Meeting Survival

Well, I lived through my ninth NITA Board meeting this past weekend. For those that don't know, NITA is where I work and we have two Board meetings a year that I more or less orchestrate. We have 22 national Board members from all over the country that fly in for three days of "solving world peace". Since NITA stands for National Institute for Trial Advocacy, the Board is mostly comprised of corporate lawyers and judges so things can get a bit intense at these meetings. At the same time, the Board members are also some of our most generous donors to the NITA Foundation which is my area of the organization. So, I try to make sure the Board is happy and the meeting runs smoothly. I'm always mentally wiped out after the meeting and it takes me a few days to recover. Plus, for the weeks leading up to the meeting and all the preparations, I tend to let things in my personal life slip. By the time the meeting is over, it takes a while to catch up on stuff at home. Anyway, I survived!

Giving Back Is Good for the Soul

Last weekend John and I drove to Gypsum, Colorado (about 15 miles north of Vail) for a service day at Roundup River Ranch. The event was arranged for the second year in a row through my Sustainer Council with Junior League of Denver. We recruited some of the Sustainers and their families and friends to help the camp get ready for its summer season. We did everything from taking inventory/sorting tons of board games and items recently donated by Walmart and Hasbro, to organizing bins of multi-colored beads for a new camp program, to planting seeds in the organic garden, and pulling weeds out by the boat dock! It was a fun day and for such a great cause. Check out the camp's amazing Web site and the all that it does for medically fragile children in Colorado thanks to the vision of actor Paul Newman and his legacy of his international organization called, A Serious Fun Camp. Here's the link, www.roundupriverranch.org

Happy New Year!

Well, I don't know about you, but we sure are happy it's finally a new year! We worked on our resolutions yesterday and took some quiet time to reflect on the challenges and achievements of 2012. The last 12 months have been quite a ride. I read a FaceBook posting this morning of one of my girlfriends as she looked back on her year and it seemed very insightful and theraputic. So, I thought I might attempt to do the same on my clearly under-used Blog (which is now listed on my 2013 resolutions to utilize more right under reducing how much chocolate I eat!...LOL!)

So, to highlight 2012. Well, it started off with a semi-surprise 39th birthday fondue party for me co-hosted by two sweet neighbor girlfriends Sage and Vidya, attended by many other dear friends...such a wonderfully memorable evening. The year also entailed completing all our incredibly involved home-study requirements for our three-year adoption journey and ultimate approval through Denver County Human Services to be certified with them as an official "waiting family"...despite not finding a match yet with the "right" little girl. I also celebrated four years working at the NITA Foundation and becoming 100% vested (which for some reason seemed cool at the time).  Plus, among many other things in my job description, I orchestrated two very intense Board meetings, one in Boulder and another in Chicago, while bidding farewell to my 4th boss at NITA John Baker, and hello to my 5th boss, Karen Lockwood. I continued volunteering with Junior League of Denver, Sustainer Council, and helped plan an amazing "Done In The Day" event for JLD ladies outside of Vail at Roundup River Ranch, a camp for medically fragile children. Then, as John's dad Mark and step-mother Paula sadly decided to end their 20+ year marriage, John and I thought it would be healthy for us to refresh our relationship with a spring session of group marriage counseling. John and I also said farewell to our dear friends/former next-door neighbors, Brad and Sage and their boys Wyatt and Guillain, when they decided to move to Los Angeles in June. In an effort to get more involved in our church, we joined the church cookbook committee, I continued my quarterly book-club (or "wine-club"...not sure which), signed-up to help with the planning committee for the Children's Museum of Denver's 2013 Birthday Bash, and forged on in volunteering for the Louisville Library Foundation and helped with the summer three-community reading event called "On The Same Page." Towards the end of the summer, I flew unexpectedly to Dallas for a week to help my Dad make the difficult arrangements and immediate move of both of my grandparents into a nursing home. This was also the year when we did some home improvement projects: interior painting, changing out a lighting fixture, installed a new glass storm door, window well covers, repairs to our garage door etc, etc! We also stumbled across a great Craigslist sale and bought some home decor items to spruce up the house, like a guest-room headboard and artwork. While John spent his 46th birthday with his best friend Mike in Michigan in August, I recovered all the dining room chairs...I was a true DIY rookie. John also surprised me with an early 40th birthday present, a beautiful new car, a Volvo SUV which I named "Gracie", after 15 years of driving "Stardust", my Toyota Camry. We also decided to join a gym for the first time in almost 10 years and tried to incorporate working out again into our already overly ambitious schedule! As the fall approached, we attended my cousin Barton and his lovely bride Miranda's wedding in Lyons, CO (near Boulder) and subsequently rekindled with some visiting Laning family as well hosting my mother. She and I also walked in the Denver's Race For the Cure which was humbling. Later, John's mother Lady and step-dad Larry drove up from Tulsa and we helped them celebrate their anniversary weekend with a cultural day at the Denver Art Museum, an afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch, and nostalgic visit to Lady's old Denver apartment address from over 40 years ago. In November, we drove 13 hours to Denton, TX to spend Thanksgiving with my Dad and helped decorate his house for the Christmas holidays. As December rolled around, my paternal grandmother became ill and later passed away (on my mother's birthday of all days) a few days before Christmas. After endless phone calls, emails, and texts with my Dad in preparation for the funeral, due to the bad weather between Denver and Dallas, at the last minute we were prevented from attending. For New Year's Eve, we shared ribs, black-eyed peas and cornbread with some new friends, Kim and Jeff, at their house and relaxed in their hot tub after ringing in 2013. It's been a VERY long 2012 and we are exhausted! We honestly hope this new year is a  less dramatic but it's unlikely with my 98-year old grandfather's weakening condition...the adoption situation...and new job endeavors for John. Happy New Year from John and me and Juliet (meow)! May God bless you and your family this year!

Football Season Is Upon Us!

Well, tonight the Broncos are playing another pre-season football game and John is thrilled. He requested Frito Pie for dinner so I acquiesced...I think I may need to take a Tums later! LOL! But after 15 years of marriage this past July 26, it's the little things that bring us happiness and we both try to make sure the other gets their share of whatever that happens to be at the moment. In this case...football night for John. He seems relatively content so that gives me some free-time. The evening is cool and very pleasant on the back patio especially after John mowed the yard earlier today and everything looks so tidy. It's nice to just relax and turn off the world for a while. Life has been really hectic in the last few weeks with work, extended family, charity volunteering, and adoption certification. I'm tired and just can't seem to get my vitality back. But, the summer is coming to an end and I'm sort of glad because it's always a demanding time of year for us. We tend to deal with all the chores inside and outside of the house that we procrastinate the rest of the year and between traveling and yard-work and all the hot days, it really wipes me out. The autumn is definitely my favorite time of the year. Things slow down a little and the season is filled with the beginning of festivities which is much more enjoyable. Plus, I feel more comfortable in the cozy sweaters and fall attire as opposed to the skimpy, pastel clothes of the summer. Anyway, I'm looking forward to going to church tomorrow for a spiritual lift and then perhaps a lazy afternoon at home with John with a crock-pot slowly cooking a roast for dinner. Like I said before, simple pleasures make the difference.

4th of July Festivity

John and I enjoyed a relaxing 4th of July holiday even though it fell on a Wednesday which made the rest of the week totally confusing. However, we tried to make the most of it. We made a big lazy breakfast and later that evening grilled out. John made quite a spread of hamburgers and hotdogs for us to indulge in (and enjoy as leftovers for days). We played a few hands of Texas Hold'em on the patio and watched fireworks on TV since a lot of the firework shows in Colorado were cancelled due to all the recent wildfires. The next day we took off from work and visited the Denver Zoo for fun. The weather was super toasty but we had a good time fiddling around and checking out all the cute and unusual animals. The holiday was short but sweet.

Toasting Farewell with a Chocolate Martini

It's been a busy Memorial Day weekend. However, it's also been great to have some time to catch up on our home life. I think it's amazing how our schedule can spin so fast during the week with daily demands that when you do get a few days off from your regular routine, it's hard to relax. In fact, it sort of annoys me when I can't sleep in on Saturday morning because my brain turns on the moment the sun comes up. I find myself almost struggling not to bounce out of bed and starting working on all the personal projects I've put off all week. This weekend was no exception. We tried to chill out and enjoy a "date night" on Friday night with a hamburger at Red Robin but after we inhaled our dinner in less than 15 minutes, we were so mentally tired from the week that we just headed home. Frustrated with ourselves for not being able to dive into the holiday weekend mode, we tried to salvage the night. We made popcorn and piled up on the bed and watched one of our favorite movies to try and capture the softer side of life...Grumpy Old Men...which seemed to do the trick. However, the next morning, we both jumped right back into "performance mode" and spent most of the day cleaning house, doing laundry, running errands, and John tended to the yard. By five o'clock that night, we were exhausted and determined to enjoy some "playtime" by golly! So, we went to the movies and saw, The Hunger Games. It was fun to spend some time together. On Sunday, John helped our neighbors Brad and Sage with some moving projects while I watched their 4 year old for a little while. Then, as sort of a final farewell to Brad and Sage, we all got together with Jai and Vidya for dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then made a farewell toast with chocolate martini's and other yummy drinks at The Flatz. It was awesome to hang out with our sweet friends. We are so sad to see Brad and Sage and their boys move away. However, we wish them the very best in their new adventure in Studio City, California and can't wait to see Sage accomplish her dream as an actress and be a leading lady one day on the silver screen in a big movie.

Celebrating Friends

It's been a while since I last blogged and so I thought I'd say hello again. It's been a rainy, chilly Saturday...perfect for napping and doing some quiet, relaxing things. This morning I created my first Pinterest page filled with some fun Boards for my friends to explore. I'll try to link it to this blog so you can check it out. I'm also going to teach John how to make one for fun. Anyway, we have a dinner party to go to tonight to celebrate our friends Jai and Vidya's 5 year anniversary owning their lovely home. It will be fun especially since the weather is so icky. Our dear friends Brad and Sage and their boys will be there and will soon be moving to California. I hope Jai and Vidya will have enough red wine to keep the spirits cheery...our last neighbor gathering with the Porters. We are so blessed to have such precious neighbors. They are all so dear to us. We have shared so many wonderful memories together over the last five years living here surrounding by all their warmth. Some of my favorite memories are: celebrating my 39th birthday with an amazing fondue party hosted at Vidya's house with Sage as the co-host (who dragged her new wooden dinner table across the street into Vidya's house for extra room for all the guests and food, the Oscar party at Sage's where we all dressed up and voted on our favorite actors, watching football together at many different houses (and SuperBowl extravaganzas and Jai & Vidya's), lighting sparklers at 4th of July on the Porter's deck and trying not to burn it down, buying makeup at Arbonne parties (thanks Fraya for getting me hooked forever), John dressing up as the Easter Bunny at one of Wyatt Porter's spring parties, handing out candy at Halloween to all the darling trick or treaters (and trying to keep from eating all the leftover sweets), supporting each each other with Wine N' Cheese gatherings when parents were visiting from out of town, sipping chocolate martini's at The Flatz, gathering under a white event tent between our house and the Porters for an Autumn covered-dish social, dressing up in costume for a Murder Mystery Dinner, casual gathering at Tracy and Michael's bringing over whatever we were making for dinner to share with the neighbors for a impromptu Sunday dinner, sipping wine on our front porch at dusk with a candle glowing and time to catch up with friends...and so many other amazing memories...to many to list. All these sweet neighbors around us have become more than friends...they almost feel like extended family.