Kitchen, Pt 1.

A friend is someone who is there for you when he'd rather be anywhere else."
- Len Wein,

I say this semi jokingly (although I am fairly certain it is true for Ben at least, who managed to mention how much he hates painting at least once every 10 minutes) but when I sent out a facebook update on Wednesday something to the tune of “Would anyone please please please come help me paint because if I don’t get my kitchen back after 2 weeks of stripping wallpaper I might lose my mind!!!”  I got responses from some of my favorite people ever. Ben and Tiffany live an hour away, Riley from 2, and they converged on my house yesterday to save my sanity.

 

(Riley, Ben, Tiffany)

(Having guys to move the fridge and the piano? Priceless!)

(Tiffany is a very good overseer)

I have no pretty pictures from the day, these 3 are the only ones I took, but my kitchen is *almost* done and I have further confirmation that I have the best friends ever.

Finished pictures to come.

(linked up to Sunday Citar)

Fun in a chocolate pot…

I am in KC for a cardiology conference tomorrow, and tonight I went to the melting pot with a couple of my girlfriends.  I love fondue… love the concept of dipping food into cheese and chocolate, and I love happy hour specials so it was a good fit.  Even more, though, I love spending time with my friends…

Joanna got a drink in honor of getting into her master’s program.  Exciting!

 

( my application went in last Friday, so hopefully in about 6 weeks we can have a drink in celebration of me getting in, *fingers crossed*)

The cheese was yummy, but honestly not as good as my queso dip…

The chocolate, however, involved flaming marshmallow creme, and that can never go wrong.

Pretty sure chocolate covered strawberries is one of food’s best combination

Walking the plaza afterwards

I ended the evening by stopping by my old job and saying hi to some more old friends. 

It was fun.

(part of you capture , although late, because try as I may, I cannot seem to handle a Tuesday you capture post.)

Bodies

I am in love with the nose on my new dog. 

(okay, she belongs to my new roommate, but I quite love her)

My friend Tiffany?  She has tiny feet.  really.  like size 5 or 6.  However, when I am lifting tiny feet into a tree, they don’t seem so tiny:

I need to work on my body mechanics. 

Her knee didn’t much like being wedged in a tree much, either.

These girls showed up on my front porch Friday night to surprise me with a birthday weekend.  It was one of the best surprises ever.  I love them.

(And I hate how much time they spend talking about what is wrong with various body parts.  They are beautiful.  Their parts are beautiful.  I wish I knew how to talk the girls in my life into loving their bodies.)

That being said, the best pictures I took this weekend(with the assistance of the stone tower at the end of the driveway) was this set. I love the way we move over 10 seconds :)

 

I seriously thought she was going to fall on her head.  Got to love the trouble we can get in.

Oh!  and the most important body parts of all:

After years of me wishing and 2 years of her trying, my big sister is having a baby!  I am so very excited!!!

Life is good :)

part of you capture

It was heaven.

Here’s the deal. I moved to Wichita for family. I wanted to be closer, and I have never regretted that.  But I miss my friends.  I miss the house parties I used to have where 12 people would be sitting in my living room.

Today, though? Today was my idea of heaven. My house was filled with people I love, food I cooked was bubbling on the stove, and it was home.  Home… one of the reasons I wanted a house.  One of the reasons I wanted a big living room.  One of the reasons love cooking.  12 people. In my home. We ate and played games and ate some more and everyone stirred the chili and my biscuits weren’t near as good as my moms and the gravy had just a couple of lumps.

Oh, and the packers WON THE SUPERBOWL!!!!!  Where it wasn’t the best part of the weekend, people will always win that, it was pretty stinking awesome!!!  Especially since most of the people in my living room were going for the steelers. 

IN YOUR FACE, vikings and cowboys fans.  Just saying.

anyway, the weekend was heaven.  I loved it.  I love having a home where people can come in and kick off their shoes and plop on the couch and wander the hallways and everyone throws balloons while yelling “watch out for the new tv!”  I love that my friends come and do dishes and I can ask the guys to change the smoke detector batteries and move furniture and they don’t even bat an eye.

I love the look on my family’s face when they saw me jumping up and down on the couch when we got the last touchdown.  or that everyone was yelling at me to get down when I was on the floor in front of the tv and stood up when we got our interception return touchdown.  apparently they wanted to see it too.

I love football.

I love my friends.

I love my family (whom don’t really like football but come because I invite them.  that is love…)

I love my chili.  that I didn’t actually eat because there was too much other food but that will most definitely be going to work tomorrow.

Did I mention my team won? the super bowl? 

I also love the super bowl champs the GREENBAY PACKERS.

My face is smiling.

Happy!

Happiness is weekends with roommates. Cheering on your football team as they win the NFC Championship while in Wisconsin? Also equals happy:

In Wisconsin they make Packer cookies.  PACK ATTACK! 

(although in reality we did a lousy job of attacking, and only survived by defending. Defense rocks.) 

They also make Packers pendants, which I, being the classy homeowner I am, used painters tape to stick up to my front door:

Makes me happy when I drive by and see it! 

I made Chelsie take me to Lake Michigan, because cool people go to the beach when it is 15 degrees outside.

(yeah, I look horrible in this picture. but it makes me happy)

The boulders on the beach (we don’t see things like this in Kansas):

Sunset while driving:

It was the type of weekend where I spent tons of time laughing and not much taking pictures. The kind where I was reminded to be grateful for the friendships I was able to form in College, that have lasted so much longer than college.

The kind where I was excessively tired the whole time and came back promptly to get sick and end up in urgent care. 

Oh well…

Still happy.

Part of you capture

I am in need of another travel song besides.. I’m leaving, on a jet plane…

flying to wisconsin tomorrow.

excited.

it is really cold there.

not overly fond of cold.

love my friend, though.

and she is in the cold.

so off to the cold I go.

also, the packers play the bears on Sunday.

Chelsie is the reason I am a packer fan.

so watching the NFC championship game

Bears vs Packers

In Wisconsin

with my football friend.

Makes me happy

(Friend Hillary, Me, Chelsie. Packers vs Chiefs preseason 2010)

(me, Chelsie and her friend Julie, Lambeau field vs Cowboys, 2009)

 

(Ricki and Nathan, Me, Chelsie packers at jaguars 2008.)

We won’t be at the game, but we will be scouting next years schedule to decide what game to go to.

I love friends.

I love trips.

I tolerate cold.

I should probably pack now.

Bye!