Celebrating the day of my birth

What an awesome birthday! I got to celebrate twice - once with family and once with friends. Sunday night my parental units took us out to Season's 52. YUMMY! Then on my birthday we went out for dinner with my sweet friends. It was a perfect day - shopping, sushi, friends...and it was sunny and 61 degrees, which is something I hardly ever get on my birthday, with being born in December and all. I took the day off work, I don't believe in working on your birthday - no matter how much you like you job! I went shopping in the morning then met Tim for lunch, picked up the house for our arriving guests and then went out to Goldfish (favorite sushi restaurant). Leanne, Jonny, Kristen, Jodie, Kenneth, Kimberly, Tyson, Val and Dan all join Tim and I for dinner. I have such wonderful friends, each taking the time out of their busy lives (and in one case - find a babysitter!) to come down to Goldfish and spend time with me. I am so lucky! I had SUCH a great time and to top it off, Kimberly & Leanne both tried sushi (raw fish - not cooked rolls) for the first time and liked it! YEA! I have successfully converted two more people!


out for dinner at Season's 52

Jodie, Kimberly & I

The girls (Leanne, Kristen, Kimberly, Jodie, me and Val)

Leanne, me and Kristen

Yea! Kimberly is eatting sushi!

The group out for dinner :)

Tim & I

Happy Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas this year - it was filled with family! The Usher girls Christmas was the 21st so AJ, Lauren, Megan, Josh, Ben, Peg & Rob were all in town. We missed seeing Aunt Val, Uncle D & phantom cousin Max. We spent Christmas Eve with the Sharkey's - Kim, Larry & Kevin brought beef wellington to our house so we could use our wedding china :) We had dinner, watched Home Alone by the fire then Tim & I went to Midnight Mass. Christmas afternoon we headed over to my parents house for dinner where the Kraft clan joined us.
It was an exhausting couple of days but well worth it all. I'm so glad we got to see so many family members. Thank you all for the presents and taking time to join us during the holidays - we really enjoyed spending time with you all!
Here are some pictures from Christmas day with the Kraft's - I'll post more once I get them off mom's camera :) Enjoy!

Our furry little girl

I LOVE my dog. She brings such joy to my life. I never knew having a dog would be like this - if I had, I would have gotten one MUCH sooner. Bella has such personality - she's hilarious, not to mention sweet and oh so cute!!
This is her 2nd Christmas but I think the whole tree thing is still a bit foreign to her. A few weeks ago when we put the tree up, she kept barking at it. Now, it's a quiet place to sleep :)

Asheville, NC & The Grove Park Inn

Tim, surprise, had a work event this past weekend. However, it took us to Asheville, NC to stay at the Grove Park Inn for the weekend. Ok, when a co-worker forewarned me that it was going to be crowded, I underestimated his warning. Upon check-in I was already looking for a quiet place to sit. But all n' all it was a fun weekend. We got to see the gingerbread houses and hang out in a fabulously old hotel. The Grove Park Inn was build it 1913 and still has the original elevator (which was a bit scary for me to ride). Our room was incredibly old with great leather furniture. The Christmas trees and caroling really put you in the holiday spirit. I was glad we got to go and have that experience.

Sips N' Strokes

Last week a few of my girlfriends and I went to Sips N' Strokes - pretty self explanatory - drink wine and paint a picture :) It was a blast and I highly recommend it for your next girls night out!

Simpler Times

It was off to Wisconsin this weekend for Grandma's 85th Birthday. Erin said it best - she's 85 with a mind set of a 21 year old. She is such a fireball! Wise crack after wise crack!

Friday night was the annual birthday dinner at the Country Club. Tim arrived a few minutes late as he was flying in from New York. Saturday we went to lunch at Baumgartner's where Tim at more Limburger cheese - that stuff is sooo gross! Then we went to Uncle Ron's to watch the SEC championship. Sunday we had a quick brunch with Aunt Peg and Uncle Rob before it was time to head back home.

Most of the pictures were on Mom's camera, so I'll have to post more later. Here are a few highlights from the trip:

Phew! We finally landed!

Wiping the nervous sweat!

Waiting for the car

6" of snow!

Cocktails at the club before dinner

City Hall on the Square


Beer & Cheese at Baumgartner's

Throwing a dollar on the ceiling for charity

Yummy Limburger cheese!

Happy Turkey Day

Ok, so I'm a little late with this post. Tim & I had a FABULOUS long weekend! We were home bodies for 4 whole days and got some overdue house chores done (painting, cleaning, etc). Thursday was the only day we had plans. The day started out with a big mimosa breakfast at our house - just the two of us, something we decided will become a tradition. Then we went over to the Sharkey's for dinner, which is always an event with Kim's incredible cooking. Uncle Kevin, Aunt Nancy & cousin Rachael were there for the holiday as well. It was great to see them again. Then it was off to my parents house for dinner #2 and dessert.
I had the intention of taking a bunch of pictures while we were visiting with both sets of family, but my stomach overruled me and I became a slug on the log of life all day :)

In addition, I had by first crown appointment this morning. I swear I will floss everyday for the rest of my life if I don't ever have to go through that procedure again. Oh the pain!!! The fact that it is snowing makes me feel slightly better.

My Visit with Allison & Trey

Allison & Trey moved to Tampa this past summer and I finally was able to get down to visit. Unfortunately, Tim had too many conficts to join me :( So I made the drive from Orlando to Tampa on Friday evening, making it to their house just in time for dinner and cocktails :)
We had such a wonderful weekend catching up and showing me around the area. I told Tim that Tampa is one city I wouldn't mind moving too - the weather was PERFECT all weekend! He told me to go again for a visit in July, then we'd talk. ummm....humidity!

Here are a couple of pictures from my trip:

Lunch in St. Pete's

Out at The Lime

International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions (IAAPA)

As most of you may not know, my company acquired another company last January, adding the Sports side to the Entertainment Division, thus making us the Sports & Entertainment Divison. Part of this division caters to the Stadium, Parks and Arena market - i.e. Disney World, Six Flags, water parks and lots of professional stadiums (sadly Lambeau Field is not one of our clients). This past week I was off to Orlando, yes again, to attend the IAAPA trade show (see full name in the blog title, its too long to retype). This show was incredible. It took up the entire Orange County Convention Center, which is just ridiculously huge. If its in a theme park or water park it was at this show, making it a week long carnival for me :) I ate Dip n' Dots everyday, road a 4D ride, took a spin in a flight simulator and had a funnel cake and an Icey. Tough job, but someone's got to do it.

The Dirty Bird

Falcons 20 Denver 24...But the game was still really fun.

I have to laugh at my parental units. They are club-level Falcon season ticket holders, when Tim and I picked them up for the game on Sunday they were wearing Falcon T-Shirts (I was just glad they didn't match) but they were both representing Green Bay with Packer's socks ;) Just staying true to their roots ;) By the way, Go Pack Go, for their BIG win over the Bears on Sunday!

It was also the 10th anniversary of their NFC Championship. So during half time they presented Dan Reeves and the rest of the 1998 team with a trophy (better late than never I guess). So even though the Falcon's didn't win, it was still a great game.

Georgia Wine Country

This past weekend Tim & I went up the Larry & Kim's cabin in Blue Ridge. The four of us ventured over to Dahlonega for the day to visit some of the Georgia Wineries. What a beautiful fall weekend for driving and sight seeing in the mountains! Little Bella came along for the ride and got a little car sick from driving on the curvy mountain roads. Poor little pup. Then when we got to Frogtown Winery we let her out of the car to go do her thing and a big hound tried to bite her. Good thing Tim was standing right there to pick her up and he was able to push the dog away. It was a very traumatic day for her so needless to say she slept the rest of the day :)

Once we got back to the cabin Kim cooked an awesome dinner to go with our new wine purchases :) Then we got in the hot tub and it was time to call it a night. The next morning we went on a quick hike down the mountain. We hiked a trail that took us to the beautiful small lake that had a teeny tiny chapel next to it.

It was such a beautiful weekend! Hope you enjoy my pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!



A pretty fall weekend at the cabin


Tim and I by the grapevines

Overlooking the Vineyard

Winery #2 - Three Sisters

An old red barn in the middle of the vineyard

Three Sisters Vineyard

The mean dog that tried to bite Bella :(

Snug as a bug! What a day!

The pretty mountain lake

The lake chapel