Not much more motivating...

....than spending a week in a swimsuit....on a beach....oh, and with my skinny sister. God love her, but seriously. As most of you know, we went on a fantastic trip to visit friends in Jamaica last month. The last month has been full-force holiday celebrations galore and not much of that has been revolving around healthy eating and working out. Shocking. So, 'tis the season to change that! Oh, and apparently 'tis the season for Girl Scout Cookies to come in- could there be worse timing?!?! That's life though.

Anyway, as we are gearing up and starting a new year, it is frequently a time to come down from the junk food high the holidays provide and re-focus on eating healthy and increasing exercise. Today at work, some co-workers and I decided that with the premiere of this season's Biggest Loser Season 9 last night, we will have our own competition. We each put in $5 and I believe there are 10 contestants, so we could potentially net $45. It's of course not about the money, but about losing some weight! We are doing it Biggest Loser style and basing it on percentage of weight loss, since most of my competitors are about 5'2". :)

Wish me luck but I definitely feel motivated. I have gained weight since college and would like to lose some, especially before this summer wen I have a couple trips planned and next fall for my 10-year high school reunion. I have good role models in Kylie, Molly, and Mandy who have all worked hair and maintained weight losses and put it on their blogs for the world to read- proud of you girls for sharing! I will try to keep you posted on the contest and my progress. Hopefully putting this out to the world on the world wide web will help me with accountability, and with writing it down as well. Hopefully I will be $45 richer in a couple months, as well as a smaller version of your favorite Michelle! :)

Souper way to keep warm!

I am SO sick of this cold weather and snow! It snowed a TON over Christmas weekend and 4-5 inches more this weekend. I was holed up with my family at my parents' house over Christmas weekend and here are a couple pictures from Blizzard 2009!

Outside my parents garage on Christmas morning-

The beginning of the snow-

My parents' backyard when it started to snow-

What better way to get warmed up after being outside than some yummy soup?! Last week while my sis was in town, we made my friend Sarah's recipe of Butternut Squash Soup with Tortellini. Mmm! Here are a few pictures from that adventure of using the hand blender for the first time (thanks Santa!) as well as the recipe so you can give it a try.

Butternut Squash Stew:

Ingredients-

2 tablespoons butter

2 onions

3 pounds butternut squash (poke holes, microwave to soften, peel, de-seed and cube)
1/2 cup white wine (optional)

1 box vegetable broth

1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch cinnamon

1 pinch ginger

1 pound frozen tortellini or ravioli, cheese-filled

1 block lite cream cheese

3/4 cup half-and-half

salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add onions and saute until translucent.

Add squash, wine and broth. Add the spices. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook tortellini according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

In a blender, blend half the stew and all the cream cheese to a smooth consistency. Add back to stew. You can also blend all of it for a smoother texture. Add half-and-half, heat until almost a simmer, salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy 2010 everyone! Instead of a Christmas card this year, I have again decided to go with a countdown of my top ten events from 2009, in similar fashion to my 2008 post. A lot has happened since the ball dropped this time last year. This year has brought a change in zip code for me, lots of travels, new babies for friends and new adventures- here are a few of the highlights. I hope everyone has had a wonderful time with family and friends over the very COLD holiday season. Wishing you all a perfect 2010!

10. In January, I gave my notice at my job in Wichita and I decided to move back to Topeka. I accepted a job at a hospital here and moved the beginning of February. I continue to work as a speech pathologist in acute care and some rehab as well, doing work that I love and am passionate about most days. I moved into my parents home in early February while I looked for a house to buy. I have many friends in Wichita that I miss but am fortunate to get to visit quite a bit.

9. Before moving to Topeka, I went to Washington D.C. to visit some friends from K-State who had moved the summer before. Daniel and Vicki showed me a lot of the city and it was great to see them!

8. In February, I took a Wilton's cake decorating class at a local Michael's store. I learned a lot of the basic techniques and have had some fun trying some different techniques to make some treats for co-workers and friends. Here are a couple pictures:

A baby carriage cupcake for a friend's baby shower-

Some cupcakes for Easter-

7. I went to Dallas several times this year to visit my sister. I went in February, April, August and November. Meg and I always have fun and it's nice to enjoy some sister time together! In April, my parents went with me and Meg hosted Easter. A mexican brunch on Easter was a nice change! My family also had a staycation the end of June when Meg was back visiting. We all took the week off work and enjoyed a low-key week at home, including a celebration of my parents 30th wedding anniversary!

6. In April I was sent to Boston for training for work. It was a really great visit, although brief....here is an overview of the trip.

5. I found a house that I wanted to buy in April and signed on a contract. In June, I closed on it. It was very exciting buying my first home and I have been settling in after quite a bit of painting and decorating. Here are a few pictures of my new place!

4. When I lived in Wichita, I played in a bunko group with friends there and loved it! This June I started a group here in Topeka with a friend from high school. We have a great time and it's helped me get to know some new friends here. I am lucky to have some wonderful friends and coworkers here!

3. This summer, I played in a co-ed softball league through the city and on a women's basketball team in a city league this fall. Neither team did "well" but we had a lot of fun! In October, I was reminded of my more successful basketball days when my high school team that won a State Championship was inducted into our high school's athletic hall of fame. It was great to see our coaches and quite a few of my former teammates. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

2. In November my Uncle Roger and cousin Jennifer came to Kansas from Denver to look at potential law schools in the area for Jenn. A fun weekend full of college sports- hopefully we will make it to Colorado to visit this year!

1. December brought a warm and sunny getaway to Jamaica for Meg and me. We went to visit our friends Vicki and Daniel that I went to see in D.C. last January. They moved there in March as Vicki is in the foreign service and that is their first assigned post. Such a beautiful country and we had a really great time! It was a nice trip to end the year with, especially when it snowed heavily in Kansas the whole time I was gone!

Wishing everyone a fantastic 2010!

Weekend in Wichita...

This fall went by so quickly and between working some weekends and K-State games, I hadn't been able to get down to visit my friends in Wichita, so I was really excited to go see some friends there! I have four friends there that have had babies since I moved (well, five including a puppy) and I was really lucky to see all of them, plus two older siblings.

Friday night the grown-ups hit the town and went bowling- something none of us have done for quite a while! What fun we had! Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

Saturday I got to spend quite a bit of time with my college roomies, plus Kylie and Katie's kids and Lindsay's new puppy. They are all really good kids and so cute! They change so much whenever I see them and it's hard to believe how old they are getting. We also got to do some shopping (mildly insane on the weekend before Christmas, but I can now say I am done!).

Saturday afternoon I met up with two friends, Jenna and Libby, that are speech pathologists I worked with when I lived in Wichita. They each brought their daughters and we got caught up over lunch. They are really sweet babies and I am glad I got to see them!

This morning I picked up my friend Dan and we went to breakfast. He was my patient 2 years ago and we have kept in touch since he has returned to his home. Dan is such a genuine person and has become like a grandparent to me. I enjoy the time we get to spend together, as I know it won't last forever. He does really well, but will be 90 this winter.

Thanks for a great weekend in Wichita! Until next time....

Quick trip to KC....

Last weekend I went to Kansas City and got to see several friends while in town. It was a super quick trip (left Topeka at 5 on Saturday and got back at 12 on Sunday) but it was great to see some friends I haven't seen for awhile! Lots of celebrations going on- glad I was able to be there!!


Me with my friend Gena on her due date with baby Lydia (Dec. 12th). She actually just delivered today (Dec. 20th). S0 excited for her and her husband Alex to become parents.


One of my best friends since high school, Tisharria, with her fiancee Reis at their engagement party/birthday party since both of their birthdays were that week.

Tisharria and me with our friend Kelly. We all played basketball together in high school and then Kelly and I went to K-State together. Tisharria and Kelly actually have been friends since middle school. Good to see some old friends!

My friends Julie and Aaron are parents of this happy little girl- Brooke. She loves bouncing in this toy and was pretty self-entertained throughout my visit. Fun to see her growing up!

Paradise in Winter

My sister Megan and I got back last week from a FANTASTIC trip together to Jamaica. Besides a weekend trip to Chicago a few years ago, we haven't taken any other trips by ourselves. Well, this was one for the records...we went to visit our friends Vicki and Daniel who are posted there for two years as part of the U.S. foreign service. What a great place to live for two years! 85 degrees year-round...especially nice when I got back to Kansas and it was 5 degrees!

We flew into Montego Bay directly from Dallas and from there took the two hour transporation van to our weekend destination of Negril. We spent Friday night at the villas hanging out in the hot tub and then went across the street to dinner on the cliffs. Vicki and a couple other girls she knows from the Embassy ran the half marathon the next day at 5 a.m. so we took it pretty easy that first evening. We were pretty tired though after a long day of traveling.

At dinner...

Saturday morning we enjoyed the pool at the villas in the morning and hit up a restaurant on the beach and hung out on the beach. It was so nice there! That evening we went to dinner and then to a reggae concert.

Sunday involved more pool time in the morning and then the 5 hour drive back to Kingston where our friends live. Their condo is amazing and we were really lucky to have such a nice place to stay there!

Arriving at the condo:

Monday we took a day trip to Ocho Rios and climbed the Dunn Waterfalls and spent some time at Margaritaville and the beach. That nice we all fixed dinner at the condo and hung out with some other friends of theirs and made Christmas cookies.

Meg in front of the waterfalls....

Tuesday we took another day trip to a place called Frenchman's Cove in Port Antonio. Such a relaxing day....lots of sun and relaxation to finish up the trip. Our jerk chicken lunch served on the beach. Mmm!!

Wednesday we toured the Embassy with Vicki which was really cool and then headed to the airport. We had a great time and it was great spend time with my sis and our friends. Hopefully more trips like this in the future!

Bubbling over!

My excitement is two-fold tonight:

1) Our basketball team had a fantastic time tonight. We replayed the girls that beat us by 50 our first game and we were only down by 7 at halftime and ended up losing by only 24....a major improvement for us! We all had a really good time and a great workout.

2) I am flying to Dallas after work to my babys sister's and Friday morning we are flying to Jamaica! Couldn't be more thrilled. After working lots of extra hours this fall, looking forward to some sister time, relaxing and visiting our friends who live in Kingston. Nice to escape to a beach when it's about 35 degrees tonight.

Going to finish packing....I bought SPF 100+ sunscreen the other day at Walgreens (yes, I didn't know they made it either). I know for sure it's already in the suitcase. Fingers crossed to no sunscreen misuse and a burnt Michelle. Pictures/stories when we get back! Have a great week!!