September 2, 2014

Birthday Celebrations

Turning 34 was just as great as I thought it would be.  A full weekend of friends, good food, booze, football, Harley riding… so much activity that I am going to have to split my weekend re-cap into two posts.

Friday:

Considering the cards and the giant bottle of Vodka I received from co-workers, it is very apparent that I’ve shared my love of Vodka a little too often. Maybe this is a sign I need to tone down the Vodka talk.  I swear I don’t drink but on the weekends or if out for Wednesday Night Bike Night.

But, let’s be honest.  A little Vodka never hurt anyone.  Clearly the fish agrees with me:

 

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Rewinding a little to let you know that Clint actually sent me these flowers to work on Monday.   Celebrating the Birthday Week, of course.

For 8 years he’s been sending me Harley Birthday Roses.  What a good man.

 

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For the record:  black spray-painted roses STINK!

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I took half day vacation on Friday and was able to meet up with my Mom and Grandma for lunch at the Olive Garden.   Wine, girl talk and good food with two ladies I just adore.

 

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Parking lot selfie in the glaring sunlight.  Could we squint a little more? 🙂

After lunch I treated myself to some girlie pampering before meeting up with a group of friends at Kona Grill for sushi and drinks.  I opted for the private room in order to be able to chat with everyone equally.  Thanks to our awesome waitress for taking a group photo for us!

It may or may not have taken multiple takes to get a decent shot. Boys tend to misbehave when the camera comes out.

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Lot’s of sushi, calamari, martini’s, vodka <— ya, that was me, and laughs were had.

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Poor Luke.  The victim of Jade’s great ideas.   “I’ll buy you a beer if you eat this Wasabi with no water… for a solid minute”

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For the record:  He did it.

After Kona we went up to the 21st Saloon to close out the night low-key.

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Top left/clockwise:  Kayla and I -> when boys take selfies -> me, Trena and Linds -> Clint and Jade storytime.

It was a perfect ending to a great Birthday.

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Cheers!

Stay Tuned for Saturday and Sunday recaps coming soon!

August 29, 2014

Gonna Party Like It’s My Birthday

Fist Bump

 

Fist Bump, y’all!  

Today’s my Birthday!

 

Clearly, I knew what was up even back then.

 

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Thirty Four

Three Four

I don’t care how you say it or how you write it.  I freaking LOVE the thirties.   Life is good here.

Life.  Is.  Good.

Birthday’s have always been a big deal.   Ya, sure… it might be a little self absorbed, conceited and maybe a little self-loving of me to post about my own Birthday…

But hey!

It’s My Birthday.  I love Birthday’s.

And, if you gave me a crown – I’d probably wear it.

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My life began on August 29th, 1980.

 

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How gorgeous is my mom?  I mean come on!  She just gave birth!

 

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And my dad.

Thanks, mom and dad!   Happy Birthday to you, too!   Today marks a pretty significant day in your lives as well. 🙂

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I always remember my birthday’s being a pretty big display.

 

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And I loved all of it, of course.

 

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I was spoiled rotten.

 

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But, loved by many.

 

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I found quite a few Birthday pics from my childhood and teens and oh my.

The teenage years?  Oy.  The hair.  The clothing.  The glasses.

Ya, I’ll be saving those for a more significant milestone.  Like 40.   Or 50.  Or maybe never.

Until then, I am going to say:

CHEERS to 34!

 

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Can’t wait to see what it has in store.

 

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August 26, 2014

Lake of the Ozarks- Girls Trip – June 2014

Lake of the Ozarks.

It’s a little slice of heaven for this city dwelling girl.

I’ve been to the Ozarks several times throughout my life, thanks to our good friends Jason and Amanda living down there, however, this time a Girls Trip took me back.

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Girls Trip ~ Lake of the Ozarks ~ June 2014

Thursday June 19th- Jess, Joey and I were scheduled to take off from Omaha.  Erin and Lega -from Des Moines.

Our goal?  Leave town at noon.

In true woman form – the Omaha crew left late.   Like 1:30 late.   A trip to the bank was necessary because SOMEBODY had poor planning skills.   Ahem, Jess.  😉

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This bank video screen cracked me up.

Ok – I’ll admit I had a part in that too.  Stuck at work on the phone.  What’s a girl to do?  And we had to give the pups some serious love before leaving them behind.

Once on the road, a lot of singing, snacking, face-timing the other car and absolutely  ridiculous story telling was had for the next 6 hours.  Road trips are far more fun with friends.

First stop: our weekend home, courtesy of Jessica’s cool parents.

First on the agenda:  a cocktail and time on the dock to check out the scenery.

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Second stop:  The grocery store.

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They might kill me – but I think their faces are priceless.

We attempted to get everything we could possibly need for Thursday-Sunday.  Wouldn’t think that’d be too hard, right?

Wrong.

Our theme for the weekend:

On Vacay, Zero Worry, Alcohol, Relax, Kick back, Suntans and Smiles

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We ended our first night sitting outside on the patio with drinks, food and good ol’ girl talk.  A perfect start to a perfect weekend.

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Friday morning I was the first to wake up.  Typical me – up at the crack of dawn.

What was a girl to do when the rest of the house was sound asleep?  A bloody mary, magazine and some quiet time on the dock of course!

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The rest of the weekend pretty much went like this:

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Seriously – had the BEST time with these chicks.

I hope we make this a tradition and maybe even stay an extra day.

Good friends, new friends, forever memories.

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…and stupid sayings that only we can understand

#BRS4EVA

Cheers!

August 25, 2014

Monday Motivation – Keeping the Momentum

stay motivated

 

Remember when last week I made the statement that I was taking back my life and creating an equal work/life balance?

Well, I did it.

The gym and I have made amends.   It kicked my ass – I was sore – and it was great.

That gym and I?  We are becoming BFF’s again.

If you remember, Monday morning I got my butt up before 5am and ran to the gym, lifted and ran back home.

The rest of my week in fitness looked a little like this:

Tuesday

4:23am – Alarm

5:00am – Upper weights before class

5:30am – Taught the new Round 60 TurboKick

4:45pm – Taught again!  TurboKick Round 60

Wednesday

4:35am – Alarm

4:55am – 1.25 mile run to the Gym – Lower Weights – 1.25 Mile run back home

Thursday

4:23am – Alarm

5am – Lunges, Situps

5:30am – Taught Insanity

4:45pm – Taught a second Insanity

Friday

4:45am – Alarm

5am – Slow run 1.25 mile run to the gym – That hill kicked my bootay.   Upper weights – 1.25 mile run home.

Saturday

8am – Subbed for a gal at the Y.  Offered Insanity to a class of 14!

 

My nutrition was slightly better last week.  Sugar is still a huge deal for me.  And Diet Soda.  They are a real life struggle.  It’s a deep love the three of us have.

The weekend didn’t go so well in the nutrition area.  A lot of booze, pizza, burgers, cookies… you get the picture.   It’s summer.  I have a lot of fun.  One step at a time.

 

Goals This Week:

Fitness –

  • Make the gym every morning M-F
  • Add an early Saturday morning distance run of at least 5 miles. (which is a LOFTY goal considering Friday is my B-day and we have plans that involve liquor that evening)

Nutrition –

  • Add in a few more glasses of water each day
  • Cut back on the sugar Monday – Thursday.   What about Friday, you ask?

It’s my birthday!

I eat frosting on my birthday.

It is straight up ILLEGAL not to.

 

Cheers to staying on track, keeping the momentum going and accomplishing new goals.

 

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