64

I'm 28! WOWSA!

Last night my wonderful husband had planned a surprise birthday party to celebrate my 28th birthday (which was Thursday....October 28...so actually my "golden" birthday). It was DEFINITELY golden...it was an amazing, amazing birthday. I am so blessed...and so thankful for so many amazing people in my life. Here's a picture, not the greatest one from the evening...but it shows at least everyone who was there last night (other than me, of course! ;))...

I'll start in the far left corner and work my way around the table...Jen and Matt, Danny and Meg, Jamie and Brooke, Jeremy, Jon (Jeremy's brother), Aaron and Katie, Dan and Laura, Chuck, Paul and Lisa, Jason and Ashley, Lynden and Jillian, and Steve and Jamie! WOW! There were 22 of us in all! The outpouring of love displayed by these people truly floored me. Jen and Matt traveled 3-ish hours, Meg and Danny traveled 2.5-ish hours, Aaron and Katie traveled about two hours, Dan traveled 2 hours from Purdue, Jamie and Brooke traveled two hours., Jason and Ashley traveled an hour from Peoria...

WOW! So, half of the guests had to make some sort of really large travel committment just to come to the party. Pretty incredible.

It was an amazingly fun night. I want to do it again once a month! ;) It was the best birthday present ever...having so many of my favorite people together in one room, all eating yummy pizza and talking/laughing/having a great time....fun, fun, fun :).

LOVE you all! :)

57

THE GRAND CANYON........

In February we traveled to AZ with our good friends, Jillian and Lynden....and we hiked the grand canyon on Friday, February 19....

Nothing in the world compares.

I am thankful for amazing experiences and wonderful memories such as this!

55

Yes, it's winter. Yes, it's cold and nasty. Yes, it snowed a crap-load yesterday (crap-load IS, indeed, a technical term in case you were wondering ;)). However.....Today, I am thankful for finally getting outside for a run (6 mi), a good friend with which to do it (Jamie!), healthy joints/limbs/ect. that give me the ability to run, and the ability to be silly and to feel joy :).

Jamie and I made plans to do this month's ABC run (Adventures Benefiting Children) here in Bloomington....a free run/social event with all donations going to the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington (they give donations to a different charity each month!).

Here we are at 7:30am this morning pre-run....

Self timer #1....

Self-timer #2.....

Self timer #3....THIS time, we remembered that the camera flashes TWICE before actually taking the photo! :)

OH, and I am also thankful for Under Armour! :) :) :)

54

I am thankful for my fun, sweet friend Laura! :) She is a fellow Augie grad (although a few years younger than me...and I didn't actually know her while we were at Augie) who lives in the same town as us...and I love spending time with her! She is a really kind person and I am thankful to have her in my life! :)

53

This is my good friend, Jillian, and me at Jillian's Christmas party in December. It was a great time! I am truly thankful for Jillian's friendship; she has kept me sane at an oft-times insane-seeming job! :) I met Jillian in September of 2008 and am grateful that she and her husband are here in Central IL (for the time being, at least! :) ). I am looking forward to many more silly adventures with Jillian...including an indoor triathlon in St. Louis, and a trip to AZ (*GRAND CANYON*!!!) in Feb! :)

51

The Johnson's! We had a great trip to Chicago on April 24/25 for the Race to Wrigley with our fun friends Adam and Jami! :)

49

SILLINESS! Yeah, I am thankful for the ability to be silly and for friends to do it along with ;). The first photo is Queen Silly herself, Rosalee Christiansen, along with Kara and me at Rosa's shower last Sat...


and THIS is from Rosa's bachelorette party that night....Kara made Rosalee a superman-esq cape that said BRIDE on the back...and we went bowling in silly superman-esq attire! HA!

48

WEDDINGS and all things wedding-related! :) Here i am with Rosalee (in the colored lei in the back ;)) at her bridal shower last weekend, along with her lovely bridesmaids! Nicole (her older sister), Kara (fellow Augie-ite!), Rosa, Bethany (sister-in-law to-be), and me in front. We had a great weekend in MN celebrating the end of Rosalee's single-dom! ;)

(so much for posting one pic/entry per DAY of the year in here! HA! Whooops...sometimes life gets away from me! I'll post a few pictures today to make up for it....maybe I'll still get in the target/goal 365 by December 31st! ;))

January 4, 2009

FRIENDS
(of course this is not all-inclusive :) )