Bedroom Redux

5-years later and it's time to change out the bedroom.  There was nothing wrong the room, aside from wanting to downsize to a Queen bed.  Here are a few bedrooms from House Beautiful that I like.  I hope that I can create something similar:

Coffee and Confession Time

I love a good cup of coffee on the weekends.  Not so much during the weekdays since I can enjoy it n a leisurely fashion since I'm  typically rushing out the door to the office.  I have a little ritual on Saturday that entails Jeremy making the coffee and me drinking the half - a- pot on my own.  I never intend to drink a 6-cups of coffee; I just hate to see good coffee wasted. 

So this brings me to my solution to this very caffeinated problem:: Coffee On Demand.
 
I figure that if I don't have an entire pot of coffee staring at me, I can enjoy a cup or two and be on my merry way.  I've seen this one in use and am fairly certain that it's time I make this purchase.  Any thoughts on Cuisinart?

Confession Time...
Ever since Jeremy and I started carpooling to work, I've been forced to listen to the Dan Patrick Show on the morning drive.  Jeremy isn't a morning person so I'm fine listening to sports radio if it puts him  in a good mood to start his day.  Flash forward to a vacation day and channel flipping in the early hours to me finding the Dan Patrick Show is shown on cable.  After seeing his crew on TV, I can't get enough of this show.  I get so sick of ESPN but this 3-hour show is very entertaining.  Yes it's a sports talk radio show, but it also includes some really good interviews.  Humor yourself and listen to the show for a minute, if anything your husband will love you for it!

Dining Lady

I met up with some great girlfriends today in the wonderful snowy weather.  We went to the oven pizza e veno at Belmar and indulged for a few hours.  The service is always wonderful and the food is made with very fresh, local ingredients.  If you are in the neighborhood stop by and indulge in the best dessert I've ever tasted...the Oven Baked Doughnut.  It is to die for and worth every bite.  You won't be sorry!     

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.

I promise I'm not hiding...

...the summer just got away from me. As I'm coming up for air the calendar has turned to September. So in honor of Back to School, here's what I did on my summer vacation:

1 - We got a new roof! Of course the work was done by Jeremy and crew. The photo evidence speaks for itself - the hubs picked out a great looking shingle and did a wonderful job.

2 - We enjoyed a busy summer that kicked off with a trip to ABQ, NM to get in some serious golf and a visit with Jenny and Luke. (It didn't hurt that we also couriered 3 cases of 2 Buck Chuck back from Trader Joes!)

3 - We spent quite a bit of time in the yard with a few projects. (Really this means that Jeremy with help from his brother and my dad had projects.)


4 - I'm done with my basic certification and am now offering private classes at the studio and was pleasantly surprised to become the newest Pilates Reformer instructor for the City of Lakewood.

5 - I love the new job. I'm almost through my 6-month introductory period and I'm still thrilled with my move. Everyday I wake up pleasantly surprised that I'm not dreading going into the office. After 10-years, that is a very weird feeling!

6 - We've golfed quite a bit this summer even though Jeremy didn't join his Men's Club this year. The ironic part about this lack of club time allowed him to play in the Member-Guest and WIN!
7 - We entertained - boy did we entertain. I had a brilliant idea to invite all the fam over for a 4th of July party then I hosted a pretty fab baby shower for my dear friend Katy. The 4th was pretty fun and held on the 3rd so we had quite a few more folks than I planned. As for the shower, I cooked like I was feeding 40 but ended up only having a dozen or so ladies. I think it all turned out beautiful and I'm sure Katy loved it. I would include photos but I was running around like a crazy lady and didn't have a camera handy at either party. C'est la vie!

I continued the summer of staying unplugged but am ready to get back into technology so be looking for more posts;)

Unplugged Cont'd.

As part of my efforts to unplug from technology, I've been reading a lot of books. I've become best friends with my library again. I missed the Whale of a Sale last weekend so now I'm going back to the old days when my mom would take my brother, sister and I to the library where we would spend hours picking out just the right book. My hold list is getting longer and longer but somehow the library Gods know when I'm in need of a new book. Do you have any new books that are must reads? I wish my patio looked like this - I could spend all summer reading if I had this set up.

Photo from Sunset

I thought this article in the NY Times is interesting, the couple profiled seems extreme, but I think it has some truth to the over-stimulated argument.

Enjoy some light reading - next time make I'll make it the actual newspaper!

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!