Arrivederci 2009!

As we say farewell to 2009 and get ready to ring in 2010 (a new decade already!) I would like to look back over the past year. Thanks Beth, for the idea!

2009:
1) Went to the US Military Inaugural Ball with my friend, Eric.
2)Met Jon Bon Jovi! (1 Bucket List Item)
3) Saw Billy Joel and Elton John in Atlanta with Bryan.
4) Celebrated Bryan's 27th birthday in Walt Disney World.
5) Saw Springsteen in Denver with my mom.
6) Saw Springsteen in Atlanta with Bryan.
7) Threw a lingerie shower for my friend, Heather in Colorado.
8) Adopted another "child," Marty, my maltese-yorkie mix.
9) Went to Heather's wedding in Colorado.
10) Celebrated one year of dating with Bryan at The Pier.
11) Saw Blondie and Pat Benatar at Mud Island
12) Travelled with Bryan to Colorado to visit my friends and family for a week.
13) Went to the Coors Brewery
14) Spent a week with my parents here in Tennessee
15) Introduced my parents to Bryan's parents
16) Went to a few UT football games (Go Vols!)
17) Spent a weekend in Nashville with Rachel and Lauren and little Kai.
18) Moved back to Memphis. YEA! I love it here!
19) Visited Shannon, Larae and Iris in Michigan.
20) Went to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame with Shannon and the girls (another Bucket List item)
21) Made mine and Bryan's Halloween costumes
22) Went to EmilyBlair and Brett's wedding in Oxford (it was one of the prettiest weddings I've seen)
23) Got a new job at Entercom Radio, which I love!
24) Spent Thanksgiving in Colorado with my dad's whole family
25) Used my sewing maching A LOT
26) Held my first annual Cookie Swap party
27) Turned 27 (ugh), but like Bryan, I got to do it in Walt Disney World.
28) Went on a great vacation in Disney with my family and Bryan
29) Had a wonderful, [cold] white Christmas with my family in Colorado.
30) Got to spend time with Jake and Meagan, whom I used to baby-sit (they're now 15 and 13, this didn't help with turing 27)

It has been a wonderful year and I have been so blessed to have gotten to do all the things I've done over the past year. I can't wait to see what 2010 holds.

Happy New Year to all!

Office Shananigans

This is what happens when you're gone the week of Christmas:

ALL ABOUT STEVE!!!

Today I made the unfortunate mistake of telling my boss I have a blog. After hearing this, he proceeded to go on and read all my posts, with commentary. His first question was "Why haven't you blogged about me?" So, hear he is ladies and gentlemen....

STEVE WILLIAMS!!!

Steve is the Director of Strategic Sales and Marketing here at Entercom. He's originally from Missouri (GO CARDS!) where he attended Southeast Missouri State (go Redhawks!) and pledged Lambda Chi Alpha. While in college he also was a Presidential Ambassador and a student advisor to the North Central Accreditation Committee. Before coming to Memphis, he and his family lived in Orlando where Steve worked at Cox Communications, as a general sales manager. While there he earned the "Highest Growth" station award out of 85 Cox Communications stations.

He resides in Germantown with his wife Alison and their 2 kids, Katie and Steve, Jr. Steve even has a celebrity neighbor! Former Memphis Tigers football coach, Tommy West lives next door to the Williams family.

Steve says he's been told he looks like a young Harrison Ford, I say he looks like Crispin Glover as George McFly in Back to the Future. You decide:

P.S. Don't think I'm being mean by any of this. The man makes fun of me daily for playing the clarinet.

She's Crafty

Flatiron/curling iron covers:

Don't you hate when you travel and you need to pack your flatiron and/or curling iron and it's still hot? These cute little covers are insultated so you don't have to worry about throwing the the hot metal in with the rest of your stuff!

I made these for Lauren and Rachel for Christmas. They seemed really happy with them!

I'm so excited to go to Colorado tomorrow. It's snowing!! I will get a white Christmas.

Vacation

I've decided that a week long vacation at Christmas might not be the best idea. I'm struggling to get everything done before the big day. But, with that being said we did have a great time! I promise to post more pictures later but here' a preview:

Happy Birthday, Marty!

Today is little Marty's 1st birthday. I got him when he was 5 months old, so I haven't had him the full year, but the past 7 months have been wonderful!

New Blog

I have a new blog. Don't worry, I'm still going to keep us with this one. I wanted to do a blog devoted entirely to fashion, trends, etc. Check it out, tell me what you think!
Fashion Plate

Getting ready to go to Walt Disney World on Saturday with Bryan and my family to celebrate my birthday. Can't wait!

Thanksgiving

I'm a little late with this post, but I was waiting for my mom to e-mail me the pics. This year was a first for us: My dad's whole family convened at my parents' house in Colorado. Normally we spend Thanksgiving just the 4 of us. This year, however, we actually got all of us together. People came from all over. Here is the cast list for Thanksgiving 2009:

Me (duh) Memphis, TN

Sandy Heckman (my dad) Windsor, CO

Willma Heckman (my mom)Windsor, CO

Kyle Heckman (my little brother) Greeley, CO

Grandma (dad's mom) Quincy, IL

Chuck (dad's stepdad) Quincy, IL

Aunt Cindy (dad's sister) Salt Lake City, UT

Uncle Arlyn (Aunt Cindy's husband) Salt Lake City, UT

Aunt Tammy (dad's sister) North Hampton, MA
Uncle Thad (dad's brother) Carbondale, IL

Aunt Patty (Thad's wife) Carbondale, IL

Asa (Thad and Patty's son) Carbondale, IL

Sierra (Thad and Patty's daughter) Carbondale, IL

Sadly, there were a few people missing. Aunt Cindy and Uncle Arlyn's daughters and their familes couldn't make it. But there's always next year!

Here are some highlights:

Me with the second batch of pumpkin pie. The first one turned green. Note: Do not use Kroger brand pumpkin, always stick with Libby's.

Making the pie. This is a secret family recipe belonging to my great-aunt Willma (Mom's namesake). So, I cannot share. However, if you want a good recipe my friend, Leslie made one during her pie week. I'm sure it's delish.

Kyle and I doing the "Tonto" dance. What can we say? We're both hams and we like to have fun. You should've seen us swing dancing. It's a very weird feeling when you're little brother gets big enough to pick you and and throw you in the air. (Let me make it clear that this was to the tune of "In the Mood," while we were dancing. He wasn't beating me up.) Aunt Patty and Sierra are cracking up over us.

Asa, Sierra, me, Aunt Patty, Kyle and Uncle Arlyn eating our yummy dinner. The grandkids and in-laws sat in the kitchen so Grandma could eat with all her kids in the dining room, since it's so are she has them all together.

From left-right, front row:Uncle Thad, Grandma, my Dad second row: Aunt Cindy, Aunt Tammy

Grandma and (almost) all her grandkids.

It was a great holiday, and I hope we make it an annual thing!

D.I.Y not?

I am still in the process of decorating my townhome. I don't have it near to what I want it to be ( Ikeep thinking of more and more things to do). I really hate my coffee table. It's Queen Anne, "early garage sale" style. I've had it since college and it's seen better days. So, as I was looking for a new one. I ran across this idea:

So, that gave me an idea. I have my grandmother's hopechest. It's always been at the foot of my bed. But, I got to thinking it hold all the extra throwns and blankets I use when I'm on the couch. So, shouldn't it be downstairs? Again, I'm not near done decorating. But, I thought it looked at home in the living room.

Thoughts and opinions please.