a day of thanks.

 I wasn't able to go home to Iowa for Thanksgiving.

So...I decided to host my own with my a few of my fellow co-workers.

We called it 'orphan friendsgiving'

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Blessed to have family that I miss and co-workers that serve as friends and family.

P.S. This was the first time I cooked a turkey...! It turned out well - a little dry, but nothing a little bit of gravy or cranberry sauce couldn't fix.

P.P.S.  It was a 20 lbs. turkey :)

the fourth of july.

 

was spent grilling, eating and drinking in crystal city, virginia.

jordan, steph, michael and myself headed into the city for the big firework show later that evening.

we watched the fireworks from the rooftop of a friends apartment.

much better than being down on the national mall with the thousands of people.

Easter 2012.

shopping.

food.

colored pants.

cake.

family.

it was a colored pants kind of morning.

Happy Easter. He lives!

&

Happy 21st birthday to my sister, Jessica.

V-Day decorations are up...!

 

 

...they have been since we took the Christmas ones down.

Christmas 2011

 

 

 Christmas day is always spent with the Wasko side of the family...

eating, drinking, and being merry.

Christmas Eve

Evening Mass.
(silent night gets me every time)

Dinner.
 (chicken lasagna...num num num)

Traditional Christmas tree photos.
(and a few funny ones)

Exchanging gifts.
(best gift = dad's alaska scrapbook)

Anticipation for Santa to vist.
(guess i was bad this year...just kidding)

Our Christmas Party

 The roommates and myself decided to throw a Christmas party for our close girlfriends.

We had lots of Christmas goodies ranging from Oreo balls to almond bark pretzels to hot apple cider to nutella hot cocoa.

(Too much sugar...!)

We told the girls to bring a gift for the gift exchange if they wanted to participate.

Gift exchanges works so well.

It beats buying several gifts.

We played pin the nose on Rudolph, thanks to Racheal's incredible artistic skills.

 We had a sugar cookie decorating contest...

(although we never truly declared a winner)

It was fun to see people's creative sides come out.

The best part of the cookie decorating contest was that a plate full of cookies was taken to the correctional facility in town.

Service project...check.

Natalie lit a fire in the fire place and a few of us stayed up until midnight talking.

So much fun.

I love Christmas!

and I love all of my wonderful friends!

The best way to spread Christmas cheer...

 is dressing up in holiday gear!

... and playing card games as loud as possible for all to hear!

We had a get-together last night with friends.

Complete with fajitas, Christmas clothes, and an intense game of spoons followed by Gestures.

Ice Skating

 

Student Activities Council brought in a portable ice rink, so of course we had to go check it out.

Such a great idea to celebrate the holidays.

We also played inside the giant snow globe (complete with fake snow)

Fun fun times with some of my favorite people.

all in one night

watched the 3rd annual Christmas tree lighting at President Jasinski's house.

watched MTV's The Buried Life speak on campus.

watched the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show decked out in our PINK clothes.

the pumpkin pie

 Thanksgiving afternoon was spent with my dad's side of the family. 

My grandma is so precious.

 Thanksgiving evening was spent with my mom's side of the family in Sioux Falls, SD.

I decided not to particpate in Black Friday shopping this year.

Look at the cutest new addition to the Kerkvliet group - baby Carson!

I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season.

Thanksgiving with my friends

The boys of Big Blue hosted their 2nd Annual Thanksgiving dinner last week before everyone headed home.

They worked extra hard to make their house spotless with plenty of seating for everyone.

We had so much food...

fun..

laughter...

dancing...

and so many people as you can see below.

 

Seriously love my friends.

Break dancing after dinner?

It doesn't get much better than that.