Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to the one who makes me smile and laugh everyday, the one who loves me despite my faults, the one who supports me no matter what crazy ideas I come up with, the one who makes me feel safe and protected, the one who I hope to be next too for many birthdays to come! Happy Birthday to my best friend, my husband!

Today Jason turns 26 which means he still is not as old as I am. Oh, the curse of marrying a younger man ;)


Happy Birthday, Jason! I love you!
I'll post next week of all the celebrating to come this weekend!

More Resolutions

While my main goal for 2010 is to find a new career, I have several smaller resolutions as well. Some of which will help support my big goal and some of which are just things I need to do!

1.) Write more. This applies not only to blogging but also to writing creatively. As a Christmas present Jason paid for me to take an online writing class which actually starts today. I've taken a couple of these classes before and really enjoyed them. Writing is a great outlet for me, something I have enjoyed since I was young and maybe just maybe something I might think about trying to make a career out of. We'll see how things go. The course I am taking is Writing for Children's Books. I'm really excited to learn about specific techniques that will apply to writing for children since this is not something I've written before. The course is taught by an author and provides lessons and assignments each week. It's a great way to get feedback from a legitimate source. If I'm brave enough maybe I'll post some of my assignments here for your review as well.

2.) Read more. I used to read every night before I went to bed but now that time is typically spent watching tv. I really want to get back into reading. It's much better for the mind and will only help my writing skills. I just finished reading The Alchemist. My mom got me this book hoping it would provide some inspiration in figuring out what I want to do with my career. It's very good and has a great message about listening to your heart and following your dreams. Exactly what I need right now!

3.) Attend church regularly. This needs to become a priority for us. We easily get caught up on the weekends and miss church. We can't make excuses anymore and just have to make the time no matter what.

4.) Cook more. Jason and I love to go out to eat. We really enjoy trying out new restaurants and foods. But we both agreed that we need to cut back a little bit in 2010. Cooking at home will help us eat healthier and save some money. So time to put all those cookbooks I got for the wedding to use! I will share any favorites that we find along the way!

5.) Get on a good workout routine. I am very sporadic with my workouts. Some weeks I will go to the gym 5 days and others none. I need to find a good routine that I can stick with.

I'm hoping that 2010 will be a year of discovery for me, a year that I make some big decisions and a year that I better myself all around.

Come Away With Me

It's been freezing here in St. Louis for the past week with temperatures in the single digits and snow on the ground. I am sitting here with a big cup of cocoa and figure this is the perfect time to share some of our honeymoon pictures (a little overdue) and take myself back to the warmth of the beach. Come with me on a little journey to Maui, Hawaii or as I like to refer to it, Heaven on Earth.

When deciding on a honeymoon location we looked at several tropical locations, but in the end Maui had everything we were looking for. It offered the perfect combination of relaxation and fun activities.

We left St. Louis bright and early the Tuesday following the wedding.

After a long day of traveling we finally landed in Maui!

We headed to our resort, The Sheraton Maui Resort and Spa. It was gorgeous!

We got settled, popped a bottle of champagne and sat on our patio enjoying the view of the ocean.


We had dinner at a restaurant at the resort, Black Rock Steak and Seafood.

The resort had an amazing pool and we spent several days just lounging and enjoying some drinks.


I had to have my drink in this coconut monkey. It was ridiculously overpriced, but hey it was our honeymoon!

We ate tons of great seafood and fruit while we were in Maui. It was all so fresh! The best meal we had was at Mama's Fish House.
This appetizer was grilled papaya filled with steak, onions and tomatoes. Quite possibly the best thing I have ever tasted!

Crab Stuffed Mahi Mahi topped with Lobster

Clean plate club!

Dessert! Chocolate Mousse in a pastry shell made to look like a black pearl. YUM!

We also did a lot of fun activities while we were in Maui.
Parasailing


The view was amazing

We went to the Old Lahaina Luau


Pig Roast

Traditional Hawaiian Dancers

Ziplining was one of our favorite things we did. It was so fun!



We did a road tour of the island called the Road to Hana. You can drive this yourself but we decided to hire a driver. The roads are very narrow and winding not to mention that you are literally on the edge of a cliff for a portion of the drive! It was very interesting to see the different landscapes throughout the island. Maui has 12 microsystems varying from desert like to rain forest.
We started off with breakfast at this cute diner.


We stopped at the Maui Winery for a tasting


The Seven Sacred Pools

We saw lots of waterfalls

We stopped at a black sand beach


Of course we spent a lot of time on the beach and Jason did some snorkeling.

The colors in Maui amazed me. They were so vibrant



We also saw many beautiful sunsets

We had an amazing time on our honeymoon and loved Maui. It's a beautiful place and the culture and people are very laid back. We hope that we are able to go back someday!

Moving Forward

I am anticipating 2010 will be much quieter for us than 2009. Our calendar for January is practically empty which is kind of nice! It's hard to believe that we have entered a new decade. 10 years ago I was 17 and in high school. 1o years ago I would have predicted that I would be married, have a house and maybe even a child, and be working my dream job by this point in my life. It's funny to think back about your perception of your future self. For some reason I always thought I would be taller when I got older ;) I was pretty accurate for the most part. I have the husband and the house and would like to start a family within the next couple of years. The one thing that I don't have is the dream job. So I have decided that 2010 is the year that I am really going to focus on myself and figure out what that dream job actually is and pursue it to the fullest.

This would be a lot easier if I had the slightest idea of what I wanted to be when I grow up. Throughout high school and college I always thought I wanted to be a business woman. I envisioned myself in a power suit and heels and working in some high rise building. While I actually started out college majoring in Food Science & Nutrition (I quickly realized that was not for me!) I ended up with a Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Marketing.

I fell into my current career path by chance. I got an internship in the procurement department at Anheuser-Busch after I graduated. Things naturally progressed and now I'm a buyer in corporate purchasing at a different company. Prior to my internship I didn't even know what procurement was and now I feel like it's the only thing I am qualified to do. Problem is I really don't enjoy it. I've been in my current role for 2 1/2 years and it's time to move on. While I don't really know what I want to do, I do know what I don't want to do. I want to get out of procurement and likely out of corporate America all together. I thought that was the world I wanted to belong to, but I've found that it's not for me. I'm not agressive enough (I've been told this time and time again) and don't enjoy sitting in an office all day.

So my new year's resolution/goal is to take some time to really figure out what I'm good at and what my passion is. I want a job that is challenging but that I love, or even just like, going to everyday. Do you like your job? How did you figure out what career was right for you?

Looking Back

2009 was a big year for us! Here's a recap based on our blog posts over the past year.


January

• We rang in 2009 at home on the couch since Jason was sick
• Our friends Jessica and Daniel got married at the Ninth Strett Abbey
• We booked our honeymoon to Maui
• We celebrated Jason's 25th birthday with a Wii party

February

• Wedding planning was in full swing with cake tastings, registering, and selecting our save the dates
• We celebrated Valentine's day with a quiet dinner at home
  
• I spent a few days in Connecticut visiting my sister and Jason celebrated Mardi Gras in Soulard

March

• More wedding planning (this pretty much consumed 2009!) as we got the Save the Dates in the mail and ordered bridesmaids dresses
• Our friends Marisa and Chris got married at the 3rd Degree Glass Factory
• My mom's birthday
  
• March Madness

April

• Jason and I spent some time outdoors exploring Lone Elk Park and Forest Park
• It was a rough month at work with a lot of layoffs at my company and a pay cut for everyone else
• I found out that my sister and her family were moving back to St. Louis
• I had my first bridal shower hosted by my mom, sister and bridesmaids
  
• Easter

May

• We decided to buy a house and started looking
• Celebrated Mother's Day
• I was excited to begin receiving wedding related items; shoes, napkins, bridesmaids gifts
• We found our house and put a contract on it

June

• We met with the florist and picked out our flowers for the wedding
• The bridesmaids dresses came in
• We hit the 100 day mark until the wedding
• I had my first major bridezilla moment and fired our stationer (so glad I did this because I loved the invitations that we ended up with!)
• I ordered 3 pairs of wedding shoes before finding the perfect pink pair
• We closed on our house
• Jason finished grad school

July

• We moved into our house over 4th of July weekend
• I had my second bridal shower hosted by Jason's family (the shower was actually in June but I posted about it in July)
  
• We started learning and adjusting to being homeowners
• Merrill was born
• Wedding invitations went in the mail
• Jason had his bachelor party in Memphis

August
I didn't blog at all between August and October! So this is from memory

• Had my bachelorette party in Chicago
• My sister and her family moved back to St. Louis from Connecticut and we met Merrill for the first time
• Celebrated my 27th birthday
• Finalized wedding details

September (by far the best month of the year!)

• The wedding!
• Honeymoon in Maui

October

• Many of my blog posts were recaps of the wedding. I was still on cloud nine!
• We participated in the Walk Now for Autism Speaks fundraiser and walk
• We made our first trip to Eckerts for apple and pumpkin picking
• We carved pumpkins with my family
• Millie's 2nd birthday
• Halloween

November

• Fall kickball tournament - we took 3rd place!
• Jason's dad's birthday
• Playing at the park with Millie and Merrill
• Unfortunately, November also brought one of the hardest times of the year - the passing of Jason's Uncle Skip
• We got our wedding proofs
• Thanksgiving

December

• I came to terms with my new name ;)
• Jason and I celebrated 5 years together
• We celebrated my dad's 60th with a surprise party
• Baking lots of cookies with both sides of the family
• Christmas Eve with Jason's family
• Christmas Day with my family
• Lots of time with family and friends

Whew! No wonder 2009 flew by. We were busy! We accomplised a lot of big things in 2009 - bought a house, got married, Jason got his MBA. Jason and I have both commented that we won't know what to do with ourselves in 2010 without so much to do!