Happy Birthday, Honeychild!

Hey there everyone!  Hope this mid-Monday Blog finds you all enjoying the start of what will hopefully be a wonderful week!  My week is off to a great start (even survived an a-hole cab driver almost running me over), so things are good :)

This past weekend, after a BUSY week of school and work, Seth and I headed to dead Fred to see Mom and Dad, and to get in some (even if it was only a little) R&R :)  Mom, Seth, and I used our gift cards from Santa and went to Massage Envy in the afternoon (soooo relaxing!) and then met Dad to go see "Iron Lady" (which was pretty good!)   After the movie was over, it was back to D.C. to get some sleep and rest up for...Honey's Birthday :)  I can't believe we have had our little bundle of joy for a year now!  She has brought so much joy to our house, I can't even explain it!!!  We had a brunch in her honor, and even made her a special birthday treat (as you will see below)  We love her so much, and wanted to send one last Happy Birthday to our Honeychild :)

Honey, making a wish :)

She scarfed down her treat faster than you could say "cheese!"

Well, that's about all I got for this week, but until the next time - much love!

This Semester is Going to be "Taxing!"

Hey everyone!  Sorry this is a little late, but this past week/weekend was crazy-cray!  School has officially kicked in and is really starting to consume me...I'm taking 17 credits, working as an Extern and Dean's Fellow, and volunteering with VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program)...so needless to say life is a liiiiiitttttle busy!  In fact, I spent most of my Saturday and Sunday in training for the VITA program - but I am officially certified and ready to do some taxes :)

Although most of my week was spent doing school, I sometimes make the tradeoff of sleep in favor of a little fun :)  A.K.A. I'm tired, but smiling!  One of my best friend's from law school and I have officially established "Revenge" night (an amazing show on ABC!) to served as our midway break for the week...and boy will I need that this semester :)  Seth and I were also able to make it out to a friend's birthday party this weekend and even did some Salsa dancing afterwards with some girlfriend's - fun times!  And luckily for us, we made it home just before the snow/ice hit, so I think it was God's way of saying he was glad we went out to have some fun :)

These glasses even made sweet ol' Seth look like a creeper :)

Honey looked so cute walking on the ice :)

Speaking of ice and snow, I forget how wimpy we are in DC when it comes to weather!  On Sunday night, I got a call from my boss at my externship saying that we would be opening 2 hours late on Monday (even though there wasn't really any snow), but I wasn't complaining ;)  My first day at the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) was great, and I am really excited for the externship!  My boss, Ty, is actually a friend of mine, and everyone else is really friendly and fun...so I think it's going to be a great time!  As for my work, it is a lot different than what I was doing in the Courts, but it is super interesting and I like it a lot!  My first day, I did everything from reviewing potential legislation in Oklahoma, to vetting Judges, to drafting testimony - and it's all for issues that I believe in :)

My office - right outside of DuPont Circle

Cheesy pose, but love the fleece my summer firm sent me to keep warm :)

Well, that's about all of interest I can think of (we were actually pretty boring this week!)  I hope that everyone's week is great so far - and hopefully it only gets greater :)  Love you all!

Hi Ho, It's Back to School I Go!

Hey there everybody!  Well, it's one week down and a semester more to go...but all is well and so far, so good!  My first week of school was fairly laid back since I set-up my schedule to allow me to ease back into things (only three classes, with two more starting this coming week, and my internship starting the week after next).  Given the easy first week, however, I took advantage and had a fun MLK Holiday Weekend :) 

Between the Alabama football game/party on Monday, a tanning date with my friend Tensie on Wednesday, and various and sundry other things, the week flew by!  On Thursday (which is like my Friday!)  I went to dinner at the Melting Pot with some law school girlfriends and then ended the night at our weekly Bar Review - and boy do these law school kids know how to blow off steam haha!  On Friday night Seth and I met our friend Whit (who is in town from Utah) for dinner and drinks...we sure do love having visitors!

Gotta love the Melting Pot - yummm!!!

To kick off the weekend, a few of us got together for brunch at Level One and, thanks to their delicious food and potent unlimited mimosas, our brunch turned into and all day affair - football, dinner and drinks, and dancing!  Even though it was totally last minute, it was really a fun day :)  In fact, it was so fun that we almost overslept our date with Marge today...but luckily we didn't!  So, after racing to get ready, we met Marge for a wonderful lunch to wrap-up our weekend...and then came home to take a nap :) 

Me, Abby, Daniel, Allen, Lauren, & Seth at brunch.

Well, that's about all for now, but I hope all is well and that you enjoy a wonderful MLK Day tomorrow :)  Ciao!

One Last Hoorah!

Hello again!  Well, school is officially back in session and I am back at it for my fourth semester of law school (can you believe it!?)  After getting back from Utah, I spent most of last week visiting with friends that had returned from break and resting up for my last weekend of freedom.  How to celebrate you ask?  Las Vegas is too far away (for now at least!), so we did the next best things: Atlantic City!  Seth, Brooke, her boyfriend Matt, and I drove up from DC and met Brooke's cousin Kristen, her boyfriend Rob, and their friend Amanda for a fun and crazy weekend!  As a matter of fact, the weekend doubled as Kristen's 30th birthday bash, and mine and Brooke's last hoorah before starting back to school...and boy did we make our 24-hour stay worthwhile :)

Me, Seth, and Veronica at Sushi the night before AC.

The East Coast Vegas = Atlantic City

The view from our room.

After checking in to our hotel, we headed to meet up with the other half of our party for a quick visit before heading off to play Blackjack.  I am definitely not a professional gambler, but I do enjoy playing cards.  I started off with $200...and ended with $200, so I call that a win :)  As a group, no one lost money and we actually walked away with about $1,000 more than we came with, so that was extra nice!  After our time at the tables, we grabbed some dinner and took a nap to get energized for the fun night to come :)

Since it was Kristen's birthday, we surprised her by getting bottle service at Mixx (AC's #1 nightclub) in the Borgata Hotel & Casino...and boy was she surprised and happy (she almost cried tears of joy!)  After checking in, we were escorted to our table and enjoyed an amazing night!  It was a little pricey, but totally worth it!  The dance floor was PACKED, but we enjoyed our own little private area to dance in...and my oh my did we (I in particular) dance the night away :)  The DJ/music was amazing, the venue was great, and the crowd was so much fun!  After about five hours of dancing, we finally called it a night and headed home around 4:00 AM for some pizza and sleep!

Ladies Night (hehe): Amanda, Kristen, me, & Brooke in the Borgata.

Seth, me, Brooke, Matt, & Rob at our table.

Kristen and I danced ALL night!

 Unfortunately for us, the next day happened to be the Giants first playoff game, so Brooke was up and at 'em early and ready to head home by 9:00 AM so that she could catch the kick-off (that is SO something my Mom would do!)  So, tired as we were, we said our goodbyes and headed home to chalk up another fun weekend trip :)  Needless to say, we spent the rest of our Sunday relaxing and getting ready to head back to reality!  And now that we're back to the grind, it isn't so bad...at least, not yet :)  But, I am pooped (just got home from a football party at our friend's), so I gotta hit the hay and get ready for my Tax Law class in the AM...so until the next time, much love and tons of hugs from me to you!

A Very Utah Christmas and an Interesting New Year

Happy New Year!!!  I hope that 2011 ended well and that 2012 has been great for your all so far! 

Since the last Blog post, Seth and I had the chance to head to Utah for Christmas with the Odoyle clan and all of our Salt Lake friends...and my what a good time we had!  We flew in on Christmas night, just in time to see Andrew and his girlfriend, Stephanie, before they headed off to California to spend the holidays with her family.  After a little visiting, we got some shuteye (at the 5-star Ahern Inn of course!) and rested up for the busy week to come!

We spent most of our time visiting and relaxing with the fam...good times!  The day after Christmas we actually opened presents since we didn't get there in time to do it Christmas night.  On Wednesday, we headed to the Hogle Zoo to see the animals and "Zoo Lights."  The weather wasn't too cold (at least to begin with) and we enjoyed some hot cocoa while strolling through the Zoo.  Friday was Family Fun Day!  We started with a gourmet lunch from Little Caesar's (yum!) to give us energy for Boondock's.  What is Boondock's you ask?  It's a family fun center and has bowling, race cars, laser tag, etc... that kids enjoy.  But come to think about it, I think the adults might have even had more fun than the kids :) Of course, no family trip would be complete without a visit to La Puente for some smothered burritos, so we made sure to get dinner before heading back to Mindy's to play Dayton's Wii dance game and burn off some serious calories!

Jack loved her "Pamper Day" in a box!

Chrissy, Seth, Mindy, and the chillins opening presents.

Zoo Lights!!!

Seth outside the Tiger's den.

The tiger looked freaking possessed!

Dayton was so excited, he ran all around Boondocks!

To prove to Mom I broke 100!  118 to be exact...and no gutter guards!

See below for the next winner of So You Think You Can Dance!

Aside from family time, Christmas in Utah is always a good chance to catch up with our Utah friends, especially those who are away at school during the year!  Between lunches, dinners, and drinks, our schedule filled up pretty quickly :)  It was great to see everybody, and we even got to celebrate Emily and Ryan's engagement with a party in Park City!  Every time we get to spend time with our friends, we remember how blessed we are to have so many amazing people in our lives :)

Me & Victor at The Bayou.

Kody, Me, & Seth at The Spur.

The gang was dancing up a storm while a live band played!

Whit and I pre-Thursday night dancing!

Although our time in Utah was busy, it was so much fun that time flew by too quickly!  Before we knew it, Saturday morning had arrived and we were headed back to the airport to fly home.  Although goodbyes are always bittersweet, we had much to look forward to back in DC...starting with a New Year's Eve Party!  Little did we know, however, just how our New Year's Eve would turn out :)

Flying home, we had a two-segment flight: SLC to Detroit to Washington.  Although our flight was delayed by about 20 minutes pulling away from the gate, we figured we would have plenty of time to catch our connection...and we would have had Delta done their job!!!  First the plane stopped on the runway for about 20 minutes due to a miscalculation in the plane's weight.  We eventually took off and got to Detroit just in the nick of time to make our plane...that is, had the pilot not stopped 2 feet away from the gate...and had we not had to wait another 20 minutes for Delta to send someone to unlock the door on the other side of the gate!  Thus, long story short, we ended up missing our connection and had to wait until the next day for a flight home...but luckily my cousin Chrys lives in Toledo, Ohio, which is only about an hour away from Detroit!  So, after getting things squared away (and using my arguing skills to get some Delta vouchers), we rented a car and headed down to Toledo for Chrys' s spectacular New Year's Eve Party!

Me, Riley, & Seth ringing in 2012!

After an unexpected but fun New Year's Eve, and a few hours of sleep later, we headed back to the airport...and this time we actually made it home :)  Our first item of business: picking up Honey Child from the Pet Hotel and enjoying a wonderful first day of what will hopefully be an equally wonderful 2012!

Honey rockin her Pink puffy vest!

Well, that's about all  I have for this week...but much more coming up next time...including a last hoorah trip to Atlantic City before school starts again!  But I don't want to put the cart before the horse :)  So until then, lots of love and a wish for a happy and prosperous New Year to you all!  xo