A look back....

Some of my favorite moments from 2010....

1.) Participated in my very last Spring Sing as a hostess. It was such a fun experience and one I will never forget.

2.) Won free tickets to the Elton John/Billy Joel concert! It was epic!

3.) Went on my last Chorale tour to Colorado with some of my favorite people.

4.) Had my personal shower. Boy was that an experience...

5.) Went to my last Iota banquet. I have had spent some of my favorite college memories with my iota girls. I will never regret being a part of such a wonderful club and I can't wait to see how much they grow in the years to come.

6.) I got to be a bridesmaid in one of my besties' wedding. It was beautiful and perfect.

7.) David graduated from OC!

8.) We got our first apartment! It's the perfect first year apartment and we've made some great memories in it.

9.) I learned how to pole dance....and I was pretty dang good at it I might add. If teaching ever falls through, I have a back up plan. ;)

10.) I married my best friend and boyfriend of six years. Marriage has only surpassed all of my expectations and I am happier than I have ever been.

11.) We spent two weeks in the happiest place on earth. It was the vacation of a lifetime and we are constantly trying to plan our next vacation back there.

12.) Got to be another bridesmaid in my roomie's wedding. You looked beautiful and I am so thankful for you in my life.

13.) David took me to my first Bed & Breakfast for my 22nd birthday!

14.) Got a new car! Finally! Peace out 1981 Impala.

15.) I completed my student teaching! It was such a fun learning experience and it only confirmed my need to be a teacher.

16.) My last musical at OC. Bittersweet. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities I was given during my time at OC. Many of my favorite memories take place on Hardeman's stage.

17.) First family vacay as a married couple!

18.) Midnight premiere of Harry Potter. Yes, this constitutes as one of my favorite moments.

20.) Joined in the Bowden family tradition of spending Thanksgiving in Branson.

21.) I GRADUATED! I am now officially certified to teach the future generations of America.

22.) First married Christmas.

2010, it's been a great year.

Advice

Ok, all of you poor souls who continue to read our blog....we need some advice.

We are planning to take a cruise for our one year anniversary, but we cannot make up our minds!

The only thing we know for sure is that we want to take a cruise, porting out of Galveston (so we don't have to fly), that has lots of fun things to do.

Things we don't know:

-Where we want to go

-How long we want to go for

-Which cruise line is the best

-Should we just book the inside cheap rooms or go for the ocean view

?????????????????

So, all of you cruisers out there, give us your best insiders tips.

As long as our vacation looks something like this....I'll be happy.

7 Christmases

That's right, David and I conquered SEVEN Christmases in TWO days.

Sounds hectic, huh? It was the best two days!

Brace yourself, it's gonna be a long post. At least I put entertaining pictures along the way...

We started out with Christmas #1 bright and early on Christmas Eve by heading to David's Dad's house to have breakfast and open presents.

We got so many soft blankets! No more fighting over the one nice one we have now!

Christmas #2 is an annual tradition for me. My family spends Christmas Eve evening at my cousin's house eating chili, playing dirty santa, and just having fun together.

Our first Christmas family photo

My twin sister that just happens to be 8 years younger than me.

Nothing says Christmas like being attacked by a four-year-old!

Christmas #3 was David and I's first Christmas together early Christmas morning! It was definitely my favorite Christmas out of all of them.

David got me so many wonderful things including a new fancy Nikon camera and a digital picture frame! (Next year I'm giving him a price limit)

I got him classic married gifts such as a new fancy razor, a massage chair, and a poker set for his guy nights.

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of our Christmas because I was rushing to get ready and David was setting up my new camera!

Christmas #4 was at David's mom's house.

She made us breakfast casserole (my fav) and her famous sausage balls.

Trying to figure out my new camera....

Sister-in-law

I pointed my camera at her and she pointed to her shirt and said "I'm nice"

Hahaha, she's presh.

Next, we headed over to my house for Christmas #5!

My family had already opened all of their presents (we took too long) so we just had to do our exchanges and open stockings!

Yep, that's my dad.

Christmas #6 was at noon at David's Grandma's for Christmas lunch and more gift exchanging.

Then, last but not least....off to the thrilling Tuttle, Oklahoma for Christmas #7 at my aunt and uncle's house.

Then, to top it all off, my family went back to David's mom's house Christmas night to enjoy some baked potato soup and family game night.

Our first Christmas was...hectic, full, delicious, generous, fun, family-filled, festive, joyful, and just plain wonderful.

I hope your Christmas was just as memorable.

Look out world...

I've got a degree, and I'm not afraid to use it.

Couples Christmas

Since David and I have our own place this year, we thought it would be fun to throw a Christmas party for us and our other coupley friends.

We thought right.

We spent the whole weekend cleaning, decorating, and buying goodies to make our party possible.

Here is a look at the end result of our decorating:

Entry Way

Our "mantle" since we don't have a fireplace...

Our precious little baby tree!

Our new stockings that we bought!

Now it's party time!

We invited four other couples over to eat, play dirty santa, and just have some good ol' Christmas fun.

It's not a legit party unless there is a cheese log. And you better believe I had a cream cheese log with pepper jelly.

We made delicious corn chowder for everyone!

Despite burning the bottom....and putting in 2 tbs. of cayenne pepper instead of 2 tsp.

Whoops.

Dirty Santa

This was not a candid photo. He chose to pose like that.

And this is when I was having to much fun to remember to take more pictures.

So sorry Lacy and Quaid.

I love Christmas. and parties. and friends.

the end.

Famous.

My husband is famous.

For those of you who don't know....my husband, David, writes and performs spoken word poetry.

And he's darn good at it I might add.

Well anyway, a couple of weeks ago he was provided with the opportunity to perform at the Creativity World Forum which was hosted in OKC this year.

THIS WAS A BIG DEAL!

Why you ask?

1.) It's a worldwide event for artists to come showcase their talents and show how they are using them to help our world.

2.) Lots of famous people speak and perform.

3.)Lots of bigshots with connections come to watch.

4.)You get the picture.

So, David teamed up with wishing well to help with the water walk which was headed up by TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie. David wrote a piece about TOMS shoes not thinking he would get the chance to perform it....but he was given a time slot before the walk and let's just say he made an impact.

Blake Mycoskie himself asked for David's business card and told him that if he got a video of his TOMS poem that he performed then he would post it on his blog.

So here you go. Go read his post and watch the video.

http://blakemycoskie.blogspot.com/

Famous.

Mother-In-Law

I will never understand all those "mother-in-law" jokes everyone makes because my mother in law is just so wonderful.

If any of you have ever met David's mother then you know how precious she is.

She is so sweet and supportive of our marriage and I was so blessed to have gotten to partake in their family tradition of going to Branson for Thanksgiving this year.

Here's to family, holidays, and new traditions.