Hello 2012!

2011 has been a rollercoaster of a year! While 2010 was probably the best year of my life to date, 2011 has had it's ups and downs. For me personally, the end of 2011 has been stressful and I for one am certainly ready to embrace a new year and can only hope it is filled with love, laughter, happiness and good health for me and all my loved ones. I am hoping 2012 brings nothing but joy :)

I've been thinking for quite some time about what goals and wishes to make for myself in light of a new year beginning. I never take these too seriously, but I do like to set some goals. I feel, like most people, that the beginning of a new year brings the perfect starting point for new dreams. So here goes my list for 2012...

• Complete all of my FCPS Coaching Courses. To be a fully certified coach in Fairfax County, there are various courses offered by the county that must be completed within the first year of a coach's contract. I have a couple of first aid courses to complete by the summer, so I am hoping to be productive this spring and get those taken care of so I can coach volleyball for my second season next fall.
• Drink More Water! This may seem silly, but I truly do not drink enough water. 8 glasses a day? I'm lucky if I drink 2. I have already started this goal at work by taking in one of those fabulous plastic Starbucks cups and filling it each morning. This at least makes me drink 2 glasses while at work. While at home? I'll have to figure out a trick for that too...
• Workout more consistently. Over the past 2 years, my weight hasn't changed AT ALL, regardless of diets or eating differently or working out. My new goal is to not focus so much on my "weight", but on adhering to a more consistent workout routine in the gym. While coaching volleyball this past fall, I got fairly inconsistent with my running. I am hoping to get back into the flow of things and get my butt back in gear!
• Improve my correspondences. One of my goals for the new year is to keep better track of family & friend's birthdays, anniversaries, events etc. I hope to do a better job of sending cards and keeping my correspondences up to date.
• Heather Time. I spent A LOT of 2011 focused on other people. Between my students, my volleyball team, all of the weddings and showers and bachelorettes etc. I attended there was very little time for me. I am hoping that this less-wedding-filled year will bring me a little more downtime and a few more free weekends. It seemed like from May-December that EVERY weekend was booked. I hope in 2012 I can carve out some more quality "heather time" for me to choose & spend however I want :)

Wishing you all a fantastic end to 2011 and a wonderful welcome to 2012! Happy New Year!

Merry (belated) Christmas!

This holiday season has been a whirlwind of shopping, baking, toasting, stressing, wrapping, celebrating & enjoying the company of family & friends. As always, I was overly spoiled with wonderful gifts from Santa and have not put them down (or away!) since. Andy and I were lucky to have our first Christmas celebration of the year with my parents on the 23rd with a delicious dinner & fabulous gifts. The morning of the 24th, we headed to Altoona, PA for our annual Christmas Eve festivities at my grandma's house with my aunts, uncles, and cousins and all their families. It was a short visit but we enjoyed our trip up north. On Christmas Day we drove back down to VA to celebrate with Andy's family. We opened some gifts with his grandma and mom and then headed to Hamilton for Christmas dinner with Andy's sisters and their families. Our nieces and nephews (wow, that is still weird to say our!) were definitely in the holiday spirit and had a great time showing off their new toys! Jason, Andy's brother-in-law, made a fabulous Christmas dinner and we enjoyed the delicious meal and family time. We returned home just in time to wrap up the day with a good old fashioned viewing of The Grinch on tv :)

This Christmas in particular, I spent a lot of time thinking of the things in life that truly matter to me. It isn't the gifts I get, or the football games, or even the extra calories that matter. It's spending time with the people I love most in this world. I am so lucky to have so many wonderful people in my life and I'd trade all my gifts for more time with all of them. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are looking towards the new year with new dreams, wishes, and hopes! Merry Christmas!

ACCCG in Charlotte, NC

As promised, I am delivering my update to my 4 weekends of football fun. Last weekend, my best friends and I traveled to Charlotte, NC for the annual ACC Championship Game. We made the 6-hour drive south for the second year in a row to cheer on our Hokies in person. Cara, a friend I met through my best friend Lindsay, is a Charlotte Hokie and currently resides right outside the city. When we tailgated with Cara at the UVA game the weekend prior, Cara was so generous to offer her home to us for our stay. We headed down Friday after work and headed right out to the downtown area. Charlotte has a great spot called the EpiCentre where we had also hung out last year. We spent the night reppin; our orange and maroon and hanging out with friends.

Hokie Girls

Out at the EpiCentre

We got up early Saturday morning, showered, and prepared for an entire day of tailgating! The 8pm kick-off allowed us to head to the stadium lot around 1pm and hang out. Luckily for us, the weather was BEAUTIFUL this year! Last year, it was hailing and freezing cold. This year? Sunny and in the high 60's! Perfect tailgating weather! Cara's family put together a fabulous tailgate and we spent the day leading Hokie cheers and having fun with Hokie friends :)

Best Friends

Nicole & I enjoying some of the Dierks Bentley show at the tailgate

All the girls that stayed at Cara's

Unfortunately, the result of this game against Clemson was much too similar to the first result earlier in the season, with the Hokies on the losing end. But I could not have been more proud to make the trip and support my Hokies. We still had a great time despite the loss, and came home Sunday to a GREAT surprise!

Despite our loss in the ACCCG, Virginia Tech was invited to play in the BCS Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on January 3rd! I could not be more proud that my Hokies were rewarded for their 11-win season with such a great game and I'm excited to have the opportunity to represent our school and the ACC in a great bowl!

So now the question is, is there a Sugar Bowl trip to New Orleans in my future?! Stay tuned to find out.... :)