Favorite moments of 2010

2010 was full of some great times, great trips and great friends.....

Started the year with my annual post-holiday bash with some of my favorite people and my dear friend Whitney came down from DC.  I was her childhood nanny and now she is all grown up, so happy to be back in touch with her.  There is something so refreshing about an old friendship.....

Whitney and I

ACF and I

Niki and I

Sweet Whitney

Late night with my new PJ's courtesy of Whitney

Mom and I had a wonderful time walking the Monument Ave 10k, I have participated every year since moving to Richmond.  It is always a reminder of what a great city I live in....

We did it!!!

Went to Miami with Beth, my big sister from Meredith.  She moved away to Minneapolis and I haven't seen her in years, it was like old times and so special....

At the beach listening to a band, drinking a Corona, what could be better?

Miami nightlife

Those MC girls know how to do it!

As a Southern girl, I love a Derby party....

SB and me!

Blondes definitely do have more fun!!!

Whitney invited me to support FOCOS in NYC in the spring and was thrilled to support her and her endeavors, what a great night!!!

Old friends are the best friends...

Gorgeous view of the NYC skyline and the river

It was time for a Meredith Reunion (I won't dare say how many years) and it felt like old times with the girls of MC!!!!  These 4 years were some of the best of my life and many of these girls are the reason why....

Little Beth and I

Betsy and I

Leigh (hasn't changed a bit), Hillary and I...only thing missing was Liz :(

Beautiful MC girls

My roommate Molly, we lost touch over the years....

Some of my absolute favorite girls!!! xo

Michelle and Sally, bringing back old times!

Stacey and I were Angels together at our first Cornhuskin, still have the halos!

The year did have a major lowpoint when we said farewell to Moxley after 16 years, he holds a special place in my heart...rest in peace little man, rest in peace.

All three boys: Moxley, Kosi and Macey

Worn out on Christmas Eve 2009

He loved the Christmas tree and was often found sleeping underneath it

All curled up

With his little boots

I am lucky to have two of the best parents in the world and an aunt who is so good to me, we all went to NYC for my birthday.  It was HOT and so much fun....

Aunt Amy and I at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill for dinner

Birthday dessert

The Pitts Family, the American Woman Exhibit at the Met 



Birthday dress courtesy of Jcrew Miami

As if NYC wasn't enough, my dear friends Mary and Becca took me to Murrells Inlet for Birthday Bash #2

Girls night out!!!








Me and my Boo



Girls on the beach....frozen drinks in hand :)

My Poppop turned 90 this year and we all went to Texas to celebrate, I am honored to have such wonderful family....

My handsome cousins (everyone but Kirk)

Poppop and his kids (Nana was at home recovering from surgery)



The Rodgers brood



Inspiration for the New Year

As the new year approaches, I find myself more introspective than normal and I notice that a lot of my friends are feeling the same way.  Just want to share some inspiration for 2011...

This one is a post from my college friend, Hollace:

~THE INVITATION~


It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dreams or the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain mine or your own without moving to hide it or fade it or fix it.


I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful to be realistic to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself. If you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul. If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty even when it is not pretty every day. And if you can source your own life from its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure yours and mine and still stand at the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon,“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.


This one was on my friend David's FB page today:

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.
 
~Henry Ward Beecher
 
This one came from my friend Leigh:
 
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man.

-Benjamin Franklin

This one came from my friend Ro:

“Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true”


I found this one today:

Another fresh new year is here …

Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest …
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!


I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!


-William Arthur Ward, 1921-1994


Hopefully one of these rings true for you, Happy New Year!!!

Goodbye to 2010

2010 has been a good year, I cannot complain but I have this feeling that 2011 holds some extra special moments for me.....here's hoping the same for each of you and your families!!!

Cheers-
Jennifer

WOW! A month since my last post?

I can hardly believe I am that far behind....since my last post, I have ventured to Paris, prepped for the holidays, enjoyed the holidays and now I am resting before the New Year kicks off with a bang....there will be lots of posts in the next few days so hope you enjoy!!!