welcome :)

Welcome, 2012 :)

(Before I get any further, I feel obligated to mention to you all that this is my 200th blog post! What an accomplishment, eh?)

While 2011 had its ups, it did not have any shortcomings in the downs department either.

The ups are easy to outline for you:
(complete with links if you feel compelled to revisit any of my shenanigans)
had a great job working with newborns
wonderful friends through work
tried new restaurants (Sushi Den, you are yummy)
drank great beer (I'm looking at you Breck Brewery, New Belgium, and Wynkoop)
visited places on my Colorado "To-Do List" (Dave and Busters, Jumpstreet, Celestial Seasonings tour, St. Patrick's Day parade)
read 12 books
watched great films
lost weight (don't worry, gained every lb back)
saw Ke$ha in concert (glitteriest white trash party I've ever been to!)
had a wine-o of a birthday party
played hard in Blackhawk
had fun in Breckenridge
traveled to San Diego on vacation with my husband
had some good-ish moments with Naggie (remember when she apologized???)
cooked a lot of REALLY good food
started PA school
my brother came home from his Marine tour and got married
enjoyed the Colorado mountains with a few camping trips
lost weight again (and gained it all back)
joined Pinterest (does this count? I think so.)
had a grrrrrreat Halloween costume (sorry, couldn't help myself with the pun there!!!)
took part in some volunteer and donation projects
enjoyed the holidays (very very much!)

The downs are a little more difficult to outline.
There's the obvious Naggie debacle. Last week she cut our internet and cable cords. Nice. Penny's health problems --- she was a genuine MESS this year! But most prominent, and least superficial, are the internal struggles I have been having since school started. The feelings of inadequacy and exhaustion that plagued me for the better part of September through December. This program is hard. I get it, you're supposed to be challenged in graduate school. Maybe even struggle a bit. But literally I could hardly keep my head above water. Treading water is perhaps an overused example of life situations, but it is the perfect one in this case. I felt like I was barely surviving, sputtering and choking out the things that tried to drown me this semester. Thank God, really, for the support of my friends, family, and that wonderful bald husband of mine. Without them, I would have completely lost myself. And maybe I even did lose myself there for a little while, but they brought me back.

I think it might be significant at this point to mention that I started 2011 as a blonde, went dark brown (in correlation with the impending doom of fall semester), and am now "in transition" back to blonde. I'm meant to be blonde, who was I kidding with that attempt to look all sophisticated and classy? My year in hair color is as follows:

Jan - July were the blonde months

 End of July was dark brown!

 Fall was the darkest time of all

 Lightening up just in time for New Years Eve!

My husband also underwent a hair change. He went from balding --> bald. Good for him for "taking control of the situation" and shaving the rest off!

In all seriousness, 2011 was a very blessed year for me. Here it is, January 4, 2012, and I'm still breathing. I may have hyperventilated a few times and become slightly addicted to Ambien in those last few months of school...but I made it.

My only true resolution for 2012 is to strive for balance. Balance seems to be this magical and elusive concept I couldn't seem to grasp last semester, and I NEED to have a firm grasp on it this semester. In order to achieve this balance, I have to figure out a way to simultaneously do better in school (study more effectively, because I was already studying as much as humanly possible), hit the gym more frequently than once a month (I'm not exaggerating about my gym attendance, or lack there of), walk the dogs more often than twice a week (sadly, not exaggerating about this statistic either), plan quick/easy meals so I don't carb load on crap (which sends me into the inevitable spiral of negativity).

I do have other "goals" for 2012 if you will. This means I'd like to achieve them, but my life doesn't depend on them. I need to lose 10-15 lbs (in 2 weddings this summer = motivation!), read 12 books again (loved that goal for 2011!), and try 10 new experiences. The last one is vague, I know. It's vague on purpose. Then I can say I've achieved it whenever I've felt like I've tried enough new stuff :)

Well that was long.
Thanks for bearing with me :)
Happy 2012

CHEERS to our improved versions of ourselves for a happier, healthier year :)

spoiled...and i LOVE it!

Hey ladies {maybe some gents read this...but I'm guessing not...}!!!

I'm writing because I can't contain my excitement over my fabulous birthday!!! I turned 25 yesterday, and I have had such a fun week! On Saturday I hosted a Wine & Cheese party at my house, and it was SUCH a blast! We ended up with 30+ bottles of wine entered into our Wine Competition, and we tasted and tasted and tasted until the wee hours of the morning! It was oh-so-fun to host! I finally got to use all the neat serve-ware we got for our wedding 2 years ago that we haven't really needed to use thus far! Hosting that party really showed me how many fab friends I have who would take the time to come celebrate with me!

Then yesterday I got So. Spoiled. 

Tyler gave me the CUTEST necklace from Etsy! It's called Pure Luck by Natasha Grasso and I am in love with it! It will be my good luck for my 25th year - PA school and all! It's so dainty!!!

Then Tyler got me the perfect heeled clogs! Being on the shorter side of the height spectrum --- 5' nothin' --- I like to have some added heel when I go out, and I have been wanting clogs for months! My old Rocket Dog pair had to be retired after almost 10 years of loving wear and tear! They are black distressed leather heeled studded --- *squeal with love* They have traction on the bottom so I won't fall on my ass {hopefully} while frolicking and dancing in them!

My parents gave me a CHI hair straightener! SO amped to use this pretty baby!

They also outdid themselves and got me this oh-too-perfect messenger bag from Mimi Boutique! It feels like butter. ADORE! It has been years since I got a new purse, and I am so excited to do the purse transfer! 

To my dear Purple New York & Co Purse: You have been so good to me! I am putting you in the duffle bag of bags to rest for a while! This is not goodbye --- I'll be seeing you!

My sister got us tickets to go see Ke$ha this weekend, and I cannot wait! It's going to be such a glittery, dancy good time! We all went to dine at Vesta Dipping Grill - a restaurant downtown I have wanted to try for over a year! It was so delicious! I got this grilled mango tofu steak and it was to DIE for!!! Added bonus --- our waiter told us that I was sitting exactly where Fergie sat when she ate there a few weeks ago! How's that for a fab 25th birthday??? 

Aaaand in the history of Feb 16ths, I'm not sure it has ever been so beautiful here in Colorado! Over 60 degrees!!! :)

Cheers!

literally. one of the best days of my life :)

Hey party people :)

I just can't control my excitement right now, and I have to share with you all the reasons for the huge smile on my face right now!

I will go through the day in a list format, just to count my blessings tangibly :)

1. I was finally well enough to go back to work last night!

2. Work was fun, I worked with lots of my friends, which allowed times for lots of laughs amidst the craziness of baby cries and poops {love you Andrea & KP}. 

3. Came home to my husband and pups and slept for a solid 5 hours... mmmmm :)

4. Woke up and met my love Andrew at the gym. My first workout since my crazy sickness set in last Monday. And it felt GREAT! I coughed a lung out during the hour-long speedwalk, but I felt fab after. 

5. After the gym, I was driving home {when November decided to be nasty and throw a freak rain/hail/snow/windstorm for 30 minutes...but, whatever} when I got a call from an unrecognized number...I answered...and it was the Assistant Program Director for the PA Program in Denver that I have been dying to get in to... Christina said, "I just wanted to say, Congratulations!" At which point I started SCREAMING my brains out. I told her, "YOU JUST MADE MY LIFE!" and then said, "Welp, there goes all the composure I showed you last Monday! She just laughed at me :) I am so so so freaking happy. This is a life-changing thing to find out, because it finally gives me the direction I have needed! I am going to be a Physician Assistant! I am so proud, and so happy :) And then, upon telling everyone on the good ole' fb, I got such a tremendous outpoor of supportive and loving words from my friends and family. I don't always feel like I have a lot of close friends, but today I felt loved --- for SURE! :)

6. Took a trip to the Discount Liquor store near us, and bought 9 bottles of wine {before I found out about PA School} to stock up for the holidays! Wine for Thanksgiving, wine for the EPIC wine party in December, and so on :)  9 fabulous random bottles of red delicious liquid goodness.

7. After my husband got home and we danced around with happiness, I hopped in the shower to get ready for an impromptu date to PF Chang's. {I adore impromptu dates}

8. We had a $20 gift card to PF Chang's so we ate a FABULOUS 4-course dinner and spent $40 {including wine and tip!} and really enjoyed each other's company. We don't usually go out to eat, and I enjoyed every minute of it!

9. My husband even played the role of the romantic and opened my car door for me and everything, haha :) Cheesy and I liked it. 

10. My fortune in my fortune cookie said, "You will receive a good surprise soon!" I already found out about PA School...so I wonder what could be in store?

11. As we walked out of PF Chang's, hand-in-hand, I just felt magical. There were trees lit up with gorgeous white Christmas lights, Coldplay was playing overhead, and life was just GOOD. No, great :)

12. Came home to enjoy a glass of Cupcake Petite Sirah with my hubby and watch tonight's episode of Glee with my husband on the couch and with my sister of FB Chat. My favorite thing about watching Glee is the chat session I have with my sister during it :) 

13. Um - the Glee episode was SO DAMN GOOD! I love Gwenyth Paltrow...and apparently her voice is so good! I cannot WAIT to get this season's CD so I can listen to the Singin' In The Rain/Umbrella mash-up! INCREDIBLE! Can I get an amen???

14. Now we're watching Biggest Loser, and I'm hoping that someone I don't like goes home...we shall see! 

I just had to share the many blessings in my life with you :)

I hope you are all doing well. 

Love to you :)

Cheers.

a series of fortunate events

Hey hey!

Hope you all have had a lovely weekend! I have a lot to tell you about! If you read my post about my brother, you'll know I was a little torn up about him being sent to Afghanistan. Buuuuut, it turns out they had more volunteers than they needed, so he was taken off of the list sent to go! I am so relieved :) I know he may be a little bummed about the missed opportunity to serve in the Middle East, but I am glad he will be here for a little while longer and home for Christmas, hopefully. So that is the biggest happy news here!!!

My weekend was great, too! I ended up having a super short work week due to low census at work, and it allowed me to catch up on my PA Interview prep and thus relieve a ton of stress for me. 

Thursday night was SUCH a blast! I went to my girlfriend Denise's bachelorette party, and our friend Erin did the BEST job planning it! She picked the CUTEST theme {Angels & Devils} and got sushi, planned a limo ride to take us around town, and even set up pole dancing lessons for everyone! 5 gold stars go to her :) It was a blast of a night spent with some of my favorite girls in the world that I never get to see. Here are some pics of our fun!

The bride-to-be

 The maid-of-honor super party planner and me!

 Get it, get it, girl!!!

 Awesome self-pic in the limo :)

After the bachelorette party came the wedding, of course! It was in Skyline Park in downtown Denver, and it was beautiful! The colors were gorgeous, and it was very artistically done! Denise looked hot hot hot and the couple looked so happy! Unfortunately, I left my purse in the limo Thursday night {recovered by my fab friend Merri}, so I didn't have my camera during the wedding. But I did get my purse back during the reception, so I got some good pictures there!

I love Jane!!! My table partner :)

The reception hall and the couple's table

Gorgeous bouquets

Cutting their cake! Such a pretty dress!

Love the hats :)

And after the festivities of Saturday night, we came home for a much needed night of sleep before our big run! We got up at 5am and dressed to rock and run :) 

You know I had to dress up just a little bit...

I'm cheesy!!! But also a champion :)

Got my medal, yo 

My cute little hubby :)

 So, I may or may not have sprained my foot during the race...and my legs are sore as HELL...but I finished it in my goal time and I am proud to say that I have done a half marathon! I'm not going to be signing up for another one anytime soon, but I'm glad to be able to check it off of my list of awesome life accomplishments!

Cheers!