2010: A Year in Review

2010 has been a very exciting year for us! 

January

I got my first SLR camera!  I've always been interested in photography and had wanted one in December but Blake thought I should be sure I really wanted one and that it wasn't just a phase.  (It wasn't!) 

February

We had two major blizzards in the DC area!  We were off for two weeks of school.  I absolutely love snow days so it was awesome for me. 

My sister also had her wedding shower over President's Day weekend!

  

March

I turned 29!  Blake celebrated by getting me a zoom lens for my camera and I had my birthday week.  It was awesome.  We also got our first wedding present!  My grandfather built us a grandfather clock!  He built one for my parents as well 33 years ago.  We love it!

April

My younger sister, Katie, got married on April 10th! And, Sophie (our puppy) turned 1!

Katie, Paul and I

May

I had my first wedding shower with my family!

June

My friend, Kate, threw me a weding shower for my incredible work friends!   I also had my bachelorette party and Blake had his bachelor party in Vegas!

July

We got married on July 10th!  And, then went to St. Lucia on our honeymoon.

(I invited my Kindergarten students to the ceremony and had a cookie & tea reception for them afterwards.  This is one of my former students).

The honeymoon!

August

Blake turned 32, I started school again at the end of August.  We also painted the family room sage green.

September

We went to the Virginia Tech vs. Boise Game at Fedex Field.  We had incredible seats and even though the Hokies lost, we still had a great time!  We also found out that our friends, Kate and Kurt were pregnant and due in May!  We were so excited and thrilled that we were the first to know!



October

We did a lot of work on our basement and enjoyed the Fall weather!

November

We celebrated our first married Thanksgiving at my parents house and went to my cousin's wedding in Portland, Maine.

The bride, her dad and her twin sister, Emily!

December

One of our busiest months but a great one.  We decorated our house for Christmas, enjoyed many holiday parties and celebrated our first married Christmas together!  We also sent out Christmas cards for the first time!  We also had our living room couches delivered (finally!) but I haven't taken any pictures of those yet. 



I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us!  Happy New Year!

Christmas Recap

Blake and I are back home after celebrating our first married Christmas together.  And, I don't believe it, I don't have ANY pictures of the last week or so!  I'm so upset with myself for that.  We started off on Christmas Eve by going to my parents house for dinner and then to church. 

After church, Blake and I exchanged Christmas presents.  My main gift was a portable hard drive- 1 terabyte.  Certainly not the most romantic present but definitely something on my list!  Since getting my DSLRcamera last January, I haven't backed up any of my pictures and I've been living in fear that they are going to be lost.  So, Blake bought me a terabyte!  I certainly don't need something that big but he thought it would be best for everything to fit on one for the future!

In my stocking, I had a duster for my laptop.  I think this was my favorite stocking stuffer item!

Doesn't it look so fun?

I also got many other things on my list...  The Pioneer Woman's cookbook, some clothes(!), a few new additions to my Christmas china, and a photography book I read about online.  

On Christmas morning, we went over around 8:30 to my parents house and exchanged presents with my parents and siblings.  We left around 10:30 and drove down to Virginia Beach to celebrate Christmas with Blake's family.  It started snowing around 8:00 that night and we got about 9 inches of snow! 

The crazy thing is they don't have many plows so Blake's neighborhood street was never even plowed!  Good thing he has 4 wheel drive!

The best present though was that my brother-in-law, Gordon, was able to get home for Christmas.  As of December 20th, he was stuck in London with his passport stolen and crazy weather.  He was able to get an emergency passport and after about 36 hours of straight traveling (taxis, trains, planes) he landed in the States on the 23rd.  He's spent the last two Christmases in Chile so it was great for Blake's parents to be able to spend the holiday with both of their sons!

Blake has this week off which is amazing.  We had Kate and Kurt over to watch the Maryland bowl game this afternoon.  Tomorrow, Blake's working on getting an electrical permit for our basement, we're going out to dinner with his grandma and going to lunch with my grandfather on Friday. 

How was your Christmas?



National Christmas Tree

Last night, my sister (Katie) and brother-in-law (Anthony), Blake and I braved the cold and headed down to DC for a night of looking at the National Christmas tree! 

These are all unedited pictures because I'm at school but know I won't have time later!

 

The tree!

The tree with the monument in background (Can you make it out?!)

Katie and Anthony

Us- I need to make this lighter! (I need to teach my sister how to use my camera at night! :))

 

Katie and Anthony 2

A huge train that ran around the base of the tree

(Maybe my favorite picture of the night!)

On our way back, we stopped inside The Willard Hotel to get warm and check out their decorations.  They also had carolers!

The Willard Hotel

Inside The Willard

Katie and Anthony in The Willard

On our back to the car!

The White House! We could see flashes going on inside- people must have been on a tour inside!