And I am back

So the vacation has concluded. Thought I would share some pics from our time off, to see more you can go to my flickr account later tomorrow and I should have them loaded. I would have to say the top three things about my time off were:

1.) Hanging out with Brett that is usually a blast so I was not too surprised at that. It was great to laugh about inside jokes and just do our own thing. We had a great time laying out by the pool, eating some Okie Joes and even seeing Transformers (I loved it by the way)

2.) Winning third in my age group on the 5k race on Saturday. Pretty fun to run in 5k’s where there is not as much competition ;) I love the medal I got and I really want to wear it out and about but I thought I better cool it.

3.) Going to the farm and seeing it decked out for the 4th Party. I wish I would have taken more pics but I can tell you the meat that my Dad cooked was out of this world and it was great to catch up with old friends.

Now on to another week packed full of hanging out with friends and celebrating my 26th birthday. Tonight some good girl friends are taking a couple of us July Birthday girls to McCormick and Schmick’s for some dessert. MMMM, what shall I have??? J Something chocolate I am thinking.

T minus two hours and 5 minutes

Starting in 2hours and 5 minutes, I am one vacation baby!!!!!! Man, there is no better feeling then working like a horse on events for months and then taking a nice breather. Brett is also taking off work, we are like two little kids getting excited about late night slumber parties, fireworks, eating some good grub, hanging out by the pool and just being together. As some of you know, Independence Day is my second favorite holiday next to Easter so I am excited for this time off this week. We have all kinds of fun things lined up to do starting with a Royals game tonight, fireworks display in Shawnee Mission Park, some Okie Joes, time with friends, pool time and Sabetha!!!

We will be heading up to the farm on Friday for a family party and I am almost positive it is going to be one of the greatest celebrations around. I can’t wait to see how great that farmhouse is going to look with big flag bunting!!!

Brett and I are going to start the day by running the annual 5k in Sabetha, which is called the “ Firecracker Run”. It is my favorite 5k to do because it is a pretty easy course and all the people know you and they sit outside their homes to watch and say hi. My favorite part is that they serve sausage and pancakes after the race is over ;) Nothing like running for 30 minutes and washing that down with some grease and syrup ;) No thanks on that but I will be eating great later that night as my Dad will be cooking a lot of pork and all of his family are bringing food and they are wonderful cooks. I hope to be blogging about this on Monday.

Happy 4th of July to you all!!!

p.s. 7/11 is just around the corner ;) the big 2 6. Not sure yet if brett is going to take me to Culvers for the special day, maybe I should try something else ;) Any ideas ;)

oh please trash man

This is what the trash man gets to deal with today. Do you think he will take all of this? I hope so. I am pretty sure we are the talk of the block this morning with this much trash on our front lawn.

This past weekend we tore out all our old insulation because it was not put in correctly about 20 years ago. We were freezing in the winter and dying in the summer. Our good friends helped us take it out and put it in a total of 35 large trash bags. Then Brett and I blew 44 bags of insulation in our attic. I'd like to think we are saving lots of money by doing this but we will just have to see on next months bill.

It was a lot of work but it is done and hopefully when I go home for lunch today the trash bags will be gone and I can start to ease the memories of being in a hot attic full of dust and darkness from my mind. A little shout out to Jack and Mindy for helping us out, you guys are the best!!!

Smores

I have been wishing these last few weeks that I would have become a teacher. I don’t know if I could spend the whole day with kids (especially teenagers since I HATE them), do lesson plans, wear apple and school bus pins on my sweater vests, deal with kids that pee their pants and don’t blow their own noses but I do know that I could take the summers off in a second. Here is a shout out to all you teachers out there that are taking the summer off instead of working. Don’t even worry about the money (we all know teachers do not get paid near enough) just relax, soak up the sun and eat lots of Popsicles and smores!!!!

I love the summers. The cookouts, the pool, ice cream, Lighting bugs, green grass and trees, summer mornings on the porch, walks with the dog. I LOVE IT ALL. Lately I have loved my new fire pit that I got. I also have a chiminea that I got last year for my birthday but I found that it did not put off as much heat as I wanted to and it was not good for cooking smores which is the main purpose of having a fire ;) Brett built our first fire in the pit last weekend and we each had way to many smores!!! It was so good and so fun. I think this is on the agenda tonight around 8pm, if any of you would like to come over for smores, just stop on by, we will be outside!!!!

Motorcylce Daddy

Is it Tuesday already? I meant to blog about this on Saturday but was too busy having a great time and here we are on Tuesday at the end of the day. Saturday I started my day by seeing my father off on a cycle ride benefit. It was pretty fun to see my Dad in his entire motorcycle garb showing off his hot bike ;) My brother Abe painted this cycle so it is really special for my dad to ride it around and get compliments on it. I even think it is pretty cool and I am not really into the fire graphics on motorcycles, I am more into skeletons and naked women on motorcycles but that is just me. J

My Dad had four sisters and no brothers so it is amazing he is not more metro sexual ;) ** Side note: Dad, I will explain what metro sexual means some other time. It was fun to see Dad, Joe (dad’s neighbor who is really dad’s brother separated at birth) and my uncle Jim have fun just being Guys and trying to fit in with all these Motorcycle guys and girls (yikes, those girls are kinda scary, I really did fit in with my little dress and red shoes ;).

It was a great way to start my Saturday and I was so happy I got to see him off.

Walking the Hill

I can’t believe it has been four years since I have graduated from college, I still try to use my KUID to get discounts and sometimes I feel like I could walk on campus again and nobody would be able to tell that I was not a student. MMMM, pretty sure my “none hip” clothes would give me away. I guess I could always go get a minnie skirt, some burks, and tights and pull it off, what do you think?

Anyway, this Sunday my baby sister, Callie, is going to walk the hill. This will be the last of the Strahm girls that will walk the hill and I am so proud ;) I am sure my dad is too. Callie is the baby of five kids and it is hard to think about her getting a job and being on her own. It actually makes me a little sick to my stomach that she is all grown up. I have so many memories of her singing in the car with me, slumber parties, NYC trip and just hanging out on the farm. She is one of my best friends and I can’t love on her enough! Apparently other people can’t love her enough either. I am planning a celebration picnic for Sunday, there are going to be 55 people there!!! Holy crap, they are all coming from out of town too, I think it just goes to show that people love her as much as I do and they would drive two hours to congratulate her and hopefully give her some cash ;)

Just a few words before I start crying ;)
Callie, I love you so much and I am so proud of you for working hard and getting your degree. You really are such a blessing in my life and I can’t imagine life with out you. You have the greatest heart, you are always up for an adventure and I feel like I can really learn so much from you. I pray that you will find a great job, find a hottie husband and have one stinking good life!! You deserve it! Love you.

CONGRATS CALLIE!!!!!

Breakfast in Bed

Mother’s day is Sunday and all the gushy Hallmark Card and Jewelry store commercials are taking over TV right now. This morning as I was eating my bowl of oatmeal and three egg whites (I have this every single morning because Brett makes it for me, yummy!) I saw a commercial showing a father helping his kids make breakfast in bed for the mom for mother’s day.

I love breakfast food but I HATE the idea of eating in my bed first thing in the morning. Who in the world thought of breakfast in bed? I think it is the dumbest idea ever. Oh yes, I love waking up and before I have a chance to realize where I am, I am smothered by little kids and a big tray of food. No thanks! I told Brett that I never want breakfast in bed. I would prefer to be woken up gently and told that breakfast will be served in 1 hour so I have time to sleep a little bit more, get up maybe take a shower and build up an appetite. Then walking in the kitchen to see a spread of French toast with warm syrup, poached eggs, powerdered doughnuts, Sausage patties, fruit and OJ. That is right, I want it all and I want it on the table with a fresh batch of flowers (no red roses please).

It would be a nice touch to have the kitchen already cleaned up as well. That is the other bummer about breakfast in bed. Your family brings you the food in bed all pretty on a tray but then when you get up to come to the kitchen to get your coffee, you see the mess that your family has left for you. Again, no thanks. I would love to hear some pros to breakfast in bed because I could not think of one unless you like:
- Sleeping in your crumbs from the toast that was on the tray
- Trying to hold a tray on your bed when kids are in your bed watching you eat the food they helped Daddy make
- Maybe you are a starving manic the moment you wake up and you prefer to shovel food down 5 seconds after getting up
- Your bedroom to smell like sausage

I love the idea of Breakfast but not in bed, whoever thought of that: Stupid points.

Oh, I love this picture that I found, this mom looks thrilled ;)

Gearing up

Well, I am not sure what I have gotten myself into but I registered today to do the 3-day walk for breast cancer, which is walking 60 miles over a three-day weekend. The good thing is at least we get to walk and not run but I have a feeling we will be power walking it since the friend I am going with loves to beat everyone even when it is not a race, hee hee. Just kidding Kim. I have to say I am a little nervous about getting blisters and smelling lots of B.O. since we are camping the whole time and I am sure showers are optional since it is like a portable shower in semi’s. There are lots of things that I think will be challenging but it should be a great experience and it is for a wonderful cause. If any of you would like to join our team and fly to sunny San Diego with us in November feel free to sign up!

So many of you have already given money to support me and I can’t thank you enough. If you are interested in helping me raise the money I need to raise in order to do the 3-day walk, I would truly be grateful. Here is the link to my personal page where you can give. Thank you all so much and let the training begin!

http://www.the3day.org/sandiego07/vikkiewiese

Tada!!!

Ok so here is the moment you have all been waiting for, or maybe just a few of you ;)

My hairdresser said I will need to wash it a couple times to really get the color I am looking for but I think I am going to love it!!!

Oh what?

You missed me??? Really?? It has been 20 days since I last blogged. I planned it that way, thought you could all use a break from my blog ;)

April was a crazy month, I don't remember much of it since I had an event like every other day and I was consumed by work! Today, I thought I would just post a blog about nothing but this:

I'mmmmmmm Baaaackkkkkkk!!! ;)

Ok, I need some ideas of blog post because my life has been kinda boring as far as good stories. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know.



Oh, I will be blogging about this on Friday. I am dying my hair dark, no more blonde highlights for me. I am thinking this dark:



What do you think??? ;)

A weekend at the farm

Well, it is Thursday and I am just now blogging about my adventures on the farm this past week. Brett, Debo and I headed up to Sabetha, KS. The weekend consisted of lots of family, lots of food and lots of fun! I think some people think when I talk about the farm, they think it is this old farm house and in the middle of no where but really it is more like staying at a bed and breakfast ;) There is plenty of space and just 5 minutes away is some small town shopping.

Our house is over 100 years old but my Dad has done a lot of work on it so it is really a pretty house. He also had treats of every ones pillow just like you get at a hotel but it was not a little mint, it was Reese's Butter cup eggs (my favorite) and like a three pound dove Chocolate bunny!! We had real beef all weekend, I hardly ever eat red meat so it was great!!

I feel like every time I go back to the farm I try something I have never tried and this time it was driving a 4 wheeler which I thought I would hate. Turns out, it was a blast. Brett was a little more daring than I was. I don't need to go fast or take jumps to get a thrill although my Dad did take me on a few jumps and I ended up kinda loving it. You can check out more pics of Brett on my flickr account .

Anyway, Easter is over and that is a little sad but my next favorite holiday is right around the corner, July 4th!!!!

Peace out!

Almost the last

Of things you still might not know about me:


I have (accidentally) injected myself with a pig needle (syringe used to vaccinate my dad's hogs) right in the ars. I have also sat down on a knife and I have the scar to prove it, any takers??

Until my freshman year of college i thought laptop computers were called "labtop's" (since they're used in labs)

I get a sick enjoyment out of seeing a car crash

I would not/do not swerve for cats in the road (sorry to my cat loving friends, oh wait, I don't have any, hee hee)

I have my hunter's safety license but can't shoot a target if it were right in front of me.

didn't like purple until now

Lately doing dishing has been a bit more enjoyable. Spring is here and I am loving it. I had to take a picture of the pretty bush outside my kitchen window. I have never loved purple so much. (I still don't like wildcat purple, sorry friends) As I was doing dishes I looked out and saw this:

As I was admiring this bush I took another picture with my hot lawn boy in it, Man he is cute!!! Where did that fine thing come from??? Wait a minute, that is Brett!!!!! Sweet, my life ROCKS!!!! ;)

Could there be any more you know know????

About me:

I have seen three tornado’s in my lifetime.

I was my high school mascot for one football season, the bluejay.

I was home schooled for less than a month.

I broke my leg in the first grade and didn’t have enough balance to use crutches so I had to use a walker for 6 weeks. I still don’t have that great of balance.

I want to learn to dance like a machine! You know, like pre crazy Britney, yes, I want to be able to dance like that.

Lazy? No time? ROELAND P!

So, you might all look at this picture and think I got it online somewhere after goggling “White trash” Nope, I took this picture from my front door, that is right. Johnson County is way over rated!! (I will save that topic for another blog) I have seen more than a couple houses that still have their Christmas lights up.

Jan 21st: maybe I can understand. Feb 21st: You are really pushing it but I still don’t think you are lazy; maybe you just don’t have time?? Marcy 21st: You are stinking lazy!!! Get out there and take your Christmas decorations down!! If you want to leave the trees up, fine, but at least hang some sparkly Easter eggs on it or something.

I have often thought about going in the middle of the night and pulling some of the lights out but I just can get the guts to do it. Any volunteers??? I might even pay you or make you a yummy dessert!

Anyway, I have noticed that my blog is mostly venting about things I can’t stand, sorry about that. I am not really that negative of a person but I guess when something irritates me, it really irritates me. I would hope that most people would be irritated to see Christmas lights up every stinking day and night in March. Maybe if I was a bigger fan of Christmas time I would like it but I am an Easter girl myself. Bring out the bunnies and pastels!!! I love it.

In conclusion:

Dear Person that is to lazy to take your Christmas lights down,

I love the little baby Jesus as much as the next person but it is time to move on and think about him rising again from the tomb instead of him being born. Please take down your Christmas decorations, I will even come over and help you out if you want.

Happy Easter,
Vikkie

More about little ole me

What else didn't you know??

I have perfect vision but my hearing is not all that great

Easter is my favorite holiday, I like it more than Christmas and thanksgiving combine.

I am a certified nurses aid and use to work in a nursing home

I sleep with matches by my bedside in fear of the deadly gas sleeping next to me (oh, oops, was that something you didn’t know about Brett, that is not what this post is about) hee hee!

I am pretty good at running a chain saw but at the same time I can paint my nails like the best of them.

If I could pick one food to eat all week it would be: POTATOES!!!! I LOVE EM!!!!

I have had my whole arm up to my elbow in a pig's va- j- j.

Extreme Trash pick up Edition

This weekend was a good one. Spending some good time with my boy and his family, watching the hawks win, doing some spring cleaning giving some good snuggles to Debo and even seeing and movie with my girls.
After the movie Saturday night my friend Andrea ( a go getter, if you will) thought it would be fun to go help out at the Extreme Makeover Home Edition site in the north land and see if we could help out. She is a huge fan of the show and I also like it so I thought it might be fun to do. The catch is that we decided to do it at 12am on Saturday in hopes that we would get to go inside the house and check it out. I guess there are tons of volunteers during the day and not so many at night when they have last minute things to do. We arrived at the site and signed in to be a volunteer around 12 midnight and went to the sight which was pretty cool. As an event planner, it blew my mind out much planning goes into doing this show. I might be sending my resume to LA this week ;) Anyway, pretty cool to see how this show works.

So on to our glamorous volunteer duty, at first we sat down for a little bit, actually more like an hour, with some kinda creepy security guys to wait for a job assignment. We chilled with these guys for a while and got the dirt on how this show works. One of the best parts is when a security guycam in a grabbed a full box of Twinkies that he planned on eating (that is right, all 10 of them). It pretty much confirmed that I think all security guys are kinda fat slobs that got beat up in high school. They become a security officers because it gives them a chance to boss people around and they sometimes get to wear a gun which makes them feel like they can kill anyone. SIDE NOTE: yesterday, I saw a security guy at the Price chopper that could not catch me if he tried, I could have walked faster than he could run for sure!!! I love all people, big and small, but he was a big fella and maybe could have refused a few twinkies.

Anyway, around 1am we started our job, we moved some boxes of food into a tent for the crew to eat the next day and then came the trash duty. That is right, we picked up bags of trash in the three block area of the house to keep things cleaned up. We even had to go into those nasty bathrooms that are in public trailers and dump the trash!! I think I was good until I went to throw a big bag of trash in the huge trash bin and I got what smelled like Meatloaf juice all over me, YUCK!!!! It was pretty gross and we did that for almost two hours. We got our free t-shirt for volunteering but ended up not getting a tour of the house. We could see the inside of it from where we were (pretty much in the driveway of the house) and it looked pretty cool. Not a big fan of the colors on the outside of the house but it is not my house ;)

Anyway, it was fun to do with a friend and if you know me at all you know I will try just about anything just to say that I did it. So here it is " I volunteered on the set of Extreme Makeover Home Edition"!!!!!

Here is the link if you want to read more about the family:

http://kansascity.about.com/b/a/256915.htm

Peace out and Ty, can't wait to see you on May 13th on my TV where I helped dump the trash!!!

Great Idea, I'll take it !!!

So my friend John McClain posted on his blog “things you don’t know about me” and it has been dinner conversation around our house. Brett thought maybe I should steal the idea because he thought there were lots of things that people didn’t know about me. I have to say I didn’t really agree at first, I always say I am a pretty normal and average Joe. But then he started listing off things that he thought others would not know about me so I decided to take Brett’s advise and make John’s idea my own ;)

Things you didn’t know about me:

I like it HOT, by this I mean I love to be hot (not just warm) in the winter to the point where I wear sweats to bed and have a heat blanket on high all night. I have to have all hot drinks and soups piping hot in order to enjoy it. My rule of thumb when seeing if it is hot enough is bringing it to a medium boil just before serving it.

I hate teenagers, they are gross, they stink, they don’t clean themselves property, they lack social skills, they are all followers and fall into pier pressure, they are snotty, they dress bad, they think their life is so rough when they don’t know that half of it. I hate them.

I don’t enjoy reading, it is relaxing, and by that I mean I fall asleep within seconds of picking up a book.

I don’t care to talk on the phone for more than 10 minutes after I get off work. Something about being on the phone all day and then having to get on it again to shoot the breeze, I would rather meet you for coffee or dinner if you want to shoot the breeze.

I hate Oprah (who doesn’t really)

I can’t stand people that have speech impediments, it is just lazy not to work on that and fix it. I have zero sympathy.

I love all food but if you make me eat any form of sweet potatoes, I am likely to hurl all over the dinner table.



More to come, didn’t want to give them all away in one blog ;)

Date Night

Oh, date night. I remember in high school going to get pizza and then bowling on a date with my high school boyfriend. Or we would go to the neighboring town to “drag main”. Going to the movies where we paid like $4.00 or something and seeing everyone you knew (small towns). Or the best was going to my boyfriends house to watch a movie with his parents (fun times ;) NOT!! (Remember when that word was cool?)

Then in college I started dating a different guy, he was a site to see from the beginning. We were great friends for a couple months until I found myself falling in love with him. He finally asked me on a date. Oh, date night!!! What are dates like in college I wondered?? They were usually a movie or out to a fun restaurant. Maybe we would take a trip to Kansas City and go the plaza for some good food and shopping. We would go to Gallyans and climb the rock wall, go play some Frisbee and out to the lake for a picnic with KFC. Or we would just stay in the dorm for some pizza and some reality TV. I went on a lot of fun dates in college with my cute boyfriend, now my husband ;) I will never forget the feeling of getting ready for date with Brett and the anticipation of him walking up 4 flights of stairs in the dorm to come pick me up ;) Or when we lived across town from each other and seeing him pull in the driveway in his vintage Saab. Oh, I kind of get butterflies in my stomach just writing about it.

I am a firm believer in date nights. Brett and I don’t really call them date nights anymore, we just go and do what we please whenever we feel like it. Well, Friday during the day, I got the urge to go on a “Date Night”, just the two of us. I really wanted sushi but I knew Brett would not be in the mood for that. So, I let him plan the date night. He didn’t really do too much planning as it panned out but it was a blast nonetheless. We ended up going to M&S Grille. I sat down and realized that it was a little pricey and I was not sure we wanted to spend this much on dinner. I just started to tell Brett that I didn’t know it was so pricey when he said, “Vikk, it is ok, you get what you want. We have money to go on a date; we don’t have kids or tons of stuff to pay off. It is ok, we can have a nice date night”. I got those butterflies again like I use to when we first started dating. We ate a wonderful meal in one of the best spots in the restaurant. Everything was so tasty and we had the best conversation and just enjoyed being with each other. We headed home and Brett thought we should look through some photo albums for fun. He pulled out the album that I kept of all our college days together. It was the best!!! Snuggled on the couch, looking and laughing at pictures. Thinking of stories that I had already forgotten about or remembering stupid inside jokes. I love date nights!!

Thank you Brett for being the best date a girl could ask for.

Snow days

My dad sent me an email today that inspired me to blog. My father lives in small town out in the country at a nice little town called Sabetha. He was emailing me about what he has been up to and it made me realize how snow is such a pain in his neck being out on a farm and how here in the city it is like a dream come true. In KC all the schools close, you have a good excuse not to go into work, you wake up and everything is covered in snow and minutes later a snowplow comes to clean your streets. We have a neighbor who loves to clean off everyone’s driveway and sideways with his snow blower so we don’t think it is too bad. Brett and I both love the snow. Debo also loves it as you can tell. Not to much for us to worry about when it snows.

On the flip side, I got this email from my dad this morning, a bit of a different perspective:

“We ended up with 6 inches of snow, then it really started blowing about midnight on Monday. I had just gone to bed, and was almost a sleep when bang and a flash that lit up my whole bedroom. What they hay!!! I jumped out of bed and notice that the flagpole light was still on, so didn’t know what was going on when again "bang" and what looked to be a roman candle shooting across the barnyard. All power went out. It was no longer what the hay, but what the hell!!! I got up and went outside to make sure there was not hot wires dancing across the feedlot. I could find nothing wrong, so went into town to report it at the dispatch office. Would you believe Joe already had called it in. (He is the greatest neighbor) So I came back home and cleared the roads so the city truck could make it out here, for I barely made it back home. So spent most of the night up. Apparently, the lines blew together over my feedlot, and then it blew a line knockout fuse over at Rod’s corner. Today it is blowing hard from the south, so the roads are closing up again. I hate snow when it blows.”


What the crap, I am such a snot here in KC to think about how glorious the snow is and my poor father is up all night because of the wind and he has to use a tractor to clear his path. Anyway, I kinda get in my own world and think I it so exciting to have lots of snow until I get emails like this, then I just feel bad.

Love you Dad, spring will be here soon.

keep it casual

Some of you may know that I am not a huge fan of Valentines Day. I am not sure which part I don’t like: The big cheap teddy bears that have writing on them saying “Be Mine”, the dozens of red roses that have more baby’s breath than roses (I hate babies breath), the packed restaurants, the Little Debbie desserts that are covered in nasty sprinkles or just the hearts everywhere. Now, I do have valentines and I love him dearly but he also knows that if he gives me a dozen roses (or carnations) with baby’s breath, I will throw them directly in the trash. Yes, some of you may think that is harsh but I hate them. I do love roses when they are all different colors and they are bunched together with other big bright flowers, not like this:

I hate getting the same arrangement that thousands of other girls are getting; I want something different and bright. I almost think arrangements like this are depressing, I guess Brett can use this at my funeral if he wants. I don’t think I will mind at that point.

Moving on past the flowers, I have to tell you what I am so excited about tonight. For our date night Brett is taking me to Culvers, that is right, HOME OF THE BUTTERBURGERS!!!! I love this place; I love the burgers, the fries and the custard. I love that is will not be packed tonight and it takes less than 10 minutes to get our food. We will not have to wait in line or make reservations or spend an arm and a leg to go there. I am not sure my date is as thrilled as I am except maybe excited because it will be easy on the check book but he loves me so he is taking me there ;) When Brett and I were dating we use to go to really nice restaurants but it was so stressful on me to get ready, wear the perfect shirt, get to the restaurant on time only to wait because they forgot to write your reservation down. NO THANKS!! I just want to be with my valentine and be causal. Every once in a while I like a nice dinner but I would prefer it be on a weeknight when it is bad weather and everyone else is staying at home. One year Brett took me to Chipotle for Valentines Day and we had the best date. Since then we have made it a tradition to go causal for Feb.14^th. Try it out ladies; it is way more fun and you don’t spend all night in a restaurant with hundreds of other people. I get to be done with dinner and snuggling while we watch the KU game with my groom by 7:30pm baby!!!! Nothing better than snuggling while it is chilly outside.

Oh, be sure to get some Reeses buttercup hearts today!!! Not to worry, Easter egg Reeses are already in stores. That might be the only thing I love about this holiday, the Reese’s hearts and the fact that Easter it the next big holiday. Easter is my all time favorite!!!!! Can’t wait to break out the Easter egg tree and all my cute bunnies!!!!

Star Struck

I am sure we all have seen famous people at one time or another. I have to say it is one of my favorite things about going to NYC or LA, just to maybe have a glimpse of someone famous. I have been able to see some famous people and even have pictures taken with them, including: Dirk Nowitzki's(plays for the Dallas Mavericks), Carolyn Kepcher (from the Apprentice), Toby Maguire (As he was making Spiderman 3 in NYC) as well as some KU basketball players and coaches.

Anyway, I love it and last night I was invited to go to a Special Screening of "The Astronaut Farmer" by my girl Andrea . Billy Bob Thorton and Virginia Madson were also there to welcome us and give a few comments on the film before it started. It was pretty cool and thought it would make for a good blog.

Oh, Dad, thanks again for this camera, this last photo was taken from the very back row of the theatre, nice zoom!!

Event time

As most of you know, I do event planning for a career. Some may say it is the dream job and though there are some fun times and great food, it is a lot of hard work and a lot of stress. Most of you may remember my story about having to pick up a dead bird. I have had several instances where an event throws me a curve ball and I have to figure out how I am going to fix it with in minutes. It would take me forever to list off all the problems that I have had to deal with in the past, starting with a blind homeless guy getting lost and wondering into my event full of huge donors or random med students that walk through an event and pretend they are a guest. Like I wouldn’t notice that, they have backpacks on and they are shoveling brie cheese and beef tenderloin in their pockets ;)
Yesterday I had an event and it was pretty crazy all day with rentals showing up, liquor being delivered, valet services, security on site, podium and mic set up and my caterer and florals. I have to say this event had some stinking good food and it was really pretty. My pictures don’t even do it justice but I had to share.

For girls only

Ok, before all you boys read this blog post, you may want to just go ahead and keep on surfing. Just giving you a heads up. Although I think most of you women out and husbands will appreciate this as well I will predict.

Ok, so no surprise, once a month a women gets her cycle (ok, boys stop snickering like you did in the 8th grade when you heard all of this for the first time). Anyway, it is not a huge deal now because I have done it once a month for over 10 years. Yet something new this month really pushed me over the edge and I have to share. Again, boys you may want to stop reading now.

I went to go grab a feminine pad (I like to call it that) and unwrapped it only to find the sticker on the pad that you tear off that read, “Have a happy period”. “Oh, yes” I said out loud in the bathroom, “I will have a lovely period”. After all, it is my favorite time of the month, I love a time to reflect and think about how I love being a women and how we are so special to get a cycle once a month. I mean the commercials for tampons really say it all. Yes, I love to get in a bathing suit and dance around in my pink leggings and then out shopping with the girls. Everything is pink and lots of clouds are used in those commercials for some reason. Are you kidding me??? “Have a happy period”??? Who was the ad wizard on that Advertising team that thought to put that? Did they really think that was going to cheer me up right after I had a two hour headache, cramps all day and a huge fight with the person I love the most for no reason what so ever??? If I was on that ad team I may have written this on that sticker:

“Have a candy bar, you will feel better”
“$1 off French fries coupon, use now”
“Massage for hour coupon”
“Yes this sucks”
“ It is ok to smoke pot when you feel this bad” (totally kidding, never smoke pot kids, it makes your brain shrink and it will destroy your life)

Again, just to conclude, I do know that a women’s cycle is perfectly normal and women have been doing it for years. Yet, really there is no need to come up with cute packaging and nice sayings on the packaging. Rather than making me feel like it is all wonderful, it makes me want to throw the whole box of your products into the trash. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing that brand of feminine products again.

Oh, I went to check out the website of this product and this is what they had to say about that product and see if it said “Have a happy period” anywhere on this web page, sure enough:

My favorite part of this webpage is when they say this:”This is the time of the month that's all about you. So be your own best friend. Make it your mantra to indulge yourself and celebrate being a girl” Don’t event get me started on this comment, hee hee.

Peace out sisters and stick in there!!!

sweet boy on my mind

sorry Brett, I am thinking about Debo our sweet beagle.

So, I know I have turned into a little bit of a wierd dog person but Debo my dog is just such a good dog and he is so stinking cute that I have to blog about him from time to time. Lately he has been super good about going into his crate when asked and giving me lots of attention.

Most of you that know me know that I am a super extrovert, meaning that I get my energy from people and Brett is an introvert which means people exhaust him and he needs a little alone time to recharge. I didn't see this being a problem after we got married until Brett would go into the cold basement to surf on the Internet or pay bills. What was I to do all by myself for a solid hour at a time?? Debo has been the best companion. He always loves attention and he loves to love on me. He is the best snuggler on a cold winter day and I love Sunday naps with him. He is not a very smart dog and he doesn't really do any tricks but I still love him more than I ever thought I could love a dog. Anyway, no big story, just wanted to give a shout out to my cute beagle (since he reads my blog and all)

Love you Debo!!!

a Pro

So most people that know me know that I am kinda a pro at walking on ice. Whether I am in heels, snow boots or sneakers, I seem to always keep my balance. I am not sure I have ever fallen on ice since I was in elementary school because I just had the balance and coordination to be such a pro. Two days ago I came home for lunch and my husband was telling me about a girl at work that wiped out in the parking lot three times and had to go home to change her clothes because she was such a mess. I laughed my head off and then said “How do you fall on the ice that easy, seriously, just get your balance and walk, it is no big deal”!! I am usually pretty sensitive in general but this is just one thing that I can’t be sensitive about for some reason. When I see people slip when they are walking, I have to hold it as tight as I can to not bust a gut, I just think it is ridiculous and really funny. Last night my girlfriend was telling me how her co-worker slipped and broke her leg, Ha!! Are you kidding me, what the crap, can’t people just be more careful and think a little before they start walking on ice, I mean it is really not that hard!!

I said goodbye to my friend last night, opened the door to go outside and Whhhhhoaaaaaaa!!!! I BIT IT HARD!!!! Can you believe that? I hit my knee really hard on the hard cement and scratched up my elbow a little. I also fell partly on my butt which is always a safety feature when you have a ghetto bootie as I do. I started laughing so hard I could not contain myself. I was one of them, one of those idiots that can’t walk on ice and makes a total fool out of themselves. Fortunate for me, I was with two good girlfriends that could laugh it off with me and I was not with a group of people from work or something.

To all people that suck at walking on ice,

I am sorry for judging you all like that. I know you are good people and you may even be coordinated, sorry for thinking that you guys just didn’t have any sense of balance and athleticism. Next time I see you slip and almost bite it, I will try to not laugh (no promises). If I see you bite it, I will run to you aid and help you up without laughing (no promises). If you are nervous about walking on the ice and you need a hand, I will be there by your side and not even think you are ridiculous (again, no promises).

Wicked was Wicked awesome!

I could just have a short blog today because the conclusion to my thoughts on Wicked the Musical is:

IT WAS FLIPPING AWESOME, BEST SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN, HANDS DOWN BETTER THAN I EVER THOUGHT IT COULD BE!!!!!

Yes, the bold means I am shouting, it was so good and you all have to see this show if you ever have the opportunity. The set was amazing, the costumes were creative and beautiful, the music was wonderful and the story was unique and funny.

I LOVED IT!!!!

I love it when a show like that can be so good that it puts me in tears because I am just so entertained and I am so into the story. That is my gage on if it was a good one, three tears at least. I have seen Mama Mia and Hairspray here in KC and it didn’t really do much for me but Aida, Cats and Chicago have been ones that I have LOVED!! Even shows in KC are ok but if you have a chance to see them in a big city, even more fun.

Earlier that day we hit IKEA and shopped for 5 hours, can you believe that!!! I got all kinds of stuff for just $150, good deal!!! I love IKEA and I wish instead of Nebraska Furniture Mart we could have gotten an IKEA. I will save how much I dislike NFM for another blog.

Day two in Chicago was by far my favorite: IKEA + Yummy Thai food + Wicked + Two great girls = PREMIUM!!

What a start

So this week I am going to blog about my trip to Chicago. I title my blog what a start because this trip started off on the best foot ever!! As most of you know, the weather got bad last Friday and we had a 7pm flight out of town and we were a little concerned it was going to be delayed and we were not going to get out of KC for hours. So, my girl Katy suggested that we find an earlier flight, I didn’t really think that would be possible but I called Southwest and two minutes later, we were booked to leave at 4:30pm. We get to the airport and we are in line to board the plane and an announcement comes over the intercom “We have over booked the 4:30 pm flight and we are looking for 5 passengers to go on the 5pm flight for a $100 voucher plus the cost of your ticket” We all looked at each other and in seconds decided we were all a go on that. So I ran over to the check in and told them I had three passengers in my party and we wanted to go on the 5pm flight.

They started with the paper work and all three of us were already planning our next girl’s trip!! Just after we got all the paperwork done a Southwest employee came over and said they miscounted and they needed three people to go back on the 4:30pm, we wanted our vouchers we didn’t really want to go but the women behind the counter said “you will still get the vouchers and you can board right now for the 4:30pm flight”. We all just started laughing like a bunch of giddy school girls. It was so funny, we just got $160 bucks in vouchers for 10 minutes of waiting in a line, sweetest $160 I have ever made ;) So we all ran back to the gate to board out plane, it was stinking funny and we laughed all way to Chicago as we thought of places we should go. We decided at that minute that this could very well be the best trip already. What better way to start out a vacation than to do absolutely nothing and get another round trip flight!!!!

Dear Southwest,
I love you and I will always come to you first when I need a flight out of KC, thanks for giving me free money when I didn't do a dang thing!


This was only the beginning of how great this trip was, more to come ;)

Every 6 months

So I was brushing my teeth this morning and getting really close to the mirror to check it all out. Far away, I think my teeth look pretty good but up-close, man!!! So, I could see a little build up that I have missed by brushing and thinking to myself “great, how did I miss that, now next week when I go for my every 6 month check up to the dentist they are going to say something about it”. I can just hear the dental hygienist “Now, Vikkie, I see a little build up back here, and oh I see some over here. Are you flossing? Do you brush twice a day? Are you brushing like this or that”. I suddenly became furious as I was thinking about it and that is when I came to this conclusion:

If I did a great job of cleaning my teeth, what would the dentist have to do? I do an ok job at taking care of my teeth but if I fall asleep on the couch as I watch TV and Brett wakes me up to go to bed, I am not going to run to the bathroom to brush and floss for 3 minutes, I am go to bed!!! Are you kidding me?? I mean, I can go to bed because I have a dentist that I see every 6 months to clean my teeth in a serious way. Even when I work really hard at keep these boys clean, they are never going to be good enough for miss little, I get my teeth cleaned everyday because I work for a dentist and that is my job!!! Come on, they have machines that are plugged into the wall with three prongs on them (vacuum cleaners and large kitchen appliances have three prongs plug ins) !! That is a lot of power they are using and they expect my teeth to be as clean with a little toothbrush and Crest?

Conclusion: I go to the dentist every 6 months to have my pearly whites cleaned; it is not like I wait 2-5 years or until I notice that I have a huge black hole in my tooth? They get it clean; they take care of it, which is what I pay them to do. So, if I blog next Wednesday after my dentist appt. and I don’t sound very happy it is because I got reprimanded by someone that I pay!
I have no clue why I just got all worked up about this but that is what is on my mind today.

Hump day and something to look forward to

So I promised to tell you about why I am so excited about this coming weekend. Me and two other great girlfriends are headed to the windy city for a long weekend. Instead of blowing all my Christmas money at Target like I do every year, I am using it to go see a musical that I have wanted to see for about 8 months now. It was playing in New York City last time I went and I wanted to see it but the tickets were not available for a good price. The Musical is called “Wicked” and the music is out of this world! (I have been listening to the soundtrack none stop) It is based on a book and it is pretty much the life story of the wicked witch of the west and the good witch, Glinda.

We leave Friday just after work and come back on Monday (Thank you Martin Luther King for the day off work) We plan to eat some good pizza, shop at IKEA until we are blue in the face, hit some great little local stores and go see the show. I am mostly just looking forward to being together and laughing with two wonderful people.

Not to worry all, Brett is headed to Orlando for a business trip this weekend so this time he does not have to stay alone while I am out hitting the town with my girls. Many of you get on my case about taking off without my favorite guy but it just always works out. I either get a good hook up to go somewhere for super cheap and I have lots of vacation to use up. Although, Brett and I just booked tickets last night to head to Denver for a long weekend in March for a little skiing and visiting some great friends of ours.

What a Weekend

Ok, this is a long one, here we go:
Friday Night: Super hot stuff, went out to a celebration dinner for my girl Lynette. We headed to Tasso’s, a Greek restaurant with live music, hot Greek waiters, great food and the highlight for me, THE BELLY DANCER, Zaina Ali!!!! That is right, after dinner a belly dancer came out and did some hot moves that I knew I had to learn. I volunteered as soon as I got the chance, I was shaking it big time and I LOVED IT! I was shaking parts of my body that I didn’t know could shake. I was surprised at how hard it was as well as what a work out it was, my abs are still a little sore today. I got Zelda’s info and I think I might organize a little belly dancing lesson party, let me know if you are in.




























Saturday: This was maybe an even bigger highlight of my weekend. My good girlfriend Andrea’s Mom, Tammy, came over Saturday morning to give me, Andrea and Katy a little lesson in electrical work. Most of the outlets in my old house are still two prong and they are not grounded. Tammy showed us how to do put in new outlets and ground them. I have now done another outlet in my bathroom and I am feeling like a million bucks!! I now plan to change out all the outlets in the upstairs. It is great to know now I why an outlet might not be working or if it is grounded or not, good stuff to know as a homeowner.

The best part of the lesson was when we learned how to put in an overhead light. Brett and I had switched out a fan for a light in our family room about 6 months ago but it has never worked because the switch did not work. When Tammy explained what we needed to do, I got totally overwhelmed. I just told Tammy that I would call in an electrician for that since it seemed like a big job. She said “ it really is not that hard to do, we just get up in your attic, drop a wire down and make a new switch over here”. As my mouth was still open from shock because she made it sound so easy, Tammy was half way out of the door to head to Lowes to get the supplies that we needed. Two hours later, my light worked and had a dimmer on it. I was blown away but what a go-getter she was. She never gave up and explained everything as we went. I can’t say enough about how cool she was and how great it is for my light to be up and running. Now I am going to work on two other lights in my house and help Brett wire our new home stereo. So here is a little Shout out to Tammy, thanks so much for all your help, I can’t wait to take a lesson in something else now, maybe woodworking or plumbing!!

My weekend ended by going to the little guy that I use to baby-sit for in college. Fischer is not so little anymore; he is almost as tall as I am. He did win his game and it was so much fun to watch him. I went home, made some dinner, grabs my sweet beagle and watched my Sunday night shows, good weekend for sure. Can’t wait for next weekend, I will blog about that soon.

Favorite thing of the week

Just after Christmas I have lots of fun gifts that I have been enjoying, God really blessed me this year with some good stuff. I have been loving my new camera and the ipod that is filled with fun workout songs. Great new clothes and lots of kitchen utensils that I love. But I have to say that one thing that I have been loving this week that I got with my own money are these Old Navy Slippers/boots. I got them for $6.99 and I have been wearing them none stop. ;) My favorite, as you can see, are these boots with shorts!! Brett has given me a new nickname every time I walk in the room with them. “Hey boots, nice shorts,” he says. Anyway, I have now gotten to the point where I come home from work and slip into them as soon as possible. Right after I get out of the shower, I have them right by the shower so I can slip them on. I LOVE THEM!!! I might have to go back tonight and see if they still have some. I can think of a few of you that might like to have a pair, mmmmm who will be the lucky girl!! Sorry guys. Brett, you especially, I know how bad you want a pair of these to hack around in the house in, hee hee.

Besides the boots I have found some great deals, fleece pull over’s, great undershirts so layer like crazy, flannel sleeping pants and some great wrapping paper for only a buck. Yes, most of the clothes will fall about in your washing machine but for $5 who cares!!

Happy Shopping.

Happy Belated

I am so bad, I have not posted a Happy Birthday Blog to my husband yet and it was four days ago (new years eve), sorry Brett. For Brett’s 27th birthday we went out to dinner at Jack Stack with some friends and then to a friends house for cake & ice-cream, homemade pretzels, cheese dip and lots of pop. We played pictionary into the night, laughed and had a wonderful time.

Thanks to all our friends for making Brett’s birthday special every year. You guys really are the best.

Love you my dear Brett and Happy New Year to all.

p.s. on the same note as birthdays, happy birthday to my dear friend Lynette, happy birthday sweetie!!!