January - After a busy 2013 holiday season (once again, a 10-day trip to SD ending with a ski trip in the black hills), January was quiet for us. We hung out with friends, played board games, and things amped up at work for me. Jordan continued into his 2nd semester of his computer engineering master's program.
February - I did my last-ever Pampered Chef party for a friend of mine. I didn't know it would be the last at the time, but it was, and that's okay. I flew to Nashville, spent time with my college bestie and my cousin, and had a fab time. I started on a new account at work and prepared to work insane hours. Jordan continued studying, and hanging out with friends as our schedules allowed. We looked at 2 houses and decided we needed to raise our budget.
March - The WHOLE FAMILY visited for a weekend and we had a FAB time. We can't wait to do a repeat. Dad, mom, and Kay came a day early to check some houses out with us and we saw one that we really liked. Two-three weeks after looking at it we'd come to an agreement with the sellers! Yay! Jordan and I celebrated our 4th anniversary with a road trip through Missouri and stayed at a couple bed & breakfasts, checked out some MO small towns, and tried a bunch of wineries and breweries. We finished out the month with our annual weekend with college friends (7 couples) - this was the 3rd year we'd all gotten together.
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| The fam. |
April - Compared to March, this month was relatively quiet (at least in our personal lives). (Read: we were exhausted from March. Let's not do a repeat of that month.) We celebrated Jordan's 28th birthday by playing board games all night with some friends. Jordan's mom came to visit us at the end of the month for her birthday. Life at the agency started being insane, and I worked 50-60hr weeks, and flew to San Diego for an entire week of planning meetings with one of my clients. We also went to the San Diego Zoo on the hottest day of the year! Despite almost melting, it was really fun. Jordan interviewed for and was accepted as an apprentice at Cerner (HUGE healthcare software engineering company). This paid position works full-time in the summer and part-time during the school year. We BOTH get amazing healthcare benefits through his job.
May - We took possession of our home in early May! Jordan wrapped up his semester and I traveled to SD for Lucas's high school graduation. I'm pretty sure I was just doing that a few years ago...but he's 10 years younger than me! Time flies. The rest of the month looks quiet from my review of the calendar, but that's because I was working morning, noon, and night and packing the apartment with any free time. (Thank you to all my friends who helped me pack!!) Agency life continued to require crazy-long hours and Jordan started working full-time at Cerner. He says it's his dream job and that he loves it there. We went back to SD at the end of the month for dad's birthday and enjoyed a quick weekend with family (and good thing we went b/c my brother and his wife told just our family that they were pregnant!). I spent a lot of time researching and coordinating contractors who were working on our home.
June - I continued to work crazy hours and had clients in the office quite a few days, which included dinners out and a suite at the Royal's stadium. Jordan and I volunteered to pour beer at Boulevardia (a beer-tasting festival) and we became members at our church - but those two things didn't happen at the same time. I helped host a friend's baby shower with some of my friends. Dad, mom, and Kay came back to MO and helped us move. We had a horrible experience with our movers, and if they hadn't been there Jordan would have probably had to check me into the loony bin due to mental breakdown. Needless to say, I survived and our stuff survived. (And I refused to pay them and they didn't fight me on it.)
July - We went home for the 4th of July (b/c we just didn't get enough of dad and mom on moving weekend) and saw family that was also home from NC and TX. Mom and dad had their typical huge party and my brother and his wife announced to EVERYONE they were pregnant! I continued to work like a crazy person, Jordan continued to love his new job, and I traveled to SD for a work trip for one of my clients (and stayed at my parents' house - woohoo!).
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| Family 4th of July! |
August - We went to Lake Okoboji in Iowa with some SD friends for a quick weekend and had a good time catching up. I crazily signed up to run a 5k Women's Mud Run with some coworkers and started training for that (2 weeks before the event). Jordan's mom, stepdad, and brother visited us in KC and we enjoyed sharing our new home with them. My cousin and her mom stayed overnight at our house on their way through to Nashville to visit my cousin who lives there (their sister/daughter) and my cousin and I went on a quick run together - first time EVER running 12mins in a row! I ran the mud run/obstacle course and had a great time! I also went to a photography and video shoot for one of my clients - here and here are the final commercials. My only claim to fame in them is that I am the liaison between the client and the creative team - they did all the amazing work.
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| Love water-skiing! |
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| Anyone that knows me is not surprised that I screamed my head off while on this thing. (Not in terror, but b/c I was having such a good time.) |
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| Mud Run with co-workers! |
September - Happy 29th birthday me! My dear friend from SD and her hubby visited us over Labor Day weekend and had a fabulous time, we so enjoyed their company. We're hoping they can make the trip again in 2015. Mom spoiled us by coming for a whole week and painting our bathroom. She is just the best. (And now our bathroom is, too.) I had a work conference in Chicago, so Jordan and I flew out a few days early to spend time with a friend (thank you, Andrew, for sacrificing your bed to us the 4 days we were there!), enjoy good beer, go to some theatre, and eat good food. Back in KC, Jordan and I went to another beer-tasting festival, and I apparently hadn't gotten enough of SD yet, so I went back for my twin-name-friend Betsy's bachlorette party and for my TEN YEAR high school reunion.
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| This isn't Andrew, but it's another good friend who we got to see while in Chicago! |
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| TVHS Class of '04 |
October - My 3 former co-workers/now good friends came to KC to see my house and spend a weekend doing girl stuff! This included antiquing, going to the movies, eating out, and getting facials (which are amazing). It was much colder than expected, but we had a great time catching up. I experienced my first Cindy Moment when I put a wedding on the calendar for the wrong date and we woke up one Saturday morning to discover it was the night before. OOPS. :( We went back to SD for Betsy and Josh's beautiful wedding where I had a fabulous weekend as Betsy's maid of honor (Josh has some serious interior decorating skills and vision!) and my sister and her hubby came to visit us the next weekend. I still haven't convinced them to move here, but I keep trying.
November - Mom came back to KC (yes, again) to visit and we enjoyed going to a Crafts & Drafts craft show, general "Cindy and Betsy productiveness" (as Jordan refers to it) and just hanging out. We stayed in KC for Thanksgiving, my 2 cousins and my cousin's bf stayed overnight on their way home to Nashville (so good to see them!), and I ran my first 5k and finished with a personal best in time!
- All finishers - 538 out of 1177
- Female finishers - 195 out of 612
- Females 25-29 - 19 out of 50
- Average time - 31:20; my time - 29:41 (pace 9:34/mile)
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| Pre-race! |
December - I traveled to SD for my bestie's mom's funeral, mourned for her family's loss of her in their lives, and praised Jesus that she loved Him and was now Home. Jordan and I traveled to Columbia, MO (2hrs from KC) for my company Christmas party (Read: delicious food, open bar, WILD) and had a fab time. I flew to Chicago for a one-day client meeting. We couldn't wait to leave on the 24th and celebrate with family over the holidays. We went to both SD and ND (braving the -15 degree temperature before windchill) and came back to KC on the 2nd relaxed, full of peace, love, and joy, and ready to start 2015!
