All by myseeeeeelf.....

After having a roomie for 6 months, I am back on my own again.....

This is a picture of Linds in her new bedroom this week after cleaning the floors. We have spent a TON of time working on getting her little house fixed up and it looks so good. I can't wait to see how Lindsay makes it her own. I know one thing for sure, is that she is SO excited to be reunited with her pup, Kya. Thankfully, her new house is about 4.5 minutes away from mine, so I'm betting I'll still get to see her! :)

Happy Moving Day, Lindsay!!!

Babies and Wine.....not combined.

Quick update.....as Linds was reading my last post, she said, "I don't think I've had any water since it broke." Silly girl! :)

This weekend has been a good one.....minus the K-State loss. I have gotten to spend lots of time with some people I really enjoy, including lunch with one of my BFFs, Lacey, today.

There has been a little baby boom lately from my bunko group. Lisa had baby Liam on Thursday and I went to meet him Friday after work (she delivered in the hospital where I work). I didn't get to hold him cause he was having a little procedure, but saw him through a wind0w- super cute! Friday night Linds and I stopped by my friend Andrea's and met baby Harper. She is such a sweet baby....long and lanky and SO alert! We felt like she was really trying to talk to us! Harper's big brother was there and pretty excited to show his mom stuff from school.

After meeting Harper, we went to our friend Lindsey's apartment for a little wine tasting with Lindsey and Sarah. We each brought a bottle, she had some snacks put together and we just hung out and talked. Aren't those nights some of the best ones?! Hope your weekend has been a good one too. I'm looking forward to the Oscars tonight! Love all the fancy outfits and seeing who wins.

K-State vs. KU Party

Well, the basketball game turned out to be a disappointment (IMHO) but my parents were kind to have me and a couple friends, plus my cousin and her boyfriend over to watch the game. We had a good time, and lots of good food, despite the loss. Until the next game....




Per the TV, Bill Self appears to have a mullet...

Linds after a things took a turn for the worse....

Sad Peachy....

Progress!

Linds and I are nearing completion on painting the little house she's gonna rent from my mom's friend. It's really starting to look awesome.....as they say, what a difference a coat of paint makes! :)

Making a House a Home...

Over the last few months, I've had the pleasure of having one of my BFFs live with me and while she has looked for a place of her own. Well, it worked out that she's going to rent a house from my mom's friend. It's super cute and lots of potential, with a spare bedroom and a MASSIVE backyard for her dog to run all day. Added bonus is that it's close to my house! My mom's friend wasn't looking to become a landlord, so the house needs a little love, especially in the paint department. The fun part is that Lindsay got to pick out the colors herself (with a couple other friends' expert advice).

So, today we finally got started after a couple of months discussion about this possibility. We painted the ceilings in both of the bedrooms and did some spackling. We took a radio over and one of the first songs to play was "The House That Built Me" by Miranda Lambert....not obviously a direct correlation, as Lindsay didn't grow up in this house, but if definitely resonated that this is a new chapter of her life that's opening up. She was brought here for a job, but I'm excited to see my friend find her spot here and feel more at home. I can't wait for the fun times that will happen for you in this sweet little house, Linds!!

Happy 4th!

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend! Besides working Saturday and on the holiday, I can't complain. And honestly, I can't complain at all. I took a long lunch yesterday to go to my neighborhood's parade, which I love. This is the third year I have went and really think it's super sweet. Gotta love long-standing traditions and this parade has been around a lot longer than I have. Also, when I went into the hospital yesterday, one of my patients, who had a stroke yesterday morning, said, "Thank you so much for coming to work to help me on the holiday. Who has a stroke on the 4th of July? I am supposed to be at a bbq." She was super sweet and full of life. She is an 88-year-old that drives 30 miles 3 times a week for yoga, so clearly a motivated spirit.

Anyway, my sis is here from Texas and we've had lots of family time! And LOTS of good food! My cousin made some homemade vanilla ice cream, which was awesome and seems so appropriate for summer. Here are a few pictures. I'm off today and going to the pool with my sister when she's done running errands....wish the weekend could go on forever!

A homemade American pie and the United States flag on my house....what's more American than that?

This is me with my mom, sister and cousin at the parade. The other picture is one of my good friend's kids who walked in the parade. They were pretty excited about it!

Hi, my name is Michelle and I used to write on my blog.

Geeze, where did the last month go?! Last week, I was thinking, I haven't written on my blog in a long time. Then, I didn't write anything. The same thing happened a few days ago and I still didn't write anything. Finally, my sister said to me today, "You need to write on your blog!" So, here I am. It's not that I haven't been doing anything and don't have anything to write about....actually, quite the opposite. It seems like it's been non-stop lately. Basic recap:

The middle of April I went to KC for my friend Nichole's bachelorette party. We stayed in a hotel on the plaza, went to Kona Grill for some awesome sushi and then to a piano bar in Westport. So much fun!

My baby sister came home for Easter (yea!) and I got to eat sweets again after a very loooooong Lent of no sugar! We had a good time hanging out together.

Some of my best buds in Wichita came to visit and we had a blast. We made our way through some shops on Mass in Lawrence, ate at Freestate Brewery and had a low-key evening of hammock-ing, Coldstone and a movie. You can't go wrong! It was really nice to see them.

Last weekend, I went West to Hays for my friend Nichole's wedding. We went to K-State together for a year and then we were both at KU Med for a year while I got my masters and she got her nursing degree. It was great to see her and spend time with her wonderful family. She is currently honeymooning in Cancun. Ah, sounds lovely!

I'm going to KC this weekend to do the Crawl for Cancer with my friend Kelly. Looking forward to seeing some friends I haven't seen for awhile! Hopefully will have more blog updates sooner than later. :)

My BIG Surprise.....and B2B recap!

As I mentioned Friday, I have had a secret/surprise I've been keeping since the end of February. My friends that I work with and me were preparing and planning to run in the Brew to Brew, which we did last year as well. That wasn't the surprise though. The surprise was that one of my good friends that worked at the hospital with us before moving to Colorado last May, came back for the race. She agreed to join us and we decided to keep it a secret from the rest of the team. Such an awesome surprise for everyone and we were all SO pumped to spend time with Amanda. The surprise:

We had a pasta dinner at my house Saturday night to carb-load before the race Sunday. We left Topeka about 5:40 Sunday morning for KC. It was a great day with friends, minus the 20+ mph wind we ran directly into. Not a nice time. I ran 4.8 miles in about an hour....I'll take it considering it was the farthest I've ever ran and it was more hills and wind than I'm used to. We had a good day enjoying hanging out and having snacks and just relaxing. I was done running by noon so had several hours to just cheer for my teammates. We are already excited to do it all again next year! After the race was completed, we went to The Salty Iguana, a mexian restaurant in Lawrence and had LOADS of water and some mexican food. We got back to Topeka a bit before 7:00 and were all SO exhausted! Thankful for a fun day with my friends!

The team before we ran:

Me before I ran:

The team after the race:

Shhh!

I have a HUGE surprise/secret that I've been keeping for over a month! It's going to be revealed this weekend and I couldn't be more excited!!! Also, this weekend is my second time participating in the Brew to Brew, a relay race from KC to Lawrence I am doing with a group of friends. I'm pumped to spend the day with friends in what is supposed to be BEAUTIFUL weather...also excited to get my 4.8 mile leg behind me! Will fill you all in soon on the big surprise! Oh, and happy April Fools Day! Any good pranks?!

Neat idea...

My mom saw an article in The KC Star about a group of folks in Kansas City that have a group who go to different restaurants and rate the food. They blog all about it here. First, they went to different pizza places and are now trying out different burger places. One of my bffs Lindsay started a breakfast club in Wichita a year or two ago (I can't remember how long it's been going) but one Saturday a month they go to different restuarants and try out the breakfast menu. Love the ideas and inspired to do something similar here in my city! Nothing like enjoying a meal with friends and trying new places.

Happy St. Patty's Day weekend!...Minus that whole KSU loss thing...

I had a great St. Patty's Day weekend and hope everyone else did too! On the actual day of, I had to work. Boo. But afterwards, I met up with friends for a couple green beers and later got to see K-State win their first round game in the NCAA tourney. St. Patty's is also my friend Kristen's birthday, so it was fun to help her celebrate. Happy b-day KFan!

With two of my buds since high school. Glad Lacey and Andrea could both come join the fun!

The fun continued.....and the Kristen birthday celebration.....on Saturday night. We celebrated her 30th birthday but SADLY K-State lost their second round game....BUMMER! Kristen is a KU fan but everyone was being fairly civil about the loss and following sadness.

With Sharee and Megan and our K-State stickers!

Last night, I celebrated St. Patty's with my parents in our tradition style (minus Meg)....with mom's homemade reubens. They.are.awesome.!!!! Massive sandwich and tater tots.....only do it once a year but oh so worth it.

Aren't the napkins SO festive?!

Yep, Dad's got a tot in his necklace...

Mom and me....don't be mad I posted this. :) It was a casual evening....as in I had just got out of the shower after the gym! Btw, what's going on with my hand in this picture??

Oh yeah, and welcome spring! So ready for some great weather!!

Resuming....

It seems like life (at least in blogging world, and kind of outside of it too) has been on hold for me lately. A lot has been going on in my world, namely someone that is one of the closest people to my heart has been diagnosed and begun a battle with cancer, as well one of my best friends since high school was killed in a car accident on Valentine's Day. I was Tisharria's maid of honor at her wedding in January and her sudden death has seemed so very surreal. Her husband was in the car with her and is recovering slowly back at his home. We've been in contact through phone/text; T couldn't have picked a better guy and his positive attitude is helping him through this awful time. Right before Tisharria walked down the aisle, she and I were alone in the dressing room in the church and I told her what an awesome guy she was marrying and how he the two of them set the bar for the kind of relationship I want in my life. It gives me comfort knowing that when she died, she was so truly happy and with the love of her life. I really want everyone to know that while it's definitely been a rough month, I have genuinely appreciated all my friends' support and loved my family even harder than usual. Times like these shock us into evaluating our lives and look at what we're doing and not doing....and most of all, remind us what's important.

So, I haven't felt like blogging but feel like it's a good way for me to vent/remember/document/process everything that has been going on. I also didn't feel like I could resume writing without at least briefly acknowledging what's really been going on in my life. It would seem fake/disrespectful to start posting about the usual....which honestly is a bunch of stuff that doesn't matter, without being truthful. I don't plan on my blog being a place to focus on my family member's cancer fight, as I want to respect their privacy or to focus on Tisharria, but I would like to start up again and see what inspires me. If anyone had ever met "T", they know that she was SO MUCH FUN and one of the happiest people I know. I want to honor her and our friendship by trying to include a little bit of her spirit in my life. To do that, it means finding/continuing what makes me happy and doing it with a huge smile on my face, just like she did every single day!

This dinner is brought to you by: Jenny!

My awesome friend Jenny gave me a pre-made bean soup mix in a mason jar, including the spices, and tonight seemed like the perfect winter night to use it. Add a piece of cornbread and it made a great warm meal! Thanks J-Bomb!! You're the best! :)

Step #1: Admire the pretty beans in the jar.

Step #2: Rinse the beans off in a colander...

Step #3: Cook the beans in the microwave covered in water for 15 minutes.....

Step #4: After rinsing the beans again, put them in a pot, add 8 cups of water, the spice packet and a can of diced tomatoes and you will soon have a million servings of soup!!

Step #5: Enjoy! :)

Good help isn't so hard to find....

This afternoon I have the pleasure of hanging out with one of my friend's kids....it's a mighty group with spirited personalities! I love spending time with these guys and they are really into the helping mood!

We are all VERY excited for the big K-State/KU match-up tonight. I actually went to my parents' house this morning and had pancakes and watched College Gameday. There is a lot of purple going on! So, the kiddos showed up this afternoon full of energy and ready to help decorate cupcakes for the game tonight. They did a great job helping! They all wanted to do the K-State ones. ;)

After the kitchen duties, they were still itching for more stuff to do....and my dad had told me to shovel the sidewalk before it snows again next week. I'm not one to deny him a task (I know...I'm generous).....but Lutey did it with no complaint!

Geo noticed that my table was dusty so she did some dusting of it and my glass tray. She does FINE work and informed me that she can clean my house, "no problem, just call my mom."

I had picked up two more dining room chairs last week at NFM and still hadn't put them together....man do kids love sorting screws and bolts and nuts! Such good help!

After all the hard work, they relaxed with some popsicles, Snow White, played in the snow and we also did our nails. Way more productive afternoon than I would have predicted! Good luck to the Cats tonight!!