Long awaited return!

I'm back... and I'm totally badder than ever. Whatever that means.

Anyway, a lot has gone on and there is a lot to cover, so let's begin...

January:
I am going to take back what I said about knowing what I wanted to do with my life. I still think I know my direction, however, we decided that it was not the right time for me to go back to school for the Admin degree. I think it was a great decision (after the 1st bad decision that is), and I am even more confident than when I made the original decision to return to school. Oh, the joys of being indecisive. :)

February:
I don't really remember. I'm sure it included Valentine's day and other lame holidays. But I believe it also included at least a few snow days and some regular holidays off of work. Oh, now I remember! I got strep throat and was home sick two days, then came back to what proceeded to be the busiest work month of my life. But that's over now.

Rob & Judith are having a baby and were finding out the sex. Naturally we hedged bets on everything related to the baby possible. Those are seen below in the picture. Please note Travis' length guess, it's particularly enjoyable (that is in inches). In order to make our pick for boy/girl, I made these cupcakes and we had to go into the kitchen and select either pink or blue in accordance with our pick. It was really cute.

Also, it's a girl and she's scheduled to arrive on July 1st.

March:
We went back to Michigan for a much needed break. Great news, the weather there was gorgeous! We enjoyed great time with family and it was absolutely wonderful to at least see the lake again. Strange how I can miss that lake so much.

Beautiful sunrise on our drive back to Michigan.

Lake Michigan in March.

I got a Kitchen Aide Stand Mixer and it's changed my life. Look at the beautiful buttercup color! Skipping ahead - in May I got an ice cream maker attachment for it... amazing!

My car turned 100,000 miles and it was exciting. We celebrated together.

April:
I ran a half marathon, for which I was entirely ill prepared and had actually contemplated not running again until the fall. However, even without a best time, I had a great time running and it re instilled my desire to continue running. Post race I signed up for another half marathon, which we will get to.

Me, Lauren's mom Suzanne, and Lauren

First Royal's game of the season!

We also hosted Earth Day, which has now become our annual party. It was a success! While I did not make special organic, earth friendly dishes, I do think my mother Earth appreciated my drinking in her honor, and recycling all things metal, glass, and plastics #1-2. Here are my cookies & cream cupcakes. (They were displayed much cuter when the party actually arrived.)

Easter sunrise service. Just gorgeous!

Royals game #2 of the season!

May:
I co-hosted a bridal shower for my wonderful friend Mary. It was entirely stressful, but it turned out adorable and great, mostly thanks to both Kendra and I's slight case of crazy (and OCD).

I ran a half marathon, and placed 3rd in my age group (and got another medal for that!). Even though, again, it wasn't my best time, I had a lot of fun.

I, alone, hosted a baby shower for Judith. It was much less stressful, as I now had practice, and it turned out adorable and she got lots of great baby things.

My house, shower ready.

I attended Mary's bachelorette party, which was a fabulous, much needed girls night out! We started at someone's house and then traveled by trolley to several stops including Waldo, Martini Corner, and the Power and Light area. Kendra spent the night with Avery and we all had a wonderful time.

Speaking of Avery, here she is being all adorable this week. I love that face, so much it's insane.

I finished two books. One for my work book study, Lost at School was about school discipline and dealing with children with difficult behaviors. I felt it had very good points and perspectives, as well as some good forms to use in practice. I felt some of the story was somewhat far fetched with the "ripple" of change this weird school psychologist created. But it was enjoyable and thought provoking all the same. I also finished Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris. I'll have you know I finished this book the fastest I have finished any book since high school (in 2 weeks)! It was just as I expect from David Sedaris, it was funny, quirky, and ridiculous. I laughed out loud several times, just ask Travis. I think next I will be reading Mystic River.

This was a marathon update and I apologize for my long absence. Now that I have this overwhelming update out of the way, perhaps I will be more current. Also, I've been keeping up on my monthly to-do's, but I'm starting to realize that I may have made more travel goals than feasible. Please refer to the updated 101 list for my current progress.