sad on the east coast...

...but happy on the west coast because two very incredible people are headed that direction. Tim & Nikki are moving to California and Tim will continue working for the Park Police from the CA office. Tim & Mike went through much of their interview/selection process together for the USPP, then went to the academy together in Georgia and were neighbors in their dorm. Then Tim & Nikki moved here the same time Mike and I did. We've shared the last two Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's with them, enjoyed monthly potlucks, and shared many other fab experiences.

(Pimlico Horse Races - apparently Mike & I thought everyone in the picture was making funny faces like we were:) )

I really think it's understatement how much we will miss them both. They had a going-away bash last Tuesday night and when we were leaving, we left in silence with a few sniffles & tears, compliments of myself. I think I'm just really bad at goodbye's...I hate doing it and I get quite emotional about it. I think Mike was also quite sad because he went from talking everyone's ear off at the bar to practically complete silence on the way home. I'm sure there's some sort of 'Man Law'(Nikki will get that reference) that says he can't admit to being bummed about them leaving.

I ALWAYS look forward to hanging out with them. It's never a dull moment when we are together. I'm thrilled for them to be moving back to the west coast and am so grateful for meeting them. We wish them the very best and hope their journey to the west coast gets them there safe and sound.

The good news in all of this sad news ~ Their move just means we have a great reason to head to Cali to visit!! :)

P.S. We are car shopping today...wish us luck!

a new mode of transportation??

Well...it seems as though my car is a goner. I'm not sure I completely believe it yet but at face value, Mike has indicated that my car is either not fixable or not worth fixing, so I will believe him for now.

You'd think to yourself, "Well Kirsten, you work from home and Mike is the only one that has to commute for work, so it's ok to survive with only one vehicle." And I would tell you I agree for the most part. However since Mike works completely opposite hours that I work, it makes for a little inconvenience if I ever want to journey further away than a bike ride or walk when Mike is working. Not to mention, part of his work week is over my weekend which also adds more inconvenience.

Mike is working tonight so I guess we'll hopefully figure out the plan soon.
Can we be a one vehicle family for awhile? Tune in for a later post to find out. :)

a swell book

"Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay

...read it! It's a wonderful book. A great story and you'll learn some great history! I just finished it for book club today and I loved it. Definitely one that made it to my favorite's list.

P.S. Have you joined http://www.goodreads.com/ yet? I'd love to see what you're reading! :)

vacation

Gosh ~ Monday has already been a rough day. Aren't all Monday's? So, I thought I'd "check out" of work today over my lunch break and blog about something fun...VACATION!

We booked a trip to head to Mexico soon. Mike found some inexpensive vacation package deals to a variety of places and we decided to head to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico again. (This is also where we went last December) We both really like that area and it happened to be the least expensive he found coming in at $500 per person, which includes airfaire, lodging for 5 nights, all-inclusive food and drinks, and some water sports. (Let me know if you would like the details and I can pass them along)

After he booked it, I declared, "I'm going to be XXX pounds by the time we leave or I'm not getting on the plane." And Mike so dearly responds, "So should I be looking for someone else to go with me then?" I responded, "Maybe you should try to gain 5-7 pounds by our trip?" You might say, "Well that was rude of Mike to say"...but actually it's not, he knows me too well. He knows I struggle with my eating habits ~ I don't know what it means to be on a "diet," I cave to sugar more often than I'd like to admit, and I'm usually the one convincing Mike that we should do out to dinner(typically to an unhealthy restaurant).

I always get these lofty goals in my head so we'll see what happens. I could use a little re-vamping of my diet(not "a diet" but my normal everyday diet ~ you know what I mean)

P.S. I've always heard that greek yogurt was really good for you but I was always afraid to try it. Anything good for me can't be tasty, right? WRONG -- it's delicious and has lots of protein! I recommend it.

and the murderer was...

Based on our calendar(we write everything we do, individually or together, on a dry-erase calendar each month so we can keep track of each other), Mike had marked Friday for going out to dinner at 6pm since I had to coach Poms on my actual birthday. Mike is always full of surprises so I had no idea where we were going for dinner until we arrived. We ended up at Blair Mansion Restaurant in Silver Spring, MD. They had the menu outside and I eyed it as we walked in and was definitely looking forward to a lovely meal...YUMMY! But when we entered, the hostess asked if we were "there for the show?" Mike said "yes." We were there for the Murder Mystery Dinner Theater!!! SWEET! We had hors d’oeuvres and a delicious buffet, then the show started at 8:30pm. It was a lot of fun and lots of laughs. They also announced my name as one of the birthday celebrations, I received a birthday cake, and the room sang 'Happy Birthday' to all the birthday parties there. Awww...so nice!

I definitely would love to go back again to enjoy the food and watch another show.
Thanks for making my birthday so special Mike! You're the best hubs EVER! :)

the big 2-9

I turned 29 years old today!
It's been a pretty swell day ~ Woke up to find Georgetown Cupcakes in my kitchen. YUMMY! Mike took me to Taco Bell for my lunch break in honor of Cinco de Mayo! YUMMY!
I head to coach at Poms practice in about 45 minutes. I'm optimistic that it will be a great practice!

I've had two already today and plan on having at least one more!!

Take a look at that frosting. DELICIOUS!!