Happy New Year! Another year has come and gone and I am glad to welcome 2009. 2008 was a big year for me, I had a lot of major life changes with moving and job changes and I am ready to get back into the swing of things in 2009. So with a New Year of course comes New Year's Resolutions. So what are yours going to be this year? Well, I know what mine are and I'm sure I will have many come up throughout the year, but below are my New Year's Resolutions/Goals for 2009.

1. Quit biting my nails - I have this one every year and probably will for the rest of my life. While I've gotten much better at it, I still catch myself peeling, nibbling or picking at my nails occasionally. If I keep having this eventually it will come true right?
   
   
2. Incorporate more 10 minutes workout burst into my daily life. It's awakens, motivates and excites the body. Did you know this is how the Victoria Secret Lingerie Models claim they stay so thin? Well, I'm sure they do this but I don't thing that's the only reason :)
   
   
3. Do 10 real push-ups by years end. In my Body Pump class I tend to do about 3 real push-ups and revert to my knees. I'm going to try to push myself and build muscle to get to 10 by Year's End (this is a lot harder than you think).
   
   
4. Don't get so worked up over nothing. This might be the hardest of all of them. I tend to worry a lot about things I can't control and get mad at little things. I mean, what person doesn't do this- right? I just want to get better at controlling it.
   
   
5. Thanks to a co-worker, I've added this to my list. Get out and see more of Cincinnati. I've lived here a long time and still haven't seen parts of this lovely city. Whether I get out and exercise at a new park, see a museum or dine in a new part of town I'm going to try to do the Queen City Tour.

For now, those are at the top of my list. I have other ideas and things such as volunteer more, spend more time with loved ones, etc., but I don't think I need to make those resolutions just must dos. So we will see how this goes this time next year!

As promised, here is a quick recap of our ski trip to Colorado. The video is thanks to Jim, who did the filming and the editing. Again, a great time and hope we get the chance to do it all over again someday.

This past week I was on vacation in Colorado. My friends, Dick and Heather Williams, were so gracious to invite a group of us out to their home in Beavercreek. It was 3 couples and their dog Maggie cooped up in a fabulous house for the week.

We were so lucky to get out there and have a ton of snow dump on us, which made the skiing amazing. We skied Beavercreek, Bachelor's Gulch and Veil. On our second day, we got caught in a major blizzard that came out of nowhere, I think about 6 inches fell in an hour time period.

I haven't skied in over 4 years, but it was kind of like riding a bike and it all came back to me. I forget how much of a workout it is on your entire body, the massages we had on Saturday were very much needed.

In addition to skiing we shopped, went to a ton of great restaurants and went on a sleigh ride. Hopefully I will have a video to post shortly of the trip. It was definitely a week to remember with great friends and fabulous weather!

Are You My 1,000th Visitor?

A little fun game...who's the 1,000th visitor? I think it's fun to see how many people check out your site...I'm about to hit 1,000 since I started blogging more frequenylu and added the counter. Is it you? If so, leave a message!

A Man of Action

I wasn’t going to blog today until I got an email from a friend reminding me that today is the year anniversary of a childhood friend who passed away suddenly. It’s weird to think a year ago at this time I was attending two funerals in one week, my Grandfather and John Alexander’s. The email today is what sparked me to write this blog, because it reminded me that life can be too short and to always live it to the fullest.

The video below is a 6 minute recap of what John had been doing the years prior to his death, produced and MC’d by Ted Koppel who as you will see was a close friend of John’s and spoke at his funeral. It is a pretty fascinating look into his life and the story is rather emotional, whether you know John personally or not.

I knew John from grade school, growing up in the same grade and running around with the same people in high school. Since high school, John ventured out and become a well established journalist who hardly ever was in Cincinnati anymore. At the time of his death, John was in Chongqing, China working for Koppel On Discover. John passed away instantly when he suffered heart failure due to a mysterious case of Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart). No one will ever know for sure what caused the Myocarditis, as many viruses, bugs or bacteria can lead to the rare disorder.

The email I got today was to take a moment out of your day and do something nice or helpful for another human being to honor John, as John was a man of his actions…not his words. So today, do something nice for someone not only for John but for anyone else in your life you love that is here today or has passed. Since John’s passing his friends and family have started the The John Alexander Project, which is dedicated to enacting social change through journalism and enables independent thinkers to tell stories that inspire action.


Although John is not a man of words, one of my favorite quotes is from John, this is how he explained his passion for journalism to a friend:

“Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels. The round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things just a bit differently. They are not fond of rules, and they fear the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them, because they change things, they push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, I see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who actually do.”

My Celebrity Crush

OK- so I'm going to admit it I have loved Nick Lachey since I first laid eyes on him when he was in the MTV hit show "Newlyweds". He's a good ole' Cincinnati boy who was such a great husband to Jessica Simpson on that show that I just think he is the greatest.

I mean, he put up with a lot and did it with a smile on his face and "yes dear" after everything. He seems like a hopeless romantic and very down to earth kind of guy and I love him for that.

For like 4 years I always missed him when he was in town. I was traveling, didn't attend the event or left too soon or arrived too late. But this Tuesday, thanks for my friend Jason, I finally got to meet him. We got VIP tickets to a local event and Nick spent about 30 minutes up in our area. He was very nice, shook our hands, signed autographs and seemed to have a good time.

This might be one of my all time favorite photos - I mean look at those eyes. And yes, when my arm was around him I could feel his tight abs :)

Catch Up Time...

Sorry, it's been awhile since I posted and I feel bad about that but it was a busy busy time period and still is. Since Thanksgiving a lot has been going on: The Holidays, Jim sold his house and moved, Jim turned 32, Megan and Mike's Wedding and busy at work.

Anyways, of all those events I wanted to post about Megan and Mike's wedding this past weekend in Detroit. We arrived in town Friday night and enjoyed a night out in D-Town (I think our favorite thing was the ride on the People Mover).

We woke up Saturday morning to snow on the ground and a beautiful day for a winter wedding. Megan looked amazing and Mike couldn't have been any happier. The wedding was flawless and the reception was even better. Megan and Mike are now on their way to Hawaii and we are all a little jealous. We wish them the best of luck and know they will be happy together.

I also put this pic of Jim down here to recognize that he did get a year older and we didn't forget!