1st Holiday Party of 2009 - Yay!!!

I love, love Christmas Parties!! Aren't they just the absolute best?!?! Last night Kevin and I headed to our favorite little vineyard for a little Christmas party. Complete with lots of yummy foods, dips, desserts and live Christmas music - the ladies singing did a great job. I love Christmas music and live Christmas music totally takes it to the next level!!

We found this adorable little place a while back and I'm just totally in love with it....for lots of reason but one big one is because the area really reminds me of where I grew up. :) The vineyard is out in the country and has fantastic views (just like the ranch where I grew up!)....we were blessed with a pretty amazing sunset last night - it was just lovely...sadly, no pictures though.

Surprisingly, I only took a few pictures (*gasp*) but, here's one of us in their adorable wine cellar.

Hope you all had a great weekend!!

It's Bedlam day at the Rooney's!!!

In-State Rivalry day is always so much fun for us!! Kevin and I are both HUGE football fan and happily await this day each year.

First up, the OU/OSU game - Boomer!!!! Sooner!!!!

It was a really great game - I'm so pleased to announce that the OU Sooners won!! Woo Hoo!!

Next, it was the Virginia Tech/UVA game - Go Hokies!!

We watched this game with the Virginia Tech & UVA Alumni groups, it was an absolute blast!! And....the best part - the Hokies won!!

Happy Black Friday!

Have fun, get some great deals and go home and eat some yummy leftovers!!

Our Thanksgiving

What a wonderful day! It was just Kevin and I and while we both missed our families, we had an absolute blast!

In the morning we cooked while watching the parade - gotta love the Macy's Day Parade!

My sous chef/amazing husband was a HUGE help in the kitchen!! :) Even all of my baking/cooking stuff (with the majority of the rest of my stuff, including shoes - eek!) is in storage while we are here in our little furnished corporate apartment, I still had big plans for this Thanksgiving....which meant that we had to get pretty creative with what we had - it's times like these that I'm glad I'm married to an engineer, he's super creative when it comes to stuff like that! ;)

Even with the lack supplies, we were still able to have an amazing Thanksgiving dinner that we both prepared together (- which was by far the BEST part).....I am so thankful for such an wonderful husband & sous chef. ;)

.....that all being said, I may have worked him a bit to hard - because, when I turned around here's how I found him.....don't worry though we totally took a lllloooonnnngggg nap after we ate! Ha!

After our nap, during our James Bond Marathon (which has become quite the tradition of ours) we decided it was the perfect time to put up our little tree......

Even though it's small, I think it still provides the room with that great Christmas ambiance. :)

I hope everyone had an absolutely lovely Thanksgiving!!

I'm off to get some sleep before tomorrow morning...because it's BLACK FRIDAY!!! YAY!!

A Thankful Time

I love Thanksgiving for soooo many reason but one main reason is that I truly feel that it's one holiday that hasn't been completely commercialized - it really is about giving thanks. What a wonderful idea this is! I was thinking about this concept earlier and came across this verse that I thought fit this idea perfectly -

"....do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." —Philippians 4:6

There are soooo many things I'm thankful for...here's a few

- Our Amazing God - His grace is beyond my understanding. ....definitely one HUGE part of the faith I've been learning about this year.

- My beyond words wonderful husband - his patience, constant love & positive attitude have been the biggest and best blessings of my life.

- My family....I love them more than words can describe. I don't know what I would do without them.

- The best friends a girl could ever ask for!! Girlfriends are soooo important - LOVE my girls!!

- Our new home we are building, such a blessing! God's timing is so perfect! I can't wait to open it to my friends & family and fill it with lots of wonderful memories.

- Great co-workers....so my current job isn't exactly what I went to school for but I have the best co-workers and I just know that God has placed me there....there is such a peace that comes with knowing you are exactly where God wants you.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!!

I hope you have a day filled with lots of yummy foods and blessings!!

I can't wait to read about how everyone's holiday went! :)

Let's Talk Turkey

....but, everyone knows that Thanksgiving food is soooo much more than just the turkey. Don't get me wrong, I love turkey (especially leftover turkey sandwiches - yum!) but, I think I might be more of a "sides" kind of a girl. ;)

I think we finally have our menu planned out - which is probably a good thing since Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Ha Ha!!

Our 2009 Thanksgiving Menu

Beer Brined Turkey

White Wine Sage Gravy

Cranberry-Lemon Sauce

Bacon Leek Stuffing

Garlic & Herb Mashed Potatoes

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Maple Glazed Carrots

Pioneer Woman's Dinner Rolls

Desserts:

- Autumn Apple Pie

- Bourbon Balls

- Mini Pumpkin Pies

Can't wait to start cooking!! Yay!! And, of course, to start eating!! Ha!

Our Artsy Weekend

Omaha has a great theater and symphony hall and when we moved back we were determined to take advantage of these great resources. ....PS if you are ever in the Omaha area and are looking for something to do, I highly recommend checking them out!

Friday - Kevin and I have a great Christmas tradition of getting a real Christmas tree but, this year since we have a very small area, we chose to get an artificial tree this year. Luckily Garden Ridge is having some absolutely amazing deals and we were able to pick up this adorable little pre-lit tree....plus, I'm pretty exciting about being able to use this tree somewhere in our new house next Christmas!!







Saturday - Wow, Saturday was a busy and full day! I work on Saturdays so anything we do has to happen after 7pm-ish. Earlier in the week, Kevin and I learned that the Omaha Symphony would be preforming a special Patriotic performance and were pretty excited when were able to get tickets!! We had a terrific time!! The Symphony did a wonderful job! It was my first time in the Holland Center (Omaha's Symphony Hall) and I was super impressed - not only was it a gorgeous building but, the acoustics were just as impressive!

There were tons of Christmas trees - yay!! Gotta love the taken yourself pics! Ha!

Sunday - Earlier in the week Kevin said that he had a surprise for me for Sunday afternoon...but that was all he said. It's pretty hard to surprise me - and actually, this was the very first time I actually didn't guess my surprise....shocking!!! The surprise was tickets to Cirque Dreams Illumination!!! Since they were only in Omaha for 3 days, I never thought we would be able to go - hence, another reason for my surprise. I was soooo thrilled! The performance was out-of-this-world amazing!!! I've been wanting to see a Cirque Production for years!! The show was at Omaha's Orpheum Theater - which I thought was the prefect backdrop for this breath-taking show!!

When this pic was taken I had *just* found out what we were doing & I was super surprised!!

Another Christmas tree - yay!!! Luckily, this time a kind stranger offered to take it - sooo thankful!

That just about sums up our weekend! It was pretty full - BUT we still have to figure out our Thanksgiving menu - eek!! Soooo not like me to wait till the last minute to plan a menu! I *heart* menu planning!! ;)

Hope you had a great weekend!!

Our East Coast Adventures

While we were living on the East Coast, we found ourselves blessed with lots of time to do tons of traveling. It was so neat to have soooo much available just within a days drive – which meant that we took LOTS of day trips. Yay!!!

Virginia Tech - Of course, one of the first trips we took was to Kevin’s beloved Alma Mater – Go Hokies!! We ended up going on “move-in” weekend which was a bit chaotic BUT we had so much fun!

Philadelphia – Kevin’s Cousin attends college there were she is a dance major – how fun!!! We spent the day with her and did a bit of sightseeing. It’s such a beautiful and historic place.

Redskins - Attended a Redskins Pro Football Game....GO Skins!!!!!

Robooth Beach – having a beach nearby is a pretty exciting thought to this Midwest girl! We took every opportunity to hang out by the coast – we even headed up to this great little beach in Delaware.

Annapolis – I just LOVE Annapolis. Honestly, I feel as though it is the place I am meant to be. Have you ever been somewhere and just felt as though you were “home?” That’s how I feel every time I am in Annapolis. One day, I will live there. J

Washington DC – we have such an amazing capital. I feel so blessed to have been born in such a great nation. Since DC was just “down the street” we went quite often. We totally did some pretty tourist-ie stuff while we were there (which now I’m pretty happy we did) like taking a guided tour of the capital building and attending a show at the Kennedy Center. I just love DC and am so glad that Kevin will be traveling there pretty frequently….I will definitely be tagging along for some of those trips! ;)

Alexandria

Capitol

Kennedy Center

Baltimore – we lived about 20 minutes away from the inner harbor so it was kind of our go to place when we wanted something fun to do. It seems as though there was always something fun going on. I especially loved their aquarium!

Virginia Vineyards – Virginia has lots and lots of vineyards & wineries – I was in HEAVEN!! We visited several of them....here are 2 pics of vines from different vineyards (I don't remember where each was from though - sorry)

By far, my absolute favorite was Blackfoot Ankle Vineyards. It was just amazing! The facility itself was a completely “green” building. The building was built with straw and covered in mud (yup, dirt and water mixed to make a clay-like consistency). Even part of the roof is “green” – literally actually, it has a working garden on it!

Here's a sneak peak inside their walls....

Just as we found out we were leaving, one of my best friends was moving to the area....total bummer! But, we were able to spend some wonderful quality girl time together. Since Kevin has lots of friends in that area, we were also able to lots of time with those guys - including seeing one of his friend's new babies (yay for babies!!) and attending a wedding....I *heart* weddings!!!

Where HAVE you been?!?! --- Summer Part II

Where have I been?!?! Well my friends….that is such a good question! The answer is – EVERYWHERE! Ok, well obviously that is an impossibility…but, it seems like it. Ha!

So…we started this summer thinking we were going to move (permanently) to Washington DC – we even found ourselves the cutest condo to rent

HOWEVER, God had other plans for us…in fact, those plans included a move back to OMAHA, Nebraska. Yup, that’s right – we moved back to Omaha. But, this post isn’t about Omaha (that post is coming soon) – nope, it’s about all the fun, new, excited places went and all the exciting things we did and were able to be part of. So, here’s a sprint through my Summer….picking up where I left off (which was after our little vacay out West)


Right after we found our adorable little condo, we headed to Europe. Kevin and I spent a week and a half traveling around - we had the most amazing time!! And while I took thousands (literally thousands) of pictures....here are a few highlights

Barcelona, Spain - enjoying some yummy tapas!

Malta

Naples, Italy

Rome, Italy - if you click to enlarge this picture you can see the Colosseum. I have tons and tons of pictures of it too but, I keep reminding myself this is a sprint! Ha!!

Vatican City

Here a Picture of the Volcano we passed on our way to Livorno. So neat!

Tuscany, Italy

Cinque Terra, Italian Coast

Cannes, France

Monte Carlo, Monaco

After our European adventure, we made our way back to Omaha, packed up our apartment and made our way to Maryland. Along the way, we made a few stops.....of course ;)

Churchill Downs

An adorable little winery we found in West Virginia

Once we were settled in Maryland, we decided to take full advantage of our new geographical location and head up to see Kevin's family in Maine. What a gorgeous drive!! Although Maine is quite a drive from Maryland I didn't even mind since the scenery was just so beautiful.

For instance, we saw this hot air balloon just sailing over some farmland - so picturesque!!

Kevin has so many wonderful memories at his family's lakehouse so, when we chose to stay there. I can't wait to take our children there one day - I just know they will love it as much a Kevin and I do!

On our drive back to Maryland, we stopped at West Point. My Mom was stationed here when I was in grade school and I was just dying to go back and show Kevin one of the places I great up. I'm so happy to say that it was just as I remembered it. :)

We were home for a few days before we were off again. This time we were off to John Paul's Army Boot Camp graduation. Since his graduation was at Ft Bragg in Georgia, we were able to spend a few days with our friends near Atlanta. We love the Cagles and are always soooo happy when we are able to spend time with them. This time, our big outing was to a natural water slide. It was sooo cool!!! If you ever find yourself near Atlanta I highly recommend checking it out. I must mentioned that it is quite a hike out there - but well worth it.

Here's Caran and I heading down the slide - yippee!

I could do an entire post on John Paul's graduation (and I still might) - there really aren't enough words for me to describe how happy, excited and all-around PROUD of him I am. In addition, it was just amazing to watch him fulfill his dream of being a solider in the United States Army. Ever since he could talk, he has talked about the day he would become a solider - like I said, I could not have been/be any prouder. Definitely one of the happiest days of my life!!!

Here's John Paul (on the left) and his buddy Valentine. It was family day and we were so happy that Valentine was able to hang out with us for the day.

My family right after graduation.

John Paul and I right after graduation - yeah, it didn't take us long before we hit up the Starbucks - ha!

Well....I think that's enough for one post - and I'm almost done with the summer, yay!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!