It's almost February?!

We're just in a little state of shock over here as we just realized that today is the last day of January!  December was such a whirlwind with the holidays and visiting friends and family, so I had it in my head that January would have a much more relaxed pace.  I was wrong!

We rung in the new year up at Deep Creek with Joe's family and kicked off 2011 in grand fashion by going to the NHL Winter Classic!  Yes, it's going to be hard to top that event on the 2011 Highlight Reel, but we're still going to try!

Other notables of January include a visit from our friend, Srian, who is moving to Australia... I'm excited for him, but so sad that he's going to be so far away!  Luckily, he's still planning on visiting a few times a year!

Joe starting his MBA while working on a HUGE project at work... the combination of which has kept him insanely busy and visibly tired (which, if you know DH, is totally out of the norm!)!  He even suggested a long weekend vacation... what?! My Joe suggested taking a few days off of work... truly a sign of the apocalypse! ;)

One of my nearest-and-dearest's is getting married this year and I accompanied her to the Washingtonian's Bridal Show last weekend.  We had such a great time checking out local vendors (even though she's getting married in Mississippi!) and tasting different wedding cakes (my favorite, for the record, was the divine dark chocolate cake with peanut butter filling).  I met her sweet MIL and friends and we just had a great afternoon of girliness!  Oh, you read the article about it on their website?! Why yes, this is Vycki and I in the photo collage! ;)

Last week I ditched Joe, Doodle, and the snow for a conference in Key West, Florida.  To be honest, I would have rather brought Joe and Doodle, but Joe's aforementioned workload wouldn't allow it.  I had a great time meeting new people, learning about what other professionals (and their organizations) in my field are doing to engage their networks, soaking up sun in between sessions, and just taking a moment to step back to realize that the work my team is doing is really best-in-class and that life really is good!  Yes, three nights stretched out diagonally across a king size bed in a gorgeous hotel definitely helped my stress level... ;)

I came back from the conference and spent the weekend with DH at the White Flint Camp Fair! I love going there and seeing all of the peeps that we usually only see in the summer... everyone's in t-shirts and shorts... it just makes me so excited for what's to come!

Finally, Doodle humored me with a little photo shoot yesterday... I had tried this last week and it ended in both of us fighting over the camera, so I was more than happy that she was more cooperative yesterday!  While I'm saving most of the photos for future ihf challenges and Lover Day Cards, here's a sneak peek of the results... yes, she's also in shock that January is nearly over!