home is where the heart is: Farewell 2011...

So, I'd have to say, that 2011 was a pretty good year for Aaron and I. The highlights include:

I studied for, took, and PASSED my comprehensive exams for graduate school!
I FINISHED graduate school! (yes, all of these deserve exclamation points)
Aaron still wanted to be married to me after going through 2 years of graduate school! =)
We made the move back to Florida!
We took an awesome vacation to Hawaii!
We welcomed our niece Kaitlyn into the world!
We found a great home church here in Jacksonville and got plugged in!
Aaron started work for a software company in Jacksonville!

It has truly been a crazy time. I cannot believe that all of these things happened in the same year...and some (like graduation + moving) happened in the same week :)

Nevertheless, Aaron and I have a terrible track record of celebrating the old year and welcoming the new year (and we have a lot to celebrate!). Something about having expectations set for the perfect midnight celebration leads us to crash and burn every year. If it's not rain, it's sleep deprivation, or lack of friends in town. We've been in some fun places over the years, but just haven't pulled it together to make the fun last til midnight (case in point: last year we watched FSU beat the Gamecocks downtown with some friends [fun]...only to end up on the Orange Line to Vienna at the stroke of midnight [not so fun]...). Anywho, turns out we did a nice job of turning things around this year. One New Year's Eve Day (that's a mouthful), we made a little trip up to Fernandina Beach/Amelia Island to explore...

The Dames Point bridge. Isn't it lovely?

Some towns have painted manatees, others have painted turtles. FB's claim to fame is the painted shrimp.

We saw the wise men! Turns out one is an LSU fan, one is a Gator fan, and one is a Georgia fan...

We drove down the sandy road by the beach....

And jumped out to see the water on this balmy day. (Wish I'd had my bathing suit or we'd have stayed a while)

On the way back, we made a last minute turn to go downtown to see the Gator Bowl Parade! Pirates! Shooting off cannons! (I was in heaven.)

Ohio State Buckeyes

Florida Gators (couldn't find my little blond sis, Martha, but I was lookin' real hard!)

Let's not forget our attire to the game...an Auburn shirt and Florida State gear.

And then...for the real part, we shared New Year's Eve with our good friends from FSU, Chris and Jackie Correa. They were in town visiting Jackie's cousin, who had just purchased an awesome new house in Ponte Vedra! So...we celebrated in style with good friends and their family, and enjoyed our time together! And...bonus...we made it all the way to midnight!