God Bless Texas

I love going back to Texas, it just has so many good memories and so many good friends (and Central Market). This past weekend I was able to catch up Carolyn, Katie and Brian, Geoff and Bobby, Stosh and lots of sorority sisters at a wedding.

I will start with my sister. This was a combination bonding/birthday/football weekend for us and we took advantage of every possible opportunity for fun. We went shopping, celebrated her 21-ness at a tapas/sangria bar, toured SMU and the Kappa house, and just enjoyed being in the same state again. There is never a dull moment with Carolyn and she manages to make new friends everywhere we go. Especially male friends, who like to buy her drinks, and then take her on dates. I am always amazed and impressed. So glad I was able to witness it first hand, haha!

Another highlight of my trip was seeing an old roommate/sorority sister, Katie, and her BF Brian. I hadn’t seen them since the wedding and there was so much going on that weekend, I didn’t get nearly enough time with them. Every time I see Katie, it makes me wish I still lived with her. Don’t get me wrong, I love living with JJ but I sure miss the Family Dinners and Project Runway marathons we had at the “House of Champions”. Plus, Katie is one of the cleanest people I know, and it was wonderful to come home from work every Friday to a spotless house (sorry JJ, I will never live up to that). It was a nice transition from college and could really be called Theta: The Post-College Years. Anyway, it made me immensely happy to sit in her living room, eating cookies and talking all evening.


Geoff and Bobby are two of JJ’s best friends from college and I really have adopted them as my own too. Sometimes I forget I didn’t actually go to school with them. I love being around these two and JJ because the stories that get told are ridiculous, and it just makes me that much more impressed that they all survived college and are now productive members of society (I am specifically referring to the "Drunk Olympics" that involved, among other events, a swim across the pond at the apartment complex).

Fortunately the scheduling worked out well and the Cowboys game coincided with Courtney Casey’s wedding in Dallas. It was really fun to go to a friend’s wedding (even though I had to go solo because JJ was still In Charlotte for practice, rude) so close to ours because I was still totally in wedding mode. I was good to see lots of girls, both younger and older, that I hadn’t seen since graduation.

JJ got into town on Sunday and we were all able to meet up with him for dinner. Well, I don’t know if you can really call it dinner because we got there at 4:30…early bird special. It made me so happy to see all of our friends from different stages of our lives all together having a good time.

The culmination of the trip, the first Monday Night Football game in the new Cowboys Stadium, deserves a post of its own so I will save it for later.

Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a better trip or better friends. Hopefully JJ continues to play away games in cities that I love.

Happy Trails to You

I am officially one month away from my first half marathon and the training is getting intense. Luckily, I have a beautiful trail system right by our house that makes the long runs go by a little faster. Just thought I would share some of the views from the trails!

Cottonwood Nature Trail

McAlpine Creek Greenway

McAlpine Cross Country Course

Love Thee Notre Dame

The second part of our bye week trip was going to South Bend for the Notre Dame v. Washington game. It had been almost a year since we had been back on the beautiful campus for a game and we were both really looking forward to it.

On the drive from Green Bay the clouds were getting darker and the temperature was dropping. After a quick check of weather.com on my phone, JJ and I realized that neither one of us had packed appropriately for Midwest weather. You would think I would have learned by now after four years of visiting JJ and then living in Green Bay for a bit. But no.

We ran in and scanned the condo for additional layers of clothing before heading to the game. On my treasure hunt I found a green jacket (XL) and an old pair of tennis shoes (2 sizes too small) and a ND hat. So as you can imagine, I looked really put together and fashion forward. Oh well, its just a football game after all.

JJ had talked to the Letterman's Association beforehand and had secured us sideline passes for pre=game warm-ups (it's nice to feel like a high roller, especially when you are dressed like a homeless person). After running around the stadium and trying 3 different entrances, we finally found the media entrance and made our way down to the field. The sun started to peek out and I was feeling pretty good about maybe being able to ditch a few layers. We saw some of JJ's former teammates and enjoyed the pre-game festivities. JJ knew one of the security guards on the field o we walked over to talk to him and see if we could stay on the field for the rest of the game. He didn't seem to mind, and told us to just hang around until someone told us to leave. So we did. About the same time the game started, the clouds came back and the temperature dropped. I was thankful for my extra layers.

We stayed near the ND bench and continued to talk to Brandon Walker and Ryan Burkhart throughout the entire game. They were telling JJ about all the operation times of special teams and pretty much making us feel like part of the coaching staff. Way fun.

The first half was really exciting with lots of lead changes and big plays, and we were right there to see and hear every thing. Half-time rolled around and the skies opened up and poured down rain. We couldn't leave the field to hide out underneath the stadium because we didn't have passes to get back down to the sideline. I was soaked within 5 minutes. Cold and wet are not my favorite combination. I promised JJ I could suck it up for the rest of the game. Well, that attitude lasted for about 10 minutes into the third quarter before I bailed. I told JJ I would meet him back at the condo and promised I would be in a much better mood. On my way out I stopped to get something to eat at the concession stand and JJ walked up about 30 seconds later. He decided that it wouldn't be nearly as much fun without me there. So sweet, right? Well, actually he decided that his wet, long sleeve t-shirt was not going to keep him warm enough for the next 2 hours. We got back to the condo, put our wet clothes in the dryer and enjoyed the rest of the game from the comfort of a warm couch.

After the game, we hosted an impromptu party at the condo. We ordered way too much pizza and Mrs. Walker brought over the rest of their tailgate dishes (including the most amazing cupcakes) and we had a great (warm) time. I think we crammed about 20 people into that condo comfortably. It was so great to see Brandon, Ryan and Haley (Ryan's fiancee) and their families. We had great intentions of going out for a few drinks, but were just too tired. We didn't feel too much like the old married couple because even the young college kids were ready to call it a night.

We enjoyed sleeping in the next morning and then hopped back on the road to get back to Chicago to fly home. Even though our 3 day trip included and additional 10 hours of drive trip in addition to all the flight time, we had a blast and got to see some very important people. A good time was had by all.

After 3 straight weekends of travel, I will be enjoying the next few weekends at home, getting ready for visitors.

Brats, Beers and Cheese Heads

JJ and I took advantage of his 3 days off for the bye week and headed up north. After a minor delay we flew to Chicago and then drove up to Green Bay, getting in around midnight. The Crosby's were nice enough to open up their house for a "big kid sleepover". We knew that Mason had practice early the next morning so we planned on heading straight to bed after giving their black lab a little love. We were quite surprised when a golden little fuzz ball appeared at the top of the stairs to greet us! Little did we know Mason bought Molly a golden retriever puppy two days before we got there. What a great way to start our vacation!

The next morning was rainy and cold so we all (minus Mason) slept in a bit and relaxed in the living room letting the puppy run all over us. She was full of energy and their black lab was just starting to get used to playing with this new toy. It was so cute to watch. Molly made us breakfast and we got caught up on everything that has been going on since we last talked.

After a relaxing morning, Molly and I left JJ behind to puppy-sit and met up With Emily Nelson for lunch at one of my favorite Green Bay lunch places. Last year we lived in historic downtown De Pere and every time we had guests in town, I would walk them down to this adorable bakery/cafe for lunch. What a treat to be "ladies who lunch" with such great friends. It was especially fun to see Emily because I got to see her little baby bump! She is still so tiny and the bump is just adorable.

After lunch we spent time hanging out with the puppies at their house and watch JJ and Mason catch up on making fun of each other. Its almost like watching a sit-com the way they go back and forth. We got ready for the one thing JJ had been looking forward to the most on this trip, dinner at Koko's. Now, JJ and I have both blessed enough to travel quite a bit and enjoy fine dining all over, but we have never had better sushi than Koko's in Green Bay, WI. Who would have thought sushi in Wisconsin?! Maybe its the atmosphere, the fun drink list, the great conversations we shared over numerous dinners there (often multiple times in a week) or maybe the sushi is just that good. Whatever it is, we haven't found better sushi. Needless to say, we were both very excited.

Sushi was followed by another Green Bay tradition, game night! The Nelson's joined up with us back at the house for an evening of Imagine If. The game poses questions like "Imagine if JJ was a tv channel, which one would he be? A. The Food Network, B. Animal Planet, C. ESPN, D. BET E. Comedy Central. Obviously the correct answer was D. BET. The point of the game is to pick the same answer as the majority of the players to get points. It was very funny and very entertaining, especially after all of the beverages off of the fun drink list at Koko's.

We were sad to leave the next morning, but we had to hit the road to get to South Bend in time for the Notre Dame game. Can't wait to see the Crosbys and the Nelsons again soon!

Ants In My Pants

Before I post about my amazingly awesome adventures in Dallas this weekend, I have to share a quick story about what I found upon my return to Charlotte.

My flight arrived at the Charlotte airport about 20 minutes early so I was in a great mood. My bag arrived right as I walked up to the carousel and then the shuttle to the parking garage was waiting out front as I walked out. Perfect timing! I was in a great mood and called JJ to meet up for dinner. What a great way to wrap up a wonderful weekend trip.

I hopped in my car and headed towards the restaurant. As I am trying to navigate on to the freeway I notice what appears to be an ant crawling on the steering wheel. Weird. Then, I see one on the dashboard. Oh wait, there are 3 more on the center console. They are all over the inside of my car. Next an extremely large one crawls across the dashboard. Oh. My. God. Was that a spider?!? My car is full of tiny spiders. This is my worst nightmare. This is how I am going to die.

Meanwhile, I am merging on the the freeway, trying to fix my GPS that has of mysteriously failed, repeatedly trying to call JJ (who apparently did not have his phone with him) and at the same time smashing the creepy crawlers that dare to come towards me. After lots of yelling and screaming when I finally get a hold of J, I pull into a gas station and jump out of the car. By this time I realize the spiders are, in fact, ants and will probably not try to kill me. But still, there are hundreds of them crawling all over the inside of my car.

Luckily, JJ came to my rescue within minutes and used the gas station vacuum to suck them all out. Then he drove my car to the car wash to get it detailed. The car wash guys had never seen anything like it. We think we got most of them, but I have to go to buy ant traps for my car tomorrow just to be sure.

I can still feel them crawling all over me. Welcome home.

Southern Exposure

Even though I have technically lived in the southern half of the U.S. for my entire life (minus 6 months in the frozen tundra of Wisconsin), I have never experienced true southern living. Arizona has more Southern California influences than I care to admit, and well, Texas is it's own country.

On my trip to Atlanta last weekend I was introduced to 2 uniquely southern culinary delights: grits and boiled peanuts. Grits I had heard of before and kind of new what to expect, but Boiled peanuts?? Really? What's wrong with roasted peanuts?

We went to visit JJ's cousin, Courtney, at her new townhouse and as we were walking up to her front door we were greeted by her neighbor. Well to be more specific, it was her neighbor's kind-of boyfriend. Kind-of boyfriend? I had to ask. Apparently he is her boyfriend depending on how much he has had to drink...too much information, sir. Other than this little bit of over-sharing, he was your typical 30 year old former frat boy, sweet Georgia drawl and all. He was hanging out in the garage boiling peanuts for his college game day party going on upstairs. He invited us over and started explaining the intricacies of peanut boiling. He also explained that he did this for a living...I'm still not sure if he meant he boiled peanuts or educated people about boiling peanuts. He was 2 beers past the point of having that intelligent conversation. He was, however, thrilled to be able to introduce me, a non-native Southerner, to this great tradition. Now for the peanuts...they tasted more like bland potatoes than anything else. A bit of a let down after the build up from Mr. Fratty Peanut. Regardless, I enjoyed the snippet of Southern education.

I'm sure there will be plenty more distinctly Southern things to discover, but for now, that is all.

Just Keep Running

2 weeks down, 6 to go. I am training for my first ever half marathon. I have always wanted to try a half marathon, but never got around to it. I recently reconnected with a friend from high school who had already signed up for one in Charlotte on November 7. She is going to law school in NC and has been running on and off for the past few years. We both agreed that our only goal was to finish. No pressure there, haha!

While I have always tried to keep myself in decent shape, I have never attempted anything like this. It is 13.1 miles and prior to starting training, the longest run I had done recently was 3 miles. That is a difference of 10.1 miles...ouch. So far the running is going well. I have one long run per week, three moderate runs of 3-5 miles, and one easy recovery run. Each week the long run increases by 1 mile. I had a 7 mile run on Friday and felt surprisingly good.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not built like a distance runner which makes this even more of a challenge. I was reminded of this on my Saturday run as I was passed by a pack of high school cross country runners. These girls breezed by in their tank tops and 0 percent body fat. Nothing like a bunch of stick-thin 16 year olds to keep you motivated!

My race is 6 weeks from Saturday and I have lots of miles to cover before then. With all the traveling I have coming up in the next few weeks, it should be an interesting time. Keep your fingers crossed that I can stay on track! Yes, pun intended.