2011 is only a few days away! And we’d like to take the opportunity to looks back on the great memories we made in 2010!
We started the year off right, with Lincoln reaching the LAST of his teen years! We had a dinner with some of the Altos at Mother Bears.
Ally: One of my favorite memories of 2010 was in February, we—like every other couple worldwide—celebrated Valentine’s Day together. We went out for a great dinner at Olive Garden before taking a classic walk around campus! We stopped at a bridge where we almost had our first kiss where Lincoln asked me if I wanted one of my Valentines gifts early. The scene had been set: the stars were out, we were alone on this little bridge and I, of course, said yes. Lincoln reached in his pocket and pulled out a knife…… to carve our names into the bridge. Other than the moment where I saw my life flash before my eyes, it was so sweet—and a great laugh later, once I realized Lincoln would NOT kill me that night ;) After the knife incident, we walked over to the legendary Rose gazebo where Lincoln made me read some useless plaque on the wall. I turned around after reading it to see him with a beautiful heart-shaped promise ring in his hand. Needless to say, I tackled him into the snow.
In March, Ally turned 20, took a cruise with her parents over spring break.
After returning from break, we went to Purdue for the weekend. Ally spent the weekend visiting with her friends Lisa, Kourtney, Kate, Daniel, and Carolynn. Lincoln spent time with his cousin Ellen and brother Ben.
We spent Easter together with Ally’s family at home. It was Linc’s first encounter with the crazy Hellyer family J It was a great weekend, and probably the last family event held at the Hellyer family house in South Bend. Ally of Ally’s father’s family was there—including her second cousin! All the usual Hellyer Easter traditions were upheld: egg hunt, egg dying, lamb cake and big Easter Sunday brunch. We left South Bend on Easter Sunday to visit Lincoln’s Grandma Hacker’s house. That was Ally’s first encounter with the Hacker side of the family. Her first visit included playing BINGO for Lincoln’s Grandpa Hacker’s old things—certainly an experience.
In the later part of spring, Lincoln’s father asked us to chaperone the Jasper High School prom. It was a fun night to get all dressed up and dance!
May brought the end of Ally’s Sophomore and Lincoln’s Freshman years at IU. It also brought Ally’s sister’s graduation from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Lincoln: May brought one of my most painful memories of 2010. I travelled with my family to South Carolina for my Uncle Daniel’s wedding. We stayed in a house right off of the beach and it was a week full of family and sun. After Ally came back from spring break with a great tan, I was intent on making HER jealous by catching some rays during this week at the beach. I was white as a ghost and didn’t think I needed sunscreen to get a great tan and after 2 hours laying out in the sand, I had a pretty nasty case of sun poisoning to show for it. I was so sunburned that my skin burned to the touch, it itched so badly that I was taken to the hospital where I received a Cortisone shot to the butt check. I got an ear full from everyone from my Grandma to Ally’s mother about how STUPID I was. And this Christmas I got enough sunscreen to last a life time. But, other than the sun burn, it was a great trip and a great time to see Daniel tie the knot.
In the summer we travelled to Indy for the Indy 500 with Lincoln’s mom and brother.
We also attended Lincoln’s Uncle Daniel and Aunt Brandi’s wedding reception at a country club in Louisville, Kentucky. What a great night of dancing and fun!
In July, Linc and Ally spilt ways.
Ally: I spent a large part of my summer over seas. My family and I took a Disney Cruise through the Baltic Sea. We flew over to London where we spent a few days of sightseeing before driving to Dover to set sail. We sailed to Oslo, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; Warnemuende, Germany; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Stolkholm, Sweden; and Helsinki, Finland. After the cruise my parents and I travelled to Amsterdam and then eventually Hagan Germany where my partner family from high school lives. It was an amazing once-in-a-lifetime trip that I will NEVER forget!!
Lincoln: While Ally was travelling the world, I took a trip to Kings Island with some of the Altos from IU: Will, Jon, Andrew, and Gail. We went to Cincinnati where Gail was staying this summer before heading to Kings Island for a weekend of fun! We rode all the coasters as well as visited the waterpark. It was a great weekend getaway!!
In October, we drove up to Columbus, Indiana for the Smith’s 50th Wedding Anniversary! It was great to be a part of such a wonderful couple’s amazing accomplishment!
The fall passed by quickly and before we knew it, it was Halloween. We threw a big Halloween costume party that we called the Hack-yer Spooktacular! We dressed up as Minnie and Mickey Mouse!! Many of our friends made it out to see us, including Lincoln’s brother, Ben and our friend Mark, who was celebrating his birthday!
In November, we travelled with the Hundred to Washington DC to play Penn State in the “FedEx Bowl”. Despite our bus losing brakes causing its passengers (including us!) to sit on the floor of the RedStepper bus while Janice, their instructor, sang camp songs for 4 hours; the trip was a SUCCESS and a lot of fun. We even got a lot of sightseeing done in the one evening we had free.
We also travelled up to South Bend where we attended a Notre Dame game with Jenny and Mikey, and a Chicago Bears game with Ally’s parents. Both teams won and we decided we were good luck to any other team but our own.
Finally this winter we attended the Band Banquet, went to the Smith Family Christmas, and started this blog—all events you can read about
here on this blog!
We have been very blessed with such a great year, and we each hope that next year, 2011, will bring us even more great times and memories!
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