Sweet Home Colorado!

This past weekend, Phil and I ventured to the wonderful and amazing state of Colorado for four short, fun-filled days. We arrived Friday morning and unfortunately left Tuesday morning, but I don't think Phil and I could have asked for a better trip.

On Friday, my mom picked us up from the Denver airport and of course, we had to make a stop at the Castle Rock outlets :) Phil was very proud of me, since I didn't do too much damage (I mean, I only came with one bag, so everything had to fit on the way home)! After a few hours of shopping and some lunch, we headed down to the Springs and visited my old working stomping grounds. It was so wonderful to see the TR ladies and just catch up, as brief as it was. They continue to run an amazing program for people with disabilities and I can only hope that they're able to continue with their awesome programs (as some of you know, the City of CO Springs is not in the best shape, so keep your fingers crossed and pray that they're able to be able to provide these beneficial programs in years to come). Friday evening, we headed to the Golden Bee, which is an English Pub located by the Broadmoor (if you haven't been there, it is a must)! While there, we enjoyed food, beer (a full yard for Phil and Tom), sing along with the piano player (see the video below of Bob and Tom participating in one of the sing-a-longs), and great company (some family friends joined us, as well as Tom's girlfriend, Laura).

Saturday, mom and I went walking in the morning and I continue to fall in love with the mountains all over again. We did a route where you can just see the majestic views and continue to be in awe of what God has created there. I think being in Midland has truly taught me what scenery really means and how beautiful things can be. In the afternoon, Phil and Tom saw 'Robin Hood,' while my friend Sarah and I saw 'Sex and the City 2.' It was a decent movie and I'm still debating on if I will purchase it when it comes out; it is definitely not as good as the first movie. That evening, the family headed to a Sky Sox game and unfortunately, had to miss out on the fireworks, as it was too windy (which was okay for mom and I-- we were freezing)!

Sunday, we all went to church and then packed up to head to Boulder. We first had to stop in Golden to take our VIP (!!!) tour of the Coors Brewery. Phil has never been to a brew tour, so his request for this trip was to go on one. Tom, being the awesome brother that he is, knows one of the guys that works there, so we were able to get a great tour. Phil enjoyed learning about how beer is made, but I think trying the beer was a little more enjoyable :) After the tour, we made our way to our hotel and then to dinner to carbo-load. Then, it was early to bed for the big race on Monday!

As always, Bolder Boulder was a blast! This is my third year racing and the first year for Phil. It worked out nicely, as Bob, Tom and myself ran the 10K and Phil, Jean and Jean's friend, Amy, walked the 10K. We all started in the same wave, and the runners finished in 1:03 while the walkers finished in 1:54. I cannot wait to come back next year! We saw so many costumes and groups and it is just such a fun race-- I recommend it for everyone! I think this year they had around 54,000 people. The weather was gorgeous and on the warm side (thankfully, some of the people that have the race around their homes were generous enough to have sprinklers on for us to run through). After the race, we walked around the finish area and got some free food, including these awesome fruit bars that Bryers makes... seriously, after finishing a 10K, they are exactly what a hot and sweaty person needs (as well as the beer that each racer gets in their goody bag)! Then, it was back home to lounge around for a few hours before heading to Red Robin (yum!) for dinner. We had a great waitress (Tom's girlfriend was our server) and the food was delicious. Seriously, if anyone wants to make a boat-load of money, open a Red Robin in Midland (or an Applebees, or a bagel/muffin shop... we're lacking in a lot of restaurant areas). While our food settled into our happy bellies, we returned home and watched 'Law Abiding Citizen,' which some of the ladies that I know had recommended. While it was a good movie, I didn't expect it to be as intense or bloody as it was. But, I would agree with the recommendation.

This morning unfortunately was our time to return to Midland :( We left Colorado with it's very comfortable 80 degree weather and returned to Texas with it's scorching 98 degree weather. This week is supposed to be full of upper 90's/lower 100's... yuck. Summer time is in full swing in Midland.

April

April came in and left very quickly. Philip and I are so amazed by how fast time seems to fly. While it was quick, April was a good month. Midland saw a few days in the 100's, we did get a little rain and Philip and I were able to travel a little bit.

The biggest news of April was that I ran my first half-marathon! A good friend of mine, Tara, talked to me in December and wanted a running buddy for the Oklahoma City Marathon in April and I agreed to do it with her. This was the first race for the both of us and it was awesome! We had a goal of 2:30 and so we were pumped when we broke our goal time and went 2:15! I had never been to OKC before and so just experiencing the city was wonderful, but the race really was nicely put together and it was just a great weekend. Tara and her husband, Luke, and Philip and I loaded our car on Friday afternoon and drove to Warika, OK to stay at Tara's grandma's house on Friday night. Saturday morning, we drove to OKC and met up with some other friends, the Skelton's (Randi, the wife, was also running with Tara and I-- girls rule)! Saturday, we toured the city, went to the race expo, visited the Memorial and then hung out at the hotel. Sunday morning came way too early, as we left the hotel to be ready and at the race site by 6:30am. All I have to say is that Luke and Philip are our heroes-- they drove us to the race, tried to take pictures (Tara and I ended up being on the wrong side of the street when we ran past them-- oops!) and hung out for the 2 hours and 15 minutes it took for us to run the 13.2 miles. Afterwards, everyone went back to the hotel to shower and change, then it was a quick lunch and back to Midland. Once again, Luke and Phil were in true hero power-- Tara and I slept for 3 hours in the back seat and we never heard a complaint. After the 7 hour treck, it was great to be back home. Tara and I were smart and took Monday off of work to recover and get massages :) We're thinking about doing the San Antonio Rock 'N Roll Half in November, so maybe I truly am my father's daughter (I think a full marathon is still a ways away, but who knows...)

We also had some guests at the end of April-- Warren and Sheryl came to visit for a few days. They flew in Thursday and left Sunday. Once again, time went entirely too quickly. We were able to get a lot of things done though. Friday, I worked for a half-day then we drove to Lubbock to tour Llano Winery, look at Texas Tech and eat a delicious restaurant (Las Brisas). Saturday we drove to Carlsbad, NM to tour the Carlsbad Caverns (maybe Philip has a new career as a Park Ranger, as you can see from the picture!) and then we spent Saturday night and Sunday hanging out and relaxing.

Currently, our excitement at the moment is that we're T-minus 5 days until our trip to CO!!! We fly out Friday and come back Tuesday and I am so excited to be at altitude, see scenery, be with family and friends and enjoy a few days off of work! More pictures and stories to come later!

Holidays for February and March

While some may not think that it is the holidays at this point, during the months of February and March, we celebrated three (Valentine's Day, President's Day and St. Patrick's). Normally, these would have passed and we would have thought nothing of these days. However, my mom and my husband are amazing and caused celebration for Valentine's Day and President's Day. After a long and tiring day at work, I just wanted to go home and get into my pj's and sleep the day away. Just then, Phil showed up with a bunch of cupcakes (as those that know me know that my favorite food is icing and whatever else!), which was super sweet of him. I gave him a big hug and then heard, 'I thought you could use some diet coke with those cupcakes' (and for everyone that knows my mom, her favorite is diet coke). I turned around and freaked out because my mom was standing right there! I screamed (yes, in the middle of my office) and started crying. Everyone started asking what was going on and all I could say was, 'this is my mom!' I was able to leave a little early, so the three of us headed back to the apartment to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. The weekend passed entirely too quickly, but the trip was exactly what I needed. We spent Valentine's Day watching the movie 'Valentine's Day' and eating appetizers, then we spent President's Day walking the mall and just relaxing. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, so mom flew back to CO on Tuesday :( As of right now, I'm expecting to fly to CO for Memorial Day, so more holiday celebration!

In between our holidays, we had reason to celebrate as we got snow! And not just a dusting-- we got a full 3 inches! Of course, the world shut down in Midland and the surrounding areas, but it was so much fun to experience!

St. Patrick's Day was filled with friends and good times. I went out to a local bar with a few of my friends and we had an awesome time! Before going out, Phil and I enjoyed some green beer at our house (don't think we got super creative; we poured beer into a glass and put some drops of green food coloring into it)!

We're looking forward to our next round of holiday celebrations. As of right now, we'll probably have a quiet Easter at our place, but then hopefully Memorial Day, we'll be in CO and then for the 4th of July, we'll be enjoying Chmielewski family at the reunion!

Peace out!

Happy Super Bowl day!

While we're still sad the the Vikings didn't make it to the 'big dance,' we're just like almost every other American and we're gearing up to watch the game and enjoy the commercials (any guesses as to the best ones this year...)?!?

Phil has stayed busy the past couple of weeks dealing with weather (yes, we get that down here every few years) and participating in the interview process for the airport. They had five candidates come down last week to interview for an agent position, so hopefully, they'll have the position filled soon and they can be closer to being full-staff.

I had a crazy on-call week (can I expect anything less?!?), but as cruddy as on-call week is, it just makes Friday seem that much better! I am still incredibly short-staff at one of my houses, so the week has been filled with re-arranging schedules and finding coverage. Two weeks ago, the Department of Aging and Disability Services came into one of my group homes to perform their annual fundemental survey of the home (just to make sure the clients are getting the care that they deserve). Fortunately, the state found my home to be in good standing, so we got a 'clean-sheet,' which means they found no deficiencies or citations! I am expecting them to come around early May for the other home that I run (the state comes about the same time every year), so hopefully I can have another 'clean-sheet' experience!

On Friday afternoon, we left Mildand for a quick trip to 'D-Town' (as everyone down here calls Dallas). We left Midland about 4p, after we both got off of work and got to Dallas about 10 that evening. We stayed one night in downtown Dallas and another night in Frisco, where Tom was staying. Tom was reffing a few games in the Dallas area over the weekend, so it was such a fun trip to be able to spend some time with him.

Saturday morning we went sight-seeing around the area and of course did some shopping :) I have been experiencing some problems with my running shoes, so while we were in Dallas, I took advantage of the real running stores and got some great advice, and some new shoes! (I feel so professional now)! We met up with Tom for lunch and then hung out around the town, before Phil and I headed to the Stars game, and Tom headed to his game.

The Stars game was absolutely phenomenal! We are very excited to go back later in the year, and have a great experience all over again. The arena was huge, but we still have some biases with the Ralph Englestad arena from Grand Forks :) The Stars won 4-0 against the Phoenix Coyotes, so along with a great game, we got to see the Stars put a 'W' on the board. After the game, we headed back to the hotel to wait for Tom and then spent the evening relaxing and catching up.

While the trip was entirely too short and went by too quickly, Phil and I really enjoy getting out of town for a quick break. We were discussing our next trip and realized we don't have plans until the end of April (for my half-marathon), so if you have any ideas for us (or if you want to enjoy a trip to the Midland area), let us know!

Happy 2010!

We hope that everyone has had a great start to the new year! Things here have been same as usual, which I guess is okay :)
Life in Texas has been good, unless you're a silly Cowboys fan (which we never will be-- Go Vikings)! We're excited to watch the game tomorrow and see some more amazing Vikings action!

Our Christmas was quiet and wonderful. As you know, we celebrated Christmas with our families, so that actual day of Christmas was very low-key. We cooked dinner, went to Christmas Eve service, had some dessert and watched Christmas movies. It's fun continuing to come up with our own traditions. Philip had to work on the day of Christmas and I got to be the lucky one who was on call. It was a busy weekend, but not too horrible (thank goodness)!

New Year's I was still on-call, and Philip had to work until 11pm. But, we were in the same place for our midnight kiss, so all was good! A co-worker of mine had a get-together at her house and it was a great start to the year to celebrate with friends.

We finally booked our weekend trip to Dallas! We will be there February 5-7 and we're hitting up a Dallas Stars game and staying at the Hotel Lawrence. Not much else is planned, but I would like to visit some of the places of my childhood, since we lived there in the late 80's/early 90's. The best part about the trip is that another Chmielewski sibling will be there at the same time! Tom is reffing in Dallas that weekend, so we'll spend a day with him after he refs a game on Saturday night and we watch the Stars kick butt!

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone is enjoying their day of celebration! Philip and I have had an amazing few weeks and we are so blessed with family, friends and everything else that is in our lives right now.

Catching up from last time...

We celebrated Philip's birthday November 5. He had the day off of work, so when I got home, we went out to dinner with some friends and then had some pie and ice cream. It was quiet, but we've realized that as we get older, it's just another day. I tried to make it extra special for him, but like he says, if he can drink beer, relax and go out to eat, it's a good day!

Thanksgiving was a little different this year. Philip had to work, so since a lot of his co-workers are in the same situation (being 20-somethings with no family around the area), we had a potluck at the airport. There were 8 of us that celebrated that night at the airport, and we dined on Gumbo, different salads, sweet potato balls, pies and ice cream. It was a night that we could all be thankful for so much. I had to leave the party a little early, as I am one of those insane Black Friday shoppers. Yes, I was up at 3am and met up with another co-worker of mine and her friends. Crazy, I know. But, it's all for the love of tradition and sales!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Philip and I flew to the midwest to celebrate 'Thanksmas' with our families. We spent a day with the Tiedeman's in George before driving to St. Cloud to meet up with my parents and my brother. It was a quiet four days, but it was just what we needed. I got in the Christmas season early and donated 9 inches of my hair to Beautiful Lengths (it's like Locks of Love). After our celebration with the Chmielewki's, we drove back to Iowa to celebrate with Philip's family. All I can say is it is much different celebrating with 5 adults (as we did with the Chmielewski's) to celebrating with 10 adults and 3 little boys (with the Tiedeman's). It was so much fun to see how excited the little boys got! Santa even made his way to the house early (we saw his tracks in the snow)! The trip went by entirely too quickly, but Phil and I continue to realize how blessed we are. We are so lucky to have such amazing families and we are anxious for the day that we move closer to them.

Unfortunately, our trip back to Midland was not all that wonderful. In a nut shell, we were excited to see about an inch or two of snow in Iowa, but we missed 'winter' in Midland.

However, our flight back was supposed to fly in during their 'winter storm.' We were able to fly into Houston, but once we arrived, we were notified that our flight was cancelled and we would have to stay the night. The next morning, we boarded our plane, waited 45 minutes on the runway and flew for about 30 minutes before the pilot stated we were turning around due to bad weather in Midland. Once we landed, Philip and I were informed that there were no flight to Midland until the next day. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so we went on a limb and booked a flight to Lubbock (2 hours from Midland). Keep in mind, we had no idea how we were getting from Lubbock to Midland! After calling all 8 car rental places in Lubbock, we thought we were going to have a $300 taxi fare back to Midland. Thankfully, two of our dear friends, the Thorton's (bless their hearts) came to pick us up. All in all, we were supposed to be back in Midland on Monday at 7pm and we got back on Tuesday at 10pm. I am so glad that Philip works at the airport and not me because I am not wanting to see an airport for quite some time :)

This year has been so full of blessing, memories and just so much more. Enjoy your celebrations and as Tiny Tim says, 'God bless us, everyone!'

Finally back in the game :)

After a few months of laziness, no computer in our apartment and hectic/random schedules, I can now get back to out beloved blog!

Since there is so much to catch up on, I'll just give highlights of the past few months:

August:

Phil and I did make it to New Braunfels for our little mini-vacation. We spent a day at Schlitterbahn Water Park, which was amazing. We also had a drink at the famouse Gruene Dance Hall later that night. The next day, we had planned to tube the river, but after spending the previous day in the sun, we decided to sleep in and leave a little early to take the scenic way back to Midland (yes, there's scenery in east Texas, we're just severly lacking it on our side). We stopped in the adorable town of Fredericksburg to have lunch and window shop. While the trip was short and sweet, it was worth it.

In August, we also attended Midland's famous Summer Mummers. It's a melodrama that is put on every summer and it's held at the old theater downtown. We went with a few of my co-workers, as well as one of Phil's co-workers. There is one main show at the beginning of the night and that's where the crowd gets into the action by 'booing' and throwing the popcorn at the bad guy as well as clapping and cheering on for the good guy. They sell bags of popcorn and it ends up being a huge popcorn fight (Phil and I are wearing some of our bags from that evening). Phil and I continued to find popcorn pieces scattered throughout our apartment for the next couple of days.

September:

The month of our first anniversary! We celebrated by heading to Lubbock to watch UND play Texas Tech in football. We went with two of our friend's from TX (that are Tech alumni) as well as another UND alumni (one of Phil's co-workers). On our way to the game, we stopped at Llano winery (which is right outside of Lubbock) for a little visit and tour. Then, it was on to the campus to see UND give Tech a little run for their money (hey, it's UND's first season in D1, so we didn't expect a lot, but it really was a great game).

The day of our anniversary, we relaxed and went out to eat, then came home to drink the wine that Sheryl and Warren had given us when we got married. Phil had made vanilla ice cream and colored it red to match the colors of our wedding and I made marble cake, as that's the one we had on our special day. The best part about the day-- Phil's ice cream ended up being peptobismol pink and my cake did not turn out marbel at all. Ah, memories :) We ended the night by eating dessert and watching our wedding DVD and just reminiscing about that wonderful day. It's been an amazing first year and I know that it's just going to get better!

At the end of September, I was able to fly to Seattle to visit my best friend, Kari. I planned it the same weekend that another set of friends would be there, so it was four days full of catching up, sight-seeing, walking, talking and having tons of fun! I was able to visit downtown Seattle, go to Pike Market, go sailing on a yacht, see where Kari worked, eat tons of fresh and delicious sea food and just enjoy the scenery (because they actually have some up there)!

October unfortunately started out on a sad note. On October 1, my Grandma Katie passed away. She lived an amazing life and all of us were so blessed to know her. Phil and I flew to St. Cloud and while it was good to see all the family, I wish it was for better circumstances. She will be remembered always and forever.