Christmas in June

I realize that I'm a bit late for a Christmas post... but let's reminisce, shall we?  And anyhow... it's so dang hot right now that a trip down Alaska-memory-lane sounds nice.

My parents and I traveled up to Alaska for Christmas 2012, and we were greeted by a very welcoming Charlie Barley Pants.

"HEY guys!!!!"

He promptly showed off how he can ride the ATV my parents bought him for his first birthday a couple weeks earlier.

 He also showed off how he says, "Cheese!" for pictures.  This seriously cracked me up.

 Grammy and Poppy are so silly.

Cheese!!!

Emotions and excitement were heightened on Christmas Eve!

Just LOOK at all those presents...

 Charlie got into the spirit of one of our Christmas traditions... watching Home Alone!

 He also spent some quality time with Grammy.

Charlie got to open one present on Christmas Eve, and Adam gave him a little help...

Pajama Pants - sweeeeeeeet!

On Christmas morning, Charlie awoke to find Santa Claus had left him even MORE presents.

Ringing in Christmas morning....

Adam built a fire to really set the Christmas atmosphere...

After opening half of his presents, Charlie started getting a little sleepy...

...so he took a little nap.

After napping, he opened his last present: a new sled!

That afternoon, we all got bundled up and took his new sled for a spin in the front yard. 

 Adam and Leane's house has PLENTY of snow for sledding...

Charlie loves his sled!

 Adam made a good sledding hill....

Family Photo! 

Wheeeeeeeeee!

 That night, he put on his second pair of Christmas pajamas and played with all of his new toys.

 It was great to spend the Holidays in Alaska with my entire family... including this crazy boy.

 Only 6 more months until Christmas 2013!

Near-Sightings and Near-Piercings... Just Another Visit with Allison

Allison - who you may remember from my EPIC trip to Lander a few years ago - passed through Denver earlier this week, and I could not have been more happy to see her!

She happened to arrive on my last workday at RE/MAX.  I had spent the better part of the day crying (half tears of sadness that I was leaving my team... and half tears of joy), so it was really nice to have Allison in town that night to keep me company and to be able to spend time with her before my move.

The next morning - day one of my month-long unemployment - I had coffee with Allison while watching the Bachelorette.  The movers were coming that week, so I had already packed most of my things.  Despite sitting amongst boxes and drinking out of styrofoam cups,  it was a perfect morning!

We decided breakfast-for-lunch sounded good, so we headed down to Snooze.

Allison looking cute in our cute little booth: 

About five minutes after taking the above picture, two guys sat in the booth next to us.  These booths are TINY, so they were sitting literally two feet away.  I kept looking at the guy catty-corner to me, trying to figure out why he looked familiar.  

[SIDEBAR: I just googled why some people say catty-corner and some say kitty-corner.  It turns out catty-corner is more prevalent in the South, and kitty-corner is more of a North thing.  I've always said catty-corner. Interesting...)

All of a sudden it hits me.  We are sitting RIGHT NEXT to Troy Tulowitzki!!!!  

His hair is what really gave it away.

I played it cool and let him eat his omelette in peace.  He and his buddy weren't talking AT ALL, so it was impossible to let Allison know who she was sitting next to without him overhearing us.  As soon as he left, I said, "Do you KNOW who that was?!"  She didn't. 

After that brush with fame, we were feeling pretty saucy, and Allison decided she wanted to get her ears pierced.  

That's right.  

Allison is 31 and has virgin earlobes!

We consulted Yelp - as you do - for a nice tattoo parlor downtown.  We found one within walking distance from Snooze called Celebrity Tattoos.  It seemed like fate considering our recent celebrity run-in, so we headed that way.

Once we got to Celebrity Tattoos, we soon realized they weren't interested in giving ANYONE the star treatment.  The "piercing guy" wasn't in yet, and they weren't too concerned about when he'd be back.

Apparently we should have just gone to Claire's.

Not to be dismayed, we decided to get pedicures instead...

I picked out a bright shade of orange and Allison picked out a neutral pink (although in retrospect she felt it was too "girly girl")....

 This poor woman had her work cut out for her...

Rock those girly toes!

After our pedicures, it was unfortunately time to get Allison to the airport.  She was making her way to Seattle for several job interviews.  I, for one, hope she moves there because it would be awesome to visit!

Thanks, Allison, for a wonderful day!

Summer Mornings

It's moments like these that I'll really miss when I move.

On a summer morning, there's nothing better than having a cup of coffee outside with my little buddy, Aly.

My mom requested to remain out of this picture... but I still managed to get her in here.


I'm glad that San Antonio is only a two hour plane ride away.  :)

Devine is Divine

On Sunday, June 9th, I made my way south to Devine, Texas to see some of my favorite people in the world - My friends Jen, James, and their kids Jameson, Mackenzie, and Hudson.  (Yes, it's been awhile since my last blog post... and there is a new Ramirez in the family!)

 

After landing in San Antonio, I was greeted sweetly by Kenzie and sneak attacked by Jameson. "Did you SEE me hiding behind the Coke machine?!?!" he asked.  Um... no Jameson I didn't.  And that's why I almost fell down when an unexpected child torpedo hugged me from out of nowhere.

 

We went straight from the airport to Best Buy.  The Spurs were playing in the finals that night, and Jen wanted a television for the cabana bar in her backyard.  I was 100% in favor of this plan, so we all headed to get one.

 

Despite both of our credit cards being declined (Ha! Long story.. but don't worry. We're good for the money.) we eventually found a card that worked, loaded up the tv, and headed to Devine.

Devine is always a good time.  James can grill with the best of them, and Jen never lets your lemon drop martini go dry.  In fact, I was having SUCH a good time that I may have entered into some type of verbal contract with Jen's mom that I'd purchase the lot of land next door to build my dream house. 

 

Jen's kids are too much (in a good way, haha).  As you can see, they are always a source of entertainment!

 

 

Hudson wasn't so sure if he liked Mountain Lindsay at first, but by the end of the night, he started warming up to me.

But.

As it turns out, I wasn't in Devine JUST for the drinks and good company.

No.

I was there for a very important meeting on Monday.

A meeting that would change my life... (dramatic pause) ... forever.