Eyes Open

“There is a sense in which I am pretty sure this makes no sense. I don’t know where this is going. I don’t know how it ends.”

I'm neglecting this blog this month. My sincere apologies. Beware this blog is all over the place.

I'm taking concurrent courses again. I actually like these classes, I would like anything that is not a research class. I just got Harriet Evan's new book. I'm trying to find time for joy reading. I miss joy reading, and quotes. I used to read quotes at least an hour a day. I still read a couple quotes a day, but it is not nearly as many as I would like. Grad school ruins everything-how fast can I be done? August or September. Bye bye summer.

Saint Patrick's Day was a lot of fun. The day consisted of a little drinking and a bad parade. No, it was not any better than last year. That night I went to The Front Porch because I could drink for free then it was off to Jackson's. Ryan finally made me leave. Me him Kirk and Jen all went to the Mellow Mushroom then poor Ryan had to get my home. All in all it was a successful day

I had a meeting at work today and we were talking about draining relationships. It got us talking about forgiveness. I think people forgive people that don't deserve it because they want them in their life. I have been in that situation, I think I'm faced with that situation now. It's difficult because I don't forgive well. I have a hard time letting go of things and moving on with a clean slate. I want to though, does that count? No, probably not.

"Whenever something happens that is not part of your plan, you pretend like it doesn't exist. You act like you're in this movie about your perfect life. Then I have to remind you the only one watching that movie is you."

I'm reading a book about letting go. You have to let go of something in order for something to take its place, but isn't it easier to hold on to the wrong things until the right thing comes along? I have a theory that until the right guy comes along I'll have fun with the wrong guys. Then I remember my taste in guys is atrocious. It would take the right guy hitting me over the head with a brick for me to realize it is him. I just have to have fair that the universe is a lot smarter than I am.

Just when we think we’ve figured things out, the universe throws us a curve ball. So we have to improvise, we find happiness in unexpected places, we find our way back to the things that matter the most. The universe is funny that way, sometimes it just has a way of making sure we wind up exactly where we belong.

it must be love

March is flying by. Dennis was here last weekend. It was a packed weekend. We went to the capital, money museum, Black Hawk, Boulder, Nederlands and a lot of good food places. Did I mention it was Restaurant week? THE BEST WEEK OF THE YEAR. I managed to pack in four restaurants this year. The Palm, Rodizzion, La Fondu and Bayou Bobs. Yummm. Other than that I have been suffering through the hell this is Research Methods. I hate everything about this class. E V E R Y T H I N G. I cannot stress that point enough. Thank goodness it ends Monday.

Today was the Republican Assembly. I hated everything about it, Between the SCREAMING and disrespect. That is not what I signed up for. Though, I did appreciate hearing the rules read in auctioneer banter, I am embarrassed to be a Republican. Also, they were rude. hmph.

Next weekend is Saint Patrick's Day. We are all planning an entire weekend of festivities. AH! So excited :)

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday!
I know I live in MST, but it is unnatural for the Super Bowl to start when the sun is out.

This day never meant anything to be prior to moving to Denver. In Ohio I can't tell you what I did for any of the Super Bowls. This is my 3rd Super Bowl here and I can tell you exactly what I did for the last two. This year I cleaned, cooked, and thought seriously about doing homework. Hermione has been sleeping under the bed. I finally picked her up and put her ON the bed. Under just can't be comfortable. Exciting eh? I did have options of things to do, but I also needed to get things done.

Last night James took a group of us to an amazing Bazillion steak house. OMG so good! If your sign was flipped to green they kept bring more meat. It was never ending. I LOVED IT. Thanks again James, and congrats on the new job!! I love those nights of just hanging out with good friends.

:)

My Dear Denver Days

Today is the eve of two years in Denver.
What a two years it has been.

I look around my apartment, at the picture on the wall. Most everything I see, and everyone in the pictures is from my dear Denver days. I keep in touch with just a few people from Ohio, that happens with time. They don't know who I talk about when I tell them stories, or what my job entails. When I have a good story to tell, I refer to my Denver friends. They fill my weekends and know the 25 year old me in a way Ohio never will, but they don't know my past. My past belongs to Ohio.

I was in Ohio last month, and my friends finally acknowledged that moving was best for me...I did the right thing. Then we laughed about high school or college. Inside jokes from years past. It felt good, but it felt just as good to get home to Denver.

I fit in Denver in a way I never did in Ohio. I think that's the best way to explain it. I don't know how long I'll be here, or where life will take me. But I do know that for right now I am right where I am supposed to be.

OH-IO

Sorry I haven't updated sooner, I was in Ohio. Lets recap shall we?

Wednesday-
I was at the airport for over 7 hours thank you snow delay. Fortunately I made a buddy at the airport and we hung out playing cards. I made it to my brother's apartment a little before 4:00am. Not so fun.

Thursday-
My mom and I went to South Park mall. Hard to beleive I haven't been there in 2 years! It was nice to walk around and just see everything. That night Dan and I went to IMPROV in Cleveland to meet up with Adam. The guy who made the "We aren't Detroit" video performed. Not that funny, but good to see downtown. After Dan and I went to Applebees with Casey and just all caught up. Lots of good times with that group.

Friday-
Jeremy and I went shopping then met up with Cindy and a winery. From there we went to Swensens. YUMMM :). At that point Cindy and I went to her aunts so she can read our tea leaves. Mine was a king poodle. Not sure what to make of that yet. Then we headed back to Cindy's and Dennis came over. He was awesome and drove me all the way back to Brunswick.

Saturday-
Christmas Eve! My mom and I went grocery shopping then headed to my Grandma's house. It was really great to see everyone! White Elephant was great at always, just all around where I wanted to be.

Sunday-
Christmas. This is actually my least favorite day of the trip. Ryan and I got into a fight--just all around stressful. That evening Diana and I went to see New Years Eve. Awful movie, but I'm glad I got to see her.

Monday-
I went to lunch with Jess and Adam. They are adorable together. I'm more excited than ever to be a part of their wedding! Super cute wedding. Mom and I went shopping. Other than that I just hung out w/ her and Ryan. That night we made it to the airport and I made it back to Denver. Carly was nice enough to pick me up.

It was a great visit. I loved seeing everyone and touching base. It did feel really good to get back to Denver. Home sweet home :)

A penguin Tebows

Prepare yourselves: I said no to Jackson's. I know right? I had other plans.

Yesterday after work I went to Celtic Tavern with Carly. Let me just say I love that place for happy hour. It was like a small winter cottage. Food wasn't very good, but atmosphere was. After a little while James, Kenny, and Craig met up with us. From there we went on to find everyone else. They were across the street from Maloney's. We were all supposed to go to the parade, but the large majority complained it was too cold. So it ended up being only four of us going to the parade.

The parade was pretty cool, by Denver standards. It probably helps that this year I was actually able to see it:) AND get this! I made a penguin Tebow!! Proud night accomplishment. Kenny quickly realized it was freezing...it took me a little longer. We ended up leaving and headed to Noodles. Carly called us later so we went and met up with her and James at Sam's for a while--any place was better than the cold.

Today I woke up to snow falling. I am watching Netflicks and eating lunch. Will start homework soon (maybe), and looking forward to later. Have a good weekend everybody!

Turkey Three Ways

What a four day weekend!

Wednesday night I went out for Happy Hours with my work people. Thursday was Kirk's for Thanksgiving with friends and his family. We had turkey three ways (smoked, broiled, and fried). I had never done Thanksgiving with friends, it was good. After Ryan and I plotted the best Black Friday plan. We decided on Walmart. We got there around 7:00pm and did not leave until 1:00am. Way longer than any person should ever be in Walmart. Though I did manage to get both seasons of Vampire Diaries (LOVE LOVE LOVE), season 2 of True Blood, season 1 of Pretty little Liars, 7 DVDs, a drink blender AND a wii. I got all of that for less than $200. So all in all it was a win win situation.

Friday I set up Netflicks (necessary in order to survive grad school) and headed to Thanksgiving #2 at Bretts house. He made sweet potatoes like my mom, I just cannot explain how much I needed those. It's just not Thanksgiving without them. Just a great day with family. After I was supposed to go out, but I was too exhausted. So I played with the wii (sounds dirty) and passed out.

Today Katherine and I went out to lunch for much needed catch up time. I missed her! Then I came home to...wait for it-do more freaking homework. Brad had a long layover in Denver so I went to the airport and we had dinner. Good to see him :)

Since then I have been working on homework...on a Saturday night. This class is awful. Tomorrow I have to wake up and do more homework. It's never ending, and I still don't have my final grade for my first class. Not cool, not cool at all.

Looking forward to next weekend when I won't have so much homework, and yea I'll leave it at that. Hope you are all having a better Saturday night than I am!

Adventures with bad mexican food and cliff divers

It has been such a fun weekend! ((I am pleasantly ignoring the fact that my final paper is due Monday))

Friday Carly and I decided that we just HAD to go to Casa Benita. For those of you who don't know it is an awful Mexican place. The food is uneatable, but the entertainment can't be topped. THEY HAVE CLIFF DIVERS! It is gouche. Ha! We dragged James and Kenny (actually, they didn't take convincing, which they regretted later). To add to the cheeziness we had to do the Tebow. *He isn't cheezy, he's great. I now watch Football every week. Sometimes it takes a special player to become a fan, sorta reminds me of this other guy we will not mention here. After "dinner" we were still hungry, so we headed to a Diner and talked about the bubble I grew up in.

Today I went to Ashley's (finally!) and met Sloan. She is the cutest little girl ever. She has her mom's eyes and red hair :) I came home and left for girls night. Tiffany, Ashley and I went to dinner and a movie. Now I'm home drinking wine and watching movies. It doesn't get much better than this.











Next week I only have to work 3 days! Cheers to that! I'm going to Kirks for Thanksgiving on Thursday then Ryan and I (maybe Tiffany too?) are going to Target for Black Friday. Friday is Thanksgiving with the family.

Sometime in the chaos of my life I am going to find time to do my homework right?

Night at the museums

Tonight was a good night. All of the Denver museums were free. So Aaron, Chris, Gabe, and Vince all spent the night museum crawling. We didn't make it to as many as we wanted to, but we managed to get to 3 of them. We started at the Art Museum, I'm not a fan of that museum, but still cool. Then we went to the Evans something or another? Evidently a haunted house, really though it just seemed like an old house. Lastly, we headed to the History Museum. They have a big T-Rex exhibit. I liked the Raptor robot, but I would. We ended the night at Stubens. It was interesting being the only girl, but what makes it more interesting is Gabe teaches a class on how to talk to Mr. Right. Yeah, I know right? The things he said were pretty spot on, apparently I'm doing certain thing wrong. I just know I like seeing the guy perspective on things. All in all I had a lot of fun. They are a good group of guys.

Today I realized I haven't gone out drinking since my Birthday. I feel like I'm getting back to me. I had been going out every week for a long time. Which is fine, if that's your thing. But it was more his thing than it ever was mine. I'm more of a every once in a while kinda girl. All in all things are getting back to normal and I'm enjoing it.

Tomorrow is supposed to be a Star Wars movie marathon. I know right? I haven't heard from the friends though so maybe not? I just cant see Carly and Kenny dropping it though--apparently I'm missing out on a life shaping experience by having never seen those movies. I doubt that, but I probably should make sure.


So all is well here-cheers to that,

HaLLoWeeN

WOW What a busy month is has been. I turned 25, my best friend came to town, my uncle was here, Halloween, and don't forget I started grad school and joined a gym. Yeah, that's all I can come up with right now.

I have a lot of pictures I should post here, but I also have a paper to write. Thus, pictures have to wait.

My Birthday was pretty great. Cindy and I spent the day in Boulder then we met up with a bunch of co-workers for happy hours. That night we were at Jackson's. So much fun! We ended up dancing with a bunch of guys from Kent State. What a small world! Then we went to 1UP and played Jenga. The next day it was up bright and early to do the Denver Zombie Crawl. Craziness and intense just about sums that up. That night Cindy and I had a hard time staying awake so we ended up just going to Benny's and had a girls night. LOVE her and I was VERY happy she came to visit :)

Next comes Halloween, it was a lot of fun! Carly, James, Jen, Kenny, and I all went to 13th Floor Haunted House. It wasn't the best haunted house, but it was still really fun. After we ended up at Kenny's studio to watch a British zombie movie. Shaun of the Dead I think? It was...interesting.  Let's just leave it at that.

Other than that, just busy :)

Autumn!

Life is busy with good stuff. It's autumn, and that always makes everything that much better. I spend way too much time in Bath and Body Works yesterday. I got Halloween soap, and candles AND air fragrance. So now my apartment is clean (it was a very productive weekend--even my closet is organized!) and it smells like autumn leafs. It doesn't get much better than that. There is a corn maze in my future, and Ashley is going to deliver any day now. It is all so exciting!
Grad school is getting closer everyday. It's not going to be easy. I'm worried I'm out of practice. The homework will be an adjustment. It will all take a bit to catch on. Thankfully Trisha, Ryan and hopefully Kirk will be taking it with me. Misery loves company, and we can all benefit from study groups. 

Ellie is leaving in 2 weeks. I know I'm going to miss her, I just don't think I realize how much yet. She is my person I can call and she'll do random things no one else would. I'm going to miss that, and just everything about her. Denver is losing a rock star!


I found a note you had written me in my planner. It was no big deal, but I like being reminded that it wasn't all in my head. It really was...something. When you figure out what that was, let me know.

Tour De Fat

I just woke up from a much needed nap, and now I'm avoiding awkward conversations by writing this blog. Sounds good to me.

Friday afternoon I volunteered at another Romney event. He seems like a nice guy-I'm  not thrilled with his staffers. Which he is related to (don't get me started on that). I think politics is a great hobby, but I really do feel I am doing the right thing by not making it a career. Still a cool time though. 

Friday I went to Jackson's with the girls. Then we danced the night away-it was a great time! After we headed to Cowboy Lounge--which is a mix of rap and country. We may have been trying to line dance. I won't confirm or deny.

Cathy, Ellie, Me, Carly, Sam, Catherine, and Jill

Today Kat and I went to Tour De Fat. Its an excuse for people to dress like idiots and drink beer. Oh Denver. We went close to finish time, but we were able to see the grand finale-which was in true Denver fashion. While at the park we ran into Aaron, Chris and Topher.What a small world :) 

The Stage

 

Aaron and Chris AKA Mario Brothers

This weekend has been busier than I expected. A lot of fun though-and good food. Tomorrow I am considering going to the 9/11 remembrance concert. It's right outside and The Beach Boys are giving a free concert. It is a remember and smile type thing.

If you hadn't seen me in bangs before this blog, now you have :)

Harry Potter Week!

...yes, he gets a week.

I'm procrastinating on studying for tomorrow. I know right? It's like I'm in school again. How's the new job going? It's good. I no longer dread getting up in the morning and going to a place I can't stand. I'm not banging my head against the desk, or complaining non-stop to my way too supportive friends. I'm meeting some cool people, and learning a lot. Really, it's over load. I could go on a rant about how much better this job is, but I don't think my blog is a proper place to do that. Call me--I'll fill you in.

This weekend was good. Catch-up time with Ashley and Cole. HI ASHLEY! Man, I missed them. We watched Weeds...which I sorta love a lot. I did other stuff too, but it's all a blur. I think this past 3 weeks has been a whirl-wind and I'm just along for the ride.

Jessica asked me to be in her wedding! I'm really honored and excited--more than willing to wear Ohio State colors for her. We have been planning this since 8th grade :)

Harry Potter this week! Yes, I will be at the midnight showing...in 3D. To say I'm excited is true, but I'm also sad. I don't want it to end! Ok I must go study before I fall asleep....ooh oh oh! I forced my oven to work! Well I managed to make pizza...and it didn't burn! The fire alarm didn't go off. Gas Oven-2 Mandy-1 Don't worry people I'll catch up!

Work Eve

Honey, I'm hooomeee!!! 

Today was a really long day. I am going on maybe 3 hours of sleep. The flights were good-it's just exhausting. Then I had to catch a ride on the bus from the airport to Stapleton. All I wanted was Chipoltle, but it's closed due to the holiday. URG! I was annoyed-it's one of those days. I was starving so I ordered a pizza and unpacked. I'm trying so hard to not fall asleep...I HAVE to be able to sleep tonight. Why you ask?

Tomorrow is my first day at the new job! 

I'm nervous. Don't get me wrong but I'm excited, the job seems awesome (have I mentioned it's NOT admissions?)  I'm just excited to meet new people and work downtown. I can walk to work now!

Myrtle Beach was a lot of fun, and a lot of mom time (which is good. I love her, and miss her like crazy!). More than I have gotten in a year and a half. Really though it was relaxing. Just really good to touch base. It's funny I spend  A LOT of time complaining that I live in the Western time zone yet I hated being in the East time zone. It's prob better, but the people involved in my day to day life were two hours behind me. I didn't like that feeling. Somewhere in this past year and a half Denver became home. Yes, I talk about leaving. One day I probably will, but right now Denver is exactly where I want to be. Which is good, I mean a friend and I established today that DC makes you fat. I have no idea why I'm here, but I'm happy. I think that's what counts.

The following song is officially my summer anthem-it sums up my vacation to a t (minus the she part).




Gonna put the the world away for a minute
Pretend I don't live in it
Sunshine gonna wash my blues away

Had sweet love but I lost it
She got too close so I fought her
Now I'm lost in the world trying to find me a better way

Wishing I was knee deep in the water somewhere
Got the blue sky breeze and it don't seem fair
Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair
Sunrise there's a fire in the sky
Never been so happy
Never felt so high
And I think I might have found me my own kind of paradise

I hope everyone has a fantastic 4th of July. Enjoy the fireworks for me! The idea of getting dressed and going out sounds more exhausting than I already am. Thank you all for the invites, but I spent the day in the sky. That has to count for something? There is something about the 4th of July. I can always remember where I am and what I was doing this time last year. All the years. Today isn't where I wanted to be on this day, this year. Though, I do believe that I am right where I'm supposed to be. The questions is...where are you?