Race for the Cure

April 18, 2009: Dad, Daniel, Ed, Karen, Kevin, Kathy and I participated in the 18th annual Race for the Cure. It's such an inspirational and eye opening time for me. Not only have I known people of many ages that have been fought breast cancer first hand but I lost my mom to a 7 year battle with it. Unfortunately my mom was never able to take part in the event due to her gout etc but she would be amazed by all the love and support given to such a great cause. It was great to hear Indianapolis is the 2nd largest Race for the Cure. I am still researching to figure out who #1 is. Indianapolis had a great turnout of 42,000 + not to mention we couldn't have asked for better weather. I plan for many more years to come to take part, donate etc to Racing for the Cure to breast cancer. I am determined one day they will have it all pin pointed down to a science.

Seasons!!!

As you all know I was born and raised in Texas until I was eight years old. When I moved to Indiana I had no idea what seasons really were or what to expect for that matter but sitting here thinking and yearning warmth it made me realize there is something I love about each and every season.

Fall: the changing color of the leaves, carving pumpkins (thanks karen for the introduction), hot apple cider, running around in a sweatshirt, watching lexie chase the falling leaves, bonfires so you can roast marshmellows

Winter: skiing, snuggling up by the fireplace watching movies, snow, watching lexie frolic in the snow, baking, christmas trees and decorating, traveling for our annual ski trip, hot tea, sitting inside starbucks chatting while sippy on chai-tea lattes

Spring: pretty flowers blooming, watching the grass turn green, long walks, the warmth of the sun, sitting outside at scotty’s brewhouse, working in the yard, knowing i don’t have to wear a wintercoat

Summer: cookouts, canoeing, anything and everything you can do outdoors, tanning, laying out by the pool, sitting outside at scotty’s brewhouse (this is a mutli-season activity), sun tea, taking lexie to the dog park, flip flops, driving with the windows down and sunroof open, watching the fireworks on the lake

Although this has been a longer than long winter I truly do enjoy the change in seasons.... Now back to thinking of the warmth :)

5 Things I Am Yearning To Do

1. Ride In A Hot Air Balloon: I just think it would be amazing floating up in the sky looking down at all the amazing sites. I loved parasailing when I did it in Hawaii.

2. Visit Chicago: I want to take a day or two or three preferably when the weather is at it's best and explore the sites, museums etc. I have driven through it a time or two but never have had the time to enjoy what Chicago has to offer.

3. Ride In A Nascar: For my dad's birthday, Dan and I got Dad a pass to ride around any Nascar track of his choice and race the car. Well I would like to do one less than that and just be a passenger :)

4. Travel to Russia: I had the opportunity my junior year in high school to meet a girl from Russia and from that point on loved learning about Russian culture. I would love to see the castle where the Romanov's lived.

5. Partake In More Cancer Fundraising: Every year I do Race for the Cure in Indianapolis and donate to Make A Wish but this year I am reaching out to help donate to Texas 4000 and Race for the Cure Nashville. It's a near and dear cause to my heart - it's something I never get tired reading and or talking about.

Nickelback, Pure Romance

Wow, this weekend has been on the go since I got off of work Friday at noon. Ed and I went with his friends Jeff & Kristen to go see Nickelback in Lexington. The opening acts were Seether and Saving Abel. All were amazing but Nickelback really stole the stage. They had breathtaking pyrotechnics and lighting effects.

On Saturday I had got tickets for Ed to have a guys night out to go see Cedar Rapids vs Indianapolis Ice at Conseco Fieldhouse. So I took that night to be with the girls. It actually ended up being a whole day to be with the girls - dress shopping for Kel's wedding to a Pure Romance Party @ Angie and Colleens. If you don't know what Pure Romance is you will have to google it and check out a party. But remember to have an open mind. It's truly a fun evening for the girls.. Then afterwards we went out for drinks. I truly had a blast.

Now it's relaxing and catching up on laundry. It appears to be another crazy busy week. I'm most excited about getting my mom's quilt this week. Dan's friend is a quilter and after my mom passed away collected articles from her closet to make 3 blankets for Dan, Dad and I so we could always be close to my mom. I think it's going to be a shadow box item for sure :)

10 Things I Love

1. My amazing family and friends. They truly have been there for me through the thick and the thin. They are the ones I can count on for a good laugh or a good cry.

2. My puppy dog Lexie. She is non-athletic, clumsy and lovable. I couldn't imagine my life without her. She is a golden who can't retrieve.

3. Ed, my boyfriend, he's truly amazing!

4. I love my job, I can't always says it's 100 % great, but I love helping others and also getting to use my degree in dietetics is an added bonus.

5. I love the seasons. I will have admit summer is my all time favorite - but every season is special to me in its own way.

6. Traveling has always been something I have loved. I love sight seeing and venturing out to hole in the wall restaurants to eat. I would love to visit all 50 states in my life time!

7. I love my hobbies of reading, scrapbooking, working out, skiing, canoeing and the list continues. I don't use the word "bored" in my vocabulary because hobbies keep me from ever being bored.

8. Music is something I never really got into until the past 5 to 10 years and now I love it. I am not musically talented and all I can play is the radio and my Ipod. I have became so addicted to my Ipod that I can spend hours on Itunes searching for old stuff I listened to in high school to up and coming artists.

9. I love fashion. I am completely addicted to fashion shows, magazines and cute boutiques. (Will admit it all started with a Coach purse my mom and dad got me for my birthday)

10. I love life. You are only given one and it's yours to choose what you want to do with it and if you live it to it's fullest. Unfortunately my mom was taken too early in my and many others eyes but while she was here she loved her life and never took anyone or any day for granted. It's taught me to not sweat the small stuff and truly focus and what matters.

Valentines Weekend

After a pretty stressful and tiring week I was looking forward to a relaxing, fun weekend.

Friday after I finished running errands I met Kevin, Karen, Katie and Tanner out at BW's for dinner. It was a fun time of unwinding and socializing. Saturday proved to be just as much fun as Friday night. We made dinner from the fixings we bought at Fresh Market (highly recommend this place and I will definitely be returning). Together Ed and I made cheesy hashbrown casserole from the Cracker Barrel recipe and he pan fried our beef steaks stuffed with portabello and mozzarella. We ended the evening relaxing in the hot tub drinking wine.

Today I got to go see Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco at Conseco Fieldhouse. (Ed's Valentines gift to me) This is the second show of this type I have seen live and loved it. The first show I saw was Mystere in Las Vegas. To see their strength and acrobatic skills just amaze me.

Overall no complaints about this weekend, honestly I couldn't have asked for anything better.

On a side note, not sure if you all are interested in podcasts but if you get a chance and like to hear topics of every genre along with music from http://www.garageband.com/ check out http://www.manfb.com/.

News!

Since I have last blogged I got some exciting news in regards to my job. As you know I have been making the hour commute to and from Marion for going on 6 years. And of course this year with Indiana's (Colorado) like weather - my commutes have been extremely long and tiring. In December at my all state conference I received word that Ashley (the Kokomo supervisor) decided not to return after maternity leave -- leaving Kokomo's Supervisor position vacant. I honestly didn't get my hopes up because I have applied for the position 2x before and wasn't offered because they 1st had to fill my position in Marion... My boss asked if I was interested (umm heck ya I was) so I asked for a transfer. It was granted in January and I am hoping to be completely switched over in the next two months. With the transfer I will be in charge of the largest caseload in my agency (our agency consists of Howard, Cass, Clinton, Tipton, Hamilton and Grant Co) as well as the most employees. I am excited for the new challenges that await! Until then - it's training, organizing and seeing clients!

Perfect North

On Saturday the 24th, Ed and I took a mid-day/night trip to Perfect North which is in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Actually while we were there we didn't gamble we hit the slopes. Overall is was a great day with no injuries. I did manage to fall off a ski lift (luckily before it was in the air - ha). For Ed's second time skiing he did really well - you would have never known he was a newby.. Attached are some pics from our latest adventure.....

Hobbies

Well it's Saturday night and I just finished Twilight. I'm excited to start the second book of the series New Moon. The author of the books Stephenie Meyer has done a great job capturing my attention in her literature. The only other authors that have been able to captivate me their stories are Laurene McDaniels and Janet Evanovich (thanks Jonna for introducing me to her books). Not to mention I love when they make movies out of books because I love comparing them.

Tonight I also went to Archivers which is a scrapbooking store in Castleton. If you are a scrapbooker and have never been there check it out - it won't disappoint you. I was really sad when Scrapbook Corner closed it's doors because it was close and convenient. Well tonight while I was in Archivers I got a Shutterfly digital scrapbooking kit. I am overly excited to try it out. First though I need to take more pictures!

With it being so cold out right now their isn't much to do but ski. But in Indiana skiing in temps lower than the 30's means you are skiing on ice which we all know is Shalimar language equals bad news bears, haha! So for now I will settle for indoor activities!

And I can't end a blog without posting a fun picture of what Lexie likes to do in cold weather ;)

First Blog

CharLee inspired me to set up a blog. For those of you who don't know CharLee she is my cousin who is studying abroad for a semester. She has set up a blog so we could follow her adventures while she is there :)

Previously I have left blogs on myspace but don't post very often on there so I thought this might be a great outlet for my friends and family to see the happenings in my life :) Don't get too excited - I try to leave a drama free one! Ha! So check back periodically and feel free to leave comments.

Hope everyone is having a great 2009 thus far!