Happy New Year, everyone! I can’t believe 2009 flew by, did it pass by as quickly for you as it did for us? Nothing life-changing really occurred to us, we just lived our lives, hung out with friends, improved on the house and maybe took a quick trip or two in between all the fun. So, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we?
I would say that 2009 was a busy year for weddings and all of them were great fun. Congratulations to all you kiddies who got married this year, welcome to married life:
Odie and Adrienne:
Matt and Amanda:
Pete and Erin:
Eric and Melissa:
Doug and Stephanie:
Don’t think that all we did was just attend weddings, we even left the city a few times.
There was that quick trip to Cape Coral with Krissy and Kenny (who, by the way, moved back to the ‘Lou, yay!):
I took a weekend trip down to Houston with Katie and Amanda to visit Monika:
We even took advantage of Bob’s cousin, Drew, and stayed with him in LA and he showed us the town:
But most of all, we just stuck around St. Louis and had a blast with our friends.
Ice-skated at Steinberg in Forest Park:
Froze our asses off checking out the eagles at the Chain of Rocks Bridge:
Won a chili cook-off:
Got bruised at Demo Ball:
Gussied up for the Lumiere Buffet:
Took a shopping day trip down to the Lake with the girls:
Attended Amanda’s bachelorette party:
Attended Amanda’s second “bachelorette party”:
Indulged at Beerfest:
Watched the All-Star Game, held in St. Louis:
Played at the City Museum:
Floated and actually camped at the Bass River Resort:
Took a cupcake baking class:
Rode in the Moonlight Ramble:
Went to Farm Aid:
Drank wine at the wineries:
Biked the second half of I-64:
Don’t worry, we didn’t just play and drank, we even incorporated some culture into our lives. We saw the Merry Wives of Windsor at the Shakespeare Festival, Cirque Dreams at the Fox, Amadeus at the Rep, Into the Woods at Stray Dog Theatre and listened to some funk at the Whitaker Music Festival at the Botanical Gardens.
We also gave in to our love of food and tried out some new restaurants this past year: Olympia Kebab House, Pomme Restaurant, Shaved Duck, Iron Barley, Monarch, Ariake Steakhouse, brunch at Bristol and Land of Smile.
Surprisingly, we still found time to be productive.
We ripped out a deck:
Replaced it with a patio:
Got new siding:
(before)
(after — big change, eh?)
Got new countertops:
I really enjoy these year in review posts because it allows me to reminisce about the past year and it reminds me how fortunate I am that I have such wonderful friends and families. It’s really the people who are in our lives that makes it memorable and fun. We may not lead the most glamorous lives but we sure as hell make the most of what we have.