Eight month update!

I cannot believe it's been almost eight months since my last blog. It's not that nothing has been going on in my life because there is much that has been going on but I guess I just kinda forgot about sitting down to take a moment to write it all down. So condensed version update shall now follow. Ok so since March let's see. I have been blessed with many visitors since my last blog, my very very dear friend Marileigh whom I worked with at Menorah for a while has been out to see me a few times. I just have the best time with her. We are like two peas in a pod and speaking of peas, she makes me laugh so hard I could pee my pants. In April I was very fortunate to meet Mar's brother Zach when he was in town training for a new job for a few weeks. I was sent in to entertain and show him the city and in the meantime we became very close and I am now very fond of this particular boy and have had multiple visits from him to Denver since. In May I went to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico with some girlfriends from work and we had a such a great time. A week of fun in the sun and relaxation. I am so blessed to have such special people in my life. We went out and saw the sights, did a little snorkeling and had a few fruity cocktails. Wonderful weather while we were there and we all came back tan and sunkissed and ready for summer. The summer flew by, filled with days at the pool and playing softball. I played on a coed slow pitch team this year which was quite the experience. The team was filled with a bunch of strangers to start but after the season I walked away with a handful of dear friends, oh and we also won our league and the tournament title...duh!! I was able to travel back to Kansas in August for my brother's 30th birthday. It's always so good to be home for a few days. I realize how much I miss it when I'm there. I miss my parent's house and the QUIET small town life, but don't get me wrong these big city lights are totally for me at this time in my life. In September I was back in Kansas but only in Wichita/Winfield for the Walnut Valley Bluegrass festival. My roommate Amy made the road trip with me. We stopped in Wichita for a few days where I was able to spend a few brief moments with my best gal pal Lauren Scafe and her beautiful family. After lots of hugs and kisses from her sweet little boys Amy and I went to spend time with Zach at his place in Wichita before heading to Winfield. Zach, Amy, and I headed to winfield on Friday and met up with my parents who were already there camping. We spent the weekend enjoying the 100 degree heat!! camping, great music and good company. My parents and their friends JL, and Dave were so nice to cook for us each morning and evening. Great time had by all but as is the typical pattern we all had return to real life at some point. This brings us to October, and a beautiful fall for Denver. The temperatures stayed very pleasant up until the first week in November. Zach was in Colorado again to visit which was nice to get to hang out more. I got some bad news from home on the 28th that Katie my puppy dog back home was not doing well. She is about 15 years old and despite her great attempts to stay a puppy life just caught up with her and she couldn't do her regular Katie things like run in the prairie or drink beer with dad haha. Mom called on the 29th and the vet was coming to our home to put her down. I had a very very hard time with this. Katie has been THE dog during my life. She was my puppy when I was 13 and after high school when I moved out my parents and all of our friends grew very fond of her as well. My dad was with her when she was put down and he made her a very nice grave next to muffin our first dog who died at a very old age as well when I was just a kiddo. I know Katie was very tired and it was the right time but I dread the homecoming this year for Christmas and coming up the driveway and not seeing her spring out of the dog door and out to the yard to greet me. There just won't be another like her. She'll
always be my girl. So that brings us to November and finally some snow in the Denver area. The high country has been getting snow for weeks now but we finally got snow in Denver last week. I have my skis all tuned and waxed and ready to go. We plan our first ski outing for this upcoming weekend in Breckenridge! I am so excited, afterall it's why I'm here in Colorado!!! Here's hoping for some great pictures very soon. I can't wait for the holidays and to be spending some much needed time with my friends and family. Here's hoping you're all out there doing well!! Until next time.

He calls me Kansas...

I walk into his room and whisper his name quietly to see if he's really sleeping. I hesitate to turn on the light and decide I'll let him sleep a bit longer even though I had promised to wake him up bright and early that morning. As I turn to walk back out of the room I hear "Kansas? Is that you?" I turn around with a huge smile on my face and we begin our day together.
It's not all that often that you get a really wonderful person to care for at the hospital. It's not that people aren't generally friendly it's just that they are hurting or sick and the last place they really want to be is where they are, but something was different about this man. He had a way about him that from the minute I walked into his room that first day and he greeted me with a mischievous smile and a firm handshake, I knew he would be different. I introduced myself and we went through the regular morning routine that I do with all patients. I wrote my name on his board and he said "Who's adrian?, you're not adrian right?" I said "Nope, I'm Kristen, maybe adrian was from the lab or someone that cared for you in surgery or recovery". He kind of shook his head with an 'I'm out of my mind' look and went about his business. He was one of those patients that you wanted to spend the entire day at his bedside just chatting because he had the most detailed stories and funny too. We discovered that we had a ton in common even though he was as old as my grandfather, but that didn't seem to matter, we talked about music and theatre and literature and growing up in the country and the hours passed like minutes that day.
For some reason even though we were spending many hours together he had a hard time remembering my name. He had a friend visiting during our first afternoon together and as I changed his surgical bandages his friend asked "Where did you come from Kristen?" I wasn't sure what he meant exactly so I said...."What do you mean exactly?". He explained "I mean were you recruited specially for this particular job?" I explained to him that I had recently moved from Kansas in July and that I was indeed specially trained in Spine and Orthopedic surgery. This conversation set the tone for many more interesting conversations to come including the great Kansas plains and favorite pasttimes, and from that point on my patient found a way to remember my name...well kinda. He just called me "Kansas".
For some reason I really liked the name. He would go walking in the hall with the physical therapist and holler down to me "Hey Kansas, we're talking about Alice in Wonderland if you want in on this action". I smiled more that day than most days I can remember at work. I just love it when people suprise me with such wonderful personalities and are so thankful for the care you are providing them. As they say Nursing is at times a very thankless job but each and every smile and 'thank you' we do get makes it well worth it.
He was leaving me today. Going home to continue his recovery and he had a bit of a rough morning with pain and such. He seemed grumpy but always tried to keep a positive attitude, and he was very up front about it, he said to me "I'm grumpy right now". And I said "That's just fine, you're entitled and so I'll just try to keep my spunky personality at bay in order not to really annoy you". He smiled at me and just said "You crack me up Kansas". Later that afternoon it was time for him to go. We packed up his stuff and his wife came to pick him up. As I wheeled him down the hall in his wheelchair he just said again. "Thanks again Kansas." The car pulled up to pick him up and as he stood up from his wheelchair he turned to give me one of the best hugs I've ever had. I don't know what it was about him but it was like getting a great hug from your dad. He went on his way and I went back to my day. He is someone I think I will remember for a long time. He shall be known as 'The man who named me Kansas'.

*On another Kansas note, I'm missing home tonight especially since Jack got to fly home today and it made me very jealous when I dropped him at the airport and then as I flipped through the channels and the stupid bachelor wedding something or other was on I caught the tune Over the Rainbow playing....If you haven't heard his version you should check out Jason Castro. (The kinda dredlocked hippie kid from idol some past season)

The Wessels Unite!!

Since my last blog there have been many more visitors up this way. My old college friend Jeremy and his wife Melanie, who it just so happens used to be one of my college softball teammates came to ski for a few days. We had the most amazing snow that weekend. About 5-6" each night.
We journied out to Vail for our second ski day of the weekend and Jack joined us (I won't go into detail about Jack's evening prior, needless to say I thought he would be feeling a lot worse this morning than he was). I hadn't yet been to Vail this season and was very excited. We parted ways with Mel and Jeremy after a few morning runs together and Jack and I journied to the bowls.
Jack very swiftly slid down the big slope (note: he was on the groomed portion). He attempted to motion me down to where he was but I continued on the catwalk a bit further before dropping into some precious knee deep powder, maybe the most fresh powder I've ever skiied...or attempted to ski. I made approximately three flawless turns before crashing abruptly (with grace I must add). As a result of this graceful fall I ended up with a hood full of snow and my face dripping with moisture from the amount of snow covering my face. I finally made it to the bottom to meet Jack who then explained to me that he was motioning me to follow him where he went as the run was somewhat groomed on that side. Silly me!
Jack and I spent most of the afternoon trying to find our ways out of the bowls :) And I mean MOST of the afternoon. Jack has a poor sense of direction :) We met back up with Jeremy and Mel for a small Apres Ski and then headed back to the condo. We went out on the town for some dinner and a few beverages at one of our favorite joints Uller! Saturday Mel, Jeremy and I went back to ski Breckenridge with a few of their friends and Jack headed back to Steamboat. It was a short day to say the least as my thighs were very angry at me from the previous days bowl action and massive powder, not to mention the ungodly amount of catwalks that exist at Vail. The weekend as a whole was a great success and Mel and Jeremy flew back to KC on Sunday.
I went back to work for a few days and then this past Thursday the Wessel parentals made their way into town. I was so excited to have them back in town. My dad hasn't been on the slopes for almost 3 years. The last ski outing was just before he had hip replacement surgery.
We spent Thursday night at my uncles in Castle Rock. Friday afternoon we drove to Breckenridge. We spent the later part of the afternoon and better part of the evening sitting at the condo chatting and enjoying some good ole Bulleit (whiskey), which has pretty much become a tradition at all Wessel gatherings. With the lack of ice we became quite resourceful and with the fresh snow on the drifts we created our very own whiskey snow cones.
Saturday morning we hit the sloes bright and early, after a stop at daylight donuts of course for a good ole sugar boost. We snapped our boots into our bindings and hopped on the lift. I was a wee bit nervous for my dad and his new hip. He's not what you would call the 'take it easy' kind of guy. The first run was relaxing, allowing everyone to get their ski legs on, but in no time at all we were barreling down the mountain at break neck speed :) We took a break for lunch around one and a beer break of course, then got back on the hill for a few more runs. Dad's hip was starting to get pretty tired so we called it a day soon after and we decided to Apres Ski at the Breckenridge Brewery were we also had to watch the heartbreaking loss for the Jayhawks! :(
We dined out for dinner at a little mexican joint with not so little Margaritas! Woo hoo!! Mom and I also got to have a little girls time to shop around town. I miss my parents so much but I love very much being in Colorado, and I so enjoy being able to share the adventures of my new life with them. I also think my dad was pretty impressed with my much improved and 'gutsy' ski skills. The only thing missing from this perfect weekend was my brother who couldn't make the trip. He is in full swing with his kids at school and is to start golf practice very soon. He's the big head coach this year.
Mom and Dad visited my downtown dwelling on Monday morning where we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at one of my favorite local joints Snooze. They hit the road back to Kansas soon after. A tearful goodbye of course. My mom is quite a crier and I can't see her cry without crying myself.
I spent today in Boulder with Ricki for a little shopping. We also had a chance to meet up with Miss Sara Stotts who chapperoned us down Pearl street. We stepped inside this darling candy store that would give Willy Wonka a run for his money and just giggled at all the silly candies that reminded us of our childhood. I made a brilliant purchase of a wax mustache (much like the halloween wax lips) Best $1.49 I've ever spent, see attached picture.
No fun ski weekend this week, as it's my turn to work the weekend, boo! I do however plan to be back on the slopes in Vail next weekend. For now I can live with this fifty-five degree weather we're having here in Denver.
My hugs and kisses go out to my friends and family that follow this blog, I miss you all very much. Rock Chalk Jayhawks, Beat KSU!!
*I promise pictures will follow. The computer is just really not cooperating this evening but please check back in.

I ski therefore I am!

I've been having such a great time here in Colorado lately I just must share. I finally feel at home on the slopes and it's a true escape for me to be out there. Just to get on the mountain, breathe the pure mountain air and point my skis downhill. I have been trying to ski at least two days a week. It's unreal to me that I'm able to go ski at least two days a week considering growing up it was only about 2 days per year if that. I'm so blessed to have the life I do. I'm grateful for parents who supported my decision to take a leap of faith and move away. My friends who encourage me everyday. My brother who, even though we don't get to talk much, makes me feel like the coolest person alive (I mean I kinda am right?) haha. I feel like for the first time in my life I'm living the life I think I was always meant to have. It's a carefree feeling. I'm never concerned about the stupid things I used to care about. I no longer worry that I'm wearing a grubby sweatshirt out to the bar (the man of my dreams surely finds my sloppy fashion sexy don't you think?) or that I don't have firm plans for the weekend. I'm taking comfort in the lazy days, the spontaneity of no plans. I love the times I get to sit at home and paint or just read for hours. It's as if my life became very simple and uncomplicated all at once and I can't say I'm upset about that. As far as the real world goes I still love my job. I'm starting to prepare myself to get back into study mode as I plan to start back to get my Masters in the very near future. Only question now is: Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Anesthetist? In the meantime I'll be working on becoming a Certified Orthopedic Nurse. Well anyway I've had lots of fun lately with friends visiting to ski, it's always fun to play in the snow with the ones that make you laugh (yes even you are funny Jack). Upcoming excitement: The Wessel family hits the slopes together on February 27th!

Back In The Saddle!

I can't believe that I haven't posted since before the holidays and it's now almost the end of January. I've been so tied up enjoying my time with family and friends and just taking it all in here in Colorado. I try to get up to ski every weekend and sometimes that is easier than others. It's much more fun now that friends are visiting to ski. We spent last weekend in Breckenridge with my nursing friends and some guys that came to visit from Olathe. We had the pleasure of staying in the Riley's condo just south of Breck. So cute and we had such a fun time. When I was home for the holiday I got to hold my brand new baby cousin Ava Grace who was born while I was there. She is the picture of perfection and her mom and dad are so happy to have her. It was great to see my whole family but times at home are just too short and I never get the chance to see everyone I plan to. Dorian and I had time to squeeze in a KU game at Allen Fieldhouse thanks to Amber who got us some great tickets!!! Thanks Amber! It was so strange I happened to hear from my college roommate and one of my dearest friends Lauren who also ended up attending the game and we had a nice dinner downtown in lawrence, and then at the game ran into Megan Lacroix whom I also lived with at KU. Spending Christmas day away from my family was rough but I worked and felt like my patients were truly grateful for me being there with them. I attended mass at the hospital which was small but nice that it was an option. Singing along to an ipod is a lot different than a whole choir with organ :( I also spend New Years eve with cousin Dean and his family. It was the first time I've been in the same place with all five darling little girls. My baby cousins Gracen, Peityn, Madilyn, Hailey, and Alyssa. The girls were so cute as they tore into all their gifts on Chrismas Eve. The high pitched squealing that was otherwise drive you completely nuts was such a fun experience. Reminded me of the days as a little girl when the most simple things would bring you so much joy. Gracen made me the most beautiful scarf and I received many thoughtful gifts from those little ladies but the most fun was cuddling on the couch with them all playing Mario Racing on wii and then fighting them off as they attached to my arms and legs as I tried to leave for the evening. I met up with my dear friends Angie, Luke, and Jim for cocktails at the Tavern and to watch some christmas story on the fireplace tv. It was such a different holiday but I was so grateful to have loved ones around me during that time. Now its back to the grind of work but luckily I have much to look forward to. Mom and Dad will be coming to visit and to ski, Dad will have a chance to try out his new skiing hip. There's been lots of fun and I can finally say that I have become good friends with quite a few gals here. They make my times here much more fun and I'm so so excited for all the good times to come. Hope all of you following are doing very well and if you're headed to the Rockies be sure to look me up!

Hang in there!!

My camera is on the fritz so I don't have pictures from all of the most recent amazing events in my life. Preview of blog to come: Christmas, KU Jayhawk Basketball, Birth of baby Ava, New Pup Buddy, and New Year of course!!! I hope the New Year brings each and everyone of you much happiness. I know it already has to me. I shall be blogging in the near future. Love love to all!

The Christmas Tree Hunt is On!!

I ventured out with my friend Colin tonight to find my perfect Christmas tree!! This is the first time I've went to get my own real Christmas tree, and since I was tardy getting a permit to cut one down myself we ventured to the Christmas tree stands. First stop Dollar General of course because you can't hunt Christmas trees without Reindeer Antlers. So with antlers on and hot cocoa in hand we set out. Who knew trees could be so expensive. I was hoping to score a huge one to put in our ginormous living room to fill it up a little more and make it feel a bit more warm but unless I was willing to spend over $200 dollars that just wasn't going to happen. I then came across a sweet little Charlie Brown tree which looked so very lonely and cold and I was almost sold on the little guy but decided to go a big bigger. We found a good sized Grand Fir and strapped it to the roof of my jeep (I felt so rugged outdoors woman at this point) and brought that baby home. Colin hauled her up the stairs. Set her up in the stand and she was just a beauty. Nice and green and has already smelled up the entire place with the smell of Christmas. I will let her relax tonight and get branches settled and then decorations, hot cocoa and perhaps baking (with egg nog of course) shall take place tomorrow evening. Hooray for Christmas time. I plan to leave it up well into January. Don't judge! :) Happy Holidas everyone! Also included are some pictures of just a few of the amazing light displays around these parts. Can't wait to get our place all decorated!