Colorado 2012

Back in December I had to do a site visit for an upcoming spring meeting and poor, me the location was Aspen, CO. We've been discussing this since about September but since fall is our busiest season I just couldn't get away to do a site visit until mid-December. Well, Mark has been hooked on snowboarding so do you think he'd let me go at this alone? I think not. We planned it so we'd have a couple of play time too. We arrived at The St. Regis Aspen and were whisked away to our suite!

They had just gotten dumped on, about 15 inches, the night before so it was fresh snow and the city was covered. It was beautiful!

The property is GOR-GEOUS! I met with my hotel contact that afternoon and had a nice dinner at the Chef's Club by FOOD & WINE.  The next morning we were able to go skiing/snowboarding at Snowmass. If you remember, the first time I skied I broke my leg, the first time snowboarding I broke my tailbone, this my friends was my first time back on the slopes. I decided to go for skis again this time. It worked. I actually felt like I knew what I was doing. It was a success people, NO BROKEN BONES!

That afternoon I tagged along with the contact from the destination management company. She took me around the quaint little city looking at several dining and private event options.

The destination was beautiful and I knew it would be a real treat for our guests. We finished our stay in Aspen with a photo shoot. Then we had a nice drive to Vail to visit Mark's college buddy.

We arrived in Vail in time to each lunch with Mark's friend and visit for a while. We arrived at our hotel late in the afternoon so just decided to check out the area and get fitted for our skis/board so we'd be ready to go the next day.

Ready for second day on the slopes - again successful! We did more than a 1/2 day at Beaver Creek and I was so ready to get down that mountain. Mark went on ahead and poor JC decided to get m down. Well we realized there were several bunny slopes closed due to lack of snow so that made our trek much more difficult. After getting down parts of the mountain and building up my courage again we finally made it down, just in time for fresh, warm cookies. We both were completely worn out!

                                            

Mark's goal for this trip was for me to enjoy it again so I would want to go back more often. I think his plan may have worked. We're already talking about our next ski trip.

This was a great trip to take in mid-December, a time we usually don't travel. It was so pretty to see all the snow and Christmas lights! Can't wait for our next snow-cation!

Homeland

We are addicted.........to Homeland.

We were off for several days around Christmas and New Year's so we decided to start the TV series, Homeland. Well much like our 24 and Friday Night Lights craze, we finished 2 seasons in about 12 days.

We are so hooked and CANNOT wait for Season 3!

More Christmas Parties

We continued through the holiday season with our company holiday party held at the Wildhorse Saloon. This was the first year my our department at work planned this event and I must say it was outstanding. We had over 700 attendees, gave away lots of prizes, had a photo booth, Santa and line dancing.

The weekend before Christmas we attended the Annual Sonn Tacky Sweater Christmas Party. We had a fun time of Christmas Pictionary and I’m honored to say I held the award for Most Bedazzeled Sweater for the 2^nd year in a row!  

Now I can't take all the credit for this one.....I didn't get a chance to get to Goodwill in early December so I borrowed Ashley's sweater from last year, which was obviously a good one!  :)

2012 Rogers Annual Christmas Party

Rogers Christmas Party was a blast...as usual!!  It's the best time to have all of our closest friends in the same house!

Dirty Santa was a hit too. This lovely necklace and TN snowman were among the best gifts! 

Brian's gift was this pirate ship that he and Laila had put it together.

I think a little daddy/daughter time was the best gift to come in that little red bag!

Love these girls! And don't even think about challenging us to Michael Jackson Wii Dance!

I'm just sayin'. 



Run, Run, Run

I've been needing a new pair of running shoes and I was very interested in trying out Fleet Feet. Well, they had me at hello. This nice lady, Diane, measured my feet, watching me walk, watched me run and then pulled a few pairs of shoes for me to try. She gave me lots of information I never about my own feet. I could really tell the difference in the shoes she put me in. I even got to take them for a test run outside before buying them. So I walked away with a pair of Asics.

So I ran about 20 miles in them and they started to hurt my feet. I wasn't sure if it was something I needed to get used to or if was in fact the shoe. So I called FF and they told me to bring them in. I did, I had a different guy, Justin I think, measure my foot and watch me walk. He brought out 3 different pairs of shoes for me try. I have been running in Nike's so we started there. Man did they feel good. I could really tell a difference already, now this is what I was used to! I tried the others on, just to be sure. And bingo, I feel in love and brought them home. I haven't ran much in them yet but so far, so good. I was so happy that I could just return them and get exactly what I needed.

This is the new pair!

We ran in the Borodash on Thanksgiving and just did the Bridge to Bridge 4 mile run. We are loving it - well I'm loving it a bit more than Mark. :)

California

My friend, Laura, her hubby and new baby were planning to move from NYC to LA sometime this fall. Well when I realized I had a conference in Anaheim I was excited, hoping I'd get to extend my stay and spend some time with them. And I got to do just that.

We had a fun weekend just catching up. We did got to Beverly Hills to see a few friends and we made a trip to Hermosa Beach but other that it was pretty low key.

And this place is NOT it's all cracked up to be but now the Pink Taco - DELISH!

And I probably had the best cupcake EVER which was from the Frosted Cupcakery!

Thanks for a great tip, can't wait to visit again soon.

Oh and I did make Harper belly laugh - she loves me. I apologize for the video being sideways, I don't know how to change it.

Snow Bunny

We're preparing for a trip to Aspen in so when I saw these boots at Target I had to get them.

Love them!

B-I-N-G-O

I've been wanting to go play Bingo at the Kentucky state line for a few months now. Mark was on board, just not as excited as I was. I couldn't find a lot of information about it online but when I called I always got the same recording. They have games Friday and Saturday night as well as Sunday afternoon. We decided to go last Friday night and we invited our neighbors to go with us.  We had the BEST time! It's literally AT the state line! We immediately saw the BINGO sign on the left, pulled in and went for it. We walked inside and were directed upstairs. We first went into the room where people were betting on horse races around the world then we found bingo. It was a huge hall, electronic boards and this guy that was calling letters/numbers VERY fast. We went to the window and paid $12 per person for every game  they were playing that night and our very own dauber.

At first it was VERY overwhelming! You have 9 cards on a sheet and two sheets, so you're playing 18 cards at a time. You're so busy concentrating on the letters/numbers he's calling it's hard to remember to look and see if you even have a bingo. I was so frustrated when someone would call Bingo. I felt with just another round or so I would have it. None of us won but we did have fun. Thank goodness for the cute little young couple sitting next to us. Yes, the majority of people were older but I'm not sure we were the youngest in the hall.

So when we were leaving we saw another bingo hall across the street. We then realized we were at Kentucky Downs (hence the horse race betting) and the one across the street was Kentucky State Line Bingo, where we had originally planned to go. We by far picked the better hall.

So we are now trying to plan our next visit, we're sure one of us will win. Oh and the prizes, each game it was a prize of at least $200 up to $1,000.

Color Run and Auburn vs. Vandy

We have been trying to get those yahoos from AL up to Nashville and well it finally happened. The gang arrived late Friday night. Saturday night we got up and went to cheer on Auburn as they played Vandy. Well our cheering didn't do much good but we played the part anyway. I kind of like this blue and orange get up.

We continued our day with lounging and watching football but not without a stop at Krispy Kreme.

Sunday morning was what it was all about.....The Color Run! We got up bright and early and was ready to be plastered with color by the 9am. It truly is the Happiest 5K on the Planet. We had a blast, especially at the party afterwards where EVERYONE has packets of color and they slinging them EVERY-WHERE!

All nice and clean......but not for long.

And this is how we cleaned ourselves off.

Thank you guys for making the trip - we had a great time!

We are planning to participate in 2013 but in the ATL, watch out!!

PCB - Rogers Family Vacay

We rented a condo in Panama City with Mark's family during the kids' fall break. It was such a nice time to be at the beach. It wasn't so crowded, it wasn't hot and it was just the right time.

We did your typical beach activities, slept late, layed on the beach, played in the ocean, napped, walked on the beach, went to dinner, played games, looked for grabs and then did. it. all. over. again. We did get to take in the Priate Festival too. I do love a good festival but this one eh, not so much.

There's nothing like sunsets on the beach.

Rogers Family

Last day at the beach

Indy

I was in Indianapolis for a conference the first week of October. Again, this was a city I'd never been to. The only thing I knew about Indy was the Indy 500 and the Colts. And well.......that's still all I know. We stayed at the JW Marriott and it was great, but you know, I do love a Marriott. It's located right in front of this very nice park where I ran every morning along the river. The scheduling is perfect at this conference, fun nights and not-so-early mornings. We didn't really get out into the city much so I wasn't able to really sight see. Oh well, I'm not just dying to go back but maybe my travels will take me back there again someday.

And really that's all I have to say about that........

After Indy I hopped on a plane to meet Mark and his family in Panama City Beach.

Boys II Men

Mark and I had a date night with Boyz II Men and the Nashville Symphony. We had never been to the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center for an event so we were very excited. And Boyz II Men, come on!

We find our seats, which are on the third balcony, right above the stage. We noticed there weren't any microphones on the stage and the program just mentioned the conducted and Boyz II Men music. The first song the orchestra plays is "Mama." They then started into another song, we began to think that maybe the group wasn't actually there but that they were just playing their music. We were disappointed that we had paid all this money just to see the symphony. Which don't get me wrong, it would have been great, it just wasn't what we had planned on.

So they continue to play for about an hour and we have a 15 minute intermission. At this point we are cracking up because we're with a bunch of blue hairs at the symphony. Well we get back to our seats and now there are 3 microphones. Still there are 4 people in the group so I'm thinking they may have a few instrumental soloists or something. Whatever, we decided to stick around. So again, the orchestra starts playing and still no group. Then finally...............mid-way through the second song here they come! Woohoo!

We grew up with Boyz II Men so we loved them because of that but then we have also grown to be a bigger fan of Shawn Stockman who was a celebrity judge on The Sing Off.

They sang all of their greatest hits well.............except for Motown Philly. It was certainly a more mellow concert without all of the production, etc. We kept waiting for them to rock out Motown Philly. It didn't happy but they still put on a great show.

We also got to meet the group backstage! They were awesome and what a fun date night with my love.

Labor Day on Lake Martin

Labor Day Weekend we headed south to Eclectic, AL to send some time at a friends house and some time on Lake Martin. We work wtih a few people who actually work remote out of their home in AL so they invited us to come spend the weekend. It was a MUCH longer drive than we expected, some of which we attribute to all the stops we made along the way but nonetheless we made it.

We spend some time jetskiing, skiing, tubing, floating, riding and oh man how fun and yet relaxing at the same time. I had never tried to ski but I think I needed just one more day and I would have gotten it. Now knee-boarding I'm a pro at that. Honestly, it was a blast!!!

This was pretty much how skiing went for me.....every time!

Mark on the other hand did a better job.

See how fun much fun I was having on the kneeboard!

We had a great time, hopefully we'll get an invite next summer! :)

 

Arrington Harvest Fest

Arrington Vineyards has become a favorite spot of ours. We have joined their wine club, I've worked with and become friends with one of the owners and we just enjoy the atmosphere and well the wine.  They held a Harvest Festival in August so we grabbed some friends, our picinics and made it a night.

The entire event benefitted Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Kix Brooks performed, they launched several hot air balloons, had special wine tastings and event tshirts. The weather was awesome and we couldn't have gotten a better seat!  The night was so much fun!

Doesn't get much better than this!

Our camp

Look at ALL the friggin' people. You can see there was still a bit of grass in the

"our camp" photo but that filled up fast.

St. Louis

Back in July I attended an educational conference, MPI's World Education Congress, in St. Louis. I had never been to STL so I was looking forward to seeing the arch. That was the only thing I even knew about STL, besides the Cardinals.

I participated in a 5K which was ran in the park around the arch. What a beautiful setting to to start the day.

There were several great sessions but I won't bore you with those details. One fun thing they incorporated into the meeting was a scavenger hunt type game, Goosechase.  It's an app you download onto your phone and the creators are setting up and adding missions of something you must take a picture of. Some things were relevant to the education, events, meals, etc. It was so much fun and being the competitive person I am I had to participate. Only two of us out of group did but we had a great time. We didn't win but it gave me a good sense of how I could use this for/during some of my meetings/events. I can't wait to try this out with our Marketing team during the holidays.

Being a conference of meeting planners they had to blow it out with some of the evening events too. The first night's welcome reception was at the Cardinal's stadium, and we were on the field! They had food truck catering, different entertainers, live music, games, tours of the locker room, photo opps, you could throw pitches in the bull pin and you could even get your picture made with the World Series trophy.

They also treated us to a great time at the City Museum which was a really cool place. I'd like to go back here one day. And I am NOT a museum person but this just let's your imagination run wild.

Can't wait for next year in Las Vegas!

Our First Experience at Aldi

I've seen and heard several people talking about Aldi lately and what a great deal they get on groceries.  One Sunday afternoon Mark and I decided to see what it was all about.  It goes a little something like this:

When we pulled up, I remembered that we were supposed to bring our own bags. but noticed I had forgotten them. Ok, no big deal, we'll still go in and see what this is about.

Mark walks up to get our buggy and realizes they are chained together.
Some lady saw Mark and told him you have to pay a quarter to get a cart. WTH?
Mark turned around and was ready to leave. Laughing, I encouraged to stay.

As we are cracking up because of the buggy incident, we clearly were Aldi virgins, we enter the store.

Immediately we realize everything is in warehouse pallets,again  no big deal. We also don't recognize any of the brands.

So we continued on just to see if there was something that we needed. We made it to the cereal and breakfast items. The breaking point was when we saw off-brand poptarts and Mark looked at me and said "honey, there are just some things you can't substitute." He is used to Kellogg's and was really ready to bail now.

Again, we continued on and actually did find some nacho chips, canned goods for soups, taco shells and a frozen pizza that Mark is still scared to eat.

We made it to the checkout and had a moment of panic when they didn't take plastic. We NEVER have cash but luckily this day, for some reason, we did. So we had just enough to pay for our groceries.

Remember we had no bags, so all this piddly stuff was just in our cart. We take our groceries out and load them into our truck where they were slung around the whole way home. We returned our cart AND got our quarter back.

The experience was nothing like we had imagined and I'm not sure I really saved anything on my grocery bill but it was worth the laughs and funny experience I shared with my husband.

And no wonder they can sell things for cheap, they have no expense of bags, they charge you to use the cart, no real stocking labor and no credit card fees.

Maybe one day we'll return and when we do we'll look like old pros.

We Go Together Like Crate & Barrel

While watching the Emmy's I took a phone call and Mark told me about a Crate & Barrel commercial that had our names in it. I didn't believe him and didn't really understand what he meant. I immediately checked youtube.com and sure enough we were on there! :)

This is the commercial that mentions us. I think we should get paid something for allowing them to use our names and well really our love for each other and how we go together like Crate &  Barrel. Ok, that may have been too deep.

The campaign is pretty cute, you should watch the others too.

It's just another reason we're meant to be! Love you honey!

Quick Update

Goodness, I'm not sure how I manage to get so behind in this blog world.....buuuuut, I do.

Here's a little quick update about what's been going on.

• A few months ago I heard this song, Lovin' You Is Fun on the radio and I just love it! It reminds me so much of the relationship Mark and I have. It IS fun loving him and we have soooo much fun together. He makes me laugh, he also makes me mad, he helps me, he supports me and every bit of it is fun. I'm so blessed to have such a great hubby!
• Mark got a dirt bike - against my will but by-golly he's like a giddy 16 year old getting a new car. He's ridden maybe 4 times and has already managed to fly over the handle bars and get a flat tire.

• Mom and Dad brought the boys up and we took them to Cheekwood to see the Treehouse exhibition. There were some neat things but I was a little disappointed by the so called treehouses. The boys did have a great time....and that's all that matters.

• Mark and I ran in the Tomato5K in East Nashville. You know I've been in this running mode so every fun run I can find I have to talk Mark into doing it with me. :)  We signed up for the Warrior Dash but they changed locations so we cancelled but whew, that would have been more of a challenge than a fun run. :)

• Since we bailed on the Warrior Dash we volunteered with Hands on Nashville and completed outdoor projects at McGavock Elementary School. We also played tourists and had dinner at Margaritaville with great friends we don't see often enough! 

                                     

• It is finally looking and feeling like fall around here! I'm loving it! I had a nice day at home with the windows open, putting my fall decorations out, reading and cooking. Why are weekends SOO short!?!?

• I bought these a few weeks ago and was excited that they were candy corn M&Ms. After tasting them I couldn't taste the candy corn - I later read the package again and they are White Chocolate but colored like candy corn. That was so misleading.

• I love hearing about all the new fall TV shows coming out. I've been watching Katie, Katie Couric's new daytime talk show. I love, love, love her which makes me like the show but she could use some better guests. I know it's only her second week but she better step it up if she wants to last.  We also love The Voice. It seems this year they've pre-screened the auditions more which was a great move - makes the show much better!