alyssa jayne: 2012

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Summertime in Carolina

Blog post number two in one day...that's right, I'm just gonna keep this up and make up for lost time! Summer break rolled around and boy did I need it! If you work in special education you know that Spring is busy busy with IEP Annual Reviews and lots of other paperwork type things that I won't bore you with. Anyway, I was so excited to get to go back to South Carolina for over a week! This trip was filled with time at the beach, hanging with sweet baby Sofia, and of course, walking around the best college campus EVER!

Tillman Hall

Sweet little Sofia...can't believe she is 6 months old already...time slow down! When I was there she had just learned how to clap her hands and it was adorable!

The beach at Litchfield; pulled pork BBQ (really is there any other kind of BBQ worth talkin bout? This was SO good! From Jim and Nick's on King Street in Charleston; Pralines from Market Street Streets...this is another Charleston must!

I'm back?

Woah! January 6th? That's just pitiful! Those were my thoughts as I clicked on my blog page. Now just because I haven't posted since then doesn't mean I haven't been *thinking* about posting...that counts right? I guess I don't even have an adequate excuse for waiting ~~6 months~~ forever since my last post so I'm just jumpin in and going for it. I guess I'll start with: another road trip! The beauty of working in a school district is that you get so many breaks...seriously, SO MANY! The third best break (third only to Christmas and summer) is Spring Break! So what did I do with a whole week off this year? What else besides a road trip to none other than Jackson Hole! You might remember a previous post about a road trip back from Portland with a stop in Jackson (if I could figure out how, I would link to that older post but let's be honest, it's a miracle in an of itself that I'm writing this now, so figuring out that whole linking thing is just gonna have to wait! :) Anyway, this trip was nothing like the previous one. This time around we stayed with a good friend from home and it was so nice to have such a great place to stay, and to have someone show us around town! Thanks Zach!! So now I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Wyoming State Line...you know that sound about the wind whippin across the plains in Oklahoma? The original version is actually about Wyoming! (Or at least it should be)

If you go back and read that older post I was talking bout, you'll find out about this awesome hotel...I just had to go back and make sure it was still there! Also, proud to say, I'm no longer a stranger!

Kim bout to take her first run at Jackson Hole

If you've never skied there just know...this mountain is STEEP! Also, you will feel like you're going to ski off the face of the mountain because you can't see the bottom from the top but don't worry, this is just an optical illusion!

No offense Wyoming but y'alls snow ain't got nothin on Colorado! The day we went was nothing but slush, rocks and patches of grass everywhere

Our host for the week and tram operator extraordinaire representing all the way from Clemson, SC!

These are waffles at the top of the tram. It's a place called Corbet's Cabin and if you go to Jackson Hole, this is a must...these are SOOO good!!

I recommend the brown sugar and butter combination. Super healthy too! Ok only kidding but after a day of shredding gnar pow, who cares?! I'm always so dang hungry apres skiing!

These are found in the square in the town of Jackson (I'm pretty sure this is 1 of 4). Now that's a lot of antlers!

The Grand Teton mountains...pictures just don't do it justice...this place is beautiful!

This is Moulton Barn known as the most photographed barn in America

My roommate is a pretty stellar photographer!

Friday, January 6, 2012

Life as of Late

The last two months of 2012 we really super busy. I guess that's to be expected, with the Holiday season and everything. So here is what I've been up to as of late:
1. Pinterest! If you haven't heard of pinterest, you're probably gonna want to check it out. It's an online pinboard that you can use to save pictures with embedded links to everything from recipes to home decor to style and everything in between. If you're not careful, you can ~~spend~~ waste a lot of time on there but it can be really useful for new ideas, planning events, a good laugh, and organizing things you see on multiple websites in one place. It can seem a little confusing at first but you'll get the hang of it and you'll probably get a lot of really cool ideas there!
2. My birthday! I LOVE birthdays. Growing up, I loved having my friends over for birthday parties and recently I've been celebrating for an entire week if possible! On my actual birthday, my amazing roommate woke me up at 6:30 in the morning with a homemade cake complete with lit candles...it was quite surprising and the best way to start the day! I also went to see the Lion King which was so great (if it's ever in your area, it's definitely worth seeing...the costumes and talent are really something!), and, enjoyed a surprise birthday brunch with some of my favorite people at my favorite breakfast place. My burrito came complete with lit candles, which was awesome. And...to top it all off, TCBY (my absolute favorite fro yo place) opened right here in Fort Collins!
3. Sweet Miss Sofia! I'm happy to announce that I have another new niece and she is beautiful! Her name is Sofia and she is a laid back sweet little peanut. She lives pretty far away but I finally got to see her over Christmas break. We hung out a lot (which consisted of her sleeping in my arms) and I loved every minute of it. Can't wait to watch this little one grow!
4. Christmas! Oh Christmas break...it came so abruptly and went by in the blink of an eye it seems. I made the trip home to South Carolina and was able to spend time with lots of family members that I don't see often, which was really great. Thankful for sweet memories.
5. The Orange Bowl. So, it's been a while since I've talked about Clemson football but here's how it all went down. We went 9-3 in the regular season, with two terrible losses at the end there, one to NC State and one to our biggest rivals South Carolina. I hate losing to them but by then we knew regardless of the outcome that we would be going to the ACC Championship because we won our division so it made the loss a little less painful. We went on to beat Virginia Tech (for the second time this season!) in the ACC Championship game which was a great accomplishment! With that win, we were guaranteed a spot in the Orange Bowl, which is one of 5 BCS bowls (and kind of a big deal!) My mom decided if we made it to the Orange Bowl that we should make the trip to Miami, so when we beat VA Tech, we made our travel plans. Sparing you the painful details of the game itself (we lost and it wasn't pretty), all in all it was a great experience and I'm so glad we made the trip! It's games like these that remind me of a quote one of my favorite high school teachers/coaches sometimes used. It goes like this, "You win some, you lose some, some get rained out!" So, as a Clemson football fan, we hold our heads high because we will always love Clemson regardless of how good or bad our football team performs, and we eagerly await the next football season where we hope that it will be better than the last!
So I think that pretty much sums it all up! And now, for the pictures...