Lisa Lisa Bo Bisa

Another Christmas season has come and gone.  I had several days off, and yet it flew by so quickly I found it hard to believe that I had to return back to work this week.  (Ok, ok, I'm only in 1.5 days this week and then out until Jan 2, so I can't really complain).  Saturday evening we were at my aunt's with my dad's family.  We visited, played three hours of dominoes, ate a delicious meal, listened to Christmas music, played with the dogs, took photos, and reminisced about my grandparents with a box of old photos my aunt found.  It was super lowkey, as it often is with that bunch, but full of good laughs and stories.  It was perfect.  Except we were missing a few family members that live out of country/state...but we FaceTimed and Skyped with them both so thank goodness for technology.   My godson spent a good part of the evening being creative while us adults played dominoes.  He started making me "books," and would point o...

This is the last time in our lifetime that we'll have the month, day, and year match.  I'm not sure why that is so cool, but it is.  It's kind of like the wish you make when the clock reads 11:11, as if that time were something magical.  Maybe I should make a wish today.  I'm crazy enough to believe in that kind of thing from time to time (though I can't pinpoint a single time a 11:11 wish has actually come true).  At any rate, the fact that today is 12/12/12 is pretty cool.  And I'll probably make a wish. It also reminds me that the holidays are getting closer!  I love this time of year.  My work always seems to take a slightly slower pace and feel more tolerable.  The stresses are lower, which is always a good thing. I usually have PTO left to use (or lose) at this time of year, so I get a few extra days off in addition to the holidays.  I love this.  Every year I vow to use my PTO more wisely...

A 15-hour journey later, and I'm home, in my pjs on my own couch.  Ahhhhh, it feels good.  It's been quite the week.  Jet lag, accompanied by a busy work schedule, leads to a very confused and tired body.  We'll see if I can stay up until 9 or 10 tonight. I did sleep 11.5 hours that first night there, and felt amazing the next day.  We ran around the hotel, stuffing packets and printing documents, getting ready for our guests.  I met one of our VIPs at the heliport where we had him transferred from the airport to our hotel...by helicopter, if that wasn't obvious.  Oh to be important enough to get to arrive by helicopter.  However, the jet lag really caught up to me, and I had a hard time sleeping that second night (and every subsequent night).  I was even told to head back to the hotel early during one of our events because I was taking the early (4:30am) shift the following morning.  That night I fell asleep at 1am, 4 hours aft...

I'm going on hour 32 of being awake, and I'm feeling surprisingly better than I did 10 hours ago.  We arrived in France today, for work, and while the trip out here was far improved from my last trip (we actually got here as scheduled), I still was unable to sleep...at all.  Maybe it was the fact that we left at 3pm and by the time we landed in Amsterdam it was 11pm MN time, BUT 6am European time, so we skipped nighttime. Maybe it was the two adorable babies that sat in the rows across from me, which I stared at all too often, amazed at how their parents were dealing with them on an 8-hour flight. Or maybe the group of high school Russians that had clearly spent some time in MN given they all wore Hopkins sweatshirts and tossed around footballs.  It made me think back to our trip to Spain in high school...were we really that young? Perhaps it was the woman in the row ahead, who started shouting "Ayudame" (Help me in Spanish) three hours into th...

It is the time to reflect on what we're grateful and thankful for.  It's also the time to stuff ourselves with delicious food and watch football.  On that note, here are a few things that I'm particularly thankful for this year.  My wonderful family.  They are the greatest, both mine and my husband's, and I'm glad to have them in my life.  I'm grateful to be living in MN where I can see many of them pretty frequently.  Even if it is sometimes stopping by my in-laws to borrow their freezer space for our Digiorno pizzas from Costco (we stock up when they are on sale) or wait for a dinner reservation nearby, or staying at my parents because we had something going on on the west side of town.  It's nice to be close by. My funny husband. He is truly the best thing that has happened to me. He continues to make me laugh every step of the way, making even the tough times a little less tough. My friends.  I truly h...

I have the day off.  Yippee!  I actually have quite a few more days of PTO that I need to take by the end of the year or I'll lose them.  I'm not complaining in the least, but it is a challenge to fit in these days while still keeping up on my projects at work.  There are worse problems to have, I know.  And I should manage them better by taking more time off in the summer. I made no plans for today because I knew I needed to buckle down and get this house in order.  Majorally.  And I wanted to fit in some laziness too, or my day off wouldn't classify as "enjoyable." Seriously, it is just the two of us, and our house isn't that big, and somehow the mess still piles up.  I think it's because I am often too exhausted or lazy during the week to do much of anything.  (Confession: it's more the latter). I got up at 7:15 as Jon left the house.  I have a really hard time falling back asleep after hearing Jon's alarm sn...

It looks like it's that time of year, where there's no going back from the cold, and the holidays are near.  The snow has arrived (barely, but you wouldn't know it based on the dumb MN drivers on the road on Monday), Lifetime channel has started playing Christmas movies nonstop, and my office broke out the peppermint creamer.  Yum, peppermint.  All signs that the most wonderful time of the year is near.  Except summer is pretty awesome, and I adore fall, and spring isn't so bad either.  But lyrically yes, this is the most wonderful time of the year. I mentioned in my last post that I'm already panicked about Christmas gifts, but all in all, I'm looking forward to this time of year.  I am not a fan of the cold, especially with a diagnosis of Raynaud's disease 8 years ago after returning from Costa Rica.  This just means my fingers and toes grow cold and numb very easily due to poor circulation, so it's n...

I feel compelled to blog, since I haven't done so for awhile, but I sit here staring at a blank page and wonder where to begin or what to say.  Here it goes. Life has been busy but not entirely eventful.  Time is flying by and I can't believe we are well into November already.  It's going to be Christmas before we know it, and my mind has already started to race (and panic) thinking about gift buying.  I loooove to give gifts, but it can stress me out something fierce.  I care way too much if the person will love it, to what degree will they love it, and what they'll think when they open it.  But when I feel like I find the perfect gift for someone, I am giddy with excitement for them to open it. My sister asked me to put together a list of ideas for us for Christmas.  Besides a couple of camera accessories, I have no clue what to suggest (for either of us).  We certainly don't need anything. ...

I just adore the Minnesota fall season.  The colors change, the air becomes crisper, I get to pull out some of my favorite sweaters and boots...  I think I would go crazy if I lived in a climate that rarely changed.  Even if by the middle of winter I'm ready to call it quits.  I like that it varies and keeps things interesting.  Usually. In Costa Rica, we only had two seasons, which wasn't so bad either.  For approximately 5 months of the year, it was dry season  - beautiful sunny 85 degree days, hotter on the coasts but you had the ocean to dunk into.  If it was like that year round, it'd be a hard location to compete with for a place to call 'home' (that, and the fact that my family and friends don't live there).  The other season, on the other hand, could be a beast.  For the other 7 months of the year, it pretty much rained every day.  And in September - October, it would pour like you wouldn't belie...

Two years ago today, I married this guy: It was the best day of my life, one that I think back to frequently.  We enjoyed a beautiful day with all of our amazing family and friends.  We wined and dined and danced away at The Landmark Center.  We laughed and chatted and enjoyed seeing so many special people in our lives.  The day went quickly, but the memories will last.  Tonight we went back for our annual picture at the Landmark.  Not as nicely dressed as two years ago, but happy just the same.  I remembered taking pictures with our wedding party in this park as if it were yesterday, pigeon poop and all.  The last two years have been wonderful with the hubs, and I cannot wait to see how great the next two are going to be!

This summer has flown by.  How is that even possible?  What in the world kept me oh so busy that I blinked and here I am, almost to Labor Day weekend ?  I remember the main events, but not all of the everyday moments and small things. But a quick check of the photos on my phone will jog my memory.  It's amazing the things I randomly take pictures of, and with my measly little phone when I have a super sonic shiny new camera to use.  I guess the phone is sometimes more practical.  I sure get a kick out of looking back at some of the random things I thought to capture this summer. A large number of my photos on my phone are golfing.  A summer wouldn't be summer without a little (or a lot of) golf, and I rarely lug a camera around with me there.  My husband is usually in heaven the second he steps on a course, and it frankly makes me quite happy too, so it's something we make sure to fit in when w...

So now that I have the camera, I'm determined to fulfill my dream and actually learn about photography and the tricks of the trade.  I'm not sure how deep I will dive into this new hobby, but for now I'm excited at learning the basics.  Then maybe onto some more serious classes - we'll see. My friend Mandy, who is also a proud new SLR owner, found a local class for us to take at Ritz Camera, and last night was class #1: Digital Imaging Basics.  As the class started, I grew worried.  We were the only ones with our monster bags and all of our equipment.  Why didn't anyone else bring their camera?   Didn't we need our cameras to learn?   We soon realized that the other three people in the class had digital point-and-shoots.  Uhhh, so we weren't going to learn about SLRs?   And then the instructor starts asking us if we know how to charge our cameras and explaining the basic components of a camera.  Is this going to be a waste of my t...

Though I enjoyed being in Dublin, I was really eager for our time in London.  The hubby and I were both arriving to London on Friday morning, and we agreed that I'd wait for him at the coffee shop at his terminal.  I had about an hour to wait.  It was a nice break from the craziness of everything, with a good book and a tasty smoothie. We were on the go pretty much every waking hour of the day.  Not anything crazy, but we definitely maximized the hours we had to see as much as we could.  My feet were in so much pain at the end of each day, as I of course did not pack practical walking shoes but rather my favorite flats.  To this day they are still sore, and I swear I even mildly sprained one of them.  Far from the relaxing vacation on the beach for sure, but worthy of all the pain.  :) Leading up to our trip, we kept reading about how rainy and cold it was there - they were apparently having a ridiculous...

A few months ago, I was asked to attend a program we were hosting in Dublin.  I immediately said yes - after all, why wouldn't you want to go to Ireland?  I had never been there, and I knew I would be working 99% of the time and not really seeing the sights...  But more importantly, I was only a mere 1 hour flight away from London, a city I have been dying to visit!  But first, Dublin.  I was really looking forward to it.  Mostly because I was going to meet many of my client contacts from various parts of Europe that I had been in email communication with for the last 3 months, but also for the change of scenery.  It was going to be a fun program, and I really like doing these kinds of events. Because I was going to extend my stay and go to London after we were done, I had my flight booked to London and a connecting flight to Dublin.  So I headed off to Detroit for the first leg with no issues, and we were soon bo...