'Round Here

We are super excited for spring around here! My first winter in Alamosa a.k.a. THE COLDEST SPOT IN THE US! Taught me some valuable lessons one of them being

1.        I refuse to take any part of the summer months for granted & I also PROMISE to never complain about the heat this summer.

We have a very busy schedule coming up, that includes almost every weekend until June away from our little house here in the valley.

So I decided to get a head start on the “spring cleaning” only to have it covered with a new coat of dirt from the crazy wind we have been having. Secretly I think it still counts because I DID put in the effort to get it done!

April has flown by, & I will be the first to admit that I don’t actually mind!

The faster summer gets here the better!

So to play a little “catch-up”

 we spent Easter in Westcliffe with both of our families.

Jeb helped me dye hard-boiled eggs the week before and we spent the day shooting guns, eating yummy food & laughing.

It was such a great day to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection.

We also got to sneak in a little family time with my cousins. They had celebrated a special girl’s birthday Saturday morning and we got to see them before they headed back up to Greeley!

Trip has been to the Vet and decided he was not a fan. He had a body part or two removed, I was told that when Jeb went in to picked him up he ran past the vet-tech right over to Jeb peed, and then was ready to “hit the road Jack & we ain’t EVER comin back!”

I felt so bad for our little fella, but I am happy to report his is back to his normal crazy self!

                                         

Since it is warming up down here we have been leaving him in the pin next to our house while we are away at work! He seems to really like it & I think we will be investing in a plastic kiddie pool this summer for him to cool off in.

I can’t believe that this year I went home to beautify my youngest sister for her SENIOR PROM!

ANDDD

That the very same weekend, I helped my other sister celebrate her 21^st birthday!

I am so lucky and so blessed to call those two girls my best friends

I love that I am only a short drive away from them and can be around for special events.

Lately my heart has been aching, like every other American, and hoping that there is still some hope for humanity.

I know that we live in a broken world and what we all need is Jesus, so I will faithfully keep putting my trust in him.

And I will treasure what I have to be thankful for because I am truly lucky to live the life I live.

May, will bring numerous trips to Westcliffe and a few up to the northern part of Colorado for a special graduation tea, a play, 2 graduations and other fun events.

I am going to welcome all these special times with a whole new outlook and appreciation, because you honestly NEVER KNOW. But I refuse to be a hermit because of the evil that haunts this world.

I am going to live this life because God has chosen me to live it!

Girl Time

Friday night I drove down to Pueblo to spend the evening with my sister.

I have to say I don’t know how people make it without sisters; or siblings in general.

Being around one of my sisters just for a few hours lift my spirits to new highs.

I had a good conversation with one of my very best friends, Sydney, the other day about what being around positive females can do for your self-esteem & I have to say I’m feeling pretty good about our discovery.

Being a social butterfly comes easy for some people, and I have always admired the trait but haven’t ever been comfortable being “the life of the party.”  I am perfectly content sitting at a small table with a few close friends or some family.

Being down here in the southern corner of Colorado dates with a girlfriend are few and far between.

So when Jeb is gone at a show I use any excuse I can to drive somewhere to see one of them.

After talking with Sydney my beliefs that you don’t need just that ONE person are shining true.

It is part of my daily prayer that Jeb will always be the one I can’t wait to tell practically everything to, & he is I know my “person” like on Grey’s Anatomy.

BUT! He could seriously care less about a new nail polish color. Or that I found the answer to my make-up issue once again on Pinterest.

I am one of those girls who just needs a girl.

And after talking to Sydney I realized how important it is to make sure the females you surround yourself with are ones that want what is best for you, and push you to be better. They also need to know the difference between venting and nagging or a cry for help.

My sisters and closest friends have heard a lot from me lately.

I have been on a “clean eating” diet for 7 weeks now and haven’t managed to lose weight.

Until last Thursday I had applied everywhere in Alamosa and hadn’t heard a positive thing back! Nothing short of being told I wasn’t qualified to work at Maurice’s.

I will be the first to admit after Jeb shared his exciting news about a horse show in Vegas at the end of March; I was much more jealous and upset that I couldn’t go instead of being excited for him.

So a little home done pedicure and a chick flick were just what the doctor ordered.

Last year being engaged I was given lots of advice. Most was good, beneficial and still floats into my thoughts from time to time. But I seriously hated it when people would tell me how hard being married is and that I was ruining our relationship for an insurance status. But if I am honest sometimes those words float back to me as well.

I know I still have so much to learn and I hope I am never done learning. It’s like anything else I love; I should always want to strive to be better.  With hair I hope I never tire of trying new things, new ideas and learning new techniques. In my marriage I should always want to make things better, and strive to reach new heights.

This weekend has taught me that although Jeb is my first priority and my “person” I still need my girls. I still need to talk to a friend about my frustrations, have a glass of wine or a chocolate dipped, smothered in chocolate something & have us a good laugh. I still need a sister to vent about his manly habits and she can agree with an “EWW!” Light-hearted of course, Jeb is actually very good about putting the toilet seat back down! J

Anyways, I know I am not the first one to make this discovery, Sex & the City is one of my very favorite examples. At some point in one of the many episodes, one of the character’s men tells her to talk, see, and spend some time with, THE GIRLS.

As far as I know, guys need guy time, “man caves” Shoot from September to January they get to control the TV channel all weekend! (at least at my house & my parents house)

So I am not going to feel bad about wanting to simply tweeze my eyebrows next to my sister or spend $10.00 on 4nail polishes because we simply can’t decide which one looks best. Or going to get pedicures and our nails done for fun, spending time together can really make all the difference.

I thank Jesus every day for my sisters. They are truly my best friends.

I also thank Jesus for my friends that are like my sisters; the ones that I can go a week or two not talking to and pick up just like we never left off, although in my friendship with Sydney we hardly ever make it past a week.

Time with them is never wasted time. Even if it is just sitting together being totally focused on our own projects.

One of the best pluses though, is when all of us get together our guys included and we can still have a blast!

Bring It!

This word frenzy has taken me draft after draft,

Thought after thought

Day after day

And tear after tear.

I have been thinking about how I wanted to poetically put into words my feelings since my blog in October called “A Little Bit about MUAH”.

And I thought I had it all ready to go full of pokes and pins in all the right places that were sure no leave no question as to who they were directed to.

Until I left it in Word as a draft for about 2 days.

My feelings have been pretty hurt since that post. But not just because of the one bad report that came from it.

I for one was ready to see 2012 walk out the door of my life.

Although there are so many many wonderful things that happened to me this last year, I am beyond ready for a year that doesn’t include waiting, wanting, wishing, hoping & and feeling lost.

And far too many lessons learned to count.

For a brief minute I thought about re-considering my career dream.

After a few different hair appointments ending with less than desirable outcomes (from more than one person.) I thought I might not cut out for the job.

But then Jeb, being the great husband he is, talked me through a few emotional spells and I have decided on a few solutions.

I am hoping to take a step back from doing hair and find a job that will pay me hourly so we can work on gaining some ground on another one of our goals.

I will also attend more than one hair show during this time to work on perfecting my craft.

Instead of letting other women hurt my feelings, put me and my ability down, and make me question my personal goals and dreams, I am going to ignore, put to good use, and quiet their voices in my head.

This year is for me.

Yes, this year I am going to make a conscious effort to become healthier.

FOR ME.

Not because anyone else thinks I need to.

I’m doing it because I want to.

I can tell you right now I am not going to be very good at it at first, but I will work through it and be better and better.

But 2013 is also a year for me to work on not caring what other people (women) think or say behind my back.

This year there is going to be more laughter and less tears

More enjoying and less worrying

More positive and less negative,

And my most favorite,

More muscle and less fat!

Here’s to 2012 and all the wonderful things that happened.

2013, I’m going to kick your ass!

LIFE SAVER... more like couch saver!

I have to share this with whoever reads my blog because it seriously saved my life this morning.

In no way am I kidding.

Jeb made biscuits and gravy this morning, and I was letting the steam settle off of mine when a crazy little black and white fur ball came galloping over to the couch and sending my plate of morning goodness right on to the cushion next to me.

Gravy and buttery biscuit ALL OVER the couch.

I panicked, nothing short of screaming, shoveling up all I could before a little pink tongue gobbled it all up, we were left with gravy spot after gravy spot.

Then it hit me, just recently I pinned a couch cleaner thinking I would try it out before our big Christmas gathering.

Ha! Can I just say what a life saver Pinterest is to me?!? I use it all the time, literally.

So I followed the pin to this blog:
 http://551eastdesign.blogspot.com/

and used her tutorial to "clean a microfiber couch using rubbing alcohol."

Worked like a charm!

Anyone who has a microfiber couch, this is the way to clean it.

Biscuits and gravy included.

Happy Monday!

Tis the Season, almost!

At this time every year it takes all I have to leave all the Christmas stuff packed up and Pandora off of the Christmas stations.

I made a vow (to myself) to wait until we get home, the Monday after Thanksgiving to decorate in all things merry and bright

AND… (sigh) to keep the buzzing of Christmas carols only in my head, even though Dish Network has already added the holiday music channels to our lineup.

In all honesty I am happy to do it because I really do dislike that Thanksgiving gets trampled on by all the bru-haha that comes with “the most wonderful time of the year.”

Thanksgiving is usually by far my favorite holiday but I normally forget that fact until after Christmas.

And still this year I am clinging to the way things were all of my years living with my parents. I so badly wish we were headed over the mountain Wednesday and were able to stay til “classes resumed” Monday, but I know this is another part of growing up.

Right now at 7:00pm on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we still don’t have a clue what our plans are. AHHH!

My inner control freak is going nuts!

But, I am trying trying trying to be the quiet, understanding wife, who doesn’t nag about making plans.

Which includes pinning all kinds of Christmas “to-dos” on my Pinterest boards and cleaning.

Cleaning because there might be a chance we are going to spend Christmas here in Alamosa with both our families, and there is this little voice inside my head that thinks getting a head start on preparations will make a difference.

But let me get realistic with you for a minute,

1.   we have a 4 month old puppy who LOVES to shred paper, thanks to me, at the end of the election I got real sick of all the ads in our mailbox and started handing them over to Trip as soon as I walked in the door. Now that we have a paper box to start fires filled with junk mail we also have shards of news print everywhere.

2.  My husband is a WONDERFUL cook, and after the time change, he either beats me home or is right on my tail when I hit the driveway. So, he has been making dinner about 50% of the time or at least cooking the meat. Even though his meals are always so so tasty, the kitchen is such a disaster and a pain in my rear to clean. I love you Jeb & your cooking is the BEST!

3.  We live on a dirt road surrounded by hay fields, that are all dry and prepped for the freezing winter season, and at the back of our casa, (where we both park and where the door we primarily use is) the ground is so soft and stirs up dust flurries every time we pull in to our house.

4.  Last but not least, I hate laundry. (enough said.)

So cleaning now doesn’t change the fact that I will be doing it all again twice more before our parents come for Christmas.

Jeb finally caved in and helped me put up outside Christmas lights on our deck today; I think I hooked him by suggesting that today might be the last free day we have that is actually going to be warm.

He did make me promise not to turn them on until after Thanksgiving.

Once again I am so eager to go home. I and hoping that this time there will be more than enough time to spend with everyone. Realistically I know it’s not the case but I’ll take every minute I can get! 

End of October

today is just one of those days.

I am sitting here kicking myself because after the weekend we had, I don't have one single picture to show for it.

Believe me it was one for the books. 

Jeb and I both were able to get Friday (and Saturday for Jeb) off so we could take a road trip up North to see all our family.

We left Friday morning so we could meet Lacy in Pueblo just as she got off of work and we hit the road!

We spent the afternoon at my cousin Kati's visiting with her and her family. She had a baby boy 3 weeks ago and I COULD NOT wait to meet him! 

They had a Halloween party to go to that night so we met up with one of my very best friends and her fiance and Jeb's brother to play BINGO!

We really did have such a good time even though none of us won any money, we went back for the "late night" round to try our hand again. Didn't win anything that time either, but got to spend some more time together!

After watching a few episodes of Duck Dynasty with my Aunt Chris we called it a night.

The next morning we left kati's house after 2 rounds of hugs and kisses from Jackson and headed to my Grandparents

Saturday was my papa Jason's 80th birthday. We spent the morning chatting with him and my grandma about the wedding and all the happenings in their lives. 

My parents and Karly made it to my Grandma's house just in time for lunch. 

Just as we were about to sit down to big plates of nachos my aunt Becca and cousin Jake brought my other cousin Matt's daughter over to spend a little time with us.

She is so cute, it took her a little time to warm up to all of us, but when Jeb and I left to head for Ft. Collins she was being passed from person to person.

My parents, sister and family celebrated my Papa's birthday that night with dinner and a scrapbook full of memories from many people in my papa's life.

We met up with Jeb's parents, brother and girlfriend at Farm House, the fraternity that Tyler is president of. They had just finished up an afternoon snack of cinnamon rolls and hot cider. Perfect for a pre-game snack.

The 6 of us stopped by 5 guys before heading to the game just to make sure we were full to the brim.

The game was so cold! But, THEY WON! it turned out to be a pretty fun game to watch!

Jeb's friend Ian met us for the 2nd half of the game and for drinks at Potts after.

It was such a fun day!

Sunday we met Jeb's brother for breakfast before his alumni meeting and then went over to Buffalo Wild Wings for more food (ha!) and to watch the Eagles loose. Boo!

We had to head south after the game because we had an appointment in Castle-rock to pick up the cutest party favor EVER!

This is Trip! He's already settled right in to our little family!

Today, I am so thankful for my family. And the family I have joined.

My cousins are always inspiring me to be better. At everything, Kati and her family are settling into being a family of 4 and seem to be loving it. Her husband Chris is such a good dad, he even makes changing a dirty diaper into something so hilarious my sides started hurting. 

My grandparents try not to miss a beat in all of our lives, my papa had lots of questions about Jeb's job and how things were going. Both were so excited to hear about all the happenings with my sisters and I.

My mom made sure to send us on the road with some home-made goodies & I have never seen my dad so rested looking and at peace. I really think this fall has done him a lot of good.

My sisters are busy as always it was so good to spend some time with them. Jeb had a good time razzing them too!

Sam and Gail were so fun to talk with. Lots of laughter this weekend and I am so thankful I married into such a wonderful family.

Tyler and Robyn are as busy as my sisters are. It was really nice to see them for the game and evening.

Today, I can't help but want to move. Closer to all of our family. I know we are putting down roots here and the people we have met down here have really made this move easy. The time with our family is always so short lived, and that is why I think I always leave wanting more.

A little bit about MUAH

I haven’t blogged in a while for a few reasons.

UNO: my cowboy and I have different views about blogging, & info sharing in general, so I have “kindof” been thinking about deleting my blog.

And I for now have decided to keep it. I blog mostly for me and to inform people of what is going on in our little lives.

2: NOTHING EXCITING HAS BEEN HAPPENING!

Three: Lately I have been feeling a little used (professionally), insecure and negative, so to keep from whining I kept off my www.

And finally four:

I have been keeping myself busy reading other blogs. I currently have 3 new favorites, none of which I know personally. & I like that I have no idea who these ladies are in real life, it’s pretty refreshing.

The idea from this post comes from my MOST favorite blog right now Mama Laughlin.

http://www.mamalaughlin.com/

But, WARNING. She is a little crude and she calls it like it is 100 percent!

I absolutely LOVE her.

She has been my size heavy twice & found the motivation to lose it all to the size I would like to be.

If that isn’t motivation I don’t know what is…

A month ago she posted a blog called “If You Really Knew Me…”

I really liked the idea, here is my version.

If you really knew me you would know…

I follow recipes down to the 1/8 of a tsp

I prefer the actual CD instead of the online “download” version

I watch “The Real Housewives of…” EVERYWHERE and literally laugh out loud every episode

Sometimes, I feel like my skin is too thin to be a hair-dresser. My feelings get crushed when people take advantage of the skills I have achieved & when they gossip about the job I did instead of to my face.

I think the fact above is HUMAN and is allowed!

Although I have found different sources of inspiration to lose weight time & time again my tries are always short lived and I only become more discouraged.

I absolutely hate it when people try to give me “pep-talks” about my size and situation.

I want to own and manage my own salon one day.

After I have kids

I love big big dogs

I dislike any cold blooded living things. Spine shivering disgusting.

Lemonade that you can only get at fairs and festivals is my ALL TIME favorite drink.

I love the smell of cigarettes but can’t believe that people still smoke after the horrible commercials about what smoking can do to you.

I have 11 piercings all in my ears and only want one more. (In my right ear) then, I promise I am DONE

I bite the insides of both of my lips and both cheeks as well as the flesh around my nails, but have kicked my nail biting habit thanks to braces.

I’m not into lifestyle fads at all & prefer to do things the opposite of them to prove my point, if only to myself. I.e. I refuse to buy anything “organic” even when the sale price is cheaper than the not on sale non organic item.

I have been told on many occasions that I am “sexist” and have yet to be offended by it.

BUT find it disgusting when men, husbands, fathers, etc. etc. take advantage of women and when men think they are better than women.

I’d drive a diesel over a little smart car any day

It is a daily battle in my head to keep my hair long or cut it short.

I have a short temper easily defused by my husband’s comedic attempts.

I prefer to do my hair and make-up Indian style in front of a mirror where ever the best natural lighting is at that point of the day.

Stars are my favorite thing to decorate with.

Camouflage is my favorite color, although I have never been hunting.

I like frosting more than cake

I like a little bit of coffee to warm up my creamer

I feel most beautiful in tight pants and a loose shirt

I recently jumped on the extension train & looking into buying permanent extensions for myself for the first time ever!

I use Pinterest for ideas for my make-up and hair daily

And for recipes and decorations and Christmas gifts

I love giving especially to the ones I feel closest too

I believe in God & have a personal relationship with my savoir.

This weekend we are headed to Pueblo for a horse show. ALL of our family will be there as well! I am so so so excited to see everyone for the first time since our wedding!