Hitting the slopes

Later in January, Matt and I got away again.  This time, instead of sunny Arizona, we headed to Breckenridge, Colorado for a few days of skiing with our good friends Tim and Shelly and their little guy Brayden.  We missed our boys and soon realized that we just might have to take at least Ben next year to get him learning to ski early!

I quickly realized that my life as a stay-at-home mom has not kept me in as good of shape as I probably should have been to go skiing for the first time in 8 years!!!  That did not stop me from skiing most of Friday and doing a pretty good job of keeping up with everyone.  Shelly and I called it quits early enough in the afternoon that the guys were able to get in a few good runs on some blacks. . .something I did not even want to think about trying!

Saturday was a little bit tougher as I ended up fevering all Friday night and woke up feeling quite weak that morning.  I gave it a good go for about two hours and then called it quits for the weeekend . . . not quite the plan but I wasn't haven't the best luck staying upright on the slopes that morning!

Luckily we had some beautiful views from our condo at The Village so it made laying on the couch to recover and reading not so bad!  I also toughed it out enough to walk around downtown Breckenridge by myself for a few hours to do some shopping :)

All three nights we ventured out for a nice supper and I although I missed the boys by the last night, Matt and I thoroughly enjoyed our couple time, only having to share bites of our food with one another!  I'm already looking forward to next season!

Fiesta Bowl...

Matt and I started out 2013 by traveling to sunny Arizona to watch our Wildcats in the Fiesta Bowl.  The night before we left, it was -4 degrees in Iowa.  Needless to say, we were anxious to get to sunnier skies and a warmer climate!

The highs were only in the 60's which was apparently "cold" to the natives! Our car rental helper even had gloves on as he handed us the keys to our bright cherry-red convertible (only one of those things is true...!)

We stayed at a resort in Scottsdale and I must say that Matt did an EXCELLENT job booking this one! Since it was still close to Christmas, the palm trees and orange trees were still lit up with beautiful lights along the driveway as we pulled in.

We had a chance to explore Old Town Scottsdale for a few hours before the game and I made my poor husband take a picture next to a cactus. . . we did not notice the STOP sign until afterwards - oh well! Then we were off to the game.

K-State fans were EVERYWHERE and I haven't had that much fun tailgating in a long time!

And even though the game ended up as a total bust for our Wildcats, we had a great time getting away together. . . with 50,000 of our closest friends!

Ways to feel old

I've been in my 30s for almost a year and half now, but there are certain things that definintely make me feel old!

Matt and I have been together for eleven years, married for seven and have two beautiful boys of our own.  We've finished college, started jobs, moved and purchased our first house. We've bought cars, sold cars, paid off loans and talked in depth about what form of the company's insurance is best for our family.  Most recently we've had the "where do we see ourselves in the next 5-10 years discussion" (knowing full well we will be in our 40s in ten years) and it has really made me step back and think about how much I miss the carefree days of college when our biggest concern was what to wear to the upcoming date party!

And while all of that makes me feel old, the latest has been the fact that my little brother (yes, the same one who used to sing "Down by the Bay" at the top of his lungs, the same one who was OBSESSED with the Ninja Turtles and the very one I remember praying for when I found out I would be a big sister) is celebrating a whole year of wedded bliss to the most awesome girl he could have found!!!

Happy 1st Anniversary to two of our favorite people in the world. . . even if you make me feel old!

Father's Day

What can I say about this awesome Daddy?!  He LOVES his boys!  He works so hard so we can stay home, sleep in, watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, clean/do laundry whenever the mood hits, cook/bake all day long, take naps in our own comfy beds and take trips to the zoo in the middle of the week...all while he has his arm up a cow! (too much info? - try listening to some of the conversations he has!)  He gets little sleep this time of the year but still has the energy to put our boys to bed when he's home and mommy just can't take one more minute.  On weekends, he does little (and sometimes big) projects around the house that I'm not able to do myself and is so handy sometimes I can't believe how lucky we are!  He serves our church, community and family selflessly and never complains when I make a shopping trip to Sioux City that maybe wasn't quite needed :) He's been known to say "whatever you want" or "I just want to you to be happy" even when I'm being irrational difficult about something.  He's the man I chose to spend my life with and make a family with...how lucky are we?!  We love you Daddy!

Father's Day 2012

Oh yeah, we also just had our 7th wedding anniversary and even though he was stressed with work and working hard to leave for a road trip on time, he made a trip home in the middle of the morning to bring me some flowers so him being gone all week wouldn't be so hard!  What a guy!

Marriage Retreat...one week later!

Matt and I were able to attend a marriage retreat at the Hole in the Wall Lodge in Akron, IA last weekend. My wonderful mother-in-law was willing to come up and stay with the boys so we said "yes" to this awesome opportunity and took off for a weekend of refreshing our marriage!  We had an amazing time, finding out new things about each other, meeting new friends in similar phases of life with young kids, and learning to have fun together again amidst all the little stresses of life.
We've now been back to reality for a whole week and I'm finding that we have taken several things we learned last weekend and applied them to our lives and to our marriage.  Matt is finding lots of little ways to help out around the house, now knowing that even clearing the table after a meal can help tremendously.  And I've been trying really hard to say thank you for all the things he does for our family...especially after a long day home with the boys when the last thing I want to do is pick up one more toy!
Will this "bliss" last?!  Probably not...at least not like it is right now.  Reality will creep back in more day by day, but now I feel like we have been given the tools to deal with them a bit better and have more insight into what the other might be feeling or seeing differently in a situation.  God designed our marriage, and designed us to be two different people within it.  Only with his help can we truly remember to Love & Respect one another and build upon a divine union so as to make our Father in Heaven truly proud of us!

Our wedding day, June 4, 2005 (photo by Sarah Winston photography)