Top 10 of 2010

2010 was a good year.  It was definitely a year I will never forget.  But just in case I do, I just wanted to recap my top ten moments (I'll try sticking to just 10).  Plus, it's just fun to look back and let my memory experience all of those good time again.

10. Spending time with people I love

Ok, I know I know...this is pretty generic.  But here's the deal, I got married this year, to the most wonderful man on the planet (I know I'm partial!) and for the better part of the first half of the year, I was dedicated to the dress, the cake, the details, the guest list, and though I got to spend time with my friends throughout all of that...it was always spent doing things for me.  So AFTER the wedding, when things were winding down, I appreciated every moment I got to spend with people who mean a lot to me.  Especially the ones who couldn't be a part of the wedding planning or even make it to the wedding.  This goes from seeing Steph and Kyle, to hanging out with my family, to finally seeing Shae for one brief 24 hour period in December.

My brother and I at the zoo

Mom and I at the fair, Blake Shelton concert!

Jessi, Laura, and I enjoying martinis in Des Moines <3

Ashley and Abbas came to visit!! So goofy :)

Stephanie finally lives closer than Cali!!!!

Visiting Shae while she was home from San Fran in Chicago!

9. My health

Yes, I know, I'm not the healthiest person you know.  I'm not the skinniest, I'm not the best eater, and I still hate to run.  So why did this make my top 10?  A couple of reasons I guess. First of all, even though I still have pounds/inches to lose, I think I have finally learned not to beat up myself so much.  I think the wedding helped a lot.  I was a little more fit for the wedding than I am right now, but it felt great to look at those pictures, even though I was not perfectly thin or tan or whatever, and think that I am pretty.  Secondly, to work on getting fit again, I joined the Y in November and I am loving it! My favorite part of the Y is all of the group exercise classes, the best of which is Zumba...it's so much fun.  Finally, the best thing regarding my health was surgery.  How can that be good right?! I got my gall bladder removed at the beginning of November and my stomach problems have done a 180!  I no longer have nightly stomach aches, no heartburn problems, no nausea problems.  It has been great.

8. Ashley moved to Davenport

I don't have to go in to a lot of detail about why this is great, because come on, who doesn't want one of their best friends to live in the same city as you?!  Ashley got a job at the bank I work at and has been living down here for about three months now!  I think it has been great for both of us to have each other nearby.  And it's great working at for the same company because we email each other at work a lot and it's fun!  On top of the wonderfulness of having Ashley in town, she just got an apartment that is literally six blocks away from the house Ryan and I are moving into this month! :)

7. Omaha

Ryan and I have made a couple of trips to Omaha this year to visit Ashley, Andy, Laura, and Jason.  I LOVE this city and I LOVE our friends who live there.  I wish it wasn't 5 hours away, but it's well worth the drive when we can make it.  If I only lived 5 hours away from ALL of my closest friends, I think I would be in heaven.  Though of course, even now, a lot of them live within a 5 hour drive, but they're all in opposite directions!  Maybe we should just all pick a city and move there! :)

Das Boot

Touring Lucky Bucket Brewery

Halloween in Omaha

Erin looks pissed! lol

Girls weekend!

Girls weekend in  Omaha!

Aw, Calypso...so crazy! :)

6. Christmas

Sadly, I don't have any pictures from any of my Christmases this year.  But it made the list because, get this, we had SIX!  We had six Christmases in three days.  It was crazy, kinda stressful, and kind of sad.  Yet, I am so grateful that I was able to see so much of our families that weekend.  We started with church on Friday with Ryan's parents, dinner and presents with my family, and then presents with Ryan's fam.  Saturday involved a trip up to Dubuque where we spent the first part of the day with my mom's side of the family and then drove a couple miles to my father-in-law's parents.  We even made it home in time to see a late showing of True Grit (awesome!).  Sunday, we started with brunch at Ryan's parents' house with his mom's parents and then we spent the afternoon and my parents' place with my dad's side of the family.  It was crazy, but it was fun!

5. My birthday/bachelorette party

Despite the ridiculous drive up to Des Moines, this was a fun weekend.  However, I'm not going to write too much about it because of my previous post about said party. :)  But here are some enjoyable pictures to recap the weekend!

4. Cubs Game

On the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, Ryan and I went to our very first Cubs game together :)  Well, we went with his mom and brother too.  But it was so much fun and I can't wait to go again.  I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but Wrigley is awesome and it's fun to see the Cubs win.  Of course, they definitely DID NOT win this game we went to.  But we spent a beautiful day in Chicago, had great food, good weather, and a fun time.

Our view of Wrigley from Goose Island

nummy beer

Sporting my new Cubs hat

Food at Goose Island

so much fun!

3. Iowa/ISU Game

September 11th this year was the infamous Iowa vs. Iowa State game, played in Iowa City this year.  Ryan and I really had a wonderful weekend.  We went up to Cedar Rapids on Friday night and had a great time drinking and playing games with Emily.  On Saturday, we headed down to IC for the big game.  We met up with Laura, Jason, Kyle, Derek, Stolt, Lisa, and some other friends.  We had a fun time tailgating at Stolt's house and then walked to meet some more friends.  At some point, I split off to go find my dad who was tailgating as well...and on my way to meet him, I got a call from Ashley M.  Her and Andy got engaged!!!  It was fabulous news and made my wandering walk a little less awful.  LoL.  Then I met up with my dad, and then my sister and then back to the bar to watch the game.  It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the game being in Ames this year! :)

sisters!

Hawkeye and Cyclone <3

We play friendly

ISU v. Iowa in flippy cup

Representin' Fantasy Football

Me, my "sister", and my sister

2. Wedding
I know right? How is the wedding number two and not number one?  Easy.  The wedding was awesome, incredible, important, beautiful, stressful (but worth it), and the most important day of my life thus far....but it's one DAY and it flies by!  But it was phenomenal, and we were so lucky with amazing weather, beautiful family and friends, and happy to have each other.  Married life is good <3

1. Honeymoon
Yes, the honeymoon was definitely my number one experience of the year because it was just me and Ryan, newlywed, in a brand new beautiful country for a whole 8 days!!  I know I already have a whole post about my honeymoon, but let me just recap.  Costa Rica was an affordable, exotic vacation full of adventure, romance, and relaxation.  We went hiking on a volcano, snorkeling with a school fish, exploring the night life, enjoying the rain forest, and swimming in the ocean right by our hotel room.  We spent one night in the capital city, two nights with a volcano in our back yard, two nights in the cloud forest, and three nights on the ocean.  It was phenomenal and we can't wait to go back.

View from our hotel in San Jose

Our room at the Arenal Volcano

On a short hike <3

View of the volcano off of our patio

Arenal lake, view from the volcano hike

On our hike

Room in the Monte Verde cloud forest

So this is what a rain forest looks like!

Hiking

Our hotel in Tamarindo

Tamarindo is very much a surf town

Fresh mango/pineapple smoothie

Where we went snorkeling

Sunset catamaran

Last day :( About to head to the airport.

Some other contenders for the list: concerts I've been too, our weekend in Chicago, my bridal showers, Andy's birthday weekend in DPort/Galesburg, camping, weekend in McGregor/Prarie du Chein...so many good memories, it's hard to decide between them all.  We can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us!  It's been good so far :)