Happy Birthday

Yesterday was my 27th Birthday! (or as I like to call it the second anniversary of my 25th birthday).  How I have celebrated my birthday over the past few years has changed.  As a child (or college student) I was all excited about gifts and money from my family.

But last night, I realized what my mother meant when she was rich in love and gifts didn't matter. Kevin bought be a beautiful set of paintings by Elizabeth VanHoutan, an amazing local artist.  I was very excited to expand my collection of art work.

During work my co-workers surprised me with birthday cake Oreos, peanut butter and a tide to go pen (since I spilled lunch on my white sweater).  I am happy to announce that most of those oreos have found a home in mine or Kevin's bellies!

For dinner, Kevin took me to the Beach House.  I love the Beach House but it can be quite expensive so we limit it for special occasions.  We invited three other couples to join us (half a couple was away at work).  Brett surprised me with flowers and who doesn't love flowers!

It's amazing the difference a year makes.  This time last year Kevin and I had very little friends aside from co-workers.  Between Decatur Gamers and UUFD, we now have close friendships that will (hopefully) last a lifetime.  I am also 30 lbs lighter (well maybe only 28 until b/c of the Oreos), more active and a much more confident person.

I am excited to see what this year has in store for us.

Boring?

Yesterday started off pretty rough.  I lost my car keys with my gym tag and library card tag on it - two things I really needed to do yesterday.  Because I was busy looking for the keys all morning, I forgot a bunch of other items I needed like paper work for the bank and food.

I planned to have lunch with friend but she feel asleep during the morning and didn't wake in time.  It did give me the chance to have a last minute birthday celebration lunch with a past co-worker.  She even got me birthday gelato with a candle!

Kevin has been busy making list of games that will be in our first purchase order.  We are sending in another application with a fourth distributor this week.

I am thankful for a laid back day.

Friends & Family

It's been a very busy past few days.

Friday we faxed our application to three game distributors who service the area.  I spent most of the night on Thursday working on this with my trusty Starbucks in hand.  I can do anything if I have coffee :)

Saturday & Sunday Kevin and I went up to Lisle to spend time with his son Sam, Sam's step-sister, cousin, ex-wife, and her husband who were staying at his mom & step-dad's.  It was a full house.

The weather on Saturday was wonderful.  Before we arrived in Lisle we took a detour to IKEA to check out some items for the store.  We picked out tables, book cases and even candy jars. Now for the borrowing of a van and spending some money!

Even though the weather was great, the boys spent much on their time on the couch playing with their electronics!

I enjoyed my time with Sam's teenage step-sister Britt, who is already taller than me.  She was really excited about Zombie Fluxx and we played at least three games of it over the weekend.  Even a last minute game before we all hit the road to head home.

On our way home, we stopped at Dicks Sporting Goods in Bloomington so I could try on new shoes (my birthday gift to myself).  I found a pair that I really liked and ended up buying them that day.  Shot out to the cashier who gave me $10 off without having the coupon!

Monday I feel ill.  Real ill, not the I don't want to go into work ill.  Luckily some rest and love from our furbabies had me up by the afternoon and still made a semi-productive day out of it.  Ordered my new knee brace even though I've been walking without it I would like some added support when I start jogging and got Kevin a new pair of running shoes and shoes for work. 

Later that night, we celebrated the birthday our of new friend and closet MTG player at BWW.  We had a blast with them and their friends!  It was great to meet more people from the area!

Tuesday greeted us with great news.  We heard back from TWO of the distributors that we were approved!  Of course, great news called for a celebratory dinner at El Rodeo with Brett and Sam!  Hmmmm... Mexican  Food!

Endurance Thursday

Yesterday was a very busy day for us.  My "day"job has been picking up.  Case numbers are getting higher and there is much more work to be done.  Kevin has been recovering from the pro-show he had at his work earlier that week.

I had hoped to start our distributor applications during the day but never got to them.  I did remember to bring them home though!

My workouts have continued.  I used my fabulous HBO to GO app and watched another episode of the Newsroom (love it!) and walked over 3.5 miles.  One of my longest walks to date.

By the time I got home I was exhausted.  So I took Twiggy, the cat, on her short walk about the neighborhood and then a shower to freshen up. Kevin and I went to Cheddars for dinner.  Had the Spinach dip and a kids meal.  Went over calories but it was so worth it.  

We finished the night with a stop to Starbucks to see our favorite people and load up on coffee.  Once we got home it was application time!  We finished all three of the major applications we wanted to complete and will be sending them off today!  (Keep your fingers crossed)

Kevin has also created another side project using the boxes that Board Knight stuff has been coming in:

 

The cats are still exploring their newly built castle.  If we keep getting boxes this could take over the living room. 

We also received our sample products from Beanforest.  Very excited to carry their products in our store.  As we get closer to our store open, we will have some teaser images for y'all :)

Cheers!

Big Changes Are Coming

I'm keeping this blog to help me remember this very busy year.

A few weeks ago, my husband and I decided to open our own game store, Board Knight.  It has been a dream of his since I've known him and even before then.  Due to his wonderful employment benefits, we were able to acquire the start up money.

We have also been very fortunate to have strong support from the community including but not limited to our landlord, Decatur Gamers, friends, and family.  Fellow Decatur Gamer helped us create a simple yet very awesome logo:

We have filed the state paperwork and have received our approval to open June 1, 2013, received our tax ID number, opened the bank account, met with the insurance man (but I still need to get back to him about a few things).  Now we are working on filling out applications for game suppliers/vendors and hope to these these out soon!

It's very stressful for something like me how worries about everything (money, time, relationship, and I can even worry about stress).  

I am also in the middle of a lifestyle change. Since around this time last year I have lost 30 lbs.  I hope to lose another 15 lbs this year by May 2014.

Before:

Current:

I currently work out about eight times a week between cardio and strength training at the Downtown Fitness Center in Decatur.  It's in the basement of my work building so I have NO excuses.  My eating habits still need work but nothing can change overnight.

That wraps up the entry for today.  More to come tomorrow.  

Thanks guys!