//TWO-THOUSAND ::AND:: THIRTEEN//

here's my cliche two-thousand and thirteen wrap-up post, which will most likely be followed by a even more stereotypical news years resolution post.  most of our 'highlights' were mentioned in our christmas card, so it would make most sense to post a nice little photo of the card, but since this mama cannot for the life of me find our camera charger, that will not be happening (yet).  we made quite a few life changes in 2013. i left my first 'career' at wichita state for an opportunity to spend more time at home in the evenings and on the weekends while providing more for our family. in february i began my adventure at heartspring. yes, that would be just a month prior to the shockers making the final four. funny how that works, right? garrett had just spent tireless hours on the basement prior to banks being born, and it was finally done. we loved it. and then we decided to sell our first home. .... so the for sale sign went up.

and then i got a new car, unexpectedly. after hadley had a near-death experience choking on banks' apple and spent the night in the er after having emergency surgery,  i was hit on the driver's side on my way to pick him up just 10 hours later. a month long fiasco, and lots of prayers later, my car was finally deemed totalled.

we took our first big vacation since our honeymoon in june to celebrate or 5 year anniversary in july. we had the time of our lives.  we landed in cabo and spent 7 awesome nights there - it was so much fun, and we have decided ( along with the couple we went with who also celebrated their fifth year of wedded bliss ) that this needs to happen more frequent than every five years.

when we got back, we decided it was time list with a real estate agent as we said after vacation it was 'game time' for selling the house. 3 days later it sold.  we then began the search for our new home out west. we knew of the general area we wanted to look, but had not nailed one specific neighborhood down. we probably looked at 40 houses. thank goodness for real estate websites. after some negotiations, we bought our second home 25 minutes closer to both sets of parents, our best friends, our church and 25 minutes further from work. boo.

it's a great location for us and we've been happy with our buy. i'm eager to start home renovations, but g looks at me like i'm crazy. so... i'm still working on that. we finally relaxed for a couple of months ( at least for major life changes ). so i hit the road agian. this time with my best friend by my side. my best friend who HATES running. she committed and we trained week after week for her first and my fourth half-marathon. it was by far the most fun i've ever had running a race.

we celebrated Banks' big second birthday in november! i cannot believe he is two. time flies. no lies. his vocabulary amazes me everyday, he is the most ornery kid you will ever meet. he doesn't slow down. he refuses naptime and is always go - go - go. apparently, he gets this from me, but i  have a hard time believing that lately. i'm SO tired. birthday theme: fish. banks' love for fishing is hilarious. he still asks everyday (even with snow on the ground) if we can go fishing. his other loves are toy story (we watch at least once a day), basketball, and tools.

in early november we found out that two-thousand and thirteen could bring even more change and blessings. the konens will be adding one to the household in  july '14. 

WE. ARE. SO. HAPPY. we had been waiting for this happy moment for quite some time ( at least in my book ) but, i can be very impatient, to say the least. i had kept saying 'any month but july'. july is SO hot. well, hello july. i will not complain. in july we will become four, happily. so we wrap-up two-thousand and thirteen with no complaints. a new home, a fab vacation, a dog that survived, a healthy and active two-year-old that could quite possibly be the most handsome boy ever, two incomes, a blessed marriage, friends, family and another blessing on the way. cheers to that, ya'll.

No-Nuts

nearly a year ago (when baby b was eating solids regularly, and i gave in to feeding banks sugar) we started a Friday Donut  Day ritual.

I may miss the park city daylight donut shop more than anything since we've moved. the donuts were SO good, and they had a drive-thru. this meant that even if i woke up 15 minutes late, or if banks had a bad morning, or if I was on 'E' when we got in the car, we could always make time for the (barely) 2 minute trip to the donut shop. Since the move, we've been on the lookout for the best west-side donut shop (yummy, convenient - on the way to daycare & drive-thru preferred).

West-side. you are awesome, but your donut shops suck.

since August we've hit up Dillons, our most frequented Friday stop, Casey's General Store (YUCK), LaMar's (pretty good, but out of the way) and even opted for a bagel at Scooter's one day that made Banks think it was Monday.

As of now, our best bet is Dillon's, even though we have to get out of the car, about 60 seconds after we just got buckled in, fight off the business people who are buying for the whole company, go through the  self-checkout line (because they are the only lines that are open that early) and get a sub-par donut. Mama perk: there is a Starbucks. Downfall: our $1 donut stop has turned into a $6 Friday investment. 

Although, I'm not as fond of Donut Day (mostly because I miss the Daylight Donut doughnut holes), Banks has never been more fond of Fridays. The minute I tell him it's Friday when he wakes up, he responds with "NO-NUT, NO-NUTS!!!!". This could be bad, but it's too cute. It's the very best way to begin each Friday, with my doughnut buddy, Banks.

My fisherman.

this boy loves to fish. so much that he bawled his eyes out all the way to his photoshoot yesterday because he couldn't hold the fishing pole in the car. 

i must say i think this fishing duo is the cutest i've ever seen.

long time no talk.

not that you were missing me, but i've been missing you. i can't believe my last post was in april. holy smokes. life is busy, that's no lie. so, just like any great friend, let's catch up where we left off!

highlights from the past 5 months::

CEDAR TREE::
garrett and i decided it was time to put our first home on the market in may. we decided to go 'for sale by owner' just to see if it would work out. it was SO WEIRD to think that we could live somewhere else - this was the only home we knew together!

CABO::
we went on our first vacation since our honeymoon in June with our best friends, Dustin & Stacey. The Meiers married on June 28, 2008, two weeks before G and I tied the knot on July 12. We both went to the same honeymoon destination and for the past FIVE years we've talked about taking a trip together to celebrate our first milestone anniversary. i guess, it's a milestone....well, we made it one anyways, so that we could have a good excuse to book a trip. we chose cabo, and we spent 7 FABULOUS days on the beach. we layed out, drank, ate A LOT, and most importantly relaxed. there was absolutely nothing to worry about and it was so nice to just get away and not have a care in the world - except for missing baby banks, of course. we made a promise to take a 'big' trip every 5 years - but, it's only been 4 months since our trip and we are itching for another. i'm thinking a yearly trip sounds more like it - the checking account doesn't think the same way though.

5 YEARS::
once we got back from Cabo, we officially celebrated our fifth year of marriage. i really cannot believe it's been five years already! food, ice cream and g's movie choice = casual celebration. we also decided around this time due to interest rates going up that we would put our home up for sale with a realtor, despite several promising showings, we just didn't have the right buyer.



SOLD::
2 days after our house was for sale with a realtor, we had 2 offers on our home. crazy much?

FAWNWOOD::
and then we bought a house. our 'new to us' house. a house that is much, much roomier, much closer to all of banks' grandparents, 1 mile from my best friend and about forever away from work. we love it and have enjoyed making it our home for the past few months. i think garrett is excited that there is do demolition needed, but he knows (and has already experienced) me putting him to work!

.... pictures to come.

BANKS:: is amazing. i love him so so much. he changes so much everyday. he LOVES to fish, walk, make coffee and toast, put together puzzles, LOVES to read, is obsessed with saying ' i did it' or 'mama did it' - he is so proud. he has gone potty on the potty a couple of times.... but we are far from tighty whities. we love our new (west) daycare and so does banks. he labels every item with a person. for instance he'll pick up my shoes 'mama's' or a paintbrush 'papa's' (thanks dad for all your painting!!!) - asks be 24/7 if i want boffee (coffee) and i say yes most of the time. i'm planning his 2nd birthday party and cannot believe it!!!!!!! he had a case of hand, mouth, foot - which was AWFUL - what the heck is that stuff anyways?!?!? and then his friends got it ( didn't know the 'diaper rash' was hand foot mouth at the time). and i felt so horrible.


MISC:: garrett is 29 - weird. banks is is almost two - crazy. i just ran my 4th half marathon and i wish i could run another one tomorrow. my best best best friend also ran - which i don't think she thought she would ever do and i'm so so so so proud of her. i had so much fun running side by side. spirit sucks. we cross our fingers everytime there are layoffs, so far so good. and then g worked overtime. and then they cancelled his project or something like that and now he doesn't work overtime. and there are going to be more layoffs. my new job is going well. one event out of 3 down for the year - tripled numbers and hoping that success will continue in the months to come. check out pedalfest.org and lightsonthelake.org to see the events i've planned thus far! (and look 'em up on Facebook and instagram too!) i met bobby bones. we've been to weddings. lots of kiddos' birthday parties. banks loved tanganyika. hadley hates banks. banks loves hadley. banks has broke 3 of my favorite coffee cups and more than 5 wine glasses since we've moved. i wish there were 48 hours per day. i'm sure i'm fogetting so so so much as we've been busy in the past 5 months, but basically life is grand, it goes too fast and i LOVE my little fam.

here's to no more blogging breaks! cheers!!

catchin' up with the konens

this time of the year seems to be the best and also the busiest.

work is busy. our social calendar seems to be filling up. there's birthday parties to be had, baby showers to attend and weddings to be blessed. it's running season and races are in full-force. vacation is approaching (yipee!!!), our house is for sale (never-ending cleaning), which means i'm constantly keeping my eyes open for THE HOUSE to buy... just in case we sell ours. oh, and banks is busy too. running everywhere, eating dirt, digging in the trash, opening the toilet lids, talking up a storm, is always hungry and thinks the street looks more fun than the green grass. we are constantly chasing after him - but i wouldn't change that for the world.

last week i attended a photography workshop and i LOVED it. Gina Dreher was an excellent instructor. I'm totally jealous of her stay at home mom/ awesome photographer job. i have a whole new respect for awesome photos. it's a science and an art. i got to play around with the camera this weekend with baby banks and also took some maternity photos for a great friend. by no means will i be a pro photog, but it's fun to take pictures for friends. i've learned how to photoshop the photos so that banks' bbq stains on his shirt are less apparent and his 'boogies' aren't so noticeable. fun stuff.

royal script is busy too. i'm behind & need to get caught up. asap.

1/2 marathon #3 is this weekend - PR times will not be happening, so don't you need to worry about any type of celebration. I've been running slower than ever before. not sure why, but it's not cool. there is another 1/2 i'm thinking about doing in a month or so... maybe i will feel more up to speed around that time.

my brother is graduating college in 2 weeks. craziness.

i get to celebrate my mom this month - which is awesome. she deserves every bit of that day, she's the BEST mom ever. i also forget that I'm a mom when i think about mother's day. sometimes it's just crazy to think about. 

cabo is in 48 days. 

it's monday. the sun is shining. it's a beautiful day.

FOR SALE

we've talked about it. thought about it. and now we have done it. our very first home is for sale. 

we are selling it ourselves, so be sure to share, share, share away! you can find pictures on my Facebook page HERE.

happy home selling.

well, hello.

 Holy smokes. It's been awhile. I'm going to catch you up in the same manner that I feel like time has passed - quickly.

St. Patrick's Day

Alli and I ran the St. Patty's 5k together, opened a bar and had a few drinks before going out that night. It's always a great time with Miss AK. 

on the 17th I realized that it was TWO years ago I found out I was pregnant with Banks. Seems like yesterday. Made me so happy and sad at the same time. Time flies. I made B green pankcakes and we did some crafts and just hung out in our 'Lucky KU' shirts all dang day. Those days are the best.

March Madness

A great time. The following in Wichita for WSU was amazing. After working at WSU it made it all that more special to watch the guys succeed. I'm so proud of them and couldn't have asked for a better run. Of course winning it all is the goal - but, what they did is something to be proud of. KU - That wasn't cool. Of course, March is one of my favorite months because of all the basketball played. Such a fun time watching all the WSU games with our best friends and cheering them on at a wedding, bars & at home. Fun stuff.

Easter

Celebrated Easter with family at church and a lunch at our house afterward. So blessed with a great family and so thankful for New Life. Banks was spoiled with 3 Easter baskets and lots of hidden eggs. He was the absolute cutest looking for all of the eggs.

Carnival

We made the big trip to Norwich for the school carnival. B of course had a blast. Winning lots of unnecessary prizes is always fun, right? Grandpa learned not to let B take on a sucker on his own - stickiness galore. Uncle Dmo came home and we got to hang out all weekend - we wish he lived here. Mom fixed a fabulous dinner. G stuffed himself full and said "that was amazing". 

Running

A few more weeks til' 1/2 number 3. I haven't been training as much this time around, but hopefully it'll all work out. 

House

G and I are going to be working hard the next few weeks to get our house ready for the market. I think we are ready for something bigger and something west. Hoping to get closer to all of our family, friends & church. So, that should be interesting.

Banks

Growing like a weed. Had an upper respiratory infection last week and was absolutely miserable. Took him to his 16 month check up. He weighed 25lbs and was 32 inches tall.  Got some antibiotics and he's back to normal - happy go lucky. I couldn't love anything more than him. He's amazing. The life of any party for sure.

Slumber Parties

Banks has stayed the night with both sets of grandparents in the last month. To say the least he is spoiled. G and had a few good nights out.... and at home. Yes our 'night out' became a 'night in' with early bedtimes. We are getting old.

Cabo

61 days. I cannot wait!

Work

Going well. Save the date for my first event - PedalFest August 24, 2013.

That's all for now. I'm sure I missed about a million things, but basically life is BUSY and GREAT.

cabo.

wal mart trips with mom are the best!

breakfast with mama

sports with gpa

cheering on the shocks!

brudder love

bubbles with auntie k

fun in the yard!

sick baby banks

breakfast at cracker barrel with gma ju ju

cake walk with uncle dmo

winner winner chicken dinner!

slumber party fun

st pattys

happy birthday uncle dmo!