January
After ringing in the New Year with friends from church, I spent
the first day of the year watching bowl games and had my first day in charge of
the Pure Barre Boulder Instagram account. I went to my first CU basketball game
of the year and cheered them on while they beat UCLA for the first time since
joining the Pac-12. On the 3rd, we threw a going away party for my little
brother who was joining the Army (and I made a second camouflage cake). The
next day, we went out to dinner with Scott’s girlfriend’s family and said
goodbye to him before he flew out for basic training. I spent some time
watching the NFL play-offs, even though the Broncos played horribly in the
second round against the Colts. I did my third three-day juice cleanse with some
ladies at Pure Barre and it felt amazing to reset my body! I received some of
the coolest oils I have: the 12 Oils in Ancient Scripture kit, which is made up
of oils from the Bible and oils that Jesus used in his teaching and healings.
My family went on a cross-country ski trip and I took my little sister and
Maddi, Scott’s girlfriend, to Pure Barre. My mom and I drove to Salt Lake City
so I could volunteer at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City for the second
year. I worked at the Park City Library again and had such a blast. I didn’t
see as many films as the year before, but I saw so many celebrities, which was
incredible. When I got home, I had to take my kittens—Buddy, Jovie, and
Susie—back to the humane society, where they almost immediately got adopted. I
wrapped up January with my sister Cady when we went to see the final two
episodes of season 4 of Game of Thrones in IMAX. That was so cool.
Favorite Post of the Month: Ten on Ten :: January 2015
February
Of course February kicked off, quite literally, with the
Superbowl. I was less than excited about who was playing, but the Seahawks
seemed like the lesser of two evils. I started a small group with some girls
from church to discuss the workbook that my church published to go along with
their first series of the year, Basic Training. Doing that was truly the
highlight of my month. Valentine’s Day was pretty low key for me. My dad sent
me a rose and a poem, I went to a Galentine’s Day party at Jump City with some
girlfriends, and spent Valentine’s Day night at church and then hanging out
with friends from church at my favorite cidery. The next day, my dad and step
mom got a new puppy and named him Tango. Colorado got its dose of
#snowpocalypse2015 and my dad turned 66. I hosted my 3rd annual
Oscars party and it was a blast! It has quickly become one of my favorite
traditions. At Pure Barre Boulder, I took my 250th class and was
offered a new opportunity: to take over the studio’s newsletter! I started a 28
day teatox toward the end of the month and also completed my first month in my
new 5 Year Journal, which I absolutely love! Just before the release of season
3, I jumped on the House of Cards bandwagon and truly binged the first two
seasons, watching all 26 episodes in less than 5 days. On the last day of the
month, I decided to get a drastic new hair cut.
Favorite Post of the Month: Sundance :: Days 1 thru 5
March
I jumped head first into March with some new goals, including
starting a prayer journal and writing in it once a day. I kept up with House of
Cards and finished season 3 quickly. I took my first 6:30AM class at Pure Barre
and enjoyed it a whole heck of a lot more than I thought I would! On the first
Saturday of the month, I headed up to Camp IdRaHaJe near Bailey, CO for a quick
getaway (actually called The Getaway) with some other young adults from church.
It ended up being just the 18 hours away that I needed and it was made even
more meaningful that it was at the camp where I became a Christian 12 and a
half years earlier. I finally got some letters from my little brother at Basic
Training in South Carolina (dated in February) and I even splurged and bought
myself a new purse that I’m still obsessed with. It was about time. March
Madness, one of my favorite times of the sporting year kicked off and my family
and I headed to the east coast for Scott’s graduation at Fort Jackson. It was
so great to be able to spend a few days with him, see the base where he had
lived for 10 weeks and drop him off at Fort Eustis in Virginia before heading back
to Colorado. I took my second-ever class at Beat Cycle and helped Starbucks
celebrate the 20 year anniversary of the frappuccino with the Birthday Cake
Frapp (yum!) and began counting down to the Game of Thrones premiere. My
sisters and I, with help from my nephew, celebrated my mom’s birthday with a
delicious brunch. Most of my free time was spent catching up on television
(what’s new?) and hanging out with friends!
Favorite Post of the Month: 3rd Annual Academy AwardsParty
April
I decided to start the She Reads Truth Bible in a Year reading
plan on April 1st and immediately got really into it. I went out
dancing with some girl friends from church, which was an absolute blast, and
celebrated Easter in the same weekend. I spent time with my sisters and missing
my little brother, especially on his 20th birthday, who was at Fort
Eustis, Virginia. One weekend, I ran point at the Beauty and Balance Weekend at
Pure Barre and it couldn’t have gone better. I put a lot of work into the event
leading up to it and my bosses were in New York City teaching at the national
event, so it was amazing to do a good job! I threw my third annual Game of
Thrones viewing party, even bigger and better than ever before. I anxiously
awaited the release of the NFL schedule, celebrated Earth Day by recycling and
posting on Instagram, got sicker than I’ve been in a while, and took pictures
for my little sister before her junior prom. I auditioned to be a teacher at
Pure Barre, and while I didn’t get it, the owners said I surprised them with
how well I did and encouraged me to audition again next time, which is more
than I could have asked for! My dad decided to play hookie from work one day
and take me and my sisters to Denver for brunch at our favorite place, Snooze,
and a visit to the Denver Art Museum. It was such a great day and a great wrap
on the month.
Favorite Post of the Month: Game of Thrones Season 5 Party
May
I had been looking forward to May 1st for quite some
time, because it meant the arrival of the 2015 spring women’s retreat at my
church. I drove up with Tia and Cheryl and I came back a changed woman. It was
one of the most incredible weekends of my life.
I skipped out on Cinco de Mayo celebrations, as per usual, but I did
assist my dad in a jury trial that day. It was a pretty cool experience,
helping to pick the jury, I gotta say. Colorado got hit with another weeklong
rainstorm, which caused flooding in some places, but it wasn’t as bad as
September 2013, probably because of the damage that still remains from that
flood. My sisters and I took my mom to afternoon tea at the St. Julien hotel in
Boulder and it was so much fun. Afternoon tea has become something of a
Mother’s Day tradition for us and this was my favorite way to do it so far. On
Mother’s Day, I had to work another special event at Pure Barre, but then my
mom and I went to see Avengers 2: Age of Ultron and I wrapped up the day with a
casual Game of Thrones watch party, as became the weekly tradition during
season five. I celebrated with some
friends who had just graduated from CU and Colorado continued to be gloomy and
rainy. My mom completed the remodel on my new bathroom so I was able to move
into my new space. We kicked off summer with a big party at a hangar for Merge
and I had a low-key Memorial Day, without any red, white, and blue, or burgers.
I played laser tag again for the first time in about fifteen years and I got
another haircut.
Favorite Post of the Month: 12 Months of Budgeting {No LookingBack}
June
I bought a Fitbit at the beginning of June and it immediately
changed my life! Merge started the Summer Nights series and I attended a
training to become a Merge leader. My sisters and I celebrated my oldest
sister’s birthday at a new restaurant in town before I went out in downtown
Denver to a speakeasy. I attended an open house at my brother-in-law’s fire
department and got to see him in action for the first time. My cousin’s
daughter had her first birthday party and I hung out with Ashley the last few
times before she moved to Oregon for grad school. We went out for Tia’s
birthday and I took my last Pure Barre class from my friend Jessica. My sisters
and I headed down to the Denver go to brunch at Snooze at Union Station and
then to visit my grandparents’ headstone at Fort Logan National Cemetery. I got
to dogsit for a friend and spent the weekend hanging out with his dog Jordy. I
got together with some friends to watch the Game of Thrones season 5 finale and
wore my “House Stark” shirt for the occasion. On the 16th, I picked
up a new trio of foster kittens and named them Dandelion, Lil’ Boo, and Red in
honor of the third season of Orange is the New Black. I also won a bet on the NBA Finals that day! A few days later, I
accepted a new position at Pure Barre Boulder and started to make arrangements
to go full time at the studio in early July. It was literally a dream come
true! I hung out with Merge at a beautiful lake house for the weekly activity
and then interviewed for a position as a Merge leader a few days later. We celebrated Father's Day with a BBQ at my dad's house, Skyping my little brother from Virginia, then I met up with a friend to celebrate her engagement and my new job! I ended the month dog sitting and preparing to wrap up my job with my dad's law office.
Favorite Post of the Month: Ten on Ten :: June 2015
July
I kicked off July with one major step: I started using colored pens in my planner! (That was seriously huge for me. Now I can't imagine going back.) I had my last day at my dad's office on July 2nd, when we celebrated with a big sushi lunch. I hung out with friends over the July 4th weekend and even took my 300th class are Pure Barre Boulder on July 4th. On the 7th, I had my first day as the full-time studio manager at Pure Barre Boulder and I could not have been happier! At the end of the week, my little brother came home for leave before shipping off to South Korea where he would be stationed for a year. We celebrated with lots of family activities, like BBQs, Rockies games, and ice cream! I took my OITNB kittens in for surgery, where two of them got adopted right away. I went on a rafting trip with Merge, where I rafted for the first time ever and also got a horrible sunburn from wearing capris in the raft. (A tan line I still have to this day!) I got Lil' Boo back for a little while so she could recover from a cold and my cousin and her daughter came to visit. "Why y'all got cats?" Kenzie wanted to know! I enjoyed my Mondays off by hanging out with friends and getting outside to explore Colorado. I dogsat again and I went down to Colorado Springs to go to brunch at the world famous Broadmoor Hotel with my dad, step mom, and sister. I even got my guy friends to go to Pure Barre with me, even though I got a speeding ticket on the way there.
Favorite Post of the Month: 300 Classes, 2 Years, & 1 New Job
August
I kicked off the month by babysitting overnight so their mom could do the Boulder Ironman. I went to the Boulder County Fair, which is always in town around my birthday. I did SUP Yoga on the Boulder Reservoir and had an absolute blast, despite falling in. I baked cupcakes with my sister for a wedding I was going to and then headed up to Grand Lake for my birthday weekend and the wedding. I got to hang out with my mom and sister all weekend and celebrate two of my friends and their beautiful love and my 25th birthday. (Plus I made amazing pumpkin spice cupcakes!) I hung out with friends, taking advantage of all the amazing patios and rooftops Colorado summers have to offer. My sister and I celebrated our birthdays with the family at The Med, a Boulder staple that I had never been to before. We had our first--and apparently only--book club meeting where we discussed Fight Club. I had my first (of three) fantasy football drafts and started a new side job picking up kids from school two days a week. Merge kicked off for the new semester and I got to continue volunteering as a leader. At the end of the month, I had to interview a handful of girls for front desk positions at work, which was an awesome experience, especially since I did all of it myself! I got to practice Pure Barre's new Platform class with some of the teachers after hours, which was awesome to get a sneak peek and one-on-one classes at the same time. We had another Bring on the Men class at the studio and I planned for a big month of September at work. I ended the month with my apparently annual pedicure and a date with my mom to see The Book of Mormon, which did not disappoint!
September
It was a busy month at work. I was still in the midst of interviewing and training for the front desk openings, we did our annual Bingo challenge, and we were one of the few test studios to launch Pure Barre Platform early. I had my second fantasy football draft, where I actually went to a draft party, ate pizza, drank beer, and participated in my first-ever auction draft. I'm pretty sure that makes me "one of the guys". On Labor Day, I voluntarily woke up with the sun to try Orange Theory for the first time before work. After work, I dragged my friend to brunch since she dragged me to Orange Theory. We decided to give up sugar starting that day. We figured the 7th was perfect since I had started my job on July 7th (and started tracking my food and exercise more closely) and she was getting married on November 7th. I watched the NFL kick off with the kiddos I was babysitting, then got to go to the first CU game of the season two days later. We had our staff BBQ that afternoon, which is always a blast to get together with people outside of the studio. In September I just worked a lot and watched a lot of football. I did SUP Yoga for the last time of the season at night on Union Reservoir, which was actually pretty chilly. Over the first day of fall, I spent three days in Telluride by myself. I actually love traveling by myself. It would have been nice to split the driving with someone since it's an 8+ hour drive, but all the fall colors and the beautiful town itself made it all worth it. On my way home, I almost died a few times when I accidentally went over Ophir Pass to see the Million Dollar Highway. September ended with our first-ever Tuck in the Dark class at Pure Barre where we illuminated the studio with black lights and wore glow sticks during class. It was so much fun!
October
It's always good when someone in the family has a birthday, because that usually means Snooze! We went to Snooze to celebrate Sam's 18th birthday, then I went to the CU-Oregon game with my dad, my sister, and my brother-in-law. Interestingly enough, I lost my driver's license that night, October 3rd. The only other time I had lost it was on October 3rd the previous year when I went to a Vanilla Ice concert at The Grizzly Rose. I picked up new kittens from the humane society and named them Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde. I started playing trivia again, this time with some friends from church, but it was good to be able to put all my useless knowledge to use again! I got to see Bernie Sanders speak at CU, marking the first time I had ever seen a politician speak, even though I had opportunities to hear both Barack and Michelle Obama. We said "See You Later" to my cousin and her little family as they joined the other half of my extended family in the Pacific Northwest, chalking up one more reason to visit Seattle and Portland, as if there weren't enough already! I spent a Sunday morning in Breckenridge with Sam and her boyfriend Walker, once again seeing the beautiful fall colors and exploring one of Colorado's many mountain towns. My friend JP finally paid off our NBA Finals bet by treating me to a sushi dinner in Downtown Denver. It was definitely worth the wait! I looked back on some 2014 family photos to realize that exactly 1 year before, my mom had insisted I wear a Pure Barre tank in our sibling picture to signify our passions and interests. It was crazy to think that a year later I would be working for the studio full time and loving Pure Barre more than ever! And speaking of Pure Barre (because do I ever speak of anything else?), I got more guy friends to join me in class, which is always a blast. We had a Merge Community Night at Anderson Farms where we had a bonfire, drank hot chocolate, raced pedal carts, and failed at the corn maze. The studio had Pink Week in honor of breast cancer awareness. I boycotted Halloween, as usual, but kinda sorta dressed up as Adele for the Merge costume contest. (And obviously didn't win.)
November
November 2015 will go down as the month I spent with celebrities! But let's start at the beginning. I had the opportunity to do some consulting for another fitness studio in town and just talk to them about what my role was and how they could incorporate that into their business. That was pretty cool. During the first weekend of the month, I went on the second Merge Getaway, this time to "beautiful" Como, Colorado. While it wasn't quite the experience I was looking for, I had the opportunity to meet new people and get to know old friends even better. I wouldn't trade that for the world! The following weekend, I headed to LA with my family. I was beyond excited to visit the city for the first time and to attend the wedding of a family friend! We did some sightseeing that Saturday, hitting up the Hollywood Sign, Rodeo Drive, In-N-Out, Santa Monica Pier, and the Urban Lights at LACMA. The next day, we attended the beautiful wedding. Also in attendance was the cast of iCarly. But even without some celebrity spottings, it was one of the most beautiful and magical (as in Lord of the Rings magical!) weddings I've ever attended. The next day, one of my friends sent me a link to a People.com article covering the wedding, which used my Instagram photo. My Instagram totally blew up. It was crazy and overwhelming! We had a turkey drive with Merge, where maybe 100 young adults (18 to 26) bought 230 turkeys to donate to Sister Carmen for Thanksgiving. Incredible! I went down to Colorado Springs with some friends for Friendsgiving, which was of course a blast! We had a Merge leader Thanksgiving dinner, which included tears of laughter and delicious food. And since I had to work (which included an amazing staff Platform class taught by Platform Queen Herself, Mish), I had a Thanksgiving feast with more friends. We spent the rest of the day watching football, like you're supposed to do. I did some light Black Friday shopping...I can't help it, I work on a mall. On the first Sunday of Advent, I even started decorating for Christmas. November 29th might be a record. I watched the Broncos hand the Patriots their first loss of the season with some friends. The next night, I attended Wesley Woodyard's 6th Annual Toy Drive for his 16 Ways Foundation. I got to meet Brandon Marshall and Demariyus Thomas, along with some other Broncos--past and present. It was so awesome! We got to tour the Downtown Aquarium without anyone else there and I ended up winning Broncos tickets from the silent auction. All while helping kids in the area!
December
We got our Christmas tree on December 1st, which I know is another record. Even if it wasn't up in the house or decorated for another few days. The next day, I broke my glasses first thing in the morning and had to wear my glasses without one earpiece for over a week. Thankfully they stayed on my face without it and were even straight! I set up my third annual hot chocolate bar to relax after a crazy day at work and decorated the Pure Barre lobby for the holidays. We had our staff holiday party at the studio early in the month. We all wore pajamas (or even onesies) and watch Magic Mike XXL and exchanged white elephant gifts. It was so much fun...even the clean up wasn't half bad! The next day, I went to Snooze for brunch and attended the Denver Parade of Lights that night, just like I did the first Saturday in December 2014. The next day, we decorated up our Christmas tree and watch the Broncos game. On December 10th, my sister Rachel got pinned for nursing school. The following Saturday, she graduated from Regis after completing a less-than-one-year accelerated program. So proud of her! Pure Barre Boulder celebrated our five year anniversary with a three day celebration. I went to my third-ever Broncos game after winning tickets at the silent auction in November, so I took Rachel. We had a blast! The Merge leaders had their annual Christmas party which included all-you-can-eat Italian food, ridiculous white elephant gifts, cozy hoodies, and wonderful people. I went to a paint-you-own-pottery place with some friends, which will hopefully be the beginning of a new tradition. We shut the place down and laughed till our cheeks hurt. I celebrated people I love graduating and went to the Christmas Eve service almost a week before Christmas Eve. My stepmom, little sister, and I had our annual afternoon of frosting cookies before I went over to my grandparents for a Christmas party and the Broncos game. My little brother came home for Christmas, which was absolutely wonderful and made our traditional Christmas Eve even better. I got to spend lots of quality family time over Christmas and managed to squeeze in watching the previous six Star Wars movies. 2015 closed out with a bitterly cold week, some slow days at work, and lots of great times with friends and family.
Favorite Post of the Month: Ten on Ten :: December 2015
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