SHE'S ALIVE....barely.

Happy New Years Everyone! I know, I know. I have been the worst blogger ever. I have to admit that the end of 2011 was a bit of blur for me. It was filled with weddings, work, Tacky Christmas, family fun time celebrating Maddies first Thanksgiving and Christmas, NYE in Vegas and I can't forget - OSU FIESTA BOWL!!! Love my Pokes! Oh yeah, and I moved (again) and started my own little company. Whoa. What? We'll talk about that later.

Christina's Wedding

She looked beautiful, Jeff looked handsome. 

We drank, we ate from the mashed potato bar and danced our little hearts out! 

Fun, fun times.

Route 66 Relay Marathon 

It was SO much fun! 

Go Team Occupy Rt. 66!!

 2011 Bedlam Weekend

GO POKES!!! WE WON!!!

Tacky Christmas Party

I have no words for this picture.
Rachel, Santa Tim and Elf David.
I apparently have no pictures of myself during Tacky Xmas?

Maddie's First Christmas

This was SO much fun. I love this bear cub. 

And I will do ANYTHING to make her laugh at me, 

which includes me wearing reindeer antlers!

 NYE in Vegas

All I have to say is what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. (hehe)

But I had a BLAST.

OSU Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix

And of course, guess who turned the big ONE!! Maddie Bear. Those pictures will be coming soon.

I don't think I have ever been more thankful for a year to be over - See You Later 2011. I'm not gonna miss you one bit ...but I have a sneaky feeling 2012 is gonna be a wonderful year!

XOXO

I've got fleas.

HA. Just Kidding. However, I (and Jessica) were brutally attacked by sand fleas. The sand flea did not leave a good impression on me - they are aggressive and angry. Why the chip on your shoulder, sand flea? For crying out loud, you live on the beach? What can you be so angry about?!?

Anyway, our vacation pictures continued. On Friday, we made our way over to Magens Bay, which we were told was rated one of the Top Ten most beautiful beaches in the world. We certainly weren't disappointed.

magens bay

magens bay ...again.

Our last day of vaca, we ventured over to another part of the St. Thomas island to do some shopping. And not to brag, but I did manage to convince one of the merchants to give me a discount on an orange purse since I was an OSU alum. So many perks to being an OSU alum, right?

having a drink after some shopping

our last night of st. thomas at havana blue. super fun bar and restaurant

Without going into too many details, we certainly enjoyed our last evening in St. Thomas - which in turn, meant it was a "hectic" morning and a rough flight (especially for Ms. Mindy and myself). Ah, vacation. So sad it's over....back to the grind. The "real world" and this "grind" is so over - rated sometimes. However, I'm back, folks. 

Sorry I've been a little delayed for getting the rest of these pictures. It is after all, my favorite time of year - and I've been enjoying the INCREDIBLE weather and all the fun fall festivities!

Where are you, Kenny?

On Thursday, we took a ferry to the St. John Island for the day to visit the Virgin Island National Park - Trunk Bay. If you ever head to the Virgin Islands, you should definitely make a trip to St. Johns because Trunk Bay was my favorite beach of the week! It is incredibly beautiful with crystal blue water, white sand and an underwater snorkeling trail. 

I got to check one more thing off of my list of 30 before 30 this trip - snorkeling in the Caribbean! I know it's really weird - but I have NEVER been snorkeling! I was pretty excited to get to experience my first snorkeling trip in a beautiful place like St. John!

I have to admit - there was another reason that we wanted to go to St. Johns. We heard a rumor in town that Kenny Chesney was currently in St. Johns. Apparently, he has a house there and is known to frequent Woody's (a small bar and grill) for a beer and burger. You better believe we scoped out the scene. I'm super sad to report that we did not have any Kenny spottings, therefore, he was not able to fall madly in love with me. Tear. Maybe next time.

getting on the ferry to st. johns!

  

tj is taking the ferry too!

a view of the islands in between st. thomas/st. johns

it was a bit of a windy ride.

entering st. johns - all the sail boats, houses.

an overhead view of trunk bay.

another one ..no, this isn't a postcard. it's fo real, kids.

getting ready for my snorkeling adventure.

TJ getting ready to snorkel with Minnie and I

kenny's hangout - no sightings though. tear.

leslie and i at iguana

There's more to come....

Welcome to Paradise.

Last week, I got the incredible opportunity to get away to the beautiful St. Thomas / St. John Islands! It's just one of the many perks to being friends with a world - renowned dietitian. Jessica was asked to speak at a hospital in St. Thomas - and well, Mindy, Leslie and I were lucky enough to tag along!

Believe me when I say - I contemplated just not coming home. On the beach, I would listen to You and Tequila and daydream about working as a waitress with a big ole flower in my hair at Woody's. Then one day, Kenny Chesney would come in for a beer and fall head over heels in love with me and we would sail off into the sunset together. However, then a sand flea would bite me and I'd wake up and drink another Corona...or two.

It's really incredible when you are surrounded by such natural beauty - it's as though all your worries, fears and struggles find a way to just melt away...at least for the moment. It's almost as if you believe that everything is right in the world - even if it's just for a little while, it's worth it.

the view from our balcony.

another view from our room.

the sugarbay resort beach - day 1

these little friends roamed the resort. we did not make friends.

just hanging out and reading on the beach. this is the life.

it's shark tank confessions time at duffy's love shack!

this is gene the gray shark. we are friends.

our little furry friends filled with yummy drinks.we got to keep these.

gene getting some love.

havana blue getting some love from jess and les.

Stayed tuned, folks. There is more to come...

It was a Dasch-ing weekend!

This weekend was full of lots of happy celebration for my dear friend, Christina – the future Mrs. Dasch (did you get my blog title now?)! Since she lives in the DC area, I hosted her bridal shower AND bachelorette party all in one weekend! I sure was exhausted on Monday morning! I'm getting too old for all this fun! Just Kidding - I will never get too old for fun. ;0) It was a really great weekend - and I am so happy for my friends, Christina and Jeff. I can't wait to celebrate their special day in November!! Cheers!

Here are a few pictures from our festive weekend:

the drink station - to the left -the non alcoholic section and to the right - some sweet tea vodka! Yummy!

more food!

chocolate dessert bar!

lots of gifts for the mr. and mrs!

there was plenty of food!

the pretty flowers!

the bridesmaids!

the very pretty future mrs. dash!

all the girls ready to hit the town!

cheers to ms. christina!