2014 year in review

This past year started out rough with my Grandma passing away and ended great with moving (yup, we moved again!) and getting promoted at work. I have learned to take everything as it comes and not dwell on the past. One day I asked my Grandma if going skydiving was on her bucket list and she laughed and said no, and that she just wanted to be remembered for being a nice person and having such a great impact on all of our lives. After hearing that I knew how much I was like her. That's all I ever want in life too, just be remembered as nice!

So as this year comes to an end and I think back on all that Ryan and I have accomplished I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us.

January: I attended my first Magic game as a guest after working Amway Center for years

February: Helped plan Ryan's dad's birthday which was a blacklight Mardi Gras theme

March: My Grandma passed away after living with stage 4 ovarian cancer for over 2 years. I also started a new job and moved all within 3 weeks of each other that month

April: I left the Blue Man Group and transferred to Diagon Alley Admissions for the Hogwarts Express

May: Nothing happened, so here's a picture of Barney and Gizmo

June: We went to Key West for a vacation with Ryan's family

July: Diagon Alley opened it's doors at Universal and I was apart of the opening team

August: I turned 26 on the 26th and got everything pumpkin for my birthday

September: We celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a lunch date to Red Robin... yummmmmm

October: Ryan turned 27 and all he wanted was sushi for lunch

November: I worked then we celebrated Thanksgiving in Daytona

December: I got promoted to a supervisor at work right before graduating the Developing Leadership Talent program. We also moved right after I started this new job

2nd year sending out Christmas cards (I like this tradition) 

Last year's post.

Christmas 2014 in pictures

I had 3 days off for Christmas so we went to my parents since we celebrated Thanksgiving with Ryan's family. We smoked a ham Tuesday night since it was supposed to rain Christmas Eve, it turned out great and was a hit during Christmas lunch! I made a million chocolate chip cookies, had a Pinterest fail, finished wrapping presents and cooked lunch for everyone Christmas day.

It was nice being able to continue our traditions without our grandparents this year. We still ate a huge lunch, opened presents and played White Elephant (which took almost 2 hours!) Ryan and I came out with a ton of gift cards, mainly Starbucks.

Even though we missed Ryan's family and my family in OH it was still a great Christmas :)

Snap Chatting with Ryan's family while smoking ham, his dad started this tradition 

Every one got this lovely gift this year

The madness of presents on Christmas Eve

Cookies for days

How Gizmo spent the holiday

Mine don't look like that picture.....FAIL (they taste good though)

White Elephant!!!!!!

Merry Christmas from the Ruddy's

Finally, Moose sheets. No kidding I've waited all my life for these

We're going to Disney! We are now annual pass holders :)

Sea World at Christmas time

Last weekend after work I met up with Ryan and his family at Sea World for their Christmas celebration. I didn't know what to expect but lights, boy was I wrong. There was a bunch of Christmasy things to see like an ice skating show that was sinked to lights and fountains, it was really cool. We walked through a Christmas wonderland with lights, wreaths, trains and a camp fire where you could make a s'more. I had the peppermint hot chocolate which was delish!

There was a special edition Shamu Christmas show which wasn't anything special but it was cool to see it with holiday music. Overall it was a fun night and something different that you don't get to experience everyday. I don't think it's a must see holiday attraction, but if you're able to go, defiantly check it out!

Ice skating show over the water

Peppermint hot chocolate in a cute souvenir mug

Cute signs

Didn't get to ride the Polar Express, but the sign looked cool

At one of the many shows we saw

Campfire complete with s'more kits and live music

Snow and a palm tree.... only in FL

602

Yesterday Ryan and I got up early, picked up a U-Haul, packed, unpacked, decorated then bought a real Christmas tree then decorated some more. It took us a long 12 hours, but we got there. Along the way we had some disasters, but we got through them.

Our new apartment is was only a 6.1 mile drive away from the old, but in a much nicer area (that was the main reason for the move, the area!) It's also 602 sq feet, almost 200 sq feet smaller than the old location. It's weird though after we got all of our stuff situated it doesn't feel small at all, more compact. We got creative with storage space, that's fore sure.

I had 2 days off and these were the only 2 days I had to get this move done. Monday we spent the day packing and throwing away crap, 4 bags to the garbage and 3 to donate. We got 90% of our apartment moved over which is awesome. Crunched on time, starting a new job and Christmas being less than 10 days away I didn't want to drag out the process like usual.

This was the first time we rented a truck you drive. It worked out perfect because we got a big one so we only had to take 1 load over! After getting to the new place one of the first things I did was start laundry, we now have a washer and dryer!!!! (Before we had to take it somewhere and use quarters which was awful.) About 20 minutes of moving and the laundry going Ryan called me over, the washer had overflowed. Half of our bedroom was soaked and the entire bathroom had an inch of water. This was not the best way to start out in a new place. Maintenance came and figured out this issue, we got a new washer and it's very high tech (and bigger.)

Even though we've been here a day I'm already loving it more than any other apartment we've been in. This is the longest lease we've ever had, 14 months so I'm curious to see if we'll renew or not. Only time will tell.

*I also lost my key to the old apartment after moving, later to find it at Starbucks.

Living room, faux dining room and kitchen

Wet bar

Fancy kitchen

Washer and dryer in our room!!!!!!! (only requirement of our new apartment)

Best decision to rent this

New washer

Didn't take too long to unpack 

Even Barney was exhausted from the move

Christmas time at the Ruddy's

Week recap

I actually had 2 whole real days off in a row! Since early November my days off have consisted of traveling to see family or working for a few hours at my other job. I'm not going to lie it was weird sleeping in and having a list of things that could wait until late afternoon to be completed. We get the keys to our new apartment next week, so all my spare time will be consumed moving before Christmas.

I'm excited for the move, we stopped by the office last week to drop off some final papers and I remember why we picked that location all over again! I'll share pictures soon.

Peppermint bark cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory was delish after accepting a new position at work!

DLT (Developing Leadership Talent) is over this week, I'm going to miss all the life long friends I've made in class

Warm Butterbeer is a thing and it's great on a chilly night in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Deal of the week: $12 at Platos Closet

Went to 2 Walmarts to get a real wreath. The house smells lovely right now

Holiday decor 2014

I've taken a little break from blogging, just over 2 months to be exact. Things have been super busy at work. Between the 2 jobs I've been working 6-7 days a week and 50+ hours, but I love them both!! I did happen to get 3 whole days off in a row for Thanksgiving which was awesome. Thursday after work we went to Daytona to spend Thanksgiving with Ryan's family, black Friday shopping and then setting up their Christmas tree.

Saturday and Sunday we were at my parents on the other coast setting up their tree, decor and wrapping a million presents. It was exhausting but I'm glad I got to help. Once we got home Sunday night I finished the Christmas decor around our place! We move in 15 days but if I didn't set up our tree now I wouldn't get to enjoy it for the full season :)

Photo booth at Franksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours

The parents trees

Cutest little pillow

New holiday fav: iced coffee with cream pumpkin and caramel 

All the presents are wrapped under my parents tree (it took hours)

Our little coffee table with an Iowa pine scent candle 

Presents are popping up under our tree too

Festive in the kitchen