Every Square Inch

This past weekend marked a milestone at the Schamberger house. 

We have officially painted every. square. inch. of this house at least once, if not twice in some rooms, every bedroom, every bathroom the kitchen, hallway, cabinets, trim, basement, living room, and on and on and on.  And this weekend, we completed the last place left without our brushstroke on it. 

The garage.

I know, who paints the garage right?

Well, we do.

We had to.  The 80s called and wanted their wood paneling and neon spray paint back.

(Sorry, I didn't take the before picture until after the walls were painted so you'll have to imagine how 80's the paneling truly was.  ).

The walls got a fresh coat of antique-white paint and the floor was covered with a new coat of grey cement paint.

And now, it feels fresh, clean and almost brand new, or at least a 1000 times better than before.

Kevin says it feels like a garage now.  I suppose technically it felt like a garage before...well, a garage from 1983.

Here's the finished product.  Clean floors.  Clean walls.
 

Personally, I think he had ulterior motives behind getting the garage in tip-top shape.  It begins with poker and ends with night. 

Sorry to disappoint boys, but we're still 1 cardtable missing from hosting those festivities. :)

It's Good to Be Back... Kind of.

After the end of the lockout in July, NFL commercials on every channel were chiming in, bragging and using the phrase "It's good to be back."

Well, to be completely honest, and risk upsetting my husband, and every other man out there, I'll say it anyway, on behalf of all the wives of crazy-obsessed-football husbands... 

Not all of us are as glad "you're back" as others.
I just mean, it would have made for an interesting fall season if the strike wouldn't have ended and we would have went September to January with no NFL. 

I love watching and cheering on K-State and (with no other choice) I have even become a Cowboys fan.  But the football madness that takes over our house, starting in September lasting until the very last game in January, is truly one of a kind. :)  And it's not just one game here or there every weekend.  It's not even just one team...although we are partial to the Cowboys.  We He takes an interest in every single NFL game.   It's the oddest thing, but I love him.  I've just never seen anyone so crazy about football.  But those of you who know him, know that I am being so accurate.  You've had the pleasure of living with this madness in his pre-marriage days.   

Sundays and Mondays are spent watching the games. 

Tuesdays and Wednesdays are spent analyzing the games from Sunday and Monday.  Determining who got hurt, how serious the injury was, and who should be traded on the fantasy teams or which free agents should be picked up in hopes of winning next week. 

Thursdays, if you're lucky, it might be opening week or Thanksgiving and there will be yet another NFL game this week.  Or as a secondary prize, a college game as a mid-week pick-me-up. 

Fridays are spent in a more serious analytical stage...truly evaluating players, how their injuries healed up over the week, who practiced, and who didn't practice but still might play on Sunday & Monday. 

Saturdays are spent taking a break from the NFL, but still engaged in the pigskin...watching of course, college football, which happens to be my favorite.

But as you can see, as I said before, we're not partial to any team (unless they're playing the Cowboys) or any player (unless they're on his fantasy teams).  And in such a case that the Cowboys opposing team contains players on his fantasy teams, then well, let's just say it's a nail bitter all 4 quarters.

But you know what they say.  If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.  I tried to avoid it, but by the end of September, it's inevitable. 

I find myself watching slow-motion replays, analyzing penalties and offering my opinion and trying to determine if he had 2 feet in bounds or not when he caught the ball, before he fell out.  I can't help but laugh at the "C'mon Man" clips on ESPN.  I know random statistics and rules that most don't.  I wear my Cowboys shirt when Romo is playing (it's good luck, or so I'm told).  I'm cheering for Felix Jones because he's on the fantasy team (one fantasy team of many) and I share in the disappointment when Romo throws an interception at the end of the game and the Cowboys lose.  I don't think Romo has ever pulled through in the clutch.  Remember the playoff game against Seattle and his fumbled snap?    He just doesn't handle pressure well.  But maybe this year will be different. 

For the sake of a happy husband, I sure hope so.

Long Time...No Blog

Goodness it's been forever since I've posted a blog.  Sorry to keep you waiting.  I've had this typed up and saved in my drafts forever, or at least for a month... but it wasn't quite complete and needed some pictures.  But every time I thought about snapping a couple photos, it was either A) hot enough to melt outside or B) dark.  But finally, we reveal our summer project...

When you own a home, the list of "things to fix/change/modify/eliminate/add" is long.

And just when you think you get everything checked off, you add something else.

It really is a never-ending process.

Sometimes it's fun to fix/change/modify/eliminate/add.

Sometimes it's just A LOT of work.

But it's always, always worth it in the end.

Well, a few weekends ago, we crossed off a big one from our "things to fix/change/modify/eliminate/add" list.

It was a monumental task, if I say so myself.

Luckily, we had the help of my dear brother who was gracious enough to donate not 1, but 2 days to helping us.  And lucky for Kevin and I, Marcus has some a lot of experience in this department, thanks to a part-time high school summer job.  And technically we paid and fed him, but let's be honest, it was fast food/take-out and at the end of it all, he made less than minimum wage... So we are forever grateful and forever in debt to him.

What is it that we spent 2 whole days fixing/changing/modifying/adding?

Landscaping.

And I'm not talking one or two plants here or there... I'm talking several cubic yards of mulch, 39 plants, hundreds of feet of weed barrier, peat moss, plant food, garden staples, the whole 9 yards.

But in order to appreciate the true magnitude of this project, you have to step back to April. 

4 months ago...Easter weekend.

Kevin and I had this harebrained idea to replace our chain-linked fence with a wooden fence to add privacy and curb appeal.

And, we knew just the place to score a really cheap, not-so-shabby fence.  And thanks to the help of our two brothers and my dad, the great company of a sister-in-law, my mom, our friends and the entertainment provided by two 3' tall very energetic boys, we successfully, over the course of several weekends and week nights, re-installed a 6' wooden privacy fence.

It was quite the task.  Much harder and much more work than I anticipated.  We dug to China and back, over and over and over again...setting new posts, mixing concrete, measuring, lifting, drilling, and on and on and on. 

I'm pretty sure my muscles grew.  Even Jillian Michaels would have been impressed.  But after the weekends and week nights of lifting boards and sections of fence were over, my muscles disappeared again.  That's okay, at least I know they're in there somewhere.

Once the fence was done, more summer nights were enjoyed on the back patio.

But, there was still something that was missing...

Flowers.  Trees.  Bushes.

Curb Appeal was MIA.

Cue the cheap expert... in swoops my brother to the rescue. 

He draws up blueprints (or something that closely resembled blueprints) of an aerial view of our house and the flower beds that were at the time flower-less. 

He carefully (because he's an engineer) plots red X's and green O's and black dots in such a methodical pattern on the blueprint it was incredible.  It was pretty obvious he knew way more about balance, pattern, color and the rules of landscaping than I ever would.  Each X or dot or square signified a certain type of plant, bush, flower, rock and even 1 miniature evergreen Christmas-like tree.

But I can't even begin to pronounce, let alone spell the names of any of them. 

And then after we spent hundreds of hours cleaning out the old landscaping (thanks to the last homeowners for using really tiny rocks and no weed barrier)...we raked up, leveled out, built up and dug around until we had the flowerbeds primed.

Primed and ready for new plants, weed barrier and lots and lots of mulch. 

And when the weekend finally arrived, along with my brother at the crack of dawn on a Saturday, the madness began. 

By the end of the day Sunday, we were exhausted.

We had laid over 400 feet of weed barrier.  Hopefully to prevent hundreds of hours pulling weeds in the future.  (Although given the feisty groundhogs that think they own the land upon which our house is built, I'm beginning to doubt the power of the weed barrier.  Those little rascals are not happy.  We put weed barrier over all of their little tunnels and now they are homeless and mad.  They are digging little mulch piles only to be extremely disappointed to find black carpet.  Some of them attempt to tear through, and some are successful.  It's okay though, I will win this little battle...)

We planted over 30 plants, flowers, bushes and one little Christmas-like evergreen.  Maybe if it gets big by Christmas, we'll cut it down and have a live tree.  Or maybe not.

We worked really, really hard.

And it was so hot.

But it was so worth it.

So welcome curb appeal.  Glad you could finally join the party.

Here's the pictures I finally got around to taking of our finished project...

Back of the house.

The mini-Christmas tree in the back corner of the backyard.

One of my favorites...Peonies.  Hopefully this will actually bloom sometime while we still live in this house!

Knock-out rose bushes and some of the rose-like bushes on the side of the house.

Up close picture of the rose bush.

New area on the side of the house that we constructed and turned into a landscaping area.

Between the extremely steamy temperatures, the crazy groundhogs and over-populated squirrel community in our area (which equals lots of digging in the mulch and the obsessive cracking and crunching on walnuts that are falling from our trees) it's been quite a challenge to keep everything alive...so far, so good though.  Luckily, Home Depot has a 1 year guarantee on all of their plants.  But I've got my fingers crossed that with lots of water, some cloudy days, cooler temps and some rain, we'll survive the summer with all plants in tow.  As for containing the squirrels and groundhogs, well, we're still working on a plan B.

One Year Stronger.

One week + three days ago, Kevin and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary. 

Which means, one year ago from today, we were post-wedding, post-honeymoon phase, day three.  

I've spent the last couple weeks, reminiscing about that perfect day one year+one week + three days ago, when we exchanged vows and said our "I Do's" and "We Will's" and I can't help but think how far we've come.

Our wedding was truly one of the best days of my life, thus far in the "hands down, no question about it" type of best day.  

 

In those pre-marriage classes they talk about "weddings lasting one day and marriages lasting a lifetime" and "no matter how difficult or stressful planning a wedding may be, the true test comes after the planning is done, and the wedding is over."

Well, all those things are true and valuable perspectives.  But it wasn't until we were post-wedding, post-honeymoon phase, did I truly understand what they actually meant.

One year ago today, we were stepping off a plane (jet-lagged and tired) and stepping into our new life.  We were packing, moving, unpacking, cleaning out, throwing away (shhhh, don't tell Kevin I threw away some of his sacred college posters or memorabilia), organizing, and adjusting.  And for the record, nothing in that last sentence was by my definition, particularly fun, but after returning from the best day of my life + one week in Hawaii, I probably needed to readjust my "fun" definition to something a bit more realistic.

Don't get me wrong, trying to figure out how my stuff fit with Kevin's stuff, was...an adventure.  It was exciting because it was uncharted territory.  A new chapter in our book.  And it was Our book.  We were married and officially in this together.  But he had more "stuff" than I imagined, although I'm sure he'd say the same about me.  And we had less space than I imagined for all of our "stuff".  And in addition to meshing our "stuff" came our routines, our habits, who mows the lawn, who pays the bills, who remembers which day is trash day and puts the trash by the curb, and on and on and on. Luckily, you don't have to figure everything out the first three days... 

It was in that "post-wedding, post honeymoon" phase, day one, two and three, that we learned an even deeper meaning of the word compromise.  Of course, dealing with our "stuff" wasn't the truly important part of the whole deal, but sometimes it's in those moments when you learn more about yourself and your relationships and interactions with others. 

It was during the moments we were cleaning out the kitchen cabinets, sorting through towels, putting away wedding gifts, and cleaning through the closets in the house trying to find the perfect way to put the puzzle together that we uncovered new tidbits about each other that were undiscovered up until that point.  Granted, we had dated 7 years before we got married.  So I thought I knew pretty much all about Kevin, his habits, his favorite this or favorite that.  But one year later, one year and three days to be exact, after moving in together, I realize life is all about learning and growing and changing.  And it never stops.  Not after 7 years of dating.  Not after 1 year+1 week and 3 days of marriage. 

For example, in the last year, I've learned Kevin hangs all of his shirts right-side out, with the fronts facing the right side of the closet.  This was absolutely bizarre to me, which may come as a surprise to many since I appear to be somewhat of an "organization freak".  My closet, on the other hand, is filled with my clothes, inside out, upside-down, facing all directions.  Frankly, I'm just excited they are hung up.  But after the first load of inside-out shirts I put in his closet, facing the wrong direction, I learned, there's more than one way to skin a cat (or however that saying goes).  And not that it takes any more time to hang a shirt this way or that way, it was just never a concept that dawned on me. So, one year, one week, three days and ump-teen loads later, no matter who does the laundry, you can be sure that Kevin's clothes are always right-side out with the front facing the right side of the closet, and my closet is still the same as it's always been...messy & somewhat unorganized.

Kevin's also discovered some of my own strange habits, that of course, seem perfectly "normal" to me :)  For instance, it wasn't until I married and moved in with Kevin did I figure out that I never screw the lid on tight on anything...laundry detergent, toothpaste, ranch dressing, orange juice, milk, you name it.  None of it.  Of course I put the lid on, but not tight.  So consider that your warning if you come to our house.  Never.  Ever.  Grab anything by the lid because you will spill it.  Unless of course, you're lucky and Kevin was the last one to use it, then rest assured, he has put the lid back on tightly.  I've tried.  Really I have.  But this habit is so subconscious that I doubt it will ever be fixed.

People say the first year of marriage is the hardest.  Maybe they're right?  Maybe they aren't?  I'll let you know when Kevin and I celebrate our 50th anniversary. :)  What I do know is there are bumps in life.  There are roller coasters.  There are really wonderful times.  And times that make you feel like life is just perfect, not perfect literally, but perfect by our own definition.  And I would venture to say, we all experience these moments, in the first year of marriage and in the fiftieth year of marriage.

It just comes with the territory.

I ♥ NYC.

After our honeymoon to Hawaii last year, I was pretty sure we'd never quite experience as fabulous of a vacation as we did that week soaking up the sun, the beaches and the Alohas, for as long as we both lived...but Hawaii, let me tell you, the Big Apple just gave you a run for your sandy-beach money.  

Although our recent NYC vacation over an extended Memorial Day weekend may not have taken the whole cake, I must say, it was pretty freakin' fabulous.

From the minute we stepped off the subway on Thursday night Friday morning at 3AM local time (thanks to mother nature and the storms that delayed our connecting flight to Atlanta for 6 hours) I knew why "the city that never sleeps" was among NYC's top infamous nicknames.  Even at this hour, lights were on and...people weren't home, they were out and about.  

Laughing.

Carrying on.

Wide-eyed and bushy tailed.

And the best part, it was contagious.  We immediately caught it and quickly checked into our hotel room on the 31st floor of the W hotel and rushed back out to be part of the madness.

View from our hotel window

Unfortunately, our second wind was short-lived.  After one drink at a local Irish pub, we called it a night.  But the small piece of NYC that we tasted the first night, could only mean one thing...

There were four more days of delicious excitement and adventure just waiting to happen....after of course, a few hours of sleep.

The following four days were a whirlwind.  And Friday morning we discovered NYC in the daylight was just as fascinating as it was in the darkness of the night before.  People everywhere.  Hustling and bustling like everyone was on a mission.

The options for transportation are endless.  And the stories about crazy taxi-cab drivers in NYC, well, they are all true.  Although we had 7-day unlimited train passes, I insisted we experience the madness of NYC from the backseat of the yellow and black checkered cars.  And maddness it was.  Squeezing in between parked cars, cutting way too close to horse-drawn carriage rides and creating traffic lanes where I'm pretty sure you're not suppose to.  We tipped those crazy cabbies well.  Afterall, I'm pretty sure we were dead-giveaway tourists and therefore, they made it extra-crazy, just because. 

The honking horns, the rumbling of the subway, the squeaking of the bus breaks, the music on the street corners, the mobs of people everywhere, talking (most in languages that were foreign to me), yelling, laughing, multi-tasking on the subway between point A and point B... it was productivity at it's finest.  It's the feeling that big things, good, productive, important things are happening in the midst of this big city.  And I loved it. 

But we were just two among the millions of people.  Millions of people who speak thousands of different languages, lead different lifestyles, wear different shoes (hopefully comfortable ones!) and originate from different countries, states, or islands.  It was so intriguing... but I didn't crawl out of a box and show up in NYC...I know this sort of diversity exists, but to the depths that we experienced it in NYC was unlike any other. 

Our first stop was the financial district on Wall Street.

Just outside the NYSE

At the George Washington statue outside Federal Hall
(Federal Hall was home to the Supreme Court and Congress when New York City was the nation's capital.  This is also where George Washington took the oath of office as our first president.)

See... this trip also had educational purposes :)



And we also saw some really incredible architecture.  The buildings everywhere were not only as tall as you see in the movies, (probably taller) but also had the most intricate, details.

It almost makes you dizzy to look up at the very tallest one.  It's no wonder the sun has such a hard time shining down...




We stopped by the Trump Building to see Donald, but he was tied up in meetings all day and unavailable.  (SIGH...) maybe next time. 



Kevin also made me stand outside the Tiffany's store for a picture.  And only a picture.  I did not get to go inside.  Unfortunately, I was limited to window browsing only at this store.

We had one more stop before we left the streets of the high rollers, big investment risk takers and smokers (maybe I'm stereotyping here, but EVERYONE we bumped into (literally) on Wall Street was smoking.)  Must be the stress of their j-o-b. And with the really tall buildings, I was struggling to get a breath of fresh air...

The Charging Bull. 

The iconic image of the Financial District.  It's mean, fierce and unpredictable. 

It's Wall Street at it's best.



And apparently it's good luck to touch the 7,000 lb bronze animal... And so we did.  Along with the thousands of other tourists crowded around it, standing in the streets, ignoring the crazy cabbies, zooming by, swerving and honking their horns at us to "get out of the street."  Or I think that's what they were yelling...



Of course, no trip to NYC is complete without a visit to Lady Liberty.  Although we decided to avoid the millions of people, waiting in a forever-long line to take the ferry out to the statue, we had a great view from the edge of the water. 



And I also learned a little Schamberger history...  Apparently when Kevin's grandpa and his family ventured over to the US, there were some of his grandpa's siblings that did not come to the mainland, and instead were sent to South America. 

Turns out, we have some not-so-distance cousins living in Argentina! 



I've never felt so "American" as I did at that moment at the Statue of Liberty.  I felt like quietly humming the tune of "My country tis of thee...sweet land of liberty...of thee I sing."



And on that same patriotic note, our next destination was Ground Zero.  It was so humbling to visit the site where so many people gave their lives fighting for us.  Our freedom.  Our country.  Our everything that we take for granted every day.

The World Trade Center museum left me speechless.  The stories that were told throughout the memorial left me awe.

Awe that something so tragic happened right in that very spot.

Awe that someone could do something so terrible to so many innocent people.

Awe that there were some many generous and caring people, outpouring their love, support and prayers for people they hadn't ever met.

And awe that something so difficult could bring so many different people together.   And yet another reminder that nothing in life should ever be taken for granted.  Although that museum was filled with terrible, awful memories of a tragic day in US history, there was also a feeling of hope, love and healing happening there.  And I'm certain that latter was overpowering the first.

Ground Zero & the start of the new World Trade Center

The other "must-do" on our list was visiting the Today Show.

Rockefeller Plaza.

Unfortunately, we were much too late to find Al, Meredith or Matt hanging out around here...so I settled for the next best thing.  A life-sized picture of each of the popular news anchors.

But just because we missed the Today Show taping, doesn't necessarily mean we didn't get to make our grand debut on national television.

We happened to be strolling by outside Fox News studio and they were right in the middle of a live taping..

Now I searched EVERYWHERE on Fox News' website, but I couldn't find the interview they did with the former NYC mayor in the picture above...but trust me, look at that camera angle.  We made it on national TV!
Besides, Kevin's dad, who is the only person I know that watches Fox News faithfully, even saw us!

Although it's dark and difficult to see, we're standing in front of the United Nations Headquarters in NYC.

Grand Central Station

And finally, we closed out our first full day in NYC by raising our glasses in a toast to finally crossing off "VISIT NYC" from my Bucket List.  We still had 3 glorious more days of vacation ahead of us, but at that moment, I was just stoked to be sitting down, resting my feet and enjoying a margarita in NYC. 

Now this wasn't just any margarita. 

It was a Mamasita Margarita.  And it came highly recommended. 

Quite possibly the best margarita ever.

And just for good measure, in case you got caught up in your mama-marg and forgot you were in NYC, just take a quick glance over your left shoulder and you'll find they crammed as many people and tables as physically possible into the smallest area.  See that guy sitting behind me, our chairs were litterally touching...and I was scooted in! 

Real Estate and the Big Apple..Squeezing every last inch out of each square foot.

So you'll have to excuse the angle of the picture above.  Our waiter was standing on a ledge practically creating a camera angle directly above our heads.  Less than ideal, but it was a must.  If you ever go to NYC, you have to go to Arriba Arriba on 9th Ave.  And whatever you do, order the mamasita margarita. And if you're super brave, order 2.



Me completing my victory lap.  Mamasita Marg = 0 , Tricia = 1.

Unfortunately, the next morning, the score was tied up.  Marg =1, Tricia =1.

We spent Saturday morning in Chinatown and then had lunch in Little Italy. 

Great bargains followed by best pasta ever.



Me and all my goods from Chinatown. 

All I can say is... it was a thrilling adventure.  The articles you read online about the activities that go down in Chinatown, they are real.  It actually happens just like that, no exageration.

Behind every good woman, who adores shopping, is a very patient husband.


Unfortunately, we couldn't stay in Chinatown too long.  My bags were way to heavy. 





Later that day, we walked to Central Park.  We had initially planned to just walk around when we got there, but then I heard it was 6 miles and given the amount of walking we had already done that day and the previous day, there was absolutely no way I was going to make it 6 miles.

And so we did what anyone would do...rented a ride in a carriage-like cart on the back of a bicycle, pedaled by a guy with really strong legs.



As hard as we laughed at ourselves, it was honestly the best way for us to see Central Park since I wasn't really dressed to jog or walk or ride my own bike through it.

Plus the guy that drove us around shared all sorts of random pieces of information about the park and the city.

In front of the fountain at Central Park

And if you've ever seen 27 Dresses with Katherine Heigl, remember when Jane's sister Tess plans her wedding at the boathouse where their parents were previously wed?  Well, this is the infamous boathouse in Central Park...

Inside this tunnel at Central Park

Also on my bucket list was to attend a Broadway show.

Although Kevin was less than excited about this, it turns out he actually enjoyed it...a little bit.  Well, let's just say it wasn't pure torture.

We saw Chicago starring Christie Brinkley.





And because Kevin endurred two hours of singing and dancing, I agreed on a baseball game.

Unfortunately, the Yankees were out of town.  So we settled on a Mets game. 

Sorry Mets fans...I admit it, you were second choice...but for the day, we were huge fans.






This was the view from our first seats...they were cheap.

As a result, we were really high up.






But given the fact the Mets aren't really that good (and they aren't America's team), there were some empty seats in a section closer to the field and in the shade, and so we moved down and gladly became the proud owners of seats 19 & 20 in section 110.

In Times Square after the Mets Game...Last night in NYC.

And because it was Sunday, this could only mean one thing.  Tomorrow we'd be on a jet-plane, destined for good ol' Kansas. 

I just hate it when good things have to come to an end.  But they do.  

Monday morning when we were packing up our suitcases, I was giving my usual "I don't want to go home...do we have to?" speech.  The same one I gave when we left Hawaii...

And so, I went out on a limb and suggested..."Maybe we should move here?  Just for a year or two and then move back to Kansas City?  It could be fun...adventurous...change of pace..."  Kevin let me babble on for a minute or two and finally interrupted me and simply said "I don't think so."

And that was that.  No questions about it.  He's probably right.  We belong back in Kansas.  But it was good to dream for a minute. In another life, maybe someday I would have became a "local" in the Big Apple. 

It's hard to sink back into your "normal" life...especially after such a high-energy vacay in NYC.  There's not really any chance to sink in slowly and enjoy the "in-between."  One minute your in NYC, the next you land in Kansas City and all of a sudden, you can see for "miles", look left and then right and not see really tall buildings crowding your view and one deep breath of the really fresh air and you know, you're back at home.

I did it.

I did something this weekend I never thought I could would do at this stage in my life.

I ran a 5K.

Ran as in the whole darn thing. 

Granted I ran track all four years in high school and even go for the occasional jog every now and again, so I'm sure there's someone out there reading this that is thinking "seriously, just a 5K?  You're getting worked up and excited over running just 3.1miles?"

Yes.  As a matter of fact, I am.

Because I know there are lots of you out there that run 10Ks, half marathons, and full marathons (for the record, I still think ya'll are crazy) so I'm sure a 5K doesn't amount to much in some books.

But in my book, I just won the Boston Marathon.

I was the first one through the finish line, red ribbon untouched by anyone but me, hands stretched up in the air.  Techincally, no, this did not happen.  But in my head, it did.  Because the one thing I learned was sometimes our biggest competitors in life aren't the people next to us and it's not the stopwatch timing every second of every step.

Sometimes, it's the person in your own shoes.

And the feeling of overcoming that fear of self doubt, well, that's equivalent to winning the Boston Marathon.

Six weeks ago, in a weak moment, I agreed to sign-up.  I knew it would be good for me physically obviously, but also mentally.  Because I had no idea how I was ever going to run three very long miles.  I hadn't continuously ran over a mile in.. I couldn't even remember when.  In fact, the only time I can ever remember running a 5K was with my cousins and brother, the summer of my 5th grade year, over the 4th of July weekend when I was ... well in 5th grade.

So you can imagine the number of "hurdles" I had put up in my own head. 

My mind had a million reasons why I shouldn't or couldn't do this, but nope.

I still signed up.

And I signed up with 3 goals in mind:  Complete 6 weeks of training.  Run the whole race.  Feel as though I had tried my very best.

And after six weeks of training/running faithfully each week, I did it. 

Those cheesy sayings, well, I have to admit they are right. 

You can do anything you put your mind to and I must say, it's pretty self-satisfying and it feels pretty darn good.

Finally.

Spring, finally.  You made it. 

We've been waiting forever...so glad you could join us!

And in honor of your appearance this weekend, we dove in head-first and soaked up all of the lovely warm weather, every last drop.

The weekend started with a group of friends...new friends, old friends and even friends we hadn't seen in years, having drinks on the patio of the Brooksider, celebrating a birthday and the ending to another week of work.  But when the night called and the weather got chilly, we moved the party inside and thanks to The Magnetics, (the live band that was surprisingly good), the dance party soon followed. 

It's outings like this one that still leave you smiling the next morning, remembering all of the funny stories that were told, all of the funny things that happened, and all of the memories that were made.  After nights out like this, I catch myself reminiscing about the good 'ol days at K-State...the Thursday nights out with the best of friends a girl could have, followed by the mornings after, spent laughing and remembering all of the details from the night before. 

Although Thursday nights out these days are a rarity, those memories from college, are a reminder that life goes by so fast.  You gotta soak it up.  Every moment, every single one of them.  In the blink of an eye 4 years 5 years (due to a last minute change of major...haha) goes by like that and years later, you are back visiting a good friend and you can't help but smile.  How ironic life is.  Because across from you and your husband, sit her and her husband and their precious baby.  In the same booth, at the same bar (which happens to be a favorite amongst our group of girlfriends), where memories were created, just a few years prior.  Isn't it funny.  Who would have thought, a handful of years ago, while we were sitting there in that circle shaped booth laughing over a few pineapple beers (which by the way have been renamed to something completely odd...like "a nancy" or something?) that we'd look back one day and be all "grown up"?  But it happened.  People grow up.  We change.  We have to move, literally.  Across the state, across the US, or across town.  But friendships, those that are true and meaningful and what life is all about, remain constant.  And I am grateful for those friendships.

Ok, I digress.  Off topic much?  This  was supposed to be is a light-hearted post about SPRING...Soooo, Friday night was a blast.  And just the right dose of fun to start our weekend. 

Saturday morning, I painted my toenails, another "welcome spring" ritual in my books.  Some of you may know that I am a procrastinator by all definitions when it comes to painting my toenails.  I just don't like to do it.  And winter-time/boot/closed-toe shoe season, is the perfect excuse to let the fresh coat of toenail polish fade off itself.  I'm guilty.  But it was time to "un-winterize" my shoe wardrobe, which meant, painting my toenails.

Nothing says hello spring like a fresh coat of red/orange polish in a pair of sandals or better yet, barefoot in the yard.

And even one better is this sweet little number I scored this weekend.  Remember when we were 5 years old and had a pair of these??  Meet the newest addition to my shoe family...Silver Sparkly Jelly Shoes.

Hello summertime.  And just to reconfirm my purchase, I was wandering around Home Depot on Sunday (yes, I was in Home Depot all by myself since Kevin was out enjoying the weather golfing) looking for one of those tractor sprinklers, and although I failed on the sprinkler front , I did overhear some girl begging her mom for a pair of shoes just like mine.  Oh yeah, did I forget to mention she was like 7?  Oh well.  Some styles are just...hmmm what's the word... timeless. :)

Kevin and I also experienced the Farmer's Market at the River Market this weekend for the first time.  We invested in a couple of herb plants... dill & cilantro.  We also bought the best asparagus and little red potatoes, which have already been cooked and devoured.  Yum. 

One thing lead to another with the herb plants and I decided it was time to get out my "green thumb" for the summer... so I while I was at Home Depot looking for a tractor sprinkler, I went a little overboard, and also got some flowers to put on the back patio and the front porch, a hanging plant, and to spice up our summer BBQ's, a cherry tomato plant and jalapeno plant.  If I was a betting woman, I'd guess not all of them are going to survive the summer, but it will be fun to try, so here's to beating the odds!

It's probably safe to say we spent nearly all weekend outside, which meant I paid little attention to the pile of laundry calling my name from inside the house.  And my original plan was to clean windows/blinds/the whole 9-yards too this last weekend...but spring came, and got in the way.  Oh well, I'm not complaining.  The windows, clean or dirty, will be there next time.  And although it's probably not ideal to clean windows on a "rainy day", it will just have to do.

So take my lead, get outside.  Bask in the sunshine.  Soak up the spring weather.  Soak up life.  Every minute of it.  Enjoy the moment.  Live it up.