Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!  I love this holiday!  I love all the hearts, and cupids, and candy, and flowers!  I love an excuse to buy gifts for people (who doesn't like getting presents!) and I especially like surprising people!  So there is no reason for anyone to be crabby today - and if you are, go buy a bag of candy hearts and cheer up! =)

I had such a great weekend!  It started off on Friday night with going to Bonefish to celebrate David''s parents birthdays!  I just love the food at Bonefish (not to mention, they have a super fun martini list!) and I definitely did not leave hungry.  We had such a fun dinner and it was really a great night.  Emily took some good pictures of us, and I will post those at the end!

Saturday I had to work during the day and then I came home and took a quick nap.  I really love taking naps! When i woke up David had just gotten home from work and he started working on our taxes.  So, instead of sitting around, I decided to go to prairie life and workout for a bit.  After working out we went over to Patricias to see all the work they had gotten done on their house!  It's looking so good!!

Sunday was the best day of the weekend!  It started off with my parents getting home from hawaii.  They had been gone for 2 weeks, and i am SO happy they are home!  They had terrible flight delays, so I am just glad they made it home yesterday.  Then I had to work in the afternoon until 5:45.  I came home and got changed and then me and David went out to celebrate valentines day at Flemings!  He surprised me with flowers and we had the BEST dinner and drinks!  It was the most fun Valentines day and such a fun night!

Thanks for reading!
xoxo
kathryn

2.9.11

Is it weird that today I was walking to my car and I thought, "it seems warmer today!" and when I got in the car and looked at the temperature it said 12?!  Yep, I definitely thought 12 degrees seemed warm. ha ha.  It's almost comical that that can feel warm.  But compared to negative 20 - I guess 12 is warm. =)  

So, aside from my usual complaint about the weather and cold (perhaps in the summer I will be complaining about how hot it is?!  I can only hope!), things have been good!  Yesterday I had a hair appointment and I LOVE days that I get my hair done!  I love the feeling of fresh blond hair - it makes a 2 1/2 hour appointment not seem so bad when your walking out with pretty new hair!  Now those of you girls who read my blog probably can relate to this feeling, and understand why I couldn't go to the gym yesterday.  You have to get at least 2 good days out of a freshly blonde and blown out and styled hair do.  =)  I am sure my trainer will understand today when I tell him why I couldn't make it to the gym yesterday because I couldn't take a shower and ruin my hair.

After my hair appointment I ran a bunch of errands - got some cards and other random stuff for Valentines day, and then had a meeting to go to.  My friend Laura got me involved with a new young professional group that Heartland Family Service is starting.  I will keep you all posted on details of our kick off event if anyone else would like to get involved!

Today I'm not sure why I am tired, but I am.  I got up and had a meeting to go to over the lunch hour and then I went and picked up Subway for lunch and now I am home getting a few things done.  I have to run to the airport and pick up my cousin and aunt around 4:30 and then I am going to go to the gym.  

Ok, gotta go - we got a new washer/dryer a month ago or so, and I just did my first "delicate" load and it's finished. ha ha.  Hopefully my shirts turn out ok!  (they said hand wash only - obviously I am not going to actually hand wash my clothes - so hopefully my shirts aren't ruined!)  =)

Thanks for reading!

Kath  =)

2.7.11

Hey Friends!  Sorry for being absent again from the blog - I was sick all last week with a terrible cold and every free minute I had I was at home sleeping!  So let me catch you up on whats been going on!  Well, as I already said, I was sick with a terrible cold last week.  I was SO worried I was going to get David sick on top of it.  I literally was making him "Airborne" cocktails every time he came home.  Knock on wood - he has not gotten sick.  I would have felt so bad if he caught the cold, especially with how busy he is!  The most sleep he got in a single night last week was probably 4 hours.  That's partly why I thought he would for sure catch my cold - his immune system had to be working over time or something! =)  (or maybe it was my Airborne cocktails) ha.

So, not only was I sick last week, but I also had to babysit extra hours, had a bunch of hours at BBW, AND we got 8 inches of snow!  On a random note right now - as I type this blog post, I have the 10pm news on, and it says the current temperature is 2 degrees.  Awesome.  Last night for the Super Bowl we had my sister and Mike over, and my cousin Ande and her husband Adam.  I guess you could say its tradition we watch the big game together.  We didn't watch it together last year, but did the year before and it's always been so much fun.  She brought over a dip, and I made my mom's lasagna recipe and garlic bread and life was good.  (not to mention my freezer now has a good supply of frozen lasagna pieces in it! - One of David's favorite things to eat when he get's home late at night!).

Being sick last week also got me off to a bad start in my half marathon training.  Most training schedules I have found online say you should start training about 3 months out - so that would have put me at February 1st as the start of training.   Now, notice I say you "should" start your training 3 months out - last year I literally trained for 6 weeks before the race, but, I am trying to follow a better training schedule this time around!  So, today I was back at the gym.  Ran 4 miles - not record speed or anything, but felt good to officially kick off my training.  =)

I have a random question to ask any of my readers - do any of you eat greek yogurt?  I love eating yogurt and fruit for breakfast, and have wanted to try greek yogurt but need suggestions on what kind to buy.  I prefer to buy organic if possible, but am open to any suggestions - shoot me an email or FB message if you have any insight for me!

Sorry for all the random thoughts!
Thanks for reading!!
Kathryn  =)

Another 13.1

I am officially registered for the Lincoln Half Marathon on May 1st - have I lost my mind?  I think so.  This time around the emotions are much different than training for my first official 13.1 miles.  In case you are new to my blog, let me back up.  Last September I ran the Omaha Half Marathon.  My completion time was 2 hours and 21 minutes, and I couldn't be prouder of that finish time.  I have always been very athletic but never considered myself a "runner".  Over the last few years I have spent lots of time in Hawaii and have surrounded myself with friends who do marathons for fun and people who compete in Ironman's just cause they can - something must have rubbed off on me!  Maybe its peer pressure or the sheer fact that I wanted to be able to participate in their conversations and say "hey, I've done that too!" - and so the Omaha Half Marathon became a reality.  I don't really think I knew what I was getting into, but as I have said before it is one of the biggest accomplishments thus far in my life.  So why am I more nervous for my second 13.1 miles than I was last September???  The first time around my fears were simple - "I hope I can actually cross the finish line!", "I don't care what my time is, as long as I finish", "what if I have to pee while running!", "what should I wear?!", "is it possible I could be the last person to cross the finish line!" - you get the point.  I am laughing at these thoughts as I type them, but at the time they seemed like a BIG deal.  This time around I have all these questions answered - but a whole new set of questions and thoughts are racing through my mind.  The reality of the challenge is that no matter how experienced you are, and how many races you have run, there are always going to be doubts about yourself.  Here is what I do know, and what I am reminding myself - I am not racing for anyone but myself.  I can GUARANTEE you that when I cross the finish line this time around, even if I am in last place, I will be just as excited as the first place finisher.  Physically, I know from experience my body can handle 13.1 miles.  Mentally, I think I have a ways to go but that's what training is for - and friends and family are for.  I am so lucky to say that I am going to run my second half marathon with my sister in law Emily!  I couldn't have done it with out her the first time around and I hope to be a better support system for her this time around!
I will keep you all posted on how things are going!
Thanks for reading!
Kathryn =)

Emily Tricia, Kath, Dana and Jeff at the finish line of the Omaha Half Marathon

Me and Emily about the cross the finish line at the Omaha Half Marathon!!!

How many days til spring??

So I realize I write about the weather a lot, but since this is my blog I can write about what I want, and when I started writing on this blog I said I was going to write about what was on my mind - and, that's what has been on my mind!  So basically this weather is making me kinda stir crazy.  I now understand why people think we are crazy for living in this climate.  I am not sure why this year is different than other years (maybe because I spent most of last winter in Hawaii?).  This weather makes me crabby though.  I won't ramble on again about how much I hate the cold but I think I need to get to a warm climate ASAP!

Since the last time I wrote have been doing the usual - babysitting and working at bbw.  Last night though was SO much fun!  Me, my mom and sister went over to Zachary's for a wine and cheese night to celebrate Tricia's engagement!  There is nothing I enjoy more than drinking wine, eating appetizers, and having girl talk! ha ha.  I totally meant to take a picture of everyone to put on the blog and I forgot!  oops!  Well, the food was excellent - I pretty much ate their entire jar of salsa, it was delicious!  Laura's grandma made the salsa and it was sooo good!  Clearly we are a group that likes to eat (ha ha) so we had lots of cheese, and different dips, and even some pizza!  We sat around and talked wedding planning and then Tricia opened the engagement present that they got her and it was so nice of them!  They got her a wine decantur from pottery barn and a bottle of wine!  Such a thoughtful engagement gift and will be really fun to have at their new house!

On a super random note - is anyone else as obsessed with "pop chips" as I am???  I have been following Hungry Girl for a while now (if you don't subscribe to her emails, you really should! she has lots of good  healthy eating tips and recipes! - good cookbooks too!!) anyways, Hungry Girl has talked about pop chips for a long time and I had never bought them.  Well a few weeks ago I got some, and I am OBSESSED.  Probably one of my biggest diet downfalls is chips - I LOVE chips.  Any kind of chips really - I just love chips!  Well, Pop Chips can totally satisfy my chip craving!  So far I have only eaten the original kind because I think they are so delicious - but any recommendations on other flavors?

Thank you all for reading!!
hope your staying warm!
Kathryn =)

6-9 inches of snow!

Can you believe we got so much snow!!  I am typing this as I sit under a blanket, drinking coffee and david is out snow blowing the driveway!  He is the best!  I am not sure exactly how much snow we got last night, the news says 6-9 inches, but I will have to get the full report from David when he comes back inside!  I don't know about you guys, but I am so sick of this snow!  I actually think what I hate more than the snow and the cold is how dirty everything is.  I don't even want to put on nice jeans or a nice coat because I am paranoid its going to rub up against a dirty car!  It makes me kinda crazy to look at all the layers of dirt on my car too.  I kinda want to just go wash it to get it all off, even though the minute I pull out of the car wash it would be dirty again, it might make me feel better!

Lots of fun stuff going on!  Last night, me, Tricia, Mike and David went to the Rascal Flatts concert at the Qwest Center.  It was a blast!  They are great performers and I love going to concerts so it was a super fun night! They have so many songs that we all know and even did some fun cover songs.  We got down to the Qwest Center and got some cheeseburgers and beers - my idea of a perfect night right there! =)  Yesterday during the day (i guess I should back up), I went to a shower for Paige at the Macks house.  Paige is marrying David's cousin Pat in March in KC, and David is the best man.  The shower was hosted by David's mom and aunts and it had lots of good food and drinks!  I don't know about you guys, but I do love drinking Mimosas! =)  Between the bridal shower and the concert I came home and took a nap - I knew I would have more fun at the concert if I slept for a bit!  I was definitely right!

Other than that, I have been babysitting a lot and working at BBW.  Both have been going really well and keeping me REALLY busy.  Oh, one thing from last week I forgot was that we had a super fun sip n dip!  I think I have talked about sip n dip in previous blog posts but just in case I will again - we have a group of friends who get together about once a month and we sip (wine) and bring different dips to try!  Well, this last sip n dip was at our friend Kathy's house and it was an engagement celebration for Tricia! I will include a few pictures from that night!  They got a really cute "bride" hat for Tricia to wear and lots of good food to eat! Ok, will write more later!
Thanks for reading!
Kathryn =)

Tricia and Alyssa

Sip n Dip group

Sip n Dip group!

Toasting

1.16.11

Hey Everyone!
Lots of exciting things have happened since I last wrote - the most exciting being that Patricia found her wedding dress!!!  We had SO much fun the night we went to look and the dress she picked is PERFECT on her!  Of course as her older and very wise sister the dress she picked was the first one I saw when I walked in the store and said she "had to try on!".  I can't give you any more details on the dress because she wants to keep it  a secret, but I will tell you that it is absolutely beautiful and literally looks just like Patricia.  I guess I should back up a little bit - the night we went to Bridal Traditions we met my Aunt Laura and cousin Caroline there.  It was so fun to all be there and see Patricia try on different style of dresses.  After she picked her dress she tried on some fun accessories (which I also do not want to give any details about until the big day).  Then me and Caroline tried on a few bridesmaid dresses to get an idea of styles and colors.  We didn't pick the actual bridesmaid dresses because we got kinda tired and wanted to go get dinner.  So we all went to Pasta Amore for dinner to celebrate finding a dress and talk more wedding details of course!  We are going to look at wedding invites tomorrow morning so I will keep you posted on how that goes!

Aside from wedding planning been babysitting a lot during the day and working at BBW at night.  The semi annual sale has been going on, but luckily things have slowed down from the holidays.  We have started to get in new spring stuff and that has been super fun to see and help unload and stock.

I am still sick of the cold weather, and wish I was in Hawaii this winter.  I had a great golf lesson this week and really really want to play golf outside.  Hoping to get over to Hawaii soon!
Thanks for reading!
Kathryn =)