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.

Happy New Year!

Jeremy and I were thrilled that we actually had plans for this New Year's Eve. Granted these plans required us to actually purchase some winter gear...boots, gloves, ski pants, hats, coats, etc. but it was worth every penny. We headed up to Silverthorne to spend the night with Bec and John at his ski house. We went tubing at Keystone then had great steaks at The Mint followed by some board games and champagne toast.


I highly recommend tubing at Keystone, aside from the covered moving walkway to get you back to the top, the hill was perfect to pick up some speed. We'll definitely be headed back up, besides we need to get our moneys worth on the new equipment!

New York, New York

Well, I can't believe it's been three weeks since the big trip to NYC. We had a FABULOUS time and were in for a HUGE surprise when we landed.

The drive to DIA was extremely nerve-wracking due to a good snowstorm that left the highway a parking lot. Mom was sitting in the front seat and seemed really nervous. So nervous she couldn't talk and was so worried we'd miss our flight. Well...the real reason for her concern was that she and Aunt Kay worked up quite the plan to surprise Bec and I. Aunt Kay flew into JFK 2-hours earlier than us and waited for us down at baggage claim. Imagine our surprise when Bec and I saw Aunt Kay patiently waiting for us to get our luggage. It was so fun to have the two sets of sisters together. My mom and Aunt Kay are so fun to be around, they had us laughing the whole trip. It's hard to say what the highlight was but I'd say it was seeing the Rockettes and our last dinner at La Bonne Soup!

Me, Mom, Aunt Kay & Bec

Times Square

Saks Fifth Avenue Dancing Snowflakes

Bloomingdales

Macy's Herald Square

Lord & Taylor

Top of the Empire State Building

Lunch at Thalia

I don't know if I'll ever be able to thank my mom for this Christmas gift. No words will describe how much I'll cherish these memories. I also know that we'll have to go to NYC again since we didn't see everything on our wish list. The fact that Aunt Kay was able to join us really put it over the top. Thank you Mom, it was better than I could imagined. Love you!

Dear Nuggets

We need to have a talk. You are disappointing me time and again as we enter 2010. I had great seats last Sunday when I watched the Dallas Mavericks bench score 50 on you. 50?!?!?! How does that happen? I'll tell you:

1 - You don't play defense. Your best defender is Arron Afflalo and your bigs are a non-issue for the opposition.

2 - JR thinks he's the PG and the shooting guard.

3 - We need Chauncey back...fast.

4 - Nene is the weakest big man I've seen. What big man drives to the lane for a lay-up? A lay-up? I hate to say it this way but, man up and play with some presence.

5 - Groom Ty Lawson and allow him to use his speed for good. (This is the most painful thing to say as a die-hard Blue Devil but he's fast.)

I hope that when Chauncey returns he'll take care of the offense and run it like a well oiled machine. As for Nene, trade JR for a real big, someone who has an inside presence. That's all for now, here's hoping 2010 starts off on a good note to carry us strong into the all-star break.

Thanks Jess for treating Corey, Jeremy and I to the game. We had a great time as usual!

Brunch with the Ladies

I had brunch with Jess and Kelli before Christmas in honor of Jessica's visit home. We went to Rootdown and it was phenomenal. If you have not been, I highly recommend the fried egg sandwich for brunch. It was great catching up and I'm thrilled to say that Kel and I are going to see each other before Jessica's next visit. I'm headed to her girl's nigh next weekend. This is a record for us!

Kelli, Me, Jessica

I'm so lucky to know these ladies, especially since I've known Jessica for 25 years. It is mind blowing when I think back to us in elementary school. This photo shows that I never caught up to her in height but it is much better than when she was inches taller than me as kids.

Christmas 2009

This Christmas was a complete departure for us from years past. For starters, we had Christmas Eve dinner at LoHi Steakbar before we headed to mass. (We'll be headed back there for another meal - it was great.) Then on Christmas Day, Jeremy and I agreed not to exchange gifts and we didn't have any children with us on Christmas Day.

So knowing this wouldn't be a "traditional" holiday, Bec and I planned a mystery dinner for our loved ones. I say "loved" ones since they weren't thrilled when they saw what we had in store for them. Here's our dinner menu Bec prepared:

We had perfect numbers to sit our guests in the dining room, all 8 would be contained for the festivities while Jeremy, John, Bec and I served dinner from the kitchen. The highlight was really watching everyone eat their very traditional meal (roast, ham, baked potato soup, sweet potato souffle, corn casserole, fruit salad, spinach salad, roasted carrots and potatoes and rolls) with limited use of a fork, spoon, knife, napkin, toothpick or straw. It really did shake up the typical dinner and had us laughing really hard. I don't know if I'll be hosting Christmas for a while, this may have been a good scare tactic.

Impressive use of the spoon and straw by Mom.

Corey - the big cheater of the night - kept unloading forks from his pocket. Here he's stuck with the straw & knife and doing just fine.

Grandpa did great with his toothpick, although we did let him borrow a knife for the roast and ham.

Grandma & Grandma Josie were a real team, helping each other all night.

After dinner we did stockings, unwrapped gifts, then watched the Hangover and played some board games. It was so relaxing and was great to have the grandparents at the house. I still say Mom does the best stockings ever. I also have to say that my new apron from J is wonderful. It's the perfect apron for this girl! I know it sure beats the one her son gave me for our first Christmas 10-years ago. Yep - Jeremy gave me an apron for my first Christmas gift and it didn't even scare me off;)

There's some more of that Grandma teamwork!

Grandpa & Grandma

Our guys with the new beer coozies - courtesy of Mom.

I hope you all had as memorable of a Christmas as we did here.