happy birthday alec!!!

you are wonderful and i love you - happy 28th!

december recap

december was a fun and busy month.

decorations

we decorated for christmas.

new hair
i cut my hair. i was craving short hair and it think it turned out really cute - i love it! (thanks again to carlee). the only problem is that winter is a bad time of year to cut all your hair off, now my neck is always cold - the sacrifices we make for beauty!





finals
joe and i finished our fall school semesters around the middle of december. finals week consisted of many nights sitting next to each other on the couch studying - i started calling them dates in my mind which made it more fun :).


festival of lights
we went to see the celebration of lights at hartwood acres. we thought it was going to be a walk around light display like temple square but you could only drive through it. so there was a big line of traffic that slowly moved through the park which was disappointing but it still got us in the christmas mood.

joe loving getting his picture taken

christmas
this was the first christmas joe and i have spent alone, and even though we missed seeing our families we had a wonderful time. after being so busy with school it was nice to get some good quality alone time in.

christmas eve...i wuv joe so much!

christmas day...so gorgeous first thing in the morning!

do you think he liked his present? (thanks to mike o. for his inspiring advice that "being responsible is for the birds!" or was it "being responsible is overrated", either way it was what made me decide to get this for joe and i think he really appreciated it, so thanks again mike :).

doing a captain morgan stance to show off my new snow boots...just new boot fun'n!

our christmas turkey...you know it's a true celebration when there is meat:).

november recap

november was a month full of extended family. my cousin samantha flew in from utah and i got to help her celebrate her 21st birthday.

birthday girl

mike, madelyn and their baby marina

me and marina, isn't she the cutest gummy bear?

missy (mike's sister), me, samantha, madelyn, mike

mike was so kind to steal my camera and show me how delicious his brownies were, thanks mike!

then on the 26th we had thanksgiving dinner with my cousin samantha, my cousin madelyn, her husband mike, baby marina, mike's mom maryann and his younger sister missy.

samantha, madelyn, mike

baby marina

missy and maryann

madelyn's beautiful turkey - thanks madelyn for hosting and cooking!

me and my baby...oohhhh, isn't he so cute!

gathered at the table...

madelyn and her family have since moved to philly where mike got a great job offer. i miss you guys and hope things are going well!

just so you know...

i started back up with school on monday and i can't say it enough - i love it, i love it, i love it. i am really excited about this semester and the things i'm starting to learn in the cst program. the best part of it all is that my classes are at the boyce extension of ccac, and the boyce extension mascot is none other than - a st. bernard dog! they even have a six foot bronze statue of a st. bernard, sitting at attention, looking all smart and sophisticated...don't let granger know - he will be so jealous:)

joe is back in school as well so he is back to working long hours in the lab and studying, studying, studying - which is followed by him assuming this familiar position.

hartwood acres

in november we got in a few 'last of the season' bike rides. here are a few pictures from hartwood acres - it was beautiful even without any leaves.

saying goodbye...until the spring.

as i scrapped the frost off my windshield this morning in 7 degree weather, i looked around at the snow on the ground and the beautiful, colorless, ice covered world, and i realized that winter is definitely not going away anytime soon. my mind drifted back to the warmer weather and the vibrant colors of the fall season we just had.

a tree down the street from our apartment

on a walk in frick park

just pop'n and lock'n...ain't no thang:)

the pictures don't really do the colors justice - fall 2009 in pittsburgh was absolutely gorgeous! winter is also beautiful and wonderful in its own sick, twisted, super duper freezing way:).

it's been a while since i have visited with you through my blog and i sure have missed it and missed connecting with all of you!

i finished finals on the 11th of december and spent the rest of the month working, decompressing, sleeping, feasting and celebrating the holidays with joe. i have much to share and many fun pictures to post, which i am going to gradually put up, so stop in when you can.

for now i just want to tell you all that i love you.

i am filled with hope as i look forward to this new year we have ahead of us, and want to wish you a wonderful, healthy, happy 2010!