Sunday, January 6, 2008

My Favorite Past New Year's Celebrations

This year we just sat at home on New Year's like it was any other night- except we let the kids stay up a little later than usual. Jackson and Mason made it to around 10pm, before they were too cranky to stay up any longer, and Jefferson made it to midnight-barely. We didn't watch any of the New Year's countdown shows until 2 minutes until midnight (Nate can't stand those shows). And we even had to pause the TV so that we could get the martinelli's ready to drink at "midnight." So two minutes after midnight we watched the 10-second countdown and celebrated with our martinelli's. Since we didn't do anything exciting this year for New Year's (although spending a quiet evening at home with the fam is still nice), I thought I'd reflect on some of my favorite New Year's celebrations from the past. Ordered by year, nothing else.

1. New Year's Eve 1990-1994 (New Year's 1991-1995): My Stake Dance New Year's Celebrations. I loved going to Stake dances and the New Year's dances were always extra fun. Plus, we'd all go to someone's house or the ward building afterwards for breakfast so the night wouldn't end. New Year's Eve '93 was especially fun because we had a Tri-Stake (or was it a 5-Stake?) Youth Conference that year that ended with the New Year's Eve dance. The conference was a blast and the dance great. I even won a hula-hooping contest (well, technically tied for first place)- in a dress even! New Year's Eve '94 was special because I had my first "Happy New Year" midnight kiss! And coincidentally, the girl that I had tied with in the hula-hooping contest the year before, who I hadn't known then, was the sister of the boy that I shared my midnight kiss with (yes, for those who know him or of him, it was Paul).

2. New Year's Eve 1998: Once I had graduated from the youth New Year's Eve dances, I quickly embraced the Young Single Adult dances. While not as well attended as the Stake dances (which could boast 700+ attendees during the summer months), they were still a blast to go to. '98 was fun because I was able to meet up with some high school friends that I hadn't seen since high school at the YSA dance. I split my time that night between the YSA dance and a party at my friend Sahana's house. It's also memorable because my friends, Joanne and Duff, got engaged that night (although I missed the actual proposal because I stayed at the dance longer than I had intended).

3. New Year's Eve 1999: This was the first New Year's Eve since turning 14 that I did not spend at a church-sponsored dance. I was living in Provo in the "White House" and all of us White house ladies (minus Audra who had just gotten married) decided to return from our Christmas vacations in time to spend New Year's in Provo. We threw one of our spectacular White House parties and had quite the turn-out. I don't remember everything that we did, but I do remember playing Cranium for the first time (Hilary had gotten it for Christmas) and running outside at midnight to light sparklers and take a run down the street. It was a fun-filled night and I didn't miss being at the YSA dance.

4. New Year's Eve 2000: This year was special because it was the first New Year's as a married woman! We got to celebrate New Year's two nights in a row since New Year's Eve fell on a Sunday that year (and celebrations in Utah tend to be moved to the Saturday before). Nate and I spent the evening of the 30th at Provo's "First night" celebration and enjoyed listening to the band "Fiddlesticks" play. We enjoyed watching the fireworks and seeing the various displays.

5. New Year's Eve 2002: This was Jefferson's first New Year's Eve (he was 6 months old). We spent the evening at the friends of our good friends the Boyle's. We played some games and chatted and munched on snacks until midnight and then we went outside and watched Provo City's fireworks. Jefferson stayed awake the whole time and was mesmerized by the fireworks. He fell asleep the moment that he realized the fireworks were over.

6. New Year's Eve 2005: We moved into our new house only 6 weeks before the new year. A couple weeks after we moved in, our next-door neighbors had moved in as well as the people on the other side of them. We knew our next-door neighbors (Nate and Jason served in the same mission) before they moved in but we quickly also became friends with their other neighbors. We decided to hang out together for New Year's and had tons of fun playing games (especially that super fun version of Uno that I can never remember the name to) and drinking virgin margaritas.

7. New Year's Eve 2008: Okay, so I know it's in the future, but after reminiscing all the fun New Year's Eves I've had in the past I was thinking that next year I need to throw my own New Year's Party so that the fun can continue. Okay, it's being planned.

1 comment:

Jeanette said...

My New Years Eves were never all that great. I do have bad ones to remember:once I was by myself at home with all my family members away and I had to work New Years day EARLY. Another year, Jason got a gross eye infection and we had to drive back to Provo from CA the next day. Can you say, YUCK?! This year, however was a bit better. We hung out with my brother and his wife chatting until 1:00am. We were suppose to play a game, but got caught up in conversation.