2011 Highlights September thru December - Part 3

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Finally, it's only taken 3 posts, but here are the highlights for September through December 2011. Very busy time of the year! Hehe. Hope you are enjoying the highlights I'm sharing. 

September 2011 

We did some things this month, but the best thing we did was go to Orlando to visit friends and go to Disney (are you noticing a theme with me, yet?). 

We had a Happy Hour the night we got there at Ale House near the Airport and had a great turn out! Yet, I didn't do a good job of taking lots of pictures...so here's one.

We went to the opening day of EPCOT's Food & Wine Festival! Oh my gosh, there was so much food to try...we wanted to try it all...but it was hot out and we just couldn't. Luckily we got to go back on Oct. 2nd. Also, we got to attend the first ever Mixology seminar of the Food & Wine Festival - that was amazing - maybe it was the liquor...lol.

At the Mixology Seminar

October 2011

We went to Magic Kingdom's 40th Anniversary Celebration! We saw all the characters parade down Main Street to the Castle and tried to hear the speech being given.... It was super busy this day at the park, but somehow we were able to ride EVERY ride that we wanted to. 

Went to Downtown Disney with a friend and ate at Paridisio 37...oh that was tasty and the tequila was most definitely, good. Plus, great time seeing our friend, Jeff. 

October is the month we celebrated Pete's youngest sister's birthday. 

I got my first Crowdtap Sample & Share for Old Navy ActiveWear and shared this is Nicole, one of Pete's sisters. See the post here.

A few of us tried out the Lexington Oktoberfest, but it underwhelmed us.

Pete & I carved pumpkins for Halloween...that managed to stay on the front porch until December. No kidding..and super mushy! 

November 2011

The leaves were changing color...since moving from FL, this was amazing and beautiful to me. I actually got to see a spectrum of color! 

I saw my first fox...and managed to capture him in a pic..not an amazing pic, but can tell he's a fox!

A new club opened in Columbia, called Club XS. They put me on the VIP entry list, so 4 of us went to check it out. It's big, it plays decent enough music, and has 2 bars...I liked it. Of course, Pete liked it the first visit, but hated it the second.

Pete & I spent Thanksgiving eating a meal at Cracker Barrel. The meal was blah, but the company was nice. Then we saw Arthur Christmas in 3D. I thought it was super cute.

And, we put up our Christmas tree and started decorating Thanksgiving weekend. 

December 2011

Pete and I attended the Festivus Airing of Grievances Pub Crawl in Five Points. It started out slow, but we had a good time.

Pete's dog, Martog, had a weird episode. We think a siezure on Dec. 3rd. Scared us all, so we brought him to an Emergency Night Vet. After a lot of testing and money, they found that he has cancer in his kidney and prostate. For now we are opting to give him pain meds and just manage his condition. 

I hosted an ABBA You Can Dance Wii Party that I received from Crowdtap. We snacked, laughed, and danced to ABBA songs! See my post here. 

We went to Orlando again! This time no Disney visit. Instead, joined a bunch of friends at my work's holiday party. Had a great time and even won a bottle of wine. 

Visited with my brother, Ed, SIL Karen, and their kids.

The next night we celebrated Pete's birthday with Steve & K at Sushi Pop and then went downtown with Paula & Fabian. Really turned into a great night! 

Awesomely made Partida Blanco tequila shot

I hosted an Old Navy Bundle Up Winter Gear Party that I got from Crowdtap with Rebekah, Elizabeth, and Nicole! See my post here.

We had a gift exchange with Pete's SC family before we headed up to MI to spend the holidays with the other half of his family. 

Christmas Eve is when Pete's MI family gets together and exchanges gifts. We ate and then a crazy time of gifts being given and unwrapped happened. 

Pete & I took his twin nieces to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, MI. Had a great time looking at everything, taking lots of pictures and shopping! Managed to stay in budget for what I planned to spend there. :)

Pete and his niece built a snowman after midnight! There was enough snow on the ground and the right consistency...it's a good thing they did, next day it got too warm! Here's there over 7 ft snowman!

Lastly, we rung in the New Year in Traverse City, MI at the Cherry Ball Drop with Pete's sister, Kelly, and his long time friends - Russ & Melissa. This night started out slow, but turned out to be a fantastic way to ring in 2012! 

Hope you all enjoyed! That's all for 2011's highlights! Happy 2012 everyone!

2011 Highlights May thru August (Part 2)

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And now for Part 2 of the highlights of 2011, May through August.

May 2011 

We celebrated my birthday and our moving to South Carolina on May 7th.

We had a great turn-out and it was really wonderful to have such support from friends! 

On May 13th we drove to South Carolina...since we had a huge moving truck, my boyfriend's truck being towed by it, and my car full of stuff with the pets going...and the truck had to stay around 60mph the whole way..it took us quite a while to go the normal 7 hour drive. 

This wasn't even all of our boxes

Barely there, we celebrated my actual birthday in Columbia, SC with Pete's family. 

Pete and I went back to Orlando to clean up our rental there and see friends and go to Disney! When we went to Disney we went to EPCOT and saw our favorite tequila bartender - Francisco! And then to Hollywood Studios to ride the newly refurbished Star Tours (awesome by the way)!

June 2011 

I hosted a wine and cheese party - and it went very well! Tasty stuff.

We had a girl's night of mojitos and puzzles - mostly we drank and talked. ;)

July 2011

I hosted a Budweiser Ultimate Backyard BBQ that I won from House Party! Lots of food and Budweiser, of course! 

On Independence Day, a few of us went over to Charleston for the free evening at Patriot's Point and then to watch the fireworks.

Attended Elizabeth's Bachelorette Party - wondered around downtown Columbia.

We attended Elizabeth and Jeff's wedding - held in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Steve & K came to visit toward the end of the month...we all went out to dinner and got to chat it up two nights in a row. I only took a picture of their hotel, though!

August 2011

The big first big trip of the year started with a drive to visit my Uncle, Aunt, Cousin, Grandfather, and his wife in NC for a day. Sharing a picture of their cat, as not sure they'd like me to share their pics...

The next day we headed to NJ and on 8/5/11 we ate at the Americana Diner that I'd eaten at in 2007 when I went to NJ for work. Then that night, we attended Mike and Steph's wedding. It was really lovely. 

Onward we traveled to VT the very next day...phew a lot of driving. Met up with my Aunt, Uncle and some cousins in NY a couple days after arriving.

Spent the day with my niece, sister, nephew...and met up with my birth father. Also, saw my grandmother. Really nice day. 

Pete and I hiked to Lye Brook Falls in Manchester, VT. Wow...that was quite a work out for me! Really tough on the way up...then tough to get to the actual falls...then easier on the way down...but...still weird because all the rocks. Worth it though!

Visited all of my grandmothers in one day! And, also got to see my cousin Samantha, who I hadn't seen in many, many years...I think not since we were kids.

Once back in SC, I hosted a Martini Gold Martini Party! We tried 7 out of 8 of the recipes they provided. Even trying shot sizes...well...it got us all good and tipsy!