Michigan Winter Wonderland

Typically we're hermits January through February. Neither of us are big fans of winter activities or the cold so we tend to stay inside, but we've decided to change that this year! We're making it a point to get out more and saying "yes" when friends invite us out. I'm also making it a point to take more pictures.

This weekend we headed to Muskegon Luge & Winter Sports Complex at the Muskegon State Park for a winter festival. The festival had winter activities, local breweries, a DJ, live bands, and the best hot chocolate I've ever had.

New Years Eve 2015

This year we decided to do something different for NYE. Typically we attend a house party of some sort, but this year we decided to purchase tickets to a 1920's Bootlegger themed party that was hosted at a local restaurant in downtown Grand Rapids! Thomas' cousins were visiting from the East side of the state and we thought we'd try something new ;)

             

While we had a great time it wasn't exactly what we expected it to be. There was no dance area so we were stuck sitting at our table for 4+ hours, the gift cards we received couldn't be used until the following week which made them useless to our out of town guests, and only half of the attendees had dressed up according to the theme. Not to mention there was a very important football game going on that didn't go as planned..

So I think next year we'll plan a themed house party, because we loved dressing up & I thought that was the best part! Which is shocking, because I've always scrunched my nose at any kind of dressing up. I guess the key is to find pieces that you would wear again so that you aren't feeling like you're wasting money. I loved the top I found for this party, even though it took 3 hours at the mall searching, and know it'll become a staple in my wardrobe! Times are changing ;)

2015 Recap and What's Ahead in 2016

I can't believe how fast 2015 flew by! I know they say that as you get older time goes by faster, but I feel like I blinked and it was over. 2015 was a crazy year with limited down time, but that is to be expected when you're in an accelerated Masters program. While I stayed on top of reading blogs in my downtime, I obviously slacked on posting. I want to change that in 2016. I might not post consistently, but I want to stay on top of documenting our everyday lives. That is the reason I blog after all, so before moving forward with 2016 I'd like to recap what all happened in 2015. I was pleasantly surprised while scrolling through my photo feed and selecting the pictures for this post. On the outside it didn't seem like a big year, there were no fun vacations or big purchases, but it was still filled with great memories!