hayslip: January 2011

Nerdy 30 Party

I thought turning 30 was going to be hard. In fact, it was one of the best birthdays yet. I had heard of Dirty 30 Parties or 30 and Flirty Parties, but neither really fit me-at all. I was trying to think of other words that rhyme with 30 and came up with nerdy! What a better way to ring in my 30's than to have all my friends dress up as nerds and go bowling! I have to say, I was SO impressed! Everyone came with their A game, costume-wise. It was so much fun and with such a great group of friends. I wish I could have invited more, but there was a limit at the bowling alley per lane. I really want to thank you all for an amazing night, fun times and great, thoughtful gifts. And thanks for helping me start my 30's off the right way!!!

Nate made this cake virtually all by himself thanks to a little thing called youtube.com

Only nerds would calculate how to bowl

Nerdiest Couple Award

Thank goodness there were only 6 candles, not 30...phew!

Caught up....for now

New Year's Eve Party

We hosted our Annual New Year's Eve Party. It was one of the best yet! We invited the Johnson's, the Crowley's and the Anderson's over. I attempted, mostly successfully, the AMAZING Paseo sandwich from Seattle. I had the meat marinating 2 days in advance and cooked it all day. I also made the buns and garlic aoili mayo from scratch. It didn't taste quite the same, but it was still pretty good. I am so bummed I did not get any pics of the food. :(
After dinner, we played this great game called Fortune Seeker. It takes a few hours, but it is such a fun game to play with friends. We ended just after midnight and rang in the New Year in style. Nothing like a pyramid of boys to start off the year right!

Another very, Merry Christmas

Feels weird to be writing about Halloween and Christmas in 1 day, but whatever it takes to get caught up.
We stayed in Ohio again this year for Christmas. We went to the Johnson's on Christmas Eve for dinner and games. Christmas morning, we spent together as a couple opening gifts and eating breakfast. We then headed to his parents for gifts and dinner. As usual, everyone was very generous and it was a great time to be together as family and friends. My main gift from Nate was a Vanity he got on Craig's List and re-fabbed. He sanded and painted the whole thing. I was completely surprised and have LOVED my very own place to get ready every day. No more sitting on the toilet and being hunched over.

Prada shaking for her present

This shirt could not have been more perfect for Nate

It was not quite finished here, but it is now and I LOVE it!

Nate loved this blanket from my Dad and Renee'. He uses it almost every night while watching TV.

"Professional" Pictures

Back in November, my friend Lyndzi asked me to take some pics of her family down in German Village. I was happy to oblige and figured we could have her take some of us while we were down there. I don't think I have ever been happier with how our pics turned out, except our wedding pics. Lyndzi also told me about one of my new favorite websites, picnik.com. It is a free site where you can edit your pics to look just like the ones you spend bucco bucks on.
Without further adieu...

HELLO? Could that teal door be any more perfect?

Just so you can see the difference before I edited it...anyone can do it!

And just because I <3 them so much, here is one of the Johnson's shots.

Halloween Party 2010

Back in 2010, Lyndzi and I thought it would be fun to host a Halloween party. I think it was my first collaborated party, and let me tell you, it was so nice to have help. And if it was not for Kortney's added help the day of the party, it had a huge disaster potential. It was, of course, a costume party with prizes. We also had a few fun games planned that had prizes as well. Between the spooky food, the fun games and the creative costumes, it was the best Halloween party yet!
Can you guess what Nate and I were? Fra-gee-lay Baby!