When Life Hands You Lemons...

     My friend Alex sent me a card awhile ago and on the front it was a little girl and said "When life hands you lemons" and you open the card and the girl had put them in her bra! It made me laugh so hard - considering my surgery last month it really had me laughing!  In my last post I mentioned how important friends and family are - it continues!
     Last Thursday I ran out to my office and met with my boss to find out my job is being eliminated on Feb 1.  I love my job, the people, being in Denver, working from home and traveling on Southwest quite a few times a month!  One of the biggest things I learned from this company is how important life/work balance is!! As I start to put my resume together, network and think about the future I took a few minutes to look at pictures and show myself what makes my life the very best - it's the people in it that make each day special and continue to tell me something better is around the corner.
     Here are a few of my favorites!

My mom gave me this card at Christmas - put a smile on my face right away - love the red boots, the sass and spunk that goes with the image! 

Chicago!!!! There is an energy around this city that compares to no other! I do miss my condo there!!!  Apply for jobs there and keeping my options open.

Wendy, Darin and I at the Phoenix Open last year! Sun, fun and hanging out with 2 of my favorite people!!

A few of my Christmas gifts! The Cannes poster with Marilyn was something I wanted from the time we landed in France last May, The Sunshine Family was something I played with as a kid, One Good Deed a Day (need to keep that up) and a frame my mom made me from my Pinterest boards!!

Sisters weekend in Phoenix - Eat, Drink, Shop...repeat!

Oh! How I love Southwest Airlines - they've been so good to me! 

This was a fav day - Red Rocks! Jacqui! New car! Morrison Inn!

This is my Nonnie with Wendy and I.  I loved her so much! She taught us to be strong, positive and independent women! She is missed everyday!!!  

My mom!! The most selfless person I know! She gives her heart 100% and is always there to listen and let me be me! Love her to the moon and back!!

Barcelona! Darin, Jason, Mike and I. Good eats and laughs!!

Melissa, where would I be without you? So glad we've stayed friends after I moved from Chicago - you keep me positive!

And those cameras! The cameraman were good to me - let's see what this weekend brings!?

The Packers will always be #1 to me! Family time at the game - a Christmas tradition!!  Thanks Glen!

Stacy and I - from college to now and forward - always a good time to be had!!!!  We'll be back this weekend for the playoff game! Let's go Broncos!

My 40th and our trip to Italy! Wine, wine and more wine! Jenn, Katie, Becky and I.

Sabri and I at the Bronco - Bears game in Denver! So much fun having her visit for a weekend!!! Come back Sabri!

Oh Sheri! You keep me laughing! Love you girl! So lucky to have Sheri and Kent in Golden!

Jeff, Kateri and I in Breck! Great night - catching up before Jeff rode the Triple Bypass and the ladies got their nails done!

Jen, Jim and I in Chicago - Jen's been a staple in our lives! Always fun to see them and catch up over her cookies and taco dip.

Another version of sisters weekend - Lisa, Louise, Beth, Kateri, Wendy, Kristin & Karen! The laughs we had - thanks again Kateri for that incredible trip to Maryland!!

For some reason Kim and I are inside more than we're on the slopes - Not sure where I would be without all of the Andersen's!  Lizi, Kim and I at Keystone! 

and here's little Megan! Junior Olympics in Steamboat.... 

Osmundson-Walker Clan! Denise, Darin, Wendy and Jimmy at Breck Golf.  Love having Jimmy and Denise in Breck!!

It's all about the outfit! Something I put together in Cabo!

Katie and I in Cabo - best friend week! We laughed, laughed and drank!!  Def need to go back soon!

Monte Carlo - this picture tells you without words how beautiful of a trip this was! Jenn, Kristin, Wendy and Kateri.

Jenn and I in Cannes! We missed the film festival by a few days.

There is a pic of Kim and I skiing...or rather skinning at this time! Amazing workout!!

Liz, Mike and I - the 3 muskateers! From the moment I decided to move to Denver they welcomed me with open arms (well, maybe not Mike since he's not a hugger!) 

Costa Rica - Melissa was one of the 11 women we met on this trip. We'd laugh for hours in the ocean, splashing around and sharing our dating drama! 

My sister Wendy! She's the world to me and my best friend! She opens always there and laughing with me and sometimes at me! :)  

France! What a trip!!

Friday night Happy Hours! What else would we have done this summer?? Thanks Jacqui for always opening your home to me for a fabulous night and our walks the next day!

Stacy and I.  Thank you University of Wyoming for introducing us to each other - and letting me share your house in Laramie!

Melissa, Sabri and I in Nashville.... up to NO good! This sh$t just got real!!

Lora - always a phone call away! Dinner out in Denver during out girls weekend. Tried to pack as much into 2 days as we could!!

Megan!!!! Love this pic and her! Copper Mountain! Who knew a 13 year old could teach you so much about life!!!

This picture was from my sister's wedding but I have it in my family room and look at it daily! I love each of them so much!!! Wendy, Mom, Dad, Boyd, Kris, Colleen and Paul! So many laughs, hugs and lots of love!!!

I hope you enjoyed looking at these as much as I did!  Life may be giving me some lemons right now but I'm going to do my best to keep my head up, send my resume out and make some lemonade!  xo

Happy New Year...2013!

     I'm celebrating New Year's Eve and Day with my friend Kim and her family at their home in Dillon, Colorado - it's one of my favorite places to be (the fire is going, it's snowing outside and their house is surrounded by mountains) - you can see why this is an ideal place to ring in 2013!

     As I started to write this my mind started racing with thoughts and memories of 2012 - it's a year that's brought good and not so good to my life personally, wonderful travels, making new friends and appreciating those that have been in my life a long time! 

     I went through a break up earlier in the year that shook my core, I thought it was the real thing but through that experience, I've learned a lot about myself, what I want and am still looking for. In April I decided to take my version of an "eat, pray, love" vacation and traveled to Costa Rica to learn how to surf - it wasn't just about the surf, it was being comfortable with the ocean, meeting new people and soaking up some good ole fashion sunshine!

     In May I joined my sister Wendy, her husband Darin and some good friends for a week in Southern France! It was a last minute trip for me (literally booked on Tuesday and flew out Saturday) - they had rented an apartment outside of Nice, France - we spent a week exploring Cannes, Eze, Monte Carlo and Cap Ferrat - it was WONDERFUL and definitely more than I could have asked for! 

     I couldn't have made it this year without my family and friends! They mean the world to me and have been there to listen, let me cry, share advice, and challenge me when I needed it!

     In October I had my annual exam and discovered a lump and to make a long story short, after a biopsy and a few tests (thanks Kim for holding my hand through that stuff) I had surgery on Dec 18. They removed a mass and lymph nodes in my left armpit but thank goodness - all of it is BENIGN!! It was the best Christmas present I could have asked for (thanks again to my family, Kim, Jenn, Jacqui, Megan, Sheri, Liz, Katie, Batya, Dena, Stacy - the love and support was tremendous!)

    Like I said 2012 was one for the "ups and downs" but we all learn and grow and through good times  and rough times you appreciate who was there for you, who held your hand, offered a shoulder and loves you! I'm grateful everyday for the terrific people in my life that I have been blessed with!

     

     I wrote a things down this morning that I want to try in 2013, work on personally and professionally, a good workout challenge but most importantly - to STOP and ENJOY my beautiful life!

A few of my favorite memories in 2012:

•          Nashville weekend with my Chicago ladies
•          Spending a weekend and pretending to be a "mom" with Lizi and Megan 
•          Sisters weekend in Phoenix
•          Wendy's 40th birthday
•          Spending a night at the Children's Hospital with Megan & laughing all night long!
•          My first 14er
•          Skiing and skinning with Kim
•          Junior Olympics weekend with the Andersen's
•          Bronco games! Thanks Stacy, Dena, and Lizi for joining me.

                         Happy New to all of you! I look forward to 2013! xo 

Stop! Drop! and Roll in Mud!!

   
     Who likes mud? We do! We do! The new trend is to not only complete a run but add in some obstacles and MUD!! My sister and I ran the Dirty Girl Mud run on Nov 17 in Phoenix! I must say, we've both done a marathon, a few halves but this will go down as my favorite! We actually had to stop and laugh during the event.
     I flew to Phoenix that morning, landed at 8:30am and Wendy was waiting for me at the airport - hopped in her car, changed while she drove us to the park, added our pink sparkle and started the race at 9:45.  We got to laughing at how excited everyone was, the dance music blaring so early in the day and women all around us cheering and singing.
     The run is a 5K & has 11 obstacles - scaling (ok, maybe not that extreme) over a wall, jumping through mud puddles, climbing a net (this one got both of us with our fear of heights), and the best was crawling on our hands and knees under a tarp IN MUD!!! It was awesome! Like I said earlier, we laughed a lot!!! We both said we're doing it again next year but going to get more women to join us and def needed my brother in law there to take pictures of us.

Wendy & I all ready for the mud! We are way too clean right now!

Dirty Girl Mud Run.

We love mud! We kept the feather boas on the entire run. 

Look what they brought in from Colorado for everyone! Oh so yummy!

This was the end - right before you run through this you run through a pool of mud! Wendy and I said next year we are going to dive into that pool.

Check out Wendy! She had me laughing so hard - we got a kick out of the women who didn't want to get muddy and walked around the obstacles! Not my sister - she was head to toe MUD!

This was the climb that had both of us a little nervous - neither of us likes heights but we did it!

The pool of mud I was talking about! And to think people pay money for this at a spa!

Need More Cowbell!!

This was the 2nd obstacle - a big bouncy slide - climb up one side and slide the other!

Had to capture the feather boa - made us run like rock stars!

Picture of my Asics I posted to Instagram - kristin303

This was our day! Mud, sister time and a lot of laughing!!! 

My brother in law had shoulder surgery the day before and couldn't be there to watch us so we kept our muddy clothes on and shared the fun with him! Our final pic in their backyard - pink sequin cowboy hats and all!

Keep your eyes open for a mud run near you! You can walk, run or crawl this event - just sign up for it next year and laugh your way through it!  xo

www.godirtygirl.com