Thursday, April 26, 2012

The Few. The Proud. The Killmer-Pechie Bridal Party.




There are not very many opportunities to publicly acknowledge the special people in your life.  So I wanted to use a post to speak about our bridal party.  Let me first take a moment to explain the post title.  We have had a couple line-up changes, expected and unexpected; thus I started using the Marine's tag line to talk about these wonderful people who have agreed to stand with Danny and me as we become husband and wife.

Let's start with "my side" (people on the left side of the slide).  My sisters, Denise and Stephanie are the Matron and Maid of Honor, respectively.  I am blessed with sisters that I love and respect very much.  Denise has this wonderful confidence and calming presence, traits that I greatly admire.  Stephanie really has a wickedly funny sense of humor, and this charisma that I wish would rub off on me a little bit. The "bridesmaids" are three long-time friends (at least 10 years served).  I use the quotes because I don't have a good title for Dave.  Top of that row in the pictures is JennCable.  That is not a typo, I call her JennCable, emphasis on the Cable.  She and I lived together for over three years, during and after college she even still speaks to me.  I am a better person for having Jenn in my life, and that is the best way I can describe our friendship.  Next in the picture line would be Beth Castillo.  Beth and I became forever friends our senior year in high school, although I have known her since elementary school.  Beth is an amazing mother to three beautiful children, and I hope one day (in the distant future) to learn from her example.  She is able to bring out a silly side in me like no one else.  Finally, the brave David Kenneth Spence.  I call him brave because he is standing up with the ladies, and I call him by his full name on a fairly regular basis.  Who knows why, it has just always been that way.  Dave and I met over my Christmas break in 2000.  Many adventures later he is one of my dearest friends, and I remain especially grateful for all the miles that we have put on his cars over the years.

Moving on to "Danny's side" written from my perspective.  The Pechie family is well represented with Danny's sister, Jennie as his best ma'am, his Dad (Jim) as a groomsman, and his niece Celeste, as our flower girl.  I feel very lucky to be marrying into this family.  They have been very loving and supportive through our courtship, especially when Danny and I made the decision for him to move to Denver.  Jennie is a tough critic of the girls Danny has dated, but rumor has it I made the cut (phew!). 

On to the groomsman.  My brother-in-law, John will be standing up for Danny since the two of them have also become good friends.  It may never cease to amaze me that out of all the men in this world, Denise and I found two born in the same hospital, who also grew up very close to each other in rural Midwestern towns.  We have tried to find a guy for Stephanie from that area to make it a trifecta, but we may need to give up on that one.  John was the perfect match for Denise, as Danny is the right one for me.  Next, Matt Kipp, a co-worker of Danny's at FirstBank.  Matt and Danny share a mutual love of Colorado micro-brews, which I am grateful for since it cuts down on the number of breweries that I have to visit.  Lastly, is none other than Brian Waxler.  Brian is half of the duo that first introduced Danny and me.  Brian and I have been friends since we lived next door to each other in the duplex while Brian also lived in the same dorm as Danny in their freshman year of college.  Although he and Jeff Beyrau both had an equal part in the match-making process, Brian likes to take full credit.

Finally we have Heather and Jenni Salisbury who will be serving a dual role for us that day.  You will first seem them as our "usherettes", and then they will regale you with the story of how Danny and I met.  I have known Jenni since I moved to Colorado, five years ago, and I met Heather somewhere along the way on a visit before she moved to Denver a couple years ago.  Both are avid travelers and also blessed with wonderful personalities that brighten up any room they enter.  Jenni and Heather have become extended family for Danny and me, which is such a gift. 

I just wanted to thank each of these people for being part of our special day, which is made all that much better by their presence.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

You Just Got Married (in September)! What are You Going to Do Now?


We're going to Disney World!  Okay, I will admit that title and subsequent answer is really only mildly funny if you remember the commercials that play after championships are won.  I have always wanted to be able to say those words to someone, and this may be my only chance.  Very similar to how my felt football field that I constructed for a review game with my high school students was called, "Laurie Killmer Stadium" because I do not foresee ever having enough money to buy a sports franchise.  One has to seize these types of opportunities.

In all seriousness though, Danny and I are going to Walt Disney World (Orlando) with a side trip to the Atlantic Ocean/Cape Canaveral for our honeymoon.  Why?  A couple reasons.  First, Danny has never been to Disney World.  Yes, it's true he will turn 30 without ever having been to Disney World, which made me sad.  I have many childhood memories that included this magical place, and so I wanted Danny to experience it too.  Plus, well I just do not sit well.  I am the WORST beach person EVER, and not just because I often become "tomato-like." I do not enjoy sitting down for hours at a time.  Thus, Disney World seemed like a very nice compromise, and we will make Danny's wish for a side-trip happen too.  This way I will get my fill of sand for the next six or seven years, and he can see Cape Canaveral/the ocean.  I mean marriage is all about compromise, right?

The honeymoon planning process is underway, and the excitement level is rising!  There was nearly a serious mishap with the flights, which I choose to attest to my brain being absolute mush.  We will be going to Indiana first before heading to Orlando, but I had us going from Chicago to Denver, which would be pretty hard.  Fortunately, I figured it out in time for Southwest to help me fix it.  That is not the type of honeymoon story I want to be telling years from now.  Instead I would rather be talking about Danny wanting his very own pair of Mickey Ears, us having lunch at Cinderella's Castle, and other adventures around the parks.

Here's hoping Danny finds Disney to be all that I have talked it up to be!





Friday, April 13, 2012

Why Not?


I like to rationalize with animals, but for the sake of this post I am making the "why not" motion.


Danny and I finally got around to renting, We Bought a Zoo the other night.  I say "finally" because I have been wanting to see this movie for a while.  It sure did not disappoint.  In fact, it was one of the better movies I have seen in a long time.  Danny even managed to stay up until after 10:00 p.m. to finish it.  For those of you who don't know that is a really big deal.

A common theme throughout the movie is the question, "Why Not?"  Question to Matt Damon's character: "Why did you buy a zoo?"  His Answer: "Well, why not?"  I have found myself pondering this thought since watching the movie.  It is such a sweet and idyllic response to what may be some difficult questions/situations/changes.  Big decisions I have had to make for myself to date have included (but are not limited to): where I went to college, what to major in once I got there, moving to Denver, marrying Danny.  Some of those were easier or more logical than others.  For the record, deciding to spend my life with Danny was the easiest.  He is an easy person to love. 

Still I find myself looking for that balance between an attitude of "why not" and knowing that I have certain responsibilities as a grown-up.  I mean I am 30 now, and so I am pretty sure that makes me a full-fledged adult (crap!) 

I have had a few back and forth thoughts as of late, searching for a situation or decision that I can confidently respond, "why not?"  Here are a few examples:
  •  Me: I want to join a Roller Derby team!  Response from my sisters: they would kill you.
    • Okay, so that's probably not a good idea.  Moving on...
  •  Me: I want to become an alpaca farmer!  I have talked myself out of this one since I don't know a thing about alpacas.
    • Plus the way I see it, it took me years to get Spike to pretend to listen to me, and I am pretty sure alpacas are more stubborn than your average pug.  Although the Spike-Monster is anything but average.
  • Me: I would like to be the first female offensive coordinator in the NFL!  Common response: they won't let you in the locker room with the players.
    • Well fine.  I will just continue to yell at the TV on Sundays, and hope that I amuse the people around me.  I also figure at some point someone with some clout on the various teams will start listening to me.  Please don't kill all my dreams.
Unfortunately, I think I need to wait for my "why not" moment.  Perhaps it's kind of like love, it finds you when you're not searching for it. 

Until then, I am going to count my blessings and work on my courage to say "why not" the next time the opportunity strikes!  Although much to my dismay, it will more than likely not be buying my own zoo.




Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Well Hell, I'm 30.


I may be 30, but I am not too old to ride the carousel!


It is not a secret that I have been completely freaked out about turning 30.  Well, I did it, and got myself out of bed!  I am going to call that progress since I was a little worried I was going to hide under the covers.  It sure helped that Danny surprised me by taking the day off so that we could do all kinds of fun activities.  Being sung to, waffles, miniature golf (I lost),  Tourney Town, pizza, some really bad basketball, and a bike ride to try to work off all the unhealthy food that was consumed makes for a very nice day.

So what was so scary about this particular birthday?  To be completely honest, I am not sure other than the fact that I did not get everything done in my twenties that I had hoped to accomplish.  I had this crazy notion that I would have myself/my situation figured out by now.  I remember in college telling my roommate that it often felt as if everyone else knew what in the world was going on, yet I was completely clueless.  Jenn's response, I don't think they have it figured out either, and they probably think that you do.

Many people have told me that life gets better as you go along.  To date it has been pretty good, and so I look forward to what's ahead.  At the start of March I posted on Facebook that I only have 30 days left of my 20s.  To which I received some wonderful responses.  Here are two of my favorites:
  •  "When my granddaughter turned five and we were driving home from her birthday party, with all the seriousness a five year old can have, looked at me and said, 'Grandma, I don't know what the big deal is about turning five.'  So she would say to you, 'Laurie, I don't know what the big deal is about turning 30."
  •  "Laurie, I am fast approaching my 60s, about 160 days.  Your feelings about your age are valid.  I will not try to tell you otherwise.  I have unmet goals from every decade in my life.  Living life got in the way of my goals.  I have accepted that I probably will not be acclaimed Emperor of the Universe.  Being the best paralegal I can be is a pretty good accomplishment."
As I start this new decade I will try to remember that turning 30 is not that big a deal, and that it is okay for living life to get in the way of my goals.  As a Facebook friend once told me, I have a pretty good life.  I just wish 30 came with some kind of discount program like AARP (I will never forget how excited my Mom was to turn 50 because it meant she got an AARP membership).  Of course it would need to apply to non-retired people since my goal of retiring by 30 was derailed by work in education/non-profit.  Oh well - let's just put that on my list for the 30s.




© Sheer Ridiculousness. Made with love by The Dutch Lady Designs.