highlights of 2011.

i love reading the yearly highlights on other blogs & thought it would be especially fun to catch up on the entire year since i didn't start blogging until the fall.

{via google}

january: we had a mellow start to the new year that was highlighted by starting the last semester of my law school career.

february: we celebrated our 6 month anniversary on the first (cheesy, i know). we hosted a celebration party at our townhouse which included my turning 26 (yikes!), a very belated housewarming & of course, our 6 month anniversary. aaron took me away to whidbey island for a romantic weekend to celebrate my birthday and valentine's day, and we went to serafina (my fav) for dinner!

march: my last official spring break (probably ever) which was spent studying (papers & oral argument) & working on my Bar application. i submitted my Bar application. we were surprised by the early arrival of baby cambridge: franklin pierre cambridge.

{via cari cambridge}

april: we attended the Barrister's Ball (a.k.a. law school prom) which was held at the EMP. we drove to ritzville, WA to meet my dad & brought home the newest member of our little family, sadie. we had a date night at The Pink Door during Seattle Restaurant Week.

{taken at photobooth}

{the very first picture of sadie & aaron at the columbia river - taken with holga 135}

may: my last official final exams period: one final, two papers & a project. i painted our office a soothing blue in preparation for my bar exam studies. we attended Baccalaureate Mass at Seattle University & my Law School Graduation at Key Arena. we flew to indiana to see aaron's family & to attend aaron's ten year reunion at Culver Military Academy. we continued east-ward to Paris where we spent a week of celebration: graduation & aaron turning 28! we spent our first day in Paris with our good friend jerry who acted as our translator & tour guide.

june: i started my bar prep studies on the first; this marked the beginning of eight grueling weeks of 80 hours a week cramming. aaron interviewed & was offered a program manager position (still at microsoft). 

july: we saw Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part II at the IMAX. i sat for the WA Bar Exam on July 26, 27 & 28; i wouldn't have made it thru those three days without my friend miriam, three-evenings-in-a-row massages, jimmy john's delivery service or the sheraton hotel in bellevue. we got celebratory pedis at my favorite spa Julep. 

august: on the first we celebrated our one year anniversary at Rover's. we dropped off sadie with nanny lisa and headed east for a lower family vacation. we spent the bookend weekends in charlotte, NC with aaron's brother david & his family, but spend most of the vacation in charleston, SC on the beach at the Isle of Palms. lots of sun, sand & air conditioning. sadie & i drove to boise for a quick trip home to visit my family & to get a haircut (yes, i go to idaho to get my haircut). we waited in anticipation for baby lower who was born shortly after we left NC: landon neal lower.

{via jodi lower}

september: we saw maroon 5 & train in concert at the white river amphitheater. we drove down to salem for a weekend to see old family friends & so aaron could skydive; we saw our friends but had to cancel the skydiving due to weather conditions & miscommunications. we attended a surprise dinner party for sami, one of my very old friends from idaho, who now lives in seattle with her husband, brandon. on the 26th we celebrated sadie's 7th birthday.

october: i passed the bar exam! we celebrated our four year dating anniversary with dinner at the melting pot. we attended Ghouls Near Greenlake, ben & sarah's annual halloween bash as aladdin & jasmine. we ate our way thru seattle & bellevue during Seattle Restaurant Week. aaron ran in the warrior dash. i started a little blog called emerald city diaries to keep family & friends updated on the lower family.

november: i was sworn in as an official King County Bar Association member. i was rear-ended. we celebrated the baptism of baby herschel, the son of one of my law school friends. we celebrated thanksgiving with my grandmother & friends in seattle. we bought doug the douglas fir, the second annual lower family christmas tree. aaron took me to the nutcracker for an early christmas date.

december: we celebrated the engagement of our good friends andy & hailey. we attended a champagne brunch fundraiser. we got an SLR camera. we drove to boise in a rental car. i got a haircut. we flew to vegas. we attended the nuptials of scott & kelly at the chapel in the clouds. we cheered on the boise state broncos to victory in the las vegas bowl. we attended a christmas reunion of the CBC (my dearest high school girlfriends). we celebrated christmas! we drove back to seattle. 

whew, what a year! every year i think "this has been the best year ever!" and i think this is totally true about my 2011.

how was your 2011 - was it a year to remember or are you itching to start 2012 already?

M

a pinterest christmas: keepsake ornament.

this is the first post of my pinterest christmas series and i am so excited to share. 

{sidenote: i have a few more projects up my sleeve & the list of projects keeps growing - i blame pinterest!} 

as soon as i saw this picture on pinterest, i knew i had to do this (honestly, what else am i going to do with the rest of our wedding invitations? any ideas?).

{this is the original pinterest link: wedding invitation ornament.}

this project was pretty simple. the hardest part for me was cutting the paper strips since i had a new paper trimmer and was still learning how it worked. 

supplies:

wedding invitation, baby announcement, etc.

paper trimmer (you could measure and cut with scissors, but it would take forever.)

clear ornament (i used plastic ones from michael's)

pencil (or something to curl the paper around)

ribbon

charm (optional)

{our wedding invitation. i fall in love with it every time i see it.}

{i decided on 1/4 inch strips so i made marks before i cut so i wouldn't be cutting thru the letters.}

{most of the strips had the important stuff like date, time, place, etc.}

{every strip got curled around a pencil.}

{clear plastic ornament with removable top.}

{curly-cue.}

{i decided to use a small charm for the top of the ornament. this is a fleur de lis.}

{i thought that i would need to string the charm onto thread before it went on the ribbon, but you really don't need the thread (unless you want the charm to hang way down). for the other ornaments i made, i just thread the ribbon thru the charm.}

{on the tree!}

i had two birth announcements on my bulletin board and decided to make these babes an ornament to celebrate their first christmas. {jen and kendra: i mailed the ornaments on monday so be on the lookout!}

{for kenley dee. check out her mom's blog here.}

{for deacon clifford. check our his mom's blog here.}

this was such an easy and quick project, so start saving those keepsakes and make ornaments!

have you tackled any pinterest projects for christmas yet?

M