beppo....our favorite family style italian restaurant! it was sooooo good...i wish we had one near us! jon and i then boarded our plane home to sc!

what a great long weekend it was! i was sad to see it end and say goodbye! here are some pictures...

i hope i'm not getting sick....

so it seems to happen that every time jon and i go on vacation, one of us gets sick! we were both sick at some point when we were in utah in february, and the last few days my nose has been running like crazy! i haven't had any type of sickness since our trip in february, but of course, the few days before we leave for indiana i've got something going on in the sickness department! i hope it's just allergies, but i've been taking vitamin c pills, drinking orange juice (as much as i hate it, i've been attempting to get down at least a small glass each morning), and using zicam in an attempt to ward off any type of illness that may be trying to form!

on a good note...jon got our guest bathroom painted last night, so we are getting closer and closer to finishing it! it's going to look awesome!

a day and a half of work and then off to indiana....

back from vacation in perdido key, fl

jon and i finally arrived home around 9:30 last night after our 9 hour trip home from perdido key, florida. we had an awesome mini vacation/wedding weekend in perdido key....relaxing on the beach, hanging out with friends, and celebrating matt and savina's special day!

jon and i left as soon as we got home from work on wednesday and made it to tallahassee that night. we headed on to perdido key after our first of 3 waffle house meals over the weekend! unfortunately we didn't realize until after our arrival that we changed time zones, so we were 2 hours early for check in! we got some necessities....beer, water, chips, and sunscreen....and headed back to the condo to unload the car. we got to spend the afternoon with matt and some of his german friends before heading to dinner that night! we had a fun dinner at the lulu's in gulf shores, alabama which is owned by jimmy buffett's sister! jay and brittany arrived later that night!

friday morning we headed to breakfast at waffle house (number 2 meal at waffle house) and then met pat back at the condo before heading out on the beach for the day. we had awesome beach weather and spent about 4 hours relaxing and getting some sun before heading to a cookout for the happy couple!

we found a couple of hours on saturday to hit the beach before heading to the wedding! the weather couldn't have been more perfect for their outdoor ceremony and cocktail hour on the dock! the reception was longer than we are used to due to the german traditions incorporated into their special day! we partied until 1 in the morning and had a blast with our new german friends! the weekend was awesome, but it went by way too quickly!

today has been my first day off before starting my new job next tuesday, and it has been a very productive day! now i'm looking forward to my road trip to savannah with stefani to see rachel tomorrow! the girls will be loose in savannah for the day to shop, eat, and enjoy some time together before baby rockers arrives!

back to reality...

we arrived back to reality last night about midnight after an absolutely awesome vacation in utah! it was another long day of packing, cleaning up the condo, and traveling! last night also included running through the airport to catch our last flight! we stopped to get a couple drinks and a snack before getting on our flight from houston to charleston, and ended up being there a little too long because the service was terrible. fifteen minutes before our flight was supposed to take off, we begin running from the restaurant to our gate and made it just in time! one last funny memory from our trip!

i was a little sad for our vacation to come to an end, but we had a wonderful time and some amazing experiences while we were there. unfortunately now it's time to unpack, do laundry, and head back to work. i should be going to work today, but i'm still not feeling 100 percent after being sick this week...so the piles that i imagine are on my desk will have to wait until tomorrow. this week is going to be full of late nights and lots of catching up at the office! it will be well worth it though after our awesome vacation at the canyons in park city!

jon took some great pictures from the airplane as we were leaving salt lake city. the one i'm including with this entry is actually looking down on our resort! until next time...

a great vacation...coming to an end!

wow, what a vacation?! this week in park city, utah has been absolutely amazing! the mountains here are gorgeous, the snow on the mountains is beautiful, and the fun we've had here is unforgettable. we've lived it up during the day, relaxed at night, and then started all over again each of the 5 days we've been here.

yesterday was full of adventure...on snowmobiles. what an awesome experience?! we honestly did not know what we were in for...which included crazy fun, amazing views, many times digging our snowmobiles out, and absolute exhaustion by the time we got home. jon and i rode atv's in cabo during our honeymoon, and the snowmobiles were one more amazing adventure! we went with one of the owners of pcs national who is 62, but was more daring and hard core than any of the 4 of us! he did some crazy things while we were out there, and showed us an awesome time! the adventure began with 2 of the snowmobiles breaking down about 15 minutes into it. we had to tow those back to the lodge and get 2 more before continuing. after getting stuck in the 4 feet (yes, that is correct...4 feet!) of snow a couple times and learning to dig out the snowmobile, we were on our way! we went about 15 miles into the mountains and canyons before heading back to the lodge during our 5 hour trek! at one point we couldn't get one snowmobile out before getting another one stuck...it was then that we decided it was probably time to begin the trek back to the lodge. all four of us came back home and collapsed....sound asleep for a couple hours before waking up at 9:30 to eat dinner.

unfortunately i managed to get sick this week (jon the beginning of the week and me at the end!) and by the time we got home from our awesome adventure yesterday i was even worse. i had to forego skiing today because i didn't think i could make it on the slopes with a terrible cough all day! the guys and i headed up the mountain to meet anne for lunch and then the guys headed off for an afternoon of skiing. anne is in her second day of ski school today and is loving it....i hate i had to sit out today, but i guess there is always another time. i now have cute snow bunny ski clothes - thanks to the columbia sportswear outlet in park city - so i will definitely be ready the next time we go on a ski trip.

i guess all good things must come to an end, and that is happening tomorrow for us as we have to board the plane home around noon! this week has been so awesome and amazing....

i'm leaving on a jetplane...

i'm leaving on a jetplane....heading to utah! vacation in park city, utah has finally arrived, and it couldn't have gotten her at a better time! the week ahead is going to be awesome...i'm really excited about learning to ski with anne this week and hopefully we will all make it home without any broken bones!

yesterday turned out to be completely crazy. i got up very early and headed to the hospital to see charles (who is doing much better and looks great after his valve replacement surgery - he still needs many prayers though!) before getting on the road back to charleston. work was extremely frustrating, and jon and i didn't get to make it to the college of charleston/citadel basketball game. jon found out yesterday morning he had strep throat...happy valentine's day, baby....but luckily he caught it before we headed out this morning. when i finally got home from work, jon had an awesome valentine's day gift for me....new pajamas! they are adorable, and i can't wait to wear them! i got my stuff packed for the trip thanks to jon's help with laundry and getting my clothes out and folded for me...he's such an awesome husband! we headed to kris' house to hang out with him and anne and make sure we all got up and out the door at 4 this morning...4 is way too early for me!

we are now sitting in the houston airport waiting for our connecting flight to salt lake city, and then it's on to park city! here's to a week of excitement, learning to ski, and relaxation.....

hope and prayers

this week has been trying at times, but at this point i've at least made it through wednesday...so the weekend is in sight! my cousin seems to be stable right now, although there were some moments of panic earlier in the week. as of today the antibiotic is working, so the biggest hope now is that another piece of the infection does not break off and go to his brain. the neurologist says that he can understand what is being said to him. no matter what, there is going to be a tremendously long road ahead for him....many prayers are going to be needed.

i have almost made it through everything on my desk, which was my goal before leaving for utah. i get so overwhelmed in the beginning, but somehow i always manage to get through the work on my desk!

i am heading to myrtle beach friday night to see charles and my family one more time before boarding the plane to utah on sunday. it will be good to see them again after the ups and downs with him this week. saturday afternoon brings the college of charleston vs. the citadel basketball game, and saturday night may bring an all nighter with kris and anne complete with rock band. our flight is so early sunday morning that we are trying to decide if it's even worth going to bed saturday night. i guess the rest of the week and saturday will determine whether we get some sleep before getting on the plane!

the prayers for charles' improvement continue and are very much needed right now! time for some zzzzzzz's......

middle of the week...and lots of work to get done

it's the middle of the week and i have tons of work to get done. this weekend looks like it's going to be spent in my office attempting to dig out from the paperwork slowly stacking up on my desk! tax season is soooo much fun! (said sarcastically!) i've been productive so far this week though, so at least i'm making progress!

i'm heading to the gym this afternoon to work out some stress and hopefully meet with my new personal trainer! i'm hoping to get a great work out routine from him, so i can get in shape before bathing suit season...which will be here before i know it!

i'm so freakin' excited about our trip to utah in less than 3 weeks. jon and i are heading to utah on february 15th with my brother-in-law, kris, and his awesome girlfriend, anne! we are planning on an extremely fun filled week of skiing, drinking, eating, a tour of their pool cover manufacturer, and whatever else we can possibly find to do in utah! i've never been on the other side of the mississippi (except on an airplane to mexico last september), so i'm super excited about seeing the mountains of utah!

time to get back to work and continue digging out from the paperwork! xoxo