2010 Highlights

I'm not going to lie, I'm ready to see a new year. 2010 wasn't bad to me but it wasn't great either. Every year is ful of challenges but these seemed to be far heavier challenges than in past years. Is it because as we get older, life gets more complicated? We took down all signs of Christmas yesterday and I'm ready to start fresh. To prove that 2010 wasn't half bad, here are some select highlights:

• I took a new job in April! (Considering my old firm shut down their Denver office last week it was a brilliant move.)
• We sold the 10-year old Accord for a snazzy new Crosstour! (We finally saw snow this week and ithandled awesome!)
• We traveled to West Palm Beach for Jeremy's last hurrah as a Golf Magazine Club Tester in October. We also were also able to visit with dear friends who now have officially moved back to CO!
• The following weekend we headed south for a stay & play at the Broadmoor. As usual we hit up the Golden Bee for a yard of beer then played the Mountain Course and loved every minute.


• I finished my pilates certification seminars and am now working on teaching hours...only 200-hours to go. (Anyone interested in a free half-hour private?)
• We did some serious yard work.We traveled to NM for golf and saw more dear friends.
• I crashed my sister's girlfriend weekend to CO's wine country and enjoyed the relaxation & company. The best part was watching Bec talk details at the wineries. She clearly absorbed all the info from her time in France years ago.
• We upheld the family Ag Day tradition and saw CSU get a rare victory. John even tried to teach Jeremy how to lasso.

It wasn't much of a success.

• Jeremy won the Member-Guest at Foothills & the Duel in the Desert with his golf crew.
• I unplugged to the point of almost disappearing. I am getting back in touch with technology and will soon be getting rid of the old flip phone I stole from Bec since I was too cheap to buy my blackberry when I left V3.
• Jeremy enjoyed golf weather until the week before Christmas! I swear he played more in December than September.
• I got in the best shape of my life from my pilates training! (Then started teaching and have lost quite a bit of that great shape...booo!)
• We hosted another eventful Holiday season filled with family & memories.

10 Things to Love

1. Crab Bisque with Sherry from McCormicks. I had it at a lunch meeting this week and it was the perfect dish to warm me up.

2. All forms of pilates...reformer, cadillac, wunda chair, magic circle, wall unit & mat. If anyone has a nice little sum of money they'd like to give me, I'd snatch up this one in a heartbeat!

3. Since the golf courses are closed, work is once again progressing on the basement. Jeremy has the rough-in electrical done and will start drywall soon. Hopefully in a few months my work begins with selecting the finishes.

4. Blood oranges.

5. Grande Skinny Hazelnut Latte. This has been keeping me alert during day and likely causing the insomnia. But working 60+ a week this month has been taxing and I need all the help I can get to keep me going.

6. Duke basketball - hoping for a big win at Clemson tonight!

7. All of the great spring apparel hitting the stores right now. Here's a few of my favorite pieces to hit Banana, Loft, and J Crew. I'm holding on to a few gift cards in hopes that I'll be able to cash in on some spring sales!

8. Oatmeal with Cheddar Cheese. It may sound weird but this is the perfect breakfast on Sunday mornings before I go to class.

9. My Moleskin 12 month Daily Planner Boxed Set & Desk Calendar. The Daily Planner is actually functioning as a journal and the desk calendar is perfect for jotting down my daily to-do list. The best part? Finding them at Crate & Barrel for a steal.

10. The very mild weather, with highs in the 60s last week it was tough to remember it's only January.

Top 9 from '09

I am not sorry to see 2009 move along. Is it just me or was it a grueling 365 days? There were some highlights though that I don't want to forget.

1 - Spending 365 days with this man, he really is the total package. 2. Our weekend get-aways to Trinidad for Cougar Canyon, Atchison and Silverthorne for NYE.

3. Having supportive parents who are so fun to be around. We're so spoiled.4. Spending time with the siblings, which includes welcoming John to the family! Looking back we spent so much time together it's hard to pick the favorite photos but I love this one of Bec & Corey from our trip to SF.

5. My girlfriends who are always there when you need an ear and know you better than you know yourself...Jenny, Julia, Jess, Andrea and Katy. Then there are my fellow golf widows, Robin and Aimee, so fun for us when the men talk golf.

6. Golf, golf and more golf. I'm back to my old ways and playing with a new swing but still enjoying every second on the course. It really helps to share a mutual love for the game. We also hosted the CCC'09 for the guys from Texas. It was great to finally meet the Texas crew, especially Billie who joined us in the summer for another weekend of golf.

7. Back to the college days I went when Bec, Erin and I headed to Red Rocks for the Counting Crows concert in pouring rain.

8. Our healthy lifestyle that we maintained a full year. This includes my new passion - pilates. I'm in certification now so hopefully a year from now I've started teaching a few classes a week.

9. My trip to NYC - AMAZING!

I can't wait to see what 2010 brings us, hopefully a little less stress and an appreciation for the simple things in life.

Where oh where has Katie Lady gone?

A quick note to say that:

1 - Yes I am alive and well.

2 - I took my first true vacation in 11 months from the office. It was a great feeling to really leave work at the office. (I'll share photos of our NYC trip later this week - BEST GIFT EVER!)

3 - I had the worst week of work in years when I returned from vacation. (The vacation was still completely worth the pain of returning to the office.)

4 - All of my free time is spent doing pilates and keeping up with the house. (I'm not exaggerating this either, I'm at the studio Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. It's a good thing I have a caring and VERY tolerant husband.)

5 - I'm trying to get this Christmas stuff together. (Your cards may be late this year but you'll get them.)


Something pretty to leave you with from the one and only Martha - I'll post more later this week! Only 10-days until Christmas!

November, already?

I can't tell you what I did in October or the first part of November. Time needs to slow down and I'm definitely not ready for Christmas decorations or the new year. It's a mixed bag over here at Casa Ross. Here's something pretty to look at in November that would be a great centerpiece courtesy of Martha Stewart.

-I hate the weatherman's eager use of the word "upslope". But at least this morning Jeremy and I could work together in shoveling the driveway in record time. And, I'm glad the snow fell on a weekend and not Monday morning. Jeremy rewarded me with a Starbucks Peppermint Mocha - yummy!

-I actually did some scrapbooking yesterday; haven't done that in years. I was able to finish our vacation photos from 2003 and 2005. (I'm a little late on this stuff but at least I made some progress.)

-I'm trying to find a good purse to use in New York. It has to work well while we walk or take the subway, it must fit over my coat and it has to be one I'll use again. (Jeremy doesn't understand this but I think I've narrowed it down to a few choices. Hopefully there are some good sales around Thanksgiving to give me a break on price.)

-I'm making a large pot of sauce for dinner so we can try out the sausage from the hog Jeremy bought. (The half a hog has been his best purchase in a long time. We had some bacon for breakfast and it's incredible - little fat and great flavor!)

-I have some knitting projects to finish up in these next few weeks, so a few more snow days will help further this endeavor along.

-I'm looking forward to seeing The Blind Side with Jeremy for our Friday date.

-Finally, the BIG news for the house. I'm now in my pre-certification phase for becoming a full-fledged pilates instructor. This is exciting and scary at the same time. It's been some mixed emotions but has me so eager to finish my certification this summer. Not a full-fledged career change but it is something that has me rejuvenated.

Have a good week, start planning those Thanksgiving dinners and remember to stock your neighborhood food bank! (We'll be making our donation to Jeffco Action Center.)

Shh, did you hear its fall?

The weather forecast is showing a high of 60 tomorrow and I can't wait for a brisk fall morning. I told Jeremy yesterday that if we could find a city that had fall weather year round, I'd move there tomorrow. Fall in Colorado isn't like other states, you head to Aspen to see the golden hues dance in the breeze. (Jeremy and I haven't been up to see the leaves in years, must add to our list for next year.) A leisurely fall day-trip isn't an option right now, work has priority over everything else. I hate it when that happens but I can't complain, we're in a recession and I'm slammed. Good thing, right? Bad thing when it seems to happen at the same time as the only activities I have on the calendar this fall! Next weekend is Katy's wedding and the following weekend we're flying to Atchison to visit family. In the mean time I'm going to be whipping up some cream cheese mints and getting the house in order for fall. If I only I could get my house to look like this, courtesy of PB:


Funny story: when we were younger my parents loaded us up into the car for a trip to the mountains to get our photos taken with the fall leaves. I think I was 7 so Becca would only have been 2. After taking quite the number of photos Dad realized that he didn't put any film in the camera! So after loading up the camera we tried it with a second take! Thank goodness we're now in the digital age!