Is it too late?

Sorry folks... this is the only picture you're gonna see from our Christmas.  We took 654 pictures of our Christmas break.  The thought of picking out 10-20 for the blog is too daunting to face.  So I picked the funniest from the bunch.  The new Olivier family tradition that was started this year was an ugly Christmas sweater competition.  Micheal won hands down but GGG and Joshua made the top three as well.  Funniest part is that Joshua's was a crushed velvet woman's sweater I got a few years back for another ugly sweater party we had.  He definitely pulled it off better than myself though ;)

Once upon a time... 5 years ago...

...there was this boy and this girl.  They kinda knew each other in the sense that they were facebook friends and one of the girl's best friends was one of the boy's four roommates.  Greetings in passing at his house, smiles on campus, and that was that.

But one cold, January day the boy and the girl met at the same bar.  The boy was shy.  The girl was not.  Even though the girl had a fat, bruised upper lip (thanks to a Ranch bottle that a friend had thrown at her) she still flirted with the boy.  The boy bought her a drink. 

The next day the boy asked her to come over and hang with him and his roommates.  The girl said no because her dog had died.  The boy thought he'd been dissed with the worst excuse in the book.  The girl really wasn't lying.

By the end of the week the boy asked the girl out on a date.  Even though she was going to be missing a very important Grey's episode ;) the girl said yes.  The girl went through 20 outfits before settling on one her roommate/BFF agreed on.  The roommate reminded the girl to not overeat because of nerves and told her to get a to-go-box halfway through.

The girl picked a new Mexican restaurant to try. The boy picked her up, helped her on the ice, and opened her door.  They didn't stop talking and chowed down two bowls of chips and salsa.  They accidentally ordered the exact same meal.  The girl got nervous and ate her entire plate of food.  The boy got embarrassed that the girl ate more than he did.

The boy drove the girl home but chickened out on the awkward walk to her door.  The girl thankfully didn't slip on the ice.  The girl miserably laid in bed because she was so full.  She automatically put on her fat pants and the roommate/BFF read her a story to make her feel better.  She told the girl "I told you so."

The next weeks were full of 24 hour texting, facebook messages, dates, and fun. The boy stole the girl's heart with a delivery of flowers... and a Snickers bar in the bouquet.  By February the boy and the girl were "facebook official". By Thanksgiving they were engaged.  The boy and the girl knew it was fast but they didn't care.  The following July they became husband and wife.

To that boy... I'm glad the Dugout, of all places, brought us together.  But let's tell our kids we met studying at the library, ok?  Sounds much better than the dirty Dugout.

To that girl five years ago some words of advice...
1. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT eat that entire plate of food.  No girl should have a burrito, 2 enchiladas, and a soft taco after two bowls of chips and salsa.
2. When coming out of the Dugout after an ice storm the sidewalks will be slick, you should walk very slowly.  The boy will have his headlights shining right at you to see you biff it if you're not careful.
3. Enjoy the boy bringing you late night Big Macs and root beers during Block 1 insanity.  You can't eat that crap forever :(
4. The boy has ears like a hawk.  He will hear everything you whisper to your roommate.
5. Soak all this up because five years from now you can't believe how fast it will fly by!

Favorite Things Party

Due to my creepy blog stalking, I stumbled upon this blog and this link.  I had literally a week to pull it off before Christmas.  Trent told me I had lost my mind.  But thanks to my BFF and my sis-in-law we were able to throw this thing together with success.

But really we all have Oprah to thank for the idea.  That Oprah and her favorite things.  Sadly we didn't give our guests one of everything.  No cars here.  No vacations. No pajama jeans.  Instead here were our rules:
1. Pick your favorite thing from 2011.  Anything.  House related, bath and body, fitness, baby, food, fashion, etc.  Whatever you loved from the year.
2. Needed to be $10-15.
3. Bring three of the same item for guests to take home.
That's it :) I brought three $15 gift cards to my favorite boutique, Inspire.  Freakin' love that place.  I was even modeling their clothing head to almost toe- I wore their earrings, necklace, cardigan, belt, and jeans.  If you haven't been there before and live in the KC area you are missing out!!

 Bags for the guests to use for "shopping."  Lesson #1 learned- get bigger bags.

The food spread from myself (yes I baked) and Jobeth.  Lesson #2 learned- everyone was too busy drinking wine to eat.  Next year just do 1 sweet and 1 salty treat.

View #1 of the goodies

 View #2 of the goodies

 We went around the circle and shared what our favorite thing was.  Then we drew names for the "shopping" order.  We went in order first, then reversed the order so those people got a chance to pick first on the second round.  And on the last round we started in the middle and worked our way out.  As long as people heard their names (**cough cough Jenna**) it was pretty fair ;)

Had to include the picture of Little Bo Peep haha. 

Wish I would have remembered to take a picture of my goodies like Ashley did.  Someone was thinking clearly ;)

 

The whole group, minus three cause they left before I remembered to use the self timer.  Sorry Jen, Amanda, and Katie!

 

Glad Ashley and Jobeth agreed to throw this thing together with me!  What would I have done without them?! 

And for my own memory so I don't forget... the three things I got were...

1. scarf from Cara

2. the annual Nov. 20 wine from Jen

3. the always amazing Relax wine from Jenna

All in all I'd say it was a success after just a week of planning.  We're hoping it becomes an annual thing... everyone welcome!

One Little Word for 2012

Last year I found the idea of picking one word to live by for the year.  Here's last year's post to explain it better.  Last year Trent picked inventive and he went above and beyond applying this word to his life.  It seemed like every time I turned around he was scheming up something else and being inventive with his projects and ideas.  Overachiever ;)  My 2011 word was active... and that's just laughable.  Did I actually work out last year??  NO.  I did buy one pair of work out pants though if that counts for anything ;)  I was just way too active in school and work that it didn't leave me much time for anything else.  That's gonna change this year since I'm done with school!!!

 We really enjoyed applying our one words throughout our lives for the last year so we decided to do it again in 2012.  And the one little words are....

Trent's 2012 word: Motivation

 Trent wants motivation for:
-eating better
-working out
-finishing projects around the house and with his truck "No Buck"

 My 2012 word: Create

I chose create for a million reasons... here's just a few:
-create more memories with friends and family
-create more scrapbook layouts than ever since I'm still scrapbooking 2006.  I've GOT to get caught up.
-create more crafts and projects for the house
-create better photographs by learning how to use my DSLR camera
-create lots of house projects with Trent- we have ideas for the yard, deck, patio, basement, etc... it just never ends.
-create more annual traditions with our friends and families
-create healthy habits for eating right and working out
-and the list goes on and on.

Some of our friends and families have chosen their one little words too so here's to everyone living by their word for the next 364 days!  Happy New Year!!!

Sweater Party #2

After graduation we headed down to Emporia for the annual Rusco sweater party... perfect celebration to end the day with!

Girl group!

Vodka infused gummy bears= my new weakness.  Seriously... don't set the bowl near me or they will be devoured.

Love Trent's headgear ;)

The party hosts!

Had to post this for Gina and Lisa.  SO much fun with this crazy gal- even if she is wearing a Pilgrim inspired goose sweater ;)  And Gina... sorry for any texts you might've received that night.

The annual guys vs. gals flip cup tourney... which we lost miserably at this year :(  I don't know what was wrong!  Revenge on NYE!

Great Bend boys... and wild Wendy Jo.

Garage dance party!! Be glad this is the only picture I posted from the other 24 taken... along with a 5 minute video starring Wendy Rusco and her amazing dance skillz ;)  Classic.

Group shot to end the night!  Already looking forward to next year!

Master's Graduation!

4 years ago on a very cold (and blizzard-y) December day I finished my days as a Hornet by walking across the ESU stage.  While it was a super exciting day... it was also sad because I loved college. 

4 years later and I walked across another graduation stage on a very mild December day.  But this time as a Baker Wildcat.  But don't worry... I still consider myself a Hornet... I'll NEVER be a Wildcat.  Ugh... sounds too much like K-State.

Can you tell who I'm creating a scene for?!  Starts with J, rhymes with Erin?  I look like a clown compared to all the other dignified graduates.  But I had to make sure Jeryn saw me ;)

Walking across the stage for the last time ever!!!  I have NO desire to return to school ever again.

Our small graduation class.  It was only a ceremony for doctorates and masters in education.  Thank goodness or it would've lasted much longer.

Done-zo!

Thank goodness I had this girl along for the ride with me!  Wouldn't have survived without her!  Glad we went through it together :)

My fam

Trent's fam

Our marriage survived 18 months of school, homework, papers, and projects ;) This diploma is for him as much as it is for me haha.

All our family!  Thanks to everyone for lunch at Houlihan's, the gifts, and coming to my ceremony- it meant a lot to have you all there!

Slumber Par-tay

 We've gotten to babysit Jeryn alot lately and we've been loving it.  She's so much fun to have around the house.  Definitely livens up our nights at home! 

 More proof that she's always naked.  And slightly funny/inappropriate that she's playing with a nutcracker.

 My new favorite picture... hands down.  This was her rock hard tummy after eating THREE bowls of spaghetti bake.  This girl puts it down.

Reminds us of someone back in 2009... Jeryn must get it from her mama.  Did anyone else just start singing this song in their head?  No??  Just me then.

 But she really does wear clothes. Proof right here- her new pj's and Tio's work boots.

 My favorite part of the night was making a bed on the floor and snuggling up together to watch the Elf on a Shelf movie- which is really good btw.

I love this little girl :)