Thoughts on 2011

Its been about a year since we have started this blog and I really enjoy writing about our lives and also following our friend's blogs as well. I asked Brendan what his thoughts on 2011 are and in one word he said. "Awesome". Awesome, indeed. What a great year it has been I think we have broken some kind of new record for us by not just taking on one new hobby this year but many hobbies. The two biggest ones have been mountain biking and rock climbing. I never thought I would enjoy these two sports as much as I do. There is nothing like screaming down a hill or climbing a rock like a little kid again to remind you that you are capable of anything. I did knit my sweater this year and bake some bread as well but none of those hobbies compared to everything else we did. The best part was always having my best friend by my side to do all those things!
Besides my best friend and husband this past year has also included some great, life long friendships. I am so grateful for our friends Andy and Lexi and Sara and Zane. Through almost all of these fun hobbies we always have company, which makes everything so much more fun. We have also been blessed to have more family here in Utah in 2011 with Brandy and Tommy only three miles away and Charlie down in Salt Lake. As much as I miss people in Minnesota, I have not been homesick here.
We are looking forward to spending Christmas with our MN families and friends but ringing in the New Year here! I believe 2012 will be another incredible year with big plans!
Love
Alyssa and Brendan

December

Time just continues to move on faster and faster! Our Thanksgiving was wonderful. We continued a fun tradition with friends and ran a turkey day 5k in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. Afterwards we all went over to our friends house and had an awesome day. Literally the entire day was devoted to eating, drinking, crafting, games, hot tubing and being merry! We are so lucky that we have friends here in Utah who love to do this as much as we do.
The next day Brendan and I also continued a new tradition for us from last year where we popped champagne and put up the tree and all of the decorations. I have a Ballerina tree that Brendan has slowly tried to integrate into a non ballerina tree. I have been collecting ballet ornaments since I was a very little girl and putting up the tree every year always brings back so many good memories. Somewhere down the road I hope we have a little girl, a white tree, hot pink lights and we can have a very specific Alyssa Ballerina tree and maybe a White regular green Christmas tree elsewhere! I love the advent season just something about December always makes me happy!
In a really good news, Brendan got a full time job! It is as a sales analyst for a company here in Utah called InContact. He does not graduate until this fall but this spring semester he only has one and a half credits really left. So he decided to get a jump on his classmates and get a job. He interviewed with a few companies but really enjoyed the culture and connected with the people at InContact. I am so proud and happy for him and us, hopefully this will lead to some exciting things ahead in 2012!
Love
Alyssa and Brendan!

Pictures from my parents trip!