It's been a while

It has been a crazy and amazing year for BGPR. I have been working harder than I ever have before at my job and have enjoyed a wonderful year from that perspective. However, it has taken time away from things, like my blog. Now that I have 13 months under my belt at my not-so-new-anymore job I plan on having more balance in my life in 2012. Part of that balance will be blogging more regularly. After I stopped posting several people asked me to get back into it...it was refreshing to know that people actually read this and enjoy keeping up with us throughout the year.

Here is a quick run down of what we did 2011...since I last posted from San Francisco...






Travel: Grant and I traveled...as we usually do. This year we enjoyed trips to ...
*San Francisco (Becky) for work and to visit our friends Laurie & Joe

*Chicago...twice...for Jordan's bridal shower and bachelorette party and for the 4th of July

*Punta Cana, DR for Jordan and Ryan's wedding

*Springfield, IL for the 4th of July

*France and Italy for 16 days of fabulosity

*New Orleans (Becky) for Jenny's bachelorette party

*Park City, UT to ski and visit Natalie, Ryan, Ella and baby Luke

*Las Vegas -- Grant's favorite place on Earth

It was all completely amazing. We LOVED our trip to Europe. It was the first time we had both been off work for that long and spent that long together. The food, wine and architecture were all breathtaking. We cannot wait to go back!! There is so much to see and experience. 

Penelope turned 4 this year and Reagan turned 2. Our little girls are becoming very well-behaved and we absolutely adore them. They add so much to our lives.

Work: Grant is enjoying his job and staying very busy. We feel blessed that he works for a very stable company and with some great people. I am loving my job. I transitioned from a retail to an institutional position in May, which dramatically increased my territory size, but has proven to be a great fit for me. I enjoy my customers and what I do each day.

Family: We had family come to visit in March, October and for Thanksgiving. I love having family come and visit. The hardest thing about moving to Florida in 1998 was leaving our fmaily and close friends. We even had two of my cousins stay with us during Thanksgiving! It was fun to host a couple of guests for a few nights. Penelope and Reagan enjoyed the extra pets and attention!

My mom turned 60 this year and we pulled off a great surprise. We were able to plan a birthdya dinner where my Aunt Linda, Uncle Dave, Aunt Linda, Uncle Mike and Uncle John all came down from Illinois to celebrate and surprise my mom. Unfortunately, my Uncle Jim and Aunt Sandy couldn't make it, but they were there in spirit! We took my mom on a private sail boat ride in St. Augustine and enjoyed the company of her family for a long weekend.

Mike graduated from UNF in May with a double major. He was named the UNF Finance Student of the Year. He will be missed at UNF, but has found a good job in Jacksonville, which made my mom super happy to still have him in town. Now if only Nick could move back home from Atlanta... ;)

Nick is living in Atlanta and working for Sports Illustrated. He works crazy hours, but does a great job and is well-respected by his peers (and siblings!). I have yet to visit him in Atlanta since his move, but will get this this year!

We went to Orlando to help Zack move into his first off-campus apartment at UCF. I enjoyed getting a tour of campus and being mistaken for a college student several times! :) Next Fall it is Tess's turn...I cannot believe she will be graduating high school in the Spring and going off to college in the Fall!!!

Grant and I each turned 29 this year...which means that we need to make the most of our last year in our 20s. It is hard to believe that we'll be 30 next year!! I still remember taking Grant out to dinner at Fridays for his 21st birthday!

Friends: My best friend got married this year in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. It was a beautiful ceremony on a beautiful beach. We were honored to be a part of their special day and loved seeing our friends marry each other!

My college roommate and great friend, Erin, gave birth to the cutest baby girl in April, Olivia. She is always smiling and is a joy to be around. She has already grown so much!!!

Another college friend, Mandy, had her second girl just a couple of short months ago. Mallorie is adorable! I was thrilled to meet her last week at our Jennings Hall reunion! At our reunion I was able to meet several little ones for the first time including...Mallorie, Grace (Kayla and Evan's daughter) and Oliver ... or Ox ... (Danielle and Tommy's baby son). Jennings Hall sure did make some adorable kids!

We went to visit Natalie and Ryan in Utah and met their newest addition as well. Luke is cute as ever and his big sister Ella now talks up a storm! It was so nice seeing them before we headed to Park City to hit to slopes. This time we had no injuries...last time we went skiing Grant skiied into me and separated his shoulder! Ouch!

We are looking forward to 2012. So far we have a wedding and a lot of BIG birthdays.