End of the Season

Today is the last home game of the ASU football season. It's a little bittersweet because we all have a lot of fun getting together on Saturdays to tailgate and go to the game but our season wasn't all that great. Now what will we do on Saturdays???

Here we are with our 24oz beers and a toast to the season!
Grandma Brown and all her little ASU fans (or grandchildren)

Don't they look comfortable!!! Here are the Wright Browns!! HA HA HA! : )

As always our standard self-taken photo! If you have Stacey in the Christmas drawing please get her a gold ASU shirt. She stands out in all the photos!!

Could she be anymore spirited??? GO ASU!!!

How cute are the brother and sister in their matching maroon undershirts and gold shirts! Oh, and Shawn smiled which is so rare. I had to post it!!!

ASU won the game beating UCLA!!! It was an awesome last home game! And to top it all off it was FINALLY cold at a game!!

More to come

xoxo

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

WISHING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!!

More to come

xoxo

More Birthdays!!

Gosh, it seems like there are so many people with November birthdays. Today is Andy (Alyssa's boyfriend) birthday so we all got together to help him celebrate getting old! We first stopped at Payton's Place for a few drinks and some dinner. I did say a few drinks right?? : )

Here is Andy getting ready to blow out his candles from his cake! If he can see it!!
After dinner we went over to CK's Tavern for some dancing and a few more drinks!

FYI...Adam doesn't like when you squeeze his nipples!!

After about five different poses we finally got a good photo! You would think we would have this down since we take so many pictures together!!

Alyssa and Andy hanging out and having a good time!!!

Andy got a Brown Sister Sandwich for his birthday! Lucky guy!!

It was a great night and we all had a lot of fun! Thanks Andy for letting us celebrate with you!

Happy Birthday!

More to come
xoxo

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Let me just say this was the LONGEST DAY EVER!!! I'm not complaining at all it just seemed like this day was never ending! It began at the Twilight movie where at the stroke of midnight my group of friends/family sang Happy Birthday to me. It was a short and sweet celebration and I got my first present! A box of whoppers! Thanks Lara!!! After the movie I hustled home so I could try to nap because in a few short hours it was off to VEGAS!! Now the trip was not just for my Birthday, it was also my sister Courtney's first time in Vegas. Yes, I know she is 28 years old and this is her first Vegas trip! Sad I know.

After a few hours of sleep it was off to the airport. Here is me, Steph and Court on our flight to Vegas!! Here we come!!
My cousin Alyssa and our friend Alyssa were flying on another airline so they weren't in my picture. Too bad for them!! Stacey had to work that day so she was meeting up with us later that evening. We arrived around 10am to Vegas and it was off to hit the strip and the bar!
Here we are out in front of the hotel. I didn't get the memo on wearing black but it was my b-day so I wanted to stand out!!

Drinking at Paris. Courtney has her first yard drink! She was excited to walk the strip with her drink in her hand!

You don't want to know what I had to do to get these beads!!!

We walked the strip a bit more and had a few drinks along the way and then we came upon a O'Sheas. They had beer pong tables in the back so we decided to play a few rounds
Here is Alyssa concentrating on her shot.

Alyssa and Courtney partnered up and kicked mine and Steph's butt in the first round!

However, I finally had a comeback and Courtney and I won the last two rounds!! We are the champions!

It's not a birthday celebration without a few shots. Thanks Stephanie!!!

Before we left we wanted to capture the moment and yes Alyssa has the ball in her mouth so if you can't tell we are drunk at this point!! Yep, 3:00pm and wasted already!!! Fun times!

Since we were starving we decided to walk over to Harrah's outdoor carnival area and grab a bite to eat and listen to some music. Little did I know that included me singing and Courtney, Stephanie, and Alyssa out there on the dance floor with these gross old men! It was so funny!!

I have no idea why I was up there singing but I do know they asked ladies to come up there and sing I Will Survive and I love that song so with a little liquid courage I hit the stage!

Courtney and Alyssa hitting the dance floor. Shake your booty!!!!

Ummm....I did mention gross old guys right??? In Alyssa's defense he just came up behind her....at least I hope that is what happened!! : )

We decided to walk back to the hotel for some dinner and a nap before Stacey arrived. Once Stacey got there we were up and at them and ready to go for round two. We went to the club Rok located in New York New York. I mean we got free passes so we figured why not.

Here is the whole Vegas crew finally together!

It was fun and as you can tell Stacey was getting her groove on here!!

We danced for a while but then decided to go to the Piano Bar instead. We drank more and gambled a little and just had a great time. It was an awesome birthday and I had a lot of fun!!

The next morning we ate at the Chinese buffet Chin Chin and then it was off to the airport. We don't look too bad after a solid 24 hours in Vegas. Right??? : ) BTW please excuse Stacey and her chowing down on bacon. If you read her blog you will see that the bacon won in the end!!!

It was a quick Vegas trip but it was so much fun! Thank you Alyssa, Alyssa, Courtney Stephanie and Stacey for making my birthday so special and fun!!! You guys are the best!!

More to come

xoxo

Twilight Premiere

As I stated in my last entry a group of over 20 of us went to the midnight showing of Twilight. I headed over to the theatre around 4pm so that I could get in line to make sure we would have good seats since most of our group wasn't heading up until later. As I sat in line by myself I looked around and noticed that I had to be one of the few people that were over the age of 20! Now, I know this is a young adult book but I felt like I was in line for lunch at a middle school. These girls were writing all over their arms with sayings like "I love Edward" or just "Twilight." Not sure how they thought that would be cool. These girls then decided to make shirts to wear so they busted out the puffy paint! Now I can't hate on wanting to wear a Twilight shirt as I had my Team Edward shirt on but these puffy paint shirts were awful!!! I swear I was not that annoying as a teenager!!! Don't say it MOM I know I wasn't!!! Anyways, I was so annoyed with these girls and how obnoxious they were acting that I had to text Courtney multiple times telling her to hurry up and get here with me or I was going to kill these girls!!

Courtney finally arrived and around 8pm most of our group of 20 was in line with us ready to go. We got in the theatre around 9pm and then we just waited.

Here are a few of us waiting in the theatre. Two hours and counting......
Luckily for us we were in a theatre with the more mature kids because while there was only an occasional hoot or holler when Edward appeared on the screen (Courtney!) for the most part they were quiet and respectful.

Now for my editorial on the movie. I must say I did enjoy it. I LOVE the book more but that is to be expected. I also felt that it was imperative that you read the book before you see the movie just because the movie is kind of choppy and moves quickly. I would have liked to see more of the building of the relationship of Bella and Edward such as what was done in the book but I understand it's hard to capture everything. All in all I liked the movie and I want to see it again because I'm sure I missed a few things ( I mean it was 12am!).

I'm excited to hear that New Moon (second book) has been picked up and will be made into a movie as well. I can't wait for that one! In the mean time I have all four of the books to keep me company along with my imagination that Edward really loves me and is my boyfriend!!! : )

More to come

xoxo

Finally....

Yes, the wait is almost over. The movie Twilight starts tonight and a bunch of us are going to see the midnight showing. I have had my doubts about how well this movie will do compared to the book and then I found this clip online. I guess I can't take the movie too seriously. Check it out. It's so funny! If you are at work keep the volume down!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dompotjTeIA

More to come
xoxo

Black Monday

Yes, it is official my sabbatical is OVER!!! It's weird because even though I LOVED not having to go to work each day I was kind of ready to come back. I think having this last week at home made a small and I mean small part of me miss it. I know. There is something wrong with me!

So Sunday night after the Suns game I came home and got all ready for work the next day. I had done laundry and was ready to go to bed early. I needed to get a good nights sleep. I felt like it was my first day of school. The alarm was set and now it was time for bed. Only I couldn't sleep. Not sure what my problem was but I didn't fall asleep until like 2am!! Great way to start your first day back....loser!

After my four hour nap I was up and ready to get in the shower and start my day. Even though I was dragging I was excited to get to the office. I mean I get FREE soda at work so I was ready to fill my jug! INTEL HERE I COME!!!

I get to work and get my soda and I head upstairs. I was walking down my aisle and I notice some streamers and balloons at a desk. Then I noticed it was my desk! As I approached my desk I noticed my cube wall. My co-workers and boss had decorated my cube and document my whole sabbatical from my blog and made posters and put them up on my wall. It was SOOOO NICE!!!

This is the wall right next to my cube entrance (and yes I live in a cube we don't get offices like some people....Alyssa!). I love the sign! I have it hanging inside my cube just cause it's so cute!!
Here is my desk. I had to limbo to get to my chair. How low can you go!!

These are my balloons. It was funny one said "Welcome Home." Ummm...not sure I like that one!

They had also gotten me a 2009 calendar of different islands as you can see and this fun Hawaiian cup with some cool crazy straws! So now I can look at the islands and drink soda from my cup while I work.

My welcome back sign on my board with fun pink streamers!!

Oh, yeah and I got a cool little dolphin centerpiece there! Notice the theme!!

This was my sabbatical timeline. It started with my first trip to Hollywood and ended with my last trip to Hawaii. It was so cool to see it like that. I kept it up all day so people could come by and read it! Then I took it down so I could put it in a scrapbook!!

I really didn't expect anything when I got back to work (I was just happy to still have a job given the economy) so this was a very pleasant surprise. It was really awesome to see my sabbatical documented that way. I'm so use to just blogging about it I forgot all that I had really done! I would like to say thank you to my co-workers Amanda and KS and to my boss Jim for greeting me with such a warm welcome!!! It was nice to feel missed!!!

Now, yes my sabbatical is over but I have more things coming up so I plan to continue my blog. You are all welcome to keep following along if you would like.

More to come!

xoxo

Suns on Sunday

Thanks to my GREAT friend Jasper I got two free tickets to the Suns game on Sunday. They were playing Detroit so I knew it would be a good game. I took my sister Courtney with me since she was actually off work and could do something!

The game was fun and exciting. Shaq got ejected in the second quarter and that got the crowed all in an uproar! The Suns did win 104 to 86 and since they scored over 99 points that meant we got two free tacos from Jack In The Box!! Thanks Suns for the free lunch!!

Thanks again though Jasper. I really appreciate the tickets!

More to come

xoxo

Victory......finally!

Well, it's Saturday and we have our second to last home ASU game of the season. Now the last few games have been a HUGE disappointment. The team has just not been playing the way they should and can! However, I went into this game with a positive attitude. I also figured even if we lose the game the tailgate will be fun!! : )

Here is my Dad with his girls (minus one)!! This was Devyn's first ASU game this season!! She fits right in!! : )

This game was the Homecoming game so there were all the alumni band members walking around and playing for the tailgaters. Because we were a cool group we had two different alumni groups stop by our tent and play for us. It was awesome!

Now, this was the only afternoon game for the whole season and not even sure why we had this one! The sun was blasting down on us all with not a cloud in site. I have never wanted the sun to go down so fast in my whole entire life!! Good thing we were winning or else I would have left!

ASU finally had a victory at home and we all finally got to walk out to the truck with a smile on our faces. We got to our truck to get ready to leave and a few more band members came up to us to serenade us again! After a few songs we tipped them cash and beer and we headed home.

Come on Steph these boys are too young for you!!!

Since we were all still excited with our "W" we decided to try to take photos in the back of the truck as we drove home.....just a warning these are all the bad ones....I figured I would post them all just to embarrass everyone!! : )

Alyssa was not quite ready it appears. I think she was yelling at Adam or Steph but there is Stacey always ready for a photo opportunity!! : )

Stacey, open your eyes!!

Alyssa had to try to do a whole body flip to get in a photo with me. She was falling in my lap at this point!

OK, so Shawn was driving all crazy so I was looking at him to see what the heck he was doing. You can tell by Steph's hair blowing we were going fast!

Here we all are in the back of the truck!!! Finally a good photo!! GO ASU!!!
It was a fun night and we also won so I couldn't ask for much more then that!

More to come!

xoxo

Time for some Soup!!

Tonight a group of us went to go see Joel McHale at Celebrity. He is the host of The Soup on Channel E and he is so funny!! Very sarcastic which is my favorite type of humor!!
The group of us consisted of Courtney, Katie, Stephanie, Alyssa, Andy, Stacey, Adam, Lauren and Toby.

Before the show we decided to grab a bite to eat so we decided to pick the elegant Knock Knead Lobster! Now, for those of you not familiar with this place it's a higher class Pete's Fish n' Chips (even though I prefer Pete's). There is nothing like some good ole' greasy food before sitting at a comedy show!! :)

Here we all are at dinner. Fancy huh???Katie's sister and friend (at the back of the table) joined us for some good fried food. Stacey, Adam, Lauren and Toby didn't join us for dinner. They had a nice dinner at home to celebrate Lauren's B-day! Happy B-day Lauren!!

What is an outing without the self-taken photo. I normally only have to worry about getting myself in the photo not nine other people!! I did the best I could but with little jokers like Stacey and Andy in the photo it was hard to get a good one. I also have no idea what happened to Adam in this picture. Adam are you there???

I finally asked the guy sitting in front of me to take our group picture. Don't we look cute??

Before the show I decided to run to the bathroom so I left my camera with Stephanie. Ummm...apparently they decided to have a photo shoot while I was gone. Check it out....

Here is Sam and Lindsay.....opps I mean Courtney and Katie! : )

No idea what the heck they are doing here! I think Adam was talking on his "cell phone" I'm not sure.

After a hilarious opening act Joel came out and put on a great show! He performed for about an hour and half and he cracked us all up!

Here are a few photos from the show.

On a side note....Joel has no ASS!!! His jeans just hung there but he is still funny-ass or no ass!!

Once the show was over Joel said he would be doing autographs and pictures for those people buying shirts. Well I didn't need a shirt so we all decided to just leave. On the way out the door he was walking in so I asked if I could take a picture of him and he said "would you like to get in it with me?" Ummm...yeah of course I would. I had the camera to Courtney and she tries to take a picture and it wouldn't flash! Joel was like gotta go and cried "NO" I will fix it. His security guy was like "it's cool I will get you a picture." So I get my camera and turn the flash back on and I hand it to Stephanie. I was all smiles but I guess Joel was not ready......you be the judge.....

Then Joel being the nice guy he is offered to take one with Steph. Funny how AWESOME her photo turned out!! : )

I'm kidding. It was a great night and we all had a lot of fun and I got to TOUCH Joel McHale!!! Now, this was not just a funny show. I also learned how to sign a few words such as "highlights" and "big dick rocket launcher!! : )

More to come

xoxo