Christmas past

below are some pictures of past Christmas'. enjoy!
Upper left: my cousin Nikki and I ~ Christmas 1993
Upper right: this is the first and only professional picture our entire family has taken.
Top to Bottom, Left to Right ~ Christmas 1990
Uncle Jeff, Aunt Patti
Uncle John, Aunt Margaret
Dad, Cousin Charlene
Mom, Me
Uncle Fred (R.I.P.), Grandpa Egan (R.I.P.)
Aunt Kathleen, Aunt Deanna, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Billy, Cousin Kari holding Cousin Kyle
(above Kari) Cousin Greg, Cousin Nikki
Cousin Cheryl, Cousin Brad
Middle left: me, Cheryl, Nikki ~ Christmas 1998
Middle right: Nikki, me, Uncle John, Kari, Greg, Larry holding 2month old Riley
Charlene, Kyle, mom, Aunt Michelle, Aunt Deanna, Mark (R.I.P.)
Aunt Patti, Aunt Kathleen, Uncle Fred (R.I.P.), Aunt Margaret, Uncle Billy
Uncle Jeff, Gary, Dad with Lady (R.I.P) in his lap. ~ Christmas 1996
Bottom: Nikki, Kari, me, Greg, Charlene ~ Christmas 2000

I'm relieved to report that I am not going to the gym tomorrow. From my family to you and yours I hope you have a
Very Blessed and Merry Christmas!!!

school days

time to go back to middle school and high school.
Top left: my parents and I, May 1998 at my high school graduation
Top right: me, my cousin Charlene, and my cousin Greg. Charlene is my cousin who lives in Rhode Island who flew out to surprise Greg and I for our big days!
Lower left: Sarah, me, and Michelle after our graduation ceremony. Seniors '98!!!
Lower right: so back in the day i used to play a lot of radio contests. this was probably my biggest win. tickets to go see the Goo Goo Dolls, plus meet and great passes! This is me and my cousin Nikki before the show!, November 1999.
Top left: my very loyal blogger friend Emily, May 1993. I don't remember what the "my little mermaid" theme was for, what I do know is that Emily looks super cute posing next to it!
Top middle: michelle and i getting ready to go to our 8th grade dance May 24, 1994
Top right: michelle and i in Red River, NM August 1995
Bottom left: michelle and i getting ready to go to Winter Ball February 3, 1996
Bottom middle: the group i went to London with, this is at Windsor Castle March 1997
(top): some girl Allan was flirting with, Allan(R.I.P.), Erin, Mrs. Stein, Anthony, me
(bottom): Kathleen, Andy
Bottom right: Winter Ball 1998 me, Sarah, and Michelle

back in the day

here are some super cute baby pictures of myself. i have to say i was one cute baby. i wanted to highlight my grandpa egan. i was very close to him growing up, he was so much fun to be around. he lived in Santa Fe and my mom and i would spend one weekend a month with him. he passed away when i was 11. but i'm happy to report that our relationship today is still very tight, and that we keep in touch quite frequently. ...he's very proud of me.

you can't really tell, but that first picture to the left is his caption of the photo to the right. like me, my grandpa egan documented things very well. plus he has the coolest handwriting ever.
All of the details below are what my grandpa egan personally wrote on the back of the above pictures, except for the last one.
Top row: "8/2/1980 Dad (Bill Egan), April, Mom"
my grandpa egan, me, and my great grandma egan, 6mos.
Middle left: "Dad and April May 1981"
my grandpa egan, and i, 16mos.
Middle right: "4/19/80 Grandpa Egan feeding April at Barbara & Meliton's"
my grandpa egan, and i, 3 mos.
Lower left: "6/25/81 Santa Clara Canyon, NM camping trip. Meliton, April, Barbara"
my parents and i, 5 mos.
Lower right: "Beginning Oct. 1980 8 1/2mos" (my Mom's caption)

daddy's little girl

i finally figured out how to use my parent's scanner. so since i am home this week and have access to it, i'm going to dedicate this week: blast from the past week, and share some of my childhood memories. enjoy!
i love my dad. we unfortunately don't have the close relationship that i have with my mom, but that definitely doesn't mean i love him any less. to treasure the relationship i do with him i thought i would share some pictures of the 2 of us.

Top: March or April 1981 - the kitchen cabinets are exactly the same!
Bottom Left: I'm guessing 1985 - my dad used to be an avid runner, and i used to help him do his stretches.
Bottom Right: August 2004 - at my cousin Nikki's Wedding in Albuquerque. I was a bridesmaid.

communication

so you know when you plan a day to the minute, and one thing goes wrong, and it just throws off your whole day? ...that's my day today. so in advance i do apologize because i'm going to go off a little bit of a rant here.
i'm flying home to Albuquerque this afternoon. my whole reasoning behind selecting the afternoon flight was so that i could go to my hydro water class this morning at the gym, and have a relaxed day and not be in such a rush to get to the airport like years in the past.
so i woke up this morning to go to my swim class (i woke up a especially early on friday so that i could shave my legs in preparation for this swim class{TMI, i know, but it's ok deal with it}) i arrive a little bit early, and i'm about to get into the water when a woman comes out of the aquatics office to tell me the class has been canceled and that it was posted on mylt.com. that sucks. seriously. i go back into the locker room tell the girls that i see regularly at this class the bad news.
now when i do this class on saturday mornings i obviously don't have my normal workout clothes because i workout in my swim suit. and after this class on saturday's i take a shower and get ready at the gym.
so i go home, change into workout clothes and go back to the gym. now i had an agenda for my day, so needless to say i only got in 35 minutes on the elliptical which to me barely even counts as a full workout. i left the gym, got ready at home, got a quick breakfast, mailed a return, stopped by the grocery store, and got my eye brows waxed.
i am now obviously home, finished packing in time to write this blog.
now lets get to the point. the point is, the gym should have better communicated with its members that this class was canceled. i don't check mylt.com everyday if hardly ever. now i understand you can't please everyone. but if a sign was posted at the front desk i would have known, i was at the gym wednesday, thursday, and friday. in this world where communication is as advanced as it is, sometimes i feel like we are going backwards. and times like this the original form of communication should have been used. the instructors could have made an announcement at the beginning of there classes, a sign could have been posted. simple things. with no advanced technology needed.
all in all of course it was fine. and i do love my gym. i am just frustrated that i only got in a 35 minute workout. but life will go on.

the second part

so the real reason for my trip to Southern NM was to attend my cousin's graduation from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. this occasion was the perfect reason to check out white sands, too!

if you look close enough Cheryl is receiving
her college degree in this pic!

proud Mama
my Aunt Deanna and Cousin Cheryl

cousins
Greg, Riley, Kari, Cheryl, Aidan, me, Brad

Congratulations Cheryl!
Welcome to adulthood.

all kinds of crazy

i'm pretty sure i should have asked first.
but this is my version of Emily's:
random thought thursday.
Thanks dude.

my mom had fresh cilantro,
for the first time.
last friday.
in las cruces, nm.

******

i love cheese.

******

things at work have been crazy.
it's all down hill from here.
until 1/4/10.

******

i really want a
new entertainment center.

******

nine.

******

i freak out a little bit every time
i go up an escalator.

******

i got new pictures of Katherine
yesterday.
i'm pretty sure she is the most
beautiful little girl ever.
seriously.

******

shh it's secret, but twice last week
i went 100mph.
don't tell anyone.

******

the countdown has
officially begun.

******