Here are our New Years list, Best of 2011 and what we are looking forward to in 2012. It's funny to look back at last years reflections and see if the things we were looking forward to made it to our top list (some did, and suprisingly, some didn't...mostly because these said things did not occur :::coughmoviepremiercough::: )
Erika's List:
2011
1. Our Canadian/New England cruise
2. Summer of '11 in Knoxville! Best summer EVER!!!
3. When Bianca said "mama" for the first time, so cute!
4. Skiing for the first time!
5. Going to Austrailia and seeing the fireworks in Sydney!!!
6. Kirtland, OH and Cedar Point for Bobby's birthday, woo!
7. Christmas this year, seeing both families and Bianca opening up presents and getting all excited about them!
8. Bianca's awesome 1st birthday party!
9. Skiing at Greek Peak with my baby <3
10. My mom's visit to TN this summer, complete with the Dixie Stampede and Dollywood!
2012
1. To see where the heck we end up after Bobby graduates!!!
2. To go on a graduation trip with my hunny (even though I DREAD leaving Bianca...tearing up a bit now haha)
3. To see the rest of Austrailia and New Zealand (check!)
4. Maybe to start thinking about adding another little one to the clan...
5. Bobby graduating! :)
6. Bianca sleeping in a toddler bed (LOL)
7. MOVING FROM ITHACA!!! (love the branch, hate the weather lol)
8. To FINALLY have my movie premier of Dead Reckoning!!!
9. Watching Bianca's vocabulary expand as she goes through toddlerhood
10. Spring break- whereever it may take us :)
Bobby's list:
2011
1. Seeing Bianca grow, even though it's going by way too fast!
2. Our summer in Knoxville, especially getting to spend more time with my girls.
3. Finishing the horrific semester that was fall 2011.
4. Being 75% done with my masters degree.
5. Traveling during the winter break, especially with NYE in Sydney.
6. Our Canadian/New England cruise.
7. The Kirtland/Cedar Point trip for my birthday.
8. Skiing trip for Erika's birthday.
9. Tasting all of the yummy recipes that Erika has been getting from the Food Network.
10. Watching Mitt Romney Win all of the debates.
2012
1. Seeing Bianca transition more from babyhood to toddlerhood.
2. Getting a job.
3. Moving away from Ithaca.
4. Getting away from it all with Erika before I start my new job.
5. Finishing school.
6. Taking my parents to NYC.
7. Not having to deal with Ithaca winters.
8. Not having to write papers every night.
9. Attending the 2012 GOP Convention to see Romney win the nomination.
10. Watching Romney take down Obama in November...
Maybe next year, Bianca will have a list...or maybe the year after that ;) If she had a list I'm sure seeing dogs and bird would have been on it and cuddling with mama and dada. 2012 here we are, we're ready for ya :)
Our 3 Christmases
Merry Christmas! Man, have we been a bunch of busy bees! It all started with the branch Christmas/End of the semester party. It was a lot of fun, plus they had yummy beef to eat, mmm! The little ones also put on a "Christmas Play." Basically "they" just sang a song and dressed up as the nativity scene. They told us with kids not yet in nursery that they could join in the fun too, just dress up as an animal. We weren't told this until a few days before, so no time to make a costume. So I found Bianca's pink bunny ears, dressed her in all pink, and said she was a pink bunny haha. They had those back then, right? It was still a cute/fun thing for the kids to do. It was a nice party and we all said goodbye until the end of January.
The day before RI was crazy. Since we don't have too much money to spend in RI/OK, I decided to make a bunch of treats to give out as presents in case the awkward moment happens where someone unexpectedly gets you something. I made several different candies, including tootsie roll roses, white chocolate mint truffles, chocolate coconut balls, cinnamon candies, a coconut bar, chocolate truffles, peanut butter toffee bars, and the favorite, choco berry tartlets. So yeah I was pretty busy. I love baking lol. I made little goodie bags for anyone that we saw. Anyways onto...
CHRISTMAS NUMBER 1: RHODE ISLAND
We had the best time in RI, despite the fact that all of my friends were either really sick, really busy, not in the state, or not responding to me. We didn't see anyone but family, which was CRAZY! We missed seeing my friends, but we had a nice little family vacation it felt like. Since Nana moved into Kathy's house, she let us stay at her old house which was awesome and allowed us to stay a little bit longer since we weren't paying for a hotel, yippee!
Let's see, we had a Christmas for Bianca at Kathy and Nana's house with them and my mom. It was funny because they had just put the tree up that morning for us. Bianca had fun opening up her presents and was thankful for everything she got. She was also a bit scared of Pearl Kitty (although I'm sure the feeling was mutual). Guess she's a dog person! We also went out to eat and had a lot of fun visiting (even if we got lost on the way home because I wasn't paying attention to tell Bobby which exit to take).
We bought Bianca a toy dog that says her name and sings songs for Christmas and ate at On the Boarder (and Bianca fell asleep here lol too funny).
We went out to eat with my mom a lot, went to Shadys (lol) and the 99 restaurant in CT with my mom and Elaine (and Bianca throwing her food around everywhere haha!). We also went to visit my mom at Paine School (she just wanted to show Bianca off haha). We walked around and ran into a bunch of my old teachers, which was weird. Bianca loved all of the attention though :) She even got to sit on Ellie the Elephant in the library!
Since everyone was sick/busy/MIA, we did some exploring on our own. We went to Garden City and walked around, which I haven't done in...who knows how many years! We got some fro yo and Chipotle, yum! We also went to the new Ocean State Job Lot, which is HUGE, wow! We stayed and hung out at Nana's house a lot, just relaxing, which after this crazy semester was very welcomed!!
And of course we visited Punky good kitty every day!!! Overall we had an AWESOME time in RI, despite missing my friends.
CHRISTMAS NUMBER 2: OKLAHOMA
Literally the next full day after we drove back to Ithaca, we flew out to OK. Ah! Here is how we spent that day "relaxing" (aka packing)
OK was relaxing as well. Stayed home a lot, ate yummy food, his sister and family visited, and went shopping.
We also took Bianca to this park where they decorate it with lots of lights and decorations for Christmas. It was pretty darn cold, but it was still something fun to do.
We also went out to eat with some people Bobby went to high school with. And we got to see where his sister works. She even gave Bianca 2 sparkley bracelets as a Christmas gift which she's kind of obsessed with right now :)
And off we went to the OKC airport that night. We met up with Michelle and her b/f for dinner that night and they gave us some cute presents (and I did NOT have my treats to give them, grr!). It was a good time in OK!
CHRISTMAS NUMBER 3: ITHACA
We got back in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We spent time wrapping presents and packing for our big trip coming up, eek! We did our traditional reading of "The Night Before Christmas" and went to sleep waiting for Santa to come the next day ;)
On Christmas Day we played with Santa's presents and then opened our presents.
Christmas is on a Sunday this year so we went to church today. It was a small meeting since not many people are still here, but it was really nice. When we got home I cooked a yummy homemade meal (Marie Callendar's Cheddar Potato soup and Red Lobster's cheddar bay biscuits, mmm!). We spent the rest of the day enjoying our gifts and doing last minute packing because tomorrow WE GO TO AUSTRALIA! Well LA and then Australia, but yeah. So excited for our big adventure down under! Merry Christmas everyone!
Almond! The Houghton's seeing eye dog they're training
She even had a carrot to prove her bunny status
The day before RI was crazy. Since we don't have too much money to spend in RI/OK, I decided to make a bunch of treats to give out as presents in case the awkward moment happens where someone unexpectedly gets you something. I made several different candies, including tootsie roll roses, white chocolate mint truffles, chocolate coconut balls, cinnamon candies, a coconut bar, chocolate truffles, peanut butter toffee bars, and the favorite, choco berry tartlets. So yeah I was pretty busy. I love baking lol. I made little goodie bags for anyone that we saw. Anyways onto...
CHRISTMAS NUMBER 1: RHODE ISLAND
We had the best time in RI, despite the fact that all of my friends were either really sick, really busy, not in the state, or not responding to me. We didn't see anyone but family, which was CRAZY! We missed seeing my friends, but we had a nice little family vacation it felt like. Since Nana moved into Kathy's house, she let us stay at her old house which was awesome and allowed us to stay a little bit longer since we weren't paying for a hotel, yippee!
The tootsie roll rose
Let's see, we had a Christmas for Bianca at Kathy and Nana's house with them and my mom. It was funny because they had just put the tree up that morning for us. Bianca had fun opening up her presents and was thankful for everything she got. She was also a bit scared of Pearl Kitty (although I'm sure the feeling was mutual). Guess she's a dog person! We also went out to eat and had a lot of fun visiting (even if we got lost on the way home because I wasn't paying attention to tell Bobby which exit to take).
We bought Bianca a toy dog that says her name and sings songs for Christmas and ate at On the Boarder (and Bianca fell asleep here lol too funny).
We went out to eat with my mom a lot, went to Shadys (lol) and the 99 restaurant in CT with my mom and Elaine (and Bianca throwing her food around everywhere haha!). We also went to visit my mom at Paine School (she just wanted to show Bianca off haha). We walked around and ran into a bunch of my old teachers, which was weird. Bianca loved all of the attention though :) She even got to sit on Ellie the Elephant in the library!
Since everyone was sick/busy/MIA, we did some exploring on our own. We went to Garden City and walked around, which I haven't done in...who knows how many years! We got some fro yo and Chipotle, yum! We also went to the new Ocean State Job Lot, which is HUGE, wow! We stayed and hung out at Nana's house a lot, just relaxing, which after this crazy semester was very welcomed!!
Good morning!
And of course we visited Punky good kitty every day!!! Overall we had an AWESOME time in RI, despite missing my friends.
CHRISTMAS NUMBER 2: OKLAHOMA
Literally the next full day after we drove back to Ithaca, we flew out to OK. Ah! Here is how we spent that day "relaxing" (aka packing)
Getting into things...
and having bed head
OK was relaxing as well. Stayed home a lot, ate yummy food, his sister and family visited, and went shopping.
We also took Bianca to this park where they decorate it with lots of lights and decorations for Christmas. It was pretty darn cold, but it was still something fun to do.
We also went out to eat with some people Bobby went to high school with. And we got to see where his sister works. She even gave Bianca 2 sparkley bracelets as a Christmas gift which she's kind of obsessed with right now :)
And off we went to the OKC airport that night. We met up with Michelle and her b/f for dinner that night and they gave us some cute presents (and I did NOT have my treats to give them, grr!). It was a good time in OK!
CHRISTMAS NUMBER 3: ITHACA
We got back in time for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We spent time wrapping presents and packing for our big trip coming up, eek! We did our traditional reading of "The Night Before Christmas" and went to sleep waiting for Santa to come the next day ;)
On Christmas Day we played with Santa's presents and then opened our presents.
