It has been a few seasons...

Hey Everyone!
I am sure at this point you have lost all hope of my posting on my blog ever again. If I do have any more followers out there...here goes.

My last post was July 25th, oh my! So here is a chronological series of events that have happened since then!

In August I started graduate school and started a new job as a graduate assistant. I enjoy the slow pace of things and when they have nothing to do, I can do my homework at work! It is a good gig and I highly recommend it to anyone considering graduate school.

This fall Team Boozehounds started up on the hottest day of the year with temperatures at 110 degrees. Needless to say, we prefered to drink water that day instead of beer. The season went great. We ended up winning the novice league championship and we had some of the best attendance our team has ever seen. At the end of the season, we even got a photo in Sync Magazine! To give you some background, Little Rock Kickball Association is the largest kickball association in the nation and happens to be run as a nonprofit, so we have charity events that coincide with this flashback to middle school.

In the beginning of September, Rory and I drove to Boerne for labor day weekend to see Mom and Pop! It was a long drive, that I had not done since college, but it was a blast! We went to Boerne lake, Mexican Market, and soo much more! Rory and I also encountered SPECS liquor store right outside of Austin. It was a sight to see. In Arkansas we don't have nearly as large of a selection of craft beer. So we spent about 45 minutes wondering Specs trying to find the best of the best craft brews that were available in TX and not in AR. Every day I am learning more about brewing and craft beers.

In October Rory submitted 5 beers to the Arkansas State Fair. He placed in 4 different categories. 2 first place and 2 third place! I am pretty sure one of the beers that placed was a porter that he made for me as a birthday gift in August. It was delicious. Though it has been so long since, I don't remember exactly. (Another reason I should post more often).

In October we also went to Austin for Austin City Limits. While Rory was enjoying the music, I got to meet up with Mom in Greene and then hang out with Lana and Patrick! We took a bike taxi to downtown. Though it was definitely too expensive, it was an experience worth having.

Harvest Fest at Mulberry Mountain was in October too. This was a smaller version of Wakarusa with a bluegrass twist! The weather was perfect for an outdoor music festival. I can't wait to go back next year. Either way, we traveled way too much in October, but we had a blast.

November was just as busy as October but I got to stay in town a little more. The first weekend my mom surprised my dad with MH, Margo, Matthew, Jack, James and me for his birthday. He really had no idea, we were very proud of ourselves for pulling something off that well! It was such a fun weekend to spend with the whole family together.

The following weekend there was a wedding in Little Rock, some good friends of Rory and mine, Jenna and Julian. It was a beautiful wedding and so much fun to have a lot of out of town guests in Little Rock. The next weekend after that was Rachel Floyd's (now Stevens) bachelorette party in Fayetteville. It was a smashing success and good time to be had on Dickson Street. That is about all the details I can share ;)

Then there was Thanksgiving!The best food of the year. It was my first ever Thanksgiving away from my family. The Bradney's were such great hosts and the food was absolutely delicious!

Now heading into December: My first semester of grad school was complete! Just following that was Rachel Floyd's wedding. Once again, this was an absolutely beautiful wedding! I had so much fun getting there early to help finish with the last details. There were so many familiar faces that I had not seen in such a long time and we all made the most of it!

CHRISTMAS in FLORIDA! Christmas with the family in Florida was great! MH and Matthew had me come in a little early so I could keep Jack occupied while MH worked during the day. Jack is growing up so fast. Being able to have a conversation with him was a great feeling! I felt like such a proud Aunt saying "They grow up so fast." Jack spent the better part of my time there anticipating James' visit. He is totally obsessed with his new cousin. Mom and Pop came in on the Thursday before and then Margo and Brian showed up on Christmas Day. MH did an great job on Christmas Dinner and we got our first family photo taken in a long time! I can't wait until we all get together again!

New Years 2011 was spent in Nashville, TN. Rory and I decided to take a spontaneous trip up there. He got to see camp (of course) and we went to a couple microbreweries. We also got to go to a lot of my favorite restaurants that I have been missing since my last recruiting season with Hendrix. We ran into a camp friend of mine that I hadn't seen in year - Emily Steffan. We spent the last moments of 2010 and the first few minutes with her and her friends at a country bar, it might have even had karaoke at some point. Could not have asked for a better start to a new year!

Now heading into 2011!
I laid low in January. I started back up my graduate assistant job in the middle of the month. Shortly following, I decided to take on a second job working at a local outdoors store in Little Rock. It has been a blast! I work every weekend that I don't request off. So my schedule has once again changed, but I really enjoy the interaction with random people! I also run into a lot of parents I used to work with from Hendrix and a few professors. I just have to hope I remember everyone's name...

So far in February the only super exciting activity has been brewing my first beer! That's right, I finally gave in and decided I would see what it is all about. I did a 5 gallon batch of Ocktoberfest. It's a lager, so it will be a while until I get to taste the fruits of my labor! But I am so excited to see how it turns out. Hopefully, the tasting and judging piece will have its very own blog post. 3 or 4 more weeks and then you should come over and try it!

That's it! I need to take more pictures so next time I can lure you in with pictures!

Thanks for reading the catch up post! I will do my best to be a better blogger! So stay tuned for more...