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!