2013 Year Challenge

I have never really made a New Year resolution. I guess I never really felt there was something important enough to focus on the whole year. This year I have come up with 12 challenges...one for every month.  Some are simple, some are fun, and some are really important to me. I'm excited for 2013 and hope that this challenge will inspire me to be a better me.

The Memory Jar -2012

Last year Ken and I decided to start a Memory Jar.  We would write down all of the big, important, exciting things that happened throughout the year, put them in the jar and read them on New Years Day.  It was fun documenting our life and then being able to remember and reflect on the past year.

I wanted to share some of our big moments of 2012 so that I will have them forever....

• January - Ken got offered a job in Las Vegas, NV
• February 11th - Ken moved to Las Vegas and we put an offer on our dream home
• March 2nd - My dog Tex passed away
• March 19th - I started a new job and moved to Las Vegas...no more living apart!
• April 11th - We got the keys to our 1st Home
• April 12th - I accepted a job with the March of Dimes and started in May
• April - Ken's parents loaned us a car and Ken drove a white mini van...sweet ride Ken
• May - Karl and Christal were our first house guests
• May 12th - We had a housewarming party and celebrated with family and friends
• May 15th - We celebrated our 2 year wedding anniversary...xoxo
• June - Ken got a new truck, a blue Dodge Ram...he was so excited
• June - We joined the Anthem Country Club
• July - Rick and Joyce came to see our new house on their way to Portland
• July - We went to California with my family and caught an Angels game
• August - We got a new dog...welcome home Piper
• September - We found out we are going to be an Aunt & Uncle in the Spring...it's a GIRL
• October - I completed my first big event at my new job...stressful but successful
• November - We went to Houston to see friends and watch some football
• November - We went to Tucson for Thanksgiving...gobble gobble
• December - We had friends come and visit...Casey & Sara, Zach & Katie, Jacob & Caitlin
• December - Ken got a much deserved promotion...it came with more money and more time off
• December - We celebrate Christmas in Vegas...even hosted Christmas Eve dinner at our house

We had a busy year and were so blessed. I can't wait to see what 2013 holds for us and will definitely start another Memory Jar. Who knows, maybe I'll even blog more about the cool things that happen!

 

Merry Christmas from Ken & I 

and our pups Piper & Holly

 

We wish you all a blessed Christmas full of family and fun!

 

 

Family Pictures

My friend from middle school, Alli, took some family photos of my family this year. She has started a new photography business and we were glad to become a client, not just a friend. I had asked her to get some of Ken and I with the dogs and my parents, brother and his fiance tagged along too!

 

 Thank Alli - I can't wait to blow some of these photos up for our house!

Turkey in Tucson

We spent Thanksgiving in Tucson with Ken's family.  Since we have been married, and even before, we always do Thanksgiving with the Wendtlands.

We always take a picture in front of this palm tree on Thanksgiving day.  We tried to get the dogs in too but as you can see they weren't cooperating. 

This year we planned to do some fun things around Tucson while we were there.  The holidays are usually so busy that we never end up trying anything new but this year we planned ahead.  Joyce planned for us to go to Karchner Caverns and take a tour of the caves.  It was so beautiful inside. It is hard to imagine how long the stalagmites and stalactites take to form but it was truly breathtaking. Here are some picture from inside the cave.















We took pictures for the Wendtland family Christmas card by the entrance sign.

After the caves we went to Trail Dust Town for some food and fun. It's an old cowboy town that has little shops and restaurants. We ate at Pinnacle Peak and they do something fun there if you wear a tie...they will cut it off and staple it to the wall!   So we all wore a tie and enjoyed being the center of attention at the restaurant.

From left: Christal, Joyce, Me, Ken, Rick & Karl

 

After dinner we watched a cowboy show.  He was so good with his lasso and whip.

Karl (Ken's younger brother) and Ken were goofing off just a bit.

We had a great week there with the family and thank Rick and Joyce for hosting us once again.

Football in Houston

Ken and I planned a trip to Houston to see our friends Amanda & Jon.  We were lucky enough to be able to stay with them and catch a game to see Jon play!  They played the Buffalo Bills. The good news was they won and we are invited back.

Ken and I grabbed some new Texans gear to wear to the game. Ken has been wearing his hat ever since our trip...safe to say we are huge Texans fans now!

 

Amanda took us to some great restaurants while we were there and we went to the mall (it was huge and packed).  After the game we went back to their house and ordered pizza.  A few of the other players live in the same neighborhood so they came over and we had a fun night of tequila shots and singing along to old school country music.  We had so much fun and can't wait until we can catch another game!  Thanks Amanda & Jon!

Halloween

 

I know that I am posting about Halloween and it is only a few days before Christmas...better late than never I guess.

 

Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year.  I love the colors, the costumes and the candy!  This year I was so excited to pass out candy in our first home.  We made the house very spooky and turned our courtyard into a haunted graveyard.  We had the most real and scary sounds playing from our speakers outside...Ken found a random pandora station but it really made the night. I made homemade white chicken chili for dinner and my parents and grandparents came over to help us pass out candy and everyone was in costume!

 

 

We made my mom dress as a scary old granny and hand out the candy.  I made her costume and she looked awesome.  She sat in our entryway way and we had a strobe light and fog machine around her.

 

 

Ken dressed up as a mad scientist.  I thought it was a pretty cool costume and I think he enjoyed it too! I was a bat.  My grandma and I made the costume and it was my first real sewing project.  I got a black leotard from American Apparel and some fabric for the wings.  I cut them out using a pattern I drew. You can't see it in the pictures but the wing fabric had a really cool texture to it with some faux leather like scales! I think I did pretty good for my first costume. Our dogs, Piper and Holly, even joined the fun and had matching Halloween bandannas.

 

 

 

 

 We had a lot of fun...even if we only had a handful of kids! Thanks everyone for being apart of our very first Halloween in our new house!