Little Lady

two months!

2012-01-24T13:03:00.001-06:00

Eek! In two short months from today, I'll be getting all gussied up for my wedding day! Time has flown by. Seriously. Flown.

As far as I know, I'm as ready as I can be for the wedding. I haven't really done anything wedding related (besides a tasting last weekend for our rehearsal dinner and a dress fitting tomorrow) in months.

(Back on the tasting, it was SO GOOD and we had so much food leftover!)

I've been busy planning a fundraiser, trying to find a new job, and getting my house ready to go on the market. When I say getting my house ready to go on the market, I mean that Lincoln fixed this problem over the weekend...

Since I haven't really talked about wedding plans too much on this blog, I thought you might want to see what's going on:

Here's our church:

Funny story about the church we're getting married at...neither of us go to this church. I always drive by it and thought it was beautiful.

When I was contacting churches (mine was too far away to get married at), they only allowed members and people considering joining their church. No exceptions.

For one reason or another I decided to look at the staff of the Church and recognized one of the ministers as someone that used to preach at my hometown church when I was very little. Oddly enough, he married my parents and one of my aunts and uncles! Because of that connection, we were able to have our wedding at the church AND he's marrying Lincoln and I! Small world, huh?

Here's our reception venue (it's so cute inside and they have the BEST food):

via

Our colors are green and pink. Mostly green. I think Lincoln would've killed me if our main color was pink! We're for the most part just using pink in my bouquet and in flowers at the church and the reception.

Here's what my bouquet is supposed to look like:

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The guys are getting different patterned green ties. Lincoln's is the exact one below and the boutonniere's will look similar to this:

via

Because Californo's has exposed brick walls and the room is pretty dark, I'm hoping to create a romantic feeling in the room by having some of the centerpieces look like this:

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Some of the other tables will just have vases of hydrangea's or peonies as a centerpiece.

We're also having a photo booth and a band that all of my friends have been snagging for their weddings, the Mikey Needleman Band. They're so fun!

Our cake is going to be pretty simple and is being made by one of my best friends who needs to have her own bakery. We used to live together and I probably gained a good 5 pounds because of all of the sweet stuff she would make. We're having 5 different flavors of cake, I'm most excited about the strawberry buttercream frosting though...

I decided that I only wanted my sister to stand up with me and Lincoln is having one of his best friends stand up with him during the ceremony.

I have so many friends and have been in or will be in most of their weddings, however, I just wanted to keep things simple and to have all of them come and enjoy the day and to not have to worry about helping me out and feeling like they needed to spend a bunch of money on dresses, shoes, and accessories.

After the big wedding day, we're hoping on a plane to Cancun for the week! I'm so excited!

Here's our resort!

oh gawd, i'm almost 30.

2012-01-06T09:01:00.000-06:00

So, today marks my half-way point to the big 3-0. In six short months, I'll be thirty years old. Yikes that sounds old.

The good news is that my favorite sports team of all time, and probably the best team in the whole entire world, Kansas State Univeristy, is playing in the Cotton Bowl tonight.

For some unknown reason, Lincoln and I decided to not make the trip to Dallas where all of our friends are at this weekend. (Maybe it had something to do with getting married in two months, remodeling a bathroom, and paying for a honeymoon, or something like that?)

And, for the handful of friends that are still in the state of Kansas, they either already have plans or were invited to a watch party that we weren't invited to (thanks mom and dad...yes, even my parents have plans).

So, Lincoln and I are having a watch party all by ourselves, and secretly I'm really excited about it. We're making these mouth watering sliders from the Pioneer Woman, fries, and drinking beers together.

I also made this seriously delicious oatmeal that I found on pinterest this morning for the girls at work. It was sooooogooooood. I probably could have eaten the entire pan. No joke.

Baked Oatmeal with Strawberries, Bananas and Chocolate

AND, as if that wasn't enough, the weather in Kansas has been in the sixties this week. That's not normal. It's January, folks. I'm not sure if you remember or not, but this is what it looked like last year.

Happy Friday!

the melting pot

2011-12-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

Lincoln's department did really well this past year so to reward them, his boss took his coworkers and their significant others to dinner at the Melting Pot on the Plaza.

It was goooooooooood. I think I'd be fine with just going back for the cheese course and the dessert course.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it all, but the cheese and the dessert were my favorite!

Umm...so Lincoln's boss and I did pretty well on finishing off the dessert...

After dinner we walked off our food coma around the plaza to take in the lights.

warrior dash champion!

2011-12-07T08:00:00.001-06:00

Ok, ok, maybe in my own head I was a champion...

But I finished at least! And I finished in under an hour.

Earlier this summer I participated the Warrior Dash in KC.

You might be thinking that finishing a 5K in under an hour is easy peasy, but try running with 5 lbs of mud caked to your feet, being soaking wet, and doing an obstacle course along with all of the running. No big deal, right?

I mean it was kind of a big deal.

There were really tall rope things we had to climb over, a really scary tall wall that we had to climb over, mud that we had to swim through, fire that we had to jump over, among all of the running (which I despise).

Luckily my gym, (PUNCH, if you couldn't tell from my muddy t-shirt and bright orange hat-we all wore similar outfits so that we could find each other!) got into the first wave of participants at 9am.

Otherwise, the race would have sucked.

It rained a little the morning before the event, so it was a little cooler in the morning, but the afternoon became quite steamy...also we were some of the first people to run the course and run throgh the mud...otherwise I think it would have been nearly impossible!

The weather this summer in Kansas and Missouri was unreal.

Because of the hot, hot days, sadly, this race proved to be deadly for three of the participants. Many more had to be taken to the hospital during the event as well.

While the event was fun, I think one time is good enough for me! It was tough! But if you know me, I don't really care to be muddy...and there was a lot of mud. And sweat. And port-a-potties that I had to change my clothes in. (SO SICK, BTW-I forgot to lock the door and someone walked in on me changing. Gah.)

ornament exchange!

2011-12-06T08:17:00.000-06:00

Annahita at Forever 88 recently hosted an ornament exchange.

I just have to admit that I am HORRIBLE at picking out cute ornaments for other people's trees. I mean your tree is personal, amiright? Hopefully I picked well for Anna at My Aiken Heart!

She picked out the cutest little penguin for my tree!

As it turns out, Anna and I are both getting married in March--she's a week before me! So we're both going through the last few months of planning together!

Sadly, this year, because I'm slowly packing up my house to move into Lincoln's house, I don't have a tree up :(. We have a tree at Lincoln's house, but that's about 2 hours away...so little penguin will have to wait a couple of weeks to make it's home on our tree.

wedding pictures

2011-12-05T18:19:00.003-06:00

No, not mine yet!

One of my good friends and co-workers, Ashley got married a few weeks ago. It was the first Jewish wedding that I helped with and that I'd been to and it was a treat!

I was a little said that Lincoln and I didn't take any pictures...however a few days later, Lincoln found some pictures that we took at the end of the night. Take a look:

We were...um, special to say the least.

Also, I attempted to make a new best friend on the dance floor. He was teaching me dance moves. Notice about half way in he pats me on the shoulder like" you poor, poor white girl, your dancing is terrible." Again...I should preface this video with the fact that I was special that night (I worked hard that day! And I drank too much wine...but who's asking)(also, I had NO idea Lincoln was videoing this from his phone...):

friendsgiving

2011-11-23T08:58:00.000-06:00

For the past, oh...nine or so years, my group of friends and I have hosted Friendsgiving before the actual Thanksgiving holiday.

This year was no different, however, we were missing some of our core group!

We go all out, someone (usually me) makes a turkey and everyone else brings all of the side dishes. We always have waaaaaaaaay too much food and for some dumb reason, we all go home with whatever we brought. You'd think we'd split up the leftovers so that someone doesn't go home with half of a pan of stuffing or a huge bowl of mashed potatoes...

Nope, we just put a lid on what we brought this year and left!

We started this tradition in college, mostly because we loved to eat and thought it would be fun to see what kind of food we'd end up with. One year in particular, the guys that lived across the street from us brought over approximately 20 lbs of mashed potatoes to share with a group of fifteen people. 20 lbs of mashed potatoes is A LOT of mashed potatoes.

Even after college, we've continued this tradition. While we all see each other throughout the year, friendsgiving is a time when we all get together to eat, drink wine, and relax for an evening. Usually we end up playing board games, this year, our beloved Wildcats were busy beating Texas so we had to tune in to the big football game!

I hosted the event this year and Lincoln and I made the turkey so I had a decent amount of turkey left from the weekend. With Thanksgiving being just a day away, I knew I had to get to work on the leftovers....

Lincoln carving the big bird!

Last night I reached out to my favorite lady, Ree Drummond over at The Pioneer Woman for some guidance.

She sent me an email earlier this week with a recipe for this turkey tetrazzini and it turned out to be fabulous. Seriously. I wanted to eat the entire pan.

via

She has some other tasty recipes on her blog for what to do with turkey leftovers and she shares pictures of every step along the way.

What do you do with all of your leftovers? Can you stand eating the Thanksgiving meal for more than just the day of Thanksgiving? Or do you have to change up how you get rid of all of the leftover food?

Hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

HEY YOU! do you live in the KC area?

2011-11-18T13:35:00.000-06:00

Oh, you do?

Then you should probably mosey on over to my other blog, Flights and Kites to check out the awesome event that I'm planning!

Do you love wine? Do you love food? If so, we're having both! And, the money we raise goes to a great cause.

Or, if you don't live in the KC area, we're happy to accept donations...just sayin' :).

Purchase your tickets here!

4 months

2011-11-08T15:29:00.000-06:00

In approximately four months, I'm going to be a married lady.

Crazy!

The first four months after we got engaged flew by, I can't imagine how quickly these last four months will go!

Because I'm getting married I have increased my workouts and have been harder on myself about getting to the gym every morning. I've been pretty good except for one day last week when it was raining....I got up and out of bed, turned on the news, let Laila out, changed my clothes, and then decided that it was probably in my best interest to get back into bed for an hour.

WTH?

I was up! My clothes were changed! That's half of the battle at getting up at 4:45 am!

Anyway, since the weather is changing and it's getting colder I'm sure it's going to be even more of a challenge to get up and out of bed every morning, but I'm committed to doing it.

Now if only I could avoid tempting foods like french fries and pizza on occasion. For the most part I eat well, but some days it's a challenge for me. Pizza and chinese food call my name when it's so darn cold outside...

Also, we had a vendor in at work today and he brought in this 20 pound bag of candy:

He also took us out for lunch to Jack Stack barbecue and in addition to ordering our meals tried to make us order appetizers and desserts! Some of my coworkers got some dessert to go, look at this carrot cake!

I resisted the dessert but I had to bust into the bag of gummy bears...this has to be THE worst time of year to try to be careful about eating well and working out...I really enjoy Thanksgiving and holiday baking and all of the crap that gets brought in from vendors at this time of year. Ugh.

engagement pictures

2011-10-31T19:58:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago Lincoln and I had our engagement pictures taken by the lovely and talented Amanda Eaton. I loved her use of natural light and found her originally on another blog that I follow, Lemon and Lavender.

After our initial meeting I knew that we'd hit it off because we shared a love of pretty paper, folders and pinterest. :)

After the first few awkward photos, Lincoln and I started to get the hang of things and we had quite a few (207 to be exact) pictures to choose from! Here are a few of our faves:

ch-ch-ch changes.

2011-10-26T12:50:00.001-05:00

I think that's a song right? Who knows...I try to make everything a song.

I've been seriously slacking on blogging lately. People have asked if something was wrong with their browser...that maybe things weren't updating like they should or something. Nope...it's just me...not writing over here.

I'd like to partially blame Lincoln for my writing hiatus. You see, before I met him, I had all of these awful dating stories to write about or weird random things happening to me when I'd go out in public places, but since we've been together, I obviously don't have the awful dating stories, and my weird things happening in public seems to be on the decline as well. Sure, there are still weird/funny things that happen that I should probably be writing about, but I've had a few other things on the 'ol brain lately.

For example:

OUR WEDDING. Heller, it's five months from Monday. Luckily it's pretty much done, we're just playing the waiting game now until probably a few weeks before the wedding. I should write a post about all of our fun wedding stuff, huh?
Flights and Kites; I'm planning a fundraiser in February, one month almost to the date, before our wedding. Things haven't quite gone as planned with this event... First, we booked a venue only to have the venue go out of business a few months after booking it. Along with the business going out, we lost our deposit. [WE'RE A NON-PROFIT! We don't have money to lose!!] OY. So because the space was booked far enough in advance we were able to look at other options. Everything is so expensive though. We got a steal with our original space....damn. Also, because we had to find a new space, we've had to deal with a lot of insurance issues, rental drama, and now we're trying to figure out how to decorate our new space. It will all work out, but it has been a little stressful lately!
I'm moving. There's the big one that's been causing me some anxiety lately! Not because I'm not excited to move, but because with moving, that meant that I had to tell my current employer that I was moving and that I'll eventually have to put my house on the market....
I'm doing some updates to my house. Nothing major. Luckily my house is cute :). I just needed to replace the nasty linoleum in my bathrooms. Ew. I'll take some before and afters, don't you worry!
We're doing some updates to Lincoln's house. Lincoln's house is very cute. It's also on the older side. He replaced the orange carpeting in his house prior to me coming into the picture (THANK GOD), but his bathroom is a little (and by a little, I mean a lot) outdated. So, at the beginning of next year, we're doing a complete remodel in the bathroom. If anyone tries to tell you that bathroom updates are cheap, they're lying.

My nephew. Duh, he's new and cute and cuddly and I just want to hang out with him and stuff. And also, he's growing like a weed!

All of my friends are either getting married or are knocked up. It's true. It's that time of year when everyone and their dog decided to either get hitched or to have a baby! Next year is going to be VERY busy. In the last month or so, I've had 4 friends get engaged!

So, that's about it from me!

fritos.

2011-10-18T11:03:00.000-05:00

My dad has had a strange obsession with fritos lately. Yes, fritos, like the corn chip thingys.

He also has taken a liking to posting "recipes" on twitter and facebook.

Here are some of his recent posts:

"Here's a ham sandwich idea for a little variety. Get a small bag of frito's and put on top of the sandwich. Like a soft taco with a hard shell"

"I've had requests for more quick sandwiches. Soft tortilla shell, 2 slices smoked turkey, 1 slice pepperjack cheese, 2 oz salsa, add fritos, wrap, enjoy"

(*Don't you like how specific he is with the 2oz of salsa...he later found out that 2oz was probably a little too much)

I suggested that he should send some of these delicious recipes to Frito lay or at the very least start a collection of the recipes to showcase different ways to eat fritos.

Currently, he's brainstorming a dessert with fritos...something resembling fried ice cream.

Sadly, me posting this blog post will probably just encourage him to come up with new ideas. Oddly enough, he "says" he hasn't tried any of his creations...I don't know if I believe him.

Because it's harvest season, my dad has some spare time to commit to creating these new recipes in between hauling loads of corn and soybeans to the bins. He also has time to take pictures of himself to post onto twitter and facebook.

This was taken when he was unloading a truck. Yes, he has on sunglasses and goggles. It's to keep dust an stuff out of his eyes, duh.

Isn't he a gem...

i just kept running.

2011-09-28T15:36:00.000-05:00

So last night I was out for a run and as I was running past this house that I normally run by, this girl yells out to me:

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

I looked around to see if she might have been talking to someone else, but no. No one else around.

My only conclusions are that:

A) She thought I looked like someone else.

B) She saw me talking to their dog that is always tied to a tree.

or, most likely this one

C) She saw me running and could tell by the way that I run that I am NOT a runner.

via

my old job

2011-09-19T16:09:00.000-05:00

So I haven't much talked about my old job.

The one that I hated and the one that made me cry most days.

I hated that place. Hated. I don't use the word "hate" very often, but this place deserves it.

Luckily my current job is great and the people that I work with are awesome, especially compared to most of the nutjobs at my last place of employment.

Recently, this random guy found out about my previous employment at my last job on Linked In and was considering taking a position with the company. He wanted my take on the place.

I was brutally honest with him and told him that it was quite possibly the worst place that I had ever worked at and to not take the job. I told him that I didn't think there was an amount of money worth it to move to Kansas from California to make this place worth the move. Not only were (most of) the people I worked straight up crazy, but my boss was the most rediculous man I have ever encountered. (he didn't take the job, btw)

The old boss, we'll call him Doug, for kicks (oh wait, that's his real name...), would always be on the phone, most commonly screaming at the person on the other end. He would also take the person on the phone on field trips to the bathroom while on the phone.

As luck would have it my desk was within earshot of the bathroom. So not only would I get to hear Doug moaning while taking a poo, but I could also get caught up on the latest happenings of the business because of his habit of talking on the phone while in the shitter.

Even though Doug is in his late 50's I would guess...he would attempt to dress like a 20-something, most likely to pick up the ladies' in the 20-something age range. Because, ya know, girls that age want to date someone who could be their dad, right? (And for some reason they actually did date him...he would give them an expensive car to drive and take them shopping often, but who's asking?)

Tight button-up shirts that showed off his nipples were common along with expensive denim and these pointy-elf like shoes that made his feet look ginormous. Because the shirts were often a smudge too tight, he would often pop open a button thus exposing his belly button. Such a treat.

Doug would also come back from lunch, sit in my office and pick his teeth or his fingernails with my scissors or a post-it note that he'd find on my desk.

For Christmas one year I gave him a manicure set and some dental floss and he didn't understand why.

I should have known from my very first interview that this place was going to be a train-wreck waiting to happen.

First of all the "HR" manager was wearing skin tight denim jump suit with Louis Vuitton logos all over it. Now, I'm not sure, but I don't think that was an original Louis Vuitton garment...

Second of all, while in my interview Doug was asking about how I handled working with different people. I, of course said that working with different people was no problem for me. To which he replied: "Good. Because you'll be working with Grace and she's a F-ING B*TCH."

Tell me, why didn't I just get up and leave right then?

Instead, I stuck it out for a little over a year at that place.

The few of us that did get along made the place as fun as we could and came up with a lot of stories and activities to keep us busy.

...And, a lot of Family Fued on the internets.

Or we'd take an extra long lunch break downtown during March Madness to watch Basketball games.

Now, it may sound like we were a bunch of slackers, but we rarely could take lunch breaks away from our desks, let alone together, just in case the whole world were falling apart, and we needed to be by the phone. We also worked longer hours, so our slacking off evened itself out.

Would I do this stuff in a normal work-setting? Hell no. But this was not a normal work setting.

One of my old coworkers somehow managed to stick it out at this place longer than most of us...so she would send me stories occasionally, just to keep me entertained, here are a couple:

I just walked into Doug’s office, and he turns around and looks at me, with an enormous wad of toilet paper band-aided onto his face. He stepped out, presumably to use the toilet, and I asked Shaun what happened, to which he replied: He said that he was driving to work, and his face just started bleeding. Riggghhhtt…I have a horrible time w my spontaneous face hemorrhaging as well. Can totally relate.

Johanna. OH Johanna. I cannot put my bagel in the toaster in the morning, or my lean cuisine in the microwave at lunch, without her 6 course Julia Childs meal spread out all over kingdom come. This morning, she was busy splaying out a collection of jelly, butter and cream cheese for her English muffin, as well as a collection of juices, a 6 pack of eggs…I was like, what the sh*t? Eat at home. It’s so obnoxious. Lunch, she has an effing double-decker sandwich obviously planned, as she busts out enough sandwich material on the table to rival Subway. I want to get into the silverware drawer, but there she stands, blocking it while she struggles with removing the lid to her rootbeer bottle. Drink coke, out of a can, like the rest of America.

Doug just sent me an email, asking me to “find a typewriter, and type it up.” Find a typewriter? What is this, 1915?

Oh, how I miss that place for the good stories...

meet the cutest little dude ever

2011-09-16T08:38:00.000-05:00

I became an aunt for the first time late Tuesday night!

My sister (and her husband) went into labor almost two weeks early.

Meet Mason Wade!

He was born at 1050pm on September 13th weighing in at a whopping

6 lbs 14oz and was 19 1/2" long

My poor sister had to push for around 4 hours :(. The little stinker didn't want to make an appearance quite yet I guess!

He is the cutest baby ever. I swear. No bias here!

oh, hello

2011-08-22T11:50:00.000-05:00

I'm here!

I've just been neglecting this blog lately....

I've been busy planning my wedding, planning another event, and trying to keep my crazy dog out of trouble.

Just so you don't feel like you're completely out of the loop, here's what's been going on:

My sister is having a baby in a month; he will be my first nephew!
My dog turned two last week and I swear to God she's going through the terrible two's. I think she's had more accidents and has been crazier than ever this past weekend.
I pretty much planned our entire wedding in just over 1 week.
I ran into a rolling rack of clothes at work over a week ago and came away with a nasty bruise (that's still here) and a knot on my ankle the size of a ping-pong ball.
My dad has twitter and this weekend he figured out how to tweet from his iphone. It's been interesting....and he doesn't quite have all of the kinks worked out.
In addition to planning my wedding, I'm planning a big fundraiser exactly one month before my wedding. I have a feeling I'll be drinking a lot during those two months.
I really suck at words with friends, but I keep playing even though I always lose. :( (hint, hint, friends, you could let me win every once in awhile)
I am so excited for football season and cooler weather (and to be done mowing my yard for the year even though Lincoln has done it the last two times...)
I have gone to sooo many concerts this summer, one was outside on a very hot day and I'm fairly certain that I could've rung sweat out of my dress.
That's it. I'll hopefully post more soon! :)

the rest of the story...

2011-08-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

So Kristin has given you the story of how the proposal went down. But, as with most chronicles, there’s a little more to it. Here’s the rest of the story…

The ring search began with a trip to KC during the work week. I wanted to start looking at different options; plus, it gave me a good excuse to go down and see my boo; but I couldn’t let her know my intentions...so like any good boyfriend would do, I had to lie.

I told Kristin my dad bought a gift in Overland Park for my mom’s birthday and it needed to be picked up. She bought my story because my mom’s birthday was actually coming up the next week, so it worked out pretty well. But as Kristin continued to question me about where I was going and what I was picking up, the fibs grew larger and larger.

The “gift” was some nice kind of coffee maker. Kristin thought it sounded pretty cool so she almost asked to check it out. Luckily I was able to change the subject and let the topic die. The first bullet was dodged.

After visiting another store a week later, I was pretty sure I had found the “one.” The following Friday I was heading to KC, so I took off from work an hour earlier than I had told her so I could get the deal done. I got everything completed and now it was just a matter of picking up the ring.

In the meantime, I almost screwed up my entire plan.

That Sunday, we went to church and decided to grab some Salty Iguana afterwards (their menus smell terrible, btw). On the drive, we started talking about something that reminded me of a conversation I had had at the jewelry store. But, at the time, I didn’t remember the location of my story.

So as I started to tell Kristin, I was like “oh, I remember now.” And then my trusty light bulb came on and I quickly realized I should shut up.

Oops!

I had gone too far with my story and basically had to tell her not to worry about what I had just said.

I could tell she was completely confused by what was occurring so later on I told her that all I could say was that she’d find out soon enough and it was a good thing. Another crisis averted.

Before Kristin and I took off for Omaha for the weekend, I had one small thing left to do: ask her dad for permission.

I called her dad and asked him out to lunch, and luckily he was free. We talked for awhile, ate and we were about to head out when I mentioned that I had one more thing I needed to talk to him about...

Her dad responded with "well, just blurt it out already", so I did and thankfully he gave me permission to ask Kristin to marry me.

The day that Kristin and I were heading to Omaha for our little getaway, I asked my dad to run down to Joslin’s Jewelry (this is Kristin-best store ever, for real) to pick it up. He got the ring to me later in the day; just in time for our trek north.

Kristin’s already taken care of all the girly details so I won’t bore you with those J All I know is she said yes and the wedding planning is in full force!

the proposal

2011-07-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

Well...and the rest of our weekend too...

Last weekend Lincoln and I took a trip to Omaha to see one of my FAVORITE singers right now, Jason Aldean. I have a weird crush on him, but I think it's more because of his voice than his looks...but who knows, really.

Because the concert was on Friday, we decided to make a long weekend of it and went up Thursday night and came home on Sunday.

On our way to the concert on Friday, we stopped off at a bar to grab a few drinks before finishing our walk down to the stadium (which was outside, and if you haven't heard it feels like a balmy 110* on average in the Midwest on most days).

Once we finished up at the bar we walked outside to a cowboy on a pedi-cab blaring Jason Aldean tunes, so of course I had to hitch a ride with this guy. He was an interesting fella...

See that chain around his neck? That was the brake. And he also had a whip that he insisted we use.

To say we got a few stares on the ride down is an understatement!

Once inside the stadium, we found our seats and I got my camera ready to take a few close-ups of Mr. Aldean.

My feet were about to fall off after standing for the entire concert and walking all the way home so we grabbed a drink at a bar that had a fun band playing after the concert. I really wanted to find Jason Aldean's tour bus but someone wouldn't let me.

Saturday morning we decided to venture out to the Henry Doorly Zoo, mainly to see an I-max screening of Tornado alley, but since it didn't feel that hot out when we entered the zoo, I figured that we better see all of the animals since we were there, duh.

The penguins were my favorite, but these guys were pretty funny and cute too.

After hitting the zoo and becoming drenched in sweat, we got ready for a nice dinner at 801 Chop House.

If you're a meat eater, this is the place to go! The steaks were cooked to perfection and we were stuffed.

After dinner we walked downtown through a park and found a bench to sit on (that wasn't covered in bird poop).

The bench was a little uncomfortable and Lincoln was acting a little different...not in a bad way, I think his mind was just a little pre-occupied with other things at that moment. :)

I kept hearing things drop behind me, which of course I assumed was bird poop and I was convinced we were about to get pooped on. So after awhile, we got up to leave and find a new place to grab a drink at.

When we were almost out of the park, Lincoln stopped and gave me a huge hug and then started saying some nice things and I think all I could say at that point was "oh my God"...repeatedly...because I knew what was happening!! I'm pretty sure I was also shaking at that point too!

Once he asked, he pulled the beauty of a ring out of his pocket and put it on my finger.

Here we are right after!

I couldn't get over that he kept the ring in his pocket all night and I wasn't aware! I was surprised to say the least!

While we had been talking about getting engaged for awhile now, I wasn't sure exactly when he would ask.

Hearing all of the stories about him ring shopping without me knowing it and him asking my dad made me laugh a lot (maybe I can convince him to share those later with you guys...hint, hint Lincoln).

The wedding planning has officially begun and we're planning March wedding! Eek!

he put a ring on it!

2011-07-25T10:13:00.000-05:00

Check out my new bling!!!

(good thing my nails were painted this weekend, huh?!)

More details later, but I'm engaged!!

i am not catholic

2011-07-13T16:43:00.000-05:00

It's true. I'm not. I never will be either, I'm afraid.

I grew up Methodist and while I appreciate all religions, I secretly am kind of glad that I'm not Catholic...I get so confused attending Catholic weddings--especially the ones with full mass...I never know when to sit, stand, kneel, sing, let alone pray!

My friend Colleen got married this weekend and I pulled double duty: coordinating the wedding and lighting the candles at the front of the church prior to the ceremony.

My other friend Jess (who also happens to be Methodist) and I were candle-lighters and we were told before walking down the aisle during the rehearsal to bow before we went up to light the candles. We did that and we rocked it.

We, however, weren't told that we needed to bow after lighting the candles too, so as we were walking down the stairs and getting ready to head back down the aisle, all of our Catholic friends scolded us for not bowing.

So, what do we do? We bow.

To the crowd. FAIL.

We should have bowed towards the alter again as we did before lighting the candles.

This little mishap was of course, the joke of the weekend and everyone warned us before lighting the candles at the wedding to bow towards the alter...oopsie!

While this wasn't my first Catholic wedding and I'm sure it won't be my last, I realized a lot during this ceremony for some reason:

In addition to the bowing rule, there were so many times that I wasn't sure if I should be sitting, standing, or kneeling.
They like to sing prayers
If I had to kneel in a wedding dress for an hour, I would cry
Kids probably don't enjoy Catholic weddings

Speaking of kids not enjoying Catholic weddings, my good friend, Monica encountered this first-hand at last weekends wedding.

During communion at a wedding, typically the Priest asks that only Catholics participate in the actual receiving of bread and wine...this little tidbit was left out and while most non-Catholics didn't participate, there just happened to be a few (one being a child) who decided that their first communion should take place at this wedding.

Bad idea.

Especially in a church full of devout Catholics, most of whom attended Catholic school.

My dear friend Monica could tell from the get-go that the family walking in front of her had no idea what they were doing.

The little one (maybe about 2) even partook in communion.

He, however, did not eat the host upon receiving it and instead dropped it on the ground a few times, waved it in the air, and did all things possible not to eat it.

Seeing this happening, Monica approached the mom and explained the importance of the bread and asked a few times that the boy eat it immediately. Monica explained to the mother that if he didn't eat it that she would have to take it away from him.

He didn't eat it.

Monica is mean.

OK, ok, not really...she was just doing her duty as a faithful Catholic; the bread is viewed as Jesus' body and the wine as his blood. The bread and wine should be consumed and treated as just that...not dropped all over the floor and waved in the air.

Prior to Monica stealing the kids bread, the mom told her that if she did take it away that he would cry. Which he did (but most likely because the mom said he would...duh).

We all saw a little commotion going on as this was happening sitting at the back of the church but we weren't prepared for the onslaught that took place afterwards by like every. single. family member of this kid!

DURING THE CEREMONY(!) the grandma of the little boy came up to Monica and asked that she go out and apologize to the child and his mother. Which she did.

After attempting to apologize, the mom told Mon that she would make a horrible mother, and that she ruined the wedding for their family.

The mother in law came back and later apologized for making her do that during the ceremony...but still: NOT COOL, GRANDMA, NOT COOL.

At the reception, the child's dad, who was also a groomsman, again attacked Monica and explained to her that they weren't aware that they weren't supposed to take communion and blah, blah, blah.

Lesson: if you aren't sure...don't do it, duh.

After everyone was able to give their two-cents to Monica regarding her communion decision, we were all able to enjoy the reception.

Colleen (the bride) ended up finding out what happened and called Monica to let her know that she would have reacted the same way--by removing the host from the little boy and apologized for the way the groomsman's family reacted (apparently the wife is a drama-queen anyway...so it wasn't surprising that all of this went on).

Moral of the story: if in doubt, sit it out (at Catholic weddings, that is....)

happy birthday

2011-07-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

...to me! Can you believe it?! I'm finally legal.

Ok, so maybe I was legal like 8 years ago...

Apparently my work friends think I'm 40:

For every birthday at work, we get tons of leftover decorations put up all over our desks. It's very pretty. Also, my desk is a mess, so please excuse that.

My cute boyfriend got me a dozen of these lovelies:

And, I've been celebrating by eating all of my favorite foods this week, last night was sushi with the girls at the best sushi place in town, Jun's; lunch today was at my all-time favorite place, La Bodega, and tonight is Italian at Brio with Lincoln. (someone is going to have to roll me from place to place...)

Basically, I started celebrating last Friday and as luck would have it one of my besties is getting married this weekend so the partying isn't going to stop any time soon. We have manis/pedis tomorrow, a luncheon, pool time, and rehearsal dinner tomorrow, and the big day on Saturday!

damn you, auto correct

2011-07-05T13:11:00.000-05:00

I know you all have heard of the website, Damn You Auto Correct, if not you have to go there. Like now.

Anyway, the other night, I had my very own damn you auto correct moment when I was telling Lincoln goodnight (don't you worry I submitted the below to the website).

You see, he was coming to see me the next day and I meant to tell him, "Can't wait to see you tomorrow" instead it came out like this:

GONADS?! Where the hell did that come from!? I've never typed that in my life!

I seriously had no idea that I'd mistyped something in my text so when he said gonads back to me, I was so confused and could not stop laughing to save my life.

You can imagine my surprise when I finally looked at my original text and realized that I was the one who said gonads first...oy. Stupid Auto Correct.

the lake

2011-06-29T13:03:00.001-05:00

For the past two summers, my family has ventured to my aunt and uncle's lake home on the Lake of the Ozarks. The trips continue to get more interesting as more and more kids are added to the group! This year was no different!

Here's most of the fam in front of my aunt and uncles house.

Oh, yes, you're seeing that right...we get matching t-shirts, courtesy of my good friends at Sportswear Graphics in Ft. Worth, TX!

We spent plenty of time on the boat and in the water.

Some of the kiddos even jumped off of the cliffs. I was too scared to.

My dad even got in some good nap time on the back of the boat

We ate really well and constantly

And we took a lot of family photos! (Check out my sister's baby bump!)

OK, you can't see it that well with the big t-shirt on so I threw in another one for good measure:

All in all it was a great weekend, thanks Kenny and Mary for hosting again!

i feel like a fatty

2011-06-23T08:12:00.000-05:00

That sounds weird now that it's up there in the subject line...oh well, I'm leaving it.

But it's true.

And I know I'm not the only one.

Maybe it's just because it's swim-suit weather...

Regardless, I feel like a heiffer lately. I haven't been eating that terribly, and I've been working out a decent amount (nothing like I was used to...) but still, enough.

via

I'm blaming this fat stage on my approaching birthday and the fact that I'm getting closer and closer to the big 3-0.

Apparently, as this article suggests, it's all downhill after 30. Your metabolic rate (the number of calories we burn a day) plummets 1% each year after we hit 30. Crap.

stoney

2011-06-21T07:58:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, Lincoln, some friends, and I went to a Stoney Larue concert in KC. We all had a good time and I developed a slight obsession with the lead singer (and I have no idea why...but I came home with no less than 40 pictures of him/the band/the backs of peoples heads/our friends) and Lincoln and I took some really awesome pictures of ourselves. Have a look:

Oh look, here he is again:

Friends:

Pretty:

Awesome:

chicago

2011-06-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

Over Memorial Day weekend I took a trip to visit some of my life-long buddies in Chicago. I've known these girls since we were in diapers...that's a long time ago. Like almost 29 years.

We had big plans to do things outside like going to a Cubs game, shopping on Michigan Avenue, or just walking around different festivals going on, but the weather had other plans for us. So what's there to do when the weather sucks? Day (and night)-drink of course.

9AM: We started out the day with a delicious breakfast and mimosa's of course.

11AM: Head out to Wrigley field for some beers and baseball. While I had had plenty to drink, my good friend Jill decided to spill a glass of water all over me in the process of leaving...I loved having wet pants all afternoon.

5PM: Share a romantic bottle of wine with Jill. Complete with the most delicious artichoke in the world.

6PM: Eat some of the most delicious sushi in the world compliments of this guy:

And also, get cut off by one of your BFF's for apparently having too much to drink...we all know who really had too much (and it wasn't me).

(But it may be the one on the right)

1AM: Devour pizza. Devour may be the wrong word. I could only eat like 1/4 of this beast.

Oddly enough, I can't handle the alcohol like I used to be able to...and drinking all day like we did, did not fare well for Sunday afternoon. Luckily, the weather was bad again, so naps and hangover food were in order!

Thanks for a fun weekend, ladies'!

the facebook

2011-06-08T12:55:00.001-05:00

Do you ever notice that people screaming for attention post stupid comments on Facebook? Or maybe I'm the only one with crazy "friends"?

"Happy one month anniversary baby!"

--Really? One month? Probably not necessary coming from a 15 year old. And while we're at it, neither is saying I love you after one month. One more thing, I know for a fact that this 15 year old's parents are her friends on Facebook, and maybe her parents don't get on FB that often, but a little monitoring is a good thing...don't ya think? If this were me at 15 and my parents saw half the stuff that this girl puts up on FB I would be grounded for life...

"Dreams are illustrations...from the book your soul is

writing about you."

--I'm all for inspirational quotes or song lyrics but is it necessary to post them every day or multiple times throughout the day? Answer: no. Also, this one is weird.

"I have a really big heart and have always treated others great even when they were mean to me. When do i get my break?"

AND

"I just want it all to be over"

--The infamous sob story....we all have these people who relentlessly post feel bad for me statuses. I get it, you've had your heart broken; you hate your job...chances are your problems are not going to be solved via facebook. Just sayin'.

"Hvn a grt wknd! Dnt wnt 2 go bck 2 wrk !"

--Is it necessary or easier to leave the vowels out? I don't get it...to me, it takes more work to figure out how to type something incorrectly than to just spell it out the right way...I am a spelling bee champ though (and by that I mean that I went to the spelling bee a few times back in the day. I didn't win or anything though...waaa waaaaa)

"Read my blog, dammit."

--Oh, wait. That's mine. I'm sure I've offended some people on facebook or have annoyed them with all of the posts that I've put up regarding my blog, but do I care? Maybe...ok, no I don't.

Also as a side note, my dad has truly embraced social media. Not only is he on facebook, but lately he's been updating.

He also does the twitter.

Typically his tweets are work-related, but last week he posted to facebook a delightful story about how he accidentally tried on my mom's pants and thought they looked good, even though they were a little snug. Oh, dad...you are a special one.

ugh.

2011-06-02T12:55:00.002-05:00

What is UP with blogger lately!?

I try to post comments on all of your blogs, but it won't let me. I'm getting super annoyed.

That is all.

it's very tornado-y here lately

2011-05-25T17:50:00.000-05:00

Oh, hi everyone. Sorry I've been a little MIA this week, I've been a busy bee...and trying to avoid tornadoes and stuff.

So, Kansas weather is crazy, y'all.

I'm sure if any of you have been watching the news lately that you've seen/heard about the tornadoes in Joplin, MO. A tornado that pretty much wiped out the entire city. Joplin is only a little over two hours from Kansas City.

Hundreds are still missing and just over 120 have been confirmed dead.

The images on the news look like something that should be in a movie and not in real life.

via

Today at work, we had to take cover in the basement/storm shelter because funnel clouds were spotted just blocks away from the corporate offices that I work in.

It's one thing to be stuck at home in a tornado warning...but it's another being stuck in a basement with 300+ people and having no idea what's going on outside.

While I know that it's going to take quite a bit of time for Joplin to recover from this crazy storm, every little bit counts.

At work we've gone through our apparel closets and are donating a bunch of clothes, as well as hosting donation drives for both money and other supplies needed.

If you'd like to make a much needed donation, please go here.

running club

2011-05-18T15:01:00.000-05:00

So remember when I told you awhile back that I was joining a running club?

Well friends, it has started. And guess what? I don't hate it.

I kind of like it, actually.

We meet every Tuesday at 6:30 and as luck would have it, the weather lately at 6:30 on Tuesday nights has been ideal for running outside.

Our first meeting was a little challenging for me...probably because I had boxed that morning and then had talked myself out of enjoying the 2 mile run that we were about to go on.

Our next gathering was focused on hills--which I was dreading in the beginning, but ended up enjoying after it was all said and done.

And last night we worked on pacing ourselves for the 5K that we're "training" for.

(Let me just put it out there that I could run a 5K with out training. I'm that good. :) I joined this running club so that I will actually enjoy running more. That, and it's fun to run with the same group of people every week!)

We ended up running just over 5 miles last night and you could say that I almost enjoyed it.

It was beautiful outside. I had some good tunes in my ears. And my knees weren't hurting too terribly bad (they make weird sounds sometimes...).

This morning, however, was a different story. I woke up to take Laila outside before I officially woke up to go to the gym, and I was a little hurty all over.

The stairs took a little longer than normal to go down and my muscles decided that they needed a break.

I had planned on going to lift weights this morning, but it just wasn't in the cards.

I decided that skipping the gym was allowable this morning because I worked out twice yesterday. I felt better about skipping when I saw this article online this morning:

5 Reasons to Skip your workout.

So, readers, do you ever feel guilty for skipping a workout?

jewelry swap (a little late...)

2011-05-11T16:30:00.000-05:00

I am sososososooo far behind. I apologize!

A month or two ago I participated in a jewelry swap hosted by Jessica at Creative Index.

A few weeks later, I received a lovely package in the mail from Leigh at VeryLoveLeigh. Take a look at what I got:

So fun! Thanks Leigh!!

She also has an Etsy store that is too cute! Thanks Leigh for the goodies!!

mutha's day

2011-05-10T10:39:00.000-05:00

I know I'm a tiny bit late, but I still had to tell y'all about mutha's day with my mutha (she likes it when I call her that).

Friday afternoon we did some shopping and my mom cleaned up! She's still making a few purchases here and there for their new house, so since she needed some help spending money, I was right there to lend her a hand.

That evening we went to the Royals game. They unfortunately lost...but it was buck night! AND Fireworks Friday! Which means that all pop, hot dogs, and peanuts are only $1! Too bad I don't eat hot dogs (ever) or drink pop that often...

Saturday morning we went to one of my favorite breakfast places, Eggtc. They have these delicious crepes (Crepe Dolce) with strawberries and mangoes that I sometimes dream about.

After a delightful breakfast, my mom, sister, and I headed downtown to the Farmer's Market.

Once again, my mom went to town and bought a car load of plants and flowers. My sister and I think my mom needs to work at a farmer's market (or somewhere like it), she knows her stuff!

Also, my sis and I got these beautiful flowers:

(mind you we had to stand in line forever because this place is so popular, but it gave mom time to look around)

We did a little more walking around after we had lunch at Blue Grotto so that my sister could find a baby book for her new little boy!

Yep, I'm going to be an aunt!! I can't wait!

happy cinco de mayo!

2011-05-05T10:23:00.001-05:00

Have I told ya'll how much I LOVE Mexican food?

I do.

I used to hate it.

Can you even believe that?!

I used to make my parents take me through McDonald's for a Happy Meal when they would go out for Mexican food. That, or I would only eat tortilla's.

Today though, I'm happy to admit that I have overcome my dislike of Mexican food and now will proudly eat it every day of the week if possible.

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I decided that we should have a Mexican themed food day at work.

Margarita? Yes please. And it's only 10 AM.

Not to worry, I'm not drinking at work, but these taste like the real thing! Check out the recipe from this book (that a coworker passed along):

Kosher salt

12 oz frozen limeade

6 oz orange juice

10 oz water

2 oz peach juice (or izze)

8 oz ginger ale

1 cup ice

6 lime wedges

Mix all of the above together (except for the lime wedges) and blend until smooth, or serve on the rocks. Garnish with salt and lime wedges.

I made a delicious batch of corn and black bean salsa. Want to make your own?

Ok!

Follow this recipe:

2 cans of black beans rinsed

1 can of corn rinsed

3 large tomatoes chopped

1/2 of a red onion chopped

1 lime (juice)

2 avocados chunked

1 jalapeno chopped

1 handful of cilantro (or around 1/2 cup)

Garlic salt

Throw all of this into a bowl and serve with corn chips. Ole!

it's that time of year again

2011-05-04T12:47:00.000-05:00

It seems that every spring I tend to do a little house project.

This spring was no different as I decided that it was time to replace my nasty kitchen floors.

The linoleum wasn't awful looking...unless you got up close and saw that sections were separating from the floor. I threw down area rugs to cover up the really bad spots!

And, here's the new stuff! It's very shiny. And pretty.

I also had my contractor remove some carpet in my dining room so that the wood floors were carried out just beyond my kitchen.

It's very nice if I do say so myself.

smoothie time

2011-04-28T08:01:00.000-05:00

Since the weather is still undecided on if it's going to be spring or not, I decided that regardless of what it was like outside, it was still time to bust out my blender and frozen fruit to whip up some smoothies for after my workouts. (I usually only have these when it's warm outside, you see)

These smoothies are seriously my favorite and they taste like candy AND, they're good for you. Double bonus.

Sometimes it's hard for me to eat all of the fruit I buy before it starts going bad, so instead of tossing it out, I cut it up and stick it in the freezer so that I can make fruit smoothies with them later on.

Last night I whipped up a batch that had frozen strawberries, blackberries, pineapple, and banana's in it. I also add a little OJ and a carton of non-fat yogurt. They're soooooo gooooood.

I would give you a more accurate recipe but I don't have one. Just toss some stuff in the blender, hit pulse a few times and you're good to go.

I store mine in the fridge for a few days or you can put them in the freezer so that they last a little longer. I usually finish the pitcher in no time, so I don't have a problem with these things going bad!

You could also add a little protein powder to yours too to help your muscles and stuff. I have some but sometimes I think it tastes gross. You be the judge.

like a rhinestone cowboy...

2011-04-27T07:44:00.000-05:00

This is my dad.

Those are his guns.

Have I mentioned before that he's weird?

Apparently, as the story goes, he got home from running one night, threw back on his work clothes (haphazardly-if you care to notice), and made my mom take a picture of him with all of his guns.

Let me just point out that my dad does not hunt. He's a collecter of sorts. So, I mean, why not take a picture with all of your guns?

It makes perfect sense.

icy hot

2011-04-26T12:45:00.000-05:00

Over Easter break my dad had a very stiff neck. So much so that instead of at least attempting to turn his neck to look in a general direction he would just shift his entire body to see what was going on.

It was quite entertaining trying to watch him maneuver his body to look in a different direction.

After attempting many times to try to get him to stretch and begging him to visit a chiropractor he blatantly refused and muttered something about how a chiropractor wouldn't be able to help.

Somehow or another, though, he was still able to run....strange how those neck pains just disappear, eh?

After everyone had pretty much left after lunch on Sunday, a few of us, including my aunt and uncle, my mom, and my boyfriend were discussing his neck pain. My aunt suggested that he try out some icy hot to help alleviate the pain in his neck.

My dad quickly chimes in with:

"You have to watch that icy hot stuff! I've tried it before. It burns; and it stays on your hands forever! You know what I mean...I thought I got it off before but it can burn in places and it stays like that for a long time!"

via

Oh wow...not exactly the way I saw that story going...

easter loot

2011-04-25T15:48:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter (a few days late)!

I raked in the candy at our annual Easter Egg hunt over the weekend!

Yes, even as adults, my cousins and I still have an Easter egg hunt and it's pretty cut-throat. We compete for eggs and who has the largest bag of candy and money at the end of the day.

Sadly I didn't win (but I was leaving some eggs behind for the 2 year old participating, duh).

I also ate my way through the entire weekend so I'm thinking that the gym is a MUST every day this week.

How was your Easter? Did you have an Easter egg hunt??

i dislike my arms

2011-04-20T08:06:00.000-05:00

It seems that no matter how hard I try, I can't get those sleek toned arms like Michelle Obama. Gaw.

Recently at the gym we were doing skull crushers, or lying tricep extensions, if you will, and I decided I'd step it up a bit and do as much weight as the guys were doing that night.

It was only a 25 lb metal free weight and it seemed pretty easy in the beginning. Then I let the thing slam into my head.

Maybe that's why our trainer calls them skull crushers?

Anyway, because tank top season is quickly approaching, I think it's time to step up the arm workouts.

It just so happened, that yahoo agreed with me today as they had this article posted online this morning. While these seem easy, I think with all of the reps involved your little biceps will be feeling the burn.

My goal:

via

There was also this interesting article that I found a few weeks ago: 7 Secrets of Slim People and while I am by no means slim, I do follow a lot of the "secrets" that they suggest, such as: eating breakfast every day, working out in the mornings, drinking tea, and being a creature of habit.

My one HUGE flaw: I suck at drinking water.

Anyone have any grand ideas to make me chug more water throughout the day?!

sometimes i think my dog is a human

2011-04-19T08:30:00.000-05:00

Isn't she so sweet?

This is where I find her when I get home from the gym in the mornings...all curled up under my comforter with her head resting on my pillow. Just like a human.

Not spoiled one single bit, I tell you.

have a looksee

2011-04-12T16:48:00.000-05:00

I finally decided what to order from CSN!

No, I didn't go with that big fancy chair, or a bookshelf, or anything for my office at all.

I bought new pots and pans and I LOVE them!

I decided that since the non-stick coating was chipping off in my food that it was probably time to replace my old set. (About time right? Plus how sick is that! Hopefully I don't get some mysterious illness now...or cancer. Gaw.)

After going back and forth on stainless steel or non-stick and conducting a very scientifc poll in my office on which to purchase, I decided on this set:

EarthPan Hard Anodized Eco Friendly 10 piece cookware set

Of course I couldn't just spend the $30 I was given. I had to go way above and beyond that. But hey, I needed these. For my health. Obviously.

Not only do these pans heat up quickly and cook food evenly, but the clean-up was so easy!

And this is coming from the girl who throws everything in the dishwasher (this may be why my other set was so bad come to think of it...)!

I had to make room in my cabinets for this new set of pans because they are quite a bit larger than my last set, but it's perfectly fine with me as long as they look pretty and make my food taste delicious!

If you haven't already been over to the CSN website, you should go now, they seriously have everything under the sun. Go already!

it was one of those weekends…

2011-04-07T21:05:00.000-05:00

After reading this, you might think that I was trying to kill Lincoln last weekend. I swear, I had nothing to do with all of the things that happened to him (minus the lovely time we had at the gym). Anywho, boyfriend couldn't catch a break! Read on:

This past weekend was one, I can safely say, I’ve never experienced before in my life. Overall, I can’t complain too much, but there were three specific events that will make it very memorable.

Read Kristin’s last blog. She pretty much hit the nail on the head. One doesn’t realize how out of shape they are until they do five half-hour classes in a row! I know I’m not as young as I used to be, but that Saturday morning was BRUTAL!

Just so you know my legs are still recovering, (like still today, and it's almost been a week). My coworkers were making fun of me Monday for how slow I was walking. Seriously, a snail would’ve had a fighting chance against me that day.

The next day, I experienced what may have been one of the worst nosebleeds of all time. At first, I thought all it was a runny nose. Then, after seeing what looked like a murder scene, I realized I had more pressing issues.

The strange thing is I my nose never bleeds. It caught me by total surprise. I’m still trying to figure out why it happened!

Apparently, at some point during the weekend, a spider or something bit me. I had noticed a red spot Saturday on my leg, but didn’t think much about it. By Sunday evening, it was hot to the touch and had gotten much larger.

By Monday, it was out of control. Like bigger than a softball.

I went to the doc that afternoon, where they gave me a shot. By the next morning, it was looking much better, but it was sooo strange!

Even with all the drama spread out over the weekend, I would still call it a successful one. I got to watch a Royals victory and had a great time with great company!

lots of food and a 3 hour workout

2011-04-04T13:12:00.000-05:00

Oh. Hai.

I'm here, just slacking lately. Work is bussssy. My laptop at home decided it didn't like the wireless card that it came with, so the geek squad said I have to take it to Best Buy to have them send it in for it to be fixed. Bummer.

Anywho, this weekend the weather in KC was to die for.

Not only did we go to the Royals game but they also won the series against the Angels!

Saturday morning Lincoln and I went to this event at my gym, which consisted of 30 minutes of each of the 5 classes that they offer, so around 3 hours of working out.

Lincoln hated me Saturday. Like there were daggers coming out of his eyes I think.

Luckily during the boxing class he could pretend that he was hitting me (ok, not really, but kind of...).

I kind of told him that this event wouldn't be that hard (and I didn't really think that it would be, but I was wrong, it was a wee bit harder than I remembered from last year).

I'm used to the punishments that are my daily workouts though since I've been going to my gym and these types of classes for two years, he...not so much.

Our day started out with lots and lots of lunges and squats. Then we had to go outside and run suicides uphill. Then some more lunges and running. And then a boxing class and kickboxing class.

One of our classes were led by these two Chiefs players:

Casey Wiegmann

Ryan Lilja

Needless to say a long nap was in order after the longest workout ever.

Because we did the almost three-hour workout, we decided that we could apparently eat whatever we wanted all weekend.

Saturday night, we ate at Stroud's, home of pan-fried chicken. It was sooo delicious.

Sunday we tried a new-ish burger place called brgr. It was heavenly.

Does anyone else have a problem importing pictures from their iPhone?! Gaw. Mine never save how they're supposed to!

I got the classic brgr and added an egg. I hadn't tried an egg on a burger before, so I decided to give it a shot. It was very tasty. I was convinced that I was going to be able to finish the entire thing but I could barely eat half.

After doing a little walking around and shopping, we decided that ice cream was in order since it was like 90* outside yesterday.

Then, after trying to cool off in my house a tiny bit we grilled outside before the storm rolled into town.

Overall it was a fab weekend, and it appears that spring is finally making it's way to Kansas!

plum district

2011-03-29T12:06:00.001-05:00

I know, I know...you probably don't need another email to clutter up your inbox on a daily basis...but I thought this was a pretty good one today from Plum District (click here to sign up!).

My coworker, Ashley, informed me of today's deal and we both decided to give it a shot. I mean for $15, why not?!

Today's deal is for the Fresh 20.

Basically this plan helps you plan weekly meals for only $20 a week using fresh, local produce. How cool is that?! Especially with summer coming up and the farmer's markets getting into full swing, this deal couldn't have come at a better time!

go here!

i might be crazy

2011-03-29T09:06:00.000-05:00

Have you all heard of the event: Warrior Dash? Maybe they have one in your city?

I may regret this decision later...but I'm participating and I also joined a running club at my gym to help prep us for the Warrior Dash.

Have I mentioned how much I hate running?

No?

I do.

I'm really not sure why I do...my dad and my sister are big runners, but I'd rather take a class or do something a little more exciting than running on a treadmill for an hour.

Granted, this club that I signed up for will have classes outside, but still...it will be during the months of June and July--which equals sweaty and hot.

Anyway, Warrior Dash is "3.1 hellish miles" and has obstacles throughout the course such as:

hurdling over barricades and under barbed wire
rappelling down a steep ravine
dashing down a stream
crawling through a swamp
leaping over fires
scrambling under barbed wire through mud

just to name a few...

via

The race concludes with an after party and beer, so it can't be too bad, right?

my dream....

2011-03-24T08:31:00.000-05:00

This is not about some dream that I hope will happen in the future if that's what you were hoping for.

No.

It's better. It's about an actual dream I had this morning.

And it is so very weird.

I have no idea why I had it, why the people who were in it were involved, and why I would remember the details that I remembered from it....

Anywho...

I managed to hit snooze for a good 2 hours this morning and rolled out of bed at 6:45. That's a solid two hours after my first alarm went off (because I usually get up at 4:45 to get ready to go to the gym...). I typically leave my house at 7:23 but this morning I needed to leave earlier to drop Laila off at my sister's house.

I somehow managed to get ready in 20 minutes because I was out the door at 7:05 this morning people! Record time! And apparently I don't look as though I just rolled out of bed, people said my hair looked good today....

Before I actually woke up, I was having the WEIRDEST dream ever.

Seriously.

Part of me is embarrassed to even tell you guys about it (even though I have shared the story a handful of times already today...) but part of me wants you to share in this randomness. So here it goes:

Apparently I decided to host some kind of high school reunion in my bedroom, of all places...because that obviously makes sense.

(Now that I think about it...maybe I had this dream because I got a Facebook message yesterday talking about my high school 10 year class reunion...yuck that makes me sound old...)

We were all hanging out on my bed, there were probably about ten of us just chilling in my room and I specifically remember two guys from my high school as being there. Neither of whom I've talked to let alone have seen in the past couple of years.

I had to get up to go to the bathroom, so I walked into the bathroom attached to my room and found something that resembled this:

Yes, that would be a corn poo and a toothbrush in my toilet.

Why wouldn't someone flush that down? And more importantly, why is there a toothbrush in there? Were they killing two birds with one stone and brushing and pooping at the same time?

Upon finding this discovery I marched out to my room where everyone was hanging out and demanded to know who wouldn't flush and why there was a toothbrush in the toilet.

One of the guys that I hadn't talked to in forever claimed the turd and said he left it for people to see and didn't think flushing was a good idea because the toothbrush ended up in the toilet.

And then I woke up.

What the hell?

Why did I have this dream and why would I remember the detail of the corn turdie and toothbrush?

Usually I don't remember my dreams at all...so why this one?!

EW.

accessories swap!

2011-03-18T13:06:00.000-05:00

How fun is this!?

I love jewelry, you love jewelry so sign up already!

Go here to see the rules.

the bestest

2011-03-17T13:07:00.000-05:00

I had a strange phone number calling my desk phone this morning and when I answered it was our receptionist calling to let me know I had the cutest delivery show up (seriously, she was really excited about this):

I was a little surprised, I mean St. Patrick's Day isn't usually one that you get deliveries on, after all!

However, I got the best thing ever; a delivery from

Edible Arrangements from the bestest boyfriend ever.

He's too nice to me sometimes... :)

I mentioned over the weekend after seeing a van for edible arrangements driving around that I wanted one...little did I know that he would pay attention AND get me a fruit surprise so soon!

funny

2011-03-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

My friend Jenny is hilarious.

We work together.

She enjoys a good poop joke.

And she writes a funny blog: Mom of 2 Things.

Recently our dogs got together when she hosted book club at her house. Her dog, Stevie, wasn't quite sure of Laila...Laila's a few years younger than Stevie and wanted to play...Stevie not so much.

Check out the blog here.

She also does really good drawrings:

ignorance is bliss?

2011-03-15T13:19:00.001-05:00

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few days, I'm sure you have all seen and heard of the tragedy that happened in Japan.

I can't even wrap my brain around it.

I mean, not only do they get hit with a Tsunami, but then a giant Earthquake, followed by Nuclear Reactors blowing up.

Thousands of people are most likely dead, with the death toll predictions being close to 10,000.

I mean, how do you even recover after something like this?

Last night on the news I watched as a business owner and his wife in Japan were attempting to start cleaning up their place. The news captured them shoveling mud from their building. Mud. I complain about all of the snow we've had and how heavy it was, but here they are trying to get mud out of their homes and businesses.

Their lives will forever be changed. Our lives will forever be changed.

For some reason though, I've been seeing a few posts here and there on facebook or stories on Perez (I'm not even going to link to the story that was posted yesterday because it is so wrong to me, but basically a college student put up a video about how the tragedy in Japan was so great because it was God's way of taking care of atheists) about Americans who can't understand why this would have any affect on us. Or why we care so much about the people in Japan when we have our own problems here in the US.

Here's part of one post: "you know its said when some people in this country care more abt people in japan or hati or chile than in there own country" (please note I didn't correct any spelling errors...).

Correct; we do have our share of problems in our own country. There are many without jobs, many who are homeless and starving but a natural disaster is something that can't be controlled, something that just happens; without warning and without knowledge of when it's going to happen or how bad things are going to be.

Entire cities were wiped off the map; they have no running water or electricity and no idea when any of that will return.

Maybe those who are posting such comments have no idea how many products and industries are housed in Japan. Or that the nuclear energy plants that are currently blowing up might potentially have some effects effects on the US coastline.

What's more, is that these are people, just like you and I who have lost family members, their homes, pets, and their livelihood.

Y'all know I love a good joke, I just don't find this topic one that deserves a joke!

I'm just going to assume that people who are making jokes or off the wall comments about this tragedy maybe just didn't know the extent of it. I mean, even 50 cent apologized for his ignorant tweets!

Instead of posting unfounded information on facebook, we should be posting where to donate a few extra bucks instead...like here: Salvation Army or here: Red Cross.

That is all. I'll get off my soap-box now, I am just floored at how unsympathetic people can be.

the laser: update

2011-03-14T13:04:00.000-05:00

Good news, my fat ugly lip has almost healed...but not without a little poking fun at me by my friends and family (all of whom read my blog and knew what was going on):

Matt: What happened to your lip? Did you get punched in the face?

Dad: Are you trying to grow a mustache?

Me: No, shut up. I'm doing the opposite of that.

Dad: It really looks like you're trying to grow a mustache...

Mom: Let me look at it closer, I didn't even notice it yesterday...hmm...you do kind of look like Hitler.

So apparently I walked around all weekend looking like this. Minus the hair (well and the swastica, the outfit, and the scowl) and replacing it with some dry skin and a scab (that's a sick word).

I also felt the need to tell almost everyone that I spoke to what happend just in case they stared at my face for longer than a 1/2 of a second just so they wouldn't think that I was sick with something.

the laser

2011-03-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

Y'all know that I'm a huge fan of groupon, right? (click there to sign up, duh!) I try to pimp them out whenever I can.

I buy way too many deals, but I can't help myself.

When something is essentially half off (or more) I find some reason to think that I need it.

And generally I do. (OK, that's probably a lie....but being able to try a new restaurant or service at half the price is genius).

About a year ago I purchased a groupon for laser hair removal.

This was back in the day when I was referring people left and right and they were giving me some groupon bucks to fill out surveys, so I was rollin' in the groupon dough, so to speak. So I paid about $40 for laser hair removal that usually costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $900.

I've been going to get lasered for close to 10 months now so I kind of know the drill: Show up, lay down, throw on some goggles, and then they zap your hair away.

All in all, this process takes about 3 minutes (depending on what area you're having treated).

Most of the time it's pretty painless. Most of the time.... There have been a few times where I thought I was going to cry.

At my last appointment I had a new laser lady. I mean, not only was she new to me, but she was new to lasering.

She was very nice, but I'm starting to think that maybeher lasering skills may still be lacking...

As she was lasering I started to smell something that smelled like fire or burning skin, to be more specific. I think there may have even been a little smoke.

She at one point said: "ooh, that smells like somethings burning!"

YES! THAT WOULD BE MY SKIN, LADY!!!!!

I woke up the next day to a lovely patch of burnt skin that hurts and looks like hell.

I debated on telling the spa about the incident...I didn't want to get the new lady in trouble but I wasn't sure what was going on and finally decided that if it were a training issue that it needed to be corrected so that it wouldn't happen again to another patient.

After multiple phone calls back and forth, nothing still was decided on what actually happened. Apparently I just had a bad reaction to this treatment and I now have some awesome blisters on my upper lip to show for it (oh and I left out the part about the smell of burning skin...).

I look so hot.

The spa did feel awful about this isolated incident and has never had anything like it happen before.

To compensate for my ugly face, they gave me a few more sessions free and apologized immensely for the problem...even though it appears that it was no ones fault.

Oh, the price we pay for beauty (and to be hair-free)....

marcel the shell

2011-03-09T08:00:00.004-06:00

OMG, you've seen this, right?

If not, you're totally missing one of the funniest things ever. Luckily, I'm nice and I share cool things with you.

This has been around for awhile, but I wanted to show Lincoln...I wasn't sure that he had seen it or if he would even find it funny. Much to my enjoyment, he was a fan.

I think there was even a little baby tear from him laughing so hard. I kept having to tell him to be quiet so that he'd hear the funny parts.

So, without further ado, please enjoy Marcel.

I think my favorite part is Alan.

doggy e.r.

2011-03-08T08:00:00.001-06:00

UGH. I had the worst Monday night ever last week.

It started out perfectly fine.

I went to the gym, like normal. Got some groceries, like normal. Started dinner and had the stupid Bachelor on, like normal. AND THEN, I walked into my bedroom and found trash strewn across my bathroom and bedroom floor. WTF.

I was on the phone with Lincoln while all of this was going on and I'm sure my voice change scared him a little. Getting off of the phone at this point was probably the best idea. I mean trash had overtaken my bathroom, for the love.

My little beast decided to go to town on trash, of all things; and lots of it.

I wasn't quite sure what to do...I mean I was in the middle of making a delicious dish for the crock-pot for the next day, it was almost bed-time, and I really just wanted to relax.

After calling the emergency vet, they told me that I should probably bring her in since I didn't know how much or what exactly she ate. Perfect.

Before calling the vet, I called my co-worker Jenny to see if she had ever had something similar happen with her small dog. When she answered I was a little caught off guard by her reply:

Jenny: "I already know."
Me: "You do? What? How?"
Jenny: "Oh, wait. What are you calling about?"
Me: "No, what are you talking about?"

(She was talking about a co-worker who had passed away earlier in the day, which just added to my shit-tastic night)

Jenny: "So what are you really calling about?"
Me: "Well I think my dog may have eaten a tampon and a lot of other trash and I was just calling to see if Stevie had ever done that."
Jenny: <hysterical laughter>
Me: "I'm taking that as a no...."
Jenny: "NO. Er, well I don't think so...what are you going to do, take her to the emergency vet?"

So after that convo, and doing some googling, I decided my best bet was to take my crazy dog to the vet.

Upon arriving to the emergency vet, I was greeted with a cat that had a leaking face (it was so nasty, and I really don't care for cats, but I felt bad for this one...), a few tear-stained faces, and a handful of dogs waiting for their appointments. My dog rolls up to the counter jumping all over the place as happy as can be.

Now, some of you might be asking yourself, why, if she was acting fine would I take her in?

Here's the thing: I seriously had no idea how much trash she ate or what exactly she ate and with her belly being so small, I was scared that I'd wake up to her violently puking and I was in no mood to clean that up.

We finally made our way back to the exam room and the pet nurse took her back to have her stomach examined. When he came back in, he asked if they could give her a shot to induce vomiting. I, of course, said sure, have at it.

The vet came back in awhile later (luckily I was smart enough to bring a book along with me...) and informed me that she had managed to eat quite a bit of stuff and that they were just monitoring her for the next ten minutes since she was still dry-heaving. They didn't want her to throw up in my car. Perfect.

We finally left the vet almost two hours after arriving and I was expecting my dog to be lethargic, have no appetite and to possibly have the runs and to puke a little more, however, she acted the complete opposite. She ran around the house like a mad-woman, ate an entire bowl of food and then was finally ready to go to bed when I finished cleaning up my crock-pot preparations in the kitchen.

Almost $200 later and my dog seems to be completely fine. She has however, lost her out of kennel privileges for awhile. Little betch.

kid rockin' recap

2011-03-07T08:00:00.003-06:00

You ask and you shall receive...

For his second appaerance on my blog, Lincoln has recapped his best night ever at the Kid Rock concert. While the pictures are a little blurry, you get the point...pure class at this show.

So the Kid Rock concert has come and gone. As I suspected, both performers put on great shows, leaving the crowd wanting more. And to no surprise, some of the fans left lasting impressions.

I was amazed how diverse the crowd was. There was anything from college-aged stoners to sixty-year old business men. And A LOT in between! Here a few examples. Sorry for the picture clarity; or lack thereof…

Now this I guess is what you would call an outdated Chiefs/Kid Rock fan. I’m not really sure what the connection is between the two but he somehow pulled it off. What really makes this outfit great is the personalized Jared Allen jersey since he hasn’t donned the red and gold for a few years.

This photo represents a group of ladies who posessed an insatiable craving for attention. I’m not sure what would require someone to make so many trips up and down the aisle, but her 3-x’s too small dress wasn’t ready for that kind of workout.

Kid Rock came up and down our aisle! Just kidding, it's just a look-alike...now this is what I aspire to be in thirty years! This guy totally has the Kid Rock look down. And he’s a ladies man to boot! I’m sure Kid Rock himself would be proud of this outfit.

Overall, the concert was great, and I’d definitely go back. And for the ones wondering what I chose to wear, I ended up going with ~~a wife beater, cutoff jean shorts and a bandanna~~ jeans and a polo. Sorry to disappoint…but I didn't want to fit in too well in case the ladies' tried to hit on me.

decisions, decisions...

2011-03-04T09:45:00.000-06:00

For quite some time now, I've been trying to figure out how to finish off my office.

Do I get a bookcase? A chair? A bookcase and a chair? So many decisions...

I could go all out and go with this Eames Lounge Chair--it would look pretty snazzy in my green office...

Just tilt your head a little...for some reason my pictures aren't importing correctly from my phone. ugh. And with no internet connection out my house currently...I'm just going with these... :)

Or, I could go with this cute book shelf...

Luckily my friends over at CSN have offered to give me a gift card if I review an item for them, so how could I pass up this great opportunity!?

Be on the look out to see which item I end up going with soon!

the towel chase.

2011-02-28T13:21:00.000-06:00

There used to be this time when my dog was a little brat. Oh. Wait. She still is. But she's getting better and she's still a puppy. Kind of.

Aw, this is the first day I got her, such a little baby!!

Anyway, when she was pretty new, I would let her outside without a leash on for her to go to the bathroom.

I let her out my front door since it's the most convenient for both of us. My front door however, is right next to the street and where most of my neighbors gather if they're gathering.

One afternoon in particular, I had just gotten out of the shower and found my sweet little angelic dog sitting by the door waiting to go outside. I had a proud moment and thought to myself that I was doing a damn good job training this little beast. So, as per the norm, I let her outside without her leash on for her to do her business (mind you I'm in a towel since I had just showered).

I generally would stay inside and watch her from my doorway while she was outside so I usually didn't know if there were people outside or not.

On this particular day, most of my neighborhood was standing outside talking to one another while Laila was outside going to the bathroom. Being the social butterfly that she is, she decided to run across the street to chat it up with one neighbor, then run across the street again to chat with another...

All the while, I'm inside freaking out! I'm in a towel (and that's it), have no shoes on and my dog is running loose through the neighborhood.

Once I got my shit together I managed to throw on a hoodie and some flip flops and took off down the street in search of my dog. Luckily she hadn't made it far as her BFF's live right next door.

My neighbors could see that I was a little distraught over having my dog darting from house to house and they assured me she was fine and even invited me over to come and hang out.

I declined and said that I needed to go, but they offered again and said that Laila wanted to play. I mumbled that I was only wearing towel and one neighbor was like "oh I see the towel on your head you're fine!" His girlfriend got it: I WAS ONLY WEARING A TOWEL (which was slowly starting to inch its way south).

Once everyone put it together that I was only sporting a towel, I finally got my dog back and moseyed back to my house, mortified! (ok, who am I kidding, it didn't really bother me that my neighbors saw me in a hoodie and a towel...it could have been worse).

That gave everyone a good laugh for quite sometime and I hadn't really thought about it again until my neighbor Kim mentioned something about it not that long ago.

You see, one neighbor in particular is a little crazy, not bad crazy, just a little wacky, and she wears some interesting clothing and says pretty much whatever pops into her head.

My neighbor Kim, who is the sweetest thing and seems to know everything about everyone on our block, came to me one day talking about said neighbor and asked if I remembered that one time when she was running around the block in a towel trying to get one of their dogs back....

To which I replied, "I think you have her and I confused. That was totally me running around in a towel trying to get Laila back." Kim replied with "no, it couldn't have been you..."

Oh yes, Kim, it really was me. She finally believed me that i was the one sporting the towel for the whole neighborhood to see.

To this day, Laila is always on a leash to go to the bathroom. Especially if I go to the door only wearing a towel. You'd think I would've learned my lesson that maybe I should put on some clothes before I take her to the bathroom, but when she has to go, she has to go!

a tale of two wardrobes

2011-02-23T19:56:00.000-06:00

So, you all know I've been slacking lately (sorrrry)...after my event this weekend, things should slow down a little and I'll hopefully have some more time to post....<hopefully>

I was complaining to the boyfriend the other day about not having time to post much lately and he was complaining about not having much to do...so I told him to write something for me. Little did I know that he would actually take me seriously! You are in for a treat, my dears....

For his blogging debut, I introduce to you, Lincoln:

So since Kristin feels like she has more important things going on lately rather than blogging, I felt as though this would be the perfect chance to fill the void and publish my latest fashion dilemma…

This Friday night, I have the fortunate opportunity to see the one and only Kid Rock in concert for the first time. To be honest, I’m really not a big fan of his. His yelling, screaming, and lack of good vocals don’t really do it for me, but he should be entertaining and is an all-around American badass.

The real reason my friends and I are attending is to see Jamey Johnson, Kid Rock’s opening act. This southern boy can really perform and his lyrics are out of this world. Here’s a pic of Jamey:

Both of these entertainers tend to bring out a certain crowd to which my friends and I normally don’t share a lot of common interests with but I thought for one night we need to join the masses.

So the dilemma:

To fit in with this particular crowd of fans, I’m wondering what one should wear??

For those who don’t know me, tattoos, do rags, and wife beaters are not major parts of my wardrobe. Preppy would probably be what best describes me. So…how does one go from this:

to this:

I posed this question to my resident fashion expert, to which she responded:

“So hot. So many questions though... How will you do your hair like that? Can you grow a beard that fast? Are you getting your nipple pierced this week?”

I know, I really didn’t think this through. I quickly realized I would not be able to pull this off.

Maybe I could at least do the shirtless thing but I didn’t know how Sprint Center officials would feel about my attire, or lack thereof; let alone, the cold weather. So in comes the professional again and saves the day with this amazing idea and explanation:

“You're covered with the shirt thing, but you can still show off your arms, chest hair and your nipple piercing. And, if it gets too hot you can just take it off and if it's really cold when you leave you have a hood. I think this is ideal.”

Thank goodness for Billy Ray Cyrus! I can’t wait for Friday!

cuteness

2011-02-18T08:22:00.000-06:00

Thanks Nikki!!

Didn't she do a cute job on these pillows she made for the Pay it Forward challenge?!

This means that I should probably get my butt in gear to send out my something homemade to my three people...

we're not ready yet.

2011-02-17T12:23:00.000-06:00

So it's February and for some strange reason it's 70 degrees today in Kansas. Last week we had negative temperatures and like 40 inches of snow on the ground (or something close to that).

I mean don't get me wrong; I'm so ready for the snow to be done with and for spring time weather and everything that comes with it. But what I'm not ready for is the fan in the bathroom at work to take a hiatus.

I wrote about that here before.

Talk about awkward.

Sometimes it's a challenge to even pee with the fan off because of the silence.

I got to work yesterday from being in California and saw the worried faces of my coworkers when they explained that the fan had been off for the last couple of days.

It's way too early for this to be happening. I mean, I thought we at least had another month or two!

Because the weather changes so frequently, I'm sure that the fan will be back at least for a few days in the coming months, but nothing like we've been used to...I'm going to miss that 'ol girl and the sounds that come out of it.

As a side note: a chunk of our ceiling in the bathroom fell out today and then apparently water was leaking all over the bathroom. Additionally our floor smelled like a bonfire. Something weird is going on...

handwritten

2011-02-17T08:11:00.000-06:00

Jerrod over at the Yellow Factor tagged me in a fun meme (if you haven't read his stuff, you're missing out, just sayin'); 7 simple questions that you have to answer by hand. I know, who really "writes" things anymore?

Oh, me, I do.

I love making lists and writing things out by hand, so it's a good thing he tagged me.

(I also secretly like my handwriting. It's very straight.)

(Oh, and I also LOVE felt tip pens. My coworker and I ordered a huge box of them in bright colors. We're nerds.)

Instructions:

Answer the following questions in written format:

1. What's your name/your Blogger name?
2. What's your blog's name/URL?
3. Write "the quick fox jumps over the lazy dog".
4. Favorite quote?
5. Your Favorite song?
6. Your favorite band/singers?
7. Anything else you want to say?
8. Tag 3-5 other people.

Ok, you five, write your hearts out!

i'm baaaaaack

2011-02-16T10:24:00.000-06:00

Oh. Hi.

I'm here!

I've been in sunny California for the past few days and I'm so far behind on blogging and reading blogs and life in general.

But don't you worry, I'll get my hiney into gear and post some pics soon! It might take me some time to get all of my pictures uploaded and to get back into the swing of things...I've been quite busy lately, but I'm working on it!

For now I'll share this picture from a morning bike ride with you:

flights and kites

2011-02-08T12:07:00.000-06:00

For the past few months, a handful of some of my alumni sorority sisters and I have been getting together to plan our first (and hopefully) annual Wine Tasting Event. We are so excited about it and may be more excited to have the first one under our belts!

We have so many fun things planned: a live band, lots of good food, and obviously tons of booze. We have 12 different kinds of wine to sample along with food paired along with each of those wines, and, if you're not a wine lover, we're also providing beer, just in case.

So come already! What are you waiting for! Your RSVP is due on Saturday! Or you can show up the day of for $10 more, but it would make my life a lot easier if you'd let us know beforehand so that we have enough alcohol to get you nice and buzzed.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that the proceeds of this event go to one of my favorite organizations ever?

When I joined my house in college, the philanthropy that we work with sold me on which house I was going to join. For real. I kind of knew that I'd be a Theta before I even went through recruitment, but when I learned about CASA, I knew that no matter what happened with the whole sorority thing, that I had to be a volunteer.

CASA, or Court Appointed Special Advocate's volunteer to help children involved in the court system. During my four years at college I had six kiddos that I met with on a regular basis to hang out, get to know them and to figure out if their parents, basically, were fit to be their parents.

It, at times broke my heart to hear the stories that these kids would tell me. Show the kids some love and they open right up...

I remember one specific incident where I was taking the kids shopping at Target. While getting out of the vehicle and attempting to get the kids out of their car seats one of the younger ones started screaming as his older brother and I came around the other side of the vehicle to get him out. I'm sure it's because he was used to being left alone and he thought that I was going to leave him in the car while I went shopping.

Other times there was evidence of abuse.

CASA volunteers get to know these kids on a very personal level and then write a court report that is given to the judges at hearings. Because social workers don't have time to attend to every child as much as they'd like to, the CASA court reports tend to be the child's only voice in the court system.

So, even if you can't make it, think about making a donation so that we can help more of those kids in the court system. Contact me if you want more information or if you need to know who to make your check payable to!

wednesday weigh in

2011-02-02T08:00:00.002-06:00

Well, the good news is that I didn't gain any weight. The bad news is that NOTHING changed this week. I mean I guess it's good that I didn't gain anything, but for the love...

Things may have been different had I been doing my normal workouts last week. I had to make a few trips to the back-cracker for my old-lady shoulder and she told me that I could only do cardio for at least a week. Bah-rrrring.

On top of having a restricted work-out schedule, I also went out for dinner A LOT. It was not a good week for me. I mean it was; the food was delicious and the company was great, but it didn't help the diet at all!

Since the weather blows (literally) here, this weeks article is about foods that promote happiness.

baby it's cold outside

2011-02-01T16:54:00.000-06:00

So, in Kansas City we're in the midst of a massive snow storm. I mean people are calling it such names as "Snomageddon", "Snowpocalypse", or my personal favorite "Snow-torious B.I.G".

While the snow didn't start until around 6AM; sitting at home now, there's a good 8-9 inches on the ground.

I was a huge pansy and called into work this morning for fear that I'd get trapped in my cube overnight. I'm glad that I did too...I don't think there's a chance that I would've been able to get into my driveway now. There is so. much. snow.

Last week we had unseasonably warm weather, I'm talking 50-60* in January; so most of the previous snow had melted. I was hopeful that we were in the clear for no more snow for the rest of the winter...boy was I wrong!

The meteorologists are claiming that this snow storm could be one of the worst that we've ever seen.

WTF.

I thought last winter was bad.

ALSO, they said that the worst of the snow or the heaviest would happen later this afternoon. Did I mention that we already have 8 or 9" on the ground at 2:30?!

I went outside to shovel a little spot for Laila to go to the bathroom because she was swimming in the snow otherwise. As you can see, the snow is taller than her. About ten minutes after I shoveled this spot out, it's already filled back up. I give up.

Sometimes I think she likes being in the snow because she face plants into the drifts. Other times, I have to force her out the door. Maybe it has something to do with the snow blowing from all directions. I think it's even coming up from the ground. Basically it's miserable outside.

So anyway, if you need me. I'll be here. Trapped in my house with my crazy dog.

dear girl that i follow to work most mornings,

2011-01-31T09:00:00.003-06:00

Oh. Hi. It's me!

That girl that gives you the bitch face most mornings as I drive around you in the right hand lane.

That would be the lane that is not made for passing.

Right, because you're trolling along in the lane that's made for passing going about 20 under the speed limit.

Anywho, just wanted to give you a heads up about proper road etiquette. That lane that you're driving in; that's the PASSING LANE. Or the fast people lane. You; you don't drive fast. You drive like a Grandma. And I know you're not a Grandma, you're like my age (which is far from being a Grandma, mmmk?).

Also, I don't appreciate your stink eye as I drive around you in the non-passing lane. People wouldn't be so pissed off at you if you'd learn how to drive the speed limit (or maybe a few over it).

Maybe you can't see that I'm flailing my arms at you or cursing at you or sometimes flashing my lights at you because you have that big stupid decal taking up your back windshield.

Or maybe you think you need to drive slow because you have a huge crack in your front windshield. I don't know what your deal is.

Either way, get your shit together and learn how to drive.

Sincerely,
The girl in the Murano that doesn't like you very much.

food on friday

2011-01-28T09:00:00.002-06:00

This week is Restaurant Week in KC. Which pretty much means, pick the most expensive restaurant in the city and go to it because you can eat for cheap!

This year my girlfriends and I chose the American Restaurant for our girls night out.

I was a little nervous when I saw the menu for the week, since a few of my friends don't branch out in their eating habits and that the dress code was semi-formal (so of course we all wore either a prom dress or an old bridesmaids dress), however we all fell in love with the American Restaurant.

Restaurant week has a three course prix fixe menu (here's what we could choose from):

STARTERS:

POACHED EGG YOLK
Almond tapioca, La Quercia prosciutto, chicharrone

CELERY ROOT SOUP
Pickled huckleberry, salt cod

ROASTED BEET
Endive, Satsuma orange, goat cheese

DINNER:

SALMON

Rye gnocchi, horseradish

PORK CHOP
Hubbard squash agnollotti, smoked apple, jowl

CAMPO LINDO CHICKEN
Lemon, risotto, leek, chanterelle mushroom

FROZEN "PB&J"
Peanut butter parfait, gooey peanut butter cake, concord grape sorbet

CHOCOLATE PASSION

Chocolate cremaux, chocolate financier, passion fruit sherbert

CARROT CAKE

Spiced carrot sherbert, cream cheese ice cream, walnut gelato

I chose the roasted beet starter. I wasn't even sure if I liked beets, but I LOVE goat cheese, so that's what sold me on this choice!

For the main dish, I chose the Campo Lindo Chicken. It was to die for. Seriously. It was so good. The outside was crispy and delicious and the inside was so juicy. I wish I could have finished this one, but it was too big!

For dessert, I chose the frozen PB&J. It seriously tasted like a PBJ sandwich, but in ice cream form. I also wish that I would've been able to finish the dessert, but it just wasn't in the cards!

There was one point in the night where we each had approximately 5 glasses sitting in front of us. A glass of wine with each course, water, and then the remnants of my gin and tonic from the bar before we were seated.

For our dessert course, we were served different kinds of homemade soda that was supposed to pair well with our dish. I would've preferred another glass of wine...but it was a cute idea!

The gangs (almost) all here!

After dinner we went to a bar downtown, called the Cashew where Trish ordered this disgusting drink. It took our waitress about 30 minutes to get it to her so luckily she got it for free. I can't remember the name of it but it was hot apple cider and peach schnopps topped with whipped cream. For some reason this drink had a slight coffee taste and was gritty. It was probably the worst thing ever. I decided to play in the whipped cream until my friends took it away from me...jerks.

sek-si.

2011-01-27T09:00:00.001-06:00

Wanna know what's sek-si? Night guards.

Yup, the ones you wear at night over your teeth so that you don't grind your teeth down to little nubs.

I have two.

One that looks like this:

Wow, (this is not mine) mine is really disgusting. This one is very clean...

My other one looks like this and only fits over my front two teeth:

Both of them give me a really nice lisp and make my mouth look awesome. I either have a fat lower lip or I look like I have buck teeth.

Either way you look at it really, they both add to my overall look. And, for as expensive as they are, sometimes I wish that I could wear them other places besides bed.

proving my dad wrong, yet once again

2011-01-26T16:06:00.000-06:00

You all know that I have a tiny baby dog (ok, she's not that tiny and not really a baby anymore), and in the winter it gets frigidly cold outside.

Laila doesn't have the longest legs, so her belly gets very close to the frozen ground and snow.

So of course, I have a snuggie, and a few sweaters and coats for her; not for vanity, more for her health. For real.

Laila in her pink snuggie, duh.

Read this article, it even calls out the dachshund breed!

My dad thinks that I baby her and that she doesn't really need the sweaters or coats, but this article just proves once again, that my dad is wrong and I am right.

Also, Laila might be famous.

We went to a gourmet dinner the other night for dogs and owners at a castle in town. I had no idea that the people filming were from a local news crew until they were leaving and said to watch Fox news that night. I was just letting Laila run all over them and was like "oh, sorry, she's crazy!"

In the video she's the first dog up with her butt in the camera and then makes an appearance later in the clip.

Don't worry, I'll tell you more about our dining experience later. Let's just say that Laila couldn't get enough to eat...

wednesday weigh in

2011-01-26T10:00:00.004-06:00

After this past weekend I wasn't quite sure how my weekly weigh in would go, I mean whose stupid idea was it to weigh in on Monday nights after eating and drinking whatever I want?

Luckily, things went much better than last week; this week I was down 8 metabolic years and 6% body fat. Thank goodness. I'm getting closer and closer to my actual age...

I don't know about you, but I love me some carbs. Whether it's eating pasta, bread or the good carbs found in fruit, I love them all. Thankfully, this article lists 10 resistant starches that help you burn fat while eating them. And, luckily, my old standby-the banana is one of the first ones listed (thankyouverymuch).

this is what happens if i don't eat bananas

2011-01-25T10:00:00.002-06:00

If you couldn't tell already, my toenails weren't painted at the time. I know. I'm gross. Give me a break, it's winter. Anyway, I took this picture and sent it to my sister because she has the same thing happen to her feet and her reply was: "Gross. Eat a banana and paint your toenails while you're at it." Thanks. Don't mind that my foot feels like it's going to fall off. Anyway, to spare you with my ugly unpainted toes, I colored it in myself . Also I hate feet.

I get weird foot cramps and my toes go all wonky if I don't eat bananas. Weird, huh?

Also, it's probably because I don't drink enough water.

Anyway, back to banana's. I love them. I eat one pretty much every single day of my life. I'm really picky about them though. If they have brown spots on them, forget about it. My banana has to be on the green side. I mean, not really green, but kind of green.

Some people think that the brown spots give them more flavor. I think it makes them disgusting and mushy.

One of my favorite snacks lately is little bites of banana dipped in melted chocolate chips. It's pretty much my nightly snack.

Laila also really likes banana's. She's a pretty health conscious dog if you didn't already know this about her.

food on friday

2011-01-24T08:54:00.001-06:00

Oopsie. I didn't get this posted on Friday!

OMG. Let me introduce you to the best thing ever: Black Bean Dip from So Long Saloon, Manhattan, KS.

Yes, it looks like there's a lot of cheesey goodness and that it's probably full of fat, but it is sooo worth the calories.

I make my own version that's almost as good:
2 cans of black beans drained
1/2 of a package of low fat or fat free cream cheese
3/4 c of raspberry chipotle sauce
1/2 cup of pepperjack cheese

In a greased 8x8 pan pour in black beans then layer in raspberry chipolte sauce and cream cheese (I also add in a little garlic powder and red pepper flakes). Top with shredded cheese and bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

Let me also introduce you to "The Nancy" or cheap ass beer with some pineapple juice in it. So delicious.

One of my besties Jess (who lives in TX) came to Manhattan for the weekend to cheer on the cats and go to a fun concert. Whenever any of us are back in Manhattan, So Long is a must. Not only do they have the tasty dip above, but their hamburgers are to die for.

Jess and I in Manhattan!

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas...

2011-01-23T19:24:00.000-06:00

...even though Christmas happened over a month ago, dammit.

The snow is back.

I'm sure some of you are looking at these pictures thinking that it looks so pretty (and it does), but it sucks balls driving in it and even worse having to shovel it out of my driveway repeatedly.

As luck would have it, I broke my shovel about a quarter of the way into shovelling the other night. Perfect.

And then, like angels, my neighbors across the street (who I thought wanted nothing to do with me) came over and offered to help me! PRAISE THE LORD.

I seriously could have kissed them both on the mouth (no dad, he's not single or attractive, he's like your age...a grandpa). I was this close to quitting and just waiting for the snow to melt off eventually (even though we're supposed to be getting MORE).

As I was shovelling I started thinking about how much I loved playing in the snow as a kid and wondered when I started disliking it so much.

I mean even in college the snow was pretty awesome. We would skip class to play snow football or to have a huge snowball fight with our neighbors, or to go sledding somewhere. So apparently my hatred came when I started having to drive in rush-hour traffic in snow storms.

There's something about going 5 mph in blizzard-like conditions with maniacs on the road that does it to you. That or the fact that a 20 minute drive turns into a 2 hour drive home.

I will admit that when I'm at home and the snow is falling that it is beautiful. If only I could stay at home all day to enjoy it.

While this winter hasn't been quite as bad (yet) as last year, I can honestly say that if it didn't snow again for quite some time that I'd be perfectly fine with that.

rice a roni, the san francisco treat!

2011-01-23T18:57:00.000-06:00

I'll be visiting San Fran in the near future and would love to hear of any favorties that any of you have when visiting.

Places to eat, things to see, you get it...just tell me where to go and what to do!

wednesday weigh in

2011-01-19T08:30:00.001-06:00

This week sucked. Maybe it was all the beer I drank? Or, maybe it was because I weighed in at a different time? Either way I was less than pleased, but I guess there will be good and bad weeks. Or at least that's what happens on the Biggest Loser.

I lost 3 pounds, but my metabolic age and fat % went up. Guh.

Anywho, here's a good article about small changes to your diet that you can make on a daily basis. I have been an active participant in stepping up my protein recently and I definitely don't eat as much throughout the day; I still love carbs, but adding a little more protein throughout the day helps me eat less!

my house is falling apart.

2011-01-18T20:48:00.000-06:00

Ok, not really falling apart, but I feel like it.

First of all, the damn moles are back in my backyard. And the ground is too frozen to set a trap to catch the jerks. I don't understand how they can make these terrible looking mounds when the ground is so hard?

Also, a chunk of my roof came off apparently in a wind storm or something.

So, what's a girl to do?

Talk to my neighbor, duh.

He volunteered to put shingles back on my roof for me as long as it was something that he'd be able to fix; which means that he will have to climb up on my really high roof and then afix the shingles somehow.

As luck would have it, he has a huge box of shingles that match mine in his garage, AND he fixed it the day after I talked to him about it! I can't tell you how lucky I am to live where I live. I don't know what I'd do or how poor I'd be if I didn't have nice people living around me!

Looks like I'll be having to do a little more than a batch of cookies and beer this time around....

i burp a lot. like, a lot a lot.

2011-01-14T13:43:00.000-06:00

It's true, and it's gross, but I burp.

Like not a little, lady-like, delicate burp. This is like a huge manly, beer drinking burp.

But I can't help it. A wise woman once told me: "Better to let them out than to bear the pain" and I couldn't agree more. (Of course, this wise woman also has a slight burping problem herself...but who's asking.)

My dad used to tell me when I was interviewing for jobs a few years ago that no one would hire me because of my burping problem. Luckily for me, I found a job where the people that I work with might just produce a little more gas (and by gas, I, of course mean burps) than myself.

It doesn't seem to matter what I eat or drink; these monster burps just escape me for no apparent reason.

Drink Water: burp
Wake up: burp
Go to the Gym: burp

Even with nothing in my stomach! Gaw!

I went to the doctor for it thinking they'd be able to give me some miracle drug to make it stop, but they said that I was healthy and my eating habits are healthy and that there really isn't much they can do. UGH.

Even when I try to muffle the sound, it still sounds like a lion.

If I were to enter some kind of burping contest I would burp easily win. Hands down. I am that talented.

I'm so gross!

Anymore though, the burping has become a little bit of a trademark for me.

At a wedding reception recently a party-goer talking to one of my friends referred to me as "that girl who had the loudest burps ever on the dance floor." Pure classiness right there, folks.

My mom and dad are so proud.