Haircut (pictures for mom)

Grabbin 2008 by the balls.

In the words of my dear friend Erin Weed, this year I'm "grabbin life by the balls". 2008 it is, I can feel it. The time for change and big things. I'm pretty excited.

I rang in the new year with Weed and her husband, Peter, and the crazy partiers of their neighborhood. It was a good night with a tasty keg, lots of champagne (oooh, headache), some Bobby Brown-erific music, and we were up until almost 4am, which is absurd. (Weed and I fell asleep on the couch, sitting up, holding beers in our hands, watching an Icelandic documentary. Weird, yes.) We slept in late today. Weed woke up feeling domestic and decided to make some tasty homemade doughnuts that were fabulous. Then we spent hours laying around and hashing out the year to come. I'm feeling pretty ambitious and like I'm really going into the new year with some direction and general hopefulness. So I spent my afternoon on the living room floor, next to the crackling fire, snipping and trimming and compiling my 2008 vision board. A work of art it is, and with some fine goals and intentions too.

Above you'll find pictures from the night's events. Clearly, there was a bit of chemical intoxication taking place, so forgive me if I look a tad distant. :) And of course, the photo of the one lone doughnut that was left over, until Peter got his hands on it, of course. Just call her Erin Crocker.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.

And it is, too. Christmas, T minus 6 days... and counting. It's going to be a fairly non-traditional Christmas for me this year, given that I am not going home for the first time in my history... but I think it'll be ok. I did some research last night and found a church that I think looks like it might be a good fit, so I plan to attend one.. or four.. Christmas Eve services. I'm not sure what Christmas Day will entail, but I think it's going to be a very quiet holiday, with lots of self-reflection and some attention to where I would like to be a year from now. Not so much in terms of "New Years Resolutions", because I don't think that those are particularly effective. It's going to be more like "life compass maintenance". I have a lot I want to accomplish in the next year- professionally AND personally. Now's the time.

On another note, see these pictures of my fabulous Christmas tree. I got a sweet deal on a 7.5 foot pre-lighted tree, which I am ever-so-proud of, and it fits perfectly in my apartment with the delightful vaulted ceilings. I then went on a Target shopping spree for pretty glittery ornaments, and overall I am quite happy with how it turned out. Beautiful.

Oh! And in other news, Jack and Kath were so generous as to give me an awesome TV for Christmas. So I've upgraded from the 12 inch I've been watching since June to a sweet 26 inch. And... now brace yourself... I get cable tomorrow. I haven't had cable since like, 2004. Get ready, world. I'm about to be back among the socially aware.

2008, here I come.

CAMPUSPEAK holiday party 2007

On Monday night, we had what may have been the funnest holiday party in the history of all companies' parties. It even rivaled my last AOT Christmas party where we ended up at a strip club in Crystal City. And let me tell you, that was one hell of a party.

We met at Brooks Steak House over in the Tech center, and the food seriously was incredible. Lots of seafood appetizers, the best, most tasty wine ever, and a filet that I didn't actually need a steak knife for. There were a lot of us there, too- the entire staff and interns, everyone's significant other (or in my case, I had my hot date Vance), and Tracy was there, David was in town, and Loretta came, which it was awesome to see her. The gift exchange rocked and we came out afterward to more snow falling. It was an awesome night.

Pictures include me with Courtney; me sitting on my delightful date, Vance's, knee; and me, Maggie, Vance, Courtney, and Darren by the Christmas tree.

remember me??

Wow........ I might be the worst blogger in the history of the world. It's just that it's been a fairly uneventful couple of months for me, and when nothing interesting is going on in my world I usually feel as though I shouldn't bore the few readers I have with uninteresting events from my world. Chances are, if you're reading this blog you're pretty damn bored to begin with, and reading about my 40+ hour work week, the condensed soup I eat for dinner, and my inability to keep my apartment impeccably clean are not going to help matters. So I spare you.

So looking back, the last I posted was early September. September wasn't particularly interesting for me after the speaker mania I spoke of earlier. It was lots of hot days, long hours in the office, and we wrapped things up with National Hazing Prevention Week on September 24-28. In other words, our speakers kicked into full gear, speaking every day for nearly two weeks on college campuses nationally, educating about hazing and its repercussions. I then flew home the end of the month for a surprise 30th birthday party for my great great grandbig and best friend, Holly. Holly's husband, Thomas, planned this major event with the help of my other best friend Kelly, and it was a very fun night. I hadn't seen my Fredericksburg friends in quite some time, so it was wonderful to catch up. Plus, my great grandbig Holly from California, and my grandbig Noelle from NJ were both there, so we had some great Alpha Phi time.

October was maybe even less interesting. I worked a lot. It was still pretty warm, nice weather. My baby sister turned 21 on October 29, which although I wasn't there to share it, was very cool. She's getting cooler and cooler the older she gets, so I'm really digging the aging process.

November was wild. I went to the Bacchus & Gamma General Assembly on November 8-11 in Atlanta, GA on behalf of CAMPUSPEAK. I spent lots of time that weekend exhibiting and chatting with peer educators and their advisors about the different speakers and services CAMPUSPEAK offers. It's always cool to get to meet some of the people I talk with so often on the phone, so that was good. A few of our speakers were there, and I got to spend lots of time with my buddy Erin Weed. Our final night in Atlanta my speaker buddy Kevin and I went to visit Lori (another speaker) and had some wine and a great dinner and some good catching up time. It's always fun when I get to connect with my speaker buddies since they all spend so much time on the road in a state of craziness. Then on my final day in Atlanta, I was done with the conference but I arranged for a late flight out so I could connect with my childhood friend- essentially a sister- Megan, who's living and going to school in Atlanta. It was SO good to catch up with her, even though I was super tired and we spent the afternoon bumming on her couch and watching movies. It's always good to see family.

I then returned to Denver long enough to frantically try to catch up in the office, do some laundry, repack, and then on Thanksgiving morning I flew out of Denver to head to Columbus, OH. My family- mom, dad, sister, Aunt Terry, and Uncle Curt- picked me up at the airport and we went back to my aunt and uncle's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so nice to see family and just chill around for a few days, even though I came down with a sinus infection and an ear infection that very day. I miss the fam very much so our days together are special. Mom, dad, and Alye left on Sunday and I stuck around until Tuesday, at which point I rented a car and drove down to Cincinnati for AFA's Annual Meeting for the week. This conference is wild and crazy- SO many people to meet!! The exhibit booth was insane and we did some trainings and other things while we were there, so I stayed very busy. I met a ton of people I've worked with over the phone quite a bit, which was awesome. Courtney and I roomed together, and David and T.J. were there, and then a ton of other speakers were around- Lori, Mari Ann, Rick, Ray, Travis, Ross, Erle, Mark, Joel... it was a good time. (See photos above: Courtney, Dan Kennedy, and me at the exhibit; me with Lori indulging in a bit of wine; Travis, me, and Ray at the bar one night.)

December thus far is off to an uninteresting start, except that I've been swamped at work. Today I spent the day getting some thank you notes written and stringing up Christmas lights around the apartment. I also met up with Shannon for brunch this morning, which was lovely. It has snowed all day and the roads are getting a little icky, so I am in for the night. But I'll be better about blogging. I miss everyone back home much, sending hugs and love!

Speaker Mania!

It's been a wild, crazy week in my world. Wonderful, but a little crazy nonetheless. It started with last Friday night, when Shannon last minute won twelve... count em, twelve... tickets to the Dierks Bentley/Gary Allan concert at Red Rocks. It was purely absurd, and we had a matter of hours to scrape together twelve people who could go up there that evening for the concert. It was so much fun, although purely exhausting. It rained a large portion of the concert, and Red Rocks is the only concert site in the world where rain almost makes it cooler. We had a blast.

The next day, I took Shannon's hung over ass downtown for Taste of Colorado. We met up with Darren and Laura, Chris and Courtney and walked around in the beautiful sun and heat for a while, although we burned out quite quickly because of the stale August heat.

On Sunday, the CAMPUSPEAKer madness began. Speakers are taking Denver by storm right now, and I love it! Elaine Penn, one of our fabulous speakers on the issues of wellness, leadership, and diversity, was in town at Johnson and Wales. I met up with Maggie to head over there to see her speak, and when we got there were were bummed to find that Elaine was horribly ill, and since a large portion of her presentation utilizes singing, this was a bit of a concern. At the last minute, though, J&W lost power due to a thunderstorm, and they had to reschedule Elaine. So she will come back in a few weeks. We did have a great dinner and conversation with Elaine afterward- she's a very cool person.

Monday was Labor Day, and so we were out of the office. I spent most of the afternoon and evening at my friend Erin Weed's house (see top photo). Erin is a speaker, as well, and is an Alpha Phi. She and her husband Peter recently moved to Denver from New Jersey and it's great to have them out here. Parties at Weed's crib often lead to things like flip cup tournaments, which are always intensely competitive and wildly fun. Good times. :)

Then on Tuesday, rocking speaker Randi Driscoll was in town at Johnson & Wales as well. She put on a concert in a coffee shop on campus, and we went out for a few drinks afterward. Randi is a sweetheart and an incredibly talented musician, so if you're looking to check out some new music, you can find her on itunes. Even more cool, she dedicated my favorite song to me, "Breathe". Definitely check it out- you won't regret it! (See me and Randi in the photo above.)

On Wednesday, sexual assault speakers Kelly & Becca came to town. Kelly & Becca are some great friends of mine, and it's always so fun to see them. This time, though, I only got to see them present and I came home and collapsed for a couple of days with a rough case of bronchitis and a sinus infection. Awesome! I was so sad I didn't get to see much of Kelly & Becca, cause they rock the house.

And here I am. Saturday and still on the couch wheezing and drugging up. Hopefully the bird flu is on its way out, though, because things are jumping at CAMPUSPEAK right now, and I hate being out of the office. Speaker Ross Szabo is in town next week and Mari Ann Callais is here the first week of October, so that's what's on the agenda in the future. Good times ahead.

Also, super excited because my AFA trip to Cincinnati looks like it's going to luckily coincide with my family's Thanksgiving trip to Columbus. So I will get to see the Butler fam! Can't wait. :)

Birthday Fun

On Thursday, August 30, I turned 25 years old. I started my day with a venture to the Colorado DMV to get a new driver's license made, since my old Virginia one expired on August 31. I still had the 'under 21' license, the one that is vertical and has your birthday in red type. I am bummed to give it up, though, because I really liked my picture and I have a hunch that the new pic isn't going to be quite so good. At any rate, I got to the DMV at 7:30 and was the second person in the door when they opened at 8, so it was a quick trip, thankfully. I hate the DMV.

Then I headed in to work, where my office had been decorated with lots of streamers and balloons. The fun folks of my office were very good to me and we had a nice day. I heard from so many of our speakers, also, with birthday wishes, and several of them sang to me as well, which made me quite happy. I have some great friends. :) It was super busy, too, and the phones were ringing off the hook, which is good! Then we closed the office down at 3pm and went on an office bowling venture! We hit up the Brunswick Zone for a couple of super competitive games... or at least, competitive for those folks who are bowling savvy. Which is not me. Darren wound up clenching the office title of bowling champion, but only by two pins over T.J. It was close and while I won't elaborate, let me just tell you that there were some painfully uncomfortable bets on the line.

After bowling, we did some dinner at the Texas Road House. There were lots of appetizers and beers, and I had a phatty steak, which makes me quite happy. Darci came out, as well as my long-lost sorority sister Becca, who I recently discovered to live in Denver.

'Twas a good birthday, and it's over for another year. Whew. And now, sadly, summer is drawing to a close. It even snowed a few nights ago in the mountains. And that, I am NOT ready for.

(Photos: Me and my buddy Vance, our Programs intern; Christopher and me on the bowling venture- best hugs ever!; my fellow lunchers, Courtney "Runs" Barstad and Darren "Lunchbox" Roth. We're tight, we're like a mob. Or a gang. Watch for us on the road, coming soon with our new educational program, "Hold my hair, pull my finger: A Discussion on Destructive Habits and IBS.")