On the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth day of Christmas...

Or in other words I got really behind on the twelve days of Christmas Blog Challenge!

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season
I always make a list of everyone we have to buy gifts for then assign an amount to each person and try my best to stick within that budget. I also try to keep everything fair, I get this from my grandma, if one parents get $50 then they all get $50 the same goes for siblings and others. I also keep a notebook of what gift ideas we have for each person and then on another page what we have actually bought them so when we are at the store and find a great gift I know if I have anything left to buy for that person.


I have read on a couple other blogs about putting money in envelopes. I have seen a couple of great ideas that go along with this concept:
1) put a little bit of money in the envelope each month so when it come to December you have your budget already in hand.
2) Make a budget like I already do for each person then put that amount in an envelope with their name and the amount you want to spend on them so you don't over spend on any one person.


The last tip I have is it is never too early to start buying gift! I have been known to buy gift as early as July! A deal is a deal!

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

HANDS DOWN! Elf is my favorite holiday movie!

"I love you, I love you, I loooooooooove you!"

Day 6: Gift ideas (what do YOU want? We all have family/friends reading our blogs...so let them know!)

This was the topic last Tuesday on my Top Two Tuesday post so feel free to jump over there and read that post.

Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY  (If you don't make anything, what do you WISH you could make?)
 I love Christmas trees! There is nothing too special about the trees I have up but I fully believe that there should be a Christmas tree in every room of my house! Good thing the hubs is out of town so I can put up as many trees as I want! Ha!

However I do love when people have a mantel they can decorate! There are some beautiful ones that women have already posted pictures of! I wish I had a mantel for that reason!

Day 8: Least favorite thing about the Holidays
GLITTER! GLITTER! GLITTER!
I can't stand how it is in the carpet, your close, the furniture and everywhere else for the next 365 days! I refuse to buy anything that has even one piece of glitter!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving!

On the third day of Christmas

Most meaningful gift/best gift you've received

I have received lots of wonderful gifts and many gifts that I love so since I can't pick just one best gift I will tell you about the two that are the most meaningful to me. I received both the Christmas of 2007. Anyway, each year by grandparents gave us two things for Christmas:

A money envelope with money

An ordainment from a craft show

Both were signed Love, Grandma and Grandpa. You see the reason they are so special to me is 2007 was the last year that these gifts were signed this way since my grandpa pass away in February 2008. I have written about my Grandpa on our family blog, and the special bond our family had with him. We still get the money envelope with money and the ordainment from my grandma but the ones from 2007 will always be the most special to me since it was the last year they were with Love, Grandma and Grandpa.

On the second day of Christmas

Black Friday/General Shopping Tips & Tricks

I LOVE BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!

No I am not one of the crazies that stand outside all night and wait for an item but I do love the rush of getting to all the stores and finding exactly what I have on my list!

I don't know if I really have any Tips or Tricks for Black Friday shopping but I usually look through all the ads find the things that I really want and then head out shortly after the stores open. I learned a long time ago not to ever go for the "big ticket" items. For example if Best Buy has a computer for $200...well that is great and all but each store only gets a couple of those in stock so in my opinion it is not worth sleeping outside all night just to try to be one of a few people who get that item.

I like to arrive at the stores right as they open then I miss the pushing and shoving of everyone bull rushing as the doors open but I still get there early enough go to get what I want. I don't really have anything in particular I am looking for I just check the ads and find good deals. 

Here are some general tips:
*Make sure to eat something! Grap a granola bar on your way out or if you are like me stop and get a doughnut at the gas station on your way.
*While you are at the gas station make sure to pick up a bottle of water to keep you hydrated and a soda for the caffeine. Also, don't get a fountain soda get a bottle. You can put it in your purse and have something to drink while you are waiting in line
*Make sure to stop and eat lunch!
*Don't spend more than you have. Buy gifts is not worth going into debt!

Happy Black Friday shopping!

My Unique Shower Curtains

Yes, I usually get very excited about giveaways but this one I am truly in love with! Taylor at The Undomesic Momma is hosting My Unique Shower Curtains giveaway and it is awesome!

My favorite curtain would be the monogram curtain! I have been looking for something like this for a while now and when I saw it on Taylor's Blog I just had to have it! Lucky me she is hosting this give away!

Here are a couple of pictures just to give you an idea of what the monorgram curtain looks like:

This is the one from the website

This is from Taylor's bathroom/her blog!

 Make sure to head over to Taylor's blog and enter the giveaway!

Top 2 Things on Your Christmas Wish List

Happy Tuesday of Turkey Break! And since it is Tuesday that means it is time for Top 2!

Top 2 Things on Your Christmas Wish List

I struggled to make a Christmas list this year...there are plenty of things that I want but one of two things ends up happening; one, I go buy it for myself or two, I forget that it is on my wish list. I did end up coming up with a few things that I wanted and here would be the top two things on my list:

*ONE*

A new watch...

Ok, actually this is the same watch as I had for three years and it just broke last month. I really want this same watch again but I can't find it at any Target! I even tried looking online and it says they are all sold out! Really?!? How can you be all sold out of this simple purple $10 watch! I have a hard time believeing that it would be THAT popular!

Just in case that watch really is sold out everywhere I would take this one as a back up!

*TWO*

Money, Money, Money

Ok, really what I mean is money to get my nails done

I love, love, love to get my nails done! When I was working a second  job the money I earned was my money. I could spend that money on whatever I wanted and I didn't have to feel guilty. I would buy Starbucks every morning, get my nails done ever other week, and treat myself to fun things. Well, once I got pregnant I quit my second job so the money went away and so did the nails. I really don't think Jason cares if I use our money to get my nails done but I feel guilty spending our money on a treat for me. Thus, I'm asking for money for Christmas so I can put it away in a savings account I started with my birthday money for "my" stuff like getting my nails done.

Ok...one more thing just in case my lovely husband is reading this...

VERA BRADLEY!

Here are my Top Two Vera Bradley bags that I REALLY want!

Vera

in Baroque or Buttercup

 Get Carried Away Tote

in Baroque or Buttercup

Just thought I would leave a little extra hint!

Meet Me On Monday

Ok, really one last post for the day! I was reading some post by others that I follow and I found a new way to meet people! Java over at Never Growing Old host Meet Me On Monday ever Monday where you answer 5 questions so other bloggers can get to know you. So here we go...

 

Questions:

1.  How many pillows do you sleep with?

2: one I sleep on, one between my legs

2.  Where will you eat on Thanksgiving?

My House!!
We stopped going home last year and started celebrating in IA 

with our friends or like we say our second family

3.  Would you rather go to a party or host a party?

I could go either way, more and more I would rather host!

4.  How many purses (for the guys..wallets) do you own?

I just gave a big trash bag full to a friend (who doesn't love free purses?!?) so I would say I have about 10 right now. However, since little Miss K was born I only ever carry her diaper bag or my wallet if she is not with me!

5.  What is your favorite kind of seafood?

NONE!  I hate seafood, well unless Long John Silvers counts?!?

Miscellany Monday

1. Today is the first day of Turkey break at work...ok, well I have to work but the students get the whole week off so it is going to be super quite around here!

2. Today is "floofing" day at work. 

Some people would call this tree decorating but here at good ol' Maucker Union we call it "floofing" and it doesn't get any better than this! This year I instated "tacky" sweater day to accompany "floofing" and it was amazing!

Here is a quick snapshot of the final product:

 

3.  Turkey day is THIS Thursday!!!

We are having about 10 of our friends over to our house for a yummy smoked turkey dinner and then we are hoping to put out most of our Christmas decorations after everyone leaves.

4. Black Friday is THIS Friday!!!!

I LOVE BLACK FRIDAY! 

Even if I don't buy anything, I love the rush, the people, and the caffeine at 3am!

Happy Monday everyone!

On the first day of Christmas

Today is day one of the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge that Aly and Molly are hosting ...which yes has 14 days but they just couldn't cut two topics! Now lets get started!

Traditions

My family has lots of traditions and I LOVE all of them! Since Jason and I have been married some of those traditions have been altered and/or changed but I have also gained some wonderful new traditions since becoming part of Jason's family. Since Jason and I have been married we started the tradition of spending Christmas with one family and New Years with our other family. It gets a little complicated when you have three families (Jason's mom & step-dad, Jason's dad & step-mom and my family) to split time with at the holidays. Luckily Jason's dad & step-mom, and my family live about 35 minutes apart so that helps when splitting time! Essentially it comes down to Reno (where his mom lives) or LA (where his sister lives) for one holiday with Jason's mom & step-dad and then Kansas for the other holiday where Jason's dad & step-mom and my family lives. Here is just a quick snapshot of our holiday traditions depending on where we are that year for which holiday:

If we are in Kansas for Christmas
*Christmas eve is spend at my grandma Joan's house (my dad's mom). We have "snacky" foods then we open gifts.
*Christmas morning is spent at my mom & dad's house. We get our gifts from Santa (yes, as long as we still believe we still get gifts). Our gifts from Santa are never wrapped they are just placed in piles under the tree. Typically each of us knows exactly which piles is ours and we dash right to our pile! Then we get to open our gifts from our parents (which are wrapped and we each get our own paper that all our gifts are wrapped in).
*Christmas afternoon is spent at Jason's dad & step-mom's house. We usually open gifts once Jason's brother can get there and have some yummy food!
*We have Christmas with my mom's family sometime around Christmas, there are almost 30 of us now so it takes some planning to make sure everyone can make it! The tradition with the Cook family is everyone brings a $10 gift and we do a white elephant gift exchange.
*Typically we fly to Reno/LA on the 26th and spend a week there

If we spend Christmas in Reno/LA
*Typically we will fly in sometime around the 23rd or 24th and spend a week with the Best family.
*Christmas morning always kicks off with opening gifts and our stockings! Typically we get one big gift and our stockings. Jason's mom loves filling our stockings with all kinds of goodies, actually I'm pretty sure it is her favorite part of the gift giving process!
*Once we have opened our gifts and stockings Jason's mom makes us chocolate chip pancakes! This is defiantly by far my favorite tradition I have gained from joining Jason's family!


Like I said before I love the holiday season and I love every tradition I have with all of my families! The best part of the holidays is simple...spending time with our family!

12 Days of Chirstmas Blog Challege

I wasn't planning on doing another challenge so quickly but I really did enjoy the 30 day blog challenge I just completed and I love the holidays....so why not! Aly and Molly are hosting 12 Days of Christmas Blog Challenge, which yes has 14 days but they just couldn't cut two topics! The challenge starts on MONDAY! I'm excited to meet more wonderful people and the topics they have selected are amazing!

So here is deal:

Start Date: Monday, November 22nd

Day 1: Christmas/Holiday traditions

Day 2: Black Friday/General Shopping Tips & Tricks

Day 3: Most meaningful gift/best gift you've received

Day 4: Tips/Tricks to a Budget Friendly holiday season

Day 5: Favorite Holiday Movie/TV Show Special

Day 6: Gift ideas (what do YOU want? We all have family/friends reading our blogs...so let them know!)

Day 7: Holiday Craft/DIY  (If you don't make anything, what do you WISH you could make?)

Day 8: Least favorite thing about the Holidays

Day 9: Favorite Holiday recipe

Day 10: Favorite Christmas Songs/Caroles

Day 11: New Year Resolutions

Day 12: Show us your decorations (indoor/outdoor)

Day 13: Favorite Cookie Recipe

Day 14: Oprah's Favorite Things: What item(s) would you want if you were in the audience?

I really enjoyed meeting the wonderful women I met during the 30 Day Blog Challenge so make sure to come back on Monday to link up! I hope you all join in!

Days 1 -3 are November 22 - 24

**** NO BLOG CHALLENGE ON Thanksgiving! ****

Day 4 will pick back up on November 26th!!

You do not want to miss out!!!!

I never thought I would be this mom...but...

So I posted yesterday about a wonderful giveaway that Stephanie was hosting at Houghton Happenings....well today there is even a better one! Like I said in the title, I never I thought I would be THAT mom but I guess I am! Stephanie is hosting a giveaway for Casanne's,  Cassandra (the owner) of  has so graciously agreed to give away an item of your choice!!

When I first saw the booties on Stephanie's blog I thought OHMYGOODNESS! they are so cute...but then I went to the Casanne's site and I'm not kidding they are all super cute!

Here are my top three favorites

And if you have a little boy...ties!

I hope to win the giveaway but just incase I don't I have added these to K's Christmas list! I will for sure be passing these on to all my friends who have babies or know someone who has a baby!

The best winter giveaway yet!

I am so excited about the giveaway that one of my favorite blogs Houghton Happenings is hosting! Thanks to Patti at Northern Lodge she is giving away your chance to either win your choice of scarf or a $25 to credit to apply to anything in her store! How cool is that?!?! I had never heard of Northern Lodge until this giveaway so I went over to check out everything she has to offer and boy was there a lot! Two of my favorites include:

The Two tone beige angle hat

Scarf Autumn afternoon-a blended yarn scarf

I think either would be perfect for winter in Iowa! Don't forget to go check out the Houghton Happenings blog and the Northern Lodge store!

miscellany monday

Well hello you sneaky little devil, you, Monday!

Our weekend was semi-uneventful.
Friday we enjoyed a night at home. Nothing too exciting. I stopped by the mall on the way home (big mistake!) I stopped in to pay a couple of bills really quick then I ended up shoe shopping for over an hour! I have been looking for a specific pair of black shoes. I had a pair a few years ago but they wore out and I just recently decided that I wanted a pair just like them again but do you think I can find them anywhere...NO! I did find a pair very similar thanks so a wonderful sales woman at Yonkers!

Saturday I spend the morning with some wonderful women during the recruitment part of our Panhellenic transition having breakfast at Panera! Speaking of Panera, they have a new rewards card! Yeah! When you sign up you get a free drink or pastry then each time you go you accumulate points toward other free stuff and as an added bounus you don't have to give them your name anymore, once they swipe your card they automatically use the name on the card...bonus!  The afternoon was spend napping then we went looking for a dresser for Kinley. Jason and I asked for dresser for her for our birthday's so my mother-in-law took us up on the offer and so four furniture stores later we found the perfect dresser! (Pictures so come when we get it later this week) Then the hubs and I got to have date night! We went to dinner then we were going to go see The Social Network but the movie didn't start until 9:55pm and I was ready for bed at 9:00pm so we ended up just heading home after dinner. It was still a great time and I was glad to have some alone time with the hubs!

Sunday we went to church then I had to work most of the day. I came home got a wonderful nap then we headed to Old Chicago to watch the end of the 49ers game and have pizza!

OnE. I am ready to be done with all this LOAN business! We have been to the bank countless time and every time there is one small piece of information missing so we have to go home get it and go back another day. I will be super glad when it is all done because we will be saving over $300 a month and one month closer to be debt free but still it is a big hassle!

TwO. I can't believe THANKSGIVING is next week!

ThReE.I can't believe that Kinley will be SIX months old on Friday! Really! That is crazy to me!

FoUr. I am so glad to have my MOTHER-IN-LAW visiting for the last week and I'm really sad that she is leaving tomorrow. We will see her again in exactly one month so at least there is something to look forward to.

FiVe. I am so exited to finish my Christmas SHOPPING. I am about half way done at this point but I have the easy half done...now for the hard-to-shop-for people!

SiX. Happy Founders Day to all my wonderful Alpha Sigma Alpha sisters! 109 years strong!

Have a wonderful Monday!

Day 30-a picture

This is one of the first family pictures taken a few hours after Kinley was born. 

I look at this picture and can't believe how much this day changed my life! 

I can't believe this is day 30! When I started this blog challenge 24 days ago (I started a few days late and played catch up) it was to kick start my blogging again but what I have found is some amazing women who I am so excited to keep up with though their blogs! I look forward to seeing where all of our lives take us and I can't wait to see all the amazing thing that are going to happen and where our journeys will take us.

Day 29-3 Wishes

Wow what a weekend! We make a whirlwind trip to KS that looked something like this; left IA at 8am Friday morning and got to my home town at 4pm (8 hrs in a car from here forward will be total time), enjoy dinner with my family then drove to Jason's home town (8 hrs 35 mins), got a good nights rest then got to see Jason's grandma and his cousin before heading to Manhattan for the K-State game (9 hrs 50 mins), watched an awesome game then drove back to his home town (11 hrs 10 mins) got up (Thank goodness for the extra hour of sleep) and drove back to IA (19 hrs 10min). Yes you got it right we spent almost as much time in our car as we did in KS! Oh well it was totally worth the weekend. It was kind of like our Thanksgiving  (minus the food) with our family since we will not be going home for Thanksgiving but we will be spending almost three weeks with family at Christmas.


Now for the 30 Day Blog Challenge...can you believe there is only today and tomorrow? I have met some wonderful women though this challenge and look forward to keeping up with them after the challenge!

I wish...

1. For Kinley (& or other children to come) when they get older to look back on their childhood and remember all the love and fun times we had as a family.

2. To live a long and happy life with Jason and our children

3. To visit all major league baseball stadiums (ok there had to be one fun one!)

Have wonderful Monday!

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

I would love to tell you that I live a stress free life however there are many things that stress me out! I try my best to not let things stress me out but then I find myself stressing about trying not to stress...yeah you figure that one out! Here are some of the big topics:

Money

Proving for my family

Making the right choice (even the smallest things)

Irresponsible people

Other people's ability to follow through with assigned task 

I would say the thing that stresses me out more than any of those things combine is when people don't plan ahead! Jason always says I can go with the flow as long as we have planned to go with the flow...I just like to have a plan. There is nothing wrong with planning and knowing what is going to happen and when it is going to happen!

Are you ready for this deal?!?

Shutterfly has done it again! First of all can I just say how much I love receiving Christmas cards, but more than receiving cards I love sending them. I have used Shutterfly before and really love how easy they make it to order your cards and other awesome gifts! I'm so excited to send out our Christmas cards this year since we can put Kinley's beautiful face on the card. I have been contemplating for a while now if I should just put Kinley, do a family picture or do I including Beasley...well after looking though all the wonderful cards I don't have to choose. There are plenty of cards with multiple pictures so I can include all the pictures that I love!

Now to why Shutterfly is so AMAZING! I heard from some other bloggers that Shutterfly was offering 50 free Christmas cards to any blogger that blogged about them. Like I said before they are super easy to work with and I have already picked out a few I like...

Day 27-Pets

Happy Saturday! 

We made it safely to KS last night. We got to my home town just in time for dinner with my family including my grandma. Here is a picture of Jason with Ebony and Kinley:

It is hard to believe that they are only four months apart! The next time we come home will be Christmas and I am so excited to see the babies together! They will be seven months and 11 months which will be really fun ages!

Once we were done with dinner we then we headed to Jason's home town. Kinley did a great job in the car overall, she did get a little fussy but that is understandable after being in her seat for eight hours. Once we got Kinley to bed we were able to play a quick game of pitch. Debbie and I beat Jason and his dad in two games!

Now for the blog challenge. Today's topic is Pets. I wrote about out lovable puppy Beasley on Day 14. I have always been a dog lover,  really a pet lover except for cats. I don't know what is about cats that I really don't like but I just have never been a fan of cats. Growing up we always had an outside hunting dog but my grandma lived on a farm so we grew up with a barn full of cats, some horses, a couple of dogs and a goat. From the minute that Jason and I met we both had a love of dogs and would talk about how we couldn't wait to get one of our own. We also agreed that we would always get our dogs from a shelter or a family that was getting rid of their dog. I'm sure purebred dogs are great and all but we felt sorry for the dogs at the shelter and we knew with a little training they would make wonderful pets. I was ready right away but we never lived in the right situation. In college I lived at my sorority house and not pets were allowed and where Jason lived he could have had a dog but neither of us had the time to train or take care of a dog. Then after we graduated Jason lived in an apartment where no pets were allowed and I went to grad school and didn't have time for a dog. Then we moved to Iowa where we lived in a house where NO WAY could we have a dog so we kept waiting. Finally in February we started the search for a house, we made an offer on March 14 that was accepted that day. That night I was looking on our local swap sheet where I found a "lovable 9 month old male beagle" and I couldn't resist calling. The family let me know he was still available and we made an appointment to go visit him on Saturday. Jason and I were so nervous that we were not going to like this dog that we even had a code word in case either of us didn't want the dog. I can't remember what the word was not but needless to say we never used it! From the first minute we saw Beasley we were in love!


Beasley is the best dog you could ever want! He can be a "typical" beagle at time with his hyper attitude and howling but his sweet demeanor out weights anything!

This is the day we got Bealsey.

After we decided we were going to get Beasley we got in the car and realized we didn't even have a collar or leash for him so we drove the 45 minutes back to town and straight to Pet Co. We carried him into the store where they we so nice and let us open a collar and leash then we were able to walk around the store and pick up all the rest of the things we needed. 

After we got home from our car ride and trip to Pet Co Beasley was tuckered out!

This is his usual sleep position still to this day!

 

The Sunday after we got Beasley we found out K-State would be playing in the NCAA basketball tournament in Omaha so on Wednesday we took him to Petsmart to get a "puppy clean up" and get ready for Omaha!

He got a cute bandanna!

Beasley's first long car ride! 

Headed to Omaha!

He loves to snuggle up under the covers!

 This was at our new house...he was so tuckered out after exploring the new house!

 He loves to snuggle!

 He was helping Jason carve our pumpkin!

He loves car rides!

 Beasley with my parents dog Duke also known as
"Uncle Duke"

We love our little man and someday hope to add another "puppy" sibling for him!

Day 26-Picture of your family

Warning! Warning! 
First I think you all should know my love for my family and a very close second is my love of pictures. When I first ready the topic for the day I though oh no problem I have some great pictures of my family meaning Jason, Kinley, Beasley and myself but then I got to thinking my family is much bigger than that. I am very close to entire family meaning all of my mom's siblings and their kids as well as my dad's family which since my dad is an only child includes my grandma's siblings and their kids and whatnot. I did my best to pick just one picture from each group of people but trust me it took me quite some time to narrow it down to just these pictures:  

This is the most recent picture I have of our family
This was taken at the pumpkin patch in October.

This is our immediate family taken at our wedding

My parents and siblings

Jason's mom & Garth

Jason's dad and Debbie

My dad's mom
Kinley's Great Grandma

My mom's whole famliy

I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend! We are currently sitting in traffic in Kansas City trying to get to my parents house! Hopefully we will be there in the next 45 minutes then we will be heading to the hubs home town and to the K-State game on Saturday! Go Cats! Then back to Iowa on Sunday...quick trip but we will not see our families again until Christmas so you have to take the opportunity when it comes up.

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Oh this is a fun one! I'm excited to see what comes up since I have such a wide variety on my iPod! Literally, I have everything from old country to hard core rock to oldies to just about anything! So here is my list:


1. Near You Always - Jewel
2. Wake Up - Three Days Grace
3. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
4. All Out of Love - Brooks & Dunn
5. Let Me Down - Limp Bizkit
6. Love Your Memorie - Miranda Lambert
7. Stay Tonight - Matchbook Romance
8. Growing Up Down There - Billy Currington
9. 1, 2, 3, 4 - Plain White T's
10. Welcome to the New South - Less Than Jake

Well that was an interesting 20 minutes of music! 

Today is going to be a long day. I'm having a goodbye lunch with three friends for our friend Kate who got a job in a new city so she will be leaving which it sad but she will be much happier at the new job so I am very happy for her. Tonight I am working late for a CAB program which seems like it will be pretty interesting. Then I will get home around 11:30pm and I still have to pack! I got Kinley almost all packed now I'm just left to pack my stuff. The hubs says we are getting up at 6am to get ready then getting Kinley up at 7am so we can be on the road no later than 8am...we will see if this happens or not. We will be leaving for KS and headed to the K-State v. Texas game on Saturday then back to IA on Sunday...very short quick trip! I will do my best to keep up on the blog challenge but we might have to play catch up on Monday!

Day 24-Something you've learned

I have learned that I need to be more like my husband sometimes. They always says opposites attract, well they hit that nail on the head with myself and Jason!

Jason is one of the most caring, giving, loving, and wonderful people you will ever meet. He is almost never quick to anger and if he ever does get angry about something usually he is quick to reassess the situation and move on. 


He has many traits I wish I had more of and I hope hoping over the years they will rub off on me!


Thanks Jason for being a wonderful person and I hope to be more like you as we grow old together!

Day 23-Favorite vacation

Happy Election Day/ My Birthday! 


First of can I just tell you how much I love my birthday! It doesn't matter how old I am I still love my birthday. The day is all about you...ok well this year it is all about me and the election but I guess I can share. I don't have any big plans as of now. The hubs and I are going to lunch because we have a Jaycees meeting after work then we are hoping to catch a date night while my mother-in-law is visiting next week. I really want to see The Social Network so maybe dinner and a movie. 


Onto the 30 day blog challenge


Since I have already talked about my trip to NYC with the girls my other favorite vacation would be the trip the hubs and I took to Vegas for his 30th birthday. He was actually there for work...yes, he had to work in Vegas over his 30th birthday! How crazy is that. He works for a conference management group that puts on conferences all over the U.S. and it just happened that they had one of their largest conference in Vegas over his birthday so we got to stay at The Paris on the strip and the best part is I got to travel with him so I spend my days sleeping and walking around the strip then at night we would enjoy time together. Here are a few highlights of our trip:

The pretty fountains!

Fremont Street

Two years later the same conference was in Vegas again so we got to go back for his 32nd birthday and here are a few highlights from that trip:

We were able to attend a preseason basketball

tournament that K-State was playing in at the

Orleans Area

 Celebrating Jason's birthday at Margaritaville