Because I can't get enough of it...Merry Christmas Y'all!

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Happy Christmas Eve!

I can't believe Christmas is already here! This year I'm spending Christmas with Will's family here in Nashville and then driving up to Decatur early Friday morning to do Christmas with my family. It works out well since my family is postponing Christmas festivities til Andy and Sandy get in to town on Friday. I'm glad that I am going to get to be with Will's family, but not have to miss my family's Christmas to do it.

The good news is that I get to see LOTS of kids open presents! I love watching little kids open gifts. In Will's family, Santa makes one stop at "Papa's" house, so every year the whole family stays at his house on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas morning the kiddos (and the adults) open up their gifts from Santa. So that means that tonight Will and myself, Cari, her boyfriend Curtis, and his son Mitchell, Sue, Pete, Luke, Olivia, and Avery are all going to cozy up at Will Jr's house! We are going to the Children's mass this evening and then we have a HUGE feast planned for tonight. I'm not contributing much- some bruschetta and cookies, but I'm doing the Mason family a favor by introducing them to sausage rolls for breakfast tomorrow morning. They'll be thanking me later, I'm sure. :)

I love learning about different family's traditions. Like, at Will's house, Santa wraps EVERY gift. Even stocking stuffers. The Santa I grew up with didn't wrap anything- not even the presents under the tree...that's how we knew it was Santa and not Mom and Dad who gave us the presents. Like I said before, I am excited to watch all the kids open their gifts, but I'm also really looking forward to watching everyone open their gifts- at BOTH houses. I think Will and I did a good job of picking gifts out this year for both families.

Will and I exchanged gifts the other night...mainly because I begged Will to let us open them early. But also, we both ordered from online and the packages looked SO similar we were curious to see if we got each other the same thing. Curiosity won over patience! :) I made a photo book for Will of all the places we have travelled together, and Will bought me a really nice wine journal. I have been saying for awhile now that I'd like to learn more about wine (as opposed to "that tastes good" or "I don't like that one") so this is a great start! Now I just have to find a wine class and soon I'll be able to start my sommelier career. :)

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and safe travels to wherever they're headed!

Weekend Visitors

Mom, Dad, and Ella drove down to Nashville to visit this weekend. It was a quick trip, and we didn't really do a whole lot, but it was still fun to have them here. I find that it's hard to do a whole heck of a lot with a 2 year old in tow. Ella is such a handful right now! She is very cute, and extremely funny, but still a handful.

Our current apartment, with its lack of doors on the bathroom and minimal hot water, is not really conducive to hosting houseguests, so they stayed at a hotel. Saturday morning they came over to check out our apartment, and then we hit the mall to do some Christmas shopping. One good thing can be said about where we live right now- we literally live within 5 miles of any store you could possibly want to shop at.

At the mall Ella was a bit distraught when we walked by the carousel and wouldn't let her ride it...but we made up for it by letting her take a ride on the Christmas train they had set up by Santa. There were about 7 kids on the train, and when the ride ended, 6 kids happily exited the train. One little girl was left sitting alone, refusing to exit. Ella was not ready for the train ride to be over, so I had to literally pull her out of the train car. The picture says it all- she was NOT a happy camper after that.

After the mall we met up with Sue, Pete (Will's sister and brother-in-law) and their kids at Chuck E Cheese's so the kids could play. Luke, Olivia, and Avery were all very sweet with Ella. They had a jungle gym that Ella wasn't quite tall enough to climb up alone, so Avery and Olivia helped her up--every single time. And I'm pretty sure that they climbed this gym about 20 times. It was hysterical to watch. They were being so helpful, especially Avery, but I'm sure she was exhausted by the end of the afternoon. Avery is about 8 months older than Ella. I think she enjoyed having a younger person around that she could look after, especially since she's used to being the baby. She followed Ella all through the jungle gym making sure she was OK. The kids brought Ella a present, too, which delighted Ella. She loves to color, so her new Crayola paper and markers will surely be a big hit.

Saturday night we headed down to visit with my Uncle Bobby and Aunt Jeanne. I had no idea they lived so close to me! It's nice to have family nearby. We enjoyed some tasty spaghetti with homemade meatballs and sauce, and, of course, Ella entertained us all night. Uncle Bobby as it turns out, is quite handy. He brews his own beer and has made a lot of furniture that was in their house. I was very impressed- the furniture he made is beautiful!

Sunday morning they hit the road after church. I am looking forward to seeing them again for Christmas. It really is nice to be close to family again. Quick weekend trips are always nice.

Happy Birthday Ale!

Our Chilean exchange student, Ale, turns 29 today! She and her husband Francisco are having their first baby in April. Ale sent me some pictures of her growing belly bump, so here are a couple to share! Of course in Chile right now it's summer time, so she's spending December at the beach. Ugh. Must be nice. :) I joked with her that she is finally starting to look like a Wingard girl (at least the ones in my immediate family)- her chest has grown! Hahaha. She is planning on being a bridesmaid in Andy and Sandy's wedding, so we will get to meet her baby when she is about 6 months old! We can't wait!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALESITA!!! We love you!

Confession time...

Working from home can be boring. I miss having human interaction during the day. I am definitely not the type that is happy to sit alone all the time. Don't get me wrong, some days it's really nice to roll out of bed, stay in my pajamas, and have a 15 second commute from the bedroom to the "office". But for the most part, I'm not really into it. I need to look into finding a job that allows me to be around people. I just wish I knew what my calling in life was! It's especially hard since I don't know many people in Nashville yet, aside from Will's family. So even after work is done for the day, I'm still not that involved with other people, except Will. We have fun together, but I would really enjoy having a social outlet in my new town. That, however, is not my confession.

During the day I try very hard to avoid the temptation of turning the TV on. This is no small feat, especially since my job doesn't involve a huge amount of concentration- just patience. I could easily watch TV while getting my work done. And, on occasion, I have given in. However, I feel like this is somehow cheating my coworkers back in Denver who don't have the option of watching TV during their work day. Some days it's justified, though. I think about how they get social interaction and get to go to lunch together, so why can't I just catch the 12 o'clock episode of "No Reservations"? This, though, is not my confession either.

To prevent myself from turning the TV on, I use Pandora, an online radio where you can design your own stations around a song or an artist. This has been crucial to me since I started working from home in October. Since I don't get to talk to people during the day, I use my vocal chords in other ways. And now, finally, comes my confession. I love to listen to Broadway tunes and belt them out loudly while I work. I am fortunate enough to have learned lots of lyrics while working at the Fox in college, and listening to the station brings back fantastic memories from my "younger" years. I don't claim to have the greatest voice in the world, but when I'm singing "Phantom" or "Aida" I suddenly feel like the next Celine Dion. :) And I won't lie...chair dancing is sometimes involved, as well. And yes, I also sing in character, depending on the song. One can not sing "Hakuna Matata" without sounding like Pumba and Timon.

I feel better getting that off my chest. Thanks.

Ella the Artist

In the past couple weeks I've received a series of picture messages from Molly regarding Ella's newest talent--she's an artist! I had to share the pictures of her creative "art" projects. They're hilarious!

First pic message:

Second pic message:

She's quite creative with her canvas! Molly is heading to Chicago this weekend so Papa and Grandma are being brave and bringing Ella down to Nashville for a visit. I can't wait for them to come see my new town! I'll be hiding my feminine products, though! :)

In other news, it's been raining non-stop the past couple days which means that Will and I are dealing with ground water coming into our place again. This time we were prepared, but I spent all day yesterday washing and drying the plethora of towels we used to keep our bathroom floor dry. In sad news, the closet started leaking, too (a spot that we weren't aware of), and my favorite boots got soaked! I'm trying to dry them out right now and really hope they survive. I LOVE those boots!

Titans Games Seats

Like I have said in past blogs, Will and I have been able to go to quite a few Titans games since we moved to Tennessee. I talk about how great the seats are, but yesterday I brought a camera to try to really capture how truly awesome it is to watch the game from the suite. The pictures don't do it justice, though. I really appreciate Will's dad giving us his extra tickets every game. We always have a blast! And I seem to be good luck. The one home game I haven't attended this year was a couple weekends ago during the Wingard girls shopping trip. The Titans played the Jets at home....and lost. The first and only loss of the season. That makes it a scientific fact that I should always attend the games from here on out. I must be their good luck charm. :) Anyway, here are some pics from the game.

Christmas Wish List

Every year Will and his family are required to write out their Christmas Wish Lists for each other. I've been told that the goal is to both make people laugh and to tell what you want for Christmas. We decided to do a joint wish list fairy tale this year, and I had so much fun writing it with Will I had to share it here! We had a great night of drinking wine, decorating the tree, listening to Christmas music (thank you Pandora!), and writing our "wish list". I love Christmas time!

Will and Meaghan’s Fairy Tale Christmas
(Wish List is bold and italicized)

Once upon a time in a far away land called Colorado, Will and his girlfriend Meaghan were enjoying the fruits of His Wine of the Month Club when they decided to pack up their Men’s tennis shoes (size 11), Men’s Merrill Slip-on shoes (black) and also (brown), Women’s tennis shoes (size 10), Women’s black boots (the swanky, suede slouchy non-heeled kind), Women’s black dress coat (with or without a hood and button up), and sail to Ireland in their new 46 foot Catamaran Sailboat. While traveling around the Irish countryside, their 2002-2008 Toyota Tacoma took them everywhere they wanted to go, including McDonalds, where Will was destined to work. During their trip they took several pictures with a super sweet Brown Canon SD1100 Digital Camera, which all of you have seen. Also while driving, it would have been really nice to have had an iTunes Gift Certificate so they could have listened to their new favorite tunes, or even followed in Cari’s footsteps and bought a book on tape.

Shortly after returning to Colorado, Will decided to take a 5 Day Ski Trip to Jackson, WY (Ski passes included) while Meaghan accompanied him since she’s never been to Jackson Hole, only to sit by the fireplace and work in her new desk chair, while intermittently enjoy the fruits of Her Wine of the Month Club. One snowy day, while watching Will tear up the slopes, she decided to tear up the rubber belt on the complimentary treadmill followed by a sweat-inducing round of Wii Fit (Wii entertainment system included). After a long hard day of hitting the slopes and the gym, they were delighted to know that they could take long hot showers because the hotel had just installed a Brand New Water Heater!

Feeling refreshed after 2 long vacations, they made the epic voyage to Nashville in Meaghan’s Jetta. It would have been much more enjoyable had Meaghan’s car had tinted windows to protect their belongings from the sun. Upon arriving in Nashville, they lacked the Down Payment for a house that included hardwood floors and granite countertops, so they opted to take up a great guy on a great offer and live in the Ghetto. After a solid remodeling effort, the place turned out to be quite comfortable, though still in the Ghetto. Will and Meaghan turned out to be the only “White Christmas” around that year. Considering the neighborhood, Meaghan wanted to fit in and add a little bling to her style, so she wanted a new

Diamond earring set. And even though they lived (temporarily) in the Ghetto, they were very happy to be closer to family and friends.

The End

My old co-worker from Chicago, Morgan, has had quite a whirlwind of a life the past few weeks. She was married in Mexico just a couple weeks ago, and then a couple days ago, flew unexpectedly to New Zealand. Her sister, Torey, was working over there (I imagine in much the same fashion that Will and I wanted to go to Australia for) and she was involved in a car accident and suffered head trauma. They had to remove part of her frontal lobe to reduce the swelling in her brain, and she is now heavily sedated. My heart goes out to Morgan and her family. Shaughn's accident was by far the scariest thing that I've ever experienced, and I hate to think that another family is going through the same emotions, especially half a world away.

Normally I wouldn't write about this in my blog, especially since most people don't know Morgan, but after Shaughn's accident, I'm a firm believer that God answers prayers, and the more prayers that are being said for Torey, the faster she'll recover. Please keep Torey in your thoughts today, and say a little prayer for her speedy recovery.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/toreyphelps

Shopping weekend!

This weekend I drove up to Indianapolis to attend the annual Wingard girls shopping trip. It's been a family tradition for a long time- all girls 21 and older are invited. The weekend is always full of shopping, laughing, talking, eating, and drinking. Last year I was too far away to come back for it, so I was happy to make it this year. Leslie played hostess, so I was finally able to see her house. I love how she decorated her place in St. Louis, and this house did not disappoint. It's so cute!

Only 8 of us went this year- Leslie, our hostess, Pam, Erin, Faye, Lisa, Tanya, Mom, and me- smaller than usual, but still a good size. I felt a tad out of place since I was the only girl on the trip this year who is not married and childless. Good thing I have a cute little niece that I could talk about! My favorite part of the weekend isn't really the shopping (I'm not that into shopping, really), it's the night time. I really love being able to sit around with my cousins and aunts and share stories. I don't see them often, so it's nice to catch up and hear what they've been up to.

I was also able to meet the newest addition to the family- little baby Drew. He is adorable! And such a sweet baby. We took turns holding him all night on Saturday, and he was content to sleep in the arms of whoever was holding him.

I am proud of Leslie's willpower in not letting Gracie join the girls for the Sunday round of shopping. She was so sweet all morning, I would have had a hard time saying "no". Apparently she was very much looking forward to having a bunch of girls in the house. Sunday morning she was up and downstairs bright and early cuddling with her Gram while we all layed on our air matresses. She told us all about the sleepover she had been to before, and the unicorn movie she watched. And she chimed in with giggles when we all laughed about a story from the night before. I'm not sure that she understood what the story was about, but hearing her cute little laugh just made me laugh that much harder!

Gracie is a big American Girl fan, and Leslie had told her that I wanted to watch the "Kit" movie with her on Sunday morning. Unfortunately we didn't have time to watch it, so Gracie let me borrow her movie this week and bring it back to her on Thanksgiving. What a sweetheart! It was so cute the way she explained it to me. "Here, you take this and watch it, and then when we go to Gram's house you can give it back to me and we can talk about it". Maybe she got the idea from Leslie's book club??

We looked at a lot of Leslie's scrapbooks- she is SO good at making them! I wish I had the time, energy, materials, and creativity to make pages. They are such great ways to remember events. I'll stick with the blogging for now, though. I learned an interesting new word, too- "scraplifting"- stealing other's scrapbook page ideas. Well, I took it to another level- I "bloglifted" a picture of all of us from Leslie's blog and put it on mine. :) Thank you Leslie!

Ben, Bryan, and Luke were troopers, letting a big group of girls come into the house. I was terribly impressed with Luke's spelling ability- what a smart little boy!

Overall, it was a great weekend, and definitely helped get me more into the holiday spirit. I'm really looking forward to going to Decatur on Wednesday and dun, dun, dun, introducing Will to the extended family. It sounds like it's going to be a big group this year- I hope he's ready!

See most of you readers on Thursday!

First night alone in Nashville

I'm all by myself for the first time since we moved to Nashville. Will is at his first official McDonalds function in Indiana and won't be back til tomorrow.

I must be living in the South now. I'm drinking beer while watching the Country Music Awards on tv. I have been enjoying more and more country music over the past year or so. Maybe it's because I moved to the country music capital, but more than likely it's because it's starting to sound less and less country to me. :) I mean, if Hootie has a country song out now, it can't be that bad, right?

I must admit that living in Nashville there aren't a lot of other music options. Literally every radio station here is either classic rock or country. I am not opposed to classic rock, but it is not that easy to sing to in the car. So I have several country stations programmed now and have genuinely enjoyed belting out my new favorite tunes.

My main motivation behind watching the CMAs, though, is so I can learn the faces of all the country music celebrities. That way, I will recognize them if I ever run into them in Nashville. I'm such a sucker for celebrity gossip, country or otherwise. I like that I'm living close to it. :)

The reason for this blog is to share a funny story: I love the "status" updates on facebook. I updated my status earlier this evening letting everyone know that I am, in fact, drinking beer and watching the CMAs. A few minutes ago, I logged back on and saw that both my Aunt Faye and my cousin Tiffany are doing the exact same thing. I guess the love of country music runs in the family! (Side note: Faye is drinking scotch, not beer. I personally don't think that's country enough. Beer, whiskey, or moonshine are the only acceptable forms of alcohol to be drinking while watching a country music awards show).

Chicago...

...is my kind of town! Will and I drove up from Nashville for the weekend to visit friends and to go to the Bears/Titans game. It felt sooo great to be back in the city again! I haven't spent any time here since we moved to Denver last September, so it was especially nice to get back. I didn't realize how much I missed Chicago til now.

We got a great hotel rate at the Wyndham downtown thanks to our friend Megan, who works there. While we didn't get in til after midnight, I was way too excited to be "home" again and insisted we got out for a little while. We headed over to Fado, one of my favorite bars in Chicago, and had a couple drinks before we hit the hay.

Saturday was a busy day for us. We had so many people we wanted to see, and not a lot of time to do it! Megan's parents were in town, too, so we met them at a bar to have a couple drinks and watch the Michigan State/Purdue game. A few more friends joined us, and it really just felt like old times. It's funny how you can go away for a year and come back to see everything exactly the same as you remember. That is comforting to me.

A somewhat unfortunate (but deliciously sinful) part of the weekend was the caloric intake. I miss Chicago food! After the game, Will, Shelley, Abby, and I headed to Portillos to indulge. You can not find Italian beef like Portillos anywhere else on the planet. So yummy.

We then made a quick trip up to Wrigleyville, our old hood, to drop the girls off and to stop by Strange Cargo. I also miss that store! You can create your own t-shirts there, so I had a new Bears shirt made for the game. I wish we could have spent more time up in the old neighborhood, but we had to get back to the hotel to get ready to see some more friends.

We met up with some of Will's old college friends in Bucktown for dinner at Bluefin. Ahhh, sushi. We have eaten sushi exactly twice since we left Chicago, so it was especially delicious. I hope we can find a good sushi spot in Nashville! John and Erika just had a baby 3 months ago, so we were able to meet Zoe. It's been a while since I've been around infants, but man, she is super tiny! And extremely adorable. John, Erika, and Zoe are hoping to move to Nashville soon. They don't want to raise Zoe in the city, and want to be equidistant from their families, so they've decided Nashville is a good spot. Their condo is on the market, and I'm really hoping that they sell it so they can get down there and be our neighbors!

After dinner we said goodbye to the baby and the Rohrichs and met up with the girls. My old roommate Mark came out for awhile. Again, felt like old times. :) I thought I called it an early night since we had the game to go to the following morning, but in typical Chicago fashion, we didn't get home til about 3:30. Where does the time go when you're out??

In the words of Elvis, on Sunday we woke up to a "cold and grey Chicago morning". Perfect football weather! Well, in my opinion, it could have been about 20 degrees warmer, but good football weather, nonetheless. We layered up and hopped in a cab with John and Erika to get to Soldier field. Will had won 4 tickets in an auction, and decided to give the other pair to the new parents. We figured they could use the break and might enjoy being "single" again. Erika did surprisingly well considering this was the longest amount of time she had spent away from Zoe since she was born. The game was a ton of fun. Our seats were AWESOME. About 12 rows up on the North end zone. The Bears ended up losing but it was hard to be upset about it since that put the Titans at 9-0. And since the Titans are now my #2 team, I was happy regardless of the outcome. We froze at the game, though. At one point it was actually snowing. Brrrr.

I convinced Will to walk back to the hotel from Soldier Field as opposed to taking a cab. I really miss just walking around the city. It is a gorgeous town. We grabbed some hot chocolate and had a nice little stroll back along Michigan Avenue. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the hot tub and then gorging on Giordanos pizza. Another treat for us. Yummy.

Sorry for a long blog, but it was just so great being back in familiar territory. We both decided that we need to make an effort to get back more often. Over the weekend we agreed that if we could transport the city of Chicago to Denver's background of mountains, we would never leave.

I'll try to post pics as soon as my friends post theirs from the weekend. I really need to buy a new camera! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Man, it's amazing how bad I've been about blogging since we've moved!


Here's a brief recap of the past month:


Moved to Tennessee, underwent extensive cosmetic surgery (our rental apartment, not myself), flew out to Vegas to see Mr. Jimmy Buffett, continued the extensive cosmetic changes to our apartment, went home to see Ella and the family for Ella's 2nd birthday, returned to Tennessee and was able to finally(!) move into our place, saw the Titans reach 7-0, and then 8-0!


Buffett in Vegas was so much fun! First of all, Cari (Will's sister), Will, and I all needed a well-deserved break from working on our place. Cari has been so wonderful during all the renovations. She is an ER nurse and spent every day off helping us for about 12 hours/day. We seriously wouldn't be living here yet had she not helped us. Our trip to Vegas was for Cari's 40th birthday present. She and I are both huge Buffett fans, so we had a great time. I convinced everyone to sport coconut bras, grass skirts and funny hats for the party. Will and Curtis, Cari's boyfriend, were great sports (and secretly I think they truly enjoyed sporting the coconut bras). We went to the official Margaritaville Street Party before the concert and were treated like celebrities! We had a bunch of people come up and ask if they could take our picture. I was actually surprised that we were among some of the dressier people at the pre-party. I mean, it's Buffett! In Vegas!! Why wouldn't we dress up?! When else can you look absolutely ridiculous and get away with it? :)
The highlight of the day was definitely getting on "Buffett cam". For every show, they send out a camera crew to film the people out and about having a good time tailgating as it's such an important part of the Buffett concert-going experience. The camera man filmed Will, Cari, Curtis, and I in our get-ups, and we were SOOOO EXCITED!!! when we saw ourselves on the big screen during the concert! What a great present for Cari. She keeps saying that the concert was the greatest gift she's ever received. She has a great brother! :)


The following weekend I went to see Ella, and to check out Molly's new house. It's so weird that she is living in Aunt Mary's house. I really like how she's decorated it...though the kitchen needs some work. Ella is getting so big! She's quite the talker now. It's amazing how extensive her vocabulary is. She was cracking us up all weekend. She is very big on retelling the story of how her cousin Connor got put into a time out for throwing away the chicken nugget. She told that story over and over again. Not sure why that particular event is sticking with her, but it was so funny listening to her! I love watching her grow up. It really just makes me melt when she says my name- so cute! I bought her the cutest little Daisy Duck costume that she wore trick-or-treating last weekend- though I hear that she wasn't a fan of wearing the head part of the costume. Not that I blame her- it looked a little small!







And as always, it's great to get to see Kelly and to go out with the siblings. We had a lot of fun Saturday night...and judging by how I felt Sunday morning, probably a little too much fun!



We have been lucky enough to get to go to several Titans games since we've been down here. Will's dad has awesome suite tickets in the McDonalds box so we have great seats every time. The box is right next to the visiting team's owner box, so it's been fun watching their faces as the Titans win. Having access to those seats is a great bonus! And though I am a Bears fan through and through, I have enjoyed watching the Titans. How awesome that they're 8-0!

So that's what I've been up to since we've moved. It is really nice to finally be done working on the apartment and actually be living in it. Work has been an adjustment. I'm not sure how I like working from home, but it's getting easier to stay focused now that Will is working again.

Hope everyone voted yesterday! Regardless of who you were rooting for, it's pretty evident that history has been made.

Progress!

Just wanted to share a quick "before" and "after" shot of the apartment. I took these on my cell phone, so it's not the best quality, but it does show a huge difference in the place! We laid the floor in the bedroom and the den, so we are down to finishing touches in 3 rooms. Our last big project is the bathroom- that's going to take some work! We have to lay flooring down in the kitchen, too, but we're getting closer to being done! Hopefully we'll be moving in by Halloween weekend.

The living room "before"- note the awful maroon color on the walls, and the painted cement floor that is Christmas green.

And, the living room "after"- we kept the cement floor in here because of the occasional water that comes in when it rains hard, but we painted it brown, which helps it look less like cement, and more like a real floor.

Like I said, we still have a lot of work to do, but it is so nice to finally see real progress on the place! I'll post more pictures once we are completely done.

Dear Meaghan,



Didn't we just have one of these heart-to-hearts just last week? Another reminder for you- never, ever agree to move into an apartment that needs to be renovated before you can live in it! EVER!!

Love,
Yourself

Well, week 2 in Nashville and we are still staying at Will's dad place. Last week, we decided to rent the walkout basement apartment that is below Will's dad's office for a very cheap price. At the time, it seemed like a great decision. Cheap rent = saving lots of money and being able to buy a place once the economy turns around. We did not, however, plan on having to completely renovate the place before we could live there!

The apartment has real potential to be a cute place. But there is just soooo much work that has to be done. The previous tenants have not done much to take care of it- it smelled musty, was terribly dirty, and had at least a couple years' worth of "stuff" sitting around in closets. And the I took last week off so we could dedicate whole days to renovating. We have put in more than a few 12 hour days and finally we are starting to see some progress. We have ripped out carpet and linoleum, and painted EVERY surface of the apartment, most ceilings included. We've caulked, replaced baseboards, scrubbed the fridge, cleaned out drawers and closets. And the annoying part of the whole thing is that we don't even plan to live here long! It's a LOT of work to put into a place we plan to only live in for several months. Oh, and the main room was painted an awful, awful Maroon purple. Seriously? Who paints a room that way? Ugh.

It rained really hard all last night and this morning we walked in and found huge puddles of water in the main room and bathroom. Sigh. It never ends. The minute we get kind of excited about the place when we can see progress, we end up taking a couple steps back. We think the gutters were clogged so the water had nowhere else to go. I hope that is all it is!

OK, I'm going to keep this post short because I feel some bitching coming on and a blog is no place to bitch. That's what phones are for- to call my mom and bitch instead. :) Seriously, though, we are doing our best to be patient and make the best of the situation. Will and I take turns reminding each other (when one of us breaks out into a frustrated and exhausted tantrum) that financially this is a great decision, and we are really helping his dad increase the value of the property by doing this. Hopefully my next post will be a happy one from my cute, cozy new basement apartment!

Dear Meaghan,


Please promise yourself that you will never move again. At least not cross-country, and definitely not until you can afford to have someone move you.


When you start getting that "urge" to move to a new place, remember how sore you feel today after moving the entire contents of your 2 bedroom apartment to a UHaul the night before.

And please never forget how tired and exhausted you feel at this very minute.

Love,

Yourself

Well, today's the day! Last day in Denver. Will is finishing up with packing the UHaul and he will be taking off shortly. I am working my last day in the office and will be following behind him this afternoon.

My first cross-country driving trip alone! Should be interesting- the most I've driven alone is from St. Louis to Chicago. Wish me luck! The next time I blog I'll be a Southern girl!

Adios Denver, hellloooo Nashville!

Catching Up

Well, hello blog world! Long time, no write. I don't really know why I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Laziness, I guess! I will do my best to bring everyone up to speed with what's happening in my world these days.


First off, sad news. I lost my camera about a month ago. :( I'm very heartbroken about this- almost a month with no new pictures!! Boo! The good news, though, is that I didn't lose any pictures. I had just uploaded my photos to the computer before it disappeared. So all is not lost.

Shaughn and Nicole came to visit over Labor Day Weekend. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, but I hope they had a good time! We sampled some beer at the New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins, had lunch in Boulder, went out for tasty Mexican, and pre-partied with all the CU fans before the CU/CSU football game at Mile High Stadium.

Hurricane Ike hit Houston hard last weekend. My heart goes out to everyone there, but especially for my family. I'm happy to report that everyone is safe, although without power. Please keep them in your prayers. Also my Grandma Wingard. She has been in the hospital and is now in a nursing home. I am praying for her speedy recovery and return home soon!

My cousin Leslie had a baby boy this week! Little Drew is just precious...I can't wait to meet him. Congrats to Ben, Leslie, Gracie, and Luke on the newest addition to the Hedenberg clan!

Last night we drove up to Boulder to watch the CU/WVU game. It was a Blackout game so all the CU fans dressed in black- it was a pretty cool site to see so many people dressed in black. We sat in the rowdy student section and had a great time. It was such a good game! Went to overtime and CU won by a touchdown. GO CU!!

Aside from that not much has been happening. I am wasting a bit of time right now, getting ready to head to our going away BBQ at our friend Jenn's house. This is it- it's our last weekend in Denver! I can not believe that we are leaving! It's so bittersweet. I'm terribly sad to leave Denver, but yet really excited to move. A week from today we'll be on the road and headed to Nashvegas. Our apartment is in a total state of disarray. Will is adamant about packing something up every night, so I am now living out of a suitcase as the rest of my clothes are in boxes already. Good thing he's around! It doesn't matter how many times I move...I never feel like there's that much to do until the very last minute when it becomes overwhelming. Hopefully I won't have that feeling this time around! We decided to go with PODS instead of a U-Haul- a decision that I am extremely happy about. Yes, it will cost a bit more in the long run, but I love that I don't have to drive cross country alone. And I'm glad that Will won't be stuck driving the U-Haul.

We are heading up to hang out with our friends Paul and Erica at their new place in Steamboat tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to the drive through the mountains- it will be our last for a looonnnggg time. And the Aspen trees should be turning colors, so it should be more gorgeous than usual!

Well, off to BBQ and hopefully make it to Denver's Oktoberfest! Next week will be crazy with the move, but I will do my best to touch base again soon!

Girlfriends

I am sooo very happy to have met some great ladies through work- Kathi, Jenn, and Cherisse. Kathi is in her mid 50's and has been a God-send for me. She has some of the best advice to give and is always available to talk to whenever I need to vent, ask questions, or just ponder what my next steps in life should be. She is very inspirational in that she raised a son as a single mom and has had many hardships in her life, yet she has never given up. She has kept a sense of humor and a sense of hope through some pretty rough times. She is one of the most unique women I know, both in personality and in fashion. She keeps her hair short, she wears rings on EVERY finger, she has more sets of earrings than a Claire's store, and more shoes and hats than anyone I have ever met. She wears a different hat nearly everyday. She was very instrumental in helping me buy my car...and before that she would frequently give me a ride home from work because she knew how much I loathed taking the bus home. Kathi has a heart of gold and I am truly going to miss our talks when I move.

Jenn and Cherisse are both around my age, and the 3 of us have such a blast together. We have started spending more time together outside of work, and I've really been enjoying their company and getting to know them better. Jenn is a single mom to an adorable little girl, Ashlynne who is almost 5. Jenn just turned 24, but has already endured so much in her life. I really admire how driven she is. She has had some rough times since I have known her, but no matter how bad things seem to be, she is always smiling, and I really admire that. She and I can banter back and forth all day long. I am so happy she "gets" my sense of humor.

Cherisse just moved her from Southern California a couple months ago. She is such a firecracker! The epitomy of California girl- she loves being outside and on the beach and, of course, surfing! She is a fantastic recruiter, so it's been fun to watch and learn from her. She moved out here to be closer to her boyfriend and I admire the fact that she was OK with picking up and moving across the country for someone (sound familiar??). :) She is a total free spirit who shares my passion for travel- she spent 6 months living in Australia, and has traveled all over Europe. I love listening to her stories! They make me more determined to get out and travel more.

One of the things I have missed the most from Chicago is having girlfriends that I can laugh with. And both these girls make me laugh. Our personalities mesh so well- I love that the 3 of us have become completely comfortable around each other in such a relatively short amount of time. We had a girls' night out last night, complete with appetizers and wine at my place...then to the bars for some dancing. And dance we did! None of us have any shame on the dance floor. We were cracking each other up with our...moves. It was such a fun night!

It makes me sad that I finally found fun girls to spend time with here right before I leave for Nashville. But I am positive I will keep in touch with all 3 of them...and it gives me 3 more excuses to come back to Denver as often as I can!

Big day!

Friday was a momentous day in the world of Meaghan. To explain just how momentous it was, let me rewind the clock a bit. Those of you who knew me in high school may recall the awesome vehicles I drove. Just as a warning, this will probably be a long, involved blog. But the story is too good to not document.

When I first turned 16 my Grandparents surprised me by driving up to Decatur in their 1986 Ford Mustang convertible...and then leaving the car with me (well, the family, really, but I was the one of "driving" age without a car) to use. The Mustang looked much like this one- only blue.

My best friend Kelly and I had many, many fun times in that car. Those were the days of $0.98/gallon tanks of gas, which meant I could fill up for around $12. Kelly and I drove all over that summer- on our "Route", to Clinton to go out on the lake, to basketball stuff, etc...

Once we drove to Peoria to pick up Layta, our family's exchange student and got a flat tire on the side of the road, somewhere between Wapella and Bloomington. Did either of us know how to fix a flat tire? No, of course not. We were stranded on the side of the road. Fortunately Mom had given me her brand new cell phone to use in case of an emergency so we were able to call Mom and Dad and have them come help us. And what did we do while we waited for them? We donned some full-body mechanic suits that I had in my trunk (don't ask why...), hiked into a corn field to use the bathroom, stripped out of the mechanic suits, down to our sports bras, and laid out for an hour and a half while we waited for our help to arrive. If you can imagine, two 16 year old girls stripped down to their sports bras laying out on the side of Interstate 55 really drew a lot of attention from passersby. And not really good attention. We had to politely turned down several offers to "help" us. Parents- let your young daughters know that it isn't a great idea to follow in our footsteps. Girls, if you are reading this- learn how to change a tire...or at the very least, be smart enough to stay fully clothed when you are put in a predicament like we were in.

Believe it or not, that isn't the dumbest thing I did in the Mustang! The mother of all stupid moves came later that summer. I was working at LaGondola and was due into work around 4 PM. Kelly lived just a couple blocks from work, so I stopped by to say hello. We were blowing bubbles in her backyard (I know, how cool were we??) when we decided it would be fun to blow bubbles out the window of my car with the top down. So Kelly jumped in the driver's seat and we took off around her neighborhood. We were driving along, I was admiring all the pretty bubbles, while Kelly was complaining that she couldn't see the bubbles because they were all floating behind the car. So what did our genius, 16 year old minds decide was the perfect solution to this problem? Why, we would drive in reverse, of course! It seemed like such a perfect, easy solution to our dilemma. So Kelly kicked it into reverse and off we went. We were driving along, both enjoying the pretty bubbles, then...CRASHHHH! We hit a truck. A parked truck. On the side of a residential road. Genius, I tell you. The ironic part was that we were driving so slowly that there was absolutely zero damage done to the truck, and the Mustang only suffered from a cracked rear light. We contemplated running from the scene of the accident, but our guilty Catholic consciences wouldn't allow it. So we made the death walk- up the driveway, to the door of a stranger, to tell them we just ran into their parked car.

"How?" the truck owner asked. We proceded to tell her just a tiny white lie about turning around in her driveway (no bubbles were mentioned to protect the innocent...I mean, guilty) and not noticing her truck. She surveyed the scene, and observed that the damage was done to our car, not her truck. Then, she asked the question that Kelly and I still ask each other to this day- "Why on earth did you guys come up here and tell me? Why didn't you just leave?".

Needless to say, the incident didn't go over well with Mom and Dad. Shortly after the "Bubble" accident, I was stripped of my rights to use the Mustang and was instead allowed to use a beast of an automobile- our full size conversion van, also blue. It looked much like this.

Impressive, right? So I spent the rest of my high school years being the envy of soccer moms, while my Dad quickly became the envy of everyone at Wagners in his new ride. The carefree days of running the streets of Decatur were over. I now looked like I was eternally ready to pick up my 3.2 kids from swim practice and run to the grocery store for milk. It wasn't all bad though. When a big group of friends wanted to go to the movies, we didn't have to worry about taking several cars. All 15 of us could pile into my van, and off we went! The van will live in infamy amongst my highschool friends. We still talk about my "sweet" highschool ride to this day. In fact, the van will forever live in one of St Teresa's yearbook. In it there is a picture of my friend Nicki and I surfing on top of the van. Yes, surfing. Those were the days.

I went on to college in St. Louis, leaving the van behind me. None of my brothers or sister were ever allowed the...pleasure...of driving the van after me. I was the only Wingard child to have the pure joy of being seen around town driving a full size conversion van...I was probably the only 16 year old teenager in Decatur driving a full size conversion van.

Since then, I haven't had a car. Living in Chicago I didn't need one, but the past year in Denver has been difficult without one. Will has been gracious enough to let me use his car when I needed to get somewhere, but relying on someone for a ride all the time isn't fun. So Friday, I finally did it. I bought a car. It's a cute little 2004 Volkswagen Jetta, and I love it dearly. So dearly that I promise never to let bubbles within a 20 foot radius of it. And probably not Kelly, either. At least, not in the driver's seat. :)

Has anyone else caught Olympics Fever?? :) I'm normally not such a nut about watching sports on TV but there's just something about the Olympics that I love. Maybe it's watching all the different countries competing and the honor that goes along with winning a medal. Maybe it's the sappy commercials that make me teary-eyed no matter how many times I watch them (anyone seen the Visa commercial where the dad finishes the track race with his son? AH! Gets me every time!). Maybe it's the excitement of seeing if Michael Phelps can break the record for most Gold Medals ever won. But I think the main reason I love watching the Olympics is...because I don't have cable and NBC happens to be one of 2 stations that come in clear for us. :)

Just kidding! About the cable thing, at least. I really do love watching the Olympics. The Opening ceremony this year was just awesome! Chicago better be thinking already about how they can top Beijing's opener, should they get the bid for 2016. I would love to see Chicago or Madrid get the 2016 Summer Olympics. I love both those cities so much- it would be great to be able to return to either and watch the Olympics there. (I say I'd like either to win the bid, but I'm about 70% hoping that Chicago gets it.)

So in case anyone is wondering why I didn't blog about what an amazing, fun weekend Will and I had...it's because we were working hard at making permanent dents in our couch from our butts being glued there watching every hour of Olympic coverage that NBC has broadcasted thus far. And as such we barely left our apartment all weekend. We aren't even picky about the sports we watch- we have sat through multiple rounds of rowing, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, sabre fencing, beach volleyball, indoor volleyball, basketball, synchronized diving, and water polo. And we're only on the 4th day! The good news is that I am now an expert judge in multiple sports. So if anyone needs to know the intricate details of how to win a sabre fencing match, I'm your gal! :)

To quote my adorable niece...Uh Ohhhh.

I came home last night to an...interesting...surprise. There was a note on our door from City Gate, our apartment complex, checking in with us to see if we will be renewing our lease at the end of next month. That in itself isn't the problem. We know we won't be renewing our lease. The date that our lease ends, however, is a bit of a shock.

To explain this, let me rewind to last September. We were still in Chicago, planning our move out here. Steve, the assistant manager for City Gate, called to let me know we got the apartment we wanted and we discussed the lease length. At the time, Steve gave me two options to choose from- 11 months or 13 months. I asked him why 12 months wasn't an option and he went into some yadda, yadda, yadda details about how October 1 isn't a great time to try to rent an apartment out here.

So, long story short, we thought we had signed a 13 month lease with our lease ending on October 30th. Apparently, we have not. Another classic example of how fantastic the management has been at this particular apartment complex. And yes, I am being sarcastic. We haven't had the greatest experiences dealing with them. I got a copy of the lease last night, and sure enough, our move out date is listed as September 29th.

So, this puts a bit of a curve ball in our plans. My last day of work is scheduled for October 17. The plan was to leave that night for Vegas, see Jimmy Buffett out there, come back on Monday, pack up our stuff and hit the road by the weekend, arriving in Nashville in time for Will to go the the Titans Monday Night Football game with his dad. NOW, however, I'm not sure what we are going to do. Apparently move to Nashville a few weeks earlier than expected! I do have the option of staying with a work friend and then leave on the original planned date, but who knows at this point.

Ahh, life. Always keeps you on your toes! :)

Sweet Relief...

In honor of my dad, who loves to talk about the weather, I am dedicating this blog to the heat wave that Denver is currently enjoying. Finally, after 23 days of waiting, we are getting some relief from the heat! This is record-breaking weather we've been having out here. The temperature has been over 90 for 20+ days, and today it is actually supposed to drop...to the mid-to-high 80's. Whew! What a dip. Ugh, talk about a heat wave! I know I shouldn't complain since I don't have to deal with humidity anymore (for a couple more months, at least!), but man, it's been hot here! To be fair, we do have some humidity...this morning it's up to 72%. But it doesn't feel as though you are stepping outside into someone's steamy bathroom after they've taken a really long, hot shower.

Thank you, Lord, for creating semi-arid deserts that don't require humidity. I'm a big fan of the fact that my hair doesn't take on a life of its own and spiral into an out-of-control crazy, frizzy mess when I walk outside. I can deal with feeling like I am living in an oven, but I'm not sure I'm ready to return to the land of saunas. :)

So I thought I'd take a moment this morning to sympathize with all my fellow Midwest bloggers. I hear the weather there is just awful, too. Dad said the heat index was 109 the other day...that's quite close to what our temperature was the other day. Another friend likened the humidity in St. Louis to "chewing his air before he swallowed." Yikes. I hope everyone is staying cool and doing their best to beat the heat!

Camping, and Sand Dunes, and Taos...Oh my!

My bosses Carla and Echo took the company on a camping trip last weekend. We left early Thursday afternoon and headed up to the Cripple Creek KOA. Ironic to Will and I- we went there once in April and figured we'd never be back...and this was our 3rd time going there in the past 4 months!

Camping was great with the whole team! One of my coworkers Mark brought his bags game, so we played many, many rounds, complete with calistenics for the losing team. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) I was often on the losing team so I did a fair number of leg-lifts and push-ups. We did some team building exercises, too. Those were equally competitive. We had to show our best dance moves, and prove our ability to shotgun a beer- I won that competition, hands down. :) Other than that we spent most of our time eating, drinking, and chopping wood to keep our campfire going at night. We all got to stay in cabins, so it wasn't truly camping, but we had a good time.

Saturday morning Will and I packed up early to get on the road to the Sand Dunes National Park. We bought a National Parks pass last fall and want to hit as many national parks as we can while the pass is good. We were just a few hours from the Sand Dunes from Cripple Creek. The drive is really, really pretty, but barren! We (well, I) was worried about running out of gas on the side of the road- even gas stations were few and far between. We did find a gas station...and paid the most that I have ever paid for a gallon of gas- $4.09. Gulp...will the prices ever go down?!

We got to the park around lunchtime, picked out our campsite, ate some lunch and took a hike up to a lookout point for a really cool view of the dunes. Unfortunately that is about all we were able to do at the park. There were some dark clouds looming during our hike, and we got back to our campsite with just enough time to put our tent up before the sky opened up and it started dumping rain. We tried to wait it out under a tree, then eventually moved to the visitors center. It looked like the worst was over, so we went back to our campsite, but the rain picked up again as soon as we got there. So we did what every rainy camping trip calls for- we sat in the car with a beer and worked out 5 crossword puzzles. Around 6:30 the rain still hadn't let up, so we decided to give up and leave the campsite. Camping in the rain with no fire is just not fun.

We were headed toward Canon City, where the Royal Gorge Bridge is (a place Will insists we go before we leave for Nashville- I'm not sure how I feel about walking across a 1200 ft. tall bridge) when I looked at a map and realized how close we were to New Mexico. I had never been to New Mexico, so on a whim we turned south and went to Taos! We rolled in around 9:30 and quickly realized that Taos was not exactly a happening place, particularly at night. And as our luck would have it, it was raining there, too! We just couldn't escape the rain!

We got a hotel room at the ever-so-nice Don Fernando Hotel after driving back and forth along the "downtown" street and not finding any place else. And instead of dining on tasty southwestern cuisine at a cute little restaurant we got Applebees to-go and watched a few episodes of "Myth Busters" before going to bed. Talk about a bust...Taos was definitely one on Saturday night!

Sunday we slept in and repacked our very wet tent in its bag. We left the sand dunes in such a haste we didn't bother to put the tent away properly. We were more concerned with keeping ourselves dry so packed up as quickly as possible. Then we drove through the downtown area again to get to the Taos Ski Valley. It looks much cuter during the day! We didn't realize that ll the buildings in Taos are built to look very southwestern-y.

The drive to Taos Ski Valley is really pretty! There is a national forest the whole way up and a really pretty river that runs right along the road. There was a bike race happening on the top of the mountain...but not much else. We spent awhile walking around and then decided to set off for home. Every ranch we passed I swore was Julia Roberts'. She owns a ranch just outside of Taos.

The ride home was really pretty, too. We drove right through the mountains and through a really cute little mountain town...too bad I forgot the name. All in all it was an unexpected trip, but I do love being spontaneous, so it was a lot of fun!

Mile High Music Fest

What an exhausting weekend! The first Annual Mile High Music fest happened- 24 hours of music over 2 days, and we attended both days, from start to finish. It was hot, loud, crowded, and tiring...and overall, awesome. :)

I loved that I got to see a lot of my favorite bands in such a short period of time! For being the first concert they have had like this in Denver, I thought everything went exceptionally well. There were plenty of porta potties (though they could have been more spread out across the park), there was a TON of space so you didn't have to be dripping sweat on your fellow concert goers, they had 2 tent stages set up so you could escape the sun and still listen to music, and there were several free water spots around the park. But Lord, was it hot!! Saturday the high was 97 and Sunday it actually hit 100 degrees! We were very responsible (unlike many, many people) and drank lots of water in lieu of beer so we could stay hydrated. That definitely helped us be able to hang until the bitter end on both days!

My only complaint about the event was the parking situation. It took over an hour to get out of the parking lot on Saturday! I don't think they were prepared for the number of cars that would be trying to leave at the same time. That was frustrating, especially since all you want to do at the end of a long day of sun and music is to climb into bed as quickly as possible! Sunday wasn't a whole lot better, but they did seem to move traffic more quickly, which was nice.

Over the course of the weekend we got to see Eric Hutchinson, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Bob Schneider, One Republic, The Roots, The Black Crowes, Tom Petty, OAR, John Mayer, The Flobots, Dave Matthews, Ingrid Michaelson, Colbie Caillat, Jason Mraz, and Gavin DeGraw, Tea Leaf Green, and a few others. Not a bad weekend of music!

Will was a trooper and put up with me dragging him from one stage to the next, and didn't complain when I danced and sang loudly to my favorite songs. :) We had a great time hanging out with Jenn (one of his college friends) and her boyfriend Brian. We have similar tastes in music so we were able to see a lot of shows together.

Date night!

Will is always full of surprises. He planned an impromptu date for me last night! After work we went for drinks at the Marriott downtown, and then to the Keg for dinner. Such a fun way to spend a random Tuesday night. Good food, great company, lots of laughs....and carrot cake "to go" for dessert tonight. :) I love this guy so much- he makes me a very happy camper.

Camping

We FINALLY got to go camping last weekend with a few friends! We drove up to the Nederland area and did some car camping along the Caribou trail. Car camping is much more my style than backpacking. I love being able to have a fire and lots of good food and a big cooler and music playing from a car. WAY better than throwing everything on your back and hiking a long way to a campsite with no fire to keep you warm.

I went 4-wheeling for the first time! We took 3 4WD vehicles and had a blast on the trails. It is amazing how the cars are able to traverse some of the terrain. The highlight was definitely going across a creek and through a bunch of mud to get to our campsite. :)

The weather was perfect camping weather...hot during the day, cold (really cold!) at night and not a cloud in the sky so we saw lots of stars. Unfortunately Will and I had a rough night's sleep thanks to our poor tent layout choice. We were leaning to the left so I ended up right against the side of the tent, with Will trying hard not to roll on me all night. We had a great time, though. Can't wait to get in some more trips before the summer's over.