That just happened

Sorry for my brief hiatus folks :) About 2 weeks ago I sat down on a Friday afternoon at work and wrote a blog post, uploaded pictures, double checked it for typoes and hit "publish".    I decided to check the blog just to make sure it posted correctly and the formatting looked OK.    I was SHOCKED because someone had changed by blog background!! As I sat there and stared at the blog it started sinking in 1....2....3.... SH*T! I just posted my personal blog post to my company's internal blog... no one changed your blog background idiot.    In a panic  I logged back in and hit delete as quick as possible.     Then I Skyped the person who runs our blog:

me: "hey! I accidentally just posted my personal blog to the internal blog. I just deleted it but wanted to let you know in case you get an alert! :)"

Pedro:  "the alert goes out to Denise (VP of Sales), Jim (our CEO) and Michael (General Counsel)"

Me:  "I am going to jump off a bridge now"

Pedro: "dying of laughter"

I jump from my desk and run over to Pedro, reiterating the fact that I am going to jump of a bridge because I just posted my blog "My new roomies" to our companies blog.   Obviously embarrassing.

So the long of the short- this happened. But luckily we figured out the alerts runs every 15 mins.  So we waited a good 15 mins-  no alert went out- thank goodness I deleted it within 15 seconds of posting it.

So now we are here and I would have loved for you to actually read my amazing post that was deleted in a hurry.... so here is the summary.

We have new roommates!! Georgia (who owns CrossFit Lodo and has become a great friend) and her 2 lb teacup Chihuahua, Mike, now rent out our basement.   Our basement in the meantime has gotten a little facelift.  New paint, carpet and closet.    Pics of them to come.

We still have another guest room so don't hesitate to come visit :)  Cheers!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Last weekend one of my very best friends got married. Allison and Mikey's wedding weekend was amazing- almost a trip back in time to when I was in high school (hanging with the girls, catching up on life, laying out on my parent's deck).  At one point I was thinking how if KC was like that all the time I would consider moving back.

The rehearsal dinner was at Boulevard Brewery.  The ceremony was at Holy Spirit.  The reception was at  Drexel Hall.  It was all perfect. Allison was THE MOST beautiful bride.  I am so thankful that Allison has been in my life for the past 13 years.  Mikey and Alli couldn't be more perfect for each other.

Emily, Sam & I

Being silly... 

Bridal Luncheon

Before... 

After!

 And there are about 1 million other pictures on Facebook!   Happy Wednesday!

Project "Get Fit"

Tyson got fat.  Its not really any ones fault considering he was literally immobile for about 6-8 weeks after his surgery.     On top of that, he was on a lot of pain killers which decreased his apetite which led to us feeding him treats, home cooked meals, etc. so he would actually eat.

Lets just say the vet was not too excited when we took him in this week.

Tyson before surgery:  about 65 lbs
Tyson today: 80.4lbs

OOPS!

Tyson is now on a 'get fit' plan.  Daily walks and runs no. matter. what. Adam has done the best job of waking up really early the past few weeks in order to take Tyson running.  I am more of the weekend trainer.

 Showing off his amazing balancing skills

Hi mom! I'm having fun. 

Chillin with Mike (more on our new roommates later...).  Excuse the blurr. 

Love

I am obsessed with weddings. Which means I am equally excited about engagements considering that is step 1 to getting married.  So when Nick Paradise told us his engagement plans for Labor Day weekend  it was hard to contain myself for the next two weeks!   Not to mention that Nick and Maddie where staying with us the TWO nights before the proposal happened... talk about having to check myself every time I spoke!!

The Date: Friday, August 31
The Place: Frisco, CO

Nick and Maddie had planned to be up in Frisco for Labor Day weekend.  The plan that Maddie knew was that Adam and I were going to join them after work on Friday to stay for the weekend.   What REALLY happened is that Nick had invited their families and friends from all over to come surprise Maddie after he proposed on Friday night.

So with about 15 friends and families waiting (hiding) patiently up at Saphire Point in Frisco, Nick got down on bended knee and asked Maddie to marry him.  The pictures probably tell it best.

The View

Beginning to propose

Surprise!

Ok, now lets actually put the ring on :) 

 Cheers!! 

The group!  Minus a few... 

(and, yes, she saw Adam there... Nick had told Maddie this is where they were meeting up with us... when he started to propose it began with "I am really glad Adam is here to document this special moment..." )

After the proposal, Nick then surprised Maddie with the mountain house he had rented for everyone for  the weekend.  Yes, folks, not only did he pull off an amazing proposal, but he made sure everyone that came was well taken care of with a place to stay + food + beer.

The rest of the weekend went something like this:  drinking, eating, staying up WAY too late, repeat.  Hiking, recovering.

Congrats to Nick and Maddie! So glad we could be a part of it!

Back on the blogging train!

Yes folks, believe it or not I am going to get back on the blogging train.  Remember when I was so funny and interesting? Ya- me neither... but I loved being able to document parts of my life.  Then things got crazy busy and I took on way too much responsibility.  I finally hit a breaking point this month. I am going to make changes and start blogging again, decorating, going to happy hours and spending more time with friends.

First up, a weekend recap.  I LOVED last weekend. We hung out with 4 other people the entire weekend.  Phillip and Nikki Mann and Adam and Jamie Smith (yes Nikki, I just jacked all of your pics from your blog- don't hate me).  I love these people.  Although Adam and I are not related like the four of them, we like to think we are!!  This family is the shizzz. (And to clarify- only Phillip and Jamie are related *cousins* not ALL of them are related to each other. That would be weird.)

It was this guy's bday weekend:

So we did a little pub crawl adventure on Friday.  Adam and I may or may not have shacked at the Smiths (and I did the walk of shame in heels and skirt to the car the next morning).

We had planned to get out of town to go hike and camp by 9/10 am on Saturday morning.  Well... about 2 pm we pulled out of town.  Six hungover adults trying to pack for a camping trip = delays galore.

Now- lets see if I can keep this blogging thing up.  No more excuses :)

Our Russian Adventure 2012

My sister is awesome.  I have been so many places I would probably never go all because of her.  In high school, Kayley traveled during her summers to go on mission trips.  She has been to Jamaica several times, South Africa, Alaska, studied abroad in Japan and most recently- decided to work at a Russian orphanage.

When Kayley decided to go to St. Petersburg my overly generous Uncle Greg called to say that he would pay for our trip over to Russia if we wanted to go with.    Obviously we couldn't say no :)   So a few weeks ago we drove to KC to get on a flight from KC to Detroit, Detroit to Paris and Paris to St. Petersburg Russia.  

St. Petersburg is amazing.  Very surprising... beautiful, HUGE buildings that completely out-do any America architecture.    It was so fun to hang out with my sisters for a solid week, explore another country with Adam and experience what it is like to see Greg in a country where vodka is king.    Honestly, getting good pictures of the buildings was a challenge because they are HUGE. 

Before we get to the pictures, here is what I learned/experienced in Russia:

-  People don't smile there.  When you are out of a hospitality setting, people literally do not smile.  Russians smile when they care or sincerely like someone.  Therefore, they think Americans are "shallow" and look stupid because we all walk around smiling at people we dont know.    This also stems from when it was a communist country and people tried to stay to them self and not draw any attention their way. 

-  We experienced "white nights".  St. Petersburg is on the same latitude line as Anchorage, Alaska and for a few weeks every summer- the sun barely sets.  Pretty surreal.   Sun down about 1:30am and up at about 3am. 

- Russia is SUPER expensive.  There are more billionaires that live in Moscow than any other city in the world.  There is extreme rich and extreme poor.  Every car on the street was a Mercedes, Porche, BMW, etc.... even the taxi's in some cases.    Eating out, drinking, shopping, touring = lots of money spent.  Think of NYC, Paris and London prices on everything.  On top of that, Foreigners are typically charged more than Russian civilians for almost everything. 

- Hardly anyone speaks English.  I thought getting around in Japan was easier than Russia.  We walked away learning THREE words.  Da (yes) Niet (no) and Spaseeba (Thank you).  Their language is SO challenging to pick up.  

There was your Russia quick lesson... now onto the pictures!  

"White Nights"  At the top of The W, about 11:30pm

St. Isaac's Cathedral 

This is a real bear... drinking OJ out of a bottle.... it was a thirsty bear- we couldn't get a good pic

Remember the story of Anastasia?  This is her family.... 

The Church on Spilled Blood

The Heritage- Second to the Louvre in Paris