My last post was August 2013 so here is a month by month synopsis of the whirlwind that is my life!
September 2013: So you know the saying 28 is going to be great and that is exactly how my 28th year started in September. Now that I have now turned 29, I figured it was a great time to look back and reflect. The birthday was very low key, as I get older I learn that I would much rather spend time with my friends who I don't always get to see that often, in an environment that I can hear...and comphrend them in. I was never the go out and party type, but this year really cemented that fact. We went to Ernie Biggs for my 28th birthday- which was a great time, but I just left feeling like I'd missed out on hearing so much of what was going on in the lives of the people I cared about most because there was no way to talk over that loud music....I am officially OLD!
Riley also somehow snuck out of the garage right before we left to go out - that cat doesn't even like to get close to the door in the house, much less actually venture outside of the garage. She was gone all day, but as I am well versed in cats that like to disappear, I patiently waited for night to come, kids to go to bed, and the world to quite down; as soon as I opened my door and called her I could hear her sprinting and crying all the way across the parking lot! She couldn't wait to come back inside, and she hasn't been out since!
At the end of September - my two co-workers and I attended the pulmonary hypertension professional network (PHPN) symposium in Arlington, VA. The conference was okay - learned a little bit about this and that- you know how work conferences go. We also had a little time to sight see since we could hop onto the subway and get to DC in about three minutes. The definite highlight of the trip was the night before we came home, we were able to do a moonlight monument tour of the city! It was beautiful! We got to see all of the most popular monuments lit up at night time - what a very different perspective. We even got to the see the White House - from afar of course! We are slated to go back next September in 2015, and I'm excited to see the product of my work as my co-worker Amy & I are now on the symposium planning committee (and some days I'm wondering what did I get myself into)
October 2013: Probably one of the most memorable months....We found out that Lydia would be joining the world in May 2014. Well...she wasn't Lydia then, and she wasn't even Baby Girl Verbenec yet, but it didn't matter. Alex had waited so long for this precious little one - I was just excited for the journey! We did find out later that month that she would be a precious little girl!
Mom, Alissa &; I finally enjoyed a girls' night out to see Wicked at the Music Hall - I was the only one who was desperate to see it that hadn't - Mom &; Alissa had seen it on Broadway last summer!
We also met up with the Mueggenborg clan once again for the color run in OKC - we had a great time with the girls however the color run was a huge disappointment! It was nothing like the first one I'd been to!
And finally to round out the month full of activities I met up with Danica in St. Louis for a long weekend. We'd originally supposed to have been seeing Lady A but they cancelled and rescheduled their concert but we decided to hit up the outlet mall anyway! We also had a great murder mystery dinner where we ended up meeting two of the coolest ladies about our age and we shared so many laughs that my stomach hurt by the end of the evening! And of course we didn't miss the iconic things like the arch and the free zoo. I even won a little cash at the casino!
November 2013: I officially launched my Crafty Creations by Lauren business in November and had a few orders - including two cute Christmas wreaths. It's something I love to do for fun, but I can't say it's running my life at the moment. I've been making diaper cakes, tricycles, and other fun things as well! I also got a wild hair and started going back to gymnastics - it has been so much fun to realize that I can still do so much of that stuff!
December 2013: December is always so busy and so much fun - full of Christmas partys, laughter, and just the joys of the season. I could write an entire post just on how much I love Christmas I think
January 2014: and here I am January 2015 sitting here realizing I never finished this post so let's see if I can sit here and actually get it done maybe with a few less pictures this time! January is always so boring so nothing much to report!
February 2014: Once again I decided to leave the snow and ice in my rearview window or rather the rearview window of a plane and Danica and I were off to Disney World for a week. It was wonderful! You can't be unhappy there, you just can't...unless your the jerk who tries to shove your stroller into a crowd of people that had probably been standing in their space for sometime...yeah that went about as well as you could imagine, including an unidentified flying bird at the end of the conversation. Oh but the best story of all from our trip was this, um, lady? I don't know what to call her because I think she was younger than us, too old to be a girl, and very pregnant. She asked to see our brochure for the park that day and then proceeds to tell us her ENTIRE life story including the fact that her parts have custody of her 2 or 3 year old daughter and they have no idea that she is pregnant again because they may take this one too....I'm not sure I've ever entered a park so fast and made a B-line in the opposite direction of something or someone so fast. She totally photobomed our selfie and well that's where I draw the line! (see the picture below)
March 2014: March was a whirlwind, but yet I don't feel like a lot happened except for one weekend...Danica & I went to Tulsa for the Lady Antebellum Concert that had been cancelled in Nov of 2013 and we switched venues and dates. On a last minute decision we also decided to attend the Cher concert the next night also in Tulsa. It was Danica's late/early birthday present to me and we had a great time. I'm not sure I've ever seen a show like it! And....to add to that weekend's excitement, on 3/28/14 Lydia decided she was ready and entered the world. I just love that little peanut! So to put it lightly that weekend is definitely one to remember!!
April/May 2014: Well Easter happened...it was grand as usual. Prom - Alissa looked beautiful. I have the picture of her in her dress in my office and all of my coworkers children all think she looks just like Queen Elsa! May was a busy busy month! Alissa graduated from high school, which makes me realize just how close I am to being 30 years old! Oy! It was a rather eventful weekend because as we were preparing for her party, Mom & I decided to run one last errand and Alissa was left at home to chop things....well we apparently forgot to mention not to chop her FINGER! She called as we were leaving to say she'd cut open her finger, it wouldn't stop bleeding, so I picked up a few things while we were at Wal-Mart to bandage it when we got home. That lasted until she went to mow for Dad and she lost the splint I'd put on it so the cut would stay together better, and well she ended up with two stitches at urgent care! We also had family pictures taken, which we don't do often...
I baby sat for my two little buddies, Reece & London...in 2015 it will be the adventures of Reece, London, & Andrew.
Finally we had one last Club Lauren visit with Jessi & Jake. My dear friend Donna and her family moved to Florida in June so we snuck one last kitty cuddle session in for the kids...boy I sure do miss them.
June/July/August: Oh June, June will forever hold a special place in my heart because that is when I met Deric, the now 7 month seasoned boyfriend. He is pretty amazing, takes great care of me, and well we just have a really good time together - what more could I ask for? I wouldn't trade him for anything!
Danica & I caught a Brad Paisley concert in KC:
I also went to visit my friend Jordan from high school in Baltimore Maryland for about a week - it was so much fun! We had a great time running around with her son Erik and even got to have a girls night out for an evening sail!
July 4th we spent in Oklahoma which was always fun as usual shooting off tons of fireworks and eating homemade ice cream (my favorite tradition)! I put my house on the market (which only lasted until Nov because there weren't too many lookers and I didn't want to deal with it during the holidays)
Deric & I also were able to sneak down to Union Station to see some of the train set up they have - some out of legoes, watch a movie on the IMAX about the Candian railroad and to see the King Tut exhibit which was SO cool. This was all right before Deric started engineer school in August. And thus began the longest 20 weeks of our lives :)
Riley likes to help him study
Mom & Dad also caught one more conference at the Broadmore in Colorado Springs and since I was the only one that had not been, I finally got to go experience the ombience of the hotel. It was a lot of fun and we even had an afternoon where we went to a small zoo, saw this weird monument, and had lunch at a local brewery.
Deric & I also caught the Miranda Lamber Concert - which he will admit was NOT that bad! Although it was very warm, it ended up being a great evening together. It was still a bummer that Danica couldn't make it!
September 2014: My birthday month and thus my favorite month! Pre-Deric - Danica, Kaylan & I had planned a trip to Boston for my birthday which was amazing. We were able to see tons of history, enjoy some Sam Adam's beer, and go whale watching. The weather was nice, kind of warm but tolerable, and it was just so nice to get away with my girlfriends. We even had an evening to catch up with a good friend and old coworker of mine that lives there, Rachel. I would go back in a heartbeat! Deric & I got to celebrate when I got back for my actual birthday - he is so creative when it comes to gifts. We'd literally spent all summer during the Name on a Coke fad (like shoulder deep in coke bins), trying to find a Lauren but we never did find one in the city, so he found one and ordered it for me :)...funny thing is the week after my birthday we found a regular and a diet coke with my name on it too - so I have the whole set. He also sent me beautiful flowers since my birthday was also our three month anniversary! He is definitely a keeper!
October 2014: Brought Halloween, Deric & I's first trip to the Louisburg Cider Mill & Alex's birthday - great month with a lot of fun activities (but doesn't require a lot of explanation)
November 2014: The beginning of the holiday season....need I say more? Well yes I must because we ended up spending Thanksgiving in Tongie with my family because Deric really wasn't sure if he was going to have to go out for work or not, but since we were pretty sure he'd be around at least most of the day we offered to fry the turkey. Also, he & Eric have this weird relationship and because we were frying a turkey, Eric wanted a turkey with an eagle attached because there was nothing more American than that...well we couldn't attach the eagle to a raw bird, so we made him a Turkey instead.
December & Christmas 2014: Danica & I hit up Eric Church...there needs no other explanation other than that....YUM LOL! We also went out with Deric & one of his friends for a really fun night at Dave & Busters that ended with ice cream!
Deric & I celebrated our 6 month anniversary, it was really nice. We ended up just cooking at home and enjoying each other's company and I would not have wanted it any other way.
Christmas was spent all over the place - we spent two days in Garnett with Deric's family, both the Kite and Hulett sides and we spent Christmas Eve with my family and the weekend after Christmas in Oklahoma. Deric even managed to win $57 at the Mueggenborg Christmas during Left, Center, Right...it was beginngers luck I just know it! Even with all those happenings, we still managed to also squeeze in our annual dinner on the plaza, but we have decided that maybe ice skating with our age and knee injuries is better left to the memories as kids!
For New Year's Eve Deric got to try out his new electric smoker to smoke some pork, little smokies & mac & cheese for dinner at my parents house, unfortunately it was REALLY cold so he had to break out the good looking gear!
Well there you have it folks, 18 months of life in a few paragraphs. I am going to do better in 2015 by golly, the third go at this blogging is going to happen! (oh and be charming)
Here's to 2015!
