For the past few years, I have always used a small, fake tree that my Mom gave me to help promote Christmas spirit in my apartment. My little tree has gone through quite a few roommates. However, this year I've decided to retire it; so to speak anyway, I might still put my little tree up somewhere. Adam and I are going to invest in a large Christmas tree. We can't go too large since we do still live in an apartment, but we want to get one that we can live with for years to come. Adam and I are too logical to buy a real tree. They are messy and only last one year. Plus my mom is allergic to them, so I grew up with fake trees. However, finding the perfect tree has been more difficult than I hoped. We searched yesterday and found lots of too "fake looking" and too small trees. There was one that we both liked, but, of course, the store was out. Anyhow, I'm hoping we can find one tonight. Then, the only thing we'll have to worry about will be where to put the thing.

If you know me at all, you are probably aware of the fact that my sister, Molly, is nine years younger than me. Needless to say, as Molly gets older, I grow more and more aware of the fact that I have lived almost a whole decade longer than her. Molly turned 17 this November . However, the "OMG factor" was lessened slightly by the fact that we threw her a surprise party, and I got to play event planner.

So, two whole weeks after she was officially 17, we partied. She was shocked! (Even after she passed the family van, my mustang, and Adam's cavalier all parked right next to each other heading into the shelterhouse.) The party was casino-themed, "Viva Las Molly" to be more specific. Adam and I came up with games for them to play (slightly simplified). We had stations for Black Jack, Poker, Craps, and Roulette, and prizes for the people who ended the night with the most chips. Yes, we were teaching minors the great moral value of gambling. All-in-all, though, I think it was a success.

Here is Molly with some of her friends and Elvis:

Sisters:

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to make it through her 18th. =/

It seems like not long ago, I was saying that Adam and I were not planning on any major changes in the near future...I might have lied a little. Don't get too excited. I'm not preggers, and we are not buying a house. However, Adam and I are both going through some career changes.

Adam got promoted at Perceptive! I'm so, so, so proud of him. He is now a Software Architect and Team Lead. As he was told when he was offerred the position, he was basically already leading his team anyway, so why not get paid for it?

As for me, this past Wednesday was my last day at First Management. I resigned to start work for a start-up wedding website, cityweddingguide.com. I will be the Content Manager. I am so excited! I will get paid to research weddings and blog about it! OK, I'll have other stuff to do too, but how cool is that? I will dearly miss the people I worked with at FMI, but I will not miss the stress of the job. On my last day my co-workers all pitched in and threw me a good-bye lunch party. I felt so special. I seriously was completely surprised; I guess I just wasn't expecting anything like that.

Onto bigger and better things!

KU football has been quite disappointing this season, but yesterday was a different story! Adam got an invitation to watch the game from Perceptive Software's suite at the game. It was sooo much fun! There was unlimited food and beer, and the view was too cool. We were excited just to be in the suite, but then KU decided to make things interesting. They scored 35 points in the fourth quarter and actually won the game. It was pretty cool high-fiving the CEO everytime something exciting happened. =) We also managed to get tickets to the KU basketball opener on Wednesday. It was wonderful being back in Allen Fieldhouse. Needless to say it was a good week for us KU alumni. Rock Chalk!