12/12/12

I wouldn't be surprised if I did a post like this last year too on 11/11/11 (I'll have to look back and check), but I gotta tell ya, I LOVE when random things like these crazy dates happen, or even when I hit 100,000 miles on the car or something. I'm odd. But really, only once a century will people see dates like 12/12/12. I get super excited, and most of my close friends know this about me. I was tempted to spread my love for it all over Facebook today, but I was reluctant because it is also Aaron Rodgers Day here in Wisconsin. I love him, and I love the Packers, but everyone was posting about it, so I thought, "Eh. Nobody cares about my weird quirks." ;) That being said, I thought I'd include something here just to mark this neat day in history since we'll never see it again in our lifetimes! Sadly, I was just thinking, "Oooh. I'm excited for when it's 2/2/22." Stop that, Renee! No need to be wishing 10 years away. At that time, I'll be 10 years older, and since I'm freaking out about my impending 27th birthday in a couple weeks, I think I'll avoid thinking that far ahead. Ha! Okay, now I'm just rambling. Hope you all had a good day. Happy 12/12/12! :)

Badgers!!!

Sometimes I wonder why I even have a blog, especially in moments like this when I'm posting about something that happened 2 months ago. Ha! Anyway, I've got a little time, so I just wanted to post about a fun little excursion to Madison with some of my favorite ladies. My best friend Erin went to school at UW-Madison, so she and I used to frequent Badger football games as often as we could. We've tried our best to continue that tradition since graduating. Two years ago, she and I went with our friend Jill, who went to school at University of Minnesota. Jill, being the traitor she is;), came with another Minnesota friend and we had ourselves a friendly little Badgers/Gophers rivalry for the homecoming game. Of course, the Badgers won. :) Well, since we had so much fun that time, we decided to do it again this year, and we added a few more people into the mix. We had 3 Badgers fans and 3 Gophers fans. Fortunately, we're all good-natured, so it wasn't THAT much of a rivalry, ha! We lucked out in that it was somewhere between 50-60 degrees (after a stretch of really cold weather), so it was a perfect day, especially because the Badgers won (again)! We met up with Erin's parents and some of their friends for an awesome tailgate, and then we headed to the stadium for the game. Some of us remember more of that game than others... ;) Overall, it was a fantastic time! Take a look!

Bus to the tailgate!

 Gopher girls! (Boo;)

Badger girls! (Yay;)

 

The whole crew!

Our seats were awesome!

 Back to the tailgate after the game. It only went downhill from here... ;)

 Me and Steve-o!

 The adults schooling us in tippy cup, ha!

Aren't these cups just hilarious?!

Stay, Stay, Stay

I recently bought the new Taylor Swift CD called "Red," and I'll be the first to admit that I wasn't 100% crazy about the CD the first time through. Perhaps it's because I listened to in it in the car with L when all he did was try to sing over it with old songs of hers. ;) Either way, I'm happy to announce that the more I listen to it, the more I love it. One of my favorite songs on the album is called "Stay, Stay, Stay." Kind of talks through the ups and downs of a relationship and why it's good to stay. Makes me smile. Take a listen. Hope you like it!

Meg & Kiddos!

Considering my newest niece (Meg Olivia Smith) is already almost 5 weeks old, I'm feeling like a pretty terrible aunt for just posting some pictures now. I was fortunate enough to be able to meet the little darling the day after she was born, and boy what a treat! In true Smith fashion, she has the chunkiest cheeks and couldn't be any more adorable!! I also had the joy of having her and ALL the kiddos, along with my brother and sister-in-law, stay with me in my cozy little one-bedroom apartment last weekend! They were down here for a wedding, and we figured them staying here was better than cramming into a hotel room. The kiddos were really good and we had a great time! Or at least I did. ;) Anyway, rather than doing separate entries, I have included some photos from last weekend's adventure too. Enjoy! And sorry for being so MIA again. You know how that goes... ;)

MEETING MEG

 Holding her for the first time! :)

 Tayt: "Nae Nae, I'm going to do something funny. Pretend you don't know I'm here." ;)

 Those cheeks!!

 Proud big sisters!

 Peyton and Nash at the hospital!

Me and Peyton. He's getting so big!!

SMITH FAMILY SLEEPOVER:)

 Six of seven piled on the air mattress. How cute! :)

 Movie time!

 It's true what they say. Drew can can sleep anywhere. ;)

 Goofy Lia as usual!

 Me and Nash!

 Drew doesn't seem very excited.

Crammin' together on the little couch! :)

Settling In!

Yo, yo! I am here! Seriously, this is becoming a monthly blog, and this makes me very sad. :-/ Not like excuses matter to most people, but here are my excuses:

1. I've had lots of doctor appointments over the past month or so, trying to get to the bottom of a few health issues I've had. I briefly mentioned it in my last post, but it has been very overwhelming, time-consuming, and exhausting! I will do my best to provide more context soon, but it's a lot of info, and I want to share a few more exciting things! :)
2. Work has been INSANE. I feel like I'm always saying that, but it legitimately drains me. I'm getting a lot of solid experience, but it's been tough, not gonna lie. I just keep getting more and more responsibilities without getting any extra time or compensation to do them, and it doesn't do a whole lot for my morale. Welcome to adulthood, right? ;) Trying to stay positive!
3. My work is paying for me to take some courses to complete a Social Media Certificate program through the university. Since part of my responsibilities are marketing for the office, it made sense for them to cover it, and I'm glad they did! It will help me in my current job and in the future. This falls into the list because classes mean homework. And there's a decent amount! I'm not used to coming home and not being able to just sit around. Ha.

Okay, those are the main things. And travel, of course, because I'm always on the go. Now that L is in Madison, I've spent much more time there. And I got to go home last weekend and meet my newest niece!! More to come on that. Anyway, the main purpose of this entry is to give you a glimpse into my new apartment! You can take a look at my old apartment here! I moved on October 1 (man, over 2 weeks ago already), and fortunately, I'm getting pretty settled already! Despite what my parents would tell you about my childhood, I don't like living in a mess. ;) Rather than talking too much about the transition, aside from the fact that the tenant before me did a TERRIBLE job cleaning my new place, I thought I'd just show you some photos! First you'll see the apartment before I moved anything in, and then you'll get a "finished" glimpse. Take a look and let me know what you think! I personally love it. :)

BEFORE

 View when you walk into my apartment.

 One view of livingroom.

 Hallway view from kitchen/livingroom area.

(Hallway closet ahead, bedroom right, bathroom left.)

 View from hallway towards kitchen/entryway. Coat closet straight ahead.

 Walking into the bedroom!

 Bedroom closet. (It's bigger than it looks.)

 View of other window from inside bedroom.

 Bathroom!

AFTER

View when you walk into the apartment!

Another kitchen view (from the livingroom).

View of livingroom from the kitchen!

(Notice how I got the table, my desk, and my bookshelf all to fit quite well!:)

 Last kitchen view. ;)

Livingroom view towards the kitchen!

Another livingroom angle. I love my bookshelf. It holds my books, movies, and lots of trinkets! :)

Hallway view.

Rest assured, I am making GOOD use of the closet. :)

View from hallway towards the kitchen.

 Walking into the bedroom!

 A little better view.

 Bedroom view looking towards closet.

 Bedroom view towards window and TV.

 View from closet.

(Notice the HUGE breaker box in the middle of the wall. Who's idea was that?!?!)

 One side of my closet. I make sure to use every inch of available space. ;)

 Bathroom!

 Another bathroom angle!

Still some work to be done, but... WHAT DO YOU THINK?! :)