"If I'm honest I have to tell you I still read fairy-tales and I like them best of all"~Audrey Hepburn

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2010: A Pictorial Look Back

Well, it's the 1st day of a new year, Hello 2011! It's nice to meet you, I look forward to getting to know you over the next 365 days! :) As 2011 kicks off, I thought I'd take the time today to recap 2010 in pictures, by each month of course. So here goes:

January

me & Lake at the 2010 Alamo Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Michigan State


me, Catalina, Dawn, Wendy, Lauren & Bethany enjoying a Girls' Sushi Night Out....hope there are more of these in 2011!!!


my totally AWESOME Walt Disneyworld Half Marathon Bib Number!! One of the *best* & most accomplished weekends I've ever had. Not only did I complete my 2nd half marathon in a time 15 minutes faster than my first, I did it in ridiculously cold, rainy, sleety, icy weather. It was a fabulous experience & magical! ;)


Lake & I at Disney's Animal Kingdom our 1st day of the 1/2 Marathon Trip


Camp, Shaunda, Janine & I at Janine's Twilight Themed Birthday Party to celebrate her 24th birthday. In character: Camp=Victoria; Shaunda=Jane; Janine=Bella; me=Jessica Stanley


Rachel, Shaunda, Camp, me, Misty, Dawn, & Catalina enjoying dinner at Stonewerks after seeing 'When in Rome'.....this was also my first Sunday with Lake away for work in India

February

me, Rachel & Janine at our Sushi Making Class at Central Market


my little Valentine, Mare-Bear! Valentine's Day Weekend I went to Little Rock to visit my brother, sis-in-law & our god daughter. I babysat Maryn so that her parents could have a nice Valentine's Dinner out, it was fun evening with her! :)


me, Shaunda, Rachel, Camp, Janine & Michelle at Brasserie Pavil enjoying our Girls' Night Out Valentine's Dinner. With Lake out of the country for Valentine's Day, my friends & I got together for our own Valentine's Dinner. We had a great time & Michelle was introduced to the little circle of friends I have in SA.


me, Amy, Rachel & Cristina at the SA Rodeo for Jake Owen

me & Baby Lily hanging out at BellyView


Amy, me & Cristina at the Willie Nelson concert in the Valley


Mon, me & Cristina trying to stay warm downtown McAllen

March

Amy, me & Kelli at the Lady Antebellum/Tim McGraw Concert in Hidalgo. I attended lots of concerts during the Winter of 2010 as you can tell :)


Shaunda, Rachel, Michelle, me, Camp & Laura at our Oscar Night Party at The Bradley's. Our Night was complete with themed food for each of the Best Picture nominees, our own awards & a red carpet!


Laura, Rachel, Shaunda & I at Wildfish. My last dinner in the US before my trip around the world during Spring Break!


me & Lake at the Chennai Super Kings Cricket Match in Chennai, India. The game was so confusing & even included a dog running through the middle of the game, HILARIOUS!


me in my gorgeous authentic India Saree ready for Lake & I's dinner out at Fisherman's Wharf on The Bay of Bengal


me & Lake at The Traders Hotel Sky Bar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Amazing night, amazing city, great 2nd year anniversary


The Petronas Towers in KL at sunset. Our view from Sky Bar


Lake & I exploring Singapore our 1st day in the city. We are on the Boat Quay, which reminded me a little of the Riverwalk in SA. We found Mexican Food & MaRgArItAs!!! ;)


Lake & I on The Singapore Eye (world's largest ferris wheel)


Merlion Park at Night (Singapore). Our hotel, The Fullerton, is right behind the merlion


Rachel, Shaunda, Michelle, Janine, me, Laura & Dawn at Sol Luna celebrating Rachel's 29th birthday! We all went to see 'Remember Me' right after dinner......and then got depressed!


me, Laura, Rachel, Shaunda, Camp, Janine, Michelle & Whitney at The Gristmill in Gruene, TX celebrating Camp's 25th Birthday with shopping & lots of yummy food.

April

me, my dad & my mom on Easter Sunday in Mission. This was my first Easter in the Valley since 2005


me, Shaunda & Dawn at Alamo Heights Night on the campus of Incarnate Word. It was a fun night & kick off to Fiesta 2010!!


me, Malarie, Michelle, Janine & Erica at Oyster Bake


Rachel, Camp, Janine, me & Michelle at NIOSA (Night In Old San Antonio)


me, Camp, & Kristen at Beethoven's for Fiesta Gartenfest


Maryn & I in Houston downtown at Discovery Green


me & Lake at Biga on the Banks, the day after Lake arrived safely home from India :)

May

my 2010-2011 JLSA New Member Group (minus Kathryn)


Lake with his sign for his Welcome Home Party at Mark & Kathleen's


me & Maryn wandering around downtown San Antonio during the Texas Dental Convention


Marshall, Laura, Joe, Pete, Vanessa, Janine, Michelle, Erica, me, Lake, Camp & Shaunda at Rosario's for Janine's Graduation Dinner Celebration


Janine, Rachel & I at the movies for Sex And The City 2


Lake, me, Kelly, Jessica, Dru, Lindy & Jason in Luckenbach, TX for some Texas Country Memorial Day Weekend

June


Leah, Demitri, Dad, Maryn, Mom & me right before my brother's 30th birthday Fiesta! Lake couldn't make it due to work


Girls Dinner at Tiago's


Laura & her hostesses for her baby shower :)


"Sister" Dinner: Audra, Amy, me, Leah, Nikki, & Olaya at dinner & then headed to see 'The Killers' (yay for sisters & cousins!)


Michelle, Janine, Shamu, me & Tanya at Seaworld after Michelle & Tanya finished their very first 1/2 Marathon


Michelle, Janine, me & Rachel at the movies for the midnight showing of Eclipse!!! :)

July


Anne, me, Misty, Mrs. Lewis, Jenn, & Cassie at Auden's Kitchen for Misty's Going Away Dinner


me, Bethany & Wendy at Coco for Wendy's 30th Birthday Party!!!


Michelle, Janine, Erica, me & Malarie celebrating Michelle's 26th Birthday


me, Maryn & Lake celebrating my 28th birthday :)


me, Laura, Shaunda, Janine, Michelle & Camp all "90's" out for my 28th Birthday Party


Lake & I at my 90's birthday party


me & Micah at Tao at The Venetian in Las Vegas


Kelley & I at our pool at Mandalay Bay


Kelley, Lake & I at the Bellagio Gardens


Mary, me, David, Kelley, Micah, Kris & Lake at Nine Fine Irishmen at New York New York in Vegas our last night out

August


Catalina, Dawn, Bethany, Erica, Janine, Kristen, me & Lauren at La Fonda on Main for our August Girls Dinner


me, Janine, Camp, Shaunda, Avery Grace, & Laura; Avery joined us on August 14th :)


Davy Crockett fans unite for his 224th Birthday! Remember the Alamo!!!


Jessica, me, Bethany, Dawn & Catalina all together to celebrate Jessica & Dru's impending nuptials. We celebrated with pedis, cupcakes, & martinis!!


little Maryn splish splashing during her 1st birthday party!!

September


Lake & I at The Marquardt Ranch in Boerne for Dru & Jessica's Wedding Labor Day Weekend


Shaunda with her baby shower hostesses. FIESTA themed!!!


Catalina, Dawn, me, Stephanie, Wendy, Marcy, Bethany, & Heather enjoying another fun Girls Sushi Night. This was also the night that Wendy let us know she was expecting her first child in April. We now know it'll be a BOY!!!


Camp, Janine, Rachel, me, Michelle & Shaunda at Janine & Michelle's Housewarming Party


at Paesano's celebrating Laura's 30th birthday

October


me, Dawn & Misty on Kilamanjaro's Safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom


Leah, Dad, Demitri, Lake & I after Mickey's Halloween 5K at The Magic Kingdom


Christy, Misty, Dawn & I before the Disney Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon Relay that we ran through Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, & finished at Epcot


me & Lake at Epcot enjoying the International Food & Wine Festival


Tanya, Michelle, Janine, Rachel, me & Malarie at Carrie Underwood Concert


Michelle, Camp, Laura, Avery, Janine & I celebrating Avery's Baptism


Lake, me & Baby Sophia; Sophia joined us on October 11th


Deanna, me, Stormie, Catalina, Dawn & Marcy trying out Kumori for our Sushi Night :)


Michelle, Janine & I at the JLSA 2010 Holiday Ole Marketplace


Jennifer, Cameron, Staci, Keith, Mary, Bo, Lake & I at The Wilson's Halloween Party

November


Michelle, Miguel, Tanya, Erica, me & Lake with our San Antonio 1/2 Marathon Numbers


Maryn walking, talking & drinking her sippy cup


Laura, Janine, me Shaunda & Michelle celebrating Shaunda's 30th Birthday


Janine, Michelle, me, Laura, Rachel & Shaunda together hosting our 2nd Annual Thanksgiving With Friends Dinner


me & Lake at Seaworld for the Holidays

December


Friends before The Nutcracker


Nancy, me, Cassie, Courtney, & Anne celebrating Anne's 30th Birthday downtown at VBar. Courtney was visiting from Italy, it was so great to see her!!


Janine, me, Shaunda, & Sophie at Seaworld


Lake & I ready for the Nau's Christmas Swap Christmas Party


Rachel, Dawn, Laura, Janine, Amy, Shaunda, Sophie & me at The Nau's Party


SCHOOL FRIENDS after our amazing glee performance at Faculty Follies. I'm so glad I have a group of work friends again! :)


Family on Christmas Eve at my parents house

PHEW & I'm done! What a year!! There were some memorable occasions, some full of joy & laughter, other filled with sadness & tears, but such is life! I'm blessed to have my wonderful loving husband with me through it all. God has truly blessed me.

Here's to 2011!! God Bless!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Merry December!

Today (well this past weekend) definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. It was a combo of things actually: 1. all the fun family time over the week/weekend; seaworld christmas; putting up the tree; ordering our christmas cards; doing some online shopping; hearing the gLee christmas album; TWO radio stations devoted solely to christmas music; counting down :)

i've been so bad about blogging lately, it really has been ages (well 2 months), but in blog time, i'd say that's "ages"

I'm happy to report that things are going just smooth as ever. Things on the home front/work front are just the norm & that's great by me! Looking forward to trekking down to the valley in 3 weeks for "Christmas in the Valley"....that's always good times! :) I just can't believe how quickly this school year is flying by. It really does feel like I was blogging about summer just a few days ago & here we are, starting off December. And what a wonderful month December is! For obvious reasons, the colder weather, the parties, the great movies/music, but also to celebrate the birth of Jesus. "O Holy Night" has always been one of my favorite carols & I love to hear every version of it! :)

May the joy & spirit of the season be with you now & throughout the entire year! God Bless! and Merry Christmas y'all!!! :)