a BOATLOAD of pictures

It has been a Monday and a half, y'all. It just seemed like the day was never ending, every time I would catch up on emails and ran to the bathroom or to refill my water, I'd come back and would have 10 new emails waiting. People were a lil cray-cray today and I so wanted to just propose a midday happy hour and we could all throw in the towel.

Alas, we did not hit up the bars and the day wrapped up. Today was supposed to start my 10k training (first 10k on April 29-- woo!) but my right knee did this catchy thing all day and I thought it'd be better to start off on fresh legs than, you know, bust my knee on Day 1 of the program. So I did what any gal would do-- came home, put on my PJs, dozed off for a half hour, and made a dinner of a sweet potato and Morningstar Farms Buffalo Chicken strips. They may not be the best thing for you, but on a night when you're just cooking for yourself, it's ideal/easy/quick.

I haven't posted pictures in FOREVER... so here's a big ole picture post. Because it's truly been so long, I'm gonna separate by month. Yes, I have THAT many pictures. With commentary, of course. If you don't care, I'll see ya soon. If you do, stick around-- catch up with me, won't you?


DECEMBER
the month of my birthday (26, holy cow) and home to texas for christmas!

boyfran and me out for my birthday with friends! love him.


birthday cake! they sang to me! i hated it... but loved it.


birthday drinks with the ladies.


my first night home, mama and i had wine. LOTS of wine.


my sweet (second) cousin jack.


i just love him to pieces-- my little guy starts kindergarten this august!


carter, jack's little brother and my birthday buddy. love that sweet face.


oh, just some melted snowman cookies.


someone was LOVING the snowman cookies. "marshmallows! and sugar cookies! those are my favoritest things in the world!"... and then he bounced off of the walls.


our sweet lucy... with the donkey across the fence from our backyard. my parents have named him jack. he hollers when he doesn't get attention. they feed him carrots. lucy is jealous. i swear they could have their own tv show... i have no words.


girls night at carol's = snacks and sweets and wine... so much wine.
amanda marie, my absolute most bestest friend.


mid-evening photo shoot. we're fun.


yvonne, carol and amanda-- they've been my girls since SIXTH GRADE. do that math-- sixteen years. that's what you can call "in it through it all" friendships.


it makes sense that this picture is blurry.
the next day was christmas eve. i was in a bad, bad place.


lucille was beat. love her.


FEBRUARY
friends come to visit and little man turns ONE!

another one of my bffs came to visit me in boston while here interviewing for residency programs. yep, she's a smarty-- SHIVANI!


we trekked all over boston and back and took lots of touristy pictures.



out to dinner in the north end-- lots of wine. as you can see, the place was hoppin'!


brian tagged along-- love him... again.


ending the night the best way possible-- at mike's pastry. love her and so glad she came!

And then... this guy, who is pretty much the highlight of our lives...

turned ONE YEAR OLD!

We drove from Boston to Baltimore on a Friday night... seven hours later, we made it. That was with no traffic, my friends. It was brutal. Saturday we spent the day with Little Man and then that night... the cookie workshop set-up:

(me with brian's older sisters, colin's mama is in the middle)

which would lead to this (times five trays)

Sunday morning, his actual birthday, I was up bright and early:

He was a busy little bee, helping mama and Uncle Bri put the sprinkles on his smash cake.


These two melt my heart. They had a little uncle/nephew time.


Once he was dressed, the birthday balloons arrived!


my little guy and his birthday balloon wreath! such a fun little project to do for him...


and he LOVED IT. He kept sticking one single finger in the open ends of the balloons-- adorbs.

uncle bri, aunt katie and little man colin!


he is his uncle's favorite.


walking with uncle bri-- one of my favorite pictures ever. love that toothy smile!


close up of my birthday wreath :)


MARCH
PW, runs and leprechauns

I met Pioneer Woman. No big deal. I might have gotten teary-- I can't help it.


I ran my first race of 2012, a 4 miler on St. Patrick's Day morning.


Much less peppy at the end than at the start of the race.


ANNNNND done.


After a healthy lunch of Taco Bell and lots of day drinking, we got ready to go out for the evening-- St. Paddy's Day!!


Please ignore the beer boxes and golf clubs in the background. I live with a boy. He golfs and bottles his own beer. I look the other way.


Happy St. Patrick's Day!!
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Warm weather, where art thou?

The temps in Boston hit 85 degrees last week. EIGHTY-FIVE. Since we've now dropped back down into the 40s and have had to resurrect our winter coats, today's Pinteresting Wednesday is dedicated to the Season of Summer. It feels like it's months away (and considering this is New England, it very well could be), but I'm going to just wish and keep my fingers crossed that it hurries on along and that the days of sporting skin-baring clothes in bright colors and evenings sipping Sam Summer at a table by the water are speedily on their way.

























Source: etsy.com via Katie on Pinterest









Happy Hump Day! Halfway to the weekend :)
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I believe...

I am 100% copying Miss Erin from Fleur de lis and Football because I truly cannot shake this severe case of writer's block I've been struggling with lately.

I believe...

... that a good hug and a kiss can turn a day around.

... that a good class of wine can also turn a day around.

... that when my day feels like it's absolutely gone to pieces and needs to just be over already, hearing my Mama's voice over the phone can make everything right again.

... in waking up on the occasional Sunday just to shower, do my hair, and put clean PJs back on for the remainder of the day.

... that date nights with my man are necessary. Whether we stay in with grilled cheese and soup or go out for a fancy dinner, it's just taking those few hours once a week to reconnect.

... that a true best friend is someone who you can go days without speaking to but when she picks up the phone, you pick right back up where you left off. And she will always be the person who gets your Friends/Gilmore Girls references.

... in girl time with friends. There are few things that a combination of best friends, drinks and junk food can't remedy.

... in girl time with myself. All ladies deserve and need to send the boy away for a few hours so you can take a hot shower, exfoliate and moisturize, put a mask in your hair and on your face, wear goofy moisturizing socks, catch up on a trashy Lifetime movie and casually flip through a stack of glossy mags... while Pinning.

... in enjoying my favorite things without guilt. Not daily, not even weekly. But when I'm home and my Mama makes sweet tea and chicken fried steak, you better believe I'm going to eat it and ENJOY it. Cheesecake on my birthday? Sign me up! Margaritas, enchiladas and chips with queso while in San Antonio? Move outta my way before I take you down.

... in fixing my hair, putting on my makeup, and looking put-together, even if I'm only going as far as the grocery store.

What do you believe in, my lovely ladies?
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Perspective.

Thursday, oh Thursday. You often delight me, being Friday Eve and all, but today you have already thrown some challenges in my face.

The weather outside is just nasty. We go the entire winter with hardly any winter weather and now, on the first day of March, the skies open: rain, sleet, occasional snow, and blow-you-over wind gusts have set up shop and are supposedly sticking around for the rest of the day. Honestly? I'd take the snow over the rain when it's this cold outside. Snow can brush away, swirl around you... rain just soaks. Anything and everything.

This delightful weather led to a challenging walk to my office this morning. A delivery truck pulled too far past the stop line at an intersection so the cross walk sign was completely blocked, so instead of walking my usual way, I headed face-first into the wind... and immediately became the person with the inside-out umbrella whom I'm always giggling at on The Weather Channel. The wind was blowing SO hard, I could hardly walk, my hood kept blowing off... it was rough. When I'd finally made it to my office and into the bathroom, I felt like I could just burst into tears. This was awful, just AWFUL (cue the Scarlett O'Hara dramatics). My hair had been just perfect, my eyes were perfectly shaded, my cheeks perfectly bronzed and now the stupid weather has just WRECKED it all.

Then I sat down my lunch bag full of healthy food for my breakfast/lunch/snacks today, and my fancy bag holding my Kindle and my iPhone, my wallet with my debit cards and spending cash, my traveling pharmacy with cold medicine, vitamins, and a prescription I had filled yesterday. I peeled off my warm and cozy down coat, my winter scarf and stepped out of my thick, protective winter snow boots that I bought for days just like this. As I looked in the mirror and primped to fix my hair and makeup, it hit me how awful I sounded (to myself, thank goodness nobody else heard the rants).

Sure, it stunk having to walk in the rain and get a little wet... but I was on my way to a good job with a wonderful company where I have great benefits and health insurance and a wonderful work environment. Yes, my hair poofed a little and I had a smudge of mascara on my cheek, but I had gloves to keep my hands warm, a heavy coat to protect me from the wind, waterproof boots to cover my feet. My lunch bag was heavy in my hand as I struggled to wrangle my umbrella and keep my hood over my head, but it was heavy due to being full of fruits and vegetables and splurges like Greek yogurt and canned seltzer water. This little moment, standing in a bathroom, staring into a mirror at my spoiled self, is what I like to call a learning moment.

I have so much. I am blessed with so much and it took a cold, rainy day to open my eyes and see that rather than harping on the little negatives that were a part of my morning, I should acknowledge how lucky I truly am at the end of the day.

Especially on THIS day.

Three years ago today, a wonderful, kind, talented, intelligent, beautiful, amazing young lady lost her life in a very tragic way. She was out celebrating with her friends after she and several others received the news that they had passed the CPA exam. While walking home from the bars that evening, sober, she was struck and killed by a drunk driver. Lindsay was 22 years old.

Our moms have worked together for the past 23 years, so although we didn't necessarily grow up together, we grew up around each other. I remember the oddest things, like how she went through a period of time when she would only eat green beans. She was one of the people in this world who lit up a room just by passing through, with her warm smile and sparkling personality. And she danced-- oh, how she danced. When Lindsay performed, you could do nothing but watch in awe as this tiny person twirled and leaped and so gracefully moved across the stage.
She was set to graduate with a Masters in Accounting and her CPA certification from Texas A&M in May of 2009.

Today my heart breaks for her friends and her family, for so many people who were so blessed to have been touched by Lindsay's presence in their lives. Most of all, I pray for her mama. They were best friends in a way that only a mother and daughter can be, and I cannot even imagine what her mama has been through and still battles every day.

At 5:30 this evening, my mom and her coworkers, the people who all watched Lindsay grow up to be the amazing person that she was, are releasing balloons and observing a moment of silence in her memory. If you feel so inclined, take just a brief moment to send out a little prayer of strength for Lindsay's family today.


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It's not much, but it's something.

Do you ever get so far behind in blogging that you just have no idea how to get back into it? That would be where I am right now. My days and evenings haven't been supremely boring or anything, I just haven't really felt like sharing just to type some words and throw out to share with the blog world. I mean really, if I HAD done that, my blogs would read like this:

We made quinoa for the first time-- LOVES IT!

Brian is apparently growing a mustache for a bachelor party he's going to. When I stared at him in disbelief, he said he would be willing to compromise and just grow long sideburns. Lord, help me.

I changed bronzer-- LOVES IT!

Brian said on Saturday, immediately after I shared that I'd gone up a bit at my WW weigh-in, that he noticed the number of Ferrero Rocher candies (from Christmas, don't judge) were dwindling. And then I burst into tears. Because yes-- I have enjoyed a Ferrero or three on a handful of angst-ridden PMS days. Ah, well. We threw the tasty little suckers out.

See? Riveting, right?

So, to spare my lovelies from reading about mundane little details, and to not drive myself crazy in trying to think of good blog material, I took an unplanned blog break. Be patient-- I'm gearing back up, promise!

Hope all is well, my dears!
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