Finally...a Thanksgiving Recap!

Goodness gracious ladies...it has been a long time! I'm so sorry I have been gone for so long. Believe me...it was not intentional. I got a little sickly my last day in Colorado and have progressively gotten worse. It's just a cold...don't worry! No swine flue here...but I am exhausted, sinusy, and just plain old ick.

But I am determined to finally do my Thanksgiving recap! But first...my final day in Colorado! I spent the whole day with bro at work and he showed me around the campus. Too much fun!






My flight home was uneventful and I got to see my hubby so it had a happy ending. We (and when I say we...I mean I) spent Thanksgiving morning baking a pecan tart and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving at my parents' house. Matt's parents joined us and we had a lovely time. Family game night + lots of food + wine=the best day ever in my book.

I stayed way too late and only got about 2 hours of sleep before getting up for Black Friday. It was not. fun. at. all. Especially when I didn't buy one single thing for myself. But I stuck it out to watch my husband get great deals on tools and electronics. Fun, huh? Yeah. I'm a great wife. Period.

I napped and then enjoyed meeting up with Sonja from For the Love of Stilettos! So exciting! She and her husband came up from Jacksonville and it was so fun meeting them. I think our husbands bonded over sports...shocking :)

I can't wait to have a meet up somewhere warmer!! Isn't she the cutest thing ever? Forgive my grossness. Two hours sleep people...two hours.


The rest of our days in Indy were spent with family and friends and included lots of yummy food. It makes me super excited for Christmas time and more quality hours with people back home.

Since being home...I have been able to put away all of the fall decor, on the inside of the house at least. We are going to get our tree this weekend and I am beyond thrilled! It is the most wonderful time of the year you know!

Another Relaxing Day!

Greetings again from chilly CO! I hope everyone is having a wonderful short week of work and a lovely time preparing for the holiday season!

Yesterday I enjoyed a very relaxing day. I cannot tell you the last time I was able to get my workout done in the morning, enjoy the remainder of the day sitting on my butt catching up on blogs/tweets, finish my book, and spend a lovely dinner out chowing down on Mexican food and margaritas. I LOVE vacation.

I have had the opportunity to meet some of my brother's friends here and it has definitely put my worrying older sister mind at ease. Mook is, well, you could say...a tad irresponsible. Especially on the financial front. I have a lot of concerns about him living hundreds of miles away from all of us, on his own, with no money...and as I've come to learn...not even a trash can. But, he's doing well enough. And seems to have really made some friends who care about him of which I am truly glad. It's nice to know your little brother is being taken care of when you're not around.

So tonight, I get to enjoy another meal from my brother (which he prepared...in a marinade...this morning. Yeah. Who is this guy?) and there is a very good chance I have talked him into seeing New Moon! Eek! So excited! And I'm sure so is my husband...who has not been looking forward to seeing New Moon with me...I have no idea why.

I'll be heading home to Indianapolis tomorrow evening...greeted at the airport by my loving husband who I have missed like crazy! I cannot wait to see him!

So if I don't get a second to blog tomorrow...let me take this opportunity to wish you all a very, very happy Thanksgiving!! I have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which is every single one of you!! Enjoy the rest of your week!!

XOXO

Hello from Dever!!

Greetings from Colorado ladies!!

I flew into Denver Saturday evening and my dear brother picked me up in a pick up truck from his work. Did I mention it was bright orange? Yep. And that I thought the door was going to fall off from the noise it made when I closed it? Or that my seat didn't lock into position so that when we would brake...I would go flying into the dashboard? Hm. This trip should be interesting.

We proceeded to go into his work for some last minute things he had to do for a wrestling tournament in the morning. Mook is the equipment manager for the University of Northern Colorado so it was cool to see where he spends his days and all of the sports he is in charge of. Here is me...taking full advantage of my time behind the scenes:

Please forgive the fact that I had been on a plane for 5 hours...and had to squeeze myself into a small jersey so tight that it almost didn't fit over my boobs. But it was my number...so it was a must.

I crashed pretty quickly when we got home and woke up for an early run on Sunday. Did you know there was snow here? Yeah. It's pretty cold. But it is always sunny which I love :) After getting ready, we headed to Golden, CO to visit the Coors Factory! What a great day! Free beer tastings and old friends...loved it.

Brother...posing :)

Kyle (Mook's high school friend), Mook, and me

Hello! I work in quality control! I am so in the wrong field. Beer>Aerospace any day!



Baby free samples...but our three later=full size baby!

I tried the Blue Moon, Winterfest, and Full Moon. I think Full Moon was my fave. Winterfest was a little too bitter for this light girl :)

We had lunch in Golden and then headed out to Red Rocks. What beautiful views! And such a fantastic place to see a show, I'm sure.

View of downtown Denver

View of stage from top


And then from the bottom. Yeah. I climbed down those steps. And then back up. Not. cool. people.

We concluded our night with a steak and potatoes dinner made just for me by my little bro. How sweet is that? And the best thing was that it was delicious...seriously so good :) And I would like to give a little shout out and thanks to my sister who sent him "autumn mix" last week. The candy corn pumpkins were also delicious.

He even put a little candle on the table for me...so sweet :)

I'm not sure what our plans are for today yet...but I've already worked out and now I am sitting here catching up on blogs and watching TV while my brother is at work. If this is all I do, I will be a happy girl.

Leavin' On A Jetplane...

Well ladies...I'm off!

Today is my last day of work until after Thanksgiving!! I am so ridiculously excited about this...you do not even know. Things have been a little crazy around these parts and I sure could use a break. I am leaving for Colorado tomorrow afternoon to visit my brother for a few days...then it's back to Indianapolis for some precious time with the rest of my family for the holidays.

Unfortunately, my dear husband will not be joining me on my trip out west...so keep him in your prayers seeing as he is going to have to fend for himself for 4 whole days without me. I can already see the pizza boxes on my kitchen floor. I will miss him like crazy when I'm gone (in fact I already kind of miss him and I haven't even left yet....weird?) but I'm excited to be able to spend some quality time with my brother. Living across the country...we do not see each other nearly enough.

I am going to be taking my laptop and I plan on attempting to keep up on my blogging from afar...but alas, I cannot make any promises. So I will say ta ta and wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!

But before I dash off, I wanted to give a shout out to a few of my bloggy friends! Since I started blogging many, many months ago I have won three giveaways. Yes, that's right. Three! And even though I won them all at different times, I got all of my packages within the last few days! How fun is that? One day, the only pieces of mail we had in our whole mailbox were from bloggers!

So what did I win??

I won this painted wooden letter in the color of my choice from A Journey Through the Waiting Game:


Isn't it lovely?? Please forgive the spot my flash made on the R. It is flawless in person. Maybe she could do two smaller letters for me to put on each side of the R and I could put our initials on our wall!?! Oh the wheels they are a turnin'...


I won this from Shaina:

It's some super delicious granola and a pedometer! Now we can be twins! Please ignore the fact that the granola is already 1/2 gone and I just got it yesterday.


And finally, very fitting, I won this from Dugout Daisy:


Just in time for New Moon...my very own Twilight coaster!


Thank you so much ladies!! You have no idea how special I felt carrying in all of those packages with my name on them! You rock my world :)

Colorado!

I leave for Colorado in exactly 11 days to visit my brother and I could not be more excited. Never mind the fact that I have no idea where I will be sleeping because he doesn't have sheets...or what I will be eating because he has been to the grocery once in the past 6 months. Gotta love younger brothers who refuse to grow up!

I have been to Colorado only one other time and it was for a wedding. Matt's BFF Robert got married out there 2 years ago in June so we spent some extra time exploring. Enjoy some of my favorite pics from our trip!











Brother lives in Greeley and works for the University of Northern Colorado. Denver is about an hour away so I know we will be spending some time there. Have y'all ever been to Colorado? What are my must see and must do's??