Hey, Soul Sister...

Last week a couple of my friends and I went to Red Rocks to the Train concert!   I wasn't sure how it was going to be, but it was a great concert!!!  Train, himself was a little awkward, but his guitarist was eye candy!!!  The music, beverages, and company was great and I love hanging out with these girls!  Not to mention the venue...Red Rocks is AMAZING!!! It's amazing that when you start a new job somewhere, how you can become such great friends with the people that you work with!  These girls are part of the reason I look forward to going to work!  They make it fun to go to work and are great nurses that truly love what they do! Even though Rosa abandoned us and went to day shift! Outside of work they are like my best friends!  We have had some great times between going to sporting events, out for sushi, to concerts, to the mountains, or just hanging out at each others houses!

Sabra, Rosa, and I waiting for the concert to start!

Sabra and I

Rosa and Sabra

Rosa and I

Stella Pour Contest

A couple weeks ago  my friend Karisa and her boyfriend came out a day early for her sister's wedding to spend an evening with me!  We went out to sushi in Cherry Creek and then to a tavern afterward to have a few more cocktails!  We took our seats at the tavern and a lady came up to us and asked us if we want to enter into a Stella beer pour contest...and of course we jumped at the chance!  We were instructed on how to pour the beer perfectly and then it was our turn!  They recorded us as we poured and we were entered into a database for review...if we are chosen we go to Chicago to pour more Stella!  So, we'll see if Chicago will be our future...we may even quit our day job and become professional pourers!!!!
Here is a picture after we poured our perfect Stellas!!!!

Love this girl!!!!! 

Miss Mia

Miss Mia that first month I got her!

It's time to celebrate one year with my sweet little Miss Mia!  She is truly the sweetest little thing that ever did exist!  There is nothing better than the welcome home squeals, jumps up the leg, and kisses that I get from her every time I walk through the door!  She knows my deepest secrets and she is the best at catching tears with her tongue!  

Mia with her sister Gia

Mia's favorites:

*Breathies chicken strips

*her fleece cherry printed blanket

*natural raw hide sticks

*her friend Pike...the neighbors massive wolf dog

*the open windows...she loves standing at them and watching everyone outside

*the neighbor lady Donna...Mia always peeks over the rocks to see if she's on her patio

*Bentley the cat...my friend Rosa's cat...Mia loves tormenting him

*the pillows on my bed

*her sister and BFF Gia

*going on a car rides

*afternoon naps with a little scratching of the belly

I love my mama's pillows

Mia's dislikes:

*bathes

*men

*big dogs with the exception of Pike

*doorbells on the TV

*being in a room without me...she's my little shadow

*the bag that her breathies come in...she is deathly afraid of the bag, but can't wait to get the treat

*bows in her hair...it takes her about 30 seconds to get a bow out of her hair

Mia's Nicknames:  Over the last year Mia has adopted severe different nicknames...

*Miza

*Mama

*pretty girl

*Mizer

*Beaner...my friend Rosa thinks it's funny that she calls her beaner...she says it's because she's small like a bean...and well I hate it!!!  

I love milk and cookies!!!

I have the longest tongue known to dog-kind!!!

Mia last week...she loves the bed!!!!

Venus de Miles

All summer long my friend Sabra and I were planning, training, anticipating, dreading, looking forward to, and ultimately counting down the days until our big bike ride of the summer...Venus de Miles!
Venus de Miles sponsors the Greenhouse scholars which helps under privileged kids go to college.  These kids have mentors that guide them to their decisions of higher education.
Sabra came up with the idea to sign up for this ride that was 67 miles...at the time I was like..."oh, yea, I will be able to ride 67 miles by the end of August", and I am not going to lie, when we were driving up to the parking lot I was so freaking nervous!
We started this ride and at first I was thinking that I have to put the pedal to the metal....but after the first 10 miles and the first rest stop, it was such a relaxing, go as fast as you want ride!  Sabra and I were able to ride side by side and talk about life events!  I do have to say that the state of Colorado is amazing!!!  During our 67 mile ride we encountered an amazing view of 10 hot air balloons, gorgeous mountains, fabulous weather, nice people, beautiful views, and cute wildlife.  We rode through 3 towns, climbed an 8 mile canyon, travelled down several highways, encountered lots of traffic, and ultimately had a blast!  Once I started this ride, I never regretted it!

Our first rest stop...we loved this Bike Caffe! 

The little bear cub that we saw!  Quick pictures and then we were outta there...who knows where mama bear was!

67 miles...we were so done!!!  Exhausted!!!

10 years of adulthood

As I look back on the last 10 years there have been many ups, downs, new friends, old friends, boyfriends, pledgings, recruitments, moves, funerals, new experiences, new jobs, tears, smiles, laughs, hugs, "I need you" phone calls, graduations, vacations, weddings, babies, and I could go on and on! Even though some of these memories are not all glamorous, I wouldn't change any of them!  Instead I cherish each and every memory and emotion because it has helped me grow!
Ten years ago I was packing up my little white Mercury Mystique that sat in the driveway of 510 Royal waiting to head to Hays, KS where I would spend the next 4 years of my life as a college student at Fort Hays State University.  I was that small town girl that wasn't quite sure that I wanted to leave my mom and be out on my own, but that quickly changed when I met the girl down the hall in the dorms...next thing I knew she was moving her things into my dorm room and we became roommates, sorority sisters, and best friends!  Those 4 years of my college career were some of the best times in my life.  However, after getting into nursing school and reconnecting with a high school friend that spent countless hours studying with me, praying that we would pass our next exam, starting IV's on each other, and practicing her wedding...those years seemed to come to close faster that anticipated!  Then, as I looked ahead at my future I knew it was time to be an adult and grow up...leaving me with more fantastic years!
Growing up came just 1 month after I graduated college with the death of my grandfather, the only grandfather that I knew...and the person that taught me so many life lessons. I remember getting that phone call from my mom after spending a weekend with my entire family at my grandpa's side when he was brought home from the hospital...that phone call was one that gave me feelings that I never knew existed.  Then 11 months later, I received a similar phone call telling me that my grandma had passed away...and boy, I never knew that growing up was so hard.  My grandma was one of grace and passion who loved her 6 grandchildren more than life itself...and the absence of her existent was one that was hard to believe.  This first year out in the this great big world was one of sorrow, but it helped me to realize that I couldn't take things for granted.  I know that all these years later, my grandparents are still looking done me and there are times I hear their voices in my heart giving me the advice that I need.
Here I am 6 years after graduating college and I have been across the country doing what I love in many different specialties of my career!  Through all the good times and bad...I can truly say that I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!
In July, the Delta Zeta Denver Alumnae chapter hosted a happy hour and surprised me with a pink rose to celebrate my 10 year membership in the Delta Zeta Sorority!  That pink rose and card made my think back to the last 10 years of adulthood remembering all the memories, and whether they caused my heart to stir or be satisifed, I smiled!

Lindsey and I with our roses to celebrate being in Delta Zeta for 10 years!

A fun lovin' weekend in western KS

At the end of July Mia and I loaded the car and went back to western KS for a weekend full of family, wedding, class reunions, and fun!  We were greeted by my handsome nephew Hudson sitting on the patio table in his bumbo full of smiles!!!  Nothing like the best greeting ever!!!  The rest of the weekend was full of a family friend's wedding, and my 10 yr. class reunion!  It was such a fun weekend!!!

Isn't this the cutest little face you ever did see??

My godson loves the camera!!!

The wedding was beautiful!  We had a great time!!  I can't believe the cute little girl that was always at our house for my little sister's sleepovers, was beautiful bride and all grown up!!  The memories with have with her and her family are ones that I will always remember!

Both my nephews ready for a night full of dancing!

My big sister...love her!

A person has to love the reminder that they continue to get older...but there's nothing like celebrating a 10 yr. class reunion with the people that you grew up with and have known since kindergarten!!!  Everyone's life has changed so much...some are married, some have kids, some are pregnant, some live states away while others still live in our home town!  It was interesting to watch us all interact with each other like we never graduated high school...it was like we were back in the years of 1999-2002 walking through the hallways of Oakley High School without a care in the world!  If only we didn't have to grow up!!!  

A group photo of the people that were there

Lookout Mountain

I have gotten into to road biking and I have great friends that I have helped me to understand what gear I needed, where the trails are and where they go, how to get out of my clips without falling on my face, and they are always willing to go on a ride!  After a month of figuring this road biking out my friends decided it was time to climb Lookout Mountain.  So, we had this brilliant idea of starting at Morrison and riding to the base of Lookout Mountain for a warm-up...and well it was definitely a warm-up...7 miles later we were finally at the base of Lookout Mountain!

Sabra and I at the base of Lookout Mountain...we were happy, but soon to have a change of mood when we started climbing!

We climbed this 5 mile, 1,600 elevation gain mountain in about an hour...and when we got to the top we hated the world!!!  It was difficult and to top it off by the time we got to the top it was over 100 degrees!  Not only were our legs burning, butts aching, and shoulders screaming we were over-heated!!!  I know that 5 miles doesn't seems that far, since you have read my Facebook and saw that I have recently done a 67 mile ride, but when you are climbing and it's your first time climbing...it's not fun!!!  Even though I was cussing the whole time I was climbing this mountain, I was also looking at the views that the beautiful state of CO has to offer and I said to myself multiple times..."I love Colorado!"

We finally made it to the top!!!!!

Since the first time we climbed Lookout Mountain we have climbed it couple of more times...the second time it was a great ride that we turned into a 37 mile ride through Evergreen and back down through Bear Creek Canyon...Sabra and I decided it was an epic ride!  Then, we decided to do it a third time...and well it was kind of like the first time...