Woo Hoo--It's Almost New Year's Eve!

Savaii jury members at Ponderosa with Jeff Probst and David Burris (executive producers).

First of all, thank you to everyone who sent suggestions for New Year's Eve celebrations. (What did we do before the internet? Seriously, I think I received about 50 really fun ideas by the end of the day. Thank you, thank you, thank you!)


So, have you decided how you'll spend New Year's?


After reading all of the suggestions, here's what we decided:


1. We're going to spend the first half of the evening with our whole family, doing chocolate and cheese fondue. We're going to listen to loud music and do "noisemakers" vs. illegal fireworks. (Sorry, Lu and Zu.)


2. The teenagers are going to go to a regional church NYE dance from about 10-12:30pm. (It sounds really fun, there will be a DJ, food, a balloon drop, ping-pong, and a game/video room ... and chaperones. Woo hoo.)


3. The rest of us are going to see a movie (Sherlock Holmes) from 10-11:30pm--to ensure that we stay awake until midnight.


It's not the same as being in NYC and watching the crystal ball drop, but I'm really excited for our NYE celebration.


PS: My random sidenote for the day, we went and saw "We Bought A Zoo" (Matt Damon) last night--and loved it.


And it's left me with what I think will be my motto for 2012:


Why not?

****

I mentioned before, but I'm updated my blog interface for the New Year, and am hoping to have the new changes up on 1/1/2012. (The updates will include a separate tab for Survivor-related photos/questions/content.)

In the meantime, I wanted to share a few more photos from the Finale weekend here on the mainpage. 

If you're Survivored-out, apologies. Head over to Smitten Kitchen and get a yummy recipe: http://smittenkitchen.com/

8)

Jim and Whitney at Coconuts Resort--while we were "on the jury." (Game was still in progress.)

At Ponderosa. A few of the cast were able to get traditional Samoan tattoos before leaving the island.
(Brandon, Ozzy, Keith, and Whitney--with the tattoo artists.)

PS: Brandon had them cover his "loco" tattoo. New chapter for him. 

Keith, Whitney, ME, and Jim @ Coconuts Restaurant.

This was my/Whit's first day NOT in the game.

Jim and Keith played catch at Ponderosa.

Keith at Coconuts Resort.

Keith is one of my favorite people. During the "Shoulder The Load" Challenge,
Keith encouraged me the WHOLE time I held that weight. You don't see it on TV, but he sat about 2 feet from me while I held the weight, crouched down,  repeating a ton of positive thoughts, etc.
Keith was my "Bob" from the Biggest Loser--my trainer--during that challenge. Ha.

I def feel like that win was as much Keith's as it was mine.

View at Ponderosa.

Edna and ME at the Finale'--meet and greet for fans.

My sister-in-law, Beth, ME, and Papa Bear.

Beth and her husband Pat (my husband's brother) were able to come to one of our cast parties.
It was SOO fun!

(Pat and Beth, and their friends, were a major support to me while the show aired. It meant so much to me. I think Pat was responsible for 10,000 Fan Favorite Votes that went my way. Truly.) 

Just before heading out to the Live Reunion. Literally, minutes before.

PS: Thanks to Elyse for showing me how to stand with one foot slightly in front of the other.
Elyse was Miss Washington, did you know?

The after-Finale' cast party.

Whitney getting HDTV hair and makeup.

Whitney may be one of the most beautiful people I know--and, I mean inside and out. I know she came down hard on Cochran when he flipped, but she really was so kind to me. Well, minus that one time she and Keith voted for me. Ha ha ha. No, really--you may not see it much on the show, but she and I had a really close bond during the game. I love her like family. 

See, they WERE in an alliance. Ha ha ha. (The day of the finale'.)

Ozzy and Elyse.
(And no, they aren't dating. LOL. Elyse has a very sweet/kind boyfriend.)

Our kids with Uncle Russell--before the finale'.

PS: I thought Russell was really gracious to everyone he met.
He takes tons of photos, has kind words to share.

Bracelets/tickets to the finale'.

Our kiddos with Uncle Keith at the cast party after the finale'.

(They LOVE Keith.)

ME and my Dave after the finale'.

PS: I am so grateful to Dave for helping me pursue this dream of being on Survivor.  I don't know many husbands/dads who are willing to take care of their 6 kids and work full-time while their wife goes to live on an island for the summer.

ME and a dear friend from casting.

PS: That's Christina from Survivor Nicaragua and Ryan Carrillo from Expedition Impossible in the background.

If only we were on the SAME tribe! Christine and ME--with our kids.

PS: We were the only 2 players with young kiddos. And yes, my eyes look wonky in this pic.,
but it's the only one I have of the moms/kids.)

Aunt Whitney and our kiddos.

Uncle Jim and our kiddos.

Sophie and ME.

I'm old enough to be Sophie's mom, but honestly, I love her like a sister or favorite niece.

I've learned a lot from her (in the game/out of the game).
She's incredibly intelligent, strong, and beautiful (inside/out).


And I love her like family, too.

Me with my brother.
(He and my sister-in-law came to the cast party--it was SO fun.)


PS: My whole family--my parents, brother/sister-in-law--did SOOO much for us over the Finale' weekend. I can't begin to thank them enough. They did hair/makeup/shopping/kid-tending/dinners/lunches/voting for Fan Favorite/and more. I love you guys. 
Thank you for being an incredible support during this whole Survivor experience.

Our friend Aaron and Phillip from Survivor Redemption Island.

Aaron and his brother Joel are both huge Survivor fans--and they are probably responsible for another 10K Fan Favorite votes I received. Love them--and so glad they were able to come to the events.

Our kids at the cast party. (They were so tired. LONG day.)


PS: My daughter wore red tights for Savaii. 8)

Cowboy Rick and ME. First time two Utahns played Survivor at the same time. Yay Utah.
(Hay, Rick, where's the state loyalty, buddy? I tried so hard to get him to flip at the merge. Argh. He did go far though, so it was good for him to stay with Upolu.)

Me with my strong and beautiful Dream Teamer.

(Dream Teamer = your stand-in during the rehearsal or run-through for the challenges/tribal council.
This was my first time meeting her.)

My sister-in-law, ME, and my sister-in-law's sister.

Rick with our son, Jay. They swapped hats.

My sister-in-law's sister with Cochran.

(Really, the whole cast was SOOO good to my family. I felt like everyone made an effort to really say hello, spend time with them, take photos. It was really generous and kind of them--because there are A LOT of people asking for your time at these events.)

Ozzy wins Fan Favorite (and decides to jump over the fire?).

(C) CBS, 2011.