What I did in my Twenties

Well, I'm turning 30 this year (not until November), but I thought I would make a list of all the things I got to do in my 20's so that I can remember how blessed I am and how much fun I had.  And that 10 years is a LONG time.  Hoping for another good decade in my 30's!! 

Here goes the list:

• Interned at Dell in Austin, fell in love with Austin, really had to move there, went back to school and figured out how to graduate early (3.5 yrs)
• Graduated from LSU, moved to Austin, started at Dell
• Traveled on Dell's dime to: Panama City, Panama the beach and an island, Toronto, Edmonton, Nashville, KY, OKC, Limerick, Bracknell, London, Paris, South of France, Madrid, Barcelona, Bratislava (via Vienna), Amsterdam, Brussels and various locations in California
• Bought a condo in Austin and had the best roommate ever, Danielle!
• Coached a junior high soccer team for 3 years, so much fun, and I still keep in touch with a few of the girls.  Played on a few soccer teams.
• Went to the Cape Cod family reunion 4 or 5 times? and had a blast each time!  Such a great place for family reunions!
• Camping, cliff jumping, hiking, water skiing, wakeboarding, boating, Hamilton Pool and party barges in Austin
• Justin (brother)'s Wedding in LA, Tamara's wedding in LA, Kathy's wedding in Mobile, Jenn's wedding, Liza's wedding in LA, Reno's Wedding in TX, Lee and Judy's wedding, Lizzy's wedding, another Jenn's wedding in TX, Fran's wedding in NYC, Todd's wedding in St. Louis, Amanda's wedding in St. Louis
• 2 neices were born and have grown up into adorable little girls - Abigail and Emily.  And of course Sam (other brother) met Amber and got engaged.
• Bought Spice my 4 runner.  She's trusty, she's cute, she is not 4 wheel drive. :(
• Went to some awesome Charity Gala's with Elexis and Lyle - saw a variety of celebrities, most of which I didn't recognize.  But I did meet Dennis Quaid and Al from Home Improvement.  And that black guy from the Aflac commercials. haha.
• Dated some great guys, some not so great, got married the first time, quickly realized my mistake and got divorced.
• Met up and traveled with Sanaz in a variety of locations - most notably NYC right after college, then a million times in Austin, Louisiana and once in Denver and once in Cape Cod
• Went mountain biking, trail running, ran a few 10Ks, worked out, didn't work out, worked out again (vicious cycle)
• Met the love of my life and MARRIED him (Brendan) on Cape Cod!  Changed my name again, for the last time...so I'm Sarah Healey!
• Went to Hawaii 3 times!!  Rocky Point Mexico beach vacation. South Padre Island twice. Cabo!!  Other beach vacations? 
• Took A LOT of pictures.  Played model on kind of a lot of occasions. So fun!! 
• Solitified the Hippo as my favorite animal for life
• Adopted our PUPPY Andy!!!!  And love him to pieces.
• Traveled all over watching Brendan play sand volleyball!!  So fun, and I'm so proud of him. Such an incredible athlete!!
• Worked at Dell for 7 years, more than doubled my salary, quit Dell and moved to Denver to work for Comcast
• Met some incredible friends in College, Austin and now in Denver, porch happy hours, BBQs, downtown, dinners, dancing, paino bars!!
• Hiked all over the foothills in Denver, a big backpacking trip with Dad, various other hiking and camping trips with dad
• A lot of really good New Years Eve's!!  Worth mentioning as it is my fav holiday.
• Started Healey Insurance Group with Brendan - the family business
• Played in the SNOW, went sledding, snow shoeing, skiing, not ice skating (dang it, there is still time)
• Bought a house in Denver (ok I haven't done this yet...but I'm hopefully going to before i'm 30)

Ok it's actually a little strange to sum up 10 years in 25 bullet points.  But ...i mean, it's a LOT of stuff.  This is a lot to be thankful for right here!!  <pause to be thankful>  Now for the next 10 years....let's rock this!!!   


Age 20 in College and Age 29 with Brendan (he's only age 28)

Flo my Food Log

It's me again.  I know...two days in a row.  This is some sort of record.  Maria and I started food logs last week.  This means that we write down everything we are eating and drinking.  The idea being that either (1) we won't eat as much because Flo would know about it and be mad or (2) we do eat like crap and then it's really obvious to Flo and she makes us feel really guitly.  Using a half notebook / pad of paper helps because if you're eating more than fits on the page, then you feel EXTRA guilty.  Guilt hopefully turns into better food choices for the next day.  Just to be sure everyone gets is ....Food log = FLo ....get it.  F. L. Food log.  Ok, i crack myself up.  I know.  Anyways.

So - point of the story is I think it's working so far.  I didn't have the added drinking calories on M, T or Thursday.  I sucessfully brought fruit to work to snack on instead of the usual snack machine purchases (failed on tuesday though).  I avoided eating while cooking on more than one occasion.  AND I have tried avacado and raw tomatoes this week...tomato on more than one occasion.  (note that i am a very picky eater so these are major milestones for me)  I also have taken a vitamin a few days this week (why not everyday?) and did some excerise.  Flo also tracks vitamin taking, and exercise.  Next week will focus more on excersie and Flo might put in some push up / crunches goals (Maria doesn't know this yet).

I did get some sun in Hawaii, so I'm feel less white and generally better about myself.  Hopefully getting in some pool time this weekend to further the tanning process while avoiding the fake tanning and $40 a month charge. 

If I go mow the lawn right now can I count that as exercise for Flo?  Hm. I feel like as I've gotten "older", I have started counting things as "exercise" that i previously never would have.  Example:  walking. 

Maybe I'll keep you posted on my goal to lose 9 pounds and tone up.  WIth the help of Flo, it could be possible.

May Update

Well I'm the worst blogger ever.  All my blogs should start with that since I only blog a few times a year.  I guess that's just how it's going to be.  Whatever.  But I LOVE reading everyone elses blogs. :)  Keep up the good work.  More frequently would be better.

Things new with me:

• We went to Kauai last week, that was super fun and adventurous.  We went ziplining, zodiac boating, hiking, surfing, swimming, etc.  My favorite parts were the sea caves on the zodiac tour, and hiking down to Wailua falls and swimming in the pool.
• We are going to have one of busiest summers on record.  I mean, 2010 and 2011 were pretty busy.  2010 we had to have a spreadsheet even to manage each weekend's activities.  I'm about to need to make one for this summer I think.  Brendan is playing in volleyball tournaments here, Aspen, Breck and Steamboat this summer.  We've got a St. Louis wedding (yay!).  Camping. GIRL TALK concert - YESS!  Golf tournament for Brendan.  And of course BBQs and porch happy hour.
• A note on porch happy hour - this is the greatest invention ever.  The neighborhood we live in is full of "bungalow" style houses and all have front porches.  The neighborhood is by the park there there are lots of folks out and about.  So us and the fun neighbors next door sit on the front porch around 5:30pm with drinks and cheese and crackers and then porch hh gets bigger as folks walk by and we end up with a big party!!!  :)  SO. FUN. 
• A note on fun neighbors - i was always jealous reading other blogs of folks BBQing all the time with their neighbors because I never had fun neighbor friends...UNTIL NOW.  So Maria and Ron moved in NEXT door (i'm talking like 4 feet away, that's how close these bungalows are).  So we BBQ, walk, porch hh, run back and forth in our PJs.  It's REALLY fun.  And not just them, but we know like ALL our neighbors.  I'm not even kidding you.  And we're meeting more.  Just went to someone else's porch for porch hh the other night and they had like 10 neighbors there from the block down.  So....we almost doubled our neighborhood friends in just one night.  So. FUN.  So fun Wash park and this neighborhood should have its own blog.
• A note on Wash Park - we want to live here forever.  FOR-ever.  We are renting right now.  So...how do we convince our landlord to sell us her house?  Hm.  An interesting one.  Ok, well if not this one, we want to buy one REALLY close by.  I stalk realtor.com and all the for sales around.  Fav thing to do - walk the neighborhood and dream about living in the cool houses.  There is one from the late 1800's that is my FAV.  It's not for sale, but if it was it would be like $1.5M.  Whatevs.
• Happy Memorial Day weekend.  I'm planning some cleaning, organizing, hiking, BBQing, and hanging out in the park.  And of course the usual realtor.com and open house stalking.
• A note on buying a house - we can't until fall.  Realistically speaking.  It is a 3 step process.  I won't go into it now.  But Step 3 involves selling the Austin house which is leased until Sept 15.  So unless the renters want to buy it, we are kind of stuck until then.
• Alright - well, signing out for now.  I won't say I'll blog again later, because I probably won't.

But everyone else should go blog RIGHT now.  :)

OH - and ....if you are not an HIG client, please call for a quote 303-995-0413.  Home, auto, whatever ...any state (almost)  or website:  http://www.healeyinsurancegroup.com/

Random Updates from Wash Park

Hey,

I was reminded recently that I have been neglecting my blog.  Which made me happy because that means people actually are reading it!! YAY.  I've been pretty busy lately.  I may need to give you the bulleted list update.

• First, I have been playing Foster the People Pumped up Kicks on repeat for days now.  It's been a while that I've been really obsessed with a song.  And I know it may be considered "old" at this point, but oh well.  I'm not sick of it yet.  However, i should move on soon.
• Last week we had FIRST SNOW!!!  YAY.  It was awesome.  I did quite a bit of posting on facebook about my love for snow.  The park was gorgeous.  Andy loved it.  Overall, a better than expected first snow expierence.  Except that a branch did fall on my car and turns out it did cause damage and i have a $500 deductable.  *sigh. 
• This week we are getting Second Snow, but I am headed to Philly for 2 short nights and 2 days in the office.  Probably the next week as well.  Work stuff.
• Brendan quit his job last week and is starting Healey Insurance Group, LLC...an independent insurance agency.  It is our family business in its infancy.  Very exciting.  Want it to get off the ground before we go having any kids or anything.  I will be doing the bookkepping and probably a lot of the marketing.  Excited about that.  You will want to go through HIG for your home/auto insurance.  And if you happen to own a business, that too!  We can sell to almost all the states, so even if you don't live in CO (which you probably don't), you can still go through us.  Stay tuned for more info.
• Brendan's friend Chris came to town, and we went out with him and his friend Vinny who had a wife Elizabeth.  Elizabeth is a photographer. YAY.  Love photographers.  She was looking for models to take some creative pics for her portfolio.  And well...I like to play model.  It was really fun and we took lots of types of pics that I've never taken before.  Not my usual cheesy grin, but lots of serious stuff.  One outfit we did was vintage bride type.  See two pics below.  I love them.  There are some other really cool shots too.  I hope I can work with her again!!!!
• Friday we went to a party hosted by one of my co-workers for her birthday.  It was really fun and we met a really cool couple.  I love going out on friday nights because the weekend feels so much longer.  Then Saturday we went to Boulder to meet Brendan's cousin, aunt and great aunt.  That was really fun and Boulder is pretty cool.  LOVE the mountains right there ontop of hte city.
• Not this weekend, but next week Andrea and Joce are coming to visit!!!  YAY.  Really excited because we will go hiking in the mountains and go out and do lots of fun stuff.  Excited to show off my neighborhood and Wash Park.  Trying to firgure out where to eat and where to hike.

Ok I think that's all i have to update with right now.  Key takeaway - ask me about Healey Insurance Group and how you can get a quote on your home/auto insurance that could be cheaper that you're currently paying.  :)  And prepare yourself for hearing about HIG a lot.  Anybody want to make us a logo?  Andrea?

Random Thoughts

I don't have a particular topic to discuss right now, but feeling the need to dump on paper what has been accomplished this weekend ...as well as some random thoughts.

• First, on the issue of my health, i'm still having chest pain and coughing violently.  I'm not a fan of this.  Trying to determine if I should go back to the doctor, who probably thinks i'm a hypocondriac (i sounded it out) at this point.  I just have no idea what's wrong with me.  I will say though, Brendan has been GREAT at taking care of me and making sure I rest and do nothing (very difficult).  However, the rest of the list won't look like I did nothing this weekend.  I AM a lot better. Just not 100%.  And worse at night ...like now-ish.  Grouchy.
• We are pretty settled in the main part of the house (basement not organized).  So very excited about that.  I posted some pics on facebook for the fam, but thought it was a little strange to share that with all of fb.  I don't know why.  But I will post a few pics on here.
• Puppy is having nighmares right now, that's so cute when he does that.
• Went to the church in our neighborhood again today.  Not as good as last week, but that's ok.  It was a different guy speaking.  Now we're not sure who is the main guy.  VERY excited because we got into one of the Wash Park (our neighborhood) church supper clubs that meet every Wednesday.  We are signed up to bring a dessert this week.  YAY for meeting new people.  We hope they are cool.
• In other meeting people news, we met a couple at the park today that have a Bernie puppy (no idea what a Bernie is or if I'm spelling right).  Our pups played a lot and they asked if we wanted to have a puppy play date.  YES.  They live just 2 blocks from us.  YES.  I love them already.  I'm going to go by their house tomorrow and see if they are outside (stalk them).
• In the last 3 days our entire lawn is covered with yellow leaves!!  Crazy!  Brendan says we should not rake until more fall.  Is that what other people do?  I don't know.
• Our landlord is going to house/puppy sit for us while we're in Hawaii.  I thought that might be weird for her since it's her house, but not her stuff.  But I guess its not.  And she does a lot of pet sitting and she's really nice.  So that worked out GREAT.  And she's actually cheaper than boarding him...extra great.
• I love our neighborhood and walking around it and picking out the houses that we would buy (based on exterior looks only).  You ready for the average price per square foot in this neighborhood?  Hold onto your chair.  $360 per sq foot!  choke. ya.  well...did I not tell you it was the best one in all of Denver?  Hence we have a space issue.  Hence we are doing some serious math on if we can buy in here at all.  And how much space does one family REALLY need?  I mean...the kids can share a bedroom right?  I think we are looking for a house that can last us for 5ish years.  Like before the kids go to school age.  Then in 5 years we need to be saving and making more money so that we can either add on to the house we buy, or move into a bigger one down the street.  It's very popular in this neighborhood to add a second story to your house.  Most of the houses were built in the early 1900's.  Ok - this house topic is another blog.  I'm sure there will be many blogs on this topic actually.  As we explore the housing market in the next year.
• I did no recapping of the weekend, but now i'm tired and need to go to bed.  Blog later.

Ways Andy is like Our Kid

I am a blogging machine today.  It's because I'm sick.

I realize a dog is only a tiny bit like having a kid, and I've been told that I will forget about the dog when I have a kid (never!).   But it sure feels like Andy is our kid.  Here's why:

• We hug him and tell him we love him multiple times per day
• We pick him up when we get home and ask if he's missed us
• We hold him like a baby on the couch with us (he's not allowed on the couch any other time)
• He falls asleep in our arms
• I wipe the goonk from his eyes every morning
• I feed him and tell him he better finish his breakfast / dinner
• He throws his food all over the floor and carries it to multiple rooms
• If one of us is not home, the other will put Andy on the phone to talk
• We make his bed for him each night (lay comforter on floor)
• He takes out all his toys and throws them around, right after I've picked them all up
• When he has an upset stomach, we make him special food, give him meds, and stay home from work to take care of him
• When he comes in from outside and he's dirty, I make him sit down and give me each paw so I can wipe it off
• We make sure he gets to play with his friends (dog park or daycare)
• We kiss him on the nose to say goodnight and goodbye
• We are very, very sad when we have to leave him
• We give him baths, even though he hates them
• We tell him he needs to be more careful and play nice, when he plays too rough
• We say god bless you when he sneezes
• When he's bad we yell "Andrew Healey!!!"
• We photograph our family, including him
• We sign our cards - Brendan, Sarah and Andy Healey
• When he cries, we tell him it's ok
• We call him puppy, honey, pup-dog, pup, bub...and Andy of course
• We love to show him off to all of our friends, and get all excited when someone says he's cute (because it clearly runs in the family)
• And most of all....we love him more than we ever thought we could love something

Getting rid of Stuff

So I've always considered myself a master organizer.  I go through the house and my stuff multiple times a year looking for things to get rid of.  Re-organizing the closet or cabinets.  Going through clothes and shoes looking for things I haven't worn in a year, or have worn and shouldn't be wearing for fashion purposes.  I went through things before we moved, and doing it again now that we're in Denver.  This last go around I parted iwth all the stuffed hippos, a lot of t-shirts (i just don't wear t-shirts), a lot paper (who uses paper?), office supplies, pencils, markers, the scrapbooking scissors (let's face it...i don't do craft projects).  I finally parted with my intermediate accounting book (no idea why I felt sentimentally attached to that).  Let go of my backpack i used in high school with my initials on it.

There are still some things that I'm holding on to that are taking up space in this tiny house.  Here's the list - let me know your thoughts on if I should keep or toss:

• LOTS of journals from junior high / high school
• Sprial bound "books" that I wrote as a child - think like 6 - 10 yrs old
• Picture albums with old boyfriends (cringe)
• All sorts of picture albums from high school / college
• A pink hippo pillow with beads in it (you know the kind i mean?)
• Gregory the giant stuff hippo...i'm not parting with him
• The bunny rabbit that my grandma made (i like it..but...i already have a lot of stuff from my grandma that a love...the bunny isn't one of those things)
• A small glass hippo...collects dust
• The cake dish holder...i swear this has been used once and takes up so much space
• Old prom dresses / bridesmaid dresses - they are in the dress up clothes bin, a large bin
• A ton of John Grisham books that i've already read
• Yearbooks - A TON ....even the college ones that I'm not even in

I won't even get started on what Brendan is saving.  :)  jk.  It's not THAT bad.  Mostly just baseball cards.