January
We had SNOmg 2011. The snow was officially one wiener dog deep, law school got cancelled for a good three days, and fun was had by all. We took Pegs out in the snow and watched her ears fly backwards and ten thousand weenie dog tunnels appear in the snow. We went to the park and sledded down the hill until we were frozen, like we were seven years old. We went BACK to the park with Tim and Jess and drank sangria out of Chick-fil-a cups while we sledded some more. We all ate beef stew and got in the hot tub while it snowed a little bit more.
My 23rd birthday was on the 23rd, and my birthday week almost always coincides with Charlotte Restaurant Week, which meant we got to go to Mickey and Mooch and had some of the most delicious (and hugely portioned) food I've had all year.
February
We went on a super fun little mountain vacation. Tim, Jess and a few other couples went and we had quite the time. We cooked a lot, we built a lot of fires, we ate a ton, we went through a whole lot of cans. We played some Wii, we went to Boone just once and we were generally super lazy. I can't wait to repeat a lot of those activities when we go back to the mountains here in a few weeks. There will be lots of hot tubbing, movie watching, and pajama-pants wearing.
And who could forget my icy-cold-beverage trick?
Then there was a much less fun time when Peggy Sue foraged in my bag for a pack of spearmint, sugar-free gum and had to spend the night at the emergency vet and I almost freaked out. Let's hope we don't have any repeated incidents like that this time.
March
March always brings the Boys and Girls Club Pancake Day, which I hope they have every year from now until forever. So much fun.
Pancake day also happened to be St. Patty's Day, which meant a fun night out at Joe's Sports Bar!
I went up to DC in March for Lia's birthday/Spring Break and we did too many things to name - laser tag, happy hour, Lia's birthday party, you name it.
Oh, and Krispy Kreme! How could I forget Krispy Kreme? That always seems to happen when I go to DC, I don't know why. But I like it.
April
April means spring, and I love spring! It also meant PB's birthday, which meant a little lake party for him. And me forgetting candles and lighting all the 80's decorative ones I could find in the house instead.
It also meant Easter - dying eggs, hanging out with good friends at the lake, and being thankful for everything that Easter means to me.
May
I finally got out of law school after what seemed like 200 years. And then they let you wear a cool hat that kind of makes you look like you should be tossing pizza dough in the air!
Otherwise, I spent a lot of time at the lake, relaxing and enjoying the spring weather in the hammock or on the dock. I also spent a lot of time studying for the Praxis and fretting about whether I was going to be teaching this year or not. Definitely a time of a lot of changes and a lot of thinking!
June
I studied, studied, studied for the Praxis. I started putting in super long hours in training for my teaching this year. I started my student teaching, teaching English to high schoolers, which I absolutely adored. I barely slept, I got up at 4:30 lots of days, and we sweated to death with 27 juniors who didn't want to be in English class all day long, every day during summer break, but I think everyone (myself included) learned a lot. My two teaching partners quit and left me alone, leaving me with a ton of work. But all in all, I grew a ton and I felt like I was ready to start my job in the fall. I still miss all those summer school kids. They were awesome.
That's really about all I had time for. It's all kind of a blur now because I was so busy. But it was definitely a summer to remember!
July
July was much the same as June. A total blur. Teach teach teach, interview interview, seminar, interview, seminar, turn in assignments, do more assignments, turn in more assignments.
We did manage to make it to my grandparents' beach condo for a few days, and relax in the pool, with some good seafood, and a little shopping. That was super nice.
August
August was full-on wedding prep month. I had a few weeks off from summer school and before starting my job to get everything in order. And it was all filled with showers, bachelorette partying, and last-minute details.
I am so blessed to have so many sweet people who wanted to give me showers. My mom's side of the family gave us a cookout and Disney honeymoon shower, which was amazing. We got a ton of Disney gift card dollars, which made our honeymoon absolutely off the charts. We got some sweet Disney figurines, and my cousin who threw the shower made us a picture frame with Mickey and Minnie that everyone signed for us with their good wishes.
My dad's side of the family threw me a gorgeous shower at our rehearsal dinner location, with yummy appetizers and lots of amazing gifts. Dishes, pottery, more dishes, oh my! I just love all the pottery we got for our wedding especially, even though it wasn't on our registry. I use it all constantly.
And perhaps my favorite part of the month - my bachelorette party. It deserves a whole post of its own, but I was so busy that I never got around to it. And since this is something of a little scrapbook memory preservation deal for me, I'm going to do it now.
My sweet bridesmaids and friends from college got us a big suite at a hotel at Myrtle Beach. Jess, Michelle and I all drove down together and started enjoying a few drinks on the beach. This right here? Heaven. Though by the time everyone else got there, we were a little, ahem, ahead with our fun.
We went out and had an amazing dinner on the pier at Myrtle Beach, and then we went to Jimmy Buffett's Landshark bar on the beach. However, like I said, some of us were further ahead than others. Like me. So that made for an early night, because I was just ready to go to sleep about 10pm. So much fun though!
The next day, it poured down rain while we were at breakfast, but it turned into a gorgeous day later on and we got to hang out on the beach. We came back inside to get ready to go out, and there may have been a period of me dancing in my bathing suit on the balcony overlooking the pool while the DJ by the pool cheered us on. Or there may not have. Just saying.
We called to get a taxi, and surprise surprise to all of us, a limo showed up from the cab company to take us to Broadway at the Beach! So fun! And notice my bachelorette cowboy hat and sash - amazing. They also had custom tank tops made for all of us that said "Save a horse, ride the bride." We got a lot of laughs out of that one!
We went to Crocodile Rocks Piano Bar, aka the most fun place ever. Can you tell? So fun!!
When we got home, after having a delicious, healthy cheeseburger at the diner near our hotel, we all went to bed. And then the fire alarm went off at 4am, about an hour after we got home. And then we waited out on the curb for Myrtle Beach FD to show up for about 20 minutes. A hilarious story, but none of us were very pleased with the folks who had literally managed to set their room on fire.
We had another awesome shower put on by my stepmom and aunts - a luau! Who doesn't love a good luau?
Our family friend Janice and my sweet sweet MOH Jessica also threw us a shower that looked like it was straight out of Southern Living. I've never even been to such an awesome event, much less had one thrown for me! Seriously, Janice's backyard is like the epitome of every Pinterest idea you've always wanted to execute.
It was such a fun time, since it was a little evening couples' shower, and it was so much fun!
Whew, August was busy! And how could I forget starting teaching?! Oh my goodness, it's a wonder we all survived!
September
Well, obviously September was The Big Month In Which We Got Married And Went to Disney World. I already recapped most of that, but it was just an amazing month. I want to go back to Disney World right this very minute!
October
I'm a little short on pictures, but the highlights of October were Cody and Hillary's wedding on Halloween weekend. It was outside and pretty darn chilly but it was a gorgeous fall wedding and we had so much fun! And her pictures are absolutely beautiful - go check them out here, especially if you are looking for some wedding photo inspiration. They are Pinterest-worthy, every one!
See what I mean?
We also had our 6th grade skating trip, which was so much fun! I strapped on my roller blades, which I think I got when I was in the 6th grade myself and skated right along with the kiddos. One of my sweet, sweet babies who is autistic had never skated before, wanted me to help her. She's probably a little bigger than I am, and boy she was hanging on to me tight. As soon as we got halfway around, the skating rink dude announced that we were going to be playing Wipe Out. Her eyes got big and I didn't know if she was going to be able to handle it, but handle it we did! Granted, when he'd say "wipe out" it would pretty much take me the whole time until the next wipe out to get her up and rolling again. At one point, she just started bending over when he'd say "wipe out" and I'd start taking a knee. I'm sure it was quite the sight. It was so sweet to see her excited though, and I'm sure I'll always remember skating with her.
November
November always brings the Christmas parade! My parents are on the parade route, so tons of people come and there is hot chocolate, coffee, cookies, snacks, and the ever-celebrated Parade Afterparty.
This year, I drove the retired athletic director from the Boys and Girls club in a '57 T-bird. He had so much fun!
Of course, November always brings Thanksgiving too.
I did a ton of baking and cooking and wrecked the entire kitchen, as usual.
One of the things I cooked for was the annual deviled egg cook-off, which usually successfully turns me off to eating any deviled eggs for the rest of the year.
I had to rock the Pajama Jeans at Thanksgiving to accommodate all of my anticipated eating.
I also went over to see my dad's side of the family, though I couldn't physically eat another bite by that point.
It was so good to see my cousins that I don't normally get to see all year.
December
Of course, December is chock full of Christmas goodness. We had a week-long pot luck at work, another reason to love my job. Each day of the week before Christmas, one team provided lunch for the rest of the staff. Which meant I just feasted and feasted all week long.
It also meant crazy Christmas sweaters the day before break!
Love it!
I can't believe that 2011 is almost over. Bring on the champagne and the crossing out 2011 and writing 2012 every time I write the date for the next month!
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