Summer fun

The summer went by way too quickly for me. It started with the graduation of my brother and ended with me cruising to the Bahamas!! The rest seems to be a blur. In June we decided to finish our basement. A few more minor details need to be completed then it is finished. We are very excited about how it has turned out so far. It will be very nice to have the extra space when we have guests. On July 12, Nick and I celebrated our second anniversary. I can't believe that it has been two years already. Time flies when your having fun!! In August, Nick and I and my family headed to Florida for a family vacation. We stayed on the beach and partied almost every night for birthdays. Grandpa turned 80, Mallory turned 19, I turned 27, Izzi turned 4 and Grandma turned 74(I think-she doesnt like to tell her age)!! Needless to say we were all sick of cake after 7 days. We also decided while we were in Florida we would visit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. We went to the new Harry Potter World which was very cool to see. Extremely long lines, but the ride inside the castle was worth the wait. After returning to reality for three weeks, I left again to cruise to the Bahamas. It was a blast!! I would have loved to stay longer, but four days was a nice getaway. So anyway, I am sad that the summer was here and gone already, but I love the fall!! I am all decorated for this season!!

Congratulations Mike and Angie and Welcome Evan Michael

Evan Michael Marty was born on June 27 at 4:44 PM weighing in at 8 pounds 1 ounce and measuring 20 1/4 inches long. Congrats!! Here are some pictures of the new addition.

dad's birthday/father's day

My dad's birthday was on June 19!! He turned 48!! Since the next day was father's day we celebrated the whole weekend. It was nice to soak up the sun in the pool!!
Here is the latest family pictue.

Save Second Base

On June 12, Mallory, mom and I walked in the Komen Race for the Cure in STL. It was awesome to see nothing but people in front of you for miles and than nothing but people behind you for miles. We all decided that it would become an annual event for us in memory of Grandma Charlotte (my mom's mom) and Aunt Susan (my mom's sister). If anyone wants to join our team, let us know.

The 2010 Graduate

Congratulations Lucas!! Lucas graduated on May 8 from SIUE with a degree in mass communications with a focus in advertising and minor in business. I can't believe that you have graduated. I think that officially makes you an adult. Watch out world, here comes the big dreamer!! I am very proud of you!! Here are some pictures of the big day!!

Weekend getaway in Sin City!!

Nick and I had the pleasure of getting away for a long weekend to Las Vegas!! Nick's boss had business to tend to so Nick and I got to tag along. It was a quick visit, but the weather was great!! We walked our tails off on the strip during the day and at night. I even met some celebs at the Venetian!! We went to the top of Mt.Charleston and ate breakfast. There was a beautiful view. We also saw Jubilee at Bally's which is the typical showgirl vegas show with feathers, rhinestones, singing and dancing. I loved it!! Here are some pics!!

lots going on!!

So I have not blogged in a long while so I need to catch up on a handful of exciting events!! For Valentine's Day, Nick and I went out to eat at Andria's steakhouse in Chesterfield. It was very good and not terribly expensive either. We will definitely have to return. Nick sent me flowers to work and I got him a digital picture frame for work because he has one pic on his desk that is almost 4 years old. This way he can keep adding and updating pics. He does not change looks but my hair is different in every picture!! HAHA! On Tuesday, I found out that Angie and Mike Marty are having a baby boy!! He will be named Evan Michael. Congrats you guys. Cant wait to meet him!! The following Thursday, Mom, Dad, Mallory and myself went to the Reba McEntire, George Strait and Lee Ann Womack concert. It was awesome!! The concert went from 7:00 to 11:30 with only about 15 minutes in between each artist. Reba is my favorite!! She is such a great entertainer. The highlight of the show was when she left the stage, changed clothes and returned in a taxi cab to sing Fancy (one of my fav songs). George has a great voice but is very boring to watch, but it was still neat to see him. Lee Ann only sang a few songs, but she sounds great live. The next night, me and a co-worker went to the Kranzberg Arts Theatre to watch our boss in a one man caberet show. he was great!! It was kind of weird seeing a whole different side of him, but it was a lot of fun. After the show, we went out for drinks with our big big boss and her boyfriend who just happens to be extremely high up in the St. Johns Mercy network. It was a very weird night, but lots of fun!! Needless to say this week I did not do a thing because I was catching up on sleep since I cant party like I used to!! Here are some pics!!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma Bolander

On December 31, my grandma turned the big 8-0!! She does not look a day over 65!! I hope I inherit her genes. We had a party for her eventhough she strongly recommended us not to. It was fun. Hee are some pics. Happy Birthday Grandma and I hope to celebrate many more with you!! Love ya!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Nick and I wold like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Please be careful with all your travels!! Hope Santa finds you!!

Happy Birthday Lucas

Today (December 10) is Lucas' 23rd Birthday!! I cant believe you are 23. I feel really old :( I was only three when mom and dad brought you home for the hospital, but I hear about it often because I put your whole foot in my mouth and bit down. I wanted mom and dad to take you back!! I am glad they didnt because my life would not be the same without you. Happy birthday little brother!!

Happy Birthday MOM

Today is my mom's 45th birthday!! (December 7) Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear mom. Happy birthday to you. That was me singing to you without putting you through the pain of hearing my lovely singing voice. You are the bravest and most beautiful woman I know!! Glad we got to celebrate this weekend. Dad the cherry delight was great! I love you, mom!! Happy Birthday and I wish for many more to come!!

let the holiday season begin

Lots has happened since my last blog. Kelly and Brooks Thomann tied the knot on the 21st of November. It was nice being able to get together with friends and catch up. Congrats Kelly and Brooks!! The next week was Thanksgiving!! I love Thanksgiving because it is my favorite meal!! I made my first pie from scratch, crust and everything!! I was proud of myself because it was done all by myself. On Black Friday, Nick and I braved the crowd so get a start on our Christmas shopping. I thought it was a blast. The lines in Old Navy and Bath and Body Works were terrible, but other than that the shopping spree went well. I only have one more person to buy for and than I am done. I even have all of my purchases wrapped and underour tree. I love Christmas time!! Here are some recent pics of my peeps!!

long time no blog

So I have not updated my blog forever so I got lots to say!! We have been pretty busy the last month. Angie, Mike, Lucas and his friends along with Nick and myself headed down to Ste. Genevieve, MO to Crown Valley winery. This is an annual event that is only allowed to take place once due to the craziness we get ourselves into!! Wine is a different kind of drunk, one minute you are on a tour feeling fine the next minute you are grinding with the class of '79 (that would be my brother)!! We then ventured to the new brewery down the road. I dont like beer so I drank the heck out of Fizzy Izzy root beer. After about an hour or so, everyone was starting to get crazy so we called it a day and went to eat. Good wine, good friends, good memories!! The next week Nick and I attended a wedding of Carl and Aimee (Nick works with Carl). We got to experience the worlds worst wedding crasher!! An Elvis impersonator was hired by the bride's parents to perform a few songs at the reception. You should have seen the look on there faces, fear, disbelief and anger!!We all got a laugh though. The next weekend Mallory, mom and myself went to the Coevered Bridge Festival. This year we decided to spend the night in Terre Haute and go 2 days instead of just one. It was a little chilly but lots of fun. Last year, every pumpkin I found I bought and this year it was snowmen. Mallory was getting crabby because I picked up every snowman that I saw and tried to picture where in my house I could put him!! The following weekend I went to Newton to help my mom paint her bedroom. She has not re-done her bedroom since we moved in to the house 15 years ago. She had a brilliant idea to stripe one of the walls. It seemed like a great idea at the time, but half way through we decided it was not so brilliant. We eventually finished and I have to say it turned out wonderfully. I did not get to see the entire room put back together so I am excited to check out the end product. Last weekend we celebrated my sister-in-laws birthday. Christy turns 29 on the 29th, her golden b-day!! Happy early b-day, Christy!! And last but not least Happy Halloween!! I know it is early, but I figure I probably would forget to update and the holiday would be over. To all my friends with kiddos, send pics of all your ghosts and goblins.

Disney continued

Day 5: Magic Kingdom again. Happy Birthday to me!! So I got the royal treatment today with the pin and the gift card!! It was great hearing happy birthday a million times that day and of course getting to spend it with some characters and I am not talking about nick, mal and Shelby!! Ha, ha!! It was corny, I know! Anyway, we basically just stalked characters all day. we found out exactly what time each character was coming for meet and greets and where and we went. It was a blast. We also rode a few more rides again, thunder mountain (rollercoaster) and Pirates of the Caribbean. Disney remade the pirate ride and now it mimicks the movie featuring Johnny Depp. His character in the ride looks exactly like him, it is crazy!! We watched the Spectromagic parade again (we watched this one on Monday also) and then saved the best for last, the Fireworks display called "wishes". It was awesome, everyting was synchronized to music and Tinkerbell flew from the top of the castle. It was beautful and very magical. For whatever reason my computer is not letting me add anymre pics so you will all just have to wait to see the Disney Scrapbook. Oh yes, there will be one. We bought special Disney books with our gift cards!! Anyway, after shopping a bit and eating everything Disney had to offer, we decided to head back to the resort and get our stuff ready for departure the next day. The trip went by so fast, but the memories will last forever. I strongly advise everyone to visit Disney as much as possible because you can enjoy it no matter what your age!!

Disney continues

Day 4: Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom was vey different than any of the other parks, but still really neat to see. Expedition Everest is the rollercoaster there where you are in search of the Yeti. You actually go backwards during part of the ride. It was pretty cool. We then decided to hit the water ride despite Nick and Mallory's opposition. Mallory got drenched, Shelby was pretty wet, my butt was wet and Nick got a few sprinkles. Lucky him and probably lucky me too because he would have killed me if he was the one drenched!! Check out the pic. Mal looks like a drounded rat!!
We all dried off during the safari ride. We got to get up close and personal to many animals and see them in their "human-made" natural environment. There was also many shows to watch. Bugs Life was probably the best. It was 3D and everything that happened you could feel or smell (seriously one of the bugs farted!!). The icon for this park is the Tree of Life. It is huge with over 300 animals carved into the trunk. It was a shorter day because the park closed at 7 so we decided to go back to Downtown Disney to eat and party. By the time we ate, I was ready for bed!! Everyone else wanted to stay out and party so we stayed for a while longer. All of the clubs are closed now and being renovated into resturants. However, every restaurant has live music so there were dance parties everywhere!! The girls danced in the street and Nick and I took pics of them. Day 4 complete. One more day of magical moments await us!!

Disney continued

Day3: HollywoodStudios

Tower of Terror and Rock n Rollercoaster!! Need I say more!! We immediately went straight to the big rides and rode them 3 times each. They were both awesome!! The rollercoaster may have been a little more awesome because you got to jam to Aerosmith while doing crazy turns, dips, cork screws and more!! There were many shows to watch too!! One of my favs was Beauty and the Beast: the Musical. Oh, also our building got struck by lightning while we were waiting for the show to start!! No one was hurt, thank goodness. We saw many more characters there including Woody and Buzz from the Toy Story and Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater from Cars!! Another fun filled day!!

Disney continued

Day 2: Epcot

There were only four rides at this park, but a handful of shows and lots of places to eat. This park showcases eleven different countries that are all one world. It was neat seeing all of the different buildings from the different countries and you could also try many different kinds of food!! We also met up with a couple characters. The best ride there was the test track. You are in a car which takes you through all the tests a new car goes through before being released to the public. You went through extreme heat, cold, speed bumps, crash test, anti-lock brakes and of course speed!! It was awesome!! We also saw "Reflections", which is a firework show. It was pretty cool!! Another exhausting day, but many more too come. The next day is Hollywood Studios.

p.s. we dont have a ton of pics on our cameras for me to post because we used a photo pass where Disney's photographers would take our pics and put them on a disc for us and we dont have the disc yet!!

Disney continued

Happy 18th Birthday Mallory!!(August 3) Today we went to Magic Kingdom!! Since today is Mal's b-day, she gets in for free, however we already purchased the tickets so she opted for a $75 gift card to spend at any Disney park!! She also got to wear a birthday pin so everyone knew whe was celebrating today. She got all kinds of free stuff and a million happy birthdays!! We started the day off by eating breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh and his friends. Aunt Buffy and the kids also came to eat.



After breakfast, we were off to the rides!!

You cant help but become a little kid when you hit Main Street and see the castle!!We stayed at the park til 11ish and saw every parade, character and rode every ride there!! Our feet hurt and we were exhauted. Time for us to go back to the resort and get some sleep before Epcot the next day.

Disney vacation

Nick, Mallory and Shelby Matson set out on our adventure to Disney World on July 31. We first stopped by the visit Grandma and Grandpa Frazier in Palatka, Florida and
then hit the outlet mall!! That nght we stayed at my Aunt Buffy's condo on the beach at ste. augustine. The next morning we woke up, threw on our suits and off we went to the beach. I could live on the beach easily!! I love it!! That night we went to the Outback Steakhouse, which is a family tradition for my mothers side, with Aunt Buffy, uncle Steve and Gabi and Izzi. Since we were in ste. augustine, we decided to go into downtown and check out the little shops. We took a horse and buggy ride through downtown and listened to the history of the oldest city in the U.S.
The next day we headed to Orlando to visit Mickey and his friends!! When we arrived we checked in and had a gift basket waiting for us. Thanks MOM and DAD!! Check out the hats!!


We then headed to Downtown Disney where the girls (Gabi and Izzi) were to be made into princesses at the bibbidy, bobbidy, boutique. You get to pick your princess, the hair, and the makeup and then get your pics taken for a pretty penny of course. Gabi did wonderful and sat there like a perfect little angel, Izzi on the other hand was a monster. I dont have any pics of Izzi because she did not like the process. Here are some pics of Gabi though!!





After Downtown Disney, we went back to our resort, The Caribbean Beach Resort, and swam.

Roadtrip to Paula Deen

On Sunday, mom, Mary(Nick's mom), Christy (Nick's sister), and I all jumped in the car and roadtripped to Savannah, GA to visit Paula Deen's restaurant. For those of you that do not know who Paula Deen is, she is a cook on the food network that is famous for using lots of butter and always says "Hey Ya'll". We drove all day and night (10 plus hours) on Sunday and arrived in Savannah at 2:00 AM Monday morning. We got up the next day and hit historic downtown. We did a bit of shopping that morning, but mostly ate!! We stopped at every candy store they had (there was about 5) and had free samples and then bought some to go. Pralines and salt water taffy were the big hits!! We then decided to go on a tour of the historic downtown by horse and buggy. We learned about the history of Savannah and got to see the historic buildings that were still standing from years ago. We were upset though because the bench from "Forest Gump" was removed and put in a museum so we were unable to sit on it to take pics. Mom and I had a whole page in our scrapbook that we envisioned with the bench that we could not do because someone decided to mke money. Crappy!! Anyway, I did take a pic of where the bench wold have been if it was still there today. It is called Chippewa Square!! That night we ate a The Lady and Sons (Paula Deen's restaurant). Everything was amazing, especially the banana pudding and pecan pie made with real whipped cream. After stuffing ourselves like pigs, we shopped at her store and bought some souvenirs and cookbooks to made the memorable event. We then decided to do a haunted pub crawl. Savannah is known for their paranormal activity so I wanted to see what it was all about. We walked the entire historic district and stopped at 5 different haunted bars and listened to ghost stories for 3 hours. It was a lot of fun!! Mom and I kept takin pics to see if we could get a paranormal in our pic. I got something that was not normal, but dont know what. Mary and Christy said it was a street light, however there was no street lights around!! Freaky!! The next day we went to the beach at Tibbey Island. I could have stayed there all day, but we had other things to do. We went back into historic downtown and again stopped at the candy store and then boarded a boat for a dolphin excursion. We got to see a handful of dolphins in their natural habitat following a shrimping boat, eating the leftovers. They did a couple jumps for us, however they were too fast to get many good pics. That evening we made one last trip around downtown and then went back to the hotel to get rested before having to drive the entire next day to get back home. The trip was short, but it was a lot of fun.