So sweet.

G just texted me the cutest thing I've received from him in a while:

"You're my penguin. I'll give you a smooth pebble."

I love it!

Have you seen the The Pebble and the Penguin?

Puchase of the weekend:

Cardholder by Paperchase. (They carry this line at Borders book store. Tons and tons of it!)

$3 well spent for my office key fob and bus pass.

I guess I was wrong...

And I'm pretty damn sure this was intentional.

AWESOME. HI KATIE!!!

At least I can admit when I'm wrong. Your brother is still waiting for a well deserved, sincere apology from you.

I think you owe me one too, but I don't want anything from you.

----------------
Now playing: Will Hoge - Even If It Breaks Your Heart
via FoxyTunes

Only in downtown Denver...

WTF mate?

When G's sister lived with us... things in the kitchen disappeared.

First it was our plastic thingy that was used to cover plates so that they didn't splatter. She decided to make popcorn ON the damn thing, melt it, and throw it in the trash. Did she tell us she did that? No. How did I find out? It was in the trash. Did she replace it? Heck no.

Next it was our Japanese rice bowls (that we used for ice cream). She got all jacked up on a handful of Xanax (WINNNNER!!!) one night, stumbled into the kitchen for ice cream, grabbed and dropped all four bowls, broke two, took one of the non-broken ones and put the other three back. Did she replace those? Not heck no, hell no.

Next it was a measuring cup. Who knows where or why it disappeared, but it did, and I don't lose stuff like that. I'm an organized freak, and G doesn't cook or bake, so naturally, I blame her.

So because we were missing a measuring cup, I bought a new set. It was a nice, orange, Kitchen Aid set. All of a sudden, one was missing again. WTF??? Again, like before, I blamed G's sister.

Today, I was checking out her Twitter pics... and guess what I see? My missing orange measuring cup!

Seriously? Seriously! Why don't you go buy your own $3.99 set at Ross?

I'm sorry, but I HATE this girl and she will never, ever be family to me, ever. I will never forgive her for anything she has done to G or their family. She's a shitty sister and an even shittier family member.

Oh yeah, what else? When she decided to just "take off" and not tell us she was moving out she decided to take our towels that she had been using while she was at the house.

El cheapo. Those weren't yours either.

A new goal, like usual.

Twice in two weeks I managed to run two six-mile runs (well one was 5.5).

Still, these were the first times I've chosen to run that distance without being registered for a 10k with a timing chip.

I would like to complete two to three six-mile runs per week.

We'll see how that works out.

You can follow my runs at:

The Nike+ website.

My favorite thing about the Nike+ website? You CAN'T lie about your run. You have to run it to log it. I love it! What kind of sucks is that for a while, because I don't have the Nike+ shoes for the chip, it didn't work accurately for a while. So, a few runs have horrible average times and for a long time I just didn't use the darn thing. It says I've run 50-some miles, but I swear, I've run more... a lot more. I finally bought a pouch that holds the chip and velcros under your laces. It works like a charm, and luckily, after mapping my run and such, I've realized that I don't need to calibrate my chip... it's accurate!

Realizing this again for the umpteenth time...

I get along better with men than I do women.
I befriend men a lot easier than I do women.

Why?

For the most part, women are complicated and dramatic, catty, snotty, and backstabbing. (Yes, I realize I am a female and am not exempt to irrational behavior.)

Where have I come to this realization again?

At work, among co-workers, of all places.

A certain group likes to talk about one person because they’re convinced she talks about them behind their back.

Who cares? Does that make it better? She does it, so you’re going to talk about her because you don’t like the idea of her talking about you? Now how in the H-E-double hockey sticks does that make sense?

Gah, I like these girls. They are nice and friendly and funny and they make me laugh. But of course, I’m becoming increasingly weary of what I say and who I say it to, because how do I know they’re not talking about me? I don’t. I’m starting to keep my distance and this is how is usually goes.

This past weekend I hung out with one of my male co-workers, his best friend from high school, and their friends from work (United Air). We went hiking, had lunch, and sat by the creek in Boulder. Why would I prefer to hang out with guys over girls? Because it makes for an easygoing day with no drama, no crap talking about people, just talking about everything else except other people.

G was a little concerned about me hanging out with a male co-worker, but like I told him, when I call this guy at work, he answers “Hey dude,” and I’m more than okay with that. That’s actually how I prefer things to be. I am his buddy. Want to know what he talks to me about? Girls he likes! Ha! (And no baby, that doesn't include me.)

Anyway – I have one good girlfriend here in Colorado. And thank God, she is normal! She’s one of the most level headed girlfriends I have (and T.L. and Ana). There’s no drama with her. And like we were discussing the other evening, we’re pretty sure a lot has to do with age. The girls at work are only a couple years younger, but it shows, and it’s weird to notice that. It makes me feel old-er.

I just can’t do catty. I hate gossip. I just can’t handle it. I’d just rather overlook everyone’s flaws, give them the benefit of the doubt, and be friends with everyone, but it doesn’t work out that way. I’m pretty sure, that although there are people here that DO NOT know me by any means, that there is something negative that’s said about me amongst these people. It just sucks.

It’s annoying and I don’t understand it.

I know I have my flaws and my moments of being a typical woman. However, I prefer not to be that way and to not surround myself with people that don't care about the way they're acting or what they're saying, and about whom.

Like usual, I’d rather befriend men over women. Lesson learned, again.

My Wood Bee

BeeButt, originally uploaded by Musheroo.

Hiking in Caribou, CO today at Caribou Ranch, I put my fears aside to take this picture. I HATE bees... even Wood Bees.

G's best friend's significant others.

G's best friends are Jeff, Chris, and Eric.

Jeff is dating Kristin.

Chris is married to Kristy.

Eric is dating Kristyna.

And I am Kristen.

I think it's entertaining.

Just like children.

They do as you please when you have something they want. For them it was "cookies."

Ohh baby.

My friend K is pregnant! (I found out a week or two ago, but I rarely have time to write anything anymore.)

I am so, so happy for her and her husband. And her little guy who's going to be a big brother!

Babies are so exciting!

I can't wait to hopefully get the opportunity to take some awesome pictures of him or her, and create the birth announcements for K.

So excited. So excited. I love babies. So excited.

Steamboat Springs

Last weekend G, K, J and I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday relaxing in Steamboat Springs, CO.

That city is so amazingly beautiful and quaint. The sky is super blue, the air is clean, and there are too many Aspen trees to count.

We lucked out and got to stay at The Highmark. We were quite happy with the thought of staying in a two bedroom, two bathroom unit, but when we arrived, we were pleasant suprised with a four bedroom, three and a half bathroom suite. Wow. I think my jaw hit the floor.

What did we do there?

We had a phenominal dinner at Cafe Diva. J picked out some great wine, as usual.

We explored. We took the gondola up the mountain and hiked around a while. If you watch the slide show, you'll see a picture where I'm laughing and dusting off my butt. I fell down the hill. Haha.

We ate. I really liked Beau Jo's Pizza. They give you honey to dip your crust in at the end. YUM.

We spent an evening at Strawberry Park Hot Springs, which I might add is clothing optional after dark and we certainly went after dark. We sat in the nice hot water, watched shooting stars, and watched the moon come up.

I think we all enjoyed our visit so much, we're trying to plan a trip back for my birthday in January. I would really, really enjoy that and I have my fingers crossed. It's hard getting a commitment for something like that so far in advance, but whent he room rate is $1600 a night during ski season, they want a deposit to hold your reservation.

I can't wait to go back.

I'm a work in progress...

This has taken me hours to get up here... and so, for now, I give up!

I'm off to make some homemade Pad Thai!!! YUM!

I think today marks day 44 until G and I have been dating five years? I think...

I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but there was a reason ‘five years’ meant something to me. It’s because at a point in time, probably when we had been dating for about three years, G told me “Don’t worry, I promise I won’t make you wait more than five years,” referring to proposing to me.

See, he put the time constraint on himself, not me. He’s known that I’ve been ready to get married for years now. However, with our five-year mark creeping up on us so quickly, it’s really had me thinking.

The wheels have been turning and I have been stressed out. I’ve been running thoughts through my head like, “There must be a reason why he hasn’t proposed yet," "If there is, I’d like to know why," and "I do NOT want him to propose just because he put a time limit on himself or he's 'supposed' to.”

You’re probably wondering why I took those words to heart. It’s because he did it first. I could’ve shrugged it off as a joke, but he’s mentioned it on more than one occasion which has led me to believe that he wasn’t blowing sunshine and butterflies up my butt. He meant what he said.

I guess what it’s come down to for me is the realization of ‘If he’s not ready, I’m not ready.’ I’ve run this through my head a million times, but I don’t want to be engaged or get married just because he ‘thinks’ he should and he ‘thinks’ it’s the right time. I want him to know what he wants and be sure of the decision he's making. This is nothing to be weary about or to question after the fact.

Maybe he wants to get married… maybe it’s just not to me? After dating for almost five years, it’s a hard thing to admit. I’ve been so confused lately and I ask myself “If G doesn’t propose by the time we’ve been dating for five years, why not, and what the heck are we doing?”

I’m simply done playing “house.” Either way, I’m torn by either decision he makes. If he does propose by our five-year mark, I’m left wondering “Is he doing this just because he said he would,” or “Is he doing this because he really wanted to wait until we had been dating for five years?” If he doesn’t propose by our five-year mark, I’m left wondering “Why didn’t he,” “Does he not want this with me,” “Does he not know what he wants,” and “Does he want this with someone else other than me and just doesn’t know how to say it?”

We share a lot. We share almost five years together. We share a cross-country move from California to South Carolina; Four apartments; Two dogs; The passing of my grandpa and the suicide of my former boss; Family illness; Hundreds of pictures; Thousands of memories; A move from South Carolina to Colorado; Our first house; Our first home; Friends; Family; And probably 90 movies at the movie theaters and another 20 at home (it's our thing and our 'date night').

I’m really confused, stressed, and down in the dumps. We had an excellent time this past weekend in Steamboat Springs, CO (which I will try to blog about soon) that sort of took my mind off of my woes, but not completely. My mind is in a million places, but my heart is in one.