Christmas Card 2008

So I've decided to try this blog-thing out and start by doing it with my Christmas card for the year. I thought this would be a good way to go green and also be able to share some pictures of the events from this past year. I hope you enjoy...so here goes! *Disclaimer: Please remember I am young and like to have fun and this is the time to do it...so please don't be offended to the reference of alcohol in this note! :)

Once again, it's hard to believe it's this time of year again...but I love it!! I love the Christmas season and all that it brings with it...the spirit, giving, baking, decorations, gathering of family and friends, and celebrating the birth of Jesus. But as the year winds down, it's time to reflect back on all the wonderful times that I had in 2008.

The first two months of the year are a little hard to remember, to be honest with you. I really don't think a lot happened because it either snowed every week or was too dang cold to do anything! My cousins, Jeff and Jamie, did have a beautiful baby boy, Bennett, in January who I have grown quite fond of and got to spend lots of quality time in May with...more on that later!

I found out in late February that I was receiving a promotion at Principal. I got promoted to a Business Analyst II and was quite excited about this wonderful news. I found this out two days before we were to go out and celebrate my 25th birthday, so this called for more reason to celebrate. My roommate, Jamie, also received a promotion (and no they weren't just giving them to everyone!) so we made quite a party out of it! Lots of friends and some family came out to celebrate and we started the night out at the Hessen Haus with a boot! We then moved the party to People's to see one of my favorite groups, Pianopalooza, who I think were sick of saying, "Happy Birthday Lisa" by the end of the night. But hey, you only turn 25 once! :)



March was also the start to a bunch of concerts I would attend throughout the year. My sister, Angela, and her two friends, and I went to Omaha to see Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban who were both absolutely amazing!! I've decided Carrie has quite the life...she's amazingly beautiful and has just as beautiful of a voice...what a life!! In mid-March I got to see Lifehouse at the Val Air Ballroom. Concerts there are great because it's a small venue and pretty much wherever you are, you are still close to the band.

Two exciting things happened in April....my nephew, Rylan, turned 3 and I saw Bon Jovi in Des Moines with my two cousins, Kristin and Jennifer. It's hard to believe Ry-Ry is 3 (3 1/2 now!) and turning into quite the little man. It's hard to see them grow up especially since little boys tend to not like kisses from their aunt as much! But, luckily, with Ry I still get good squeezes from him. Bon Jovi was PHENOMENAL!! I'm pretty sure us three girls were in awe the whole time. And we had excellent seats!! Oh yeah, I also attended my first Barnstormer's game (arena fb) which was a lot of fun and plan on going to a few again this year. Here's a few pics from Ry's birthday and of my roommates and I at the game.

May was quite a busy month as there seemed to be something going on every weekend. I started off the month by going with my cousin's to Cedar Falls for Jodi's wedding to help out with little Bennett. It was a great time and Bennett and I got a lot of snuggle time together.


I went home to celebrate Mother's Day with my wonderful Mom and the following weekend I was able to meet Mark and Jackie in Iowa City for a weekend. It had been since New Year's since I had seen them so it was really nice to be able to meet and spend the weekend with them.

I also had a "1st" for me in May. I participated in the Dam to Dam 5K which was my first and hopefully not my last 5K. I won't share my time but I was proud of myself for accomplishing this as most of you know I've never been much of a runner. I had a time set that I wanted to beat and ended up beating it by more than 5 minutes! I hope and plan to do more this year though. After the race, I had signed up for charity pub crawl "Crawl for the Cure"...nothing like dehydrating yourself and then replenishing with...beer! But hey, it was for a good cause! Here's a few pictures of Jamie and I after the race and then Jamie, her sister, and I during the 'crawl'.

June was the beginning of a very busy summer. I started out the month by going to Nashville for 5 days to the CMA Festival. One of my best friends and her husband now live in Nashville so it was also to see her too. It was very HOT down there but we had a fabulous time and I saw SPECTACULAR performers...Faith Hill, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Sugarland just to name a few!! I took many many pictures but will only share a few...plus there are some you probably don't want to see because hey, it was hot so you had to drink!! I got back to Des Moines just in time for the floods. That was interesting and since I work on the 29th floor, we had very good views to watch the rivers rising and see where it was flooding. We were even able to see how Saylorville flooded all the way from downtown...needless to say, we were caught at the windows a lot during those days. I was able to make it home and spend some time with my wonderful Dad on Father's Day and that's when I was able to snag the picture of the boys and I...it's one of my favorites!

July was a terrific month for me! It went by way too fast...but I think that is due to being so busy. I won't talk about everything but I will have many pictures for all the highlights of the month. It started off with Mark and Jackie being home over the 4th of July. We had a wonderful time with them back and were able to do a lot such as celebrate Reese's 5th, play in the alumni golf tournament, and attend the Heritage Day's street dance. You will see Reese big present his Dad thought he needed...his very own 4-wheeler. He was stunned at first and I don't think it really settled in it was his for a little while. He was a little timid to ride it by himself right away, so Jackie and I took the opportunity to give the boys a ride on it. Let me tell ya, that little thing has some get-up-and-go to it!! Rylan is already wondering when he gets his. We got to see lots of friends and family we hadn't seen for awhile at the street dance...so it was nice to get caught up with all them.

I got to go back down to the Lake of the Ozarks with my best friend Mel and her family. I hadn't been able to go down the past few years due to work and a broken foot last year...so it was nice to get back down there. I'm pretty sure I could live down there though...it's so relaxing and care-free...doesn't seem to be a worry in the world while I'm down there. I had an awesome time down there and I'm ready for it to be summer again now. Another "1st" (and probably last...so don't freak out Dad!) happened while I was down there. I decided it was a perfect time to get a tattoo. For those of you that know me well, you know I've been wanting one for quite some time. So Mel and I headed to the "parlor" after dinner our last night there and I had an idea of what I wanted but after looking through the pictures they had...I knew right away what I was going to get. I LOVE it and don't regret it at all. I've gotten many compliments on it too, actually. So here's a few pictures of our trip to the Lake and my 'ink'.

I found myself awfully busy in August as well....imagine that! Are you starting to see a trend that I like to keep busy? :) August means the State Fair is going on in Des Moines!! I made it out there the first two nights. The first night we got to see Lady Antebellum on a free stage. They are now on my list of favorites...and their CD is amazing!! Can you also see the trend of how much I enjoy music? A LOT!! I then got the offer to canoeing with my old co-workers from ISU. When I worked up there, we started a tradition of doing an "outing" of caneoing down a river in Boone. And like the last time, their goal was to get their current and "old" student workers drunk...they did a job well done. Sorry you will not see pictures of me from later that day. Jerry and Mary were blessed with a visit from me that day, though...haha!! I ended up very, very sore the next few days after and had bruises all over my body...I even have pictures of those...but won't share them either...and you should thank me! :) I also got to go cheer on the Cyclones to their 1st victory of the year. It's really too bad they didn't have more than two of those this year. But you know I will always be a Cyclone no matter awful or good they are! Go STATE! Oh and I almost forgot...Mom, Dad, Angela, Steve, the boys, and I all wen to Adventureland too. The boys loved it and we all had a good time. Wow...that really was a busy month!!

(Ok, so I need to stop and save on this one because I'm having spacing issues when I add pictures...so I will start another one to finish up the year. Maybe that's a sign it's too long. Sorry if I'm boring you! :) )