Monday, January 31

Memoir Monday

This weekend wasn't exactly an exciting one, so I don't know how much fun this Memoior Monday is going to be.  But all in all, a nice, solid weekend.

1.) Friday night Mr. KU and I went to the Pat Green Concert with a few of our friends.  The concert was soo much fun!  He is a great, down to earth entertainer!  

2.) Saturday we spent the day DOING NOTHING.  Well, he played Tiger Woods Golf and I updated my blog.  (more to come I promise, I'm still finalizing a few things).  I literally sat in front of the computer, researching how to do new tricks, finding cool websites, looking for backgrounds, etc.  I'm almost done - let me know what you think so far!  I LOVE COMMENTS!

3.) Then Saturday night I watched the worst basketball game I have ever seen.  KState looked like a middle school team, you CANNOT win a basketball game shooting 25%.  The team is falling a part it seems and it's very disappointing.  I hope they can get their act together or KState may not see the NIT Tournament this year.

4.) And finally, I got to catch up with a great friend on Sunday evening for dinner.  We went to Blanc Burger and caught up with each others' lives.  

What did you do this weekend!

Saturday, January 29

New Blog

As you can see, I'm updating my blog again.  I'm trying some new things out, learning some cool tricks and finding some AMAZING websites that have free headers, post dividers, etc.  As soon as I am completely satisfied with the blog I'll let you know and share where I got all of this cool stuff!

Thanks for reading!

Decisions...Decisions....

Well, a few posts ago I asked if I was a boring person...I was kinda bored with my life and what I was doing.  So I took a few weeks to research and think about what activities I wanted to get involved in.  I have decided that I'm going to volunteer with the Susan G. Komen Foundation and be on the Race Committee.  Then, I am also taking on the responsibility of being the Social Advisor for the local Alpha Delta Pi chapter at KU! 

My mom and aunt are survivors of breast cancer and ever since my mom was diagnosed I've had this desire to help and with the organization, just never had the time (or made the time) to do it.  In my first meeting that I had I walked away feeling so much pride and love...I don't know its just so hard to put into words.  Its very moving. 
Don't worry - I will keep you up-to-date on these new adventures in my life.  I'm very excited to see what comes next!

Sunday, January 23

"OOHH I wanna dance with somebody..."

I wanna feel the heat with somebody! 

So...we went on an 80's Pub Crawl last night.  It was soo much fun.  We started off the evening bowling and then went to a few hole in the wall bars around Mission, KS.  We sang karaoke and danced to a lot of 80's song.  The DJ got a huge kick out of us. 

Shannon & Jeni at Mission Bowl

Sisters back in the 80's

Matt, Kat and Allie

Beth, Lish, Jess & Whitney - looking hot ladies!


80's were not a good look for me! :)


Wednesday, January 19

NO MORE SNOW!

SOOO...it's snowing again in Kansas.  I'm really getting tired of this weather.  We got pretty lucky so far by not having so much snow and now it has just been dumped on us!!  Last week we got 3-4 inches and tonight its looking like we are getting another 8-10 inches!!!  I shouldn't be so negative about it, I know...but this is just getting a little old.  I took a few pictures of Ellie outside playing in the snow and what the area around us is looking like.  I am just really hoping for a snow day!!!


Earlier today when I got home from work -- only about 2-3 inches...

And now we are up to 5-6 inches...

Yes I know she's pooping, but I couldn't get a good picture of her running around.  She was cold out in the snow with her new hair cut thanks to Grandma!


Both of my loves -- I think they are more in love with each other, than me! 


Monday, January 17

Memoir Monday

This weekend was soooo much fun!  Mr. KU and I got together with some friends and their significant others for a night away from KC.  We went down to Cottonwood Falls, KS and stayed at the Grand Central Hotel.  They have THE BEST steaks that I have ever had.  It was awesome!  There were about 20 of us that drove down from Lawrence/Topeka area to stay the night and have a really nice dinner.  

Its a very quaint hotel and restaurant - 10 rooms in total and we had the entire hotel booked.  After dinner and after the restaurant closed we were able to come down to the bar and just hang out for the evening without having to worry about driving to the bar in town.  Mr. KU helped run the hotel/restaurant and is still very close to the owner so we really got to run the place which was nice.  We didn't have to worry about disturbing any other guests.

We were also able to spend some time with Mr. KU's mom on Friday evening and see a couple friends of his from high school. 

Great weekend, with wonderful friends!  Here's some pics:

Mr KU's family business - Funeral Home


in our hotel room waiting for everyone to arrive

view of the dining room at the hotel

our room

Pee Wee

Petunia

Susan, Kristin and Jen hanging out after dinner

Quint & Brook

Patrick and Marlo

Monday, January 10

Memoir Monday

FYI - this will be a random post, couple odd ball things on my mind today...

I definitely have a case of the Mondays today!!  Mostly because when I woke up Lawrence, KS was covered in 3-5 inches of snow...NOT FUN!  I have to take I-70 about 20 minutes to Topeka each day and this morning it took me almost an hour!  I was driving 35 MPH on the highway when  I normally drive 75-80.  All in all I got to work safely and I have a lovely boyfriend who drove me home.  (for those that don't know yes, Mr. KU and I work together)

Also, as you can probably tell from some of my pictures -- I have braces.  Well, late last week I got my bottom braces on.  Not the most fun experience in the world, but I am on the home-ward stretch!  Hopefully only about 9-12 more months and I will be complete!  Perfectly straight, beautiful teeth!  I'm very excited for that day to come!  (and my bank account will be happy to not have to pay that monthly payment too!)

AND.....Mr KU has not seen me without braces or some sort of retainer in my mouth!  He loves me for me!  hehe  I can't wait to give him a big smile!!

I'm also glad Monday is over because that means I only have 4 days to the weekend!!!  I'm looking forward to The 2nd Annual Strong City Trip with about 20 friends from work....fantastic food, crazy times and great friends!  Pictures will be posted next weekend.

Have a fantastic week!

Thursday, January 6

Do I lead a boring life?

My answer would be yes.  And I can say that pretty confidently.  Yes, I have a lot of weddings to go to, friends to see on the weekends because of showers, bachelorette parties, birthdays, etc.  And by no means is this post about me putting those events down or making them seem unimportant, because they are.  I value my friends and I value their special events going on in their lives and I feel very blessed to be a part of them, but at the same time I'm tired of doing something for everyone else in my life.  I want to be involved, do something for me, for the community, something that I can value about myself.  My friend Miss Atlanta teaches Yoga, is involved in the community, leadership councils, honestly her list goes on; another friend of mine is involved in JR League, another friend went back to school to be a teacher and follow her dream and it is inspiring me!!

Another reason that I'm having this revelation is because I've caught up with a few friends lately and the common question is "What else do you have going on?"  And to be perfectly honest, I dont' have anything going on besides work, working out (sometimes) and hanging out, veggin' out at home. 

BORING!!!!!!!!!! 

So, I'm looking into a couple options and I will keep you posted on what I decide to do, but I've been thinking about this for a while now and I feel like I finally got a good swift kick in the a$$.

I either want to look into being an advisor  at the local college for my college sorority - Alpha Delta Pi.  I just don't know how much time this will actually require and I don't have all the time in the world to devote. 

I also received an email today from the Susan G Komen Foundation in KC and they are having an Open House for people that are interested in volunteering and helping with the race in KC.  This is something that is very dear to my heart because my mom and aunt are both survivors of breast cancer and this would be my way of giving back to them, and giving back to the community.

So I'll keep you all posted.  But I'm tired of saying I'm going to do something, saying I'm wanting to get involved in something and then never doing anything about it.  So, it has been posted -- its up to you my friends (and not to sound corny) to hold me accountable.

Sunday, January 2

Updated Blog

Very quickly - I updated my blog design for the new year.  Needed a fresh start and a new design.  Hope you like it!  Let me know what you think.

Pampered Chef Bridal Shower

I am honored to be the maid of honor for my best friend, Miss Atlanta (soon to be Mrs. Atlanta).  Since she lives in Atlanta we (the other bridesmaids and I) hosted a Pampered Chef Bridal Shower for her while she was in KC with all of our KC friends.  It was so much fun to spend the day preparing with Mrs. Ruby -- cooking, catching up and decorating the house.
the before look of the food table

yummy beer bread

Maid and Matron of Honor

Plates and Silverware - pretty purple!

beautiful food table

sangria with cupcakes

delicious cupcakes
So about the time that we had everything set up, I got a phone call that our PC lady was in the hospital and her sister was going to host the shower for us -- this was about 6:45pm, when the party was supposed to start at 7:00pm (this was the hiccup that I talked about in a previous post).  And since I'm just an A-Type personality, I was in complete freak out mode.  I wanted everything to go perfect and I was scared that it just wasn't going to be that way.  But all in all it worked out great, Miss Atlanta got some wonderful gifts, the food was delicious and people had a great time.  We played a few games (pictures below) and most of us, got to catch up with my fabulous friends and spend time with people I haven't seen in a while. 
Miss Atlanta w/ some of her bridesmaids

3 best friends!

at the shower

Miss Atlanta w/ her gift from the bridesmaids - GO CATS!

more girls at the shower

in the middle of the game - every time she answered a question incorrectly she had to stuff her mouth with marsh mellows.

everyone at the shower

yummy fruit pizza we made as part of the Pampered Chef demonstration

It was a very successful shower with great friends and family!  If you ever want to host a Pampered Chef shower, let me know!