Christmas | Kelocity.com

The Lights Make it Magical December 22, 2011

Filed under: Baby,Christmas,Home — Kelocity @ 7:41 pm
Tags: Baby, Christmas, Home

So I hear that Christmas is a mere two days away! Perhaps you’d like to see pictures of my tree! It’s another Home Depot Special, but it’s actually gorgeous and fits our space perfectly. I have to say I’m in love with it this year.

I got all fancy this year and outlined our sliding doors with white lights and it definitely adds a nice glow to the room. I might try to convince Irving to let me leave them up til Valentine’s Day. They’re just so cozy!

Man, my camera’s photo quality keeps getting worse and worse. I don’t know why these bottom ones came out so grainy. I really have to start lugging out the big SLR, even when I’m lazy. But here I am. Dressed up for a holiday party.

We had a prenatal appointment today too! Baby’s heart rate was perfect and is measuring right on target. I will be 16 weeks on Saturday! That’s four months! Almost half way there! But you’d never know it looking at me! Where are you, baby??

I started wearing the tighter maternity shirts this week, hoping it would make the bump pop more! I’m sure he/she will make an appearance soon enough and I’ll be wearing that bump loud and proud.

Hard to believe that a year from now, we’ll be decorating our (Home Depot Special) tree with a baby on my hip.

So excited for the holiday festivities to begin!!! One more day til the weekend!

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Baking with Bieber December 13, 2011

Filed under: Christmas,Cooking,Friends — Kelocity @ 5:06 am
Tags: Christmas, Clevergirls, Cooking, Friends

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There’s no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

I love to bake. I’m not very good at it per se, but I really like it. Especially this time of year! When my friends Erika and Timmy invited us over for a holiday soiree, I was psyched to have a reason to break out the pans and get to work.

I found a super easy recipe on Duncan Hine’s website that only had FIVE ingredients: The Apple Cinnamon Cake. I usually go for chocolately desserts or anything with frosting, but I was intrigued by the Apple Filling. I knew there would already be cupcakes, brownies and chocolate already at the party, so I was happy to make something a bit different for variety.

The recipe was so simple and it came out pretty good! **pats self on back** It was definitely sweet, but had a savory feel to it as well. Perfect for an evening get-together with friends.

There ended up being almost 20 people at the party! Lots of new faces we hadn’t seen before, and so much great conversation. I love that the holidays give people an excuse to get together, share a meal, relax, and celebrate.

Once everyone had a pretty good sized sugar coma, it was time for the annual Yankee Swap gift exchange. And with so many people, it was a blast picking numbers and swapping gifts… though there wasn’t too much swapping this time! The gifts were so good, almost everyone was stoked with what they ended up with!

What did I score? A Puppy Calendar, Justin Bieber Notepad and a giftcard. I was laughing so hard. Awesome!!

Now in addition to the baking itch… I have Bieber Fever!

Irving scored an awesome photo ornament that holds 100 pictures.

Such a fun night! We stayed up way past our bedtime, but it was totally worth it. It’s our last Christmas just the two of us, so we’re totally soaking it all up and doing everything we can to make it special.

Remember to check out Duncan Hines’ website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

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(GUEST POST) 2010: A Golf Odyssey December 31, 2010

Filed under: Christmas,Guest Post,Happy,Las Vegas,Mom — Kelocity @ 4:57 pm
Tags: Christmas, Golf, Guest Post, Irving, Mesquite, Vegas

Since the day Kelocity launched, Kelley has been asking me to provide a guest post.
This is my first.

There is nothing I love more than my wife. Unfortunately, my work schedule last weekend kept us apart for the holiday.
With her braving the winter weather blast in Boston I took the opportunity to rendezvous with my other loves, travel and golf… not necessarily in that order.

But this wasn’t just a trip… it was an odyssey.
54 holes in 72 hours on some of the best courses in the West!

My mom didn’t want me to be alone for the holiday, so she tagged along.

Yellow & Black Golf Bag + Yellow & Black Travel Bag = 100% Intentional
Yellow & Black Golf Bag + Yellow & Black Travel Bag + Yellow & Black VW Beatle = 100% Luck… it was a rental car.

My first round was at Primm Valley Golf Club, just on the border of California and Nevada.
They have two courses, Desert and Lakes. I played the Lakes course.

Warming up…

This was our view while we grabbed a bite to eat at the club house. Stunning!

1st Tee.

Fantastic conditions on a fantastic course.

We stayed the first night in Las Vegas.

Day 2 (Christmas Day) was at Badlands Golf Course in Summerlin, just a few miles North West of the Las Vegas Strip.

Not only was the course amazing, so were the homes that looked down on it…

Stay focused Irving. You are here to golf, not daydream.

Check out the view from the tee box.
It’s a long carry over the desert to hit the fairway, good thing I am focused.

After that shot, your travel down the path to find this…
The octagon building is a workout room. Just past the workout room is a helicopter.

Wait, what? A HELICOPTER?!?!
I thought about this for a while. This guy has a helicopter parked in his backyard.
Truth is, if I had a home in Vegas on an amazing golf course… with a helicopter, I too would park it in the backyard.
I mean where else would you park it? In the front yard? That would be such an eyesore.

Oh no! The temperature started to drop into the 60s, time to pull out the sweatshirt.
(I think this was they day that Kel called me to tell me she had to shovel snow twice.)

After the round we got in the car and drove to Mesquite, Nevada.

It’s about an hour North of Vegas just before you hit Arizona and Utah.

We stayed that night in Mesquite and woke up for an early round.
This was actually the course that I was most excited for.

Wolf Creek Golf Course in Mesquite is listed as one of the top 50 courses in the country.

It has been described as “the Disneyland of golf courses.”
And “the Pebble Beach of desert golf.”
I agree with both.

Just have a look at this place…

Time to warm up…

1st hole…

And here we go…

Here is the view from the back tee’s on the 2nd hole.

The fairway is over the ridge to the left side of this picture.
Look just right of center in this picture. My mom is standing at the white tees, where I played from.

A closer look…

Here is the view from the white tees.

I’m going for it…

The conditions were perfect…

Here are two of the best Par 3 holes that I have ever played…

I have never seen views like this on a golf course…

This is about as close to other golfers that I got that day.
See them on the ridge? That is a tee box!

What a way to end the year!
Have a very Happy New Year everyone. See you in 2011!
Cheers,
-Irving

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Christmas Day!

Filed under: Christmas,Family — Kelocity @ 10:21 am
Tags: Christmas, Family, Sisters

On Christmas Morning, we all woke up pretty early to see what Santa brought us!!

I was really missing Irving, but Santa didn’t forget him!

Stockings always come first!

I got so many awesome gifts, lots of running related things, cooking things, games and other fun stuff. Santa definitely spoiled us this year!

Then we headed to my aunt’s house for our annual family game night. This year’s game of choice was Scribblish!

If you haven’t seen this game yet, you just have to trust me that it’s the best game of the year. It was HILARIOUS!

It involves lots of drawing…and laughing hysterically at said drawings.

~~~~~~
The next day… the big storm hit….

We had to snowblow and shovel 1.5 feet of snow out of the driveway.

Not fun. But we made the best of it by hanging out inside and doing our annual sisters photoshoot!!

This one might be my favorite!

Then we took the party outside!

I love these girls!

Merry Christmas!

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A Holiday Recap–Christmas Eve

Filed under: Babies,Christmas,Family — Kelocity @ 9:53 am
Tags: Christmas, Family, Photo Shoot, Presents

I know, I have been a negligent blogger as of late. I was also a pretty bad Christmas vacation photographer. But I have lots of memories and warm moments to share.

It all started way back last week. I had to pack up all my presents and fly them with me to Boston. It probably would have been easier to wrap them when I got there, but I’m a sucker for wrapping up surprises.
That gnome wrapping paper was from Ikea about four years ago. I FINALLY used it all up this year!

All packed up and ready to go! Thank goodness for Southwest’s free baggage allowance!

A few of my friends and I have a tradition of getting together for breakfast on Christmas Eve day. This year, we were also joined by the gorgeous baby Harper!

She’s at a fun smiley age now. I was in love.

Katie, me, Harper and Shelby!

I already miss all of them!

Then I spent the afternoon hanging out with my sisters, wrapping more presents and getting ready for Christmas Eve! My whole family and all the cousins head to my grandparents house. Now that everyone is getting older, it’s so much fun.