Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Wednesday was another busy day. I started the day with breakfast with my friend, Hannah. Hannah and I are only four days apart, and we've known each other since we were babies. We were best friends through high school, and Hannah is the one I lived with when I moved to Oregon for a year. Although many miles have separated us for 10 years or more, we have always remained in contact. It was good to catch up with her.

I then met my grandparents and mom for lunch at Little Mexico. My grandpa had a doctor's appointment in Kearney, so I got to spend another few hours with them and enjoy lunch with mom, too.

After lunch, my grandparents came with me to pick the boys up from school and then they headed back to Lexington. I spent the next several hours with Collin and the kids playing in the backyard.

I ended my night with my parents, April, and Michelle at Cunningham's, our favorite bar in Kearney. They had live music playing and the five of us ate dinner, listened to music, and had a good night.

After dinner, the girls and I went back to April's house to watch some TV before calling it a night. Now that we're in our 30s, staying up past 10 p.m. is a feat!

Girls Day

Tuesday was a fabulous day with two of my girls, April and Michelle. We sure did miss Irish and Katie, though! April took the day off to hang with me, and Michelle got off at noon.

April and I spent a couple hours shopping at Hiltop Mall. It's always fun shopping with April.

I then had a noon appointment to get my ear pierced! Michelle arrived just in time for moral support. Here's my new look.

After that, the three of us had lunch at Skeeter Barnes where April is the General Manager (she got promoted this winter, and she is the big dog at the restaurant). While at lunch, we almost talked Michelle into getting a tattoo, but in the end, she decided to wait until she's ready.

Instead, we went back to April's house and had a cocktail that April shook together.

 And then it exploded all over April.

 Then it was time for pictures, and it's hard to get a picture that all three people approve of, so we kept taking and retaking.

 That's it, just make a goofy face.

 April's neighbor made April homemade Cranberry Vodka, so we sipped on that. Yummo!

 April then made us a feast of salmon,

 Red Lobster biscuits, gnoche, hummus, cheese, crackers,

 sausage, pickles, asparagus, olives,

 and steak.

We sure did have a feast that night.

We ended the day by watching New Girl and Pitch Perfect.

What a perfect day with my girls. 

A Farm and My Hometown

On Monday, I awoke bright and early so I could start the drive to Nebraska. I had big plans for the day.

I spent the entire afternoon with my grandparents, and it was the best day ever. If you have been blessed to know my grandparents, you will totally understand why spending the day with them brightened my entire week.

I arrived right at their farm in Lexington at noon bringing Personal Pan Pizzas from Pizza Hut for each of us, their favorite. Grandma had Supreme, Grandpa had Ham, and I had Pepperoni. Grandma was so cute and thrilled to have me on their farm, and she quickly set the table with place mats and napkins for our special lunch date. She kept saying, "I can't believe I have a guest from Denver in my place. I feel so high up and special."

After lunch, I stayed for about five hours and we chatted the afternoon away. Grandpa told stories from WWII, grandma shared her life story with me (she's writing it, and while I didn't have time to read the entire 90 years, I got a good start on her very neat life). We talked Lacrosse, school, Josh, they talked about their dating years, etc. It was such a fun day. We watched Jeopardy together, and then it was time for me to hit the road to head to Kearney.

My grandma took a bad fall last week and broke her rib (and severely bruised her back). She is in a lot of pain, so Shannon and I wanted to help take care of them a bit. Shannon is a great cook, and I'm not too bad myself, so Shannon and I brought them an entire week's worth (at least) of food. I had a cooler full of the following things:

Rio Chicken (Shan's recipe) complete with cheese, sour cream, salsa, chips, and tortillas.
Homemade Sloppy Joe's (my recipe) complete with buns and potato chips.
Meatballs, mashed potatoes, and gravy (Ikea's special).
Chocolate bars, cookies, girl scout cookies, muffins, homemade pound cake, strawberries, and homemade PB truffles.

They will be eating well for the next week, and they were so thankful for the food!

I said my goodbyes and left the farm. They stood at the door and waved goodbye (and I'm so mad, but I forgot to take a picture).

I drove the final hour of my trip and arrived in Kearney around 6:30. I drove straight to Collin and Kate's house to see Carson, Kye, and Corinne. How big they have gotten! Carson turned 9 this week, so we were all going out to eat that evening to celebrate with Grandma Sally and Grandpa Doug.

We all met at Valentino's for a late dinner, and we had a good time eating and chatting. Of course, a birthday party isn't a party without gifts.

Shannon and I had Easter gifts for the kids, and my parents had Easter baskets for the kids, and we all had gifts for Carson. He got a cell phone from my parents, and lots of cash to spend on whatever he wants.

 I can't believe Carson is 9! He is such a great kid who is kind and smart!

 Kye will be 7 in a month, and he is so funny and happy.

 Corinne is 4, and she is super outgoing and so, so adorable.

After dinner with the family, I met up with April for an hour and a half. We went to a local bar and got a beer to drink while we caught up on everything. I love April! I made it back to my parents house around 10 p.m. after a full day of driving and visiting.

And that was all on Monday! 

Snow Day

My Spring Break has been so fabulous that it gets more than one post! I also have lots and lots of pictures.

My break officially began on Friday at 2:27 p.m. To back up, though, my friend Liz picked me up Friday morning and we drove to school together. Josh was at my place on Friday, and he wanted to dog-sit Sully for the day, so Liz dropped Sully off early Friday morning, and we drove to work together. We grabbed Starbucks on the way, of course, and then Liz drove me home after school and stayed to watch a little bit of basketball with Josh while I made dinner.

Josh and I had an early dinner because I had a Lacrosse game Friday night. Boy was it cold. A cold front was coming our way, and it was windy and so, so cold. My poor LAX girls could barely play due to the cold and wind, and I was a frozen coach when the game was over. (Why, oh why, did I choose to coach a Spring sport?!). Sadly, my girls lost, and that just dampened an already dreary evening. By the end of the game, the snow was starting to fall, so Josh and I went home and started a fire. I was cold the rest of the night.

By Saturday, Denver was covered in snow! It snowed all day, and the wind blew and blew. It was pretty nasty outside, so that ruined our plans of visiting Josh's family for the day. We opted to stay by the fire all day, and we drove to Greeley on Sunday. Denver got around 8-12 inches (I never heard the final number, but it was a lot).

I left for Nebraska Monday, and more stories will follow. :)

Weight Loss

As of this morning, I am down 17 pounds since January 14. It has been slow going, but I have yet to gain any weight, and every week I have consistently lost 1-3 pounds.

Go me!

If I keep this up, I will hit my 44 pound goal by June 29, which is the MS Ride.

Now, if only this snow would melt so I could get on the bike and start training.

Great Weekend

Josh and I had a great weekend. It was his turn to come to Littleton, so he arrived around 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. Since Lacrosse season has started for me, I didn't get home until closer to 6, but since I'm a planner, dinner was done in the crock pot. Josh had already eaten, so I dove into this delicious and easy meal:

Put in crock pot:
1 can (drained) black beans
1 can (drained) corn
1 jar (15 oz) salsa
2-5 chicken breasts (mine were small, so I used 5, but if yours are large, then 2-3 would suffice)
Salt
Pepper
Onion Powder
Cumin
Garlic

Let cook all day, and an hour before eating, add an 8 oz. block of cream cheese and shred the chicken.

We ate this with tortilla chips, and it was so easy and yummy.

We started a fire and watched Biggest Loser.

On Saturday, the followings things were supposed to happen:
I was supposed to have two lacrosse games, BUT they were cancelled due to the storm that was supposed to be the storm of the year. They were forecasting up to 18 inches of snow, blizzard like conditions, and undrivable roads.

Turns out, we only got about 4 inches of snow (it was windy), but the roads were clear the entire day. Nonetheless, Josh and I sat by the fire all day, I made chili, we watched TV, and we had fun relaxing.

Today, Josh left for Greeley early, and I spent a fun afternoon with some of my favorite friends and teachers, Linda, Karen, Lauren, Liz, and Sheri. We went and watched my friend, Britt, perform in An Evening on Broadway. It was a fantastic musical, Britt was so cute and fun to watch, and it turns out an old acquaintance from Kearney, Erin Rodriguez, was in the show, too. I was able to talk to Erin and her husband, Vino, after the show for a little bit. I wish I had known she was in it because I would have invited my sister to go with us.

This weekend was full of boyfriend time, fire place sitting, friends, snow, and music. Nothing could be better than that!