Plenty To Be Thankful For

Where has fall gone!? In a couple days it will already be December and I have some catching up to do! Between holidays, a new job, and Joe's new nephew, we keep very busy!
Thats right I said new job! I joined the team at H & R Block at the end of October and this tax season I will be an official tax preparer! It's been a lot of hard work but hopefully all the training paid off!

Halloween was kicked off with a "party bus" for my friend, Kaila's, 25th birthday!

Me (in the middle) & the girls

80's Rocker Chick ;)

Joe and his friends

Me with the birthday girl!

"Harry & Marv" (the bad guys from Home Alone)

Halloween also brought a couple of my favorite trick-or-treaters (:

Annabelle, my boss' mastiff puppy (& my office pal)

Madison the Monkey!

We also got another lovely surprise, the day before Halloween. Joe's nephew was born, 10 days late ;), but none the less he finally arrived. Mason Thomas Mahoney was born at 3:10 am, October 30th 2011. He was 8 pounds, 9 ounces and 20 and three quarters inches long. He's as perfect as can be and its been such a joy watching him grow already! I swear they get cuter every day (:

Proud Uncle Joey!

We truly have a lot to be thankful for this year! Thanksgiving is always a time to remember and cherish those we love, whether with us or in heaven. This year we celebrated with a nice quiet dinner with Joe's family, and followed it up with some super crazy black friday shopping as well ;) Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was just as wonderful as ours!
The holidays are such a busy time for us so I'm excited for all the hustle and bustle of Christmas and to see all of our families. We truly are blessed!
On that note, I'll leave you with a couple candids from November (:

Mason <3

Beemer enjoying the last day on the sun porch til spring! & believe it or not this happened to be the day before Thanksgiving! Thats unheard of for Minnesota ;)

Long lost best friend Alexa

And long lost best friend Kendra too (:

Our reason to be Thankful on Thanksgiving!

Keith Urban "Get Closer" Tour 2011

Okay so I do realize that this is almost an entire month late ;) But I've kept myself quite busy lately!
October 15th, Keith Urban was here in Minnesota for his Get Closer tour and I had tickets to go! (: Not only was I super thrilled to be going to my second concert of all time but also to get to spend it with the same friend that I experienced the first one with, Kaylyne!
Now seeing as I am a broke college student, our seats were one, yes I said one, row from the very top. I was bummed we weren't closer but it was an amazing show and I'm so glad poor seats didn't stop me from going.
He really interacts with his fans which make it so fun! Including inviting a couple lucky fans on stage to take a picture with him, and at one point he even gave his guitar to one very very lucky fan!
He also invited 3 fans on stage to sing with him. Can't even imagine!
Bucket List....sing on stage with Keith Urban, CHECK! So jealous (:

super cool disco ball that made it look like stars lighting up the building

As the night went on, I couldn't help but to admire his amazing talent and the die hard fans. I've always told myself in my "next" life, I'm either coming back as a country artist, or marrying one. I can't imagine the feeling that would come over you EVERY single time you heard the thousands of screaming fans, all screaming for you. All so excited to see you and listen to what you have to tell them. I can't imagine standing up on stage night after night, knowing that ever person in that room is there to see you. It would be such a humbling feeling. There are those artists that put on a great performance and then there are those who have true, raw talent. Keith Urban is an artist that could sing in a pitch dark room, and you feel as though you witnessed an amazing performance. Appreciating the amazing talents that these artists have and the music....the music is what makes you feel alive. I don't know where this world would be without the music because when words fail, music speaks.

Thanks again for coming with me (:

State fair, a little shopping, & Kid's Day!!

The great Minnesota get-together is always a big event at the end of Summer in Minnesota. Nothing like enormous amounts of people, animals, plenty of advertising, and some seriously fattening (but delicious!) food! You can find just about anything deep fried & on a stick at the Minnesota State Fair. This year I attended with Joe's mom & sister. When we left Lake City, the skies were pretty gloomy and rainy. When we reached the fair, luck was on our side because the rain stopped and we had a humid but sunny day. There were only two qualifications for my trip. Number one was to eat deep fried pickles. Number two was to get a cup of all you can drink cold milk (white OR chocolate) for only a dollar!

we stopped shortly to watch the lumberjack show!

After walking around the fair for hours, I found myself defeated when I couldn't find the deep fried pickle stand ): We were going to take one last stroll through the horse barn and head out when I saw at the end of a very busy and long street....THE PICKLE STAND!! (:

Such a happy camper!!

Katie, Marian, & Myself (cold milk in hand!!)

I had such a great time with you ladies! So thankful you let me join you on this fun day! (:

My best friend from forever ago is getting married next July. I was thrilled when she asked me to be a bridesmaid because this girl means the world to me. I am so excited to be such a big part of her very special day (:
Last weekend, we all got together to go bridesmaid dress shopping! After a long and tiring day, we finally all found the dresses!! We rewarded ourselves with lunch at Olive Garden. It was much deserved ;)

Me & the beautiful bride-to-be!

Kendra & her bridesmaids (missing one!)

Every year, Joe's family holds a tradition they like to call "Kid's Day". They decided, if there is a Mother's Day, & a Father's Day, why not have a day to appreciate such great kids? I think its brilliant ;) We had a gorgeous Sunday to celebrate with fun activities! Including dinner, gifts, badminton, & golf ball hitting competitions; we had a great time!

Me, Joe, Katie, Mike, & Amber

Can't wait for next year when we can add another "kid" to the bunch because Joe's sister-in-law is expecting in October! (:

Oh the places i've been.

Seeing as I haven't had the time to upload any recent pictures, I thought I'd take a short trip down memory lane. The other day I was thinking to myself about how truly blessed I have been in my life. I have gotten to travel to some of the neatest places in the country. (in my opinion!) Travelling has been something I've always loved to do and hope to do plenty more in the future.
Back in 2007, I was fortunate enough that I got to travel to Arizona with my friend Megan. We stayed with her cousin and at only 16 years old, we thought we were pretty cool when he offered us to use his convertible for the week ;)
We saw many amazing places around the Scottsdale area. We also took a road trip to the Grand Canyon.
For those of you who haven't been there, add it to your bucket list now!! The pictures don't do it any justice!! To stand at the rim of the canyon, you feel like your at the edge of the earth. It is truly breathtaking and an amazing sight to see.

Later in the same year, my mom and I took a trip down to Biloxi Mississippi. It's a city on the Gulf of Mexico that got tragically hit by Hurricane Katrina. Even two years later, the city was struggling hard to rebuild after the horrible hurricane. The damage was so sad to see and your heart just goes out to the people of the south. There were many businesses trying to rebuild and the only good thing that came out of it was that everything was brand new and truly a sight to see. We spent time at the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi.

Mom & I in front of a display of Ted Nugent

Brad Paisley's Guitar!! (: (:

Shrimp netting boats

One of the days we were there, we took a trip across the border to Louisiana! We found the famous city of New Orleans. It's a city you'll fall in love with! The people, the music, the atmosphere, and the amazing food send you into a trance of a place that almost feels make believe.

Cafe Du Monde is a very famous cafe in the French Quarter of New Orleans. They are known for their Beignets and coffee. Beignets are square pieces of dough, fried and covered with powdered sugar. (delicious!!!) As we were sitting at the cafe enjoying our beignets, it started to rain. I have to admit, it may have been one of the most beautiful and romantic settings I've ever witnessed first hand. Just as quickly as the rain had come, it disappeared and we were rain free for the rest of our day!

gorgeous <3

In 2009, I was fortunate enough that I got to travel to Alaska to visit a friend that was stationed at the Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska is another amazing place that I have fallen in love with and would love  to return some day. I went in December, and during the Winter in Alaska, you have very little daylight. It averaged about 6 hours of daylight when I was there. The sun wouldn't completely rise. It simply would hover above the horizon for a few hours and then start to slide back behind the mountains. I explained it as "dusk" most of the time I was up there. The mountains are breathtaking!! Being a Midwestern girl, I don't see much of the mountains and boy was this a treat for me!
We took two different road trips. The first day we travelled East.

"sunrise"...sorta

 Everywhere in Alaska during the Winter is covered in ice! If you don't have a truck with studded tires, you will probably run into trouble! If you check out the picture below, you can see the coating of ice...and yes that is in a parking lot!

Alyeska Ski Resort

 I did get to see a couple of glaciers! They are very cool but hard to photograph! Glaciers have this beautiful blue hue to them and they don't even look real. Below is a picture of an iceberg, which is a broken off chunk of a glacier.

 We travelled all the way to a small village named Whittier. It is only accessibly by sea or by a one way tunnel through the mountain. You read that right! A small tunnel leads you through the mountain to get to the village. It only goes a certain way every half an hour! Imagine if you were running late for work....!!

The tunnel entrance





The wait was well worth it! Whittier is this gorgeous little gem tucked away in the mountains. The scenery is gorgeous and just imagine how different there lifestyles are.

 With the sun fading fast, we decided to call it a day. The sunsets in Alaska are as gorgeous as you'd think they'd be!

 The next day, we decided to travel North into Alaska. We wound up on this very curvy and very narrow road northbound. The scenery, again, was amazing. I think I had white knuckles by the end of the trip but it was well worth it!

Now that's something you don't see in Minnesota!

 The mountains seemed to be getting bigger and bigger the further north we went! I seriously really thought that the mountains were never-ending in Alaska. Until, all of a sudden........

 We clearly reached the Tundra because all the mountains stopped. It was flat for as far as you could see! (now that was more like the Midwest!) Even the trees were miniature. It was pretty cool to see another side of Alaska.

I didn't want the trip to end and I really hope I get to see the great state of Alaska again in the future.
Travelling has always been a passion of mine and someday (when I'm rich) I will find plenty more time to do so. The world is an amazing place and I've only witnessed a tiny portion of it!!