March Madness

Thursday I was able to go to my first March Madness game...I must say I can see what all the hullabaloo is all about. Maybe it was the people that I was with, the teams that were playing , the great seats or the overall splendor of it but I think that I am a fan. I might start to pay attention from here on out. To top it off I drove up to Niwot to hang with the Ma and we indulged in some madness family style. I must say I never thought that I would hear this phrase from my mothers mouth..."I have to pick and choose my games from tomorrow, so I can plan my day around the tournament". I love that woman. Anywho...it is say to say that I am a fan and that I might even put together a bracket for next year...watch out world.

Peace, Love and Madness

APK

The Tears overfloweth...

I typically like to keep this blog lighthearted but in an attempt to be more honest, authentic and real with my viewers...all ten of you...I am going to tell you about my sad Saturday night. It started out very typical, I worked grabbed a drink and dinner at the bar then headed home to my cozy apartment only to indulge in more wine and popcorn alongside the movie of the night. Normally this would be a pretty easy way for me to ease into my night of blissful sleep. Not such the case last night, I chose the wrong movie: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. This movie, as I forgot, usually elicits some pretty strong feelings from me...and this why.

There is a character that essentially represents me in high school...Her name is Carmen, she is a ball full of energy who is voluminous in every aspect. She doesn't think that she is that beautiful and has issues with her dad. In particular she never see him and when she does it is not very genuine. When I watch the scenes with this character I immediately get uncomfortable and teary because I feel sixteen years old again, unable to convey my hurt feelings towards my Dad. I can relate to her insecurities about her looks and weight. The similarities are close...she plays tennis with her Dad(me too), she was informed of her fathers wedding in a not so great way(me too), she struggles to be honest with how hurt she is with her father(ME TOO). The difference, however, lies in the fact that she is reconciled with her father at the end of the movie...It took me till I was 26 to tell my dad how I felt. So with this oh so real depiction of my life on the screen, of course, I had no other reaction other than tears. These weren't the kind of tears that come and go, these were the kind of tears that come and the pain from which they are linked to radiates to my fingertips. I heard once that the reason we wear our wedding rings on our left hands is because there is an artery that runs from our hearts to our left hand...I tell you this because my left hand feels pain when I have these kinds of cries...cries of a broken heart, I think. I am not writing this because I need to be reassured(or maybe I do), but I think that I felt compelled to talk about it. I am not that same person anymore(thank God) but those types of brokenness still tug at my heart. I love my father and we have a much better relationship now that we have talked, but that still doesn't change that he missed my volleyball games, proms and being able to delight in his beautiful daughter.

In a nut shell, I am sad to have ever had to feel the feelings that I did during my youth, but I am joyful for the person they have made me. I am by no means over all my issues but I have come to a place where I am willing to accept who and where I am in life and live from that rather than living from my insecurities or voids.

Thanks for listening,

APK

Biblical Times...

"You shall not watch your neighbour’s ox or sheep straying away and ignore them; you shall take them back to their owner. If the owner does not reside near you or you do not know who the owner is, you shall bring it to your own house, and it shall remain with you until the owner claims it; then you shall return it."

- Deuteronomy 22:1-2

I receive daily bible verses in my email, along with prayers and quotes that are to inspire me. Most of the time they do and I get all hopped up on the good G.O.D, but old testament stuff sometimes strikes me funny in our modern times. Don't get me wrong I understand the underlying message. But sometimes I get to thinking..."Well, shoot what if m y neighbor does live too far for me to return his/her ox/sheep? I mean let's get honest, how am I to fit that in...I have yoga, facebooking, work, looking for work, etc. Returning someone else's stray livestock sounds like a hassle. And seriously, I can't have animals in my apartment." So this is when I get real pissed that my neighbor was careless to let their ox(who has been named Foxy) out...pissed, so pissed. So in my head of humor that is what I am really thinking, trying to make a joke of the scripture because it shows that I am a Christian with a sense of humor...but then I take a step back and think, well shoot, what is the true intention of the scripture. And sadly I think that I might have the same reaction to my neighbors lost "whatever", it is an inconvenience. In a world where I claim to be accessible and caring and compassionate, I think that I have done a real good job of projecting someone much cooler than I. Soooo, what have I learned from this today.....hmmmmm....unsure to be honest. I think that God might want me stop trivializing the written Word, but then again I think he might delight in my thought processes around scripture. I will tell you this if "Foxy"(literal or figurative) is roaming about, I might think twice before letting it pass me by...thanks Deuteronomy.

Joyful moment today...touching the head of a baby while it was still in the womb, thanks for letting me touch your belly Mrs. English...can't wait to meet baby English and kiss its little head.

Thoughtful and still laughing at myself,

APK

Baking, Birthdays, and Baby Showers...oh my.

February is always a special month for me, for multiple reasons, one being Valentines Day. Other reasons include birthdays such as my dad, brother, aunt, and various people whom I love...oh and I have birthday this month too. Sadly, or maybe not so sadly, Valentines Day is one of, if not, my favorite holiday to celebrate.

I am going to write this blog chronologically, only I am going to work backwards till I hit Friday afternoon. To begin I will start with YESTERDAY....VALENTINES DAY.

I awoke with the thoughts of love floating through my head, I was cheerful and smiles, you might have thought that I found my long lost love and that I was heading to the alter any day now. No long lost love found but rather I was swimming in my love for all the people in my life. You see Valentines Day doesn't represent a day for me to wallow in my singleness, actually, I get to rejoice that I am loved by many and love many. After I pulled myself from my comfy bed I rolled over to my friend Megan's house to begin our baking extravaganza(when 50+ cupcakes are made it is a tale to be told in epic proportions, look for my next blog). After 4 hours of baking and decorating it was time to go out and do the delivering. I think this is my favorite part...I made a plan...I was going to start North and then make a loop till I ended up near where I was going to be doing yoga. I stopped off at my co-workers house(she needed a cupcake), then rocked over to my old roommates house...five boys surely want cupcakes, then bounced over to another friend...she is a glutard but she loved the homemade card. From there I swung over to my brother's house to deliver some yumcakes to him and his roommates...then I hopped, skipped and jumped to my aunts house(she lives blocks from my brother)...she ate a mini cupcake on the spot and gave me a bottle of wine(note to self, baking for Aunt Gail gets you wine, yes please!). Only two more stops on my list and bout 15 more yumcakes to give out. Stopped off at the 'Rents house only to find out that my dad was out(sans my stepmom), hopefully she didn't share....lastly I drove over to Heather's house but I was sure to fill up my tank otherwise I would have run out of gas. I was running out of gas myself but the thought of miso soup and yoga with hot, foxy yoga man Mike kept me going So I dropped off the last six and headed to yoga...yoga man Mike is scrumptious...better than any cupcake I could bake. This brings me to Sunday...a day full of family and movies for me.

Every February my family celebrates all the Aquarian birthdays...this years theme, Grill Out, why not, it was 60 degrees and sunny. After my scrumptious turkey burger I scuttled over to the movies to watch a movie not worth mentioning because it was bad but I might add there were beautiful men in it(I am such a sucker), then I went an rented Shutter Island and Crazy Heart(I would recommend both), I fell asleep on the couch, ah sweet bliss.

I hope you have been following along because this is where the "stuff" gets crazy. Saturday was the big day of the weekend....A baby shower and a "Pretty in Pink" party for my birthday. Let's start at 8am...I wake to shower to get ready for the shower...as I am driving over to my parents house to get the party going my father calls me to indicate that there is plumbing problem. OH really, what the EFF does that mean. It meant that we couldn't use the toilets or sinks for a couple hours and that the plumber was going to be interrupting our baby shower...AWESOME:(.

All in all, not that bad, but definitely not ideal. The best part was seeing Kay(the grandmother to be) cry tears at the drop of a hat...ah man, loved it. Another highlight was surprising Steph with Audrey her roommate from college....tears runneth over, yes please! From Baby shower home to get ready for "Pretty in Pink", but only after a siesta. Once were were ready we headed to Sushi Hai to celebrate Heather and I's birthday with drinks and friends. My old roommate Jenny made me some pink creepcakes(givecupcakes.blogspot.com) and then we mostly headed home to sleep. Many thanks to those who trekked to see me...I appreciate you more than you know.

This has gotten pretty lengthy and I am running out of steam and adjectives so I will leave you with my thoughts about FEBRUARY....I love it, mainly because I love Valentines Day. If you didn't receive a valentine from me that day...it was mainly because you lived too far away. I will always love this day and I am glad that I get to take time to celebrate it the way I want...not the way Hallmark says I should. Soooo, if you want a very yummy treat next year, move nearby and you will most likely hear a knock on your door....till I blog again, tell someone other than your significant other that you love them....

Filled with holiday Joy,

APKupcakes

Free Coffee, Free Food, Free Time

((Sigh)), Glorious is the day, the full day spent off...off work, off the grid(as much as one can be), off to play. Yesterday I had the entire day to spend however I wanted...and I did, spend it in good company from start to finish, filled with laughter and good food, plus free coffee.

I am a typical sleeper-inner, I enjoy time in my warm, cozy bed while the rest of world is bustling about in the sub-freezing temperatures, but I had made plans with a dear friend for breakfast so the bed must be vacated. I met one, Parker Boone, at Lucile's(a favorite spot of mine) to share a meal and life. This man is such a gem, I am so thankful that he is a friend and that he looks out for me...and that we can always say the inappropriate things that go through our heads. I love Parker for lots of things, but my favorite quality is his generosity, ever time we go out he never lets me pay. Parker doesn't do this because he has all the money in the world or because he is such a gentleman, but rather this is his way of loving those around him. Thank you friend...next time let's get beneigts (sp).

From there I braved the freezing temps and walked around the lovely Wash Park. After burning off my morning grub I quickly got myself together and heading to Boulder(the Peoples Republic of).

As I am jammin' out to one tune after another an idea strikes...I should see if mamacita can join me for lunch or vice versa. One call made and JACKPOT...not only do I get to have lunch with my mother, I get my Aunt Nancy too. Talk about 2 for the price of 1...another free meal, are you starting to see the theme of the day. Normally, I would head over to Pearl Street and get my internet on but I decided to go shopping instead(hence the off the grid). Thankfully every place I went to (sans Target) was either too expensive or the clothing just look horrible on me. Phew, dodged a bullet there. After sometime wandering around and peeking in here and there, I decided it was time to head over to my beloved Stocktons casa. BUT, I must grab some coffee, so I stop in at Einsteins, and the sweet girl behind the counter gave me a free cup of coffee...such a blessing.

Once I had arrived at the Stockton casa, I was a virtual chatter box....going on and on about the most ridiculous things, stumbling and stammering my words. I guess I just wanted them to hear everything. They cooked me wonderful tacos with chips and salsa, along with coin style margaritas. To top off the night, Jenny, baked tres leches cupcakes. (sidenote: Jenny has a cupcake project that you should check out... Give Cupcakes, http://givecupcakes.blogspot.com/)

All in all, glorious day, three free meals, one free cup of coffee and time spent laughing with good people who love me.

(Free food doesn't always= glorious day for me, but rather those who spend time eating the food with me)

Excited for another day of free...

APK

30 seconds to Mars...Funkiphino

This was a night to remember, primarily because I got to be yards away from my high school celebrity crush...Jared Leto, or as I like to call him "Jordan Catalano". As you can see above my friend Colleen and I went to the 30 seconds to mars concert a couple of weeks ago. I was thrust back to my old ways of pushing and screaming my way closer to the stage. Sadly I ditched Colleen in hope that I might close enough for my dream man to call me up on stage and sing a love ballad to me...I am pretty sure that is everyone's dream. All in all I was overlooked and was unable to dance on stage with my crush...better luck next time. After all was said and done, another good music show under my belt. It was still early in the night and I was not ready to call it night, so what is a spunky girl to do when she has her dancing shoes on....

She goes to Herman's Hideaway on Broadway with friends and dances the night away to the latest and greatest from Colorado Funk Band Funkiphino. I must tell you that I have not had so much fun...ok, I probably have, but this band and the company was totally legit and fun. Coincidently they are going to be playing another venue the night of my birthday celebration....I do say that the stars are in line for me this month. YAYhoo.

Thanks for all the memories Team...APKilling it!!

It's a wee bit cold out today.

I have nothing to share today...I am pretty sure that the temperature has frozen my brain cells. I am sitting in a drafty coffee shop trying to update my resume and cover letter. The joy that I seek today is warmth...and since mother nature refuses to participate I am thankful to say that the generous barista was able to provide me with some warmth...he made me a sample of a white mocha. I had asked him if they were good and he said "I have never had one...couldn't tell ya, sorry". So I went with the drip coffee and got settled into my spot. About 5 minutes later he came up to me and offered me a sample of the white mocha, we tapped mugs and cheers, it was a moment that I am thankful for.

Who would have thought that joy would come in the form of a warm yummy white chocolate mocha. MMMhmmmm!

Hoping for more warm, yummy moments,

APK