Rejuvenated, Refreshed and Recharged!

It's been a few months since I've been on blogger. I had a rough start to the year and after making some changes I'm back to the old Katie. I'm healthy, genuinely happy and gained such a new perspective on how I want to live my life.

Change #1
After 10-years in the private sector working 60-hour weeks and never leaving work at the office I traded it all in for a job in the public sector. I'm out of the land development game completely and after 6-weeks on the new job, I'm positive it was the best move I ever made. At my going away party an old co-worker joked that I went to the dark side...I told them I finally saw the light. I'm getting used to 40-hours a week and am still struggling with leaving work for tomorrow, but I'm getting the hang of it.

Change #2
With the move to the public sector I gave up the crackberry cold turkey. I unplugged from email, the Internet and the constant distraction from life. I swear I'm more productive, attentive and calm without that life changing blackberry. I no longer aimlessly search the web while I'm waiting somewhere; instead I take in my sights and enjoy the surroundings.

Change #3
I finish my Pilates Certification Seminars on Saturday. It has been intense and just like being in college but with a very physical demand. I've never focused on exercise with such intensity before. Yes I danced and golfed all growing up but these seminars put everything I've ever done physical to shame. I'm quite proud of what I've been able to do but more than anything excited to start teaching. I had to focus on Pilates and not much else to get through the mental demands. Dear Jeremy has been great and so supportive; it's only 8 more hours then it's straight student teaching. Speaking of teaching, if anyone is interested in some great private rates, shoot me an email or leave a comment.

I didn't think I was that unhappy starting the year, I thought it was pure stress. I was stunned when people who saw me after a break between the old and new career commented on how happy and peaceful I seemed. Yep - I made the right move!

Spring has Sprung

I broke down last week and indulged in some spring shopping. Years ago I had given up on shopping at Ann Taylor Loft but recently I've loved everything coming out of their ads. Remember this outfit from Loft?

Yep, I scored the jacket for $19.88 on final sale and the skirt for $24.99 - thrilling! I love my chunky necklaces and couldn't pass up this beauty:

I wore the necklace with a suit last week and received so many compliments, I know this one will stay around for a long time. I have a few other items on my wish list so I'll have to watch for a good sale to snatch these up:

I also scored some great deals at Banana that included this darling shirt and cardi:

I honestly don't like how they styled the cardi from BR but love it with a yellow cami I have. It seems my wardrobe is taking on blue tones so I'm consider it the new black.

Amped Up

This morning started like any other Saturday with some early cleaning and me asking dear Jeremy for some coffee. He's such a dear and brewed my typical half a pot of coffee. I typically don't drink that much but today I drank the entire half a pot. After sleeping horribly and fixing it with drinking some serious caffeine I realized that I needed to burn off some anxiety so I tackled our master closet.


By appearance the closet seemed to have worked, we have plenty of rod space and can store all of our clothes without falling over each other. But it did not function the way I wanted and it was largely the shoes to blame. After vacuuming, dusting and evaluating I decided that it was time to invest in some of the clear shoe storage containers to hold my collection. After showing Jeremy that it really was the only way to maximize our storage without spending an arm and a leg he gave me the go-ahead to finish off the closet.
I took a brief intermission this evening to meet my parents at Our Lady of Mount Carmel for the St. Joseph's Table feast. Jeremy stayed behind to watch the beloved KU Jayhawks. (I don't really need to comment on the outcome of that game.) After enjoying the feast that reminded me so much of my Great Grandma, thanks to the polenta, gnocchi and pizzelles I headed to Target. I found an employee and made my way to the check-out with 40 of my bins in tow. Once home I dusted one more time and got busy. Here's the end product:


I'm absolutely thrilled with how this turned out and am so glad the closet is more functional. As for that half a pot of coffee, I'll be up until midnight and Jeremy will likely switch me over to decaf after this marathon day.

Worlds Largest Pepper Mill

In celebration of Dad's and Johnny Arkansas' birthdays, we all headed east to Emil Lene's Sirloin House. Emil Lene's is a no frills sirloin house in the middle of a field off of Smith Road. If you want atmosphere and swanky digs, this is not your place. There is no menu and don't expect anything on draft, bottles only. There is a certain charm that comes from a restaurant that has a tree in the middle of the dining area. Nolan just loved this feature and couldn't get enough of posing for photos. The best part of the meal is the pepper mill, words don't do this justice:

Happy Birthday Commish!

It's my Dad's birthday. How old you ask? Let's just say that there's the perfect beer out there for him this year:

My Dad sure doesn't look or act 64, he still has the energy of a 34 year old. Trust me, he keeps Corey, Jeremy, and Johnny Arkansas on their toes. He'll really put those men to the test with our upcoming roofing project, I'll have to document this one very well;) Thank you for continuing to build the tool arsenal and help whenever we need anything.

(Love these in progress shots!)

I wish you a year of many "appointments", travels and projects. But more importantly, I hope this is your year to win the Lang Cup!

You're the best Dad and I love you very much.

pure barre = pure torture

I went to pure barre for the first time today after my girlfriend Julie suggested that I'd love the workout. (Julie and I have done pilates together for a year so I had every reason to believe her.) OH MY GOODNESS - it was 10x more difficult than any Body Pump class I've ever taken and so different than pilates.

I'm in dang good shape right now with doing pilates 4x a week but this was such an intense class. The parts of class that focused on my strengths from pilates were okay, but the portions that were ballet focused were incredible. The article in the Denver Post last year was dead-on. I don't know if I'm naive or a sucker for punishment but after reformer tomorrow I'm heading to another class. Hopefully tomorrow isn't as killer as it was today.

Pardon my absence

It's been a month since my last post and I would love to say I was off on a fabulous vacation. The fact is, I've been in a big rut. The routine of work, pilates and more work has hit me hard. Couple that with the February weather and the "dirty" landscape that takes over Colorado and it's been a depressing month.

There were some high points, we celebrated a lovely little Valentine's Day and enjoyed watching the Olympics. But as it stands now, I'm dying for spring and something fresh. Here's hoping that the weather holds and we can avoid a big spring storm. In the mean time, I'll keep looking at the great articles in Sunset and hope my yard looks like this very soon.