My Birthday Week

Okay, so I am finally updating my blog! It has taken a while because work has been really busy and my computer was a little sick for a few days.

*Wednesday afternoon I drove to Grand Junction, CO. When I was close to my parent's house I saw 2 deer off the side of the road. The one I saw closest had a pretty good sizes rack.
*Thursday Mom & I met Monica, Chase, Keri & Ryan at the Black Bear Cafe for lunch. I was pretty happy that Monica & Chase could come bowling after. We got there just after they opened. It was pretty funny....Monica was about to bowl & they turned music on...it was loud & unexpected. Ryan immediately started dancing. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready to take pics & video of the really good stuff. She is quite the dancer! I have to admit that I really stink at bowling. I was hanging in there with Chase for the most part. I think Ryan beat me the first time around. They did have the bumpers up, but still!!! I had fun anyway. Here are some pics Chase using the ramp

Ryan's going w/just the bumpersMonica the PRO!new friends

look @ that form...UGH!Chase the ball organizer.
Unfortunately Monica had to go back to work after bowling. Mom, Keri, Ryan and I went to get a Gelato which was soooo delicious. Keri & Ryan left us after that and Mom took me shopping. Now shopping for clothes is typically not my absolutely favorite thing to do, but this was actually a GREAT trip! Some of you may know that I have been losing weight which is wonderful, but also means spending money on clothes as I go down in size. I have worn the same size for quite a while now and have gotten rid of my smaller sizes. Anyway, my shopping trips usually include me having a hard time finding clothes that fit well. THIS time those items that didn't fit were TOO BIG!!!! Hooray!!! I was sooo excited!!! I was also excited to have clothes that fit. Most of my clothes are quite baggy & I feel frumpy in them. This was a very fun day!
*Friday Mom and I went to see Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Cute chickflick, if you liked the first one. That evening my parents, Max (the dog) and I drove to their cabin in Aarowhead, CO. How nice to be in the cool mountains!
*Saturday we went 4wheelin'. It was pretty dusty as you will notice in my pics. It was also very beautiful. There were grey clouds and Dad & I were hoping for rain so we could ride in the mud. Unfortunately it stayed dry. I would love to be closer so I could go out riding more often. Notice how I chose the pics where I'm covered up. That face shot is horrendous!

*Sunday Mom & I played with her Wii. I have to say it was pretty fun, but the only game I was really good at was bowling. I know, weird! I did better w/the video version. I was horrible @ golf, baseball & boxing. Mom got a little carried away & hit me w/the bat which caused her to pitch on accident, it was funny. It was fun exercise.
*Monday we got ready to leave for Grand Junction. All 3 days had relaxing times for reading or a walk. We also went out to eat @ Old Chicago with Craig, Keri and Ryan. Ryan is quite a character and very dramatic. I love getting to spend time with her. We had birthday cheesecake, very yummy!
*Tuesday....MY BIRTHDAY!!!! Mom & I cleaned to get ready for our trip to St. George. Mom rode with me. Dad came Wednesday night so they could continue on to California for Emily's (my cousin) wedding on Friday. It was a nice trip, but I was sad to have to go back to work the next day. It was a great week off!

You may wonder what it feels like to be 32 (if you haven't been there yet yourself). If feels much like being 31, but now I'm that much closer to being 33! haha. Actually, sometimes I feel like I'm still a kid and wonder if I'll ever be an adult. I guess life wouldn't be fun if we weren't kids at times. Now you are up to date!!!

P.S. I'm posting this without the pictures because there is something wrong with my computer & I can't get the pics off my camera. I'll post them when I get it worked out.

Fortune Cookie

I went out to eat last night with my Dad & grandparents. We went to a Chinese food place & of course we got fortune cookies. Mine said, "A quiet evening with friends is the best tonic for a long day." (Monica you can finish it the way you like ;)) On the back is a phrase w/the translation into Chinese. My phrase was......already married. I had to laugh. So appropriate, no?

Thanks for the comments thus far on my last post. I usually don't allow myself to post anything that whiney, but sometimes it just sneaks out. It's past now.

A Few More Fortunes

A person with a determined heart frightens problems away.

Accept the challenges, so that you may feel the exhilaration of victory.

A smile is nearly always inspired by another smile.

Ok, so maybe they really aren't fortunes...more like sayings or advice, but I actually thought they were decent this time.

Frustration

WARNING.....frustrations & negativity go hand in hand for me, don't read if it will ruin your day. I don't want to be a part of that.......WARNING

So, I wanted to warn all you out there who read my blog about something I have been working on since April! I joined Gold's Gym back in April and was really pumped about working hard & seeing results, so I signed up for a personal trainer. It was pretty expensive, but I thought I might be able to work it out. After talking to some people at work, I decided to cancel that contract (as I had a 3 day grace period). I followed the cancellation guidelines on the contract & waited ( I couldn't find a phone number to follow up). I got some response from them that they needed a copy proving that I had been charged, so I faxed that to them. Then a few weeks later I hear from them again that they need me to fax a copy of my contract....don't they get a copy for themselves? Oh well, so I fax them that and wait. In the mean time I get a letter from another company responsible for the automatic debit for monthly payments saying that they will send me to collections if I don't get them the complete information so they can take the monthly payment out. I call them & explain that my account is being cancelled. They respond by saying that Professional Fitness (the personal training company) hasn't relayed that info to them. Of course I immediately try contacting Pro Fit, but end up either being on hold forever or have to leave a message. I left 2 messages & never heard anything. Many of you know how much I hate the phone....so I put off calling until today. I had to call twice in order to get through & still had to hold for at least 15 min. They tell me that my account has been cancelled....GREAT....so where is my downpayment? please hold...................................ugh!!!!!! Oh, your check is scheduled to mail out tomorrow, I'll call you if anything else happens......uh huh...sure, whatever. They charged me on April 17 and they are just now (I mean tomorrow) sending me my money back!!!! Just a warning....don't deal with Professional Fitness unless you could care less about getting your money back.

For all of you who have been curious about a second date with Mark (my blind date a while back).....don't think it's gonna happen. Apparently because it has been so long, he feels like an idiot & won't call now. I'm not crying about it. I'm sorry he's so shy, but come on, a second date was pretty much guaranteed. Nate & his mom wanted me to call him & Stephanie said not to.....I like Stephanie's answer. I was fine with him calling or not calling. I didn't want to call him & be like "so since you didn't call me, I thought I'd call you so you can ask me out again.....so go ahead. " Nate's been really good at pestering us both, but as many of you also know, I can be extremely stubborn (yes, Z&M, Mom says I was just like Lori in that respect ;)). I think Nate is done with trying to fix us up (HOORAY). Honestly, I don't want to have to be the driving force behind getting together with a guy, nor do I want a guy who's super pushy (the stubborness, you know like a mule, the more you push, the more I push back). Is there a guy out there who falls in the middle? Whatever. I'm in the process of trying not to care. Just because you grow up expecting your life to be a certain way, doesn't mean it will. It looks as though my life is not going to go how I imagined/hoped it would. Another thing I am working on is being okay with that & figuring out a new image of what I want for my life. Do we all agree that life can just be plain crappy sometimes or most of the time? Oh all right, I'm being Miss Negativity, Glass Half Empty, Negative Nelly........some days are just like that, I'm dealing.

Hopefully, my next post will be a much happier & positive one. Thanks and don't let this post deter you from reading future ones.