Saturday, December 31, 2011

What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

I've flown home from Mexico just in time to spend tonight ringing in the new year with my love and some great friends {and some bubbly, of course!!}. I'll pop back in tomorrow with pictures of my trip and some resolutions for 2012 that I've been pondering.

2011 has been quite a year. 2012 has big shoes to fill!!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Today is the Day!

Today is the day we celebrate Christ's birth! Hallelujah Hallelujah!

I'm celebrating with JJ's sweet family in Memphis. I find myself wondering what my BFF's are doing today to celebrate.....
I hope that you are spending today with those who are special to you!! I feel blessed to have you in my life.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Two Things

1. Husband signed us up for a co-ed soccer league. Last night at 10:40 pm was our first game {we had neither met the team nor had a practice!}. We won, although I can take very little credit for that. I had forgotten {since the last time I played soccer was when I was 11} how much running is involved in this game!! I was told to wear a purple shirt but all I could find was my beer olympics shirt from my senior year of college. Naturally.
Me at the big event {and by big event I mean beer olympics, not the co-ed soccer game}

2. This is what my life looked like less than an hour after my holiday vacation started...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Sister Crafts

In addition to sharing identical looks, mannerisms and sense of humor- my sister and I have shared many craft days this holiday season. The first was a weekend-long marathon of tree skirt making, movie watching, wine-slush drinking and chili eating. We even made our own fire -- without any help from any man!! It was so glorious that we have decided to make it an annual tradition.
We also made tons and tons of candy- per our usual Christmas tradition of eating more chocolate in one day than we do during the entire rest of the year.
We're practicing for TLC to contact us about staring in a reality show about sister candy makers. Watch out.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas 1.0: I fight crime and my husband is an astronaut

Last weekend was my Christmas weekend with my family {since now that I'm married I'm having to learn to share...}. I have been raised with a strong allegiance to traditions so even though we celebrated one week early, everything was exactly the same as years past....right down to the snacks! 

My family is very close-knit so it has been a fun adventure incorporating JJ into our traditions. 
This last picture has me giddy just thinking about the hour spent writing my parent's holiday card. My mother decided she was tired of the traditional blah blah blah so she just made stuff up. JJ is now an Astronaut. I fight crime. My sister works for the C.I.A. I am being 100% serious that is what is being mailed to 75 of their family and friends!!!

Oh yes, and this now lives at my house!!!
This weekend it's off to Memphis for Christmas 2.0

Union Station Feels Like Christmas

Since we moved to Kansas City immediately after Christmas last year, this is our first holiday season in this city. It has been fun decorating our apartment and attending holiday parties of new friends- but the place that has felt most like Christmas has been Union Station.


Today was the holiday party with my co-workers. The past year with them has been such a joy! They gave me a beautiful cast iron dutch oven so I'll be experimenting with all kinds of stews over the next few months!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Cute Friend

I have this cute friend- we'll call her Rachel. She hosted a girls night a few weeks ago and when I showed up to her brand new house this is what I saw.
She threw a full-on three course dinner party for the couple of girls who came over to welcome her to her new house. Now that is CLASS!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

Last year I made a point of making a list of everything I was thankful for. It is a nice little reminder for times when I start to feel sorry for myself {do all girls do that?} but this year I am just thankful. I didn't make a list, I am thankful just for having the opportunity to be a wife, sister, daughter, aunt, friend, employee and student. I am thankful that I understand that not every single day is going to be a good day. I am thankful that I have trials and tribulations so that I can truly appreciate the blessings in my life. 


We spent Thanksgiving in a small farming town in western Kansas. This will probably be the last Thanksgiving we spend at my Grandparents house because of their health, so this year was extra special. 


 Please note Grandpa's turkey-hat!!
 I guarantee this will be my parent's Christmas card this year.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Get 'em while they're hot

Last year my fake BFF Emily from Jones Design Company {meaning I stalk her life via her blog and she doesn't know who I am} posted some printable gift tags on her website. I used them on all of my gifts and they looked really great. This year she has posted a few more colors - and they are still all free to download and use!

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Sparkles!!

I'd completed nearly all of my holiday shopping and then THIS opened in my city. Oh dear. Bad news for my checkbook!

Friday, November 18, 2011

It's beginning....

Let the holiday madness begin! When JJ came home from his month-long business trip I was so excited that I begged him to put up our Christmas tree. Last year we didn't get to decorate for Christmas because we were packing up our life and moving to Kansas City. So this year our apartment looks like Christmas on steroids.....and it's not even Thanksgiving yet.

I am really looking forward to some family time and some R&R next week. My lovely cousin is flying in from New York City and we're road tripping to my grandparent's house in western Kansas.

Until then, I am going to spend the weekend catching up on all of the homework that I've been neglecting since work got so busy {remind me again why I started graduate school??} and hopefully do lots of snuggling in my bed with mugs of home-made apple cider that one of my classmates gave me.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Groupon is mocking me

I've gotten in a terrible habit of buying Groupons for restaurants that I've been wanting to try and then never printing/using them. I keep getting emails from Groupon informing me of something to the extent of:

"What's for dinner tonight? You are aware that you have 7 Groupons waiting in the wings for you to use, correct?"

I'm pretty sure Groupon is mocking me.

We did recently try Garozzo's near the City Market in downtown Kansas City. Some friends at work had been talking about the magical pasta that is served here....and I only have to hear magical pasta once for me to need to try it. We waited nearly two hours for a table and spent another two hours soaking up every last drop with left over pieces of bread. Truly the work of a pasta magician.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Proud of myself

Today instead of stalking an old friend on facebook I called her on the telephone. That deserves a chocolate muffin!!

Perspective


My husband has been traveling for the past 3 weeks crunching numbers and doing other things that accountants do. Sometimes I'm ok being alone {mostly since I work full time and go to graduate school full time so I don't have any time to be lonely} but sometimes it is really hard. Last night was one of those nights. I laid in bed thinking it was too quiet. His side of the bed felt too cold. It is hard to sleep on those nights.

Being the wife of someone who travels constantly for their job is hard. You get into patterns at home to accustom yourself to being alone, and then you have to integrate your spouse into the routines when they come home. I shouldn't complain since I have a dear friend who has already had her husband deployed two times overseas in the one year they have been married. She has to worry about his safety. I respect her so much, and anytime I begin to feel sorry for myself about this season of our lives, I think of her and it puts me into perspective.

I spent a lot of time yesterday taking virtual tours of houses for sale on the internet. I even drove by one to assess the neighborhood and it was coincidentally having an open house so I got to give myself a real-life tour as well. But my "perspective" is telling me that I need to be comfortable with the right now instead of lusting over the next phase of our lives.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Friday, October 21, 2011

No Excuses, but I am so LUCKY

I have no excuses for why it's taken me so long to check in with the blog. My husband was traveling for business during my birthday week and I was overwhelmed by how sweet my family, friends, coworkers and classmates were to help me celebrate the big 2-5! I was taken out to lunch or dinner every single day that week. New friends brought me beautiful homemade desserts. Phone calls and texts and sweet birthday cards made me feel so very special.

And then I came home from my Thursday night graduate class at 10:30 pm and my husband was there {home early as a surprise!} with flowers and hugs. I am a lucky girl.

My birthday was flanked on both sides by University of Missouri football games. The Saturday before my birthday Mizzou was playing Kansas State University in my home-town so I got to celebrate with my parents, sister and JJ's Dad.
How amazing is my little sister's laugh?

The weekend after my birthday was Mizzou's homecoming football game in Columbia so I got to celebrate with my college friends.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today I'm 25! I always thought that sounded old until I actually became 25. Last weekend I got to celebrate with my family and this weekend I'm celebrating with my friends. I'm a lucky girl!!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Wise Man

While I never owned an Iphone like most of America, this quote from Steve Jobs is really resonating with me. I love the job I currently have the honor to do, and am excited that I am loving the topics of my grad school classes {hopefully meaning I'll love my next job too}.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

my weekend in pictures

It feels like it has been ages since I had a weekend at home when husband and I weren't traveling- so I took full advantage this weekend. I went to the historic fall festival in Weston, tried a new restaurant I've been eyeing, had my first pumpkin flavored coffee of the season AND saw my favorite singer in concert.  I wish I could have one more day!

Friday, September 30, 2011

TGIF

It's been a crazy week with lots of traveling for work and class. I couldn't be more excited that today is Friday!

Any free time I've had (which totals to less than 1 hour over the entire week) I spent looking at pictures of my two new obsessions: Kourtney Kardashian and Pintrest.
via seven mugs

I want to be Kourtney Kardashian. Minus her lame boyfriend. Mostly I just want her style and her body.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Just like a bowling ball

J: "It's like going to the bowling ally and using rented balls compared to bringing your own ball that you're used to. That's how I feel about brining my own gun to the shooting range."

E: "I guess I'm not seeing the similarity. People who own their own bowling ball are like into bowling. It's a hobby for them. You have been to a shooting range three times."

J: "Yep, I think I need to get my own gun."

Husband's old obsession with golf has now transferred to shooting ranges. Why are all of his hobbies so expensive?!? I told him he could only buy a gun from a pawn shop if he could prove to me that no one was murdered with this gun. I feel like that should keep him busy for awhile.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Is there anything better than the changing of summer to fall?

Cooler weather. Fall flavored drinks at Starbucks. Football games. And....Furry icicle boots?

My sister and I came across these gems while running errands {er, I mean shopping at Saks}. The look like the love child of the abominable snowman and a glacier.
They can be yours for only $1200. They're on clearance. Probably because they are fugly. 

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

My neighbor puts a damper on eating chocolate

I remember how excited I was when I found out that one of my sorority sisters was moving into my apartment building. This was, of course, before I knew that she would be dragging me to 5:30 am bootcamps filled with people who look like tri-athletes. Her punishment is having to listen to me curse when I run. It has been quite an experience for both of us.

On Monday our "assignment" was to lift 5000 pounds over our head (lift as many reps as we needed to depending on the weight we were lifting to equal 5000 pounds). I couldn't even lift the bar before she put weights on it- since I'm a haus. I tried to get through it by thinking about chocolate.

Husband vs Cartoon Doug

While hanging up husband's freshly laundered shirts tonight I had a flashback to that old Nickelodeon cartoon "Doug;" who has a closet full of the same outfit.
vs

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Anniversary Trip

We are back from Colorado and we're back in to the crazy swing of working, graduate school homework, business trips and chores around the house. It was so nice to get away from this madness for awhile!