Sad day.

So, today was trucking along as any Wednesday does. Until lunch. My boss came into the therapy offices where many of us gather over sack lunches to visit. She shared that one of the pharmacists at the hospital jumped off a Topeka bridge this morning and died. His mom is also a well-known and liked nurse on the rehab unit. Nothing sadder than to hear someone was at such a low place to end their life. Tony, like myself, works throughout the hospital on each floor, so was a well-known face to all nurses, doctors and therapists alike. Although a Jayhawk fan, he was friendly, smart and kind. It states in the article reporting his death, that he suffered from bipolar disorder and had recently stopped taking his medication. This is a battle that one of my childhood friends also struggled with in recent years and she past away in January. Very sad.

We will all really miss working with Tony. Prayers go out to his family. Makes me appreciate each of my friends and family all the more; you are all a wonderful part of my life and it wouldn't be the same without you.

http://www.cjonline.com/news/local/2009-07-29/father_reaches_out_after_sons_death

Meeting of the babes...

The weekend before last, my college roomies (minus Katie) came to visit me in Topeka and see my new house. Katie was about two weeks out from having baby Grace and not too feasible to expect her to sit in a car for 2 hours each way. Anyway, Lindsay and Kylie came up from Wichita with Kylie's baby Graham. Kylie's husband Brady came through on his wasy from KC to Wichita. My parents came over from across town. Julie and her husband Aaron, Julie's mom all came from KC with baby Brooke, who was born the end of May and hadn't yet met our Wichita friends, including her potential future husband Graham. Anyway, it was super nice of everyone to make the day trip and great to see each other, and to see Graham and Brooke get to play. We had some Glory Days pizza, a local favorite and a chocolate silk pie. Good treats with good friends! Thanks again guys!! :)

Graham and Brooke hanging out on a beautiful quilt that Kylie made....

Julie, Aaron and Brooke.

Graham, Kylie, me, Lindsay, Julie and Brooke....

My friends have the cutest babies.....not that I'm biased.

A couple weeks ago, I took off work Wednesday and Tuesday headed to Wichita to see some of my very favorite people....and the very cute little babies that they have. That Tuesday was the monthly bunko night that I played in when I lived there, so it was a good way to see a bunch of the girls at one time. While I was in town, I also got to meet two of the newest additions, Lily and Grace. Here are a few pictures from my trip:
My friend Lindsay with our friend Kylie's daughter Lilah with her new birthday crown and necklace I gave her. Pretty stinkin' cute. She turned 2 in May and is now one of the "big kids".

Lilah admiring her ring.....

Lilah's baby brother Graham, who is now 5 months...

My friend Libby's baby Madeline....she was born at the end of April and Libby brought her to bunko so we could all see her...

The quilt I made for baby Grace Elizabeth, pictured below....born June 6th.

Grace's big brother Caden, who is 18 months and super cute as well.

This is me with Lily Elyse, who was born June 2nd....I worked with her mom Jenna when I first moved to Wichita.

Baby Lily and her little red mohawk; both of her parents (especially her dad) have red hair.

The proud mama with her baby.

The quilt I made for Lily...

First paying gig...

Since I took a few cake decorating class last winter, I have taken severl decorated treats into work for my co-workers. Well, a couple weeks ago, my friend Lisa at work asked if I would decorate a baseball cake for her nephew's 2nd birthday. It turned out okay, so I thought I would share. I am definitely going to have to invest in a multiple star-tip for cakes like these....it took awhile to say the least.

Up close and personal....

My mom's friend's friend (if that makes sense) got free tickets to the Sara Evans concert that was at the casino north of Topeka. We got seats on the 3rd row and it was AWESOME! During the encore, I got to go up in front of the stage and literally could have touched her leg (I didn't cause pretty sure that it's not recommended). During the concert, she shared that her younger brother and two sisters are in her band, her brother as a guitarist and her sisters as her back-up singer. Pretty successful family act if you ask me....maybe we should have done this Meg?! Very glad to see one of country's best in person! Here are a couple pictures:

4th of July Celebration!

So, when I moved into my house, I became a part of Topeka called "Collins Park" because I live about a block or so from a park called "Collins Park." Well, each year the neighborhood has a parade on the morning of the 4th. My parents and our friend Sandy went for the first time. It's pretty stinkin' cute. All the neighborhood kids dress up in their best patriotic gear, there are a couple bands, including some bag pipes, and decorated vehicles. Here are some pictures....

After the parade, we went to my parents' house for bbq and later that night I went to my neighbor/friend/co-worker's Sarah's for fireworks. Here are pictures of me with Sarah and her two youngest kids.

Connected.

Where to start?! I have been computer-free at my house for several weeks and FINALLY got my computer cord in the mail yesterday (mine stopped working, so the computer wouldn't charge). Since I haven't really posted for almost a month and it has been a busy month of summer, I will try to do an overview.

To back up, I will start with my Topeka "Stay-ca-tion" the last week of June. My sis was in town from Dallas and we found lots of fun here, along with me getting moved into my house....more on that another time. The week went by of course too quickly, but we had a great time. We saw 3 movies: "The Proposal", "The Hangover" and "My Sister's Keeper", all very good but differnt types of shows for sure. I pretty much cried during the entire showing of "My Sister's Keeper"...quite a mess, but just a pretty big fan of my own sister. We also found one day to go lay out at the pool at our parents' new neighborhood pool, which was fun, although I'm not too sure how effective for my see-through skin.

Here are some pictures of the eventful week of family time....

During this week was also my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. On the day of, we went to KC and did some shopping, ate at "The Yard House" and went to a Royals game.

The next day, we went to dinner at a restaurant here in Topeka called "The Row House" and it was SO good! Wednesdays are their sample nights and for each of the 7 courses, they bring you a little taste. It's in an old row house (hence, the name) downtown and is close to the capital building that you can see in the background in one of the pics. Very cool building and good food.

Also, for my parents' anniversary, Megan and I had a card shower for them and their friends and some family sent cards to Meg. We gave them all of the cards in this box- they were definitely surprised!

I also made a quilt for them to have to remember their anniversary. Not sure how much my dad will cuddle up with it while he is watching sports, but I enjoyed making it for them. :)

Lastly, I have to brag about my sister's unselfish helping during her week off. What a trooper!Here is my carpenter in front of the two bookshelves and desk that she put together for me. I got them at Target and then next day she had all of the manual labor done. Thanks Meg, I promise our next vacation with involve less hammers and nails!! :)

Out of the loop.

Just wanted to apologize for being so MIA in the blogging community lately....I am hoping my lack of posting hasn't severely disrupted anyone's worlds, but my computer charge plug-in hasn't been working and is in the shop. I have been pretty busy working on my house and will have to post some "after" pics of the house after I get my computer back (hopefully soon)! Until then, I am of course enjoying reading everyone else's on my parents' computer....just wanted to explain my lack of blog participation.