Weekend with the girls

My mom and aunt and grandma came up to visit me this past weekend and it was wonderful! They had to battle the blizzard on Thursday but they made it! I was mad the weather wasn't better, but at least we were together. It really makes living in Colorado even better to be reminded of how close I am to my family and to get to spend time together like this. We shopped ALOT and went out to eat and laughed and had fun. I really wish my sister could have been here too - that would have made it complete. Hopefully next time she will be with us too. I'll try to upload my pics later and post them.
Happy Monday!

Mr. Winter - are you done yet?

Woke up this morning to snow again. Don't get me wrong. I love snow and I love winter. But it is almost April and I am ready for spring. We had the most mild winter and now this? It was crazy on Thursday and now it's coming down again. I started to drive in when I called the snow line and found out we have a delay...the roads weren't that bad, maybe I just should have gone in anyways. Decisions Decisions! I guess I'll hold off for now.....
Hopefully this will be the last of our winter though. Mother nature keeps teasing us - 75 degree's weekend before last and freezing this past weekend. I'm pretty sure our trees that budded out are done....no telling if my tulips are going to make it (those the Kirby hasn't already devoured).
And now my feelings are hurt. I accidentally scared Kirby when I came back home this morning and now he is super scared of me! He won't even come to me.

I will be a Yogi....if I don't break my face first

I went to yoga again today. I even bought my own mat so that I don't have to lay down on the grody communal gym one. I do love yoga and I want to get really good at it. Let me rephrase that....I love the way people look when they do yoga and I desire to look like that. But it is so much harder than it looks. I thought I was going to eat it today.....mostly because of my sweaty palms! They just start sliding and I have to stop the pose. Then I look over in the mirror, thinking to myself, you are probably doing good....WRONG! I look like a pale, off balance chunk! My wobbling only adds to my belly bouncing and I kind of want to giggle, but I know that's inappropriate in the class. The harder I try the goofier I look. I am so ungraceful - which is one of the reasons I want this so badly! I know I can do this...I'm just worried about how long it's going to take. I'm inpatient. I mean - I've been walking for 27 years and I have not mastered it......what does that say?

Sad face.....

I had to take an assessment test before my accounting class starts next Tuesday. And I failed.....so of course, I feel like a failure. It was not at all what I thought it would be. What is wrong with me? I'm just in a sad mood, so I'm going to vent.
I got off work late....again. Completely overwhelmed.
I need new contacts ASAP!
The computer is bombing out...again.
The new TV we just got already bit the dust and some repair guy can't come out until next week.
I have to sit through an accounting class on Saturday in order to take the test...again...and I have to pass this time in order to take the class.
How can I have not passed a BASIC accounting exam? Seriously?? I know I haven't taken an accounting class since 2002 but still!!! That is only 7 years ago!!!! Urghh.

I'm just a sappy mess. I'm holding in my crying right now and my heart fills full of tears. I hate that! No, it's not because of my exam, although that did add to my stress. I saw an old friend's myspace (yes, I know, myspace...am I 13?) profile and it just brought up a lot of old memories. You know, the kind you suppress and only think about when you are ready to lay your head down and sob until your dehydrated. I haven't spoken to him in so many years....too many years. He and I share a past that is heartbreaking and beautiful. This was not a romantic relationship - it was just a friendship. I wonder if people forget that you love them if you let a relationship fall to the side? I think part of the reason we didn't keep in touch was because it was too painful to do so, at least that is my excuse. He is a reminder....and it's not like I need reminders of ANYTHING to do with my past. I am the master of carrying my past everywhere I go. And I have learned to live with all that has happened. I have learned how to deal with happiness and sorrow and to live a life effected by them, yet not affect me on a daily basis. I think that no matter how old you get or how long ago in the past something happened, the emotions can sneak up on you and make it feel like it happened recently. Pain dulls, but is that only because we learn to live with it? That must be it because it's not like you look back and say "it wasn't that bad or that good". It becomes a scar that we are used to seeing everyday. Then you run into someone that shares a similar scar, they may have it in a different place and theirs may be deeper, but it reopens your wound and reminds you that it will never truly go away.

If you have a baby, you won't be the baby!

That is one of my favorite lines from one of the funniest movies ever, Overboard.

I guess I just have babies on the mind. I've had "baby fever" before....but this time it's pretty bad. It could be that I have a birthday in a couple of months and I'm going to be 28. Man I used to think that was ancient! Or maybe it's because I feel like everyone I know is having a baby, or trying to have a baby, or expanding their family. Ok, that's an exaggeration....there are plenty of friends who aren't in family mode yet. But it just somehow feels right...like we should be trying for one.

Then my realistic side kicks in and says "of course you can't have a baby now!" I don't have time....wow- that sounds like a cop-out. Who does have the time? I know I can't do it while still in school, and I think that's why I want one, because I know that I really can't do it right now. You know, you always want what you can't have. But I go to school 2 nights a week. Ok, that's not bad. But on those days I try to leave for work 6ish (if I don't go to spinning at 5:30am) and don't get home until around 10:30 at night. So on those days I wouldn't see my baby and Tony would be a single parent. Who wants to sign up for that? Oh and the logistics...don't get me started.
If by chance I can accelerated the rate I am taking classes (currently I'm taking 2 classes per quarter) and possibly be done sooner, then maybe we can start trying next fall...if not, I won't be done with school until 2011.....and that seems like so far away.
On the flip side there is still so much we want to do before we are tied down. We would like to travel some more, save up some money....I could go on and on with excuses. I guess in the mean time I'll have to live vicariously through my friends with babies....Andi, Renata, Jen, Heather, Trysha.....

Amy

I was in a Ryan Adams mood tonight and was thinking about the first song I ever heard from him. It was probably around 2001/2002 ish. I was making a CD for my sister and trying to find all songs named Amy when this one came up. The video isn't very good, but the song is still good quality.

Italy...a year ago

A year ago this past week I was in Italy. I have the most wonderful memories and I think about them often. Sometimes I still can't believe that we went! It always seemed like such a far fetched dream. I can't wait to go on another vacation like that....somewhere new and exciting.
Besides getting to be with Tony and Robin and Jesse (number one memory) I really can't pin point what the best part was. I have many favorite memories. One of my favorites was when Tony and I went on this little side street in Assisi. The town seemed so sureal. Another wonderful memory was when Tony and I walked around Rome by ourselves trying to find a place to eat, then stopping by a cafe on our way back to the hotel. At one point we were semi lost but we just kept going in the direction we thought was right, and we ended up back in the neighborhood by the hotel. What an amazing time.


Throwing coin in Trevi Fountain in Rome


Side street in Assisi


Beside the Doge's palace.

Pics of the new bathroom

Here are the old pictures and the new pictures of our bathroom. I love it and I'm so proud of Tony!
Now he's on to redoing our mantel and the tile around the fireplace. It's always something!

Sorry it's taken me so long to post these!

Today we went snowboarding and I am so sore! I didn't do too well, but still better than I've ever done before. It was a lot of fun though, despite all the falling. I just hope I can get out of bed tomorrow. :)

More of Beautiful Colorado

As hard as it is to start over, as sad as we are for our friends and family, or when we've had a really bad week at work/school/life, we still have the mountains. We get to see them everyday and can be right up in them in less than an hour.
We went up last weekend to go snowshoeing, but there wasn't much snow, so we just went hiking. I am SO out of shape! But we had a great time, and the views were beautiful.

Digging to China

This is what I came home to on Friday.



I told Tony earlier this week that I didn't want to crate Kirby anymore because it makes me feel bad that he is in a crate for so long during the day. He's a good dog and usually doesn't get into anything while we are gone (when we leave him out, like on the weekends). Well, he proved us wrong! Sheets shredded, springs exposed. And that does suck, but I would have felt so much worse if he would have gotten choked on a spring, or gotten his head in there. It's just too dangerous, so back in the crate it is.
This was after one of the worse days at work I've had in a LONG time, but before I got one of the most unprofessional emails from one of my group members from school. Needless to say - Friday sucked.

Sex on Fire

So I'm probably the last person to hear this song, but it blew my mind. Once again Kings of Leon does it for me. This song is amazing!!! Tony said this reminds him more of their older stuff. What do you think?

Super Bowl's Past

When I was in high school we always had a super bowl party at our house. My mom and dad would graciously open up their home to a bunch of kids from our youth group. We'd buy pizza and coke and snacks and semi watch the game in between talking and playing. It is such a great memory to have and I'm so glad my parents were always ok with a bunch of dumb teenagers invading their house.

Another great memory is the super bowl where Janet Jackson exposed (ewwww) herself. Everyone was in the kitchen at Jen's and no one was sitting there with me to see it! Of course I was the only nerd watching Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake...but still! That was a great party - good friends, food and booze. It was one of many souree's over on Capri Rd. We found some random video tape the other day that we had taken over at a BBQ on Capri and it brought back such funny memories. If I could ever figure out how to load it onto the computer I could post some of it so that you could get a chuckle too.

Today we are having some friends over to watch the game and snack. Another year...more memories to be made.

Obadiah Parker

Wow! I just stumbled across this band by accident tonight and they are awesome! They are just now recording their first album and I can't wait to hear it!

New Favorite Drink - Pomegranate Champagne Punch

I got this recipe off of Bon Apetit and it's really delish! We had it on New Years and then again last weekend at our game night.

1/2 cup simple syrup (1/2 C Sugar, 1/2 C Water - boil to make syrup)
1 bottle champagne (I used spumante, but it called for Brut)
1 C. Rum
1 C. Pomegranate Juice
1 lemon thinly sliced
mint leaves

I varied the original recipe slightly, so the one above is not the exact one from Bon Apetit

Snowshoeing at Echo Lake

Last weekend Tony and I went to a snowshoeing Demo at Echo Lake. REI had a few different snowshoe makers there so we went up to try out the goods. It was so freakin' cold! And there were quite a few people there, so we had to wait in line about an hour to get a pair, but we still had a really great time. We have to start doing activities like this...it was one of the reasons we wanted to move to Colorado in the first place!

Bathroom Renovation

Seeing as I have a 3 day weekend, I told Tony I wanted to paint the guest bathroom, his response was to renovate the whole thing! It needed to be done anyways. The bathroom was carpeted (yuck!) and the vanity is just contractor grade, never been replaced. There wasn't anything wrong with it, we just wanted to update it (and definetly get rid of the carpet).
Tony never ceases to amaze me. The bathroom is really coming along, and he's doing it all himself. I have mostly just supervised today. And by supervised I mean that I have painted 3 different samples on the bathroom wall, did homework, and am now watching 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. :)
Here are the 3 samples I painted, although we have chosen to not go with any of them and instead go with Russian Blue. I'll put up pics once it's done!

The Biggest Crybaby

Yeah, that's the category I would definetly win since I'm sitting here bawling watching the Biggest Loser. Wow! I had no idea it was this emotional. I have never seen this show before. I just want it so bad for these people. I might just have to tune into this every week!
I really shouldn't be watching anything, as much homework as I need to get done....but I guess that's what commercials are for!

Welcome 2009

First of all I have to say congrats to our great friends Adam and Jen for the birth of their first son - Carter! I'm so excited for them and can't wait to see pics. Their 2009 is already off to an exciting start! That's the fifth baby year to date that friends have had....hmmm, much pressure?

2008 was a great year and one year ago at this time none of it was planned, just hoped for - We got to go to Italy with Robin and Jesse, we moved to Denver, bought a house, Tony got a job right away....things worked out really well for us. My folks came up on the 31st and helped us ring in the new year. We had so much fun! We ran around and got to eat at some new (to us) restaurants. We had such a nice time visiting. I'm hoping that Amy can come up sometime too (this time without having to work so much!)

Now I'm looking forward to 2009. Hopefully we will get settled into the house and our lives will seem less chaotic.
These are a few of my hopes for 2009 (and things I just want to get done)...not resolutions:
*To start cooking more, like I used to, experimenting and trying new things. I bought a new cook book the other day, so hopefully it will provide some inspiration.
*Get all the painting done in the house.
*Start going out again and finding fun new restaurants (I have to say this is one of things I miss the most (after our friends) about B-more. The food).
*Get at least most of the furniture picked out and bought so our guests don't have to stay on air mattresses or sit on the floor when there isn't enough room on the couch. (Sarah - this is where you come in!)
*Stay focused on school....(it's already starting - my first class starts tomorrow and I already have homework to do!)
*Get a better, more positive attitude towards work....and other things...but mostly just work. I have to remember that I can't be a reflection of those I work with, but have to be myself no matter the circumstance. I have to try not to get so down and depressed about mean people that suck. Wow - that already sounds more positive! Yikes! This is going to be hard....
*and of course the one thing everyone says they are going to do - start working out, again. I have a different motivation this year though...we want to start trying for a baby, and I really want to be at a good weight when that happens. If I could lose about 15 pounds, that would be ideal to me. That way it may not be as hard to lose the baby weight. I know I can do this. I'm good about excuses for exercises, but usually try to force myself to do something...but the eating part. Oh how I loathe diets!!! But I know that if I just cut out a few things I will be on the right track, like sodas and loading up my coffee with sugar. And candy during the day. And second helpings. But I am not, I tell you this now, going to cut back on the chips and salsa. Even if that meant never losing another pound, I won't let it go.


HAPPY NEW YEAR Friends! Many blessings to you for a wonderful 2009.

A Christmas to Remember

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas in Minnesota. The week went by too quickly, of course, but we are so grateful that we were able to go up there.
Our drive up was ok...until Des Moines. Tony and I traded driving just north of Des Moines, right when the freezing rain started coming down. It got bad pretty fast...there was a bad wreck on 35N, which stopped traffic for an hour. But while we were stopped I got to see one of the most wonderful displays of human kindness.




There were two cars in the ditch by where we stopped. I am supposing that both had hit their brakes when they saw the wreck and then slide off. But about 10 men got out of their cars and started digging and pushing the cars out of the ditch. It was wonderful to see all these people working together for strangers. I cried...surprise surprise. So it took us FOREVER to get from Iowa to St. Paul. Sliding the whole way...it was completely iced over and none of the exits had been plowed, so pulling off really wasn't an option. But we were lucky that the road from St. Paul to Duluth wasn't bad. Not great conditions, but the roads weren't iced over anymore.
So our week started off rough, but it was worth it. Getting to see Daniel and everybody was just what we needed. We hung out and the boys played Wii, we got to go up to the cabin, and we got to go snowshoeing. Our nephew Connor is a year and 1/2 and he was a crack up! He was so much fun....kids make the holidays so much more exciting.


Our drive back was weather free! So it only took us 16 hours, which was a relief. We were still exhausted, but it was so much better driving.
All in all, we had a wonderful white Christmas. I hope the same was true for everyone else!

Grumblings at the Post Office

So today is the busiest day of the year for the Post Office. I knew this, but I had to mail out some gifts, and I figured it was punishment to have to wait in line since I'm running so late this year. I accepted it. I sucked it up and went to the Post Office.
First of all when I got to the door I struggled to open it with my hands full of boxes, and some old broad at the door stood there and watched me...laughing....with only one package in her hand!!! Are you serious!!! Who does that? Who doesn't try to help someone out? Geezz....
So then some dude got in line behind me and stood about 3 inches away. I could FEEL him breathing down my neck...ewww!!! Then he grumbled the entire freakin' time!! I was getting more angry by the minute.....does he think he's the only one that doesn't enjoy waiting in line? The only one who doesn't have something better to be doing other than being at the post office? I was so frustrated.
and I hate that I let rude people with little lives take away a bit of my Holiday Freakin' Spirit!
Sorry for the angry post on days before Christmas, but I needed to vent.
I'd already had a frustrating day as our pipes had froze over night...we got them thawed and no bursts (THANK GOODNESS!), but it was nerve wracking. It was -11 when I left for work this morning and the high was 14. BURRRR!!