*WARNING: Long Post!* I’m slightly late on this post but better late than never! Another year has ended. 2011 brought many more positives for me than negatives and turned out to be a pretty great year. Here are my highlights and lowlights of 2011:
January*We started the New Year off at my house with friends.
* Vader’s 3rd birthday was January 4th. Since I’m late on this post and it’s now 2012 he just turned 4 the other day! Seems like just yesterday his momma was trying to give birth to him on our bedroom floor and had to be rushed to the vet to have a c-section. I love my little Vader very much!
*I started painting the house at the farm. This was a difficult task emotionally but I think it helped me to work through some things. At first it was hard to be there but after the many many hours spent painting and working on the yard it became easier and started to be more positive - filled with lots of good memories instead of just bad ones.
*I started wedding dress shopping. I met up with my bridesmaids and we went to David’s Bridal and then went out for dinner afterwards. I didn’t end up finding “the dress” but had fun trying on tons of different styles.
February
*I had an appointment at the Wedding Shoppe on Grand and found “the dress”! This was exciting because I had 3 of my bridesmaids with me and my two aunts. After buying the dress I went out for dinner with my aunts to catch up on life.
*Winston came into my life! After Phil and I finally closed on our house I started the hunt for a golden retriever puppy. I finally found one a few hours away and I called my brother up to see if he wanted one too (since he said he wanted another one someday). To my surprise he said yes and we went together to pick out our pups. I immediately was drawn to Winston and in less than a second I said dibs! I love my Winnie Winston so much (even though he’s naughty sometimes)!
*February was also a sad month. My Grandpa’s wife, Barb, passed away after fighting cancer. She was a fantastic lady and I will forever miss her. My poor Grandpa is lonely and sad after losing his first wife about 8 years prior and now losing Barb. But he is one of the strongest people I know!
March
*I started the month off getting my wisdom teeth pulled. Not the most favorable thing but it wasn’t that bad. The worst part was eating soft food for a few days.
April
*We started our yard demolition. My brother and a buddy of my dad’s came out and re-did our entire lawn. They had to till it up, rack it, level it and seed it.
*We had our food tasting for the wedding and decided on lemon chicken and pork loin.
*I bought my Honda Pilot! I love love love this car. The only bad thing was after a few weeks of owning it I realized that the AC didn’t work so I had to go get that fixed.
May
*100 mile garage sale with the girls. I didn’t really find anything great. I just enjoyed the time I had with my lady friends.
June*Started working on the garden at the farm. The start of many hours/days of work I put into it with the help of my aunt, friends and family. By the time the wedding came around it was beautiful and I was very proud of myself!
I never got a "done" picture but here is close to done picture of part of the garden:
*I had my first dress fitting.
*Phil’s sister and her husband came to town from Portland and we went to see them at the Tourville pig roast.
*Met with the florist and picked out the flowers for the wedding. Another check off my long wedding to-do list!
*Phil and I had our engagement pictures taken by a friend who was in our wedding.
July
*Phil and I went and saw Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon. This is on my list because Transformers is one of my favorite movies! I’d say it was my 2nd favorite out of the 3 so far.
*Went tubing down the Apple River with a bunch of friends. Good times, good times.
*Phil and I went to the Stillwater fireworks with our friends Josh and Lynsie. This is the second year in a row we did this together. We went out for dinner and then watched the show. I remember it was hot hot hot that day and we were sweating our balls off.
*Phil and I went shopping for Phil’s wedding ring. He made it easy for me and we only made one stop at the Shane Co. and within a few minutes he picked it out! Easy-peasy.
*My friend Lynsie had her bachelorette party and bridal shower. The bachelorette party was on a boat and then we went out to the bars afterwards. Good times, good times.
*Started building the deck. And it’s still not finished…
August
*My bachelorette party. We got a hotel downtown Minneapolis and walked to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and then bar hopped for the rest of the night. Good times, good times. :)
*The day before my bachelorette party I sold my Honda Civic. I was glad to get rid of the little go-cart!
*Phil and I went to the courthouse and got our marriage license. So exciting!
*Two of my very best friends, Josh and Lynsie got married on August 20th and I was so happy to be a part of it! Their wedding was perfect (except for the fact that I had bronchitis – but I still managed to have a real good time at the reception).
*I attended my bridal shower. My aunts threw it together for me and it was a small gathering at my aunt’s house in Stillwater.
*The law firm I work for puts on a summer outing for us every year and this year we went to a Saint’s game. This was my first experience at a Saints game and it was pretty fun. We had a little “tailgate” party before the game and then watched the Saints kick the other teams’ butts.
September
*Sad news first - Phil’s Grandpa Louie died after battling cancer. :(
*Back to good news - Phil had his bachelor party with his boys. I think they had a bbq at his friend, Scott’s house and then went bar hopping and then ended up at our house playing video games.
*The day before our wedding we had our rehearsal dinner at the farm. We just had a small get together of the wedding party, ran through it a few times and then had a bbq.
*Phil and I got married on September 16th! Everything was perfect (well, the weather could have been a little bit warmer but it could have been worse). Best day of my life thus far!
*Phil and I went on our honeymoon. We went to Orlando, FL and went to all the 4 main theme parks. It was hot, hot, hot down in Florida and we spent the majority of every day walking! My calves were rock solid by the time we came home! As much as I love a good vacation I also love coming home. Mostly because I missed my puppies and also wanted to eat like normal again. I was so sick of eating out.
October
*Finally got to changing my name. It was really weird leaving the Walton name behind. I still miss it from time to time and catch myself writing it down. It’s funny because most people who try to say my new last name can’t say it right. It’s kind of annoying to have to spell it for everyone. Oh well, right?
*My 26th birthday was on October 31st. We had a low key evening. Went to Applebees for some apps and then downtown for the bars. Good times.
*Coldplay came out with a new CD – Mylo Xyloto. Coldplay is by far my favorite band so I was quite excited when their new CD came out and it is awesome. However, atm I’m not too happy with Coldplay. They are only coming to about 17ish US cities in their 2012 concert tour and I can’t go to the only one nearby because I have a wedding that day. I’m totally bummed and I’m mad at them for not coming to Milwaukee!
November
*I went to see the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 with my Monday crew girls. We went out for a little dinner and then went to see the movie. This was my favorite movie thus far from the Twilight Saga. They keep getting better and better!
*Black Friday – one of my favorite times of the year! This year we started at midnight and went until 8 a.m. and I’d do it again!
December
*December started off with an office Christmas party at Luna Rosa. It has only snowed a few times so far this winter and Mother Nature decided to pour on the snow that night. Oh well, we made it to Stillwater and back alive.
*The Monday crew decided to do a “Thanksmas”. It’s a little get together between Thanksviging and Christmas – just eat a good dinner, hang out and play games.
*Winston’s 1st birthday was on Christmas Eve. What a great birthday!
*This year I decided to go to Brainerd to spend Christmas with my mom’s side of the family. The last two years I stayed home. The reason being is that it’s a 3 hour drive there and that usually means that I have to skip Christmas with my dad’s side and Christmas with Phil’s side.
*To celebrate x-mas with my Monday crew we decided to do something different this year. We usually make dinner or go out to eat and do Secret Santa. But this year we decided to go to Acme Comedy Club for dinner and a show. It was a lot of fun and my face hurt from laughing by the time we left.
Plans, hopes and dreams for 2012:*I am hoping to have a baby sometime in 2012 or at least be pregnant.
*Phil and I are thinking about going to Arizona in March (at the same time as my brother & girlfriend) to visit my grandpa and get out of the cold for a few days.
*I’m looking forward to having at least two more nieces or nephews (hopefully more).
*Phil’s sister is getting married this summer (not sure on the date yet) but we will be going to Portland at some point this summer! We are actually thinking about a road trip out there... :)
