A week late, but as promised… here’s my New Year’s recap! Happy Monday! 
If you know me, you know that I usually HATE New Years Eve. Ever since high school when two of my “best friends” left me in the middle of a Ruby Tuesday parking lot because I didn’t want to go get drunk with them. That was a great phone call home.
The years that followed weren’t all that wonderful either so I made a lifelong resolution to either travel somewhere totally awesome (far far away from home) or spend the holiday with good, close friends and family. This year, I was dreading the holiday. A few days after Christmas I had a little break down with some close friends that totally crushed my spirits. The only thing I wanted to do after that was wallow around the house and eat chocolate peanut butter cheesecake with my boyfriend. (By the way - that typically works out great for me because he would rather kiss a skunk that eat anything with the chocolate peanut butter combo. Crazy fool right?!)
With the holiday just a day or so away, Michael and I were still very undecided about our plans. It wasn’t until late Friday night that we decided to pack our bags and head to the river. Which turned out to be an AWESOME decision.
Despite the fact that I was sick we went out fishing Saturday afternoon. I was pretty excited to catch a fish that we could eat for dinner. Totally hunter and gatherer of me, I know. It was Freezing, yes, with a capital F. Thank goodness my dad recommended I wear ski clothes. I am pretty sure he was semi-kidding about actually bringing ski clothes… but I was thankful I did!
After trolling around the river for a few hours we returned home with just one fish. A 19 inch rock fish! It was a team effort… I channeled my inner pirate and did the steering and captaining, my dad did the directing, and Michael did the reeling! Together - we had one fish to add to the collection for dinner!
I was REALLY excited to do a paleo dinner feast for new years eve. I want to show my family that you can eat healthy, amazing, delicious, low carb, non-processed foods and still be “fat” and happy! We had a terrific feast of fresh rock fish, spaghetti squash with sautéed veggies and feta cheese, roasted broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower, a turkey roast, and a small side of rice (for those who wanted it.) Since eating healthy is one of my top priorities of 2012 I was more than happy to cook everything up for my family to enjoy!
After the feast we began the drinking and the games and the sparklers! I won the first round of the Left, Right, Center taking home $27 in prize money. Paul won the second round taking home $33! Not bad for a nights work right?! We also played a TON (yes, about as much as an elephant weighs) of Catch Phrase. It takes a lot for that game to get old. I highly recommend playing it in mixed company… parents, some friends, a couple of gay guys, a grandmother, and a boyfriend. It was HIL- wait for it - ARIOUS! After the gaming, Michael and I had fun with the sparklers before my dad shot off the big fireworks we got at South of the Border. Oh and Bob shot off a round of ammo from his gun. Crazy. Fool.
All in all, it was a great way to welcome the new year with open arms. Everything happens for a reason, and this year, I was supposed to spend this holiday with my family and my boyfriend. I am glad 2011 is behind me and I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store. It’s going to be a good one folks. I just feel it.