Blink and it's June!

Well, it's been a solid two and a half months since I've posted but it is with good reason!  Things around the Veeser - Kansas City camp have been more than a little busy.  Besides being on near constant travel for work, we've managed to squeeze trips just about every weekend...oh, and I got a new job!!!

So, here's what we've been up to: 

In April, Lance and I set out on a much needed vacation, together (which is a very big deal, since we live in totally different schedules).  We started off in Albuquerque for a few days.  It's a beautiful area, and we had the chance to hike through Petroglyph National Monument, hit up a minor league baseball game (the Isotopes!) and even squeeze in a historic ghost tour around Old Town (very fun, entertaining and actually educational)!  After 4 days, we decided to head north to Santa Fe and did a quick tour of the city, visiting some of the oldest churches in the country.  Beautiful!  Not ones to slow down, we kept going north, through Taos and finally landed in Colorado Springs.  I hadn't really thought of it, but Lance has never been to the Springs in the 5 years we've been together.  Well, I had to give him the full experience:  we drove up Pike's Peak, visited the Air Force Academy, went to the Cliff Dwellings, had lunch in Manitou Springs and wrapped it up with a trip to Cave of the Winds.  While it was a busy trip, it was a lot of fun to not really have a "schedule". 

Once we were back to the real world, I set out on a ton of work trips, but we kept it interesting by making sure we packed just about every weekend with a trip as well!

In April, Mom and Dad Veeser and Matt, Leigh and little nephew Matthias came down for Easter.  Naturally, Matthias and I are best friends! :) 

In May, I had the chance to travel to Phoenix to watch my little sister play in her 3rd national title lacrosse game of her college career...AND her 3rd win in 4 years!!!  It was an amazing weekend with the family.  The very next weekend, Lance and I hopped in the car and hit the road for Denver for Dani's college graduation from Colorado State and my mom an Brian's wedding.  We got some added joy because Dani and Patrick decided to get hitched as well.  They were already engaged but decided to tie the knot before he deployed back to Iraq.  He will be home in December.  We are planning at "formal" wedding/celebration for next June!  He is a FANTASTIC guy, we couldn't ask for a better husband for Dani.

Anyway, as soon as we got back from Denver, I once again hit the road for work, this time back to my old stomping ground of Wichita (and Dodge City, Greensburg, Pratt, Hutchinson, Anthony, Wellington, El Dorado and Howard).

 During that trip, I got the phone call that I've been waiting for:  The KU School of Journalism wanted to interview me for their head PR/Communications position.  One we later I interviewed.  2 days after the interview, the job was mine!  I start July 6th and couldn't be any happier.  After my decision to transition out of the news business so I could start a "normal" life before we have a family, this is the job I'd been looking for. :)

But back to the fun.  Over Memorial Day weekend, we headed to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for Chris Meadows' wedding (Lance's college friend and fellow Marshall University former baseball player).  This such a fun trip to a place neither Lance or I had ever been to.  We toured the "Lost Colony of Roanoke", the Wright Brothers first flight location and just generally had a fantastic time. 

We're not done quite yet...I have one more big work trip with my current company, our 2 year anniversary is just a week away and we've got one more trip planned at the end of June. We are looking forward to an entire week in the U.P. with Lance's family.  I am excited about this trip because since we've been together, I've only been able to get a couple of days at a time up in the U.P. because of my crazy work schedule.  This time, I decided I was going to take a full week off between jobs and really just relax. 

So, that's our updates...for now.  I'm excited to see what new opportunities, experiences and projects the coming months bring us!

P.S. I have several pictures, which I'll include later.  For whatever reason, our internet is not agreeing with me putting them up today. :)

The Madness of March

Well, here we are again...March Madness.  It's a glorious three weeks in college sports for some of the most talented athletes in the country - and, of course, their throngs of ever loyal fans.  Whether they're rocking Rupp Arena, getting loud with their fellow Cameron Crazies, leading one of the greatest and most haunting college chants (as claimed by President Teddy Roosevelt) in the "Phog" (Allen Fieldhouse) or simply keeping the office fun with a little friendly bracket action, March brings an odd magic that bonds generations of fans.

I personally enjoy being surrounded by many friends who share the same (slightly obsessed, okay, way obsessed) love for their teams.  No, we don't actually live and die by our chosen team's wins and losses.  We do have lives.  But yes, we can dance around our kitchen, living room, bedroom, basement or, gulp, a public venue, shouting and cheering with each play without shame, knowing that we're not alone...somewhere across town, or just inches from you, your friend is doing it too. 

I've had the opportunity to not only cover some of the great games, but I've had the chance to experience other great games, and not so great games, with some of my closest friends as just a fan.  Those are memories, made up of more than just "a win", that I cherish because of the experience and the company.

Now, if only the madness were limited to the basketball court and the busted brackets...but I guess, that's the game of life.  :)

Enjoy the week, remember to count your blessings.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!!

And I thought I would have nothing to blog about out of the gates!

After several months of thinking "I should start a blog", I have FINALLY gotten around to accomplishing that very task.  The former-reporter side of me found I still needed an outlet for my (creative) writing outside of the news world, so here we are! 

Not that is wasn't without several moments of "wait, how do you get it to do THAT?", and "ugh, I only have the title set up and it took how long?", and of course, there was the "so, what exactly am I going to blog about?" realization.  I don't have children yet, so a cute baby/kid blog was out.  I'm surrounded what is affectionately (usually) known as "The Veeser Zoo", but out of fear of becoming the "crazy-cat-blogging-lady", I've thought it best to limit the stories about the 3 cats, a dog and a turtle to only truly hilarious moments. 

So, just what would I be able to kick off my blog with?  After sitting idle for a few days...thinking, I've been provided the perfect kick-off subject:  Home ownership.  More specifically, why everything seems to break at the most inopportune moments, almost as if your house and appliances have a life of their own and check your calendar to decide "hmm, let's see, in-laws are coming into town tomorrow and her husband is still out of town for a few days...washer, you leaked into the garage back in November, so water heater, it's your turn to break".

The emotional ride of the dreaded "oh no, how much is this going to cost" feeling, to the relief when the plumber seemingly fixes the (somewhat "small") problem...only the have a new problem pop up later that day, thus returning you to the "please, please, PLEASE don't let us be back to square one and out thousands" phase is enough make you appreciate the carefree days of your cramped "I just graduated and am working in my first reporter gig in small-town America" apartment!

However, as I wait for the plumber to return, hopefully with news of another simple fix, I'm reminded to not get too worked up.  We've been blessed with a wonderful situation and while fixing a water heater is no fun ride for the checkbook, it could certainly be worse. 

So, there we have it.  My first attempt at blogging.  Hopefully I'll have more interesting subjects as we progress.  Hopefully I'll triumph in figuring out how to actually get the slide show to work.  Hopefully, this will become a fun, entertaining and creative experience.

Enjoy your week and say thanks for one good thing that happens to you each day.  :)