. new years olympics .

BE WARNED.. THIS POST IS LONG AND HAS A MILLION IMAGES IN IT..

alright before you judge me on this one.. let me give you a background. growing up we got very excited for new years, first cause it was the night the new years angel came {invented by the parentals to keep excitement up after christmas, she left a small gift but still it was a present} and it was a night to stay up late!

my parents when we were younger would move the clocks ahead and have our new years at like 8 and we went to bed around 8:30. tricky tricky. well as we got older, we figured out the tricks and it was a no go. so they started the 'olympics' to help keep us awake and aware but also to keep us out of trouble. my parents didn't think it would stick, just long enough a few years maybe. but it stuck. every year we look forward to the new years olympics and all the fun we have. this year cody and i decided to suggest minute to win it games to add to our usuals. it was a success. here are some photos from our glorious evening...

he had to blow off 20 cups using the air only from a balloon

she had to thread pasta on the stick using only the stick, it was tough..

she had a box with ping pong balls in it, she had to get all three out without her hands

he had to bounce pencils into the cups and get them to stay

balance pencils on the back of the hand and then catch them with the same hand..

keep 3 balloons in the air for 60 seconds

balance hangers on each other, but not in the corners

balance nails on a string

move cotton pads with only vaseline on your nose, how did mom get stuck with these hard ones?

bounce ping pong ball off the wall into a cup on his head, not using your hands

roll marbles across the table and get them to stick to a line of tape

balance 3 golf balls on each other

cup stacking.. need i say more?? tough and fast..

so we played boys vs girls in the minute to win it games. here is the total, pretty crazy.. sorry men folk, 2010 just wasn't your year..

after the minute to win it was swapped to the usual games.. this competition is on your own with prizes. here is what went down.

paper airplane races..

balloon races, these are tricky you can't control where it goes cause you just let go

wind up toy races.. some were better than others, we had to make it across the table. some peoples just made huge circles. who knew.

here was the scores.. yes i only got one.

mom and her spoils, a barnyard bender horse.

matson with his. a barnyard bender farmer complete with pitchfork.

jarett with his, a bender cow with magnetic udders

we finished the evening with fireworks, i didn't take pictures cause it was a whopping 6 degrees and yes, my hands stayed in gloves in pockets the whole time. no hands for picture taking.

so welcome 2011, i hope you are a superly stupendous year

.. jazzin' it up ..

this year for christmas cody got me tickets to the jazz game. he is trying to help me cross things off my " list ". one thing on my list was to be more adventurous. {and secretly i have always wanted to attend professional sports} the only information i got was that we were going on january 3rd and i had to be ready to leave by 4:30.

so i left work early and went home to get all ready for the night and we were off. when i was in the car and we were on my way my cute hubby allows me to see the tickets, finally.

the sneak found a great deal and got us tickets as VIP's. yep. our seats were on the first row and we got dinner at the stadium and unlimited snacks and drinks. WOW! i was so excited. we got to the stadium and found our way through all the hallways to the VIP lounge and we ate dinner. they had potatoes, pork roast, veggies, salad, bread, desserts and drinks. all you could eat. it was delicious. after dinner we walked through the arena and found our seats. we were on the first row, like 3 rows from the floor. so close we could hear the players curse and see the sweat. unreal. i was so excited!

the game was off and it was good, before i knew it half time was here. we ran off to the VIP lounge and grabbed refills and some snacks, and were back before the second half started. the second half was more intense than the first, i couldn't believe it!

to make it even better the jazz won over the detroit pistons. and it was intense all up until the last minute! you could feel the tension in the arena.

it was honestly one of the best night i had had in a long time. i loved it! we got home late and i was pooped all day but this was so worth it! thanks babe for the wonderful gift!

.. happy new year ..

it is tradition for us to take a picture every year on new years. we always take it around midnight, and so without further ado.. here is our picture.

.. taken on our instax mini around 12:15 am ..

happy 2011 everyone! i hope you have a grand year this year

.. travel list ..

as i start this new year i realize that i am about 8 months away from the end of my list goals. while sitting at work one day i decided to write down the places i would love to go some i have been to and others i haven't, seeing how it is #1 on my list to travel. so without further ado.. here is my to visit list..

obviously i have a lot more to see outside of the usa but still some i want to see here. i have been to the following..

italy

france

austria {just a corner}

so.. i just have to pick one and go!

where are your favorite places to visit? where is somewhere you have never been that you want to go? {warning: i might add it to my list..}