Hello 2013

Alan and I rang in the New Year with sweet friends, dinner & drinks, and fun games. 

Toasting to 2013!

Happy New Year 2012!

Good-bye 2011 and Hello 2012!

Alan and I had a phenomenal weekend ringing in the New Year! We went to Nashville and stayed with Patrick & Elizabeth who have recently purchased their first home in West End. You can read up on their home improvements and creativity here :) Colin & Rachel were with us too which was a real treat since Colin is still in training in (far away) San Diego with the Marines. So recap on the weekend: we got to Nashville on Friday night, ate in (Patrick made us a delicious BBQ Chicken Pizza) and just spent some time catching up. Saturday morning, the girls went out to run errands and do some after-Christmas-sale shopping while the guys stayed at home to watch football. That afternoon we went to Green Hills where we did some more shopping and made a stop at one of my all-time faves, The Cheesecake Factory, for an afternoon treat. Saturday night we went over to some of Patrick & Elizabeth's friends' house for a New Years Eve party. They have a super fun group of friends and we had a great time meeting everyone.

We left there around 9:30pm and went home to then take a cab downtown. Got downtown around 11 o'clock which left us just enough time to hang out for a bit and get up close to where the "music note" would drop at midnight...gotta love Nashville!

The evening could not have been better! The weather was perfect, Alan of course loved the people watching, I loved being with my sweet family, and we just had a great time. I will say, there was a fight that broke out near us literally right after midnight so that was a bit of a distraction (crazy what some people will do after too much alcohol) but all in all, fantastic night.

Rachel, Elizabeth, and me

Patrick, Alan, and Colin

Such a great night, Happy New Year!

2012!!! Is going to be great, I can tell already!

Sunday we went to Patrick & Elizabeth's church Grace Community and then out to lunch where Maggie joined us. We spent the afternoon hanging out and then we all went out to dinner at Maggiano's where we all ate way too much and re-emphasized our resolutions to get on better diets... ha! All said, great weekend, loved spending time with the fam, and so excited about 2012!

Resolutions

Get organized...

Learn something new...

Lose weight and get into shape...

Spend more time with family and friends...

I get a little bit overwhelmed when I think about all the things that Alan and I look forward to this year and hope to accomplish in 2011. Wikipedia defines a New Year's Resolution as a commitment that an individual makes to a personal goal, project, or the reforming of a habit. It is further set apart from other aspirations in that it is made in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings. I wonder why it is that I so often put things off in December and say to myself, "I'll start that after the first of the year..." Why is that date so important?! Why not just begin right then?! I am excited about what 2011 will bring and pray Alan and I are up for the challenges, but also that as new possibilities arise we won't put them off, but start right away!