Busy times.. Happy Holidays

I have NOT been a very good blogger lately.  Alas, life has been time consuming.  My last post went up at the end of September and A LOT has been going on since then.  Here are the Top 5 highlights from the last 2 months:

#1  - We bought a house and moved in!

After several months of searching and frustration, we were blessed to find our first house! We closed and got the keys on October 16th and spent the rest of the month packing, moving and saying goodbye to our little townhouse in Fremont.   Steve and I spent 6 years in that place and made a lot of memories there. It was sad to leave, but exciting to start the next chapter in our lives.

Our new house is in North Seattle and we love it!  Big yard, more space and it's all ours.  It'll take some time to get settled in, but it already feels like home.

Home Sweet Home!

# 2 - Happy Halloween and Annie's first Trick-or-Treaters!

I was SO excited to finally live in a neighborhood that would allow little goblins to knock on my door and ask for candy! Every time the door rang, I squealed with joy and Molly freaked out, and I'm sure the neighbors thought a bunch of freaks had moved in next door.  We also hit up an annual Halloween party with friends that was a blast, as it always is.

I'm ready for you trick or treaters!

Becky the Killer "B" ha ha :)

My hubby is such an ape sometimes.

#3 - Molly turned 1

Our sweet Molly celebrated her first birthday on November 23rd. She got lots of cuddles, played fetch for hours and got a special mega bone, which she ate in a day in a half.

Fetch!!

#4 - The Huskies go 8-4 and are headed to the Fight Hunger Bowl on December 27!

Every Saturday you'd find the Johnson's either down tailgating in Padelford or posted up somewhere to watch an away game.  The highlight of our tailgate season was the Oregon vs. Washington game in early October when ESPN Gameday came to film at the UW campus.  This was by far the earliest tailgate of my career, but well worth it to carry our sign up to Red Square and be a part of a really fun and energized crowd.  Unfortunately, the Dawgs lost that day.   They went on to win every home game after that, including the Apple Cup over Thanksgiving weekend.  It was a good season Dawgs, and I look forward to a win over BYU on the 27th!

Yes, we had a gallows with a roasted duck. Don't be so sensitive.

Apple Cup!

#5 - Getting ready for the Holidays!

And now Christmas is just one week away!  Wow, time flies. We've got the lights up on the house, our Christmas tree is decorated and I've been through 2 batches of eggnog so far.  I still have a bit of shopping to do and a few more loose ends to tie up, but I think I'm ready!  This will be the first Christmas I've hosted with my family and Steve's at our new house and I couldn't be more excited.

So... here is wishing you and yours a most joyous holiday season and a very happy New Year!

More regular blogging to commence in 2014, I promise.

Derby Thirty

And we're off!!! In to my 30's and comin' around the corner with speed!!

To celebrate my 30th birthday just a few weekends ago, we threw a Derby Thirty Birthday Party. I'm a big fan of themed parties, and this one was probably one of my favorites yet! We dressed in big hats and bow ties, and made our way via party bus down to the Emerald Downs for the horse races. It also happened to be the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown, which added a little extra fun to the party.   Here are some snapshots from the day:

   Party Favor Bags for Everyone!

Complete with a custom race day memorabilia cup, binoculars and derby mad libs for the bus ride.

The Derby Bourbon Punch was delicious and definitely got the party started! 

 

INGREDIENTS

• Two 12oz. cans of frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed and undiluted

• Two 12oz. cans of frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed and undiluted

• 1 half gallon of bourbon (I used Wild Turkey 101 for an extra 30th birthday kick!)

• 1 cup of lemon juice

• 1/2 cup of maraschino cherry juice

• 3 liters of club soda

• Lemon slices and maraschino cherries, halved

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large punch bowl, mix the orange juice and lemonade concentrates with the bourbon, lemon juice, and the cherry juice . . . this is your base  

2. Add the club soda and the lemon slices and marashino cherry halves prior to serving

Derby Attire!

The Girls. I should have taken a picture of the guys too. Alas.

 And We're Off to the Races!!

Welcome to the Derby Thirty!!

 

This is one happy birthday girl.

Emerald Downs Races!!

  Steve surprised me and bought me my own race! 

Race #5 - Annie Johnson's Birthday Purse. 

Happy Birthday Bugle Serenade

 

Yours truly didn't actually win anything at the track, but I had a blast!  Thank you to everyone for coming out and making this an extra special 30th Birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today I am wishing a very happy... happy.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY 

to my BEAUTIFUL and AMAZING Momma!!

 I love you very much.

Bucket List

Today is April 10th.  A certain social media site that shall remain anonymous decided that today's date was occasion enough to remind me that ... "There are 60 days left until your 30th Birthday. So, what are you going to do today?"

Is it just me, or does that read like a taunt?  Like, "Listen up lady... you only got 60 days left in your 20's. You better make something out of it!"

After a momentary panic attack, I reminded myself that I actually am not worried about turning 30.   My life to date has been full of love, laughter and great experiences. Of course there have been challenges, missed opportunities and setbacks, but I have very few regrets and a lot of things to be thankful for.

So rather than begrudge the end of my 20s and fear the start of another decade, I think a more productive use of energy is to focus on the adventures and accomplishments still to come.  To that end, I've started a Bucket List  - a list of things I want to do or see in my life.

This has been a work in progress for awhile.  Some of these things, I'll try to do before I turn 30 (will that please you aforementioned social media site?!).

So........ Who's going to help me check some of these off?



Annie's Bucket List:

1. Visit every state in the US
2. Pay someone else's bill at a restaurant
3. Kiss on the top of the Eiffel Tower
4. Officiate a wedding
5. Hike the Enchantments in Washington
6. Rally car race
7. Ride a hot air balloon
8. Complete a triathlon
9. Kite surf
10. Go deep sea fishing
11. Learn to say “I love You” in at least 15 languages
12. Go to Coachella & South by Southwest music festivals
13. Learn to play craps and win!
14. Heli-Ski the Alps
15. Donate blood or bone marrow
16. Set foot on all seven continents
17. Learn to play the piano
18. Buy a round of drinks for the whole bar
19. Sail a boat
20. RV across America
21. Solve a Rubik’s cube
22. By a house
23. Be pregnant/have children
24. Attend an Olympic event
25. Go whale watching
26. Go to the Super Bowl
27. Drink a liter of beer (or two, or three...) at Oktoberfest in Germany
28. Float in the Dead Sea
29. Watch a space shuttle launch
30. Make my own beer or wine
31. Go scuba diving
32. Go to a UW Husky Bowl Game
33. Ride a gondola in Venice
34. See Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights)
35. Raise over $10,000 for a cause I care about
36. Beat Steve at Chess
37. Cage-dive with Sharks
38. Attend a murder mystery dinner
39. Join a bowling league
40. Swim with dolphins
41. Go to Carnival in Rio
42. Hold a Koala or Sloth (or both!)
43. Attend Mass at St. Peters Basilica (Vatican)
44. Have a pen pal I’ve never met in person
45. Zip line through a rainforest (TBD)
46. Take a sabbatical from work to explore a passion (or would accept a job that = a passion)
47. Win a contest
48. Speak at a conference
49. Become known amongst family and friends for a signature dish or dessert
50. Learn to sew
51. ........

Welcome Everett Ian Rasmussen!

Happy Birthday to Everett!! 

Born Friday, April 5, 2013 at 1:30pm.

8 lbs. 5 oz. of beautiful baby boy.

Congratulations Quinn and Matt!!!!!

♥♥♥ Sending all my love to you and your newest family member (and Blinky too!) ♥♥♥

Happy Day!

Today is a very happy day!  One of my closest and dearest friends, Quinn, is having her baby boy.  I'm filled with joy and anticipation, and sending her ALL of my love.

I absolutely can not wait to meet the little man.  I hope that he has Quinn's compassion and sense of humor, and Matt's patience and nurture....  and if he is even half as good looking as they are, he's going to be quite the heartbreaker!

Quinn and Matt - You two are going to be amazing parents. I love you and I'm so happy for you.
 

A Very Happy Birthday to ________________________________     


to be continued.......

Happy Birthday Steve!

Today is the hubs' 30th birthday! Happy Birthday Steve!

I'm getting off work a little early to take Molly to her first vet appointment, and then the mister and I are going on a special birthday date to Canlis.  It's our first time, so we are pretty excited. 

Last weekend I threw the ol' man a Super Bowl Birthday Party at the Tap House Grill downtown, and it was a blast!  A big thanks to everyone for coming out and making it such a special day for Mr. Johnson.  

With Steve's Mom's help, I compiled a bunch pictures of the birthday boy through the ages to make a  birthday banner for the party.  I mean, who doesn't LOVE embarrassing/adorable childhood pictures? I went with a football theme in the spirit of the Super Bowl.  The final product was all taped together in a long banner (about 7 feet long), but for the purposes of this post, I've inserted it here in segments.

So, once again, Happy Birthday Steve!!!! I can't tell you  how much I am looking forward to the next 30 years.  I'm sure there will be some fumbles and a few penalties for loss of yards, but I know there will be far more exciting plays, field goals and touchdowns <3