Onwards and Upwards!

It has now been over 3 years since my last blog post. I am not sure how this got away from me, but here I am, ready to start again!

Life has changed so much since 2011, and I fully intend to catch everyone up very soon!

The direction of my posts will change from my last posts, but its pretty awesome to see what I used to post about, and what was important to me.

Cant wait to share more of whats to come soon!

Happy Monday! 

Taking a stand to be ME

You know how they say 'If you dont have something nice to say, dont say it at all?' Well, that may explain my delay in posting for the last few months.

The last few months have been... well... confusing. Ive debated changing jobs, moving from Denver, moving within Denver, and I have really spent a lot of time looking at how I am living my life.

Today, I write with courage and confidence that any decision that I make is going to be the right one. I am going to start living my life knowing that the decisions that I make are the best decisions for myself.

I am very lucky to have some very special people in my life. They know how to get me through thick and thin. They know how 'I work', and they always know what to say. You guys know who you are!

Sorry for the delay

Its been over a month since my last post. Here is an entry that I started last week. I am going to try my hardest to stay on track and post as often as possible. Sorry again!

I am currently sitting in the Charlotte North Carolina airport after a very delayed flight, then a missed connection last night. Thought for most people, a travel night like mine last night would be a disaster, I just passed it off as another day of traveling. I think the positive attitude comes from the fact that I had an absolutely incredible weekend.

I met Andrea in Columbus Ohio, to attend a coworker, Jeff Baiocchi’s wedding. Though, Andrea thought going to Columbus Ohio, on a ‘vacation’, was a little but sketch, I showed her an amazing time. If it hadn’t been for the huge burger she ate right before we went to the airport, she wouldn’t have wanted to leave!

I officially finished the first ‘wedding season’ of my life. I feel broke, I feel tired, but most of all I feel loved! I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I know that I am a good friend. I always go above and beyond to help a friend, and I do my best to keep in constant contact with all of them. It’s a huge honor for me to be invited to someone’s wedding. I know how expensive they are, and I know how intimate they are, so to be invited to partake in the special day is an amazing feeling.

Thank you to all of my friends who invited me to be a part of their special day! The memories of the weddings will last a lifetime!

 (I will post pictures very soon!)

Feeling Overcommitted

Have you ever had the sense that you are just out of steam? That you have so much to do, you don’t know whats going on? Well, that’s where I stand right now.

The last month, and the coming months have been a complete whirlwind. In an 8 week span, I have 4 weddings in 4 different states. Not to mention a 2 day vacation Malibu (Which will be much needed!).

Memorial Day weekend, I am missing an important event. I cant help but feel guilty, and awful about missing this. Kristen, my best friend Heathers little sister is graduating from High School. She told me about this 2 months ago, 4 months after I committed to going to a close co-workers wedding in St Louis. I wish I could be in two places at once, but I simply cant. I also need to write her a letter, and send it to her mom before Friday! AHHH!

When it comes to work, I am spending a lot of time getting ramped up on the new client, and all of the deliverable here. I am getting used to the new surroundings, and restaurants, which ones are healthy, and trying to figure out which ones I will be frequenting. Trying to mix in an actual commute (Should out to Columbus OH for a lack of commute), and working out, and eating is not easy! Not to mention, I need to have my Project Assessment for my last project in VERY soon!

This weekend is going to be very busy. On Friday, Mylee is graduating from Kindergarten (APPLAUSE!), and its her 6^th Birthday! I will be driving up to Fort Collins on Friday morning, going to the ceremony, going back to Robs to work for the afternoon, then taking Rob and Mylee to dinner to celebrate the graduation and her birthday!

Saturday and Sunday morning will spent cleaning my house! Apparently my Uncle wants to come bring my two cousins to Denver next week and wants to stay at my place, and my parents are coming up in a few weeks as well. Not sure the last time I have spent any significant time cleaning, but it MUST happen this weekend! Jen has a friend in town this weekend, so I may spend some time at a happy hour or something fun. On Sunday, I am taking an earlier flight than normal so I can have dinner with Sapna and Amar in downtown Chicago! That should be fun!

My travel for the next 2 weeks is crazy!

Chicago to Denver

Denver to Chicago

Chicago to St Louis

St Louis to Houston w/Connection to Los Angeles

Los Angeles to Denver w/Connection to Chicago

Chicago to Denver

Lets hope I can get through he next few weeks and find some time to rest in between.

Slap a Bitch Thursday

*No Bitches Were Harmed in the Writing of this Blog*

Alright, so I am a day (4 days) late and a dollar short for SABT for last week, but here are a few short captions.

1) Myself. I am still unsure what happened last Saturday night. It all started with the girls wanting to have a little pool party. We invited a few friends, bought some booze, made some food, and had a nice 'relaxing' day at the pool. One pitcher of this amazing mixed drink and a few margaritas, turned into a 12 pack of bud light, 2 12 packs of coors light, 3 bottles of vodka and a handle of captain. We stayed at the pool from 12 to 9 pm. By the time 9 pm came around, I was no longer coherent. I passed out on the couch, throwing up for all to see. I woke up about 3 am, sneezing (Jen has a cat), in darkness, in still semi-wet swim trunks. Luckily for me, I was SOBER! Haha. So, I got my stuff together and left. I think it was a combo of WAY too much alcohol, WAY too much sun, and not enough food in my stomach! So... I would like to slap myself, for my antics of last weekend.

Friends and I at the pool (Notice the Booze)

2) We will call her... Camp. My friend was dating a guy, Tall One. He was in the process of getting divorced from Camp. He was a nice guy, and she really enjoyed seeing him. A few months ago, their divorce was final. We all went out on a few occasions and just had a great time. I even started to like this guy. One night, my cousin was in town, and we all went out and had a great time. Tall One was acting kinda weird all night. We were unsure what to think. That night, things essentially fizzled between my friend and Tall One, and we were all kind of unsure what happened. On Thursday, Friend called me and told me the reason Tall One had been acting so weird was because Camp was calling/texting him and telling him that she made a huge mistake and wanted to get back together with him. So, I would like to slap Camp.... when you are in your 30's 40's (I have been corrected), and you have a child with Tall One, you gotta make some decisions. Its time to grow up, and smell the coffee! (Thats my 2 cents anyway).

3) Guy at my hotel. On Sunday night, I checked into my hotel. Everything was fine. On Monday, after a long day at work, dinner with coworkers and a great workout at the local Bally's Gym, I arrived at my hotel around 9:30 pm. I walk in to my room to see that my room hadnt been cleaned. I called down and asked the dude why my room hadnt been cleaned. He said he was unsure, and would send someone up if I wanted. I said yes. About 10:15 a guy shows up with a ton of towels, hands them to me, and leaves. On Tuesday morning, I talk to the front desk, and the guy tells me it was because I checked in Monday morning so the computer didnt tell them they needed to clean my room. THE SAME GUY that checked me in, was the guy that I called Monday night, and the one I talked to on Tuesday morning. On Wednesday night, I talked to the manager to try to figure out what happened, and we finally figured it out. The guy on Sunday made me keys, but never checked me in the computer. When I ate breakfast on Monday, and they took them the receipt, they noticed I was actually there and checked me in. All in all, the manager gave me 8000 free points. So, I would like to slap the front desk guy who tried to convince me that I wasnt actually there on Sunday.

I think that might be all of the bitches I am wanting to slap for last week. Overall, it was a good week. Not too many annoyances! Lets hope for more of the same this week!

Interesting life lesson from an unexpected source

About a month ago, on a flight from Denver to Columbus, the man sitting next to me says ‘Have you got to the part about the drug dealers and their moms?’ I had no idea what he was talking about. The reason was, he was referencing my book ‘Freakonomics’, and I had not got to that part yet. We had some good discussion about the book (what I had read so far), and then promptly put on our headphones and did our own thing.

Upon arriving in Denver the following week, we stops me and asks ‘Have you read that part yet?’. I had actually just finished reading that section. It was very interesting, and I can see why he really wanted me to read it.

We both realize now that we are on each others weekly flights. So today, leaving Columbus, I smile at him and ask him how his week was. About 2 minutes later, he comes to my seat and hands me a book. He says ‘I know we had some great discussion about Freakonomics, so I would really like you to read this book. Its only about 90 pages, so you can probably read it on the flight,’. Now, its pretty rare that you get someone that would do something like that, so I really didn’t know what to say. He explained a little bit about the book, and then just left. Being how the conversation left off, I was unsure if I had been given a book to keep, or he expected me to read the book on the plane and give it back. I knew I wouldn’t be on the flight to Columbus again, so I felt obligated to read the book. The book was pretty good. Its one of those books that really just gets you thinking.

The book was called ‘Poke The Box by Seth Godin’. 

The book started off with this:

‘The job isn’t to catch up to the status quo; the job is to invent the status quo’

The book ended with this:

‘There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth. Not going all the way, and not starting.'

The book ended up being about Failure, and reasons you should not be afraid of it. I don’t want to give too much away, but I say, ‘Read It!’

I ended up getting one of my business cards out of my backpack and putting my personal email address on it. When I went back to use the bathroom, I gave him the book, thanked him, and told him that I really enjoyed it. We landed back in Denver, and the nice man told me ‘If you liked the book, you should really keep it!’ I thanked him and accepted the book. I saw a business card in it and said ‘I actually left you my business card in it’, he looks at me kinda funny and says ‘That’s actually mine, for you!’

It was really nice to have an experience like that. Stanton, if you ever read this (which I doubt because I wouldn’t necessarily invite you to read my blog), Thank you very much!  

Annoyance to Brilliance!

Have you ever had one of those days where it felt like everyone is out there to annoy the SHIT out of you? Well…. That is what I am experiencing as I currently write this blog. So I have decided what my weekly post is going to be. It will be titled ‘Slap a Bitch Thursday’. These posts will include all of my (obviously) valid reasons why I feel like I should be entitled to slap specific bitches of that week. So here it goes:

Slap A Bitch Thursday

*No Bitches were harmed in the writing of this blog*

Here is what I have experienced in the past 4 hours.

1)      I drop off my rental car at the National Rental Car lot at O’hare, and I am in a pretty good mood. I had a great work week, great rental car, and I was going home for the weekend finally! I am the first person on the bus, followed by a fairly attractive man. Well, fairly attractive man, seemed to really enjoy chewing his gum. Now, I know that I may be super sensitive to this, but this man was out of control. He never closed his mouth once. Never once, from the rental car lot, to the B Terminal. At first I tried to ignore it by plugging my ears with my fingers and looking the other way. It didn’t work. After a while, I caught myself starring. All I could think was ‘How do you do that? How do you purposely chew with your mouth open? I don’t think I could do that if I tried!’ Lucky for me, the bus ride is fairly short (about 6 minutes).

2)      Slap a bitch #2. I am sitting in row 17. We board the plane. About 6 rows back (no joke), someone opens a bag of chips. Now, chips are tricky. I would say about 75% of the people I encounter do not know how to properly eat a chip. Well, this person might ding that percentage to 76%. I could hear literally every single bite this person took into their chip. After about 8 chips, I couldn’t take it anymore. I forced myselt to go to sleep (in hopes this person would finish by the time I was done). Luckily, when I awoke, the chips were complete!

3)      Ok… Slap a bitch #3… Are you ready for this?! Slap a bitch #3 is the lady sitting next to me! So when I board the plane she was right behind me. We sit down, and she right away pulls out a Chiobani yogurt cup. She starts eating it, and I could hear her smacking her lips. I kept looking at her like ‘are you really making those noises’ and she would look at me like ‘Hi!’. She finishes her yogurt, I go to sleep and we take off. Once we are in the air, the lady takes out a sandwich that she brought from home. Same thing happens… she chews the sandwich, and I can hear her smacking her lips. The sandwich is finished, and 5 minutes later she pulls out a bag with more snacks. The next snack is an apple. Now, I love apples, but I think that apples are on the ‘do not chew next to someone you don’t know out of common courtesy (especially on an AIRPLANE!). I knew this was going to be bad, and it was. I ended up doing the pluggy ear thingy again while I read my book. The apple eating seemed to take an eternity. Apple finishes and she pulls out a granola bar. Luckily, granola bar smacking only took a total of 4 bites. The flight attendant comes to take her trash, and this bitch spills her glass of ice all over me! She just looks at me. Dosnt say a word. The flight attendant says ‘Sorry’, and I just say ‘No Problem.’.

As you can imagine, I am a little bit testy right now. I have elected to put on some Little Big Town, and have some ‘Come to Jesus’ time while I write this post. I hope you all have a tremendous weekend, and hope that you do not have to slap any bitches!

Saying Goodbye....

Saying goodbye is not easy. I have never been good at it, and I have never enjoyed it. Last week was very rough for many reasons. I have had to say goodbye far too many times.  

Easter weekend, Andrea’s sister passed away. Roberta was one of the most special people I have ever met. She was beautiful. She was smart. She had an incredible smile that could light up a room. On several occasions Roberta and I spent quality time together. We were stuck in situations where we were the least common denominator in the group we were surrounded by, so we took an immediate liking to each other. On Friday April, 29, 2011, we said goodbye to Roberta. We laid her to rest, and let her be one with God. May you Rest in Peace Roberta.

Another goodbye. My tenure on the Cardinal Health project in Columbus, OH has come to an end. I had the opportunity to come back to IBM last summer, and immediately joined the team. I was on the project for 10 months, traveling back and forth every week from Denver. Often times, this project was very stressful, sometimes working onsite on Fridays, sometimes even weekends. Te extra time at work, meant extra time bonding with some incredible coworkers. My coworkers aged anywhere from 24 – 60, but somehow, we all got along perfectly. I had two going away dinners last week. One with the Customer to Contract functional team (I was the training team representative for their team), and one with the Organizational Change team. It was great being in a social atmosphere with these coworkers, which we rarely get to do. My time on the project was a huge development experience for me, and everyone will truly be missed. Now its time for my next adventure in Waukegan, IL.

And now, for my last goodbye. For the past 3 months I have been dating the most amazing person, S. The basis of why we met, where we met, and the timing of when we met, all didn’t make sense. All put together, it must have been the perfect storm. S lives in Columbus (confusing right?). We have spent so much quality time together the last 3 months, including date night once a week, movies, weekend trips, and sleepovers. I have never bonded with someone quite like this. It was truly an experience to remember. Because I am leaving Columbus, we had to say our goodbyes, however, we fully intend on visiting each other (in whatever cities that may be), and seeing what the future has in store for us.

In closing, life is short. I urge you all to live everyday to the fullest. Love one another. Do not take anything for granted. Enjoy all of your experiences here on this Earth. God made a plan for all of us, so why not live it up?!

This. Is. Me.

So here I am. Posting my first blog in several months. Through the last few years, I have tried my hardest to keep my friends and family up to date on my life through this blog. At times I was very good at updating people, and at times I would take very long breaks. After my very sarcastic brother notified me that my brother mentioned that I ONLY talk about myself, and post pictures of myself, and I am very self infatuated, I let my feelings get hurt, and decided to stop posting.

Through the last year or so, I have been following my very good friend Jenna’s blog. This girl is hilarious. She’s… well, she’s amazing. If you could think of any situation that could help to a 20ish good looking lady, its happened to her. There are a few posts that I was laughing so hard, that I cried. I religiously started reading her blog. About 4 months ago, my friend Lauren talked about her blog. She invited me to her blog. Though we are good friends, I almost feel like it opened me up to a new side of her life. A way for me to get to know her better, I guess you can say. About a month ago, my friend Jen started writing a blog, She writes very fun things, and has some positive posts like ‘What im loving Wednesday’. I plan to do something similar, just have no idea what that is going to be yet.

After reading all of these blogs I have decided, SCREW MY BROTHER, it is about me. If people want to read about me, then let them!

Though I will still post about some of the fabulous trips I take, I will talk about more as well. I will have rants, I will have raves, and I will just talk about whats on my mind. Through the years I have kept a lot in. I have always had fabulous friends to help me through the thick and thin, but, I would still be weary of discussing specific matters. The last few years, I have really come to terms with myself, and who I am, and am opening up.

Thank you to Jenna, Lauren and Jen for opening your lives up to me, and inspiring me to continue on with the blog legacy!

So, like it or love it… here is the new and improved (Thanks to Jen) ‘In Ryan’s Shoe’s’ blog. This. Is. Me.

Incredible Vacation

I had an incredible opportunity to go visit my best friend Heather, her husband Michael, and their 2 year old Son MJ in Italy. This summer, they moved to Aviano Air Base in Italy, for the Air Force. On my vacation, I was able to see Polcenigo, Venice, and Rome Italy, and Munich Germany for Oktoberfest. This was one of the most amazing vacations I have ever taken.

The vacation had many different highlights. In Munich, we attended the Oktoberfest Festivities. The culture, the food, and especially the beer, was some of the best ive ever been around. I was able to bring back some souvenirs, nic naks, and even some injuries. All in all, it was a fantastic time and I cannot wait to go back!






Immediately following Munich, we flew down to Rome. We stayed at the incredible Westin Excelsior, which was right next to the US Embassy. We took bus rides around the city. We saw the Colosseum, the Vatican, and many other sites. The food was delicious (yet pricey). I could not believe the culture and the history of this city. The people were very friendly.







To Be Continued.....

Halloween 2008

Some friends and I had a great time in Downtown Denver for Halloween. The weather was so amazing that we were able to hang outside... in October! Here are a few pictures from that night.

My Very Very Crazy Summer

As most of you know, I had a crazy summer of traveling. I was home in Denver for I think a total of 13 days all summer!

I started the summer with a trip to visit one of my best Alpha Kappa Psi buddies in Morgantown, West Virginia. I drove from Detroit to Morgantown. The road took me down Michigan, through Ohio (West to East), through Pennsylvania (North to South), and into West Virginia. She had just graduated from WVU, so I went to celebrate with her and her family. Here is a picture of her and I.

LeeAnne and I

My next adventure took me to Chicago. I met up with some old coworkers from my Nissan Project in Nashville. We really just hung out in the city all weekend, went shopping, and ate some fantastic food. Here are a few pictures of Chicago (one of my favorite cities!)

Jen scared of the ride....

Chicago at night.. Gorgeous!

The Famous Wrigley Field

I think one of the best trips of the summer came when I treated my mom to a trip to New York City. It was her birthday, and I figured since I had a lot of points saved up, I would treat us to a great weekend. After flying First Class to New York, and taking a Lincoln Towncar to the Waldorf Astoria (where we stayed the first night), the first night was spent to watching the Steve Miller Band at Radio City Music Hall! (My boss' husband is their Tour Manager and he got us 3rd Row Tickets!!!). After the concert we got backstage passes and drank a few beers with the band members and "their crew."

My mom and I with the stage in the background

Steve Miller!

Mom Backstage

My boss and I backstage

The next few days were spent sightseeing throughout the city, we went to a few broadway musicals, saw the Statue of Liberty, The Met, and a ton of other place. We had so much fun and it was fantastic to spend time with my mom!

New York from the water

Front of our second hotel.. Renissance in Times Square

After New York I went to San Francisco for the first time. My friend from college, Eric, is in law school at UC Davis. For the summer he took an internship in the city, and he wanted me to go up to see the city with him. We visited several vineyards, and explored all around San Francisco.

Golden Gate Bridge

Eric and I at a Winery in Sonoma

I was able to make a few more trips, but no pictures were really taken. Those pictures were Las Vegas (the big one), and New Mexico for UNM's football game vs. Texas A&M

Cruise!

A few weeks ago I went on a cruise with my Uncle Larry, Aunt Denise, Cousin Erica and a few of their family friends. We had such a fantastic time on the cruise! Wanted to show yall some pics!

Great Concert.... Great Venue!

On May 10, My brother Robert and I had the pleasure of going to a concert at the Red Rocks Ampitheater in Morrison, CO (about 20 minutes from Denver). We went to see Sugarland and Pat Green. If the performers werent amazing enough, the venue was awesome! Here are a few pictures of the night.... The place was just so cool, I thought it would be "Blogworthy". There was a very very very steep hill that we had to climb from the parking lot to the stairs, then just over 300 stairs to get to our seats... Wasnt that fun....

Jennifer Neddles of Sugarland

Me with the Red Rocks in the background

From where our first seats were, you could see the whole city of Denver... it was cool

We moved down a few (about 32) rows, and this was the view from where we were.

Once I get the videos loaded, I will try and add one to this.

Im leaving... On a jet plane....

On my flight from Detroit to Denver on May 8, I looked outside my window to a pleasant suprise.

I took this amazing picture with my iPhone... I love it!

My New Hat

The day we left Switzerland, our flight left at 8 am, so we needed to leave our hotel about 6 am... After a night of no sleep, all three of us were pretty delirious... We get to the airport and realize that we each have about $60 in Swiss Franc's to spend.... Of course, there wasn't a whole lot open in the Zurich airport at 6:30 am, but 1 store. This store was like a convenience store, with a few souvenirs. So we all had to blow the rest of our money in this store.

Roland bought about $60 in Chocolate and Swiss lottery tickets... so we scratched away, and didn't win.....

I bought some postcards, a shot glass, and a NEW HAT!

Here are some pictures of my new hat in action.

In The Airport In Zurich Shortly After My Purchase

A few days later in Toledo for Scotty's birthday....

Moral of the story...... This hat is AWESOME!!!!!

Las Vegas is the Devil!!!

So while in Las Vegas for the Mountain West Basketball Tourney, there was a family who was very sad that their New Mexico Lobos lost in the first round.... Mom Montoya decided it was a GREAT idea to dare her two sons Robert and Ryan to eat a fried desert.... Brother Robert was sooooo sad that he figured "How much worse could today get?" so we decided to do it..... Here is what our deserts looked like....

My Fried Oreos

Robert's Fried Twinkie, My Fried Oreos

Little did Mom Montoya know, her sons day could get a lot worse.... At one point, Robert thought his heart stopped..

Moral of the story... DONT EAT FRIED DESERTS!

I am SOOO Special!!!

I know I know, you all dont have to tell me how special I am, but one day I came into the hotel to see this... Yes, I was the resident of the day.....

Turns out all that it means is I get to pick out a snack from the Sweet Shop...

My Best Friends Wedding

In July of 2007, my best friend Heather got married... The wedding was at the Air Force Academy Chapel at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO.

Here are some pictures of the wedding.