Wow 2011 was a busy year! A quick recap since my blogging is woefully behind.

A new job which I was not enthusiastic about but getting back in the groove proved easier than expected.  It's just a job but making the most of it... Kicking butt and taking names. :)

A new home in a new state.  A move which I dreaded has turned out to be really nice.  People come visit, we will make Indy fun!!

Moving in with Darren.

An Engagement!!

Yet the year was not without some sadness.  We had to say goodbye to Darren's dad and grandma.  Also said goodbye to some others we considered family.  But said hello to some new family too: Marc - Heather's husband and Taylor (to-be), my cousin Emily and her husband's first child due in February. 

We saw a lot of friends get married: the Bateman's, the Moore's, the Wilcox's, the Luther's, the Montgomery's and the Fletcher's.  Sadly we did miss the Wilson's wedding earlier this week.

We saw one friend have their first baby: Baby Annie born in May to the Thomas'.

We did a lot of traveling, especially during the first half of the year, hitting 4 new countries including China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau.

I'm looking forward to 2012 and what it brings especially OUR wedding and babies for at least 4 family members/friends.

I set a few 2012 resolutions... Nothing earth shattering.  I'm just hoping if I write them down, I might stick to them.  I'm sure if I write them down, Darren will hound me about sticking to them as well.  My hope at least.

1. Going to attempt the photo of the day.  We shall see if I abort around January 5. :)

2. Catch up on blogging, the sooner the better!

3. Try to scrapbook more frequently. I think I will set the goal at at least 52 pages. I hope to double that but having a goal will be great.

4. I got 2 new cookbooks to add to my ever expanding collection.  I'm going to try to cook 52 new recipes from various sources in 2012.  I'm going to have the goal of one per week since with work and travel that will be too hard.  We will shoot for an average of one a week by year-end.  Too bad I couldn't start this week since I tried 3 new ones this week! :)

5.  Do something more active.  Not sure the plan yet, but get to doing something active, hopefully with Darren.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.  Every year we hope life will slow down a bit so we can enjoy things more, but it seems that never happens.  So instead, let's all embrace the roller coaster we are on together and make sure we smile since we know our picture will be taken at the bottom of the steepest hill.

With Love,
Stephanie

Jason's Birthday

During one of our trips to Chicago to work at Darren's dad's house, we went out to dinner to celebrate Jason's birthday.

Here he is with Michelle.

 And with the amazing dessert we got!

July 4th

Yes yes  I know this date is now after the big move... And I owe some pictures of our new place... Which I need to take.  Hopefully this week!

July 4th weekend was one of our first weekends in Indianapolis and my parents came up for a visit over the long weekend.  My dad had this amazing idea (note sarcasm here) to take a paddle boat ride on the canal when it was 100 degrees out.  By the end he and Darren were dripping and exhausted!  Mom and I had a nice leisurely ride though!

That night, we were able to watch downtown Indy's fireworks from our front porch.  They were pretty good and not having to drive, walk or have to deal with the crowds was perfect!

 

 

 

 

Goodbye Nashville - Going Away Party 2

Before leaving Nashville I had one last dinner with friends.  Emily and Adam couldn't make the other party so we decided to have another small going away dinner.

With Emily.

With Jen.

With Adam.

And with Jon.

Goodbye Nashville - CMA Fest

Right before I left Nashville, I finally got to see Brice play with new (well not so new anymore) gig with Mark Wills.

 

 

Best part, I got to spend a little more time with Sarah. I miss my concert going buddy!

Goodbye Nashville - Going Away Party 1

Sarah was nice enough to throw me a huge going away party before I left Nashville.  Most of my best friends and some of my family were able to make the dinner.  It was a tasty dinner at Ted's Montana Grill.

With Jon

With Dan, Mary and Dan's mom.

With my former boss, Jason and his wife, Wendy.

With my mom and dad.

With my Aunt Alice and cousin Ryan.

With Jen.

With David, Jayna, Rebekah and Lydia.

With Mickey and Cheryl.

And of course with Sarah!

What a fun way to say goodbye to Nashville and to all my friends!

Goodbye Nashville - The Stage

My last weekend in Nashville we took one last jaunt downtown to the Stage. 

Brice was playing that night with Todd Sansom and we had a great time as always.

So glad we could have one last night out together!

NFL Hall of Fame

Darren's request in our road trip was to hit the NFL Hall of Fame and I have to say it was a really neat place for anyone who loves football.

They had a lot of neat bears memorabilia.

And all those in the Hall had their bust in bronze.  The coach of course.

This was Cutler's jersey from the Bear's 700 win in history, the most among all teams. Also in the display were items worn that day by Peppers, Urlacher, Hester and Forte.

Refrigerator Perry's size 23 Super Bowl Ring.  It was the largest ever made.  That is Darren's finger to give you an idea of size.

The Bear's Superbowl ring.

The next day, while still in Cleveland we got to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Too bad they didn't allow pictures

Rehearsing

The weekend after our big Europe trip we had to jet to Chicago for one of Darren's friend's weddings.  Their rehearsal was at Lawry's Prime Rib.  This dinner taught me I really like prime rib... When it is cooked correctly.  The food was amazing and only slightly outdone by the company we had. 

 

Back at the Beginning

And with the close of the trip, I created the first pages of my book.  Granted the trip did take 1.5 books. Ooops! :) I love the idea of the itinerary of the trip printed out so much I scraplifted it! So glad to be done with the trip to catch up on scrapbooking life in general.

To Madrid and Back Again

And with this page our trip comes to an end. Our last day lazying around Madrid.

Lisboa

Pictures from our last day in Portugal.  The Beautiful views are from the Castello San Jorge.

White Water Walk

One interesting spot near the falls is the Whtie Water Walk.  You can walk along some of the world's strongest rapids, class 6.  At this point in the river, the water is traveling about 30 mph.  Many people have died trying to navigate this stretch of water.

 

 

 

 

We also went to the American side of the falls. 

And went down to Cave of the Winds and walked along and over part of the American falls.  We had on pants, which was a large mistake and anything our ponchos did not covered was drenched!