This is how I roll

Today I made a quick stop at Nebraska Furniture Mart for a new guest bedroom mattress. I truly thought the Jeep was plenty large enough to accommodate a full size mattress. Clearly I was wrong. However, the kind boys at NFM offered to tie the mattress on the roof like so

Swell. They claim its done all the time. I did make it home with said mattress fully intact so it was worth the embarrassment factor. To add to my coolness my curb currently looks like this

I am totally that house with the trash. Perfect. Isn't home renovation fun!

Birthday Bar Crawl

Yes I know I am entirely too old to attend a bar crawl. My excuse is I was celebrating my two little brother’s birthdays! And I must admit it was quite fun…

The whole family was in attendance which made my mom immensely happy.

The festivities started off innocently enough at Barleys in Council Bluffs with several cocktails.



Then this lovely gem picked everyone up



And transported us to Billy Frogs La Vista where they had $1 you call its. Like that isn’t bound to be trouble. Even shots were $1 so we decided they were an excellent idea….

Of course the three siblings

(well four as Christine is a Head/sibling now as well) had to participate in a bit of family bonding. I am sure our parents were very proud of our party skills!

Oh wait is my mom in on a round?

The bar was quite packed and overall fun





But why have a party bus if you aren’t going to bar crawl, next stop was Whiskey Tango in the Old Market (Omaha) for some dancing




This bar was hilarious as one minute they would play country and the next song rap. Gotta love variety!


Overall a great way to celebrate Justin turning 26 and Erik turning 28. Gosh we are all getting old – but we can still party like rock stars (as can my parents and their friends who made it all night as well). Of course we ended the night with a late night stop at Taco John’s per party bus tradition.

Aeisha's first day outside in Iowa

Well not really, her first experience scared her and me to death and she was back inside within a few minutes. (She escaped by accident in the dead of winter) I know I know, I am going to be the crazy old lady with no children, no husband, just a cat. But she is awesome company and much easier than a husband or children.

Once she decided the great outdoors wasn’t so scary she loved it!


She was exploring all around my yard and the neighbors.


Overall she did great staying in the yard and not running away. She was after the scary snakes that I think are residing under the porch (and probably this nasty shed that is about to be torn down). Such a good little huntress as always!

But now she wants out all the time – I sure hope the weather is nice this weekend so I can work on beautifying the once blank and overgrown backyard and Aeisha can get in some play time and the scary snakes.

Eugene T Mahoney State Park

With the long holiday weekend approaching I wanted to share a fun weekend getaway idea. Mahoney State Park, it is located in Nebraska between Omaha and Lincoln. Cabins are very reasonably priced and can accomadate small or large groups (www.outdoornebraska.org). Each cabin has a small kitchen, living room, dinning room, and one to four bedrooms (some with bunk beds). Almost all have a patio or deck with grill. The cabins are basic and far from fancy but much better than camping in a tent!



If you don’t want to stay in a cabin the lodge also has hotel rooms, a gift shop, and a restaurant.


It’s a great way to spend time with family & friends and relax.



We went over Easter weekend so not everything was in bloom but it was still gorgeous. I managed to get in both a long bike ride and long run over the weekend. Just a few snap shots of the grounds.





It’s a great chance for everyone to exercise and enjoy nature as there are so many nice trails.




The lookout tower is a great way to get in some stair climbing.

The view from the top is amazing!






My mom was too scared to walk up – not that I blame her as it is pretty tall.

Kudos to grandpa for making the climb!

We used the kitchen constantly, my dad is quite the gourmet chef so brought his own supplies but they do have the basics at the cabins (pans, dishes, silverware…). My contribution to our meals – pizza. Nothing but the best when I cook…


Since it was Easter my mom had to give out treats and presents to her grandpets since much to her chagrin she has no grandchildren!