Happy 2009 everyone!!! I must say, 2008 went out with a real bang!! Snowy Chicago sledding (see pictures.), Barack Obama got elected!, the whole family got together for Christmas, and then it was back to Chicago for New Years Eve! Whew! There are already alot of pictures on here from Family Christmas- so i figured i would share some from our New Years Eve celebrations! And introduce you to some of our (anna and I) really great friends here, so when, later on, we are telling stories about people, you will have some faces to put with names. I must forewarn you though- most of our friends are named Megan. You will see!

(Below: L to R)
Me, Megan Dutkewych (pronounced Duke-ev-ich, we call her Dukev!) Anna, and Meaghan Conroy (we call her Seven, because she is Meaghan spelled with seven letters!)
This was when Chicago had its first big snow, so we all went and got sleds, piled in cars, drove to the nearest hill, and went sledding for 2 hours. at least. it was so much fun!

Top to bottom: Me, Dukev, Seven, Anna!
We actually went down the hill like this!!! needless to say, we didnt make it all the way to the bottom of this hill! but i was pretty impressed with how far we got before we went tumbling over!!

Before i move on to New years i suppose i should address the very first picture! (i cant seem to be able to write above it, so bear with me!) That was the sledding group as a whole! All of the afformentioned girls, joined by a group of outstanding gentlemen you will meet later in this post! That was a really really great night.

ON TO NYE!
Seven had a party at her house, because it was FREEZING out, and none of us wanted to be out in our cute dresses walking around and shivering all night!! Plus- its way cheaper and safer just to celebrate in the comfort of your (or, in this case, your friends, home).

Anna and I! With Ross- who is making a face.

Some of you may recognize the face on the red shirt in the center! Guess who came to visit?? Wheelers own Samuel Hillhouse!! We were so glad he made it, and even though it was ridiculously cold, im pretty sure he had a great time.

Seven and i! Hugging after the countdown!

Anna got a great deal on light up 2009 glasses! All the girls wore them all night! They made for some really great pictures! And now we will never look back and wonder what year these pictures were from!

Anna and Ross!

Bret! The sequined pistol was actually a belt buckle! haha! This is Bret doing his best James Bond pose. He did really well!!! (although, i dont know if Bond would have liked having sequins on his gun, or if he would ever wear those silly glasses!!)

this is my Bond girl impression!! do i look dangerous??!

We had a really great time.

More girls! L to R: Dukev, Seven, Meg Dunn and Liz.
Meg Dunn is a long time friend of Sevens, and her neighbor! And Liz used to live with Anna and I before she got a sweet teaching job. Whenever the “girls” go out, it is usually these four, plus anna and i.

to say the least NYE was a great celebration with friends!

I didnt make any new years resolutions, mainly because i never get very far with those, but, with my NEW COMPUTER i got for Christmas, and with threats to get blocked from Whit, and mainly because i do want all of you to know about the exciting (and not so exciting) happenings in my life, it is my goal to update this page WAY more often.

know that i love you all so very very much!!
xoxo.

I did this on my myspace in march of 06.
Its a Johari window.. it invented by Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham in the 1950s as a model for mapping personality awareness.
By describing yourself from a fixed list of adjectives, then asking your friends and colleagues to describe you from the same list, a grid of overlap and difference can be built up.
i just think its interesting to see how you see yourself vs. how others see you.
These were my results, pretty cool. apparently im spontaneous. haha!

Dominant Traits

58% of people agree that sarah bryant is spontaneous

All Percentages

able (3%) accepting (12%) adaptable (3%) bold (9%) brave (32%) calm (0%) caring (29%) cheerful (22%) clever (12%) complex (3%) confident (25%) dependable (6%) dignified (3%) energetic (25%) extroverted (12%) friendly (48%) giving (9%) happy (32%) helpful (3%) idealistic (3%) independent (12%) ingenious (0%) intelligent (29%) introverted (0%) kind (16%) knowledgeable (0%) logical (3%) loving (29%) mature (0%) modest (9%) nervous (0%) observant (3%) organised (0%) patient (3%) powerful (0%) proud (6%) quiet (0%) reflective (0%) relaxed (0%) religious (9%) responsive (3%) searching (9%) self-assertive (0%) self-conscious (0%) sensible (12%) sentimental (3%) shy (0%) silly (19%) spontaneous (58%) sympathetic (3%) tense (0%) trustworthy (19%) warm (16%) wise (3%) witty (0%)

heeeyy!!

tons and tons of new pictures on the blogspot!

sarahbryantsays.blogspot.com

off to barcelona!
LOVE!

hey yall!! i havent put up any pictures since the last post, but i wanted you to know i fixed the settings so you can actually comment now without having to sign up for an account!

i have a ton more pictures! hoping to get them posted tonight, its quite the time consuming process, and its hard to justify sitting at the computer for an hour when there is so much going on!!

love you guys tons!
-s

greetings from the UK!!

i am currently galavanting scotland! arrived here this morning!

soley because alot of people are keeping up with my trip that i dont really want reading about the past three years of my life, im going to be keeping my travel blog on blogspot.

check it out here:
sarahbryantsays.blogspot.com

i already made my first post with pictures and everything! crazy, eh!
And you can comment without even signing up, just put your name at the end of any anonomous comment!

i will let you guys know every time post though, and im hoping to post every day or two.

Anna, whit and Aunt Mary Sue: i need your addresses!

love you all!

-s

why is everything on the right?

why why why why why??

ive tried everything to fix it!
when you guys see my site is everything on the right??

hmph. dang it.

hey guys!!! im not sure if all of you know but i am currently living vicariously through bret as he travels through the Uk and Europe!!

he and afew others from the band went over early to have some leisure time before their shows start, and right now he is in Ireland. i just wanted to share some of his pictures and stories so you could see a little of it too!!

These are all from Gallaway (sp?) and the place looks awesome. I love the street scene pic the most.

im glad no one slipped!

I love this street!!!

These are two of his bandmates Seth (L) and Jamie (R)

he looks like he has a halo in this one

someone must have been thirsty. ha!

these are all taken from the iphone i got him for christmas.. which, i feel pretty good about.

here is a little bit of what he has done:

“(when we landed) We headed down to Gallway (Galway?) almost immediately and found a
pretty great hostel. Cheap enough and free wifi (YES). We wandered
around the town for a couple hours… it really is beautiful — and so
different, too. But you know this.

After enough wandering, we got back into the car and headed south to
Doolin. We had heard that the Cliffs of Maher were incredible and
well… they were! I raised my phone to take a picture and the thing
ran out of juice right when I hit “camera.” What a bummer, right??
But, perhaps a google search can give you a better idea of where I
was… I’d love to go back someday.

Anyways, the Cliffs of Maher. It started whipping wind and rain when
we arrived and while it was cold, the weather as wild as it was made the Irish coast
even more powerful. An amazing view. Old ruins jutting out from place
to place, the ocean crashing into “Europe’s window ledge.” Perfect.

Afterwards, we made our way back to Doolin and found a bar to settle
into for a few hours. A fireplace was going, pints of guinness for all
of us. It turns out this was the bar that Matt’s dad had taken him to
for his first beer. Crawdaddy’s, I think. Not touristy
at all – just a hole in the wall Irish pub. We sat around telling
stories and thinking about how crazy that we had made it here.”

here is a video of the cliffs of maher! its not brets video, but you can see where he was!
cliffs of maher

and here is a link to the bands blog if you reeeallly want to keep up!
the bands blogspot

doesn’t this sound like so much fun?!?!

anyhow, i will post more as i hear more! Hope you all are well, staying warm and healthy!

ILYM!
-s

let me recap the past week for you:
bronchitis sucks.

ive been sick since friday
i just thought it was a cold so i kept putting off going to the doctor, thinking i would feel better the next day.. but i only felt worse. Finally i broke down on monday afternoon and just drove home to be with mom and dad and let them take care of me for awhile, since i was tired of taking care of myself!

they sent me right to the doctor who diagnosed me in about three seconds.. she also asked me if i was smoking, and i admitted to smoking a little less than what would be considered honest, but i assume thats what everyone does right?

i think you would all be pretty pleased to hear that i havent smoked since last thursday, and with the current state of my lungs, have no desire to in the near future.. so since ive already gone a week i figure now is probably the best time to just quit. (and save money!) i will let you all know how it goes.

anyhow back to my bronchial tales:

im taking antibiotics and i have an inhaler… ive been better about the antibiotics than the inhaler… but i still dont feel better. i mean, i feel better than i did saturday i suppose, but no significant difference in the past two days.
dang it, im just tired of being sick!

dad says i need to eat kfc tomorrow, no matter what. (he is a good man)
he says that my ramen noodle diet isnt helping me fight off my sick. (ramen noodles can do anything, i believe.)

everyone tell anna to buy me a scooter and im sure i will be healed.
well, i suppose anyone could buy it.

im going to bed lovers.
i have missed you xanga, lets reignite the fire.
-s

i cannot believe its almost:

halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years/2008.

(and you know this is how it works, once halloween happens, the rest just speed right by.)

random facts:

i love the history channel, loving especially the new show “states”.
my apartment in atlanta is so cozy. i want all of you to see it.
im planning an AMAZING trip for April 2008. it includes Europe and a Mediterranian Cruise. More details to come.
i miss Chicago, even though its freezing there by now.

well! i know this is short, but i have to go to work. (im still at McCormick and Schmicks.)

more updates to come!

ILYM.
-s

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL MOTHER!!!
it just so happens that today, August 8th, is her birthday.

she is the best mom. I think its wonderful how i can go over a month
without posting, but everytime i check my footprints i can go back for
days and i will always have just one visitor, momma.

a birthday wish for you mom:

Each year your birthday reminds me
That I really want to say
I’m very glad I know you;
On your birthday,
I wish for you the fulfillment
of all your fondest dreams.
I hope that for every candle
on your cake
you get a wonderful surprise.
I wish for you that
whatever you want most in life,
it comes to you,
just the way you imagined it,
or better.
I’m so glad you were born,
because you brighten my life
and fill it with joy.

And! one more quote, because i know you love them so muuch:

You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt, as young as your
self-confidence, as old as your fear, as young as your hope, as old as
your despair.-Paul H. Duhn

GENERAL LIFE UPDATE:
hey guys, i know its been a while.. and its not because you have been
deserted for facebook or myspace, its just because internet is a little
harder to come by these days, and with free time being taken up by
work, adventures, beaches, citys, roadtrips, friends, boyfriend, and
family.. well posting time has unfortunately been moved to the back
burner.

BUT. with that said, here i am!

its a rainy day in chicago, anna just left for Rosses, Bret is still at practice, im not working tonight.

this summer has been really awesome. Its not over yet, thank goodness! i still have a few weeks left!
i will give some hi-lights, and i promise to post pictures sometime
this week when Bret gets all moved in to his new, internet-ready apt.

just the other day Bret and i took a good friend over to Michigan City,
Indiana and on the way back we decided to take a back road intead of
the interstate. We found old highway 12 which runs along the lake from
indiana to Chicago. Most of the drive was through National Forests,
marshes and wetlands. We pulled off at ‘Mount Baldy, Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore’

This is what Wikipedia says about Mt. Baldy:

Mount Baldy

Mount Baldy is a sand dune located west of Michigan City, Indiana.
At 123 feet tall, it is the tallest sand dune on the southern shore of
Lake Michigan. It is a wandering dune that moves an average of 4 feet
every year, and so is called a “living dune.” Mount Baldy is accessible
from U.S. route 12, between the town of Pines and the western border of Michigan City. Visitors can hike 0.7 miles up
the dune and from the top, on a clear day, can view Chicago’s skyline
and the south shore. North of Mount Baldy is a swimming beach.

Pretty sweet! so of course we made the hike and drove the rest of
the way home through little lakeside communties on a two lane shaded
highway listening to Iron and Wine and talking about how they really
shouldn’t build factories on lake Michigan.

well, thats just one adventure, im going to jump off here and try to scavenge something to eat. ILYM!
-s