Holiday Partaaays!

This holiday season was full of a few great holiday parties that I just had to share!

First off, we attended the Stansell's Dirty Santa Party - this theme was my favorite!  Everyone brought their drink of choice, a side dish/appetizer/or dessert that began with the letter of their last name, and a funny gift for the "dirty santa" gift exchange.  The gifts were hilarious...everything from a shake weight to used DVDs, to a pimp cup margarita glass that was very popular.  Like most gift exchanges, there was an option to steal each gift up to two times which made it even more fun.  We took champagne for our beverage of choice and muffins for our treat contribution. :)

 

The same night as the Dirty Santa party, we also attended our friend's annual ugly sweater party.  Unfortunately because the two parties fell on the same night, we did not partake in the ugly sweater theme this year (another reason why is because last year Jeff and I went to six different stores, goodwills, etc to find sweaters with hardly any luck or selection...wasn't really up for that this year haha).  Unfortunately didn't get any pictures at the house party portion of this party, but the party moved to Blue Moose on Washington and here are good pics from the night:

Allen and his great ugly sweater get-up

non ugly sweater couple #1

 Ran into sweet Marci!

 Chris, Jeff, and Allen

 non-ugly sweater couple #2 Lexi and Chris

 ugly sweater dance party :)

The very next night was Jeff's company's holiday party at the Corinthian downtown.  It was beautiful and really a good time...any girl loves getting dressed up and Jeff picked out my beautiful little gold dress - loved it!

On the balcony

Ice sculpture and drink mixer...

I love you

Another Christmas tree pic...we originally took our first at Jeff's company's holiday party in Austin in 2007...check it out below:

2010

2007 flashback :)

The next weekend was my company's holiday party at the amazingly delicious Eddie V's in City Centre.  I had the awesome opportunity of coordinating this event, and loved every moment!  Great wine, champagne, seafood towers, and more...it was a great night!

My handsome husband and I...LOVE my blue shoes still (you can read the story on my search here)

Jacci and I at the party :)

We attended two holiday parties in San Antonio while visiting Jeff's family.  One was a "wine and cheese" theme that Jeff's friend Trevor hosts annually.  I ran into an old friend randomly from high school there who just so happened to know some of Jeff's friends - small world!  I must have been having too good of a time because I got no pictures from this party.  The 2nd was hosted by Jeff's good friend from high school Mike, at his new house.  Here are a couple pics from that fun party/night out - I love seeing Jeff with all his old friends; makes me so happy...

Eric, Mike, and Jeff

 just us again

 Don't mind Mike..he is wearing that hideous sweater on purpose haha - and their facial expressions, that is just part of their humor.  Jeff's old friends are so funny to be around, always making me laugh. :)

Lastly, the BEST holiday celebration each season is New Years Eve.  This year we actually did not go skiing in Breck like the past three years, so we decided to attend a real NYE party in our favorite city - Austin, Texas.  Abel's on the Lake was just awesome.  Open bar, great food, live band, and DJ upstairs.  Abel's is right next door to Hula Hut, which unfortunately caught on fire that night from a spark from the fireworks show.  It was crazy to see so close and boy did it make leaving that party mighty difficult (streets were all closed off)!  Hula Hut is still open though and doing just fine...you can read about it here.

Lexi and I at the pre-party

 Chris and Lexi

 love

 best friends, Jeff and Ross

 Here's to another wonderful year!

 And that was our holiday party season in a nutshell...not too shabby and always so fun spending so much time with good friends!

Christmas Card 2010

 So last year I had a beautiful card designed by Kristin (an old high school friend) at Organic Faith Studios (look her up on facebook for card information - its not posted on her blog).  It was so pretty and on lovely paper and I just really loved it. (Last year I only sent out 20 cards to family - boy how things have changed!)

This year, I was a bit more rushed because I wanted to use a wedding photo for the cards and also needed to be cost conscious since I'd be sending out a lot more and Jeff and I are still recovering from wedding expenses.  So Walgreens it was!  I sent in the file and picked it up 2 hours later, which was perfect so that I could address and send them out quickly so everyone would receive the cards before Christmas, haha.  Although these cards are lovely, I just prefer a heavier cardstock paper and custom design to reflect my personality - so to all my friends and family receiving our card, please know that next years will make up for this years and I intend on spending a lot more time perfecting my favorite card of the year. :)  At least our wedding photo made it, which was most important...

Merry Christmas to you all!

Love,

Rani

Our Wedding Day (Photographer Blog Version)

How sweet it is...

I am anxiously awaiting our photo CDs from our photographer, Brittany Dawson.  They are in the mail and should be here soon! :)  For now though, please take a moment to view the amazing blog post Brittany posted  that documents our wedding day and several of our lovely photos.  The above photo is one of my favorites, but oh my gosh there are so many more that I will post once I have the CDs.  Can't wait :)

View her post HERE <3

The sweetest moment of my entire life - right here - captured by Brittany.  

I just.love.it.

Honoring Jeff, my handsome CPA

Congratulations to my Husband!

Jeff officially received his CPA certificate this past Saturday, December 4th.  He completed and passed all four parts in May of this year after many long hours of studying, dedication and some sacrifice.  

I am so proud of him.

 

Jeff's Dad is also a CPA and was able to hand Jeff his certificate on stage.  Talk about a wonderful moment between Jeff and his Dad.  Ed was proud beyond words - it was such a great day!

And there is that hard earned certificate!  This is Jeff's 2nd step (after his Masters in Accountancy) in his career.  Next on the list?  Jeff is now looking into starting the MBA process (yes, he will then have two Masters degrees), with a start date of 2012.  It is a huge investment and commitment on both our parts, but I know Jeff has our best interests at heart (securing a solid career in order to take care of our family).  He is looking to distinguish himself from other CPAs and take on more Finance roles in the future.  Obtaining his MBA would ensure a strong job opportunity upon completion and an accelerated career path.  It is a lot to plan for and even imagine, but I know we can do it together and he will be wonderful at whatever he does!

I love my husband so much - I love his dedication to his career, his dedication to our family, and just love his ability to do all of this and still be his fun, goofy, and happy self.  <3

Congratulations, Jeff!

Even Though I Feel as if I Have No Readers...Colorado Trip 2010

C'mon guys...show my blog some love and leave a comment if you're reading...

Back to October 2010...Jeff and I's last vacation before becoming husband and wife, we spent time in Denver, Colorado.  Jeff went to a training for work and I met him there for the weekend after he finished his training.  We rented a car and just enjoyed exploring the city.  Here are pictures from our trip:

In Golden, CO - the weather was beautiful :)

enjoying the pretty town

Jeff loves all the pics I take, haha - had to get the Golden sign in the back

One of our dinners downtown - loved the scene there, very laid back

at the Denver Art Museum

The Capitol

The grounds were so pretty

I thought this sculpture was cool

Another night out - love this man

l.o.v.e

running the trails in cherry creek

it was beautiful

sun in our eyes, but still a great picture :)

trip to Red Rocks - by far my favorite part - next on the list, a concert here!

the views were phenomenal!

we did a bit of hiking here as well

The amphitheater

Towards the top - look closely, you can see downtown!

handsome guy and a great view

off center, but cute

at the top :)

Beautiful place!  We had such a wonderful time and loved being able to just spend time together.  Hopefully next time we will be able to stay for longer than a few days, really love Colorado. :)