{ Ringin' in the New Year }

Confession: I don't even remember what we did for New Year's Eve last year. My best guess is that we stayed home and went to bed before midnight...that would explain why I can't remember it, right?

This year, we didn't have much planned 'til the day of. Our church rented out a bowling alley from 6 to 9pm and invited everyone to come. We hung out for a couple hours, then headed to downtown Seattle to meet up with some of Mike's friends. We went to a pub called The Blarney Stone, where the bartender made me a delicious non-alcoholic drink. When one of the girls we were with found out I was pregnant, she loudly exclaimed, "You have a human inside you?!"

Another confession: I think I'm missing some vital genetic component that most of my peers possess; namely, the ability to enjoy spending time in a crowded bar with live music so loud you can't hear anything unless someone yells directly in your ear. I just don't get why people go somewhere with friends and pay for the privilege of losing your hearing and being unable communicate with said friends. Like I said, I must be missing some important part of what it takes to be a well-adjusted twentysomething in the 21st century.

{Really, it wasn't that bad. It's just that I don't "get" these types of events!}

As midnight neared, we walked a few blocks to the skyscraper where one of the guys' uncle works. The plan was to watch the Space Needle fireworks from his office, which is on the top {36th} floor of the building. But when we got there, we found out that one of the building maintenance guys was there, and he offered to let us come up on the roof with his family!

It was so cool: This skyscraper is on the edge of the downtown core, so there were no other tall buildings obstructing our view. There was a little breeze, but no rain. There were lights...everywhere. Like tiny jewels studding the velvety black night surrounding us.

It's really hard to appreciate in the photo below, but all the boats on Lake Union were lit up and it was so pretty!

The fireworks show was great. Neither Mike nor I have ever gone downtown for the New Year or Fourth of July fireworks, so it was exciting to share this experience together, and from such a remarkable vantage point! It's a good thing we had this opportunity before having a baby, right? I have a feeling that trekking downtown to watch loud, scary fireworks is not exactly the sort of thing one does with small children!

Photos of fireworks are pretty much the most boring photos ever, so I'll stop now.

Happy New Year, everyone!