My Year in Facebook

This is a really cool app from Facebook - it only selects a certain number of status updates, but it's a fun snapshot of some of my random thoughts and moments from this year.

Be sure to notice the post about Shonn's boat and the great husband he is.  The overabundance of exclamation points is a dead giveaway of who actually wrote that post.  :) 

Girls Dominate Catchphrase

These photos say it all.

Supportive Wife #1:

Supportive Wife #2:

Annnnd Supportive Wife #3:

Final Score:

Sooo...2010 looks to be a good year.

How Cute is She?

Kaylee Jo celebrated with us last night. I think she made it to about 9...Brody and Gabe were partying it up with us, too, and they made it to about 11:30...  Troopers!

What Friendship is All About

It's really cool that we spent New Year's Eve with Casey and Angie. We have been best friends since pre-school, so it makes sense that we would start a new decade together.  (Even though no one seemed to notice the ball drop last night...?)  Casey, Ang, and I knew each other through the stylishly-awkward 80s, middle school and high school in the 90s, the beginning of our independent lives in the 00s (how do you say that?), and now we start 2010 as close as we've ever been.
It's amazing how much we have lived through together, from the daily lunch at Casey's house during high school that involved an excessive amount of teenage angst and tears, through college's ups and downs, lots of relationship drama, trips, happy weddings, marriages, health trials, and now kids.  We don't see each other as much as we'd like, but I know these girls will always be there and I love them.

Day Date

Shonn and I have both been so busy that we joke it's like we're dating againg - we only see each other on weekends.  An example of our hectic lifestyle was the week leading up to Christmas break (deep breath)... On Monday night, I supervised a game; Tuesday, Shonn had a game; Wednesday, I supervised; Thursday, his team played; and Friday, I chaperoned a dance.  And so it goes.  We've found it surprising that I'm doing less this year, but because it's in a different school system, our schedules don't align as much as they did previously.  Even though we both coached last year, we were traveling to the same games, on the same nights, on the same bus... You get the picture.

So, we're back to dating!  Unfortunately, we don't have the energy we had the first time around, so we've started day-dating.  It's so fun.  We'll plan a full day of activities and end the day at home.  This week we took a day-date to St. Louis and did a little shopping/returning at the Mills outlet mall.  (We've found that the Mills is one of the only places we can shop together and remain a happily dating married couple - the Cabela's there is large enough to buy me plenty of shopping time in the stores I like.  )

This is the only picture Shonn would let me take (funny how he isn't as "Sure, babe, whatever you want..." as he was when we first dated...) It was really cute, when we took this picture there was a little boy (probably 18 months old) across from us who noticed the flash and yelled, "CHEESE!"  It was hilarious because Shonn got so embarrassed.  

I love the car time, too, because we get a chance to really talk...or play Would You Rather.

If you have any great day-date destination ideas, let me know.

Jenn Sighting!

Do you have one of those friends you can miss for months, but then when you see each other, it's like you pick up right where you left off?  I love that!  Jenn is one of those friends.  She and I became really good friends at Eastern (ahh, the years of mid-day napping, backless shirts, unnatural oompa-loompa tans in January, and Ikes...) and have been close ever since.  Jenn was my guardian angel when I moved back from Cincinnati with nothing except a really great wardrobe and a convertible whose window wouldn't go down.  She let me park next to her BMW in her really nice condo, gave me an amazing place to stay and an unconditional listening ear, and was just a really great friend when I needed one.

Anway, life gets in the way, but when we get a chance to get together, it's always so fun.  We met for dinner in Decatur (her work region changed-yay!) and didn't stop talking from 5:00 to 10:00, except when sipping wine or occasionally pausing to eat.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture, so here's an oldie-but-goodie of Jenn (left) with one of my other besties, Maria.  (Her blog, BRAMFAM, is listed to the left.)

Annnnnnd, I've begun reminiscing, so here's an Ike's pic with an Alpha Gam reference.  (Don't know who Sara Wils--- is, but 10 years ago, that would have been us.  Classy.)

New Tradition

This year, Shonn and I decided to start a new Christmas Eve tradition.  This decision was actually accidental, resulting from two factors: 1) We hadn't eaten prior to Christmas Eve church service, and 2) We have decided not to eat out as much this year.  Sooo...what's a couple to do when there is no crockpot full of deliciousness awaiting their return?  From this question our new tradition was created. (Isn't there a saying about necessity being the mother of all invention?)  We decided to head to the grocery store and buy seafood to prepare and eat at home.  Fun!  We both love seafood and on vacations or at restaurants, we order it often, but we rarely make shrimp, crab legs, or lobster at home.  Shonn does cook fish really well, but we were ready for something more exotic and festive. 

County Market was closed, and although inconvenient for us, I was glad for them, so we went to Walmart.  (I know what you're thinking: You're going to get something "exotic and festive" at Walmart? Our options were limited, people. 7:30 on Christmas Eve.)  As we walked in the doors, for the first time EVER, I heard the words, "Walmart will close in thirty minutes..."  Whaaat?  It actually closes?  (Thought in the style of Santa on the M & M commercial - They ARE real!)

Anyway, we bought crab legs, pasta supplies, and more champagne than necessary.  Here are some pictures of us preparing our meal. 

We had a great night, made a huge mess, and ate way too much.  Sounds like a wonderful tradition to me!