Getting Back on the Horse

Ok, I seriously can't believe that the last time I posted was October! Here's a picture of Jesse and me from last October, sometime after I quit blogging ...

{J and me at the pumpkin patch last fall!}

I guess when people say blogging is a big commitment they mean it. I loved writing over the summer when my workload was light, inspiration was high and the weather was beautiful, but as winter came and went (and it better not come back for another 9 months), I found myself ridiculously busy at work and ridiculously uninspired at home. Something about waking up before the sun comes up and leaving work after the sun goes down isn't as motivating as sunshine and summertime. The good news is it's getting warmer in DC and I've been itching to try new recipes and accomplish a few home projects. So here I am, back to blogging!

To get started again, let me fill you in on the last four months ...

November was football month for the Lentz household. Jesse and I went to four football games and watched all four games end in a victory for "our" teams. While it was a lot of fun, it was also exhausting. We started out in Philadelphia to watch the Eagles take on the Colts and squeak out a 26-24 win.

{Happy Birthday J - tickets to watch the Eagles at Lincoln Financial}

Then we went to FedEx field where the Eagles annihilated the Redskins, 59-28. While it was great to see the Eagles win two weeks in a row, this game was miserable because it rained from start to finish!

{Redskins losing + torrential downpour = awesome seats}

Our last two games were back to back college football games. The first game was Indiana vs. Penn State (Jesse's alma mater) at FedEx field. After that game, we drove up to College Park to watch Florida State v. Maryland, with one of Jesse's best friends, Ross, who drove down from Philly to watch FSU (his alma mater). The last and final game of our tour ended with a 20-16 win by Florida State.

{We're that couple, the ones with the matching sweatshirts}

{Enjoying a day game the only way I know how ... Bloody Mary's}

Once we recovered from the football marathon, we packed up and headed to Kansas for an eight day Thanksgiving break and to celebrate my birthday!

{We ran a Turkey Day 5k ... it was early!}

{Birthday Twins - Em's b-day is the day before mine}

{Out at P&L for my birthday party}

December is usually full of holiday parties and Christmas shopping. While we had our share of both parties and shopping, we also took a big "growing up" step - Jesse and I got a kitten!

{Our little Mac-a-Rooney}

It was the first Saturday of December and we had plans to go to a holiday party that evening. Jesse and I took our weekly trip to Pet Smart to look at all the kittens. We didn't expect to find one with the holidays being so close, but as we walked up to the adoption center, there he was, our own little kitten. We immediately called Jesse's parents to tell them there would be an extra visitor for the holidays, picked up all of the necessary supplies and took him home. It took us all afternoon to come up with a name, but right before we headed out to the party we both agreed on Rooney, after soccer player Wayne Rooney. (According to Wikipedia, Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England National team.) Here are a few shots of our new obsession. I'm sure he'll be making regular appearances on the blog.

{Rooney's favorite spot in the house}

{Christmas kitty - photo by Neil Khettry}

January is when all hell broke loose at work. I spent most of the month working 12 hour days, which meant night after night of Trader Joe's frozen meals, and a few hours of work every weekend. By the end of the month, I hadn't taken a single day off and then I had to fly to Arizona for a(n) seven eight day business trip. I can't lie, eight days in warm, sunny Phoenix, AZ is really nice in the middle of January, but it was so hard to be away from my family and house for that long.

February was another month that flew right by! I flew out to KC to visit my family, where we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday (with lunch at Cheesecake Factory) and my sister Katie's 29th (with an 80's party). Jesse's sister and brother-in-law came to visit us the second weekend and then I was off to Dallas for another business trip. The only plus side to Dallas is that my BFF Kelly came down to help with the conference! By the end of the month, I realized I let another 28 days go by without blogging ...

{iPhone photo in a bar = FUZZY}

{Taking a classic Texas picture in Dallas}

{Enjoying a weekend with Corina and Neil - photo by Neil}

March - Which brings us right to spring ... I started this post on March 2nd, but by the time I got to the end of December it was time for bed, and I'm just now getting back to posting. I'm really hoping that I can start posting at least once a week, but I won't make any guarantees. We have a lot coming up, including a trip to PA for my SIL's baby shower and Jesse's friends are visiting next weekend. I also have another conference for work (in Orlando this time) and then we're heading back up to PA to visit Jesse's college roommate.

Even with my busy schedule and hardly any weekends at home, I am determined to accomplish some of our house-to-home projects this spring. I am planning to re-do our master bathroom and I would love to find a few pieces of furniture to finish off the downstairs, including a coffee table, side tables and a buffet/sideboard. I also just hung curtains this weekend (pictures to come) and had a battle with place mats that I can't wait to share (you're dying to hear more, right??). In addition to the housework, I have every intention of getting back to creative cooking, which will hopefully go beyond scouring the shelves at TJ's for the easiest meal to pull together.

Whew, well I hope you enjoyed my winter recap and slideshow. If you haven't had enough of me yet, you can check out my public Flickr site for more pictures. I'll be back soon ... or at least sooner that five months! :)