Looking Back on 2011

Wow...I can't believe 2011 is over! It went by sooo fast. It was an amazing year for Kevin and I, mostly because it brought us 2 of the most wonderful blessings. So...here's a look back our at 2011..

January ~ my best friend got married!! Her wedding was just gorgeous and tons of fun!

Kevin and I at the wedding, isn't my Maid of Honor dress gorgeous??? She did an amazing job of picking our dresses, and her dress...it was beyond fabulous!!!!

The beautiful bride, in a gorgeous Vera Wang dress, moments before she walked down the aisle...she is just glowing!

February ~ We spent Valentine's Day in Colorado and went on a fun Valentine's Day double date with some friends! It was such a fun trip and Colorado is such a beautiful state.

March ~ Kevin parents came to visit. They like to tour little vineyards (just like us) so we took them to a few of our favs. Here we are a one of them...the random lady in the middle of the pic is the Vineyard owner.

April ~ We took a really quick trip to Norman, Oklahoma (home of the Sooners!!) and this seemed to be the only picture we took...it's me in front of my beautiful Sorority house. Like I said, it was a super quick trip. Lol ;)

May ~ This is the month we went to Coronado, California. Oh my goodness, it was such a lovely island. I could have stayed there forever. After this trip we're totally planning to retire there...like next year. ;)

June ~ My bff (the one that got married in January) and I had a fabulous little girl's weekend in Kansas City. LOVE the Plaza!! Can't wait for our next one!

July ~ my friend Katie and I attended Omaha's 'Red Sky Music Festival' - we went to the Jason Aldean concert, he was uh-mazing!! We had such a fun night. One of the best nights of my whole summer!!

August ~ Molly and I tagged along on Kevin's business trip to New Mexico. Such a beautiful state, the desert is so neat. Also...on this trip, I found out I was pregnant!! SOOOO EXCITING!!

September ~ Kevin and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. It's just crazy to think that we've been married for 3 years now - sometimes it seems like we've been married forever but other times things still seem so 'new,' I think it's a good mix. ;) As a wedding gift to each other, we decided to purchase new toasting glasses since ours never made it home from the reception. But, the BEST anniversary gift of all, was learning that we were pregnant with TWINS!!! What an amazing blessing!! After a 3 year fertility journey, we were overjoyed. I can't even tell you how thankful we were/are for this amazing gift!!

Toasting Glasses!

First picture of our TWINS!!!

October ~ I turned 30!! EEEKKKKKK!!! We celebrated with a trip to Florida and the Bahamas. We had a fantastic time! On my actual birthday, Kevin treated me to a spa day - seriously, best Spa experience of my life!!

Here we are on the balcony of our hotel in Fort Lauderdale...look gorgeous beach...love.

A week after we returned from our trip, we learned that the twin were BOYS!!! How exciting!!! For weeks after that just saying things like "My boys and I," "When we do --fill in the blank-- with our sons," brought tears to my eyes. As I mentioned before, this has been quite the journey for us so we already had names picked out - we had such a wonderful time telling our friends and family that Connor and Grayson will be here in April!! Even now, I tear up writing about the experience. I'm just so thankful God chose me to been a Mom to these two precious little boys!!

November ~ we went to Maine (Kevin's home) for Thanksgiving!! I just love Maine, it's such a beautiful state. We had a wonderful time and were able to take a picture of all of the 'Rooney' cousins. It was sooo amazing to be with his whole family!!

...Do you see those baby boys in the picture??? Those are our nephews that Kevin's sister had last December (2010). So, our little boys will have twin boy cousins to play with - SO PERFECT!!

December ~ Our first snow of the season!! I was eager to 'play' in it - even if that meant scooping. Ha!!

And, of course we took our Christmas card pic - and you can see my little baby bump!

What a fabulous 2011!!

I can't believe all the amazing things that happened in 2011 and I know God has even more amazing things in store for us in 2012!! Most of all, Kevin and I can't wait to meet these two wonderful boys...

Connor

And Grayson...he's waving 'Hi' ;)

Love these boys so much already...isn't it crazy how that works?!?!

Merry Monday!!

What's 'merry' about today?

C U P C A K E S !!

I cannot get enough of them! Before this pregnancy, I didn't have much of a sweet tooth but wow, it sure seems like these babies loooove their sweets!!

We went home to Oklahoma City this weekend...which was were the cupcake extravaganza began...1st up, Cuppies & Joe.

Here's their website

their menu is uh-mazing!!!

My favorite flavor is their Boom Boom Pow ~ it's a vanilla bean cuppie w/chocolate buttercream, caramel, and sea salt. It's beyond delicious!!

We may have had to take a few home...ya know, just a few. ;)

Ok, so when I imagine what Heaven will be like, it's definitely a version of this place. Pinkitzel is every 'Girly Girl's' dream come true. They manage to combine an upscale boutique (complete with clothes, baby girl clothes and home decor) with a cupcake and coffee bar. Seriously friends, it's heaven.

Here's their website

While I was down this weekend, my best friend, Christina, threw me a baby shower...AT Pinkitzel!!! Yes, it was perfect. Truly, there aren't any other words to describe it. Here's a picture of the room where the shower was held. This pic is from their website...I'll be doing a baby shower post soon with lots more pics. Believe it or not, the room looked soooo much cuter for the shower. LOVE the antique circus theme!!

On our way back to Omaha, we stopped at the Plaza in Kansas City. After doing a little bit of shopping, we had to stop at KC's well-known cupcake place.

It was just a small store front...small but adorable! Here's their website

Super yummy & fun flavors!! My favorite was their seasonal flavor 'Peppermint Hot Chocolate,' it was delicious!!

Now that we are home, I'm still craving cupcakes. Luckily, I went to a Christmas Party tonight that was right next door to Jones Bros. Cupcakes!! Pretty sure it was meant! Ha!!

Here's their website

If you're ever in Omaha and are looking for a place to grab a tasty cupcake and cup of coffee (or a glass of wine) I highly recommend Jones Bros.

Inspiration

My weekend has been F U L L of inspiration!! And, in God's perfect time, it came at a when I was in desperate need of a hefty dose of inspiration!

It all started Friday evening...while watching the news, I learned about Jonathan Stark and his 'little' social experiment. Basically, he loaded a Starbucks' card then put it on the internet - kinda on a first come, first serve basis. But then, people started reloading the card...how inspiring!! In a time when there is so much sadness happening it's refreshing to hear stories like this one.

It seems like such a small thing - buying a coffee for someone but really, it's all about the little things, ya know?!? Plus, it's Starbucks!! What a fun way to bless someone!!! ;)

Saturday, I went to the Women of Faith conference. It was fabulously wonderful. Truly, I was so blessed by each speaker and performer, and their worship team - incredible!!!! The event really was 'Over the Top.' Really, that's the best way to describe it!!

***Side note, I would love and I mean LOVE if there was an mp3 of the whole event - if anyone knows of such a thing I'd looooove it if you could pass the info my way. Thanks! ;)

Saturday evening, Kevin and I went to our favorite frozen custard place (yum!!) and then decided rented Soul Surfer. The movie was really just an after thought - I had no idea how amazing it would be, no idea how much I needed to see it, no idea how much God would speak to me through it. Seriously, amazing.

If you haven't already, I highly recommend seeing it as soon as possible. ....It's available at Red Box. ;)

Sunday, I met two good friends for brunch at the Wheatfields - which might just be the best place for brunch in town.

We had some fantastic food and even better conversation!! Catching up with good friends on a gorgeous and lazy Sunday morning - does it get better than that?!?! Nope, didn't think so. ;) Plus, these ladies gave me a HUGE boost of inspiration!! It's soooooo wonderful to know I have some amazing Christian women praying for/with me. Love those girls! So blessed by their friendship.

I think the rest of the day is going to be spent finishing up The Help while drinking green tea-lemonades (my newest Starbucks fav).

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend full of inspiration

Fabulous Girls Weekend in KC

This weekend my bff, Christina, and I met up in Kansas City. Not only is it one of the Midwest's hidden gems but it's also the perfect half way point for us.

We both arrived Friday and didn't waste any time catching up! The weekend was a nonstop chat fest, yup, it pretty prefect!

Our first stop Saturday morning was the plaza...friends, I *heat* the plaza!!!

Not only does it have fabulous shopping but the architecture is a-mazing!

Picking up a few fun items at Mac!

Halls department store....where I bought this...

I've been wanting it for what seems like forever now but, whenever I finally get around to getting it, it's always sold out. I'm beyond in LOVE. Ha!

More of the gorgeous plaza - love their fountains!

After a fun day of shopping and yummy eating, we saw Bridesmaid's

What a great weekend!! We are already planning our next girls weekend get-a-way!!

Hope you had a fantastic weekend too!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday

Gosh, can you believe it's already time for the Super Bowl?!?!

{Gooooo Steelers!!!}

Don't get me wrong, I loooove me some football...but, I think we all know that the Super Bowl is about so much more than just the football.

Friends

{This was taken at last year's Super Bowl party}

Food

{Buffalo Chicken Dip - a definite football fav!! It's soooo yummy....kinda dangerous though, one bit and you'll understand why it's nickname is "crack dip" - Ha!!}

{BLT Dip...if you've never had this one before you have to make it immediately!! It will be the hit of your party - it's that good!!}

{Guacamole, couldn't forget this football game day classic!!}

{No football party would be complete without chili!!}

{How cute are these football cake pops?!?! Perfect for the Super Bowl!!}

And…Commercials

So...Who will you be cheering on today??? We'll be cheering for the Steelers!!!

...Yeah ah ha
you know what it is
Black and yellow, black and yellow
Black and yellow, black and yellow...