Confessional Friday

I am Jennifer, I am a wife, mother, friend, sister, daughter. I grew up in Fort Smith and currently live in good old NWA. I graduated from the University of Arkansas in 2006 with a degree in Human Resource Management. I have never used that degree. I have been doing sales since graduating and probably even before.  We live our life for us and no one else. 

I met my husband in college. Our stories differ a little, but the one thing we agree on is that we met in college. A year after graduating, Michael moved to Chicago, and a year after that I followed. It was the best career decision and relationship decision I ever made. I actually did not move to Chicago to be with Michael, he was a bonus for the awesome job I got offered. We lived in Chicago together for 2 years, before I convinced Michael to quit his job and move back to NWA to be closer to our families. We got engaged in 2009, bought a house in Fayetteville in Nov. 2009, and married in 2010!   

In 2012, we got pregnant with our cute little man. Decided to be surprised on the sex and drove our family crazy for the next 9 months. I was not one of those people who loved being pregnant, but the reward was priceless. Mason is now a 1 year old and full of life and making each day more fun! He is a walking, talking, playful little toddler who loves his mama and daddy to pieces. His favorite person is his papaw, my Dad. He loves people and other kids, he is so my social little child.

I am currently working in sales for a large Healthcare technology company. I work from home, which has its positives and negatives. Trust me people when I say it is not all about working in your PJs and laying around your house. Pretty sure that is what most people think of when I tell them I work from home. I get up daily shower and get dressed take my little man to school, come home, make breakfast and start my day. I spend 9+ hours a day in my home office working! It is hard to turn off the day and you don’t get a lot of social interaction, which for a sales person has its rough moments. I travel a lot for my job and it is getting harder and harder as Mason is becoming older.

My parents and brother mean the world to me. I can’t get enough of their love and support. They all love Michael and Mason equally and are a great source of encouragement and guidance. My parents have been married 37 years and that is inspiring. They still live in Fort Smith. My brother, who is adorable and single, lives in TN. Mason really loves being around our families and that just makes this mama’s heart warm.

I started blogging way back when we lived in Chicago, as a way for our family and friends to keep up with where my adventures were taking me. I write about my life, as boring as it is. I now do it as a memory of Mason, my career, and my love for my husband.

For something random about me. I am a tomboy at heart. On my Dad’s family, I am the only girl and on my Mom’s family I am one of two girls. My only (1st cousin) girl cousin is 5 years older than me and even though we have a great relationship now, when I was younger I was the annoying “little sister.” She had to drive me places and take me with her per my uncle. I love sports and probably know more about sports than my husband. I would rather go for a hike, out on the boat, or take a vacation skiing then lay on a beach. We are always on the go, but love making new friends. I would love to start my own business someday and I have even created a few business plans throughout the years, but have yet to take the jump. I am always trying to meet new people. I love making new friends and have found it harder as I have gotten older, but that won’t stop me from trying.

Rocky Mountain Love

I am writing about our ski vacation today. Why might you ask instead of Friday? Well, my trip for work got canceled due to the airport where I was flying to getting closed from the weird winter weather. I made it to Dallas, where I turned around and flew home. Now I have time!

Michael and I went skiing last week. It was a week away from Mason, a week of fun relaxation and skiing! I think it is very important for parents (or anyone) to take a week or weekend away from your children and reconnect with your spouse. We knew we wanted to go skiing, we have been to Crested Butte before if you want to read up on that here. I think this was my 5th trip to the area. I love Crested Butte. The town is great, the lines are short, and the locals make it fun!

We flew out on Saturday, and we got upgraded! It was great and I always fly American Airlines and it was a newer plane. They had monitors at every seat to watch TV shows and movies. Michael and I watched separate movies and both enjoyed the movies that were still in the theaters. Lunch, a movie and a few cocktails later we landed at the Gunnison airport.

I played Battleship on the screen after I finished my movie. We were staying at the Lodge at Mountaineer Square. I have not stayed here before. We have stayed in houses and at the Elevation. Here are a few comments I have on the hotel. It was nice. Every room is like your typical hotel room. I actually didn’t take any pictures of the room. It was nice, but I was not super impressed. We had a wonderful view of the slope and had a fridge in the room. That was basically the highlight of the room. When we arrived we popped over to the Avalanche for some dinner. It is on the mountain and it is a great place to go for casual dining and a quick lunch off the slopes.

View from the room. Sunday morning I woke up excited and ready to get going. We grabbed some breakfast and coffee at Camp 4 Coffee, then ran to pick up our skis. I always go with the demo skis or at the lowest performance skis. We have our own ski boots, but I really like the skis I was using this trip. I went with a little shorter ski, since I have a bad knee it makes me stay in control more. We were waiting in line for the lift when it opened. It was the perfect day to ski. Sunny and in the 20s. I was in heaven. Look how beautiful this mountain is.My ski hubby.I have a picture from two years ago and those peaks had no snow on them.So cold!

Michael is planning out our afternoon at the bottom of Paradise, where we also grabbed some lunch. Doesn’t he look so cute with his beany and studying that map. I usually don’t look at the maps, except at the top before I head down so I don’t end up going down a Double Black Diamond.

We were really lucky while there that the entire mountain was open!!! Last time we went was 2 years ago (right before I got pregnant) and they had no snow except for what they had made. It was scary, which is why we wore helmets last time and did not this time. I am bad. I was raised not wearing a helmet skiing. I don’t ski crazy fast or go down blacks or higher. No need to risk it, but the no helmet is a choice I made this trip. I told Michael our next ski trip will be with Mason, who will wear a helmet. This means we will probably wear a helmet.

Each day while we skied the weather was sunny. On Tuesday, it was 2 degrees in the morning when we went up the lift. COLD COLD COLD!!! Thank goodness my family has collected over the years lots of cold weather ski gear. We were very careful with our skin. Sunblock and lips balm and on Tuesday we kept our face covered with a gator. 

View of Banana Peak.Taking a drink break before going hard.Taking a relaxing break.The views are amazing.Long day done. The after ski attire look. On the last day, we were covered to keep warm. If you are going to Crested Butte or looking for a great place to ski go to CB. For dinner on Sunday, we went down to good ole Donita’s. It was good. When we got there we order a margarita and it really was STRONG. Not the greatest taste. I think Michael and I both drank about two sips. We shared fajitas and they were good. Monday, I texted a family friend, who I have skied with most of my life and they go to CB a lot more than me, and we asked him where to go eat. I have been to a lot of different restaurants but I wanted something new and good. He suggested Bacchanale. It was so good. By far the best meal we had the whole time. They have a “build your own bruschetta” and it was yummy!! We sat next to another couple who had a toddler and began chatting. They made the night funnier. The last night we found the greatest surprise of the trip. We went into this place call the Sweet Spot on the square. We wanted something sweet. I was expecting to see a cute little candy shop or bakery. It was so much fun! They had an arcade, bar, and candy galore. I took some pictures because it was a super fun location and setting.

 

Ski Trip

Check back Friday for a review of our vacation to the mountains. I am traveling for work this week and my days are going to be long. 7AM-8PM. Until then, here is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. I could just sit and stare at this view all day everyday.

Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping with a toddler is so much fun or at least for us it is fun. He has always loved watching people, and waving at everyone, but he is getting more and more interested in the items we are getting.  I can already see that he is going to be a problem. I want I want I want. I can already hear it. He reaches for everything that is colorful, doesn’t matter what it is…he wanted to touch it.

Each item I grabbed he wanted to see it. As you can tell in the pictures below, he had quite the collection going. Sometimes he would be over the item and throw it into the back of the cart. He only let a few items go into the cart. He likes to check out his stash. My diaper bag is inside the cart and I actually found an item in it. Thank goodness I checked. I would have been so embarrassed if I had left without paying for something.He kept trying to drink my Redbull. Obviously he knows what to do with it. Shame on this mama for having that addiction. I love taking Mason shopping with me. He seems to really enjoy it. Michael always says he got this from me. Shop-a-holics. Oh well. At least he will always be game for going with me. I hope he continues to do good in the stores. While we were there, I heard a kid around the same age screaming the whole time. It made me feel very lucky to have this adorable, laid back baby.

Mason Smash Cake

We had a whole smash cake photo session with our favorite photographer a few weeks ago in honor of Mason’s first birthday. I wanted to do it as a separate session, because I knew with the craziness of his party, I might not get the pictures I wanted and I wanted to just watch and enjoy him eating and making a mess. He did make a mess. It was so fun and super cute to watch. It was nice that it was just us. Michael and I and the photographer.

First grab.This face says it all. Oh wow, this is sooooo good. He has had a few bites of cake before, but small bites.He kept looking up at us, like is this all for me.Sitting on the cake. He would move his leg over the cake. It was so fun for him. Trying to stand up.I am coming for you all.Eating some more cake…yummy.Love this shot. Check out the smashed dots on the bottom of his shoe.Messy boy. He had a blast.

We will be out of pocket part of next week…check out my instagram @jensperry if you want to follow our next fun adventure to Colorado.