TGI2014!!!!

Happy New Year! I've been waiting for this day for a looooong time. 2012 was a great year - Andy and I ran our first marathon and got engaged. I'm pretty sure I got a nice promotion that year too. I knew 2013 would probably pale in comparison to 2012, but I had know idea it would be as bad as it was!

The worst part of the year for me? Definitely dealing with my knee. I had surgery. But I wasn't the only one to have surgery. My mom had surgery. My dad had surgery. My grandpa had surgery. My aunt had surgery. My Mema was in the hospital for a month (almost didn't make it). Seriously?! And thankfully for me, mine was the easiest, least risky surgery of all. My family definitely deserves a better year this year.

The best part of my year? Meeting Seetha. Hands down.

If this last week is any indication of how the New Year will be, then I think I'm relatively safe from a 2013 repeat. Lots of good things have been going on - here's a recap, mostly in pictures. I wish I would have written earlier so I could say more, but I don't want the post to drag on too long!

Christmas day ended with some non-traditional Christmas drinks.

A new take on beer goggles

Ali had the "great" idea to do shots of Apple Cider Vinegar...

I can't believe I did it....

Cindy took it like a champ!

The next morning my mom arrived! Her first two days here consisted of a trip to see our wedding venue, appointments with two florists, and a trip to try on the wedding dress I liked best from when I went shopping with friends back in September (she tried hard to like it but I could tell she still wasn't nuts about it).

Then on December 27th.... GREAT news!!! Nicole had her little boy!!!

Welcome to the world Leif Arthur Hovland!!!!

Proud Papa Matt :-)

Nichi - I'm so freaking proud/amazed/ecstatic for you!! I know you will be a GREAT mom. :-)

Fast forward through the next few days of my mom's visit here... we did a LOT of wedding dress shopping. A LOT. I tried on so many - at each place I'd try to convince myself that I had found my dress - but there was always something about each one I wasn't crazy about. Friends... I was getting stressed. Thankfully on Monday morning I finally found my dress!!!! And there isn't one thing about it I don't like. Phew!!!! While I'm really excited to wear it again for the big day, at this point I am mostly just feeling relief because I was really stressing that I would never really find anything I loved. Yay! I said YES to the dress!!!

My mom and Andy were also suuuuuper helpful in getting my office decorated. I got some fabric about a year and a half ago. Now it's finally hanging on my walls. :-) I wouldn't say I'm looking forward to going back to work, but having a nicely decorated office will certainly make it easier.

Nice and Bright!

We also managed to get (almost) all of the parts to our invitations printed so they just need to be assembled. And my mom's been incredibly helpful in getting our bedrooms more put together.

Last night was New Year's Eve. We all headed to Buffalo to have dinner with Andy's family. It was really nice and I had a lot of fun sitting around the table with my mom, Andy's mom, and sister talking about wedding details. I'm lucky that everyone involved is happy and positive about the whole experience. No "zillas" in the crowd!

Later that night we headed up to Niagara Falls (Canada) to ring in the new year at the casino. It wouldn't be a visit with my mom without a trip to a casino somewhere!! The one in Niagara Falls is really nice.

Inside the casino

Weird fountain

Niagara Falls (Canada Side)

Unfortunately we did not win any money, but we did all our gambling in 2013, so I'd like to think I left all that bad luck behind. Then we went outside (quickly because it was freezing) for the fireworks.

Happy New Year Andy and Babs!

Happy New Year Mom!!!

The drive home was less than desired. It took us an hour to get out of the parking garage. It took another hour to get back across the border. Needless to say, I finally fell in bed at 4:45am. Good Lord.

And here it is - the "morning" of the New Year. I'm a little more tired/cranky/headachy than I would like to start off, but I think it's pretty understandable considering the amount of sleep I had last night. And of course I've made a resolution (two actually). 1) Get to work on time. I have to fix this. 2) Get rid of clothes. My plan is to get rid of 12 things in January, 11 things in February, 10 things in March, etc... by the end of the year I'll have donated 78 articles of clothing. And yes, I really do have that many that I can donate.

Now you're up to date! I hope you all have a fantastic New Year. :-)