.:welcoming 2013 with open arms:.

happy 2013!!!!!

i hope you all had a safe and happy New Year celebration!

drew and i decided to stay in this year since i have been battling, yet another bout of a chest cold (not even to mention 2 black eyes), but i wouldn't have wanted it any other way! drew picked up 4 lbs of king crab while i got champagne. we spent the evening reflecting on 2012 and what we hope to see in 2013.

when we first started dating, we started a tradition on New Year's Eve. we write down all the major events of the year on an ornament for our tree - it was neat to pull out last year's ornament and remember last year's memories. unfortunately, with me being sick off and on the past couple months, we took the Christmas tree down early and replaced it with an extra large humidifier. this also meant that we forgot to get an ornament to carry on our tradition. of course, drew was 2 steps ahead of me and wrote it all down on a card which he gave to me during dinner last night (he  truly is the most thoughtful person i have ever met, sigh).

some things listed are big, others are little, a few are negative, while many are positive.

a few negatives include having to put my family dog, Maggie, down and losing Zeus, drew's little sister's Savannah monitor. we also lost drew's most prized possession, his Macbook Pro (don't worry, it was quickly replaced with a new car). others include drew breaking his nose playing soccer while i dropped a dumbbell on my forehead giving myself 2 black eyes, running my last race and being sick several times.

on the positive side, career wise drew and i have both had success. he passed his series 7 and 63 exams and moved departments. i hit my big break and was offered a Wellness Coordinator position which made me so happy, i cried (alone, at home, but pulled myself together before drew got home from work). we took our first trip together to Vancouver, saw great friends get married, got another kitten and most importantly, we moved in together!

we have endless small memories that make us who we are as a couple:. numerous bike rides, countless inside jokes, late nite bonfires for two, road trips to NDSU for soccer games, voting, admittedly spending hours watching 8 seasons of Criminal Minds and visited a bed and breakfast.

while i am SO ready to say good bye to 2012 and see what 2013 has for me and us, i am glad drew was able to remind me of what the year has blessed us with. our lives are abundant with simple happiness, memories and opportunities.


thanks for following me on this crazy journey - cheers to health, wealth and happiness!



always striving for more,

dee b.


p.s. don't worry, i didn't forget resolutions - stay tuned!

busy-not at leisure; otherwise engaged

that, my friends, is the definition of busy according to dictionary.com. no complaints here, i was definitely enjoying the Christmas/holiday season, but i couldn't seem to find time to update my blog!

how was your Christmas/holiday celebration? my fellow Minnesotans, how did you feel about the 'brown' Christmas we've had?

well, as much as i do enjoy snow and getting in the Christmas spirit with a winter wonderland, i made the best of the 'brown' Christmas we had this year and even will admit that i enjoyed being able to run outside without having to wear 4 layers and slipping everywhere! :)

this Christmas seemed extra special for reasons that i can't quite pinpoint, but i can take a few guesses....

1. i got to spend the couple weeks before Christmas having a great friend of mine stay at my place (what up, MOH)....we had SOOO many laughs, reminisced about the good ol' days (cause we're so old and wise) and created so many new memories and outrageous sayings that wouldn't make sense to anyone, but us....

2. being able to see my basketball girls enjoy the Christmas season and 'Secret Santas' put me in a festive mood. has anyone else noticed that as you get older, Christmas seems to be a bit more stressful than enjoyable with all the spending money, long 'To-Do' lists and traveling? these girls keep me grounded and made me realize Christmas can be easy and enjoyable.

3. i absolutely LOVE giving presents. i am a person who would rather give presents than get presents, but being short on money can make this difficult and stressful. i realized a little creativity and planning can go a long way! i was able to stay within budget and give some of the best/creative gifts yet! yaay!

4. simplicity--maybe this is what the 'youngens' are doing right to enjoy Christmas....this season will always be hectic, but there is no reason why it cannot be simple at the same time. i found myself truly enjoying the simple thingsthis year:. time with friends, decorating the Christmas tree, enjoying the scent of a holiday candle (seriously, has anyone tried the Glade holiday candles? AMAZING!), enjoying the peace and quiet of an evening run in the snow and cuddling up with my mf and favorite kitten just watching TV. slow down, enjoy it! it's the most wonderful time of the year!

5. TRADITIONS! my family and i have always had the tradition of attending the candlelight Church service and afterwards,  gorging ourselves with crab legs (and butter) along with pecan pie on Christmas eve. in my mind, you can't beat this tradition! my oldest brother, Nic, coming home has also turned into tradition! his life is very 'Hollywood', so he only gets to come home twice a year and having him home is a really special treat (for the most part...). 

 

this was the first Christmas my mf and i have spent together, so we decided to create a few of our own traditions....

we put up our own Christmas tree! we had a lot fun doing this (Henry was a big help as well) and we are quite proud of our first Christmas tree :)

another tradition we decided to do was to write down all of the memories of 2011....on an ornament! we bought a big green ornament and wrote down big milestones of 2011 in black permanent marker. we really had a great year together and can't wait to see what memories can be put on 2012's ornament.

do you have any Christmas traditions? i think they are so fun and really add to the meaning of Christmas!

always striving for more,
dee b.

.:working for the weekend:.

well, i have survived yet another week helping the senior citizens of MN and in 22 counties of WI. this whole working 8:30-5, M-F thing is new for me....which means, the weekends are alllll mine to hang out and relax (after getting caught up on laundry, sleep, cleaning, grocery shopping and working out). besides our 'minor' system crash monday and tuesday, this work week was rather smooth. i dealt with many sweet, yet ridiculously cynical senior citizens. i am grateful to have made it through the week without being told i'm trying to kill a member's wife (no sir, i promise that by me reading off your pharmacy benefits does not mean i am trying to kill your wife) or by having to discuss the craziest grocery trip for 34 minutes ( i cannot believe you had to pay $2.49 for an apple either, prices these days....). either way, monday will come too soon and i will have to return to my job (not career) of assisting these "cute" old people.


highlights of my weekend include:. my mom is here! she is running in the monster dash tomorrow morning, so i have the pleasure of playing hostess while she stays with me to prepare for this feat. while she is running tomorrow, i will be busy tending to the local Corepower yoga as a 'grime fighter'! being a participant of the work for trade program at Corepower is a fantastic opportunity, while waking up early on a saturday morning, not so much. sunday afternoon will bring corralling of 5th grade girls around a basketball court and possibly a second round of pumpkin carving with the boyfriend and his fam. 


not only was today a great day because it was friday (payday, as well), but i had the opportunity to reconnect with my oldest and bestest friends! the story of the three musketeers (or donkeys, thanks to the roles in a church play we participated in before we had minds of our own) started on our first day of kindergarten. i was 5, innocent and reserved, quite polar opposite of my personality today, with my mom on one side and my soon to be 'bestie' on the other. the conversation was sparked when we found out both of names were andrea, but she went by annie and i went by dee and it seemed that as soon as we knew our identities (or names) would never conflict, we would get along just fine. my mom and annie's mom hit it off as well, discussing how they couldn't believe their babies were going to kindergarten already. if i remember correctly, annie and i were trying to play it cool like we had been waiting YEARS to start this semi-important thing called school. annie would quickly introduce me to lizzy, now called liz, (apparently), sorry LIZZY, but old habits die hard and the love triangle would now be complete. as we spent more and more time together, our hips began to become more and more attached. we did EVERYTHING together. we played on the same soccer and basketball teams, went to the same schools (although it was devastating if we got split up into different classes), played the same roles in church plays (this is where the donkeys came in) and our houses were even in the same neighborhood, within walking distance from each, and in the shape of an isosceles triangle. we shared clothes, hair accessories, makeup, food, memories, secrets (with the help of a little black notebook and stickers as IDs), tears and happiness. even our moms got comfortable scolding all of us. we were meant to be. they were the sisters i never had.

can you guess which one is me?

although fate brought my family and i to move to alexandria in the 8th grade, these three muskateers would live on! excited, anxious and absolutely devastated to leave my girls behind, i forged a new path in a small town (where you see tractors almost daily and smell manure even more often). throughout the years, we've snail mailed, facebooked, tweeted, and drove back and forth to keep this love alive. we've grown up, made bad decisions, made good decisions, said and done things we said would never happened (sounding like our mothers is a big one), yet we will always have and accept one another with unconditional love. 

here we are today, 3 beautiful, smart and grounded women, drinking alcoholic beverages and carrying on as though we get to see each other everyday. i can say that i wish life would allow us to spend more time together, but i can also say that i know we will continue to grow up, possibly move and/or get married, simply continuing to experience life, yet we will always be able to come together and pick up where we left off. unconditional love. 

maybe tomorrow i will post some more goals, but for tonight, i'm practicing living in the moment and cherishing yet another memory i've made with these 'besties' of mine.

always striving for more,

dee b.