A much needed... boyish weekend!

This weekend was exactly what I needed. Lots of laughter, cocktails, fun, love and friendship. It was also a pretty boyish weekend… which was definitely what I needed. You know one of those weekends where you eat like you shouldn’t, don’t care how you dress, watch football, shoot guns and just have a good time without thinking about it? Yep that’s the kind of weekend I needed and that exactly what I got. Friday night my wonderful in-laws were in town so we had dinner and margaritas at one of my favorite places, The Rio. Then Saturday woke up early for a big yummy breakfast, followed by a couple hours at the shooting range (where believe it or not after like 10 years of not shooting a gun I actually kicked some butt!) and ended the night at my best friend’s house drinking cheap champagne (ok so it wasn’t ALL boyish) and watching the Pacquiao fight, it was a blast! All followed by an extremely lazy Sunday of football watching, errand running, more football watching, dinner and beer at a sports bar. Yep I feel better and I’m thankful that I seem to be back on track. Hope you had exactly the type of weekend you needed.

Xoxo~ Jamie 

Smalls on our Lazy Sunday

 Adam shooting a ... 50 caliber??? I dunno it was CRAZY loud and sounded like serious business! Kind of sounded like a canon... not sure what a canon would really sound like but I imagine something like this!

 Me shooting 22... not nearly as crazy, but still fun, I also got to shoot Adam's 45! Lots of fun! And a nice stress relief!

And of course some quotes. :) 

Struggling with my own optimism…

On paper… well online, I seem to come across as this…. Faith driven optimist that is always happy, never doubts, never struggles. I pick others up and I don’t need to be “picked up” myself. My life is blissful and I’m never sad. My life appears this way because this is what I want my life to be.  And most the time it is. But like EVERYONE I have days where I struggle. And for some reason the past few weeks I have been “strugglin!” Now let me clarify before this turns into a sappy mess… I’m not writing this for sympathy, I’m not writing this because I’ve experienced something life shattering. I’m writing this because we all struggle and I’m hoping by writing about my struggles those of you reading this won’t feel so alone. You won’t feel crazy and you won’t wonder what’s wrong with you. Because there is NOTHING wrong with you. Every once in a while we all doubt, we all stumble, and we all struggle. We all let the what ifs, the maybes, and the I cant’s push us down. We let our head get in the way and fill us with nonsense. So whether it’s the loss of a family member you never had the opportunity to meet, a bad hair day, loss of a job, loss of a friend, financial woes, surgery, PMS, or simply a bump in the road that throws you off track take the time to breathe, take the time to sit back and get back on track, pray, talk to God, cry, kick and scream but most importantly GET BACK UP! Talk to your family, talk to your friends, read a funny blog, lose yourself in a great song, watch your favorite movie, or read a few happy quotes. Find something that reminds you of who you are and that you are here for a purpose. Hold onto that something and fight like hell to be happy. Because honestly that’s what we’re all doing. And then wake up one morning and smile because now its easy, now it comes naturally, and now you are back on track.

Best wishes for a wonderful weekend! And of course happy Veterans Day! Thank you so much to all the amazing service men and women out there fighting for our freedom and thank you to their families for standing by their sides and fighting the fight with them.

Xoxo~ Jamie 

Sometimes Optimism truly feels like this, but personally I prefer it over the alternative. :)

 Yes!

One of the things I struggled with this week was the loss of my cousins little boy. 

He died at only 19 months old and left us all wondering why.

Sometimes there is just no answer, but I know he is in the arms of Jesus now 

and that gives me so much peace.

 

I am so thankful that I have a wonderful best friend to talk to. Even though she is going through her own trials she is always there when I need her. I love you Christine! 

 I love this.

And because sometimes you just need to smile! 

So much truth in this...

And to our amazing Veterans on this day that is all about you! 

Who is this Jamie?!

Ok so I'm a blog junkie... we all know this already. I love my husband, my animals, my family, and my friends. I'm learning to cook, I love to read, I'm OBSESSED with inspirational quotes (well quotes in general) and I'm a closet dork! I think these are all the things you can easily take from my past blog posts... Oh and I hate grocery shopping! After looking at a couple of other blogs I saw a few posts on "Who am I?' You know those cheesy chain emails you get and you have to fillout with lots of random facts about yourself? Well I thought I would post mine here so you can all know just a little bit more about me! So enjoy and I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

A. Age: 27

B. Bed Size: King (we need a big one to fit me, the hubby, Gizmo, and occasionally Roxy!)
C. Chore you hate : ugh lets be honest there are lots... but I would have to go with either putting away laundry or doing the dishes, I despise both!

D. Pets: 2 adorable dogs- Gizmo is a 7 year old Pomeranian & Smalls is a 1 year old yellow lab, add to the mayhem1 feisty Cat Roxy and sometimes it feels like we have a zoo on our hands.

E. Essential start to your day : prayers- gotta start the day talking to God, COFFEE- you don't want to see me without coffee and a goodbye kiss from the hubby.

F. Favorite Color : ummm I guess it depends... it's no secret that I LOVE me some Pink, but for clothes I love black, grey and teal.

G. Gold or Silver : both? I mostly wear silver or white gold, but regular gold is good too

H. Height : 5'4"... or so I claim, everyone else in my life insists I'm more like 5'3", come on people I need all the help I can get... round up!

I. Instruments you play : I played the flute in middle school, but lets be honest I was awful... so then I fell in love with singing, I'm no superstar but I love to rock out in the shower and in the car.

J. Job Title : Client Relationship Manager, Client Service Associate

K. Kids : YES! One day I would love to have two kids... 1 girl 1 boy and we already have names picked out for both!

L. Live : Not sure how I'm suppose to answer this.... live with lots of faith, love and happiness! Yes we'll go with that!

M. Maiden Name: Pipkin, although I love my married name giving up Pipkin was like giving up just a little piece of myself... I still miss it some days but I'm proud to be an Alexander. 

N. Nicknames: Oh goodness I have lots... J, Jamers, James, Barbie, Sweet Pea, Sister, and Pipkin (I think those are the main ones.)

O. Favorite Drink: Coffee- Pumpkin Spice Latte, Alcohol- Rio Margaritas (for those of you who have never had a Rio Marg you are seriously missing out... there is no comparison.) and Crown and Coke

http://www.facebook.com/LoneTreeRio

P. Pet Peeve: Negative People... I try to stay happy and optimistic, so when someone is constantly raining on my parade I can't help but get a little irritated.

Q. Quote: Oh lordy this is a hard one for me... Here's just a few...

R. Righty or Lefty: Right

S. Siblings : One younger brother Cody... he's hysterical, hard working and a wonderful person!

S. Shoe Size: 6 1/2, my feet haven't grown since middle school!

T. Time you wake up: Weekdays anytime between 6:00 -6:30 and Weekends between 8:00 -10:00, I love my sleep so I sleep in as long as possible!

U. University attended : Colorado State University.... Proud to be a CSU Ram!

V. Vegetables you dislike: Beats and Brussel Sprouts (I've actually never eaten either, my mom says they taste like dirt and farts so that pretty much ruined them both for me!)

W. What makes you run late : Sleeping in, traffic and above all my hair! It takes me forever to do my hair and on bad days it totally throws me off schedule.

X. X-rays you’ve had : Ummm does a cat-scan count? I had one when I was little because I get bad migraines (YUCK!)

Y. Yummy food : Ooooh I love chocolate! I'm part German and was raised with German food at major family events so I love Schnitzel, I also love seafood... shrimp, tilapia, salmon yum.... and being a fat kid at heart I of course love all carbs... dangit!

Z. Zoo animal favorite : Not really a zoo animal but I love dolphins. And I guess I would say Monkeys! So cute!

So there you have it a whole lot of randomness that makes me.... me! And just for fun here are a few quotes for your Friday afternoon!

xoxo~ Jamie