One week ago today began celebrating my birthday! Technically, my birthday was on Monday but so much happened during the entire week it almost felt like we were celebrating all week long.

MONDAY
I decided to wear the dress that mom gave me for my birthday to dinner with Cody. It was super comfy and adorable!
Cody even had a titch of blue in his outfit :)
It was up to me to decide where to eat and I originally picked a restaurant. But throughout the day, all I could think about was pizza from one of our favorite places, so we switched to...
We had some delicious drinks and ordered some cheesy garlic bread before getting our pizza. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the garlic bread, but trust me, it look as good as it tasted.
Because Cody loves pepperoni and I don't, we did half Canadian bacon too (my favorite!) and it was delicious!
After supper, we walked up and down Main Street to see if any of the shops were open. They weren't (sad face), so we just went to get dessert. We hit up Yogurt Pro for frozen yogurt. I was going to get Mango Sorbet but then I tasted the chocolate and fell in love (as always). Then topped it off with Oreos and M&Ms :) Cody had his favorite... caramel!
After dessert, we were so full we went home and watched a movie on Netflix and wound down.

TUESDAY

I took a trip down to Des Moines to see my old roommate Marci, since I hadn't seen her in a while! While I was down there, I stopped at one of my favorite stores before meeting Marci.
I also had time to check out this teacher store I had heard about, and I bought a book for new middle school teachers.
After meeting up with Marci, we went to eat at this place called El Bait Shop that had great food for low cost! Then we hit up The Patio, a rooftop bar for a drink. However, we didn't stay long there because it was so hot! So we went back to her apartment and hung out until I had to leave to come back home.
Boy, do I miss this girl!

WEDNESDAY

We decided to have a BBQ at the house and invite a bunch of friends over. We did a BYOM (Bring Your Own Meat) kind of gathering, so we had a variety of things brought. After eating we played pool, football in the yard, and had great conversations. Sadly, I didn't think to take any photos to share but take my word for it... it was a lot of fun!

THURSDAY

We were going to go over to my parents' house for a birthday dinner but someone had a really bad flu and we didn't want to take the chance of catching anything. So, I made dinner at home, but our friend Cole came over for supper and played Mario Party with us before he had to leave for Wyoming the next day. It was a good time... and I WON! :)

FRIDAY

Cody and I went out to eat with some friends then hit up the casino and then went out for a while and just had a good time! Again, sadly no photos.

SATURDAY

I started my day out going to a workout class at my gym and oh, did it kick my butt! I am still sore from this class! But, it will be all worth it and I am actually excited to see what this next Saturday has in store.
Later that day, Cody and I went to a minor league baseball game with some friends and had a really good time! It had been a long time since I had been to one. We also hit up Applebee's for half-off appetizers after the game.
SUNDAY

We ended the week with a relaxing day at home. We did go out to eat for supper then watched another movie on Netflix to end the night.

All in all, I had a wonderful week full of happy moments and friends!
 
When my friend turned 22 in January, we made sure to play this song. It's only fitting to play it on my birthday, turning 22 today!!
I will fill you guys in later on the events of this last weekend (did a little early celebrating) and what Cody is doing for me tonight! :)

Hope you all have
 
Happy Father's Day to the best daddy ever! I love him so much and will always admit to be a daddy's girl :)

Tonight my parents, Cody, and I are going out for ice cream... my dad's favorite treat!
Cody and I also spent the morning with his family celebrating with his dad :)
What did you do to
 
Hey everyone!
Again, sorry it's been awhile since I've been writing... every time I would want to write something else would come up! Well, I'm back with an update from this Christmas season. I wanted to share all about what has been going on!
The week before Christmas my mom and I had our annual Christmas baking day! We have our usual recipes we do but we always try new recipes each year (I will dedicate my Pinterest post tomorrow to the treats I picked from there). We started at 9:00 am with making doughnut holes with my new maker I got from my roommate for Christmas for the house for breakfast and continued to constantly make goodies until about 7:00 pm... even then we weren't done. I made one last cookie Wednesday and my friend Micah helped me to frost the sugar cookies on Friday. Here are some pictures from that day!
Picture
We even had to bring in this long table from the garage for more surface space! :)
Picture
That's my mama! :)
Picture
Our finished homemade sugar cookies with homemade frosting. Yum!
Wednesday, Cody and I decided to swap gifts because our roommate Dan and his girlfriend Micah were ready to as well so we all did it together then watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas while we waited for the snowstorm to begin. Here is what Cody got me! He picked it out all on his own and did so well! I loved it all :)
Since we were snowed in on Thursday, we all hung out and played Battle of the Sexes (I got that for Cody this year haha!)
Friday and Saturday weren't anything special... just working, hanging out, and getting ready for the FIVE Christmases I had coming up!
#1 - Sunday morning we had Cody's grandparents Christmas. We had a great breakfast and good company!
#2 - Christmas Eve night (Monday) we went to Cody's 2nd grandparents for their gathering and we had good food, conversation, and lots of family! When we got home we watched the Grinch as a family :)
#3 - CHRISTMAS MORNING!! We got up and had Christmas morning with Cody's parents and siblings. Lots of smiles and great gifts! Then we had a great breakfast... definitely had to pace myself that day because I knew we had lots of food to eat that day!
#4 - Christmas Day after we all got ready Cody's Grandma, Great-Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins came over for that gathering and we had lunch and just hung out for a bit.
#5 - Christmas Night after we got back from Cody's parents' house we headed over to my parents' house finally! When we got there we had a delicious dinner of pot roast, potatoes, corn, crescent rolls... the works! We then went into the living room for opening presents and had so much fun! To complete the night, we played Battle of the Sexes and Catch Phrase as a family :) Here are some pictures from that night!

Picture
The dogs got new toys!
Picture
And some treats!
Picture
Stockings first!
Picture
My brother and his girlfriend made some of Cody's gifts into a game :)
We had a wonderful Christmas!!!
How was your Christmas (or Christmases as in my case)?
What is your favorite part of Christmas?

 
Hey everyone! Sorry it has been so long since I've been here... I've been enjoying the free time with friends and family and myself. I thought about doing a Pinterest Friday post last week but then after my long day I decided to wait and do a full recap for this week's post.
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving... I know I did! Lots of food and loving home atmosphere!
Wednesday night we headed up to Cody's parents' for Thanksgiving at noon. We had ham and all the usual sides then just hung around and watched football.

Picture
3 generations of women in one kitchen!
Picture
While Cody's dad and the kids chill in the living room.
Picture
Even Tucker is lounging in the beautiful sunlight that was on Thanksgiving!
We headed over to my parents' house for supper; I didn't get a chance to take pictures of my family there, but took some of the dogs... go figure! I always request turkey at my parents' so we had that and the usual sides. I made a DELICIOUS peanut butter chocolate dessert that I found on Pinterest (I'll include it on this Friday's post) and my mom made the traditional pumpkin pie for my dad (his favorite). After supper, we played Apples to Apples and Catch Phrase - always get a chuckle out of that game!
My mom and I went out for Black Friday at 4 am (after my mom worked her FIRST shift at Younkers from 11:30-3:30). We found some great stuff - lots of gifts and some Christmas decorations for myself. We grabbed some Starbucks at 7 and breakfast at 8:30. We were finished shopping by 10:30 (I would've taken pictures of all my purchases but since there were gifts and some of those they are for read this blog - HI GUYS!!) We were going to bring my purchases in but I ended up locking myself out of the house and because we had no spare keys available in town, my mom graciously drove me up to Cody's parents' place to get his house key. She is so great! AND she's like an energizer bunny because once we got back she had to go back to work for another 5 hours! I don't know how she did it! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and taking time for myself... much needed!

Saturday was the day I decided to take some time and put up my Christmas decorations. I always like to wait for Thanksgiving to be over to get into my Christmas mood. Christmas is my favorite time of year. It just makes it feel more like home and just brings joy to all!
I make sure that every room has a little Christmas in it (living, dining, kitchen, bedroom... even gave Marci (my roommate) one of my little trees since she didn't really have many Christmas decorations. Here are some pictures of the decorations I put up!

Picture
The little stockings are for Cody and my roommates that didn't have stockings to put up :)
Picture
Even our furniture is Christmas colored ;)
Picture
Our cute countdown that Cody's mom got us! Thanks Jenn!
Picture
She also got us this one for the fridge. There are a couple of snowmen in the kitchen too :)
And finally, our first big Christmas tree!!! Last year we used my 4 foot tree that I had from when I lived in the dorms on-campus. My mom graciously gave us this tree for our house and because all my ornaments were small, I had to get bigger ones for this tree. Plus, I now was able to put our started collection of personal ornaments :) What do you think?
I hope you liked my decorations! I have yet to put up my wreath, lights for the house and our yard Santa... that's this week!
I can't believe break is over and we only have 3 weeks left in the semester!! Plus, now we have less than a month until Christmas!!!!
How was your Thanksgiving?
What is your favorite part of Christmas?

Have a great rest of the week! :)

 
Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving week! I have a lot to be thankful for this year!
            1. God and all the strength, guidance, and mercy he gives me.
            2. My family, that they are healthy and happy.
            3. Cody, the best man I could ever ask for to be by my side through everything.
            4. My friends that are there for me whenever I need them.
            5. The best roommates ever! We're like our own little family :)
            6. Having a roof over my head and kitchen full of food.
            7. To be able to complete my education and fulfill my dreams.
            8. Cody's parents for welcoming me into their family.
            9. The ability to travel to visit family and friends, especially during this holiday season.
            10. To be able to spend a day with my best friend, my mom - Black Friday tradition!
            11. Having dogs like ours that are more family than just pets.
            12. Our neighbors that have been so nice to us this past year and a half.
            13. My good health and happiness in life.
            14. All those that have helped with Hurricane Sandy relief.
            15. Being able to share my thoughts and experiences with all of you! :)
What are you thankful for this year?
Do you have any special traditions for Thanksgiving?

Happy Thanksgiving! :)