Happy New Years Eve from Katelyn!

Laura's in Nashville, Syrus is in Muskegon, the fiancé and our other roommate is at work....so that leaves me here, home alone this year. I was feeling a little sad about having to spend this year's NYE alone, but then I thought about how grateful I am for things in my life. The year 2012 has been so good to me, and I know for a fact that 2013 will be the best yet because I get to marry the love of my life. So while I'm reminiscing about my year while drinking some Spanish wine, I thought I'd share it with everyone else out there who also might be stuck at home on NYE.

I was so lucky to be able to go back to Spain for 4 months after Christmas and experience everything all over again, but with the most AMAZING familia ever. My first semester was really rough with a not so great home stay, but my new Spanish Family felt heaven sent.

Here's my roommate Allison with our little sister Sara :)

Here we are on our last night all together. Os echo de menos muchísimo!

Not to mention I met a plethora of other amazing people who still are holding a piece of my heart with them.

This girl (Cat) was my friend since day one in that Madrid hotel, where everyone was alone and awkward. Not to mention...she ordered duck pate for our first meal because we were so clueless ;)

Here are some of the year students through ISA Granada. Such amazing human beings.

Like life couldn't get any more beautiful...Alex visited me TWICE in Spain and his mom came along once too! We all got to spend time together with her Spanish friends (and now Alex and my's friends).

Here we all are in Avila after lunch and a nice stroll through the city.

The Spanish really know the meaning of quality time with family and friends, and I'm eternally grateful for that.

After my classes were all done my family visited! Then we all headed back to the U.S. together....but not after checking out Paris for a quick two day trip.

My Stepdad took this photo while he, my mom, my dad, me and stepmom were all in Paris. I'm so blessed with all four parents that I have! :)

During the summer, Alex and I saw one of our friends get married on the famous blue bridge in Grand Rapids.

Us with the beautiful bride, Mal. <3

After classes and graduation, I'm pretty spent. Can't wait to take a little vacay with my man and his mom in a few days! We're off to Mexico and California for a little over a week. Stay tuned for Laura's update of her exciting 2012 and that killer NYE outfit she's wearing tonight!

Happy NYE everyone! Be safe! And as far as New Year's Resolutions go...I'm going to aim to be a more Godly woman, healthier, and put my talent and time to use by volunteering more. What's yours? 

Until next time!

Xoxo,

K

Weekend Recap

What a weekend!! Now that the holidays are here, time is just FLYING by.  I'm still wondering where November went.  I can't believe it's mid December.  

This past weekend was crazy fun.  Friday night, I, Laura, went out with some coworkers for some happy hour cocktails as a holiday "celebration", if you will.  It was basically just an excuse to grab a few glasses of wine at the Reserve downtown and chat about non-work related things. 

After that, I headed off to see a few of my favorites, Tieka and Eric, at their house.  We then headed off to the Winchester for a bite to eat a few more drinks.  

Eric and Tieka arguing about something insignificant. ;] 

Then the REAL fun began when we got to Rocky's for some dancing and sweating. Eric thought it would be funny to take a video.  I found it on my phone the next morning....

...don't ask.

Saturday consisted of going to Muskegon to buy new tires.  Had to get the ol' G6 in tip-top shape before my trip to Nashville in less than two weeks.  Then I grabbed some dinner with my parents and headed back home. 

Sunday was the annual Piszczek Christmas party.  Katelyn and I knew this would be a trip, as this side of our family is a complete riot.  10+ bottles of wine, outrageous games, and LOUD family members = hot mess. 

Us, before the madness began. 

Katelyn & Alex

My brother-in-law Ray, sister Miranda, and Dad.

Grandpa received the "Smart Ass" game during the adult gift exchange.  He is clearly thrilled. 

As you can see, crock pots are a popular exchange gift in the Piszczek family.

We were supposed to end our Sunday evening by ice skating at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids, but it was raining all day, so we had to cancel.  Hopefully we'll get the chance to do that soon, because it's so festive and beautiful downtown with all of the Christmas lights. 

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

xoxo, 

L

Weekend re-cap:Gradumatation!

So here's a little weekend re-cap for all of our followers (which happen to be mostly family so far ;)

(The invitation my mom sent out...I look pretty sweet, let's be honest)

So Katelyn finally graduated!!! Saturday began at 10:00 at the L.C. Walker arena. I figured I sat through class for 4.5 years, so they could at least sit through the two hour commencement. Thanks to Mom, Wayne, Alex, my Dad, and Mary (Alex's mom) for coming to see me graduate! Afterwards we all went to I Hop for some breakfast because we're such a dorky family. The following day my mom and Wayne graciously had a lunch in my honor of graduating! I love having all my family together, especially when I'm center of attention.

Here's a little peek at what I was wearing under that beautiful, blue and insanely large gown. Alex said when I get my Master's degree someday I get to wear it the whole day :)

I wore a simple light pink dress from Forever21. I paired it with some pearly earrings and a vintage brooch I picked up while backpacking through York, England and I ADORE it.

Downtown GR in front of the Rosa Parks Circle Ice Rink

My favorite coat ever from Zara. I saw it in the store window on my way to class (while in Spain) and immediately bought it afterwards. It also happens to be the same color as my GVSU graduation gown!

After we took these photos today, Laura and I decided to grab some coffee and on the way back to the car it was dark and it put us into the Christmas spirit. Take a look for yourself!

So at Target I bought some necessary items to make hot chocolate...but not any hot chocolate...

PEANUT BUTTER CUP HOT COCOA!!!

This is how we felt about it.

Joy in a cup.

Until next time!

xoxo,

K & L

Slumber party with my main dawgs!

Happy Thursday! We have a guest on the blog today...Darci! She's staying the night for a girl's slumber party!

Such a precious X-Mas present.

Until next time! 

xoxo,

K & D

Meet Katelyn's other half

Alex (my fiancé) and I met a few years ago while working together at the J.W. Marriott as In-Room Dining Servers. We immediately became friends as soon as we figured out that we shared the exact same humor (Anchorman, anyone?). I think I realized I actually liked him more than just a friend when he made me breakfast and brought over all the Harry Potter movies for me when I was sick. Alex on the other hand always had feelings for me, he will forever deny that though. A few months after we started dating I moved to Spain to study Spanish for the year.

Me in front of Granada's Alhambra 

My beautiful city

We figured out that distance really does make the heart grow fonder. Anyways, I came home for the holidays between semesters a few days before Christmas. It was so great to spend Christmas with all my loved ones, but little did I know the real surprise was in two more days. On December 27th, the day long engagement began. 

***Side note- Alex and I had discussed marriage about two times before this day. I even managed to freak out when he tried to get me into a jewelry store, like panic attack/walk faster/sweating/the whole nine yards. 

Alex wakes me up at 7:00 am this particular morning because he couldn't sleep he was so excited. So being the sick, jet lagged, ball of fun I was, I rolled out of bed and we were off to Wolfgang's for some breakfast. This restaurant is a Grand Rapids favorite with awesome hazelnut coffee, and where Alex and I first had breakfast together.

Okay, so the next surprise Alex had for me was a manicure! Alex also participated in this activity (I'm totally embarrassing him right now), but hey, it is called a MANicure right? We then jumped over to the theater to see my choice of Happy Feet 2. Next in line was a trip to Fredrick Meijer Gardens, where we had our first date.

Enjoying ourselves at the gardens :)

I was so exhausted by this time that I asked to go home. Alex had different plans. We went to Madcap for a cup of coffee and from there he told me he "forgot" something at work and we needed to pick it up. We stopped by the hotel and I decided to go in so I could say hi to everyone. For some odd reason he brought me to the spa and upon entering the receptionist asked if I was there for my appointment at 3:00. Alex quickly kissed me then scooted out of there. After an hour long massage, I was handed a room key and told to go to this room (I was starting to put two and two together). When I opened the door there were rose petals on the floor and on the bed and a little black dress with the instructions to meet him at 6:30 in the concierge lounge. I SWEAR this really happened :)

So I got ready and met him for a glass of wine then we went to the restaurant in the hotel for a private dinner for two. (Seriously, could it get any better?) After dinner we were going to stop by his locker to get a bottle of wine he picked up for us, but instead of getting that bottle of wine...this happened. 

Did I mention all our family and friends were watching up above? Oh, this is also the exact spot Alex saw me for the first time. I'm blushing just thinking about all this again.

So many hugs!

We all shuffled over to a private room where we had cake and champagne.

So there you have it! This was one of the best days of my entire life. I couldn't be more excited to spend the rest of my life with this handsome man and his family too. He makes me a better person every single day. So here's to a happy and long marriage with my best friend! Did I mention Laura's in the wedding? 

So happy :D

My beautiful ring! He picked it out himself. Luckily my ring finger is the size of his pinky finger because he had no idea my size when he bought it.

So that's the shortened version of the proposal. I can't tell you how many times I've told this story and it will never get old. So...good job Alex, for making all the other ladies jealous (I know you're going to eventually read this). 

Until next time! 

xoxo K

P.S. I graduate in 3 days!!

Syrus: An Introduction

In case you had any doubts that us two ladies didn't have enough in common (psh), there is one thing we are most definitely passionate about: our four-legged roommate. 

And we present to you, Syrus!

Syrus just turned 3 a couple weeks ago.  He was born into a beautiful family or black labs and border collies.  When my friend Elise mentioned that her dog was about to have puppies, we picked this goofy guy out of the bunch and brought him home just after the holidays in 2010. 

Happy 3rd birthday, buddy!

Can you believe it? This is a photo of him just seconds after his mother gave birth to him!

 

And several weeks later, he was brought into his new home and family. 

 


Now that he's in our life, we don't know what we'd do without him. He's the best. 

xoxo,

L