Day 3....Reflection on 2011, Part 2

After the 4th of July it was time for my Birthday.  For some reason turning 25 seemed to be quite depressing and I was not happy to celebrate this birthday at all.  I kept telling myself, if I live to be 100 my life is a quarter of the way over.  What have I accomplished in my time on Earth?  What more did I need fulfilled in my life?  I was thinking about it for a while and back in the Spring I decided to apply for Grad School.  After months of waiting I finally found out I was accepted into Columbia College to pursue my Master's in Business Administration.    I had one more month of freedom before school started so I had to enjoy the rest of my summer to the fullest extent.

On my actual birthday the Hubby took me to The Melting Pot.  We had a great dinner and enjoyed our time together.  3 days later my Hubby, my best friend Jenna, her boyfriend Dan, and his family and I all attended the Jimmy Buffett concert for our second year in a row together.  We had a GREAT time and hope that this becomes a yearly tradition for us!  Below are some of the pictures from our concert!

 *Me and Jenna enjoying a tropical drink*

 *All of us minus Dan's dad*

 *The Hubby and I*

 *Pink Flamingos*

 *I would love to make this sign!*

 *Jimmy*

I just love his concerts!

August was filled with lots of fun activities before I had to go back to school.  Our first activity included a trip to Vegas with our dear friends Brad and Carrie.  This was Brad and Carrie's first time visiting Vegas so we had to show them everything there was!

We visited the Wax Museum

The hubby and I took a Helicopter ride of the strip!

 We shopped, walked around, and visited the "Old Las Vegas"

 Saw some shows and did some gambling!

It was a very fast weekend but it was filled with so much fun!  I am so glad we got to spend our time in Vegas with such good friends!

The next weekend had arrived very quickly and we headed out to Indiana with Mike and Heather for another couples weekend.  This was the 2nd Annual Couples weekend at the Lake where Mike's grandparents have a house.  We looked forward to this weekend since the previous year and knew we had a lot of boating and fun to complete in a short amount of time.  We wasted no time at all and headed out on the boat for some tubing and skiing.

 *Such a beautiful sunset!*

 *Going on our "booze cruise"*

 *My Hubby and Gary on the raft*

*Nice action shot I got*

 *Mike and Heather*

 *Making our wish and throwing our pennies into the Lake*

 *The whole group who came for Couple's weekend along with Mike's grandparents!*

Big thanks to the Nelson Family for such a great weekend!

A couple of weeks later my friend Lindsay and her husband Aaron invited me out to the Glider club where Aaron flies.  I was supposed to go with them to the Glider club over the 4th of July weekend but Lindsay ended up going into Labor so those plans changed.  We ate some lunch from Subway and I headed up in the glider with Aaron.  This was my first time in a Glider so my heart was racing and I ended up getting a little nauseous from the constant circling you have to do to get up higher in the air.  Despite that, I managed to capture a couple of photos from up in the air and on the ground.

*The planes at the glider club*

 *Front view from my seat*

 *Picture of the glider I flew in with Aaron*

Thanks guys for the great day!  My Hubby has been talking about going with ever since I went so we will have to plan something this summer if it is ok with you!

The next thing on my list, the Brad Paisley concert!  I have to tell you that I ever since I heard Brad was going to perform at Joe's Bar in Chicago I had been dying to get tickets.  This is the type of concert that you cannot buy your way into, you have to win them.  I tried so hard and never won.  I did however find out that Best Buy was a sponsor of the event and called my Hubby to see if there was anything he could do to get some tickets.  He called his boss and his bosses boss and lucky enough there was a pair of tickets someone had at a Best Buy store an hour and a half away.  My hubby drove that morning for the tickets, a 3 hour drive, just for me!  Gotta LOVE him!  Below are some pictures of the concert that was standing room only.  I was touching the stage that is how close I was!!

 *Brad's set list!*

 *Brad's opening act, Brent Anderson*

 *Brad on stage*

 *Standing right in front of me*

 *Singing "Then" *

Brad was so good to his fans he signed autographs after his performance!  What a great night that was!  Thank you SO much hunny!  I love you!!

There were so many things we did to finish off the 2nd half of the year.  Stay tuned for part III of my reflection on 2011!