New Years in Colorado

After experiencing the snow storm's effects on the roads and hearing stories about the rest of the country's roads (specifically Nebraska's), Eric and I decided to by last-minute tickets to fly to Colorado instead of driving. Best decision ever. We got to spend a whole week in Colorado, which meant that we were able to have a more relaxing trip rather than rushing around to fit everything in.

We spent time in Greeley (where Sam and Bob live), Windsor (meeting other MN friends for dinner!), Denver (mostly just passing through), Silverthorne and Breckenridge. We had a really great time and have been talking ever since about how we would love to live in Colorado. There have been lots of "someday" and "maybe" and "in a few years" thrown around in conversations during the past few days. Don't worry, Minnesota peeps. Nothing is set. And we wouldn't move for a few years (that is IF we were to move). Eric and I just like to talk about this stuff and imagine how it could be to live so close to the mountains and so many fun outdoorsy things. Plus, wouldn't Indy love it?

Some high points:

Snowboarding in Breckenridge: Eric and I both snowboarded all day, and I feel like I did really well, thanks to some awesome coaching by Bob. He was our mentor. Since coming home, I've been checking Craigslist for snowboards. :)

Dress shopping with Sam: Sam and Bob got engaged a couple weeks before Christmas. So Emily and I got to go look at wedding dresses with Sam. She looked beautiful in all of them. I am so excited for her and Bob!

Snowshoeing in Montezuma: We went snowshoeing on a trail just outside of this tiny little town (with a good sense of humor). It was a great day - toward the end, the snow was really coming down!

 

 
New Year's Eve: We drove up to the ski house in Silverthorne that Sam and Bob rent with a group of people. Bob made Chili, Em and I made spinach-artichoke dip, and we got to feast on other people's great apps too. Most of the evening was spent playing an intense (and my new favorite) game of Dominos (the Mexican Train game) and having a few drinks. As midnight approached, we were all getting tired, but we decided to follow Emily's family tradition of sharing our highs and lows of the year. We had bought a couple bottles of champagne, but we didn't have glasses. So we decided to just open one bottle and pass it around. Rules: take a sip and share one of your highs or lows of the year. We did several rounds of this (not to the point of crazy drunkenness - it was more about the sharing time than the consuming of adult beverages) and then at midnight instead of clinking glasses, we all fist bumped. :) It was perfect. Perfectly funny and fitting.

And in case you're interested, here are my highs and lows of the year:

Highs:

• August 22, our wedding day
• Honeymoon in France
• Getting my internship at Children's Hospital in St. Paul
  

Lows:

• Indy's seizure (this was Eric's, but I'm stealing it cause it was mine too)
• A health insurance fiasco that has since been solved (it's now my first high of 2010!)

All in all, it was a fantastic week of relaxation, catch-up time with friends and a great start to the new year. I hope this year brings just as many highs and not too many lows. 2009 was a pretty awesome year for me. I hope 2010 is awesomer (which I realize is not a word, but I like it).

Beautiful gals

I got to visit Karin and Jemma tonight (and also saw new Daddy John for a few minutes too). They are all looking great. Karin is so laid back and just seems like she's doing great. She said she's pretty tired, but look at this pic - doesn't she look fabulous?

I'm so happy for them and had such a nice time meeting my new little friend (who has tons of cute black hair!). Hope the rest of the hospital stay goes well, and looking forward to seeing you all at home soon!

Jemma Kay Pecchia

Welcome to the world, Jemma!

My friends Karin and John had a baby girl yesterday morning, and I can't wait to go visit them and meet her. Here is a pic I borrowed from Facebook (until I get to take my own pics).

Congrats, new parents!

WHS gals

Love my gals from WHS. :)

Thanks for the pic, Ang!

We ended up having a great time at the reunion. It was really packed, like wall-to-wall, shoulder-to-shoulder packed. But it was fun to see everyone and hear what people are up to, where they live, etc. There are people in our class that are doing amazing things, and that just really makes me happy.

Eric and I ended up staying til almost bar close - yikes! I may have had more to drink than I had in a long time... Anyway, glad I went and would recommend that everyone attend their reunions if they can. Why not?

Girls weekend

A couple weekends ago (right after finals), I had a relaxing vacation getaway to the San Francisco area to visit Emily (and Sam came to meet there from Denver as well). College roommates reunited always = fun times and lots of laughs.

We spent the weekend eating (homemade crepes, authentic Mexican, thai, pizza from Cheese Board in Berkeley--highly recommend it!), chatting, sitting in the sun until we were (ahem...I was) burnt (I know...should have used sunscreen since it was the first time my delicate winter skin had seen the light of day since last August, but it was breezy, so who knew the sun's rays were so powerful?), hiking, flying our cow kite at Berekely marina, and just hanging out catching up at Emily and Bryan's new house. Oh yeah, and we found our bridesmaid dresses at a cute boutique in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood!

We also took part in the Bay 2 Breaker 12K, which was ridiculous. It was like Mardi Gras or a traveling frat party with people of all ages there. Our Where's Waldo team looked pretty awesome in our red/white matching outfits. The funny thing was our idea was soooo not original. There were like five other groups of Waldos. We made friends with them most of the time. But there were also some snotty Waldos that didn't want anything to do with us. Rude. The oddest thing/or at least the thing I guess the race/walk is most known for is its nudity. That's right. One minute you're walking along happy as can be laughing at some tasteful Dunkin' Donut costumes....the next minute you glance to your right and see a naked 70-year-old man with a sun hat on just watching and taking pictures of the parade of costumed people walking past. Yep, I saw lots of naked or semi-naked people. You really have to be bold to do that--lots of groups wanted their pictures taken with the naked peeps. Me? Absolutely NOT. The whole thing was fun to do once -- you know, to say "Oh yeah...I've done the Bay 2 Breaker" and then reminisce about it with your friends who were also there. But would I want to do it again? Umm....probably not....well, maybe I'd run it and finish it ahead of all the crazy costume people (like Sam did this year) and then just watch them all afterwards. Except I'd wear more than just a sun hat. It is good people watching (it's like a crazier, nakeder State Fair).

Here are all my pics from San Fran - just click on the album below:

May - San Francisco

More thoughts for Todd

Ashlee's dad is having surgery today to remove a tumor from his right forearm. He started chemo right after Thanksgiving with the hopes of shrinking the tumor and killing any other possible cancer cells that might have spread (although they don't believe it has spread at all). Unfortunately, the tumor seems to have grown, so the doctors decided to do surgery to remove it now while they can. It sounds like he will lose quite a bit of muscle in his arm, which will limit his range of motion and fine motor skills. But Todd says he is determined to figure out how to be able to hunt, fish, etc. again after all this is over.

Please keep Todd and the rest of Ashlee's family in your thoughts and prayers with hopes for a successful surgery and good recovery.

Thanks!

UPDATE:

Ashlee just texted me to let me know that the docs said the surgery went well, and they are closing him up now. So keep up the good thoughts and prayers about it continuing to go well and his swift recovery!

This makes me happy

Happy holidays from me and Liam. Too bad Ang didn't send this to me sooner. I could have made official holiday greeting cards with this pic. I wonder how many long lost family members would have been confused had I done that... :)

Catching up: up north pics

From Girls Weekend Up North

Remember how I went up north with some friends a few months ago? Well, here is a link to some pictures that should have been shared back then. Due to the end of the semester and due to the fact that we've hunkered down and are not leaving our house because of a crazy snow storm, I'm finally catching up on things like this.

Also notice that I'm now uploading images to Picasa instead of Kodak Gallery. I'm moving up in the world, people! Thanks, Em, for introducing me to the world of Picasa.

More news from Ash

Ashlee told me that at the appointment on Tuesday, the doctors told them that they are pretty sure that it is soft tissue sarcoma. So yesterday, Todd had a PET scan, which will help them determine if it has spread, and then today he has a biopsy, which will tell them if it is in fact cancer. Please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers! I know they appreciate it.

A cute, funny side story:

Ashlee's sister Aubin lives in China and has a baby Lumie (who is about 1 year old). So last night, Aubin and Lumie flew in from China and Ashlee picked them up from the airport -- and their parents had no idea that Aubin was coming home at all. Their parents were just expecting to visit with Ashlee and to chat with Aubin via Skype (a system that lets you chat on the phone while also having web cams to see each other). So after leaving the airport, the girls and Lumie drove to their parents house, where they tied a bunch of balloons to Lumie, set him on the doorstep and then rang the doorbell. So Todd and Pam opened the door to see their grandchild from China on their front steps! I haven't heard yet how the surprise actually went, but that was the plan. I'll see Ash, Aubin, Lumie and Pam later today in the waiting room at the hospital -- it's right next door to where I work. So I'm excited to hear how surprised they were (and also how Lumie liked having balloons tied to him).

Thoughts for Todd

Hello everyone, I need to ask for some support for a friend.

Well, when I got out of class tonight at 8 pm, I had a text message from my friend Ashlee (whom I've known since kindergarten). After exchanging several texts tonight (that is her preferred method of communication right now--we aren't just crazy techie teeny boppers who don't talk with their friends anymore), I've learned that her dad (Todd) needs lots of thoughts and prayers right now. He has an appointment with an oncology specialist at the U of M on Tuesday to run a biopsy on some tissue from his arm. Ashlee said that the docs think it could be soft tissue sarcoma (a type of cancer that grows in the soft tissues of the body).

So if you could all think good thoughts, say some prayers, send healing energy, etc. their way, that would be great. I know Ashlee said "the more prayers, the better!" For now, the hope is that it is not cancer at all. So meditate, pray, etc. on that!

Thanks!

Thanks McCammacks!

Here is an e-card that I got in my inbox this morning from my friends Laura and Brian.

If you all knew the McCammacks, you would think "Yep, that's about right. It's the perfect card from them."

Thanks, Laura and Brian! Love and miss you!

And I'm not surprised that you already knew about someecards.com. :)

Congrats to Deputy Ashlee!

One more little shout-out to my friend Ashlee, who officially got sworn in as a deputy for Ramsey County yesterday. I've known Ashlee since we were in kindergarten. We had the same teacher, but she had morning kindergarten, and I had afternoon kindergarten. We finally met at the end of the school year through her sister, who was one year older than us and rode the bus home with me every day. Anyway... she works harder than anyone I know and has been working for the Ramsey County jail for years, most recently as a sargeant. So now she is a deputy, which means she has a gun and will most likely work in a courthouse until eventually she is able to work on a special unit and do cool detective behind-the-scenes work. This makes complete sense that she is doing this -- I mean, when we were little, we spent many a night at her house having sleep-overs and watching "The Commish."

So cheers to Ashlee! Congrats and be safe!

Here is a pic of Ashlee and Angie at Ang's baby shower pre-Liam (see below).

Shout out to the McIntyres

I spent a few hours on Sunday afternoon catching up my friend Angie, along with her husband Pat and 5-month-old son Liam. He is getting so big and so cute, I just had to post a pic for all to see:

(Note: I can't take credit for taking this pic -- I just stole it from their blog.)

Anyway, it was fun to catch up and hang out with the little guy and try to make him smile and babble for me. Hope to see you guys again soon!

Up north

A couple weekends ago, my friends Emily, Sam and Lisa came to visit from San Francisco, Denver and Chicago (respectively). We spent a little time in St. Paul, but spent most of our time up north at my aunt Jan and uncle Jim's cabin on Wabedo Lake near Longville, MN.

Here is one of Lisa's pics of us next to the cabin with Indy and her friend Buffer (the neighbor dog). I still need to post my pics online. But you can see Lisa's pics here. She knows a million and two people who live in the Twin Cities, so some of the pics are of her other friends, and some are from our night hanging out at the Happy Gnome (which is also Lisa's happy place). Please tell Lisa that she should move here -- it's a great place, and she knows more people here than she does in Chicago!

And here is a picture of Indy chillin' in the back seat with the Em and Lisa. Seriously....she could not be any cuter.

Liam Peter McIntyre

I got to go visit Ang, Pat and Liam in the hospital last Friday, and I told Liam that he is the cutest baby in the whole world. He is so sweet and tiny! Ang seems to be doing well. And they've started a family website, which I added to my links at the right. I'm excited to watch him grow this summer and play with him and Ang more once school is over in two weeks (yay! only 2 weeks!).

Baby McIntyre is here!

My friend Angie and her husband Pat had a baby boy yesterday! I will hopefully be visiting them later today if they are not too tired. I'll post the name, etc. later once I verify the final info. I'm pretty sure Ang and baby are healthy and doing well, but the only communication I've had as of yesterday has been via text messages with Pat. More news (and maybe some pictures) to come...

More pics from Indy

Emily sent me her pictures from the wedding last weekend, and I had to share some of my favorites. Thanks, Em!

Me and Wes - he is really smiling here, people!





Dancing and loving every minute. :) I like this one.


The girls and Eric. This is a great one, too!





Another dancing couple pic. We pretty much stayed on the dance floor the entire night.









And my favorite and the most flattering of them all.... Us eating brunch. Best mid-bite couple shot ever. EVER!

Laura + Brian

Last weekend, I went to Indianapolis for a wedding of my college friends, Laura and Brian. It was a little Butler-Purdue reunion, and Eric also got to meet about 100 new people, so he wins points for that (and will achieve even more points after this coming weekend at Alyse and Jeff's wedding in Austin, TX). Anyway, it was a full weekend filled with lots of time to hang out with college friends, and Emily, Bryan, Eric and I even fit in some exercise -- we walked from Broad Ripple to Butler's campus and back, which ended up being like a 6-7 mile walk. I'm impressed with us. Emily and I did a lot of "remember when..." as we walked around campus. Oh reminiscing...so fun! I'm sure it was way more fun for me and Em than it was for the boys, but they did well.

Here are some pics below - and here are all of them.


Getting ready!


Some of the Butler girls pre-wedding

Bryan coped with the reminiscing by running around and trying to shoot some hoops in Hinkle Fieldhouse (home of the Butler Bulldogs and the place where the movie Hoosiers was filmed).


Me and Em with the bulldog









Scott, Wes and Eleni - such a cute family!

Bryan, Emily, Scott and Eleni

Coming soon: Baby McIntyre

Here are a few pictures from my friend Angie's baby shower a month ago. I'm finally catching up on getting pictures online. So here you go! Little baby boy McIntyre should arrive sometime this month. See below for some sample shower pics or view them all here.


WHS girls: me, Ash, Karin and Ang










Go Gophers!










Ashlee and Angie












Grateful Red kickball team girls: Rachel, Stacy, Angie, Karin and me

Spring break

That's right, I am on spring break for the first time in 5 years. It's lovely so far. This weekend, I slept in, didn't study at all, hung out with Ang & Pat, Ashlee, Eric, the cousins, Mom, Aunt Katie. I even went for a little jog/walk with Katie yesterday around Lake Nokomis. She and Rae got a dog -- a 2 year old poodle/cocker(?) mix named Kramer. He made Indy look ginormous.

I'm doing better now that it's been a week since the car incident. I don't like driving under that same bridge, but it's the quickest way to St. Paul from my house, so I've done it now about 10 times since last week.

My midterms last week went well, I think. They were in Stats and Hearing Measurement & Disorders. I really never knew it, but the ear can look mighty gross when there are different disorders going on. Top thing no one in my class wants to ever get: cholesteatoma. Look it up. It's nasty, and it can recur, and there's no good treatment.

I've been spending a lot of time lately joining Eric on his search for a house. Let me just tell you that although everyone says it's a perfect time to buy and it's a buyer's market, it is really hard to find a good house! He had a major heartbreak last Friday when he put an offer on an awesome house with all the cute built-ins (buffet, bookshelves), hardwood floors, etc., and then later that night he found out that someone else's offer got approved just hours earlier. It's crazy. Apparently there are people looking for exactly what he's looking for and they're on the prowl just steps ahead of him! Bah! So think good thoughts, say a prayer, send some positive energy his way. It'd be so awesome if more houses were put on the market soon.

Well, happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. I'll be celebrating my non-Irish heritage by working, taking Indy to the vet and then going to watch Eric kick some butt at his soccer game and then join his team for a beer after the game. I am wearing my green Notre Dame t-shirt with the little leprechaun on it. I'm festive.