Saturday, September 17, 2011

Back to running!

As you can see from my last post, I am running another 5K! You can follow my progress and thoughts on the training (and hopefully eventually photos) on my running blog here: http://learningtorun.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your support!

5K for a cause!

Since November 2008, my brother and sister-in-law have been in the process of adopting two young children from Ethiopia! However, the cost of international adoption is significant. In order to adopt their children, they need to raise money for agency fees, international airfare and travel expenses. For example, the cost of one ticket alone can be between $1,200 and $1,800!

I am trying to help them out! I will be running a 5K on Saturday, October 1st, to raise money for their adoption, and I need your assistance in making it happen! The race is called the “River Run for Orphans”, and the organization’s goal is to raise money to change lives of orphans globally and locally. You can find out more about my race or their organization by visiting http://www.riverrunfororphanscoloradosprings.org/.

All the proceeds I am able to raise by running this 5K will go specifically to Brian and Kathryn Creveling (my brother and sister-in-law) to help them adopt two orphans from Ethiopia. My goal is to raise at least $500 to help them in completing their family and to help 2 orphans from Ethiopia find a loving home.

Please prayerfully consider helping us share God’s love by donating money for my race and to the Creveling’s Adoption Fund. This donation is tax-deductible. I will be collecting all donations and will submit the final total raised to Brian and Kathryn. Please make checks payable to Karen Creveling and write “River Run for Orphans” in the memo line and contact me for my mailing address if you would like to donate.

Thank you for your help - anything helps!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Adoption Fundraiser!

In honor of my brother and sister-in-law being #8 on their adoption agency's unofficial waiting list for siblings, they are giving away a football signed by #8 TROY AIKMAN! Purchase one ticket for $10, two for $15. Tickets must be purchased by 9/11/11. The winner will be drawn after the Dallas Cowboys Season Opener on 9/11/11! Enter as many times as you wish!

You can donate via Paypal on their blog at http://texascrevs.blogspot.com/. Or you can donate via our adoption agency to receive a tax-deduction. Send your donation to:
AWAA - Eternal Family Fund, 6723 Whittier Ave., McLean, VA 22101.

Please include your name, address, email address and specify that it is for The CREVELING's adoption. Or you can donate directly at
https://www.awaa.org/forms/payment.aspx (Note: all credit card transactions incur a 2.5% fee).

Thanks for supporting their adoption and GOOD LUCK!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

July (so far!)

There shouldn't be much more stuff happening in July, so I feel safe blogging about it so far. If I do anything else, I can always add a blog!

I took Friday, July 1st off to hang out with my sister and her kids, and we went to the zoo!! I always have fun there! July 4th was nice because I was also able to take the day off from work, so we mostly just hung around the house and had a small BBQ with my mom and dad. Susanna, our HR intern, came over and joined us as well! She was a huge hit with my sister’s kids, mostly because she played the “pretend” games with them and let them crawl all over her! I was also a big hit because I had gotten quite a few glow sticks from the Dollar Store and gave them to the kids as a surprise – it was a HUGE hit! They were SOOO excited! They had bracelets and necklaces, and each kid had their own wand. I learned from last year that those definitely keep them entertained while we’re waiting, plus it’s always easier to see them in the dark when you know where they are!

That week was also the week of the US Women’s Open! It was pretty slow for us in the Administration offices, but we got out to the Merchandise tent to help at the register. It was packed, and it didn’t help that it rained all 4 days of the Championship and everyone came inside to do some shopping! It was crazy, but it added to the already memorable experience of saying that you worked at a property that held a National USGA golf tournament that got worldwide recognition. I even came out of it with “credentials” and a free Cutter and Buck t-shirt! So I would say it worked out well!

I also went with Katy and Susanna (both from work) to a Sky Sox game! The Sky Sox are our Minor League team that feeds into the Colorado Rockies. The stadium is really close and it’s really affordable – the seats closest to the field are only $12 plus tax! Then the food and drink are priced what you would expect, between $6 and $8 but that’s not bad! We had a blast, and we stuck around for after the game when we saw FIREWORKS!! Nevermind that we just saw them a few days earlier for the Fourth, but they shot these off RIGHT outside of the ballpark, which is relatively small.

I also went to another Rockies game, this time with Susanna and friends from her school program, Sarah and Lumi! We had a great view from Right Field, but we were in direct sunlight the entire time – IT. WAS. SO. HOT. Thank goodness Susanna had 50 SPF sunscreen in her purse, or we would have burned skin off – it really was that hot. The only breaks we got were when we got up to get food or beer and when a large cloud covered the sun for a good chunk of time. We also decided to go to the gift shop and buy the first white sleeveless tank top we could find to help allieviate some of the heat from our black cotton t-shirts! 3 out of the 4 of us got a new tank top that day, and changed in the bathroom. The shirts fit a little funny, but it was worth the $27 to have even a little bit of relief! On a non-baseball related note, I think that I had the most amazing cheeseburger I have ever eaten at the game – SO yummy!! They also gave us so many French fries that I couldn’t eat them all, and I didn’t even need dinner! My dad also gave me an old camera of his – the camera wasn’t really that old, but he wasn’t using it and didn’t sell it in the garage sale they had that weekend. But, it has 12X zoom and I was able to get some really cool shots! The only bad thing was that the closer you zoom, the fuzzier the picture got. But it was still cool!

Finally, I completed my 5K!! You can read about that here. I bought a 5K sticker to put in my car’s rear window and might even continue running – might even do another 5K!

So, with that all finally being said and done – here is a highlight of July so far (with a few more photos to come – the next few weeks are busy too!):








Yet another Rockies game! However, it was someone else who had the tickets this time, and gave them to my team. My boss and 2 co-workers made it out on a Tuesday (yikes!!) and got a nice hook-up with seats. My boss was able to get an upgrade because he helped someone in the Rockies box office with their training program, so we had AWESOME seats! We’re generally a silly group of people who work hard but then like to relax and so of course we had a blast. The fun didn’t stop, even though we hit massive amounts of traffic on the highway on the way home. Next time, we’ll go to a game where we don’t have to work the next morning – we were all dead.

I was also invited to go see Brett Dennen in concert in Denver with a friend in early June, very last minute, and it was a blast as well!! In fact, because I went, I saw that probably one of my top 10 favorite bands was playing at the very same theater later in June – PANIC! AT THE DISCO!!!!!!! I have loved them since 2006! I went home and promptly bought 2 tickets because I couldn’t wait and it’s a good thing I did because it sold out!!! I blogged about it here, and took Susanna with me! It was seriously the most fun I have had in the past year.

And lastly, I surprised my sister with a dinner at the Penrose Room – a restaurant at the Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs. It is the only 5 Star and 5 Diamond restaurant in Colorado! I won it as a prize for winning Employee of the Month in May, and decided to share it with her! She had NO idea what we were doing and I kept sending picture clues to her all day to keep her guessing. She was completely surprised and excited and was extremely happy. We ending up eating (in varying portion sizes)- caviar, lobster, rabbit, halibut, filet minon, and more!

Yet another barrage of photos (this time from June):











Monday, July 18, 2011

Catching you up!

I haven’t really been blogging on here because of my running blog, http://learningtorun.blogspot.com, but then again, I’m not quite as busy as most of my peers! Most of the things I do are normal, everyday things, which aren’t really that interesting!

However, I have been pretty busy the past few weeks, so here’s an update…I've broken it down so it's not a marathon blog!

May:
My company has 4 tickets to the Rockies, and allows employees to sign up for one game per season (based on availability) on a first come, first serve basis. I was able to get tickets for an afternoon game on a Saturday, which is great because I hate driving all the way down from Denver really late and especially if I have work the next morning. Susanna had just been there one week and I invited her to go because she didn’t know about baseball!

We got there and it was overcast for most of the day, until it started raining around 3 or 4! Bummer! The worst news was that we were both wearing flip flops because when we left, it was nice and warm, but at the game, our little toes got cold and wet and it was pretty rough. Susanna had purchased a foam finger for one of her roommates and found that it made a very nice temporary “sock”! I had thought ahead to bring a rain jacket (someone tell my mom!) and Susanna had packed an umbrella, but forgot she had it until she had been sitting in the rain for a while (oops!)

All in all, even though it was overcast and foggy and wet all day, we had a really great time and it was a great baseball experience!! May was also when I started Yoga (shocking!) and my Couch to 5K program. I am proud to say that I have stuck with both, except that I will not be doing Yoga this week so that I can practice running some more, because I have my first 5K on Saturday!

I also went to an event in Denver called the Furry Scurry! This was before I started running, so I did not run this but it was event to raise money for animals in shelters and it was HUGE!! There were thousands of people and tents set up, and Bailey and I spent almost 2 hours just wandering around – he even got to have a cup of doggie ice cream because it was so hot out! Well, that and I love him to death and spoil him like crazy.

Then, I brought Susanna to something called Territory Days. It's held every year over Memorial Day in Old Colorado City, Colorado. It's basically a gigantic street fair meant to celebrate when the city was the capital of the Colorado Territory. The weather was perfect and it was just a lot of fun! (Even though there were large crowds!).

Let the photo montage ensue:










Saturday, July 2, 2011

Panic! at the Disco - BEST. CONCERT. EVER.

So I love Panic! at the Disco. Duh.THEY. ARE. AWESOME.

And yes, you have to have the exclamation point in their name, because that's legally how you write it.

Back in college, circa 2005, a friend of my boyfriend at the time knew that I liked "punk" music (Bowling for Soup, Blink 182, Simple Plan, etc.) and she handed me a purple burned CD of this group called Panic! at the Disco and told me I should listen to it because I should like them.

I had vaguely heard of them before in passing, but really had no idea who they were. At first, I thought "this is way too weird for me" and slightly wrote them off. But the more I listened to it, the more it grew on me until I loved them!! I hadn't really heard about them a few years later though, and they fell off my radar.

Until I was invited at the last minute to a concert in Denver with a work friend. It was for an artist that I had never heard of, but as we drove past the theater, I saw Panic!'s name on the billboard for a future date in June and FREAKED OUT!!!! Now, he had never even heard of them, but it was like they jumped right back onto my radar and I wondered what had happened to them!

So later that night, I did some research and found out they came out with a brand new album in March of 2011!! So I immeadiatley purchased this album on iTunes and bought tickets the very next PayDay. (This turned out to be a very smart move on my part because it sold out!!!)

I bought 2 tickets figuring that I would find someone to go with me, and at the very least, I would just go with myself. Either way - I WAS GOING. (Fortuately, my office has a super cool intern working with us who I really get along with and she was game!!) And…the best part????? She took video of a lot of the songs and I can not WAIT to see them!!!!!!

Turned out to be an AWESOME move!!!!!! The concert was last night and it lived up to every expectation - in fact, I'm sure it actually blew any expectations off the road and then waved at them as the concert passed them by - it really was THAT GOOD. At least for me.

So if you feel like it, go check out my photos from the event - but be advised, they were all taken from a cell phone camera at a distance, so apart from the colors, they probably won't look that different to you. But it will be an amazing experience that I will never forgt, and will NEVER regret doing.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

New running blog!!

I have now created a blog just to chronicle my running program - leading up to my first EVER 5K that I've signed up to run in July. Then, the future will be determined once I reach it! Please follow the blog at:

http://learningtorun.blogspot.com/

I will still be updating this one from time to time, with non-running related news, but I wanted to keep that one separate, as it is a separate part of my life right now. Thanks for checking in and following this blog!

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Reading Update

I am addicted to Emily Giffin. It first started with Something Borrowed. I saw a preview for the movie coming out soon, and wanted to read the book before the movie came out. It was an impulse buy and - I finished the book in 24 hours.

It was that good. Another amazing impulse buy (like Eat, Pray, Love).

So then, the next night, I couldn't wait and went to Borders and got the sequel - Something Blue. It's a followup to Something Borrowed. I got it on a Friday - finished it Sunday afternoon. Less than 48 hours. Must be a new record for me.

Now I'm addicted. She has 3 other books out there - Baby Proof, Love the One You're With, and Heart of the Matter. They're all seperate plot lines from the first two, but I realized that I really liked how she wrote.

I just bought Baby Proof online 5 minutes ago. I didn't want to spend the full $15 at Borders, so I found a website selling it for under $4 - including shipping!!! It's used, which doesn't matter to me. It's still the same book! Plus, after I read them, I plan on trying to sell them online, so I should get some money back. Good deal.

Can't wait!! Only 7-14 days til Baby Proof arrives, and when it does, before I even finish it, I'm ordering another one because I know it will be done in less than 2 days!!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I've said it a million times...

But I really need to get back to reading. Recently, I read "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. I watched the movie and then bought the book online on impulse.


Best. Impulse. Buy. Ever.


Anyway, I saw a movie preview for "Something Borrowed". And I then (impulsively) bought it online from Amazon.com. And I know, I'm years behind the curve, but at least I'm not a bandwagon fan, right?


I read several reviews, and it seems like it's a very popular book. Plus (duh!) it's being made into a movie!


So between Emily Giffin and Elizabeth Gilbert, I've got a great series of books to start on either way! Not to mention the 18 books I already have stacked up at home to read, but at least it's a start!


Any thoughts/feedback/opinions on "Something Borrowed"??

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Brief Update

Well it' s been more than a month again. And I can't say I haven't visited this site during that time; I have been catching up on your blogs! I keep checking the website and reading other blogs and thinking "wow I'm boring". But you know what? I've never been happier. I recently got out of a bad relationship. It's like a breath of fresh air. I spent almost 2 years being miserable, but now only have to think about ME finally. I recently moved into my "own place". Granted, my parents own it, but now (again), it's finally all about ME and what I want. (On a side note, I went out and bought a combo modem/router So, as I promised over a month ago, I will update you all on the remaining "topics" I had listed:

  • Recently, the lady who runs our employee events and employee newsletters (things going on at work, weddings, babies, etc.) moved to another department in the hotel. So her role was open. It was filled briefly by someone else at the hotel, but she then decided to go back to her original department, so it was open again. Basically, I was handed all of the newsletters and any kind of graphic design stuff that the position used to do! Another lady I work with got the party planning stuff (which is fine with me) and now I get to be much more creative. It's GREAT!

  • At the time I wrote my last entry, a Hungarian named Luca was living with my parents. She came to the US a year ago to work at the hotel, and my parents became her "host family" - basically, when they come work in America for a year, they're away from all their friends and family, and my parents would have her over for dinner, and to do laundry and basically be there for her. It was like having a roomate! She's my same age, and we talked about boys and family and life. She went back to Hungary, but it was nice having her around!

  • My New Year's resolutions (Yea, they're pretty much all broken by now). Not much else to add. But again - I'm just happy.

  • Don't remember about my reading list - but I haven't touched a book in a month. I should really start reading again!

  • Phone Saga - I switched to a Samsung Instinct back in October. I hated it. Other than the phone calls and texting, it didn't do a single thing I wanted. So I switched back to a Blackberry over a month ago. Again, another breath of fresh air. I LOVE it!!! And I have 2 sparkling rhinestone-type cases. HEAVEN.

  • Necklaces - for about a month back in Feb/March, I was making beaded necklaces like nobody's business. Well, that has slowed down a bit, but it was creative and sparkly and it felt good.

Whew. Well, that was my list. Hopefully another month won't go by before I blog again.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A Life-Changing Haircut?

So, as I promised, a real blog. And I'll be spreading out what's going on over a few blogs, as to not overwhelm myself or anyone who reads this.

Last night, I had the weirdest dream. I can't remember where I was in the dream, but some stranger came up to me and just cut off a chunk of my hair, specifically on my right side. First of all, it cut my bangs (which I don't have) and secondly, there was no reason or provocation and I didn't even know who this person was!

I googled "dreams about getting your hair cut". Believe me - that's out there. I found a website that offers interpretations of many different types of dreams and found this description:

"If you dream that you make a drastic change to your hairstyle, then it means that you are making a drastic, new approach to some issue in your waking life. To dream that you are cutting your hair, suggests that you are experiencing a loss in strength. You may feel that someone is trying to censor you. Alternatively, you may be reshaping your thinking or ambitions and eliminating unwanted thoughts/habits. "

This actually makes sense to me. About 5 months ago, I made a major life change. I had been dating a guy named Justin for over 2 years and I ended it. Without going into details, it was a very rocky and harmful relationship at the end, and an even worse break up. But it had to be done. I moved back in with my parents and spent a few months just basically recovering. I'm happy to say that I feel like I'm finally getting back to "me". So I am (or recently have) made a new, drastic approach to my life. I'm living it without that on my shoulders.

Now, in the dream, I wasn't the one cutting my hair but I do feel that back in October and the few months after that I did experience a loss in strength. I can't begin to explain all the emotions I was feeling but I did feel pretty sucked dry. I did feel like someone was trying to censor me (or you could call it smother or control). And then I began to reshape my thinking and led me to eliminate unwanted habits - him. So, if you were to really interpret the "other person" cutting my hair, you could say it was Justin shocking me into realizing what the hell was going on and that I needed to make a drastic change.

I am extremely thankful for all of the support I recieved from friends, co-workers, and especially my family.

And now, I'm facing the great opportunity of moving out and living on my own again. Finally, my life is getting back on track!

That's 2 blog topics down - 6 to go!

Monday, March 7, 2011

What happened?

Well...I feel like I should really blog, because it's been almost a month. But at this point, it's already 10 pm, and I have to be at work at 7 am tomorrow. And it's a very hairy day ahead. So I think instead I will watch some Netflix and doze off. But I have every intention of blogging a REAL blog soon, so to help my anal-retentive and somewhat spacey mind, I have to make a bulleted list so I remember.
  • I had a dream last night that someone walked up to me and just cut a huge chunk out of my hair for no reason. I did some googling, and I think I have the answer.

  • A major change in my life that happened a few months ago, and another one coming up in a month or two. (*Disclaimer - no, I am not pregnant!)

  • A promotion that I'm stressed/excited about at work.

  • A Hungarian student named Luca (pronounced "Lootza", like "pizza" but starting with "loot")

  • My New Year's resolutions (Yea, they're pretty much all broken by now)

  • My reading list

  • My phone saga

  • My necklaces

On second thought, maybe I should space those out into other blogs. Yea, that might be good. For the 8 followers!! :) Maybe I could get to 10 if I posted more??

And on that note, I wanted to share a picture that makes me happy:This is the cover of this month's Texas Monthly magazine. I may be in Colorado, but I'm still in love with Texas!!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

So I’m back!! I figured I was due to update my blog and my resolutions on how I was doing.

First of all, I’m on track with my one book a month resolution. In January, I started to read "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know" by Alexandra Horowitz, and it’s a really interesting book (mini-review to come once I’m done), but by today, it’s simply not finished.

However, on Friday, January 28th, I walked into the library for employees we have next to my office, looking for a future month’s selection. I grabbed one short book (probably 25-30 with large print), called “Dinner with a Stranger” by David Gregory.

I read the entire thing over my lunch break. My resolution was technically achieved in a matter of half an hour without me knowing. It’s about a man who receives a dinner invitation by someone who claimed to be Jesus, and the man accepts. The more “Jesus” talks to him at dinner, the more the man starts to really think the stranger is Jesus. It’s basically a really good book on apologetics. It puts out some very familiar questions that I’ve either been asked or asked myself, and could never put it into words, and it actually has answers that just simply make sense.

However, it’s still bugging me that I haven’t finished my original January book, so I intend to finish it in February. I feel that I can say I read one book this month, since it’s the only one I’ve read in February and I will finish it!

Also, I have every intention of doing my scrapbooking page for this month this weekend. It only takes me about an hour a page, so I feel like I can do it – it’s just a matter of buckling down and getting started!!!

As for the weight loss, I’m not really down from January 1st, but I'm not up either. And the eating better – well, that fluxuates depending on the day. But, I have been very disappointed in my January performance, so I’m making a more conscious effort to consider what I’m eating and determine – “This is enough. You don’t need more, right? RIGHT!” Plus, I’m very busy at work, so I’m noticing that I’m not hungry as much as I used to be, which just proves to me that I eat out of boredom. I haven’t really worked out much, even after buying The Biggest Loser for Wii, but I’m just not a work-out type of person. I seem to do just fine without it.

And there you have it!! Thanks for sticking around!! And I can use your support and encouragement, so if you have any suggestions or comments on anything related to what I blogged about, then please share!

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Inspiring Thoughts

I've had a rough few months recently, and along with the Bible helping me get through, I've found inspiring thoughts just randomly "hit me" at the right time, and today, I got two in a row!

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” – Plato (from my daily calendar)
- I've been working on my issue with patience, especially with people who I feel make my life more difficult, in whatever way, and I find myself either being short with them to their face, or complaining about them behind their backs. This simple little quote brought it all to light for me in one statement - you may be frustrated with this person, but remember that you're not the only one with problems, and you don't know what this person is going through. Definitely something to think about.

“Re-examine all you have been told…Dismiss what insults your soul.” – Walt Whitman (on my Celestial Seasonings tea bag tag)
- Part of my rough past few months includes a lot of mental and emotional issues where I had constantly been told (in not so many words) that I had screwed up so much that I could never be "good" again and that I was having trouble forgiving myself, even though others had. This quote just made me realize instantly - All those thoughts, motions and words that hurt my soul...just forget them. They don't have any place in my life and they can only bring me down. It's in the past now - dwell on the things that will uplift your soul.

So even though they weren't bible verses, they "spoke" to me...and it just seemed to be exactly what I needed to hear.

No more "negative" thoughts - Phillipians 4:8 - "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things."

Success!

First of all, let me share an adorable picture - When I come home for lunch during the week, I let the dogs out and let them sun themselves by the front door. They LOVE it!! And today, they all piled up by the front door and cuddled. SOO CUTE!!!

And...I've already had success on my resolutions!!
So far, I've already changed my blog design from the "Fall" theme to something far more relevant to me - sparkles!
And, I've already done my allotted "one page a month" of scrapbooking!! I have taken a picture for proof:
Not my best work, but I've been out of practice for a while. Whew...that really took it out of me!

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011 New Year's Resolutions

So I got a kick out of reading my blog resolutions from last year (found here). It was actually pretty interesting to see that I kept 2 of them and didn't keep the other 3!! That's progress for me - the previous year, I didn't keep any and before that I didn't even make any because I didn't want to feel bad about breaking/not keeping them.

I was able to lose almost all of the 30 lbs that I wanted to (about 22 total) but I felt and looked great and was able to fit in a ton of my old clothes! And that loss was due to another resolution, which was to eat healthier and try new recipes! I joined Weight Watchers, and it worked and the rest is history!! However, since I lost that weight, I've gained back about 8 lbs in the last 3 months. NOT good.

I feel like it's only appropriate to make some more, and to make sure I include those from last year I wasn't able to keep. So here goes!!

1. Clearly, I need to redesign my blog theme and heading. Oops.
2. Save money!
3. Scrapbook at least 1 "event" a month. I have quite the backlog, and 1 page a day or week is a little lofty.
4. Read 1 book a month. I just got 4 new books in the last week, so I definitely have a good start! No excuses!
5. Lose 10 lbs to get back to my Weight Watchers weight. And keep it off!

Happy New Year!