Costa Rica!!!

So... we booked Costa Rica for April!  I am super excited and couldn't wait to post about it.  I will be sharing more details later as the trip is finalized but the first leg of the trip is booked.  I am pretty proud of myself, usually pushing the "go" button on trips takes me a few days to decide, but I got a call that a spot opened up at the place we wanted to stay and I took it immediately on the phone...EEK!

Thank goodness John was free for those dates--who am I kidding, he would have made himself free!

Thus, with any tropical destination, the pressure to really get back in shape is on.  I am almost disappointed with myself that my immediate excitement after booking was pushed aside by the guilt I give myself for not keeping up with my fitness routine.

Either way, today is officially Day 1--GAME ON!  The photo below is my reminder each night:

Anyone have any recommendations for must do adventures while we are there??

Snow & One Happy Pup!

Yesterday we had our first official snowfall of the year!  It was so relaxing to come home, get cozy inside and watch the snow fall.  We ended up getting less than an inch but it did stick around overnight.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some snow pictures...

I actually got a new lens for Christmas and we have been dying to try it out.  I didn't use it for the above picture as I didn't want to take it out in the weather, but I was HIGHLY tempted!

I came home and Jackson was the most excited I have seen him, this was his FIRST SNOW experience and boy was he excited!  John got some great shots of him enjoying the snow....

I was so inspired by the snow that I even whipped up a batch of Chocolate Chip cookies.  As they were cooking, I reminded myself about how counter productive the cookies would be to my diet, so I promptly encouraged John to take them all to work today (he took some but not all--darn it!).

I hope that we get a little more snow this winter, although it seems as though winter has been very mild thus far.  Besides, who doesn't love a snow day???

Hello 2012!

New Years Eve turned out to be pretty low key, which was really nice this year.  Since we actually got some sleep that night, Jan 1 turned out to be a pretty productive day.   Who would have thought that on Jan 1st, it would be almost 60 degrees outside.  John and I took full advantage of the nice weather and took Jackson on a hike in the morning.

This next photo of Jackson makes me laugh so I thought I would share this....

We also took down all the holiday decorations, which makes me very sad.  It's amazing how much preparation we do for the holidays and in a few hours it all comes down and we move on.

John and I are both excited for 2012 and all that it may bring:

• Jackson is finally sleeping out of his crate at night--we are hoping not to have to crate him during the day in the near future.
• Discussions of a "new home" are occurring more frequently, I will be interested to see where this goes in 2012. 
• My camera officially goes everywhere with me now that I have a camera bag that accommodates all the camera stuff and my regular purse related items.  I hope to learn more about all the manual settings, etc. 
• I need to start making gym time a priority again.  Since we got the dog that has been put on the back burner and I really do miss the "me" time that the gym provides after a long day at work.  
• WEDDINGS!  One of my best friends gets married this year and I cannot wait for the celebrations to begin.  We also have another wedding early in the year of some close friends as well.
• Alaska!  We have committed to making a trip to Alaska this year which means I really need to get planning!  

What exciting events do you have planned or wishes for 2012??

M-I-A....oops!

So at the start of this blog I had every intention of blogging daily and being super committed.  By the dates on these posts I am sure you can see how well I achieved that goal...oops!

However, one of my many New Year's Resolutions is to ensure that I make time for blogging.  This year has flown by and I wish that I would have taken time to myself and reflected on all the wonderful things that have gone on this year.

I will not try and re-capture events since my last post, but who doesn't enjoy some pictures. Enjoy the photo timeline and scouts honor to a better blogger in 2012!

Memorial Day Weekend in San Diego with WVU loves.

Summer Concert Fun with the ladies.

July, our newest addition "Jackson" comes home, finally!

September we head to Nashville, TN and of course LCP arrives while we are gone!

Cold weather sets in and holidays have come and gone...

John and I are truly looking forward to all that 2012 has to bring.  We have some exciting trips in the works (more to come) and are looking forward to ringing in the new year with some great friends!

They're Here....

We got some exciting news last night that the breeder's puppies have arrived!!  I'll spare everyone the details of the "almost no puppy" drama, but needless to say we are not going with our original chosen breeder.  We did find a new breeder based on some last minute surprising news and the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

So without further ado.....

SOOO cute.  Can't wait to post more about the chosen one!

First of Many...

As this is my first post, I thought it was appropriate to share our most recent house project.  I will admit that there are some days that I am 100% motivated to cross things off our list and then other days items will sit in the shopping bags that I brought them home in. Much like the way I leave tags on clothes until I actually wear them, some projects I like to continue to think about before completing.  This is a fact about me that drives John insane.  Needless to say, we were both feeling pretty lazy this Sunday and decided to finally empty the pottery barn shopping bags that had been sitting in the corner for over two months.

We saw this great way to create a picture wall on HGTV and the method couldn't have been better.  We got poster board that was the width and length of the picture wall that we wanted to create.  We were then able to arrange pictures as much as we wanted without having to commit to a hole in the wall.  Once we decided on a layout, we outlined the pictures on the poster board to ensure frames were straight with the eye-line we wanted to create.

We then taped the poster board to the wall and using the outlines, drilled the holes for the pictures. This worked out great!  We love the finish product--now I just have to get the pictures re-sized that we want to use!  My favorite part of the wall is the name sign that we have kept from our wedding day sign that my dad made for us!