Out with the old and in with the New

2010 came and went with a bang, and now on the eve before the last day of the year, I was reflecting on how much that has happened in my life in the last year.

Tucker is another year older, still quite the puppy-enjoying his doggy life (loving this huge bone he got for Christmas from Auntie Nikki).

The fall was accompanied by going to an awesome play with my parents and Adam.

I was blessed to have found such an amazing man that can actully keep up with me and all my crazy quirks...funny thing is we're more alike in that way than anyone I know. <3

Started a new job at Starkey laboratories and met some amazing new friends.

The four of us got to hang out quite a bit, and I'm so thankful to have them in my life and for all of us to be friends...can't wait for 2011 and the crazy adventures we can come up with!

Was asked to become a godmother to a precious little baby girl. She will be here soon and I can not wait to see that tiny baby and help and guide her through a blessed life.

Hung out with friends...laughing, talking, sharing secrets, just having fun.

Watching some amazing people say "I do"

Traveled many places...to New York City. Total Tourists, but loved it.

Valley fair!!!-got to be a kid again..if only for a day.

Quite my job at Mintahoe, left behind some great people and friends (I still keep in touch though), but it was time to move on.

Spent some time on the boat with great friends...teaching some how to ski, and teaching some kids how to love tubing (and adults).

My favoite thing to do in the Summer...hands down. Lucky to be able to do it.

Went to another wedding with all of my best friends...was a blast to see another one get married...who's next ladies and gentlemen?!?!?

Went on the humaine society walk for animals.

Took a girls trip to Seattle with Abbey, awesome city, great time.

As 2010 comes to an end I can't wait to see what 2011 will bring...even though there are always ups and downs of the year, I'm blessed to have such an amazing life and thank god every day for the chance to share it with such amazing people!

I wish you all a happy, healthy and safe new year!!!!

Holy Snow!

20 inches of snow later, it's finally seemed to stopped! I don't think I can remember ever seeing this much snow at one time. Adam and I were supposed to have a game night tonight over at his place with another couple, but when I attempted to leave my garage (with Tuck in tow in the back seat), I couldn't even get out. Opened the garage door and got about 4 feet out and then got stuck. Luckily I could jimmy rig it a bit and reverse and make it back into the garage. So I went back inside and called Adam and told him I wasn't going anywhere. So with his Jeep and 4 wheel drive he's attempting to head over to my place. Since I only have a few weeks before I leave for Vegas for a month, this was one of the weekends we weren't both busy and we could hang out. :( Hopefullyl he makes it (safely), and I think we'll just be watching some Christmas movies and drinking some wine by the fireplace! Quick change of plans. If I've learned anything from this storm it's that a) I need to invest in a shovel, and b) Ugg boots are really just for style...no practicality in mounds and mounds of snow....may need to get another "snow" pair of boots!

On a side note, tuck loves it, he just bounds through it...even though he sinks up to his head when he's out there. haha it's kind of hilarious to watch! Happy Shoveling

On a Roll!

Wow, I've been on a roll with this blogging thing! Finally keeping good on my word to update it more often!

It's now Sunday afternoon and I'm just winding down from having 5 days off from work and it was felt amazing! As always, it went by way too fast, but I don't mind when every moment is so good.

Started off with my birthday Tuesday, the girls at work decorated my desk, made me some cupcakes and got me a very nice gift card to Express. We then went out to lunch and had a great time (picture below). It helped that that Tuesday was my last day of work for the week. Adam came over Tuesday night and made me dinner, chicken fettecini alfredo, yum! A little wine, yummy food and great conversation was a great end to my actual birthday.

Adam and I actually decided to celebrate my birthday last night, because we both were busy and went home for Thanksgiving. So he made another great dinner (steaks, green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and garlic bread), tried to go to the Holidazzle parade, but were too late so we decided to go to downtown St. Paul and go ice skating instead. It was the first day the rink had opened so all with it being the grand opening all the skates were free to rent! We then walked through Rice Park and looked at the lights. I LOVE CHRISTMAS! It was a great way to spend the night!



Thanksgiving was great, we had a fabulous meal and and played a few family games. My sister and I went to Express at Midnight because everything in the store was 40% off. I got a lot of Christmas presents there. We got up around 7am on Black Friday and did some more shopping. Target, Khols, and JCPenny were our stops....got some awesome deals! Mostly Christmas presents, but I did get a couple pair of boots that were regularly $110 for $29.99...what a steal!

Saturday I threw a baby shower for my best friend Abbey....it was a lot of fun. So good to see all the girls again and I love spending time with Abbey's mom and grandma as well. They all helped me set up (it was at abbey's mom's house...my house just isn't big enough). It was a brunch so I made an egg casserole, french toast casserole, lemon crumble muffins, fruit salad and a cake. I had quite the baking to do the night before, which my mom generously helped me with! It all turned out great and I think everyone had a great time...cant' wait for that little girl to get here in February!

the girls :)

Decorations and buffet

Mama to be and me

Work girls and I at Olive Garden for my birthday lunch

Today Adam and I are going to go pick out a Christmas tree and get it all set up...Since I am heading to Vegas for a month on Jan 3rd for work, I wanted to get it as soon as I could so I could enjoy it! Meatball subs for dinner, tree decorateing and Christmas music sounds like a great Sunday to me....and a little football. I'm watching the Vikings game while bloggins....we're winning!!! Finally...after firing Chili, I'd say it's about time!

May you all have a wonderful holiday season, and hopefully not forget the reason for the season! :) Happy Sunday!

Even the Pups need a little Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving :)

It's badger football time...

And boy was it cold! The game was fun to go to, despite the frigid rainy weather. I think it took a good 2 hours to warm up after the game. It was a blow out..I with Wisconsin beat Indiana by like 60 points...seriously crazy. We had a great time, hanging out with friends, going to dinner with Adam's grandma, and even enjoying some football!

And now I'm gearing up for a 2 day work week, my birthday, Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, Abbey's baby shower I'm throwing, and a day filled with Christmas tree hunting and decorating...and I can't wait :)

New Day

I failed. Again. Sorry! Life just gets so busy and I continuously push off blogging. I will change it. Maybe. At least I'll try. Deal?

Life has been pretty good lately. Busy as a bee, but loving every moment! It's a very busy week this week, I have 2 classes in town for work, so it's some long days and late nights. But it's all worth it because Adam and I are going to Madison this weekend to go to a Badgers game. Yes, I'm not a Badger fan, but I thought it would be a fun weekend for us, and with the Gopher's being a horrible team, I figure I can take a small hiatus and be a Badger fan, for a day. However, you will never hear me utter being a Packer fan...mark my words. As bad as the Vikings can get, I won't be their fan. As much as Adam can try and persuade me :)

With my birthday coming up, work, Thanksgiving, Christmas and getting ready for my month in Vegas, it's going to be a busy couple of months. Hopefully I can keep up on blogging, but I can't make any promises.

Every time...

Every time I say I'm gonna blog more, I end up going weeks with out writing anything! I'm not doing a very good job sticking to my word! It's been busy, we just booked our tickets for my month long excursion to Vegas. I leave Jan 3rd and get back Feb. 3rd. It's going to be long, but it's an experience not everyone can have, so I'm thankful. Just a long time to be away :( As long as everyone has skype, I'll be a happy lady!

Adam and I went to an old co-worker's wedding on Saturday. Here is a picture form it:

It was a second marriage, and they are just the neatest people. They wrote their vows, and they were so beauitful, you could just tell how much they had grown together and how deep their love went. Inspiring. And it was a GEORGEOUS day. 80 degree weather, outside on a golf course in Wisconsin in the fall, just beautiful scenery!

I'm off to shower, read a little (I need to finish the book i'm reading by tomorrow because our book club meets), and then head to bed. I think I'll make some tea, I'm not feeling so good. Hopefully just lack of sleep, and not another bug coming on!

Ramblings

And it's almost the beginning of another week! Man time flies. Well I guess when you work about 15 hour days both Friday and Saturday, it doesn't really feel like a weekend! Only one more weekend of the madness and I won't really have another weekend to work until the month I spend in Vegas in January!

The picture above is Adam and I at Wicked last week. We went with my parents and it was great. I'd seen it before, and loved it, and I think everyone else loved it as well...well maybe not my Dad, I looked over a few times and he was sleeping! Yes, sleeping! haha.

Just have to share a quick little tid bit from the week. I came down with a cold on Tuesday and just felt awful. I went home from work early on Wednesday, changed into some sweats and just laid in my bed with the lights off. Around 7pm I hear a knock and my bedroom door (which kinda scared me because all my doors were locked and I didnt' think my roommate was home). In walks Adam with a bag of chicken noodle soup and the 2nd dvd of Glee that just came out! Major brownie points were earned! He stayed and chatted for a bit, saw I could barely function and then told me he was going to tuck me in, turn on the dvd to watch and leave so I could get better. And it worked, because I'm feeling much better now :) Ok..enough braging....just made me think that there might really be some good guys still left out there!

Off to a busy week ahead filled with late nights and early mornings at work, dates with my boy, girlfriend get togethers and enjoying the fall weather!

Just when you think it's slowing down..

It gets crazy busy again! Work has been so busy lately and will continue through September! We are hosting alot of our clients and having them in town for classes. We had a big one last weekend, another one this weekend, then one more next weekend and one that goes the next week. So it's a busy September...can kinda say i'm excited for October when it will slow down and fall can begin! I do think running around crazy so much has run me down....today I got a hit like a ton of bricks with a cold, just instantly and now as I type, I have a pounding head ache! Gotta love the change of seasons.

I am excited for fall though, apple cidar, apple orchards, pumpkins, hayrides :) Fun stuff!

I am excited for Thurday of this week....my mom, dad, Adam and I are going to Wicked!!!! So excited, I love that play and I'm the only one that has seen it.

Well I hope you are all doing well...more to come. I promise I'll update more frequently...hopefully.

New York

New York...concrete jungle where dreams are made of!

Well we're back!! New York was a great trip. We had awesome weather the whole time so we walked ALOT! Our hotel was in Soho and we were .5 miles from china town so we did a lot of shopping.

The first day we had a little trouble, Nic's name was spelled wrong on her ticket..she was known as Nicloe, so that was a hassle to get through but she made it! After we got there we went to Little Italy for an AWESOME lunch...loved little italy, it had amazing food and was so cute! Then we walked around, took a little nap and headed to Times Square.


The next day we were able to go on a double decker bus and take a tour of the city. It was nice because we could hop on and hop off at different stops, so it was much cheaper than taking cab rides everywhere! Here we are in central park. We walked around for a little bit, had some ice cream and wandered back to the bus stop. We went to a broadway play that night called "In the Heights". Jordin Sparks was one of the main characters, and she was awesome. The play was so so good and it was even more fun to see it in times square!

Here is our lunch in Little Italy the first day.

We took the Subway a few times, much cheaper that way. However a bit hard to figure out. The first time we took it I was trying to get us to the right place. Well I'm directionally challenged as it is, but we walked a good 8 blocks to the subway station, took the wrong train, and ended up taking it back the 8 blocks to where we started! haha, needless to say, I wasn't exactly in charge of that anymore.

We took the ferry out to Liberty Island to see the statue of liberty. We packed in quite a few minutes in times square and even took a night tour through downtown and over the Brooklyn and Manhatten bridges, which was so cool....pictures don't do that city justice!

I am happy to be home now though. I don't think I could ever live in New York...too much hussle and bussle, I like to be able to sit back and relax. And see some lakes and trees....I like it here in Minneapolis, it's a city, but it's still relaxed!

This week is pretty busy with work, which is nice because I'm getting into the swing of things now! I'm looking forward to going to the Tim McGraw concert at the state fair with my sister on Saturday, seeing some girlfriends on Friday, and just relaxing on Sunday....and hopefully taking Tuck to the dog park if it's nice, since it's almsot Fall soon winter will be here and we won't be able to go outside anymore!! Adam is out of town on a week trip with a few friends to Glacier in Montana, climbing some mountains and doing some camping, so I'll be excited when he comes back next week!

Have a great week :)

Busy...

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks! I put my 2 weeks notice into Mintahoe and my last day was last Friday. It was kind of a weird feeling, even though I was ready to go, it was my first job after college so it was bitter sweet. It's hard to go from a place where you are an expert and know everything to having to learn everything new again.

I spent the last couple weekends, remembering what it was like to have an entire weekend with out work! It's Amazing! My friend Robyn and her boyfriend and his son and Adam and I went out onto the Boat. It was a bit of a cloudy day, but we had a lot of fun. Between the water skiing, tubing, football and laughing, we had a blast.

I was given 4 tickets to Valley Fair so Adam and I, my sister and her friend Natalie, hit the amusement park last Saturday. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful day! I hadn't been there in years, so it was so much fun to go on all the rides and hit up the water park. I felt like a kid again!

(not the best pictures, we were sweaty and gross at this point...or maybe just me)! haha

And here are a few pictures of my last day at Mintahoe with my friend and co-worker, Robyn....

Which brings me to this week. I started my new job at Starkey Laboratories (a hearing aid manufacturer) on Monday. It's been quite a wealth of information I've had to take in this week between computer training, and just learning the company and products. I think I am really going to like it. I started workign on an event that is in San Diego at the end of the month. I won't go to that one, but I will travel more with this job...actually a month in Vegas is coming up in January! I think it will be a great experience! Plus the Events team I'm a part of (there are 5 of us), all seem to be great girls, right around my age, and I'm already having a blast with them.

Next week my sister, mom and I are going to New York, so I'm getting really excited for that :)

And it's a Brand New Day....

I can finally share the great news I refered to in my earlier post. I got a new job!!! :)

I'm really excited. I will be working for a company called Starkey Labs Inc. It's a multi-billion dollar company that specializes in hearing aids. I will be part of their events team, doing everything from planning training and receptions for disbributors and clients, to incentive trips, galas, etc. There are 5 of us on the team and I really liked all of the girls that I would work with when I met them. I went through 4 different interviews...it was intense! So I gave my 2 week notice to my current company on Friday and will be starting the new job in just a few weeks. So there will be quite a few changes in the coming months!

Other awesome news, my mom, sister and I are taking a mini vacation before my sisters heads off to college and are going to NYC for a long weekend in August. I'm super excited, I went there when i was a freshman in college and am excited to go back. The hussle and the bussle of the city will be fun to show my mom and sister!

I also had a weekend with my friends celebrating...my friend Joe got married on Saturday (hence the pictures above from the wedding), then we went boating and celebrated my friends golden birthday on sunday....and threw in a few toasts to my new job. All in all, it was a fabulous last week and I'm excited for the new things to come!!!

Caution...Road Closed

This is what I saw all weekend! Apparently a large section of one of our major highways was closed for 3 days to be re paved. This was an essential piece of information that I should have known as I had a wedding on Saturday. I showed up 45 min late because of the backed up traffic and side roads. It was a mad house, vendors trying to get in, my staff trying to get in, a tour and a planning meeting all waiting for me, the lone holder of the key to the boat club. Minor detail. It was chaotic to say the least. But in true fashion we pulled it all off, short staffed and all :) Just another day with weddings, never just smoothe sailing! I was about 10 min late to the planning meeting I had with a client I had never met before (she was my co-worker who quit's client I was taking over). She was probably the most rude person I've ever met. Wow.....some people. No respect.

Other than that, it was a fun weekend. I met a couple girlfriends on Friday night for some wine on the patio....many mosquito bites later, we were completely caught up on each others lives and the gossip surrounding it! Pretty low key.

Fire Fly Lane

Some girlfriends and I recently started a book club. Most of us all really love to read, so while Abbey and I were in Seattle (well more like en route to Seattle on the plane), we hatched the plan to start a book club. We have a list of books to read for the entire year, and we meet each month to talk about one of the books. Our first one was last month, and really I think we talked about the book we were reading (Water for Elephants), maybe 10 minutes. The other 2 1/2 hours consisted of some wine, appetizers and girl talk. So this may just be an excuse to get together, but I really do love the whole idea behind it! Anyways, the book we are reading for July is caled "Firefly Lane" and I just finished it. I thought it was a really good book. The best kind of books are the ones that pull you into that world and you can just sort of envision how it all is. It's the story about 2 friends, whose friendship spans over 30 years and shows all the different life changes you go through. There were parts where of course I was crying, doesn't take much, and I'm sure if anyone saw me they would think I was crazy...I mean really when you read a book and cry no one knows whats going on, it's not like when you watch a movie and cry, at least then the outside audience can guess why you are crying! So me looking crazy aside, it was a page turner and I loved it. Those feel good, dramatic life stories are the best :)

Breathe.

Just Breathe. Take one moment at a time. I think that I forget that and take each moment for granted. And the sad part is that it really takes something tragic to open your eyes and make you see that. This past weekend one of my friends let me know that her dad's business partners had died unexpectedly, apparently he was loading a tractor on a flat bed and it fell, crushing him and killing him instantly. Things like this happen all the time all over the world, but until it comes into close contact with your world, we forget. To breathe in every moment and breathe out. Apperciate everything.

As crazy as my life has been lately, a lot of very good things have been happening, as well as some great ones in the works. I can't go into much detail now, but I'm sure soon I will try. Sorry to be so vauge :)

The 4th was great, a nice semi-relaxing weekend. Worked some of it, but I was able to enjoy some gorgeous fireworks right in the heart of down town minneapolis. Talk about beautiful as they reflect off the buildings and the echos they make bouncing off all of the tall buildings. I do love Minnesota :) Adam and I (yes the date I told you about a while back I went on, well as luck would have it, I'm still dating him...crazy for me, I know), took Tucker to the dog park on Saturday and he loved it. Swam and chased his ball for a good hour, and still full of energy! I swear he never quits....but that's why I love him, why just sit through life when you can have so much energy and bound through it?

More to come later, I'm off to a meeting then, hopefully having a low key night at home. I haven't been feeling well the last few days, so I'm hoping a little R& R will rejuvinate me!

:)

And it's official. I'm crazy.

Between working crazy hours and trying to have a social life

I've gone mad.

I tried locking my car with my phone the other day.

Tried paying with my lifetime gym access card.

Thought my area code was my zip code.

Many, many blonde moments this week :)

Twins Game!!!

Wow, the new stadium is AWESOME!!!! Yes, I am a bit biased because I love the Twins, but it's awesome. When you walk in and just see everything there is and to watch baseball outside is sweet! I didn't even care when a full glass of beer from the seats above us got knocked over and spilled all over us (mostly in my sister's hair)! It wasn't the nicest the day we went but I got my sister and I tickets for her birthday to see a game (I'll admit more selfishly than not, because I wanted to go), but it was a lot of fun. We went to the hard rock cafe before hand and then headed to the game. Here are a few shots from the night:

rally cap! didn't work, we ended up losing, but it was fun anyways!