Happy New Year! 2014 Edition

We gathered all of our bestest friends again this year for our annual New Year's Eve party to ring in 2014! We had friends and siblings coming in from hours away, and it is always so special to have everyone in one place. It's also a blast to see our friends from different parts of our lives starting to become friends themselves. Oh, and there were fun party hats. Can't forget about those.

Cheers to 2014!

Little Reminders

There are little reminders all over our house from Kels and Dav's big day on Saturday. What a perfect weekend full of friends, family, and happiness. I'll be sharing many more details in the upcoming week, but for now, I need to take another nap to recover from my lack of sleep this weekend. :)

Croquet

Sometimes we learn how to play croquet in our backyard. And sometimes we find out that croquet is a bit more complicated than we expected...

   

Visits from the Branches

Our friends travel a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean they haven't been home in two and a half months! So the fact that we've had them at our home three times in the past month has truly been a gift. Even if it's just been a long enough visit to sleep and eat a quick breakfast, we've enjoyed our time with them so much. Plus, it's a great excuse to make guacamole and eat lots of pancakes. :) Can't wait to see them open for Relient K in a few short weeks!

Spring Break!

I had a wonderful, glorious two weeks off for Spring Break this year. We didn't go on any big trips, but I had time to do all of those little things I never have the time to fit in during a regular work week. It was my favorite kind of week, really.

I made a dream catcher.

(almost) finished our gallery wall.

Redecorated a bit.

Listened to lots of tunes.

Got cranky because of this white stuff (but it is pretty).

...and read one of my favorites.

Snow!

Snow day at Casa Brooks.

Snowed In

The husband and I are snowed in for the day and loving it. We've had quite a whirlwind week of traveling for Christmas and finally made it home, through a blizzard and all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some blogs to catch up on and some Netflix to watch. Ah, Christmas break!

It's finally here!

It is finally the Christmas season! I look forward to decorating for Christmas just as much as the big day itself. So many great memories were made growing up...getting the boxes out of the attic, picking out a tree, watching dad break out from being allergic to pine needles, and then listening to Christmas music while putting up the Dickens' Villages on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Jake and I are making new traditions in our own home now. Hopefully those don't include the pine needle allergy. :)