Weekend Update

Friday thru sunday... the weekend was about as perfect as it could be. I spent the weekend surrounded by the people who mean the world to me, who have helped me become a better person and that I love with all that I am. I would re-live this weekend 10x over.

One of the major highlights of the weekend was my annual bookclub white elephant party. The gifts were fabulous, the stories made my belly ache from all the laughing, the drinks were flowing... and flowing but most importantly all the members of our bookclub were present. It has been years since all of us were in the same room and of course, I cried over the excitement of it all. 

Saturday morning was another super fun event; I joined my sweet friend mary for a morning of gingerbread house decorating to benefit parkinsons of the rockies. We had so much fun decorating our house and then playing plinko. Mary, after many attempts at previous events for this non-profit, finally won her critter that she had been eyeing. I am grateful to have been invited to join mary and that we made such a wonderful memory in the process.

Ryan and I finally got started on our christmas shopping on sunday. We made a quick pit-stop at my parents house to visit with them before hand which put me in the best mood to fight the traffic at the mall. We made quite the dent in our holiday shopping and I was in such a great mood that I came home and wrapped every gift up to display under the tree. 

The weekend wrapped up by snuggling with ryan and rocco on the couch. We watched some dvr, ate breakfast for dinner and just enjoyed our new home together as a family. Like I said before, it was a perfect weekend. 

Parkinson's Vitality Walk

This past sunday I got up early to help my sweet friend mary and dozens of volunteers put on the 12th annual vitality walk benefiting the parkinsons association. Hundreds of participants flooded washington park in matching team colors with smiles on their faces to help raise awareness and fight parkinson's disease. 

(mary and I at the kids activity booth)

Mary got there super early to set up tents, tables and tons of balloons at the starting area of the race. I arrived shortly after to put the finishing touches on our booth... the kids activities area. Markers and crayons were put out for a drawing station, and pots of bright colors, brushes & sponges were then set up on the opposite end for face painting. 

(left to right:  wash park as the sun rises  /  drawings  /  the starting line balloon arch  /  drawings)

While neither of us (nor the other high school volunteers who joined our booth) had much face painting experience, I think we did a pretty decent job decking-out the faces of both kids and adults. Oh and you would have thought mary drew minions in her spare time as she painted at least a dozen in the hour leading up to the race with precision and accuracy that was super impressive. 

(painting faces and minions on everyone in sight)

There is no better feeling than donating your time for a good cause and while I feel I did only a small part in this very successful event, I walked away feeling like I got more out of the event than anyone. Oh and a few hours laughing with a very dear friend, I could not have asked for anything more!