2009 Year in Review...

...2009 has came and gone and I can't say I'm too upset about it leaving. I have high hopes for 2010 but I know that it's going to be a year of learning and understanding and hopefully growing in a positive direction. So here goes, 2009 in review...


January: Rang in the New Year with some good friends, a goal in 2010, is to make more of an effort to hang out with friends even though they may live far away

February: Mardi Gras Trivia, goal for 2010 is to work on my Trivia knowledge so I can contribute to teams

March: My birthday! A great night out with awesome friends even though my coat got stolen, goal for 2010, don't lose my coat!

April: A rainy day at the farm but I still caught a big catfish on gummy worms!!! 2010 goal, catch enough fish to make dinner for Matt and I

May: Met the most awesome STL Bloggers, my goal in 2010 is to continue to have fun Blogger Get-Togethers and hopefully add some more bloggers to the mix

June: Bachelorette Party!!! My goal in 2010, to get dressed up more often and get more use out of the blue heels I bought!

July: St. Charles County Fair Time! Goal in 2010, continue to help with the Dinner Auction

August: Family Get Together at the Farm! Goal in 2010, take the dogs to more fun outdoor adventures

September: Found out Candace was prego!!! Goal: be the best "aunt" possible to their baby BOY!

October: Celebrated our first year of marriage! Goal: Be a better wife and the best one I can be.

November: My first time hunting!!! Goal for 2010: actually get a deer, or at least see more than one.

December: Celebrated Christmas with my wonderful husband and families. 2010 Goal: Try to understand God and have a better relationship with Him.

So good-bye 2009 and hello 2010! May things look up this year and positive things happen to us all.

Groeteke Christmas...

...so after Christmas with my fam, we drove back to STL and fought sleep until 11pm to go to church. It was a very nice service but it was only Matt and I with his parents and grandma, none of the other kids made it. I'll leave that alone. Anyways, I decided to try a new potato dish called Pecan Potatoes Gratin. Matt says he really liked it but after an hour in the oven, I thought the bottom potatoes were still a little hard. Oh well, next time I'll go back to mashed taters, can't mess those up.
The Groeteke Woman...Elizabeth, Star and I

Me with my new mailbox-woohoo!!!

Matt with his new blower and I would like to add that my husband looked especially handsome.

EB with her new hair curlers and her dad.

Christmas was a LONG day but it went very fast! Again, it was great to see everyone and wish we could do it more often. Thanks for all the great gifts and fellowship and don't be jealous of my mailbox!

Christmas My Family Part II...

...part II of Holyfield Christmas...

Emma and Shadow got Haley a bead kit so before we left, we had to make each other bracelets. I know you're all jealous and want one yourself!
My sister's fam, Matt and I got my dad a chainsaw for Christmas. Matt was put in charge of it so after the gift opening, while the girls were making bracelets, the boys went in the garage to play with the chainsaw.

Woohoo! New coat for me since mine got stolen on my birthday.

Haley got this cute pink and camo hat...I love it!

Bella wanted to play while we were opening gifts so my sister entertained her while still talking to the rest of us.

Is she not the cutest???

Thank you everyone for a great Christmas!!!

PS

We should be in Florida now....woohoo!!!

Christmas Recap 1 with My Fam...

...so I, well Haley and I, took way too many pictures and there's too many cute ones to pick from so Christmas with my family is going to be a couple posts.

My first gift I opened was...a COUPON ORGANIZER!!! Woo hoo!!! Watch out stores, I'm even MORE prepared now!
Haley was as big as the gift she got!!! She reminds me so much of myself its not even funny.

Here's the cute girl and I together....

When we first got there, my sister reminded me to take a good picture of Matt and I for next year's Christmas card. So our photographer...Haley, took Matt and I in front of every Christmas tree and mantel and took like 20 pictures so we have a lot to choose from! This one is in the running.

I had so much fun with my family and I really feel like I did an awesome job getting gifts for everyone that they all wanted, needed and would enjoy. I love spending time with my family and sharing fun moments with them. I look forward to many more memories. Hope you all had a great Christmas too!!!

Happy Birthday Jesus!!!

...one tradition that I want to start when I have kids, and I just made this up, I don't know anyone else that does that so give a shout out if you do, is that on Christmas Day, I want to make a birthday cake that says, "Happy birthday Jesus!" and our family would sing Happy Birthday. Anyways, I hope everyone has a blessed day and makes lots of memories with your loved ones.

Merry Christmas Eve!!!

...to all my wonderful friends out there (both in real life and Blog Land), may you have safe travels, fun family time and may you enjoy every minute you have with your loved ones. We're in Cape today then headed back to STL tonight then Florida bound Sunday...it's going to be a whirlwind as always.

These are just a couple of my favorite Christmas pictures over the years...

Haley at age 2 with Emma age 4.
My grandpa and I Christmas 2005, one of the last times we got to spend together. I love you Grandpa!!!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

WOO HOO!!! No more work until 2010!!!

...yes, you heard me right...I am not working at either of my jobs until 2010. I have the next week and a half to chill and enjoy time away from there. Some random thoughts...

*Only 4 more days until we're in Florida...still looking for a ride to the airport...
*I have eaten so many sweets that they don't even taste yummy and delicious any more.
*I don't think Matt's Christmas presents (and his dad's) are going to be here by Christmas, which is kind of a bummer.
*This year, I don't feel as though I really ever got into the Christmas spirit. I think everyone will like what we got them but I'm just not that into it, we didn't even decorate (mainly because of going to the Florida trip) and I just haven't been in a jolly mood....hmm...
*I'm really hoping to get back into the swing of going to church in 2010 because I have a lot of things to try and understand and I think working with God is a good way to help understand it.
*One of my friend's FB statuses really hit me, "In order to start your 2010 with a pure and clean heart, you must FORGIVE those who did you dirty in 2009." Not to mention that my friend is Hottie McHottie (I love you Stan!) but it's so true. I have a horrible problem with not letting things go and I really need to work on it so maybe 2010 is the year.
*I love when life turns into a small world...my good college friend called the Help Desk at her work and got my sister!
*I'm going to start the book "Lamb" while in Florida and I'm excited about that.

I hope everyone has a great and wonderful Christmas. I hope that Santa is good to you, that you enjoy time with your loved ones and that you truly celebrate the reason for the season. Happy birthday Jesus!

Ugly Sweater Party...

...Saturday night, Matt and I attended our first ever Ugly Sweater Party. Everyone had to bring a handmade decorated sweater/sweatshirt then we drew names and you had to wear that person's sweater.

Here is Matt with the sweater that Brett made. Can you tell that he's just thrilled???
Here is Rainman (real name Ryan) with the sweater that I made, with help of course from my momma.

He also had on a dickie and his button shirt was almost see through so it was great!

Here is Stevie, the hostess, and I. Her's was a Gingerbread Man then her head was the head and that's me wearing a sweater with Stevie's boyfriend on it. At the end of the night, I let Brett keep the sweater because I didn't want him hanging in my closet.

Here is all of us that participated before we headed out to the bar to show off our wonderful sweaters. Stevie made the black one and it had real lights on it that blinked.

It was lots of fun and, most importantly, I got to wear my favorite outfit of all times...jeans and a sweatshirt!!!

Welcome Baby Eva...

...on Thursday, December 17, Matt's cousin Gwen had her second baby. A little baby girl named Eva Alita! Matt and I went to see her Saturday morning and she is too flippin' cute!!! I could have cuddled with her all day!

Here is Eva Alita

Matt with his new cousin. He didn't want to hold her at first so I had to coax him into bonding with his new cousin. He was so cute and serious. He wasn't talking or looking at any of us and then suddenly he said, "Whew! That was a big fart!"

The proud parents with the new baby: Larry, Gwen and Eva

What a great Christmas present! Congrats to the parents, grandparents and big brother Devin!

Grandmas...Gotta Love 'Em...

...so Tuesday I get home from work and see that Matt's grandma has sent us a Christmas card. She's in her 80s and very very sweet. Here is what she wrote in the card:

"Dear Matthew & Allisia,

Hope you two both enjoy your first Christmas together. Uncle Warren and I really had a great first Christmas....

Love for this Christmas Day,

Aunt Dorthy"

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:

1. It's Alyssa but I have come to terms that Grandma G will never pronounce or spell my name correctly and because she's so cute and lovable...I'm okay with that.

2. Matthew and I got married in 2008 making this our SECOND Christmas together as a married couple. Grandma was at our wedding, we gave her a wedding album last year and I'm pretty sure last year's card said the same.

3. As the post states, she's Grandma, not Aunt and again, I'm pretty sure she signed it Aunt last year as well.

Matt and I both thought it was comical so that's why I wanted to share.

Now on to my Grandma...my grandpa passed away in 2006 and she's just now getting around to going through things to get rid of. At Thanksgiving, she sent home two bags of t-shirts for Matt to go through since he goes through t-shirts every other week especially in the summer time. The week after Thanksgiving, he started going through the bags and here's what happened:

Matt coming upstairs: "Babe, I think your grandma wants me to go to jail."

Me: "Why is that?"

Matt: "Look what was in the bag!"

Matt walks into living room wearing a bright orange jumpsuit (like coveralls if you were a mechanic or something). I begin to break into hysterical laughing.

Me: "Are you keeping it?"

Matt: "No, it doesn't fit."

I now notice that it doesn't fit as his shoulders are hunched over. He walks down the hallway to look at himself in the mirror.

This past weekend, I went home and my dad gave me ANOTHER bag from grandma to go through. This time Matt hit the jackpot! I don't know why he kept going to the basement AKA Man Cave to try on the clothes because he'd try one on, come upstairs to look at himself, then go back downstairs and repeat.

And now I leave you with pictures of the fashion show I witnessed while trying on the new clothes:

Bomber jacket #1 (he was pretty excited about this one)

Nice '80s stone-washed jean jacket

Bomber Jacket #2...deep in thought

Pensive thinking in his corduroy suit jacket

Happy Friday everyone!

Finished Ornaments...

...remember this post about my Big Girls Day Out with Haley? My sis sent me a picture of the finished product.

Here's Haley's side....

Here is my side...

I think they turned out pretty good. What do you want to bet that I get one of these as a present for Christmas??? I'll let you know.

Cute Teacher Gift...

...O.M.G!!! Is this not the cutest gift for a teacher or depending on the items you put inside the bottle, it could be for anyone...baby gift, neices/nephews, wedding gift. Click here for directions to see how easy it is!
Please post if you do one yourself!

PS

Happy three year anniversary of our first date Pretty!

Tuesday Tidbits...

...just some random ramblings by me.

*Monday wore me out...seriously, I was spent. It was a busy, draining day...enough said.
*One of the things I accomplished on Monday is that I bought my very own windshield wipers without any help from my dad or Matt and even got them on the car (it still counts even if the guy at the store did it for me!).
*My mom gave me 5 tubs of Otis Spunkmeyer cookies that are already in cookie shape so all you have to do is pull them out and bake them (or eat them). Guess what I'm taking to the next three social engagements I have! You guessed it COOKIES!!! It's okay though because they are delicious!!!
*So disappointed that Kevin didn't win Top Chef but I really lol-ed when Michael said he didn't need his knives and Kevin said, "No, I don't need them because I'm going to karate chop everything to pieces!"
*I am debating whether or not to write a post about something going right now but I'm worried about coming off as petty...
*I want to write a post about something going on right now to get your thoughts and opinions and to let out some frustration and vent but I can't talk about it...
*I'm really excited about this weekend, lots of stuff going on with friends so it should be good times.
*I'm giving away my first Christmas presents on Wednesday-hope they like them!
*I still haven't wrapped any of Matt's presents.
*I'm hoping the majority of Matt's presents and his dad's present get here in time.
*In 12 days we'll be in Florida.
*Two years ago today, Matt and I got engaged and about 30 minutes after we did, I had to go to work. Three years ago tomorrow we had our first date and during the date, my friend called to tell me she got engaged and asked me to be in her wedding.
*I just have to survive this week (and its not even a full work week) then I only have Monday and Tuesday next week and there are holiday parties both days.
*We're delivering our neighbor's gift baskets tonight, I was going one way with it when I started then went in a totally different directions so I don't think it all flows but oh well, it's the thought that counts anyways, right?
*It's Tuesday...

Kristal's Shower...

...so Saturday afternoon was Kristal's big baby shower in Cape. I got to work about 7 am, cut out around 11:30 then hauled it to Cape so I could drop Emma off before the shower then got there in time to see 2 and 3 women carrying in HUGE gifts! Right away I recognized Teresa but didn't feel it was appropriate to say, "Hey Teresa! I'm a total stranger but I know who you are because I'm seen you on Kristal's blog and Facebook." That would be umm....awkward!

The shower was held at Brother Mark's house and it.was.awesome!!! Really, their house was amazing, the food was amazing, even their cute little dog named Muffy Sue was amazing. Ashley and I REALLY liked it though because they'd gone out of their way to hang up stockings just for the two of us (or maybe they had two daughters that were also named Ashley and Alyssa BUT we like our story better).

Here's the gang from high school: Jess, Ashley and her son Garet, Kristal, Bug and Me (with my new sweater and necklace from Penney's)

Her is Kristal with the owl pillow my mom made, she loved it!

I finally got the courage up to tell the other bloggers I recognized them. We quickly became good 'ole friends after we discussed what their blog profile pictures were and what they discussed on their blogs. Here is a picture of Teresa (she makes her own cheese), Mary (she accidentally killed her fish and went to this Stray Rescue event), and Jamie (she talks about a grapefruit with hair and teeth). They were all really nice, funny and I'll be blogstalking them.

The "gang" went on a gift of cloth diapers. Jess and I were both mesmerized by these and they were NOT what I was expecting. I was picturing like a dish towel with safety pins. They are actually pretty cute. Here is Jess posing with a cloth diaper.

Kristal was exhausted after opening all those gifts!

And now it's a tradition because I've taken this picture with Ashley and now with Kristal!
Don't forget, klf, that I don't get text messages so when you go into labor Jess and Ash will have to call and let me know!!! Congrats girl, I can't wait to meet Bug!!!...