23rd Birthday and End of the Year

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday! I can't believe I am already 23 and finished with college. I feel like I'm still 16 and in high school, ha! 

 

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 I had a great day that included lots of relaxing and running some errands to exchange christmas gifts and unpacking from all the Christmas traveling. Only downside about my December birthday is having it 4 days after Christmas. Oh well, at least I have a spa appointment tomorrow for a facial and massage! So excited. 

In 2 years, I want this for 25th birthday cake! So so so cute. 

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I can't believe it's already the end of 2010.... This year FLEW by! I wish I had more pictures to recap the year, maybe that can be a goal for 2011-to take more pictures!

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I think a few highlights from 2010 would definitely be graduating from University of Kentucky! I walked and did the whole graduation ceremony in May but still had to do my student teaching semester this fall. 

 

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Officially an alumni of the University of Kentucky

 My family - Wendy, Dad, me, Mom and Karie

I am so happy I was able to graduate AND find a job!!! I don't know many people who were able to find a job right after graduation, and especially starting in January for a teaching job as in my case. I am so blessed and lucky to have a reliable job in my field and at an age that I was able to choose. I am so excited to meet all of my students next Monday, but it hasn't really hit me so far that I start in 5 days.... Ahhh!!

Can't wait to go from this: 

Classes and papers every week, to........

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Having my own classroom to decorate and organize!!! I have a gift card to the Parent Teacher store that is literally burning a hole in my pocket. I can't wait to buy lots of fun things for my classroom!

2010 has been a packed and fun year. I can't wait to see what all 2011 brings and how different it's going to be having a full-time job. 

I can't wait to bring in the new year with lots of drinks, dancing and some champagne toasting!

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I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years! 

 

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Holidays 2010

After the surprise birthday party, I came back to Lexington and did some last minute shopping for Christmas. I didn't really have a lot to do because we did most of the shopping early. I must say that it is SO much easier to finish Christmas shopping early and do all the small little gifts the week before Christmas. It made everything less stressful!

On Wednesday night we headed to my boyfriend's hometown in Southern Kentucky. It's such a small town and I LOVE it! We left Lexington around 6 and meet some friends at the new restaurant in town.....

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They JUST opened an Applebees in their city and I'm pretty sure the whole town was excited! It's one of the biggest chain sit-down restaurants to come to their city since Tumbleweed. 

On Thursday we had a fondue party with family friends. Love me some chocolate fondue!

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 Strawberries, Bananas, cookies, marshmallows, it was all SOOO GOOD!

The next day we celebrated Christmas with the boyfriend's side of the family. We opened gifts with his family and the favorite gift was.......

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the iPad... It is SO FUN! It's just like a giant iPhone and I couldn't love it more.....

Favorite app.....

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Sooooo fun, it's like a giant gameboy for big kids! And i'm pretty sure I spent hours upon hours playing this game in the past month....

Christmas Eve in Glasgow

After a wonderful Christmas eve in Kentucky, we boarded a flight to Charleston to see my mom. After TWO canceled flights and one delayed flight from Detroit, Michigan....we made it to my moms! Of course, MY BAG didn't make the flight and was left in Detroit. NOT. VERY. HAPPY! It was definitely not the best traveling experience I have had with Delta. But we made it there on Christmas day at a reasonable hour so I can't complain too much.

Loved being at my mom's for Christmas and having a wonderful Christmas dinner. My favorite Christmas gift is definitely my Clarisonic Skincare Brush. LOVE!

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It really is all that it is made out to be! It makes washing your face so much easier in the morning and at night. I like the Clarisonic face wash it comes with too!

The next few days we just spent running around Charleston. King Street Shopping, dinner, seeing the grandparents and lounging around. It was a packed 3 1/2 days!

 Grandma ( and her teddy bear....), Ben, Grandpa and I

Love my Grandpa, he is so precious.

 Grandma was loving her teddy bear..... My cute little mom, Grandpa and me

Yep... we were complete tourists and took our picture in the Ben and Jerry's sign out front, ha! (Mom zoomed in too much to get the complete sign)

I'm so thankful for the wonderful family's we each have and the time we were able to spend with them. It was a great Christmas weekend and I am definitely ready for a few relaxing days before starting work in less than a week!

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Hope everyone had a great Holiday and is ready to bring in the new year!

Surprise Party for Daddio's 60th!

So blogging more frequently than several times a week is a little harder than I thought it would be!! I have been so busy traveling for birthdays and Christmas the past two weeks, but I am finally back to Lexington for at least the next 2 or 3 weeks. I love traveling and seeing family, but sometimes it's just nice to be home and have NOTHING to do but lay around!

First, here's how I spent the weekend, LAST WEEKEND! (a little delayed, but better late than never!)

Had a Christmas party with some friends!!!

 My Oreo Cake Balls--Easy to make and sooooo yummy!

 Damn flash--Erin and Wes with our orange creamsicle shots!!

Lauren, Kathleen and I after a few too many glasses of wine and shots, ha

Then I headed up to Columbus for my Dad's Surprise 60th Birthday Party!!! Soo fun, and I am so glad my sisters and I were able to successfully throw him a surprise party!

Cute little invite i put together for the party:

Shh...it's a surprise!

Jack told us
"No party...get me golf clubs instead!"
but when have we ever listened
to a thing that he's said.

So we decided to invite
those we hold dear
to help us celebrate
his 60th year!

While we waited for the birthday boy to arrive, I played with my cute little niece

 Love, love, love her!!!!! She makes me sooooo happy when I come home and she showers me with constant hugs and kisses!!!

 So I let her open her Christmas present early to pass time! She LOVES horses, so we got her a horse stable and some little horses to play with.

Then the birthday boy showed up!

 He was QUITE surprised..... He had NO IDEA I was even in Columbus!!!! When I gave him a hug I asked, "Dad, are you surprised?!" and he responded with, "Yes, and a little pissed!" HA! Oh well, it was worth it :)

 Taking a few shots with my sisters, aunt and our neighbors we've had since growing up!!!

 Dad's birthday cake! Love the old school pictures.

 Love seeing my dad smile :)

 My Aunt Peg and Daddio! I LOVEEEE this picture!

Dad and his girls!!! 

(My oldest sister, Wendy, middle sister, Karie, Dad, and me)

 Ben and I at the restaurant!

Dad's birthday gift-- a customized Maker's Mark bottle

It was a GREAT weekend at home and I am so happy the birthday party was a success.

Ice Ice Baby

So last night in Lexington, we had a little snow turned to ice storm! I LOVE LOVE snow, but ice.... NO THANK YOU! We were supposed to get 2-4" of snow and 0.25" of ice, but woke up to only about 1" of snow and 0.25" of ice. It was still enough to throw the city of Lexington into a whirlwind this morning!

 I dont mind the ice like this! I think it makes the ugly bare branches actually look pretty!

Even the horse farms look pretty with the white snow. I LOVE babysitting on the farm when it snows because you just see a big white open area with horses everywhere!

What I do NOT enjoy is using this little ice scraper to scrape the sheet of ice of my car!!! 

Thankfully, we had a snow day today so I didn't have to wake up early and deal with the mess outside! In fact, I lounged around all day today. I didn't even get out of bed until noon, ha! It was the best snow/lazy day ever and exactly what I needed!!!

The news keeps saying this is just the beginning of what the weather is going to be like this year. It's not technically winter yet, either! I can only imagine how many more snow and lazy days will come in January and February.... 

Finally starting a blog!!

Hello, Hello!! I have always LOVED reading blogs, and i always wanted to start one, but never had the time. I said that once I graduated from college I would make myself start a blog. Here I am 4 days out of college and what better time than now?!

I have loved reading blogs over the past year and a half. I love opening my google reader and reading everyone's post each day. So I have decided that after countless hours of blog stalking, it is finally time to start my own little blog and share my life with all of you bloggies!!

So a little bit about me.... I am a twenty-something who just finished up my undergrad at the University of Kentucky. I have fallen in LOVE with the city of Lexington! I grew up in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio, and I always thought I would move back there. After 4, errr 5 years of living in Lexington, I want to stay here. It is the perfect size city with both city and country feel.   

 I love that I live within minutes of beautiful downtown Lexington.

And if I drive 15 minutes, I can see beautiful horse farms like this. 

(images via google.com) 

I love all things pink and girly. I really don't think I am ever going to get sick of the color pink. I am almost 23 years old and still have a complete pink bedroom! Along with pink and white stripes, polka dots and monogrammed things!
 

 This is the duvet in my room, and I LOVE it! 

(via pbteen.com)

I just graduated from UK with a major in Special Education. I am one of the lucky ones who was able to find a full time teaching job starting in January. I am SO SO excited to finally have a classroom, and start my teaching career. I am lucky enough to be considered a full time teacher this spring AND next school year, but I will be floating around this spring. I will mostly be at an elementary school which will be the school I will be at in August, and I am so happy with this! I always wanted to teach in an elementary school because i LOVE little kids, so I was beyond excited when they asked if I would like to be at an elementary school OR high school. More on the teaching job and specifics later, I'll know more after my orientation next Monday! 

That's all i have for my first post! I am hoping to post a lot over winter break. Its only day 2 of my 3-week break and I am already coming up with little errands I can do just to pass time, ha!