Loving the Olympics

After how much I enjoyed the 2008 Summer Olympics, I wasn't sure how much I would get into the Winter Olympics. I really connect with some of the big summer sports like swimming and gymnastics because I used to participate in them - plus Beijing did such a great job with the whole presentation that I was afraid the next Olympics would be a letdown. But nope - Shaun and I were once again instantly sucked in and have been watching most of the primetime coverage every single night. Even the opening ceremony, with just a tenth of the budget that Beijing had, were pretty impressive. The killer whales "swimming" over the floor were awesome.

I love hearing the athletes' stories, and even though I don't usually follow them outside of the Olympics, I find myself rooting for them as if I've known them for years. I was so happy for Lindsey Vonn when she overcame injury to win the gold in the downhill. It was thrilling to watch Shaun White win the halfpipe on his first run, only to improve his score on the second by performing a Double McTwist 1260. Evan Lysacek became the first American men's figure skater to win the Olympics since Brian Boitano, and you could just tell how hard he had worked for it. (I also enjoyed watching him much more than the defending gold medalist, Yevgeny Plushenko, and was even happier that Lysacek won after seeing Plushenko's sore loser attitude afterward!) I know sports don't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it's great to see the world come together, and the success of US athletes giving the country hope during difficult times.

Watching the Olympics also makes me miss competition. I was a fairly serious swimmer in high school and while I don't necessarily miss the 3 hours of practice a day, watching some of the races makes me wish I could try it again sometime. It's kind of funny, because I'm normally not a very intense or competitive person, but having someone in the lane next to me, making it a close race, would push me to swim faster than I ever could by myself. I wonder if I can take anything from that and apply it to my life now...hm...

Anyway, I can't wait to see what the second week of the Olympics brings! Anyone else addicted? Favorite moments so far?

This Too Shall Pass...

...is the name of a song off the new OK Go album. I'm not super familiar with their music, but I thought "Here It Goes Again" (with the popular Treadmill Video) was fun and catchy. During the 2008 football season the ND marching band did a halftime show with their own version of "Here It Goes Again" - complete with treadmills - and it apparently caught the attention of OK Go. And that is why the ND band ended up in the music video for "This Too Shall Pass" (sans the real Notre Dame uniforms, if anyone was wondering - apparently it was a copyright problem for the ND logo or something):

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass from OK Go on Vimeo.

Not your typical music video, that's for sure. But it had some fun surprises - and how awesome is it that they managed to get it in one continuous shot? (I wonder how many tries that took...) A fellow drummer alum had sent out an email in the fall saying that the band would be part of the music video, but I had no idea they'd be such a big part! It must have been a blast to film. In addition to making me super nostalgic for my marching band days, the song also makes me content. It has a great message...one that I should really listen to more often.

Oh yeah, and if you liked it, you can go to http://www.okgo.net and get a free MP3 of the audio from the video!

2009...over already?

I know it's a little late, but I still wanted to continue the tradition of writing a recap of the previous year - one that I've had ever since I kept a "real" journal in high school . It was a change of pace approaching this year though, because unlike recent years, there wasn't really a defining event. Ever since college there's been something big - in 2004 I graduated and got my first job...in 2005 Shaun graduated and moved to Iowa to be with me...in 2006 we moved to Connecticut and got engaged...in 2007 we bought our townhouse...and in 2008 we got married. 2009, by comparison, was pretty uneventful. Despite that, 2009 seems to have gone incredibly quickly and is starting to become a blur. With the help of past entries I'll just try to quickly pick out a few highlights and try not to bore anyone too much.

In March, Shaun, Rich and I took a trip to Philadelphia where we met up with John and Sarah from DC, Ben from southern PA, Ben from Delaware and we stayed with Matt and Jess. Though these weekends go by way too quickly, I always appreciate a chance to see our friends, and something to look forward to that breaks up the monotony of workweek upon workweek. Philly's a fun city and hopefully we'll make it back again this year.

In June, Shaun and I celebrated our first anniversary with a concert, movie, dinner and cake.

In July, we took a trip to Minnesota - if I remember correctly, it was the first time we'd seen my family since the previous Thanksgiving, so that was really nice. On top of that, Rich came out with us and John and Sarah flew in to see a bit of the Twin Cities and catch a Twins game during the last baseball season at the Metrodome. I really enjoyed the chance to show my friends around my hometown, and it was so great to see my family - and meet my new second cousin, Brynn.

In August, my best friend from Notre Dame, Lauren, came up from Atlanta to visit. We spent a sticky summer day in NYC and then brought her up to our neck of the woods to show her where we've been hanging out the past few years. I wish we lived closer together, but I truly appreciate the fact that we've done a great job of staying connected over the years, despite the distance.

September was a busy month with a trip to Notre Dame over Labor Day weekend (for what seemed like the only easy win of the season...oh what a difference 3 months makes). A couple weeks later, we headed down to DC with Rich to see John and Sarah and had a blast, as always, with a mix of running around the city and just sitting around playing games and talking.

We made another trip to Penn State in October for a football game and had fun hanging out with the PA crowd, despite the chilly temperatures. At the end of October, I flew out to the Quad Cities, and on November 2, I got LASIK. It's pretty amazing to be able to see in the shower every morning, and fall asleep watching TV in bed...I know it hasn't been long, but hopefully I'll be just as happy with the surgery in the years to come.

Right after Thanksgiving, I went on my first major work trip to Chicago, and the break from the office combined with the chance to see family and friends made for a great time. For Christmas, Shaun and I made our way to Minnesota and enjoyed relaxing with family and watching the snow fall. I realized that I saw my parents 3 times within about 2 months this fall/winter...that's the most often I've seen them since I moved out here 3 years ago. I wish it were financially possible to keep up that schedule!

We closed out 2009 with two New Year's Eve parties - a first for us homebodies. We started out the evening with our friends Bill and Amanda, then headed over to Shaun's sister Karen's for a party with extended family. Our brother-in-law Don got Rock Band 2 for Christmas, so the whole crowd had quite a bit of fun trying out the different parts - though of course no one was a match for Shaun's drumset skills!

I know that flipping the calendar doesn't mean everything is going to change, but there are some things I really hope to accomplish (well, one in particular), and I'm hopeful that I'll find some success in 2010. There were some rough moments last year that I didn't really get into on here because, well, I don't want to be a Debbie Downer. (I'd be griping all the time otherwise, and no one wants that...I'll just do some 'splainin' when the news gets better!) I'm so fortunate to have my husband, family and friends - that's what's important, and I'll figure the rest out soon enough.

Hopefully it's not too late to wish you a Happy New Year - may 2010 bring you everything you're wishing for!

Stupid Snowstorm

If all had gone as planned today, I would be on a plane right now. Shaun and I were supposed to fly out of White Plains this evening, connect in Atlanta, and then fly to the Quad Cities. I have a LASIK follow-up appointment there on Monday, and then we're driving up to Minnesota to spend the rest of the week with my family. But when we got up this morning, we discovered that our flight had been preemptively canceled due to the huge storm making its way up the East Coast. At first it didn't look like there would be any flights going out this weekend, which meant we couldn't rebook online, because Delta's rebooking form only lets you pick from today and the next day. Fortunately, after an hour of hearing busy signals from their 800 number, we tried online again and found an available flight going out of Hartford tomorrow afternoon. So at least we'll get there...in theory. The snow was supposed to start here this afternoon and we are just now getting our first dusting. Figures! I just hope this doesn't mean the storm is super slow and we'll end up with another canceled flight tomorrow.

I told Shaun that December 19 is now dead to me...I will not make plans for this day next year. Last year on Friday, December 19, there was a big snowstorm here that started mid-morning. In hindsight I should have left work at noon, but I was let out at 2:00. Apparently that's when everyone else in the whole area was let out of work, and the roads were jam-packed. That in combination with the snow turned my normally 40-minute commute into an almost 3-hour commute...I was not a happy camper. To top it off, the next day when I went to do errands, my car wouldn't start - turned out I needed a new battery. I should have figured, when I was sitting in traffic and my radio wouldn't play if I was running the fan higher than the first level. I guess I'm lucky I got home at all that day!

Anyway, the upside about today's canceled flight is that I got a free day with my hubby to just do whatever, since we obviously had zero plans. We had to join everyone and their mother at the grocery store for a few things since we also had zero food left in the house, but it wasn't too bad. We went to our favorite pizza place for lunch since they were having a "snow day special" for buy one/get one free individual pizzas. Since then we've just been relaxing at home and waiting for the snow. I'd hoped to do a Christmas baking post, but I never think to take pictures when it's light out so I'd have nothing pretty to show. I haven't done much new stuff though - I have my usual pie crust cookies, chocolate covered Oreos, and peanut butter fudge, and the new recipe I tried this year for a cookie exchange was M&Ms Minis Chocolate Cookies with Icing. They're all tasty, though the M&M one involved way too many steps for the dozens of cookies I made!

Well, hopefully in just over 24 hours we'll be landing in Moline. I hope that the snow isn't causing too many problems for anyone else out there! Stay safe, and Merry Christmas!

Busy!

Work has been crazy lately. The biggest event of the year in our industry is a major trade show that takes place in Chicago at the end of November, so from October on, we're busy signing up for on-site exhibit services, creating press releases, packing and shipping a bunch of equipment, and lots of other fun stuff. It always gets especially hectic this week leading up to Thanksgiving. I stayed late tonight editing and printing some marketing materials, and when I went out to my car, thought to myself, "Well, at least the traffic will be light." And then I got to the highway, which was completely stopped...and if that wasn't enough, my fuel light went on, so I had to go get gas and get back on...not one of my best commutes in recent memory. But enough traffic griping for now.

Anyway, I get to go to the trade show this year, for the first time since I started this job. I do think it'll be interesting, but I might be looking forward to it more if I didn't have to leave the morning after Thanksgiving. No sleeping in, watching football with friends, leisurely decorating for Christmas...I'm not too thrilled about missing out on that all weekend. Combine that with some other work issues I've been dealing with (which I may or may not talk about another time...I just try to be careful with what I say in a "public" place), and it's made me a little bummed out.

But, in the spirit of the week, I'm trying to look at the good things. Shaun and I will hopefully see some friends tomorrow or Thursday night before I leave - and squeeze some decorating in there too, so he can enjoy the tree while I'm gone. I have some friends in Chicago and am going to try to meet up with them in the evenings. And my parents and sister are spending Thanksgiving in Iowa, so last week they bought train tickets for the quick trip into Chicago and we'll get to spend some time together Friday and Saturday night. I'll see them at Christmas too, but this will be a much appreciated bonus visit and I'm looking forward to it.

And that paragraph pretty much sums up what I am especially thankful for this year - my husband, my family, and my friends. They're always there to listen to me vent (and I'm sure it's seemed like a lot lately) or make me smile, and that makes me happy*. Enjoy the holiday.

*On a slightly less serious note, pie also makes me happy. So if I'm feeling ambitious on Thanksgiving, I will try to take a picture and post the recipe for the quick and easy pie I'm making. Either way, I'll be back on December 3!

Where I've been...

I've been busy lately...last Monday, November 2nd, I got LASIK! I didn't broadcast it too much beforehand, because when I went to go ask for the time off, my boss gave me a hard time and told me I shouldn't do it, so I thought other people might say the same. I know that's incredibly silly, especially when most people I talked to had only had good things to say, whether they or someone they knew had the surgery. But that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Regardless of my brief hesitation, I decided that after 18 years of wearing either glasses or contacts, it was time to make a change. The ophthalmology practice I used to go to when I lived in the Quad Cities was offering special pricing and financing this fall, and the doctor that performs the surgery there was recently ranked one of the top five in the country. Even with the airfare to get there, it was a better deal than my current practice here, and they also offer a more advanced technology - blade-free LASIK. Everything just seemed to line up and I decided to go for it. I had to wear only my glasses for two weeks prior, as even soft contacts can change the shape of the cornea. I used to only wear glasses before bed so I hadn't bothered to get them updated in years...so that was a little rough. I did plenty of squinting in that time. Me in my lovely glasses:



I flew in Thursday night and had a consultation the Friday before I was scheduled for surgery - the technicians put in several sets of drops and ran a bunch of tests involving staring into various machines and not blinking. I also did more sets of, "Which is better, one or two?" than I've ever done before. The dilating drops they used were very strong, so there had to be at least 48 hours between the appointment and the surgery. It was a nice look for Halloween:



I slept well all weekend and really didn't start to get nervous until a few hours before the surgery. Fortunately, they prescribed a Xanax for me to bring with me and take shortly before the procedure. When I got there, I again received many eye drops, including numbing drops, and I took the Xanax. Just a few minutes later they said I could go into the operating room, so I leave it up to you whether the pill had already kicked in or it was just my own bravery that got me through the surgery...ha. I did have a tiny moment of, "what am I doing?!" as I climbed onto the chair and looked at the machine, but the assistants in the OR struck up a conversation to relax me, and a technician gave me a little foam football to squeeze if I needed to. My parents were behind a window and they were also able to watch the surgery on closed-circuit TV - they probably had a tougher job than I did!

Heather provided a detailed account of her LASIK a couple years ago and her description helped me know what to expect from a patient's point of view. The flap creation was definitely the most painful part because they use suction to keep the eye in place, and even with the numbing drops it was strong enough to make me feel pain below the surface - not to mention I briefly lost vision. I was definitely squeezing the football at that point.

After that, one eye at a time, they taped my eyelashes back on the top and bottom, put in another device to keep me from blinking, folded the flap back, and used the laser to reshape the cornea. It was very weird being able to tell all that was happening yet not feel it. All I had to do was focus on one red light as the blue lights of the lasers flashed for around 40 seconds per eye. They smoothed out each flap when it was done, putting plenty of drops in my eye, and like that it was over.

Immediately after the surgery, I could see, but it was very cloudy and hard to tell how much improvement there was. My doctor briefly examined my eyes in another room and said everything looked good. He put goggles on me (sorry, didn't get a goggle picture!) and then put some sunglasses over those (another lovely missed photo opportunity) since it was a bright day. We were in and out in 35 minutes...it was kind of unbelievable.

I went back with my parents and slept for a couple hours, as recommended. The drops wore off during that time, so anytime I woke up briefly, my eyes stung. When I got up to have dinner though, I felt pretty good - still cloudy, but no light sensitivity and no more pain. I started my regimen of antibiotic drops, anti-inflammatory drops, and artificial tears - the first two so strong they left an icky metallic taste in the back of my throat.

The next morning, before flying home, I had a follow-up appointment. I had worn the goggles through the night, which was a little difficult, but the doctor told me I didn't have to wear them every night for a week (as my instruction sheet said), because the chance of "flap dislodgement" is much lower after 24 hours - lovely, eh? I had a quick vision test and I was already somewhere between 20/25 and 20/20, and they said it would only get better.

For about five days, I felt like I had a permanent eyelash in my right eye, but fortunately that's gone away. I also came away with some "eye hickeys" from the suction:



But those are continuing to fade, just like a bruise. My only remaining side effect is seeing halos around lights, especially at night, but that is normal for awhile, and can likely be corrected if for some reason it doesn't go away. I'm going to swing through both the Quad Cities and Twin Cities over Christmas, so I'll be able to have another follow-up then and make sure I'm on track.

For now, as I keep telling people, I'm just training myself not to automatically squint when I roll over in the morning and look at my alarm clock! It's just unbelievable - I don't think I can comprehend yet that I'll never again wake up not being able to see, and never again have to mess with contacts when I'm traveling. It's pretty awesome. If you have questions or want any more details, let me know!

Apple Picking

I'm so slow! Here is yet another week-late post. Shaun and I went apple picking with his mom on Saturday the 26th. It's been a tradition for him to go apple picking every year, pretty much since he's been born. My family also used to pick apples often when I lived in Minnesota - I hope to get back there during apple season, since usually we're there in the summer and over the winter holidays.


It was a gorgeous fall day...perfect weather at Averill Farm.


This and all following pictures are courtesy of Shaun!


Unfortunately, due to a hail storm over the summer, the apple selection wasn't the greatest - but they were at least offering a discount. We got some Honeygold, Spartan, Rhode Island Greening, and a couple McIntosh. (Alas, none of my Minnesota Harvest favorites, Honeycrisp and Chestnut Crab.)




A tiny Spartan! (On a completely unrelated note, that's my new favorite shirt - I got it at the ND bookstore during our recent trip)


Cool clouds and a nice view of the northwest hills

Not much else has been happening - just trying not to have nervous breakdowns watching Notre Dame football. The exciting sports weekend is continuing tonight with the Vikings/Packers game now (I know Brett Favre has been kind of annoying the past few years, but I'm just happy to have the Vikes doing well for once!)...and the Twins/Tigers playoff for the AL Central tomorrow. It'd be a fitting end for the Metrodome to host one more World Series before the Twins move to Target Field next season...we shall see.

Weekend at Notre Dame, Part 2

We were already tired after just one day of running around campus, but fortunately the game didn't start until 3:30, so we were able to sleep in and spend some more time chatting with Martha (Shaun's grandma) before heading over to campus around noon.



We got brats at one of the many food stands on the quad and found a shady spot to enjoy them...



...watched from the steps of the Main Building (the one with the Golden Dome) as the team walked out of the Basilica (where we got married!) on the way to the stadium...



...and made our way over to Bond Hall for the marching band's Concert on the Steps, where they played some of the pregame and halftime music, before following them on their march to the stadium.



The Irish Guard raises the flag for America the Beautiful and the Star Spangled Banner.



The band forms N D and the team races out of the tunnel. "Heeeeeere come the Irish!"



We didn't take too many pictures during the game...we were too busy cheering! Not a bad start to the season...not at all.



We climbed to the top of the stadium to watch the band march out once again. That's the Hesburgh Library in the background - the mural is called "The Word of Life" but is more commonly known as Touchdown Jesus.



On our way out - you can see the brick of the original stadium. The expansion in 1997 added the upper level by simply building around the old stadium. I never went to a game in the old stadium, but I think it's cool how they preserved history like that.



We had to swing by the Dome one last time before heading to the car...this is one of my favorite sights. Even when I walked by all the time as a student, it never got old.

It was a little strange being back this time, because this is the first game we've been to where we didn't know anyone in the marching band. We felt disconnected, and it kind of made me want to go back and live there again and be a part of it. Of course, I wouldn't want to relive all four years, but there are plenty of things I'd love to experience a second time. Shaun and I started to wonder when it will feel normal to come back as an alum rather than being a student in the band.

We did have a fun evening though of reconnecting with a drumline friend who recently moved back to South Bend for a research job at ND. We chatted and watched more football at his apartment, then hit the road Sunday morning. We had decided to drive the whole way on Sunday so we'd have Labor Day to recover, but we made sure to switch up the driving every couple of hours, and it worked pretty well. It was an awesome weekend, but at the end of the day we were happy to get back to our own bed!

Weekend at Notre Dame, Part 1

We had an awesome weekend at Notre Dame! It's roughly a 12 hour drive to get there from where we live, so we left early afternoon on Thursday to make most of the trip that night. After an overnight stop in Ohio, we got into South Bend around noon and headed for Shaun's (step-)grandmother's house. We had lunch and spent a bit of time with her, and then went to campus for Friday afternoon festivities. After a quick walk around campus and trip to the bookstore, we met up with some drummer alumni to watch the current drumline warm up and march out with the band to their afternoon practice.



From there, we followed the band to the pep rally. They usually take place inside the basketball arena, but there's construction work being done on it right now, so this rally was out on the quad. Different, but still fun - and the beautiful weather helped. Above is a picture Shaun took of the team up on stage.

We grabbed dinner at Steak 'n Shake...classy, I know. But we don't have them in CT, and we always used to go there during school for a cheap meal off campus, so it's just kind of our thing. Plus the cheese fries are SO GOOD.



We came back to campus after dark and visited one of our favorite places, the Grotto (bit of info at the bottom of that linked page if you're interested). It's gorgeous, peaceful, and situated right across from one of the campus lakes - and we actually saw a couple get engaged nearby that night! It's a popular place for alums (and the occasional students) to get engaged, but I've never actually witnessed it before, so that was fun and very sweet.



We continued the rest of our evening as if we were undergrads...we'd seen a stage and a sign on the quad earlier for a free comedy show featuring Maria Bamford and Judah Friedlander, so we sat and watched in our ND hoodies, trying to blend in as best we could with the crowd of mostly freshmen. (If nothing else we could pass for grad students, right?) Anyway, I'd never heard of Maria and I'd only seen Judah as his character on 30 Rock - but they were both hilarious.

After the show ended, we rushed over to the Dome and Midnight Drummers' Circle. For those unfamiliar, every Friday night before a home football game, the drumline of the Notre Dame marching band plays their cheers and cadences for about half an hour, in the middle of campus, to help get the students and fans hyped up for the game. In the four years I was at ND, it went from an occasional gathering that would often get broken up by campus security to an official, sanctioned event occurring on every football weekend. It's kinda cool the tradition we left behind!

I don't have any pictures because we didn't get a great spot, and it was of course dark, but apparently the local news was on top of it - you can see a brief video clip here! (click the link in the middle of that page) It's crazy to see how Drummers' Circle has grown - when I was in the drumline, we didn't have a screen set up so people in the back could see, and we certainly didn't have flaming cymbals! And we had to walk uphill both ways in bare feet to get there! (Not really, but I know I'm sounding like a crotchety old alum!)

This is getting long already, so I think I'll break it up into two posts. Next up: game day!

Good weekend with a great friend

This past weekend our wonderful friend (and matron of honor at our wedding) Lauren came to visit! She and I have been friends since the beginning of college when we both tried out for drumline - and conveniently lived in dorms that were right next to each other. Now, our arrangement isn't so convenient, as she lives in Georgia and I'm in Connecticut, but we make sure to stay in touch and really look forward to the opportunities we have to get together.

Lauren flew into New York City late last week, and Shaun and I took the train down to meet her on Saturday morning. Our friend Liz also made her way up from the Philadelphia area, and we all went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (aka "The Met"). I ended up not taking any pictures there, and I will admit I'm not a big art person, but it was very cool to see the assortment of artifacts from various points in history - like Egyptian scrolls from 1300 B.C., statues from ancient Greece, and full suits of armor. It made me wonder what kinds of things from our era might end up in a museum someday!

After that, since the Met is right next to Central Park, we took a little stroll to Belvedere Castle.



Shaun and I visit NYC occasionally, but this is a part of Central Park we had never been to. It was nice, but as you can see, the algae-topped water was pretty gross! We felt bad for the ducks trying to churn their way through it.

On the way back to Grand Central, Shaun had to stop and take a picture of the Plaza Hotel...aka the place Kevin McCallister stayed in Home Alone 2. Watching Home Alone 1 & 2 is part of our holiday routine every year, so of course we had to point out the landmark!



Here is where Kevin gets picked up in his limo...yeah, I know it's just a movie.

After dinner and seeing Liz off, Shaun and I brought Lauren back to our place for the night. We were exhausted from our day of walking in the city, so Sunday was pretty low-key. We showed her around our town and took her to see a pretty view at Lover's Leap park.



It's hard to see here, but I'm wearing the awesome shirt Lauren brought me from the NBC store as a belated birthday present...it simply reads, "I want to go to there". 30 Rock fans will get it!

We had a great weekend for the most part, but unfortunately we got stuck in MAJOR traffic Sunday night trying to get Lauren back to LaGuardia and she missed her flight. It was absolutely ridiculous - it usually takes us 1.5 hours or less to get there, and this time it took at least 2.5 hours. We got her to a hotel right by the airport and she was rebooked for Monday morning, but we were all pretty aggravated for awhile there. On our way back Shaun said, "I don't care if it's more expensive to fly out of Westchester or Hartford...I never want to drive to LaGuardia or JFK again!" I can't say I blame him...at least we might have enough airline miles to get a free ticket soon.

I'm so glad Lauren was able to come up to visit. We hadn't seen her since the wedding! It was harder to say goodbye than I expected...it's kind of the same with my family - I don't think about being away from them a lot on a day-to-day basis, as I've gotten used to the distance. But then I get used to spending time with people and realize how much I've missed them. Guess I just have to keep building up those miles...

Out of shape

It's been awhile...I just haven't been a very inspired blogger lately. I've at least made a step (or perhaps a pedal) in the right direction physically though, as Shaun and I finally made our purchase of a recumbent exercise bike. We've gone way too long without a consistent workout routine, and though we've been blessed with decent metabolism, we know that doesn't get us off the hook.

I feel kind of sad that I've descended into this state of dread toward exercise. In high school (yeah, I know that was 10 years ago) I was on the swimming team, and with dry land conditioning plus pool time, I would work out for three hours a day, Monday through Saturday, minus the one meet day we would have most weeks. That was actually my favorite part - despite my usually low-key nature, I thrived on competition in the pool, and seeing someone coming up the lane next to me would always push me to go faster. Sometimes I miss that!

I didn't have a workout routine per se in college, but during football season Shaun and I would both march around wearing 40lb drums for a couple hours a day (and much longer on game days). I think that counts for something! But we both had activity overload throughout our school years and since then have been reveling in our ability to be lazy after coming home from work, aside from the occasional walk or hike during nicer weather.

But no more laziness here. We decided on the bike because we figured A. if we have a way to work out that involves sitting and even watching TV in our own basement, we might actually do it, and B. it's a better value for us than going to a gym where we probably wouldn't use most of the stuff they offer. Plus no one wants to see me all gross and sweaty.

My nemesis...just kidding. I actually had no idea there was a slot for books and stuff until I took this picture.

I admire people who train for marathons or bike an insane amount of miles per day, but I just don't have the drive for that. So for now, I'm just trying to do some sort of workout most days of the week for my own health...so I don't feel quite as guilty about having dessert, or try to convince myself my shorts just "shrank in the wash". It's only been a couple of weeks since we got the bike, but I just want to know when I'm going to start feeling better from working out, instead of exhausted!

Where has summer gone?

I can't believe July is almost over! This month absolutely flew by - obviously helped along by our mid-month trip. Once we got back, we celebrated my birthday on the17th by going out to one of our favorite pizza places, Rizzuto's, and going to see the latest Harry Potter movie. I had a little trouble getting into it in the beginning, but by the end we were both wishing we didn't have to wait two years to see how it all ends! (Well, I know how it ends since I've read the books, but it'll be exciting to see the journey completed on-screen.) I also made my own birthday cake, choosing the Burnt Sugar Cake recipe from Marjorie Johnson's cookbook, but I didn't really go about it with the intent of blogging and I didn't take any pictures. It was tasty though! And fortunately we spent some time with our friends Bill and Amanda that weekend, playing the game I got for my bday, and they helped us eat some of it.

The following week we got together with Shaun's family and celebrated the July birthdays (Shaun's sister, mom, niece, and me). We decided last year to have joint family celebrations in June and July, since we have three birthdays plus Father's Day in June and four birthdays in July...way too many to do invididually! We lucked out with a beautiful evening and had a nice cookout, topped off with ice cream cake.

Other than that, we haven't really been up to all that much. I can blame a lot of that on the weather, as the rainy trend has continued and kept us inside more than we'd like to be. Just one more thing to grumble about, in addition to stupid drivers, which I'm always grumbling about - I swear, they get dumber and more obnoxious all the time. I'm sure I'll expand on that another time.

And I try not to talk about it on here, but I've also been grumbling about work lately. I know that in this economy I'm lucky just to have a job, and any sort of benefits, but I'm not liking the fact that I currently only get five paid vacation days per year. Shaun just started earning 24 days a year at his job! It's just frustrating to feel like I'm holding him (and friends who want to take long weekend trips, etc) back because of my lack of time, or to have to decide between going to visit my family for a few days or taking a vacation alone with my husband. Eh...that's all for now. Just needed to vent a bit.

At least in the coming months we plan to cram a lot of fun stuff into the weekends! In August my friend Lauren is coming up from Atlanta, in September we're going to Notre Dame for the first game of the season and to DC to visit John and Sarah, and in October Rich is taking us to another game at his alma mater, Penn State. We're also trying to figure out a time for my parents to come out and visit before it gets too cold. But no more talk of cold right now...hopefully we still have quite a bit of summer to enjoy!

Minnesota...You Betcha

Sorry I have been so slow in getting a trip recap up...I really have no excuse. And now that it's here, it's super long, so I understand if you just wanna skim through and look at the pictures! Hopefully you find something of interest though, and I've popped some links in to help any potential Twin Cities trip-planners. So, here we go!

Shaun and I flew out with our friend Rich on Wednesday the 8th. My parents met us at the Minneapolis airport that evening, along with Ruby (the crazy Westie-Scottie mix who never seems to run out of energy).

Seriously, almost any time she was awake, she was trying to play fetch with someone - and usually succeeded, since you just can't say no to that face. On Thursday we played mini golf, got some pizza, and played games before going to pick up John and Sarah at the airport after their flight from DC.

On Friday, I started off the hometown tour with a quick trip to downtown Wayzata - nothing too exciting, but it's a cute little area with shops and a beautiful view of Lake Minnetonka. It's also where we used to have our homecoming parades in high school...aw, memories.


We did some grilling out for an early dinner, and then Rich, John, Sarah, Shaun, my sister Laura and I took off for the Minneapolis and the baseball game (while my parents ventured over to the Basilica Block Party). We made a quick stop on the Stone Arch bridge to get a glimpse of the city skyline, old mills and of course, the Mississippi River:

The game was fun - it was close and exciting but ultimately a victory for the Twins over the White Sox. Soon the Vikings will have the Metrodome all to themselves, since the Twins and the Gophers are getting their own new stadiums - both looked really nice when we drove by. For now, one last look at the 'dome:


On Saturday I wanted to show a bit of St. Paul, so the five of us followed my dad and Laura past the governor's mansion and the capitol building, and then we stopped for a brief swing through the Como Zoo. I don't have any pictures because everything was just so crazy! We left the zoo and went back home to meet up with my mom, then we all went out to Lord Fletcher's to eat at "The Wharf", an outdoor part of the restaurant that's right on Lake Minnetonka - just a different part than we were at the previous day.

The evening was a bit more relaxed as we took a walk around Lake Harriet, and Lyndale Park Rose Garden, in the beautiful sunset. (Well, relaxed except for Ruby, who wanted to run almost constantly - Shaun took her leash and they literally ran circles around our group toward the end. And that was the second time my mom had taken her on the 3-mile loop that day!)

Lake Harriet and Minneapolis skyline at my favorite time of dayShaun, me, Rich, Sarah, John (and Ruby)

Rose Garden (before we decided to get married at Notre Dame I briefly thought about this as a wedding location...can you see why??)

Before John and Sarah left on Sunday, we made a stop at the Mall of America. I can't believe it's been around for 17 years already! I remember going with my cousins shortly after it opened. I still contend though that the theme park was much better as Camp Snoopy than the current Nickelodeon Universe. The neon colors alone are enough to make you go crazy.

Anyway, our last stop before hitting the airport was the 5-8 Club. Coincidentally, Shaun and I had seen the same episode of Man v. Food as John and Sarah did that had put the 5-8 Club's Juicy Lucy up against Matt's Bar's Jucy Lucy (both are versions of a burger, originated in Minneapolis, that has cheese in between two patties rather than on top), and we decided to give one of them a try. 5-8 Club's burger was pretty tasty, but since Man v. Food hadn't provided a verdict, we decided that we would try Matt's Bar when everyone comes back for a game at Target Field someday and see if we come up with a favorite.

After we bid farewell to John and Sarah, we made the short trip to my cousin Emily's place to visit her 18-month-old son Timmy and 1-month-old daughter Brynn, and of course my Aunt Mary. My Aunt Anne had also driven up from Iowa with my cousin Ashley (who was visiting from Houston...got all that?), so it was quite the gathering! I wasn't sure whether I'd feel the baby itch when I got to hold Brynn, and while she's adorable, I definitely knew I'm not ready for that yet! (my hubby can breathe easy)

After having some early birthday cake for Aunt Mary's and my shared birthday, the whole group of relatives and friends went to enjoy a John Philip Sousa Band concert at Centennial Lakes Park. As a little kid I loved going to see them, and of course as a band nerd in school my appreciation grew, so it was fun to go back and share that experience with some of my favorite people, outside on a beautiful evening.

Emily, Ashley, Laura holding Timmy, me holding Brynn, Shaun holding Ruby, and Rich


We took Rich to the airport early Monday morning, and Shaun and I came back and napped for a bit before the day's activities. We had seen on Sunday that Centennial Lakes had a nice putting course, so we played nine holes with my parents and Laura. And of course, we had to do a short run on the paddle boat afterward.

The rest of the time was mostly spent relaxing and trying a few restaurants. We also stopped at Shop in the City, because I was intrigued by my birthday gift that Aunt Mary found there...a shirt with the following design:

I hope that doesn't offend anyone, and I did realize that you could swap in your own state and simply replace Minnesota with "too cold" or "too many hotdishes" or something to that effect - even before I found the company's website with my shirt and tons of other region-specific shirts. Regardless...I'll still have fun wearing this around Connecticut.

It was really great to spend time with friends and family, though it went too quickly as always. At least we'll be back for Christmas at the latest. Anyway, thanks for reading my gibberish...if you want to see any more pictures, check them out here! I will try to get back to a schedule of more frequent (but shorter) posts soon!

Lovely Long Weekend

Happy belated 4th of July!

I took these cupcakes to a cookout we went to on Friday. I thought the wannabe flag arrangement was a cool idea until I started seeing other festive desserts online, like this cake, that put my little cupcakes to shame. (I'm definitely saving the flag cake idea for next year!) I made half the yellow cupcake recipe and half the chocolate cupcake recipe from Marjorie Johnson's cookbook, and I used this buttercream, which may be my favorite so far.

After Friday's cookout, Shaun and I slept late on Saturday - we were both pretty sore from playing wiffle ball and using muscles we don't normally use. We felt old...sad. So Saturday was a pretty lazy day, and we grilled burgers for dinner and went to fireworks with Shaun's parents. We also watched the NYC and Boston fireworks that I'd recorded, because to me the 4th isn't complete without hearing The Stars & Stripes Forever! Oh, and you know what - after my little complaining session last week we actually got two whole nice days in a row - Saturday and Sunday! Today was pretty nice too but of course we were stuck inside.

I think our flowers have enjoyed the rain though. This is our second summer in our townhouse and we're still getting garden surprises. I swear, last year we only had one lily plant and the flowers were orange, but now, as you can see, lots of yellow flowers!

These have also grown a lot since last year - I'm ashamed to admit I haven't been able to figure out what they're called. But we like them!

And I have a reason to be in a good mood besides the weather and pretty flowers - on Wednesday afternoon, Shaun and I are leaving for our long-awaited trip to Minnesota! We're flying out with our friend Rich (a die-hard Red Sox fan), and John (a die-hard Yankees fan) and his girlfriend Sarah are meeting us there, and we're all going to a Twins game on Friday. Hopefully no fights will break out. Just kidding. Rich and Sarah are first-time MN visitors, and John has only visited for one day in November, so I am excited to show them around the Twin Cities at what I think is the best time of year to be there. I'm excited to see my family too, of course! And a couple of short work weeks out of the deal doesn't hurt either.

A Pink Weekend

We had a couple of new arrivals this weekend - one much more important than the other! I'll start with the less important...

With the amount of baking I've done in the past year or so, I'd been considering getting the KitchenAid stand mixer I've heard so much about. But with the cost and our already limited kitchen space, I'd held off on buying one, despite how much I thought I might enjoy having it. Last week I happened to receive a 30% off Kohl's coupon, and I had $10 Kohl's cash to use up, so I stopped there after work on Friday, still not expecting that I would actually take the plunge and buy one. But I discovered that the pink Artisan mixer was on sale for $250 (original price $360), and with my discounts, I could get it (before tax) for $168! I doubted everything would align like that again soon, so I went for it and am now the very happy owner of a stand mixer.


It seems like everything is pink these days, but I appreciate that I can support a cause that is near and dear to me with a simple purchase. Plus, now that I live with a boy, the kitchen is the only place I can have pink decor, since I spend the most time in there. Heh. We decided to keep the mixer on the counter - it's not too intrusive in the corner, and it's pretty. I'll definitely be more likely to use it if I don't have to lug all 27 pounds of it out of storage to do so.


I used the mixer on Saturday to make Shaun's birthday cake. It was so nice and easy, and it worked so quickly! Still, the day seemed to slip by without us getting to do much, although Shaun did head out to the batting cages with Rich while I was baking. But how could I compete with last year's birthday, when we were on our honeymoon, at Disney World?! Anyway, in the evening, we went to mass and dinner with Shaun's parents then had them over to our place for cake. After they left, Shaun opened his presents from me and we played ping pong and watched a movie.

The most exciting part of the day though was when I got a call from my mom telling me that my cousin Emily's daughter was born! We were pretty sure last week that she was going to have her on Shaun's birthday, because she was to be induced on Saturday if the baby hadn't been born by then. So, Brynn Rose was born on June 13th at 2:01pm, weighing 8lb 7oz and 21.5 inches long.

Fun side story - my family apparently likes to share birthdays. Emily was born on her brother Bob's 3rd birthday. I was born on their mother's (my aunt Mary's) 30th birthday. And now Brynn was born on Shaun's 26th birthday. We girls are just birthday thunder-stealers!

I keep saying this everywhere I go, so I apologize if I sound like a broken record, but I am so excited to go to Minnesota next month to see my family, and especially to meet my new second cousin! Fortunately I think the time will go quickly until then because we have at least one party or gathering per week in the coming month - always something to look forward to!

Weekend Wrap-up

So after I posted on Saturday we went out for a walk at a nearby park...after a cold, rainy Friday, Saturday and Sunday's weather was absolutely perfect - sunny and mid-upper 70s both days. After that we came back and got ready to go out to dinner and a movie. We way overestimated the time we would need for dinner, so we had a lot of time to kill before the movie we had tickets for, but it worked out because I had leftovers to refrigerate anyway. We stopped at home to take care of that and to take a few self-portraits outside.


I felt a little weird dressing up since I rarely have a reason to, but I hadn't worn that dress since our rehearsal dinner and I wanted to get some more use out of it! Shaun's wearing one of the shirts I got him - exciting gift, eh? He got me an iPod dock so I can listen to music in the kitchen, but it was back ordered so he brought me some flowers in the meantime.


Anyway, we left again to go see The Hangover. I must say that if you're into that sort of movie (typical raunchy R-rated comedy), definitely go see it...it was hilarious. I was even grumpy before the movie started because of some jerk in the theater - I didn't even crack a smile during the Brüno preview - but The Hangover had me in tears from laughter.

After the movie, we came back and had some cake. Pink champagne was the most unique flavor we had as a wedding cake layer and I wanted to try to recreate it (even though it couldn't be as good as Rascia's!). My mom pointed me toward this simple recipe that just calls for subbing pink champagne for the water in a box mix. (Instead of the champagne frosting described there, I tried this buttercream recipe, halved - it tasted kinda storebought which isn't my thing, but it wasn't bad, and it was easy to work with.) And the end result, complete with my amateurish decorating...


Again, not worthy of our real wedding cake, but it was fun, and it didn't taste too bad either.



Funny side story about the liquor store where I bought the champagne - since we're not drinkers, this pink champagne was my first ever alcohol purchase. The sign outside the store said they carded, but I didn't get carded! Granted, I know I don't look 20 anymore, but I thought they were supposed to card if you look under 40 or something. I was a little disappointed! ;-)

But anyway, we had a great anniversary day, and Shaun just kept on giving Sunday by doing laundry, washing dishes, cleaning up the mess of boxes in our basement, and vacuuming the house. I'm a lucky gal!

Happy anniversary to us!

I can't believe it's our first anniversary! I remember our wedding day and honeymoon so vividly that it seems like we just got married. On the other hand, however, it also seems like we've always been married because that's just how it's supposed to be. Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that we started dating 7.5 years ago! I don't miss the stress of long-distance wedding planning (or the spending money part of it), but I sort of wish I could relive the day...or at least have a big party with our friends and family and have an excuse to wear my dress again! And go to Disney World afterward. Instead of doing any kind of wedding recap, I'll just point anyone interested to some pictures here - the captions pretty much tell the story of the day: https://sites.google.com/site/mollyandshaun6608/wedding-pictures

We had thought about going away for a long weekend but decided to save our vacation days for other things. It's shaping up to be a fun weekend though - Dave Matthews Band happens to be in Hartford this weekend and we discovered last week that there were still Friday tickets available, so we decided to go. Last night was my 6th show and Shaun's 10th or 11th (I guess at that point they begin to run together!), and we had a good time - probably not our favorite show, but it was good to get back to a concert again.

We got back pretty late last night, so we slept in and have been having a nice lazy day so far. Tonight we're going out to eat and seeing a movie, which may not sound very exciting, but we're looking forward to it since we try not to go out too often. I'm going to take off for now but I'll be back later with pictures of a (hopefully tasty) pink champagne cake that I made to replicate one of our wedding cake layers, since we opted to eat our top tier at our 1 month anniversary instead. Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Okay, so I lied...

...I'm not done talking about TV. (Really, will I ever be?) How could I, when one of my favorite TV personalities ever, Conan O'Brien, returned to the air last night after 3 long months? It was so great to see him back, and I couldn't help but grin as his name came on in the new Tonight Show credits, complete with a jazzed-up version of his old Late Night theme song. I obviously have a soft spot for Conan, especially after our trip to a taping of his show last year, so I really hope people will give him a chance and he'll succeed in his new time slot. I just appreciate his natural humor, goofiness, and the fact that he will do whatever crazy thing it takes to make people laugh. Just as a taste, here is my favorite part of last night's show - the opening:



Speaking of funny videos, I also watched VH1's "Best Week Ever" last week when I heard that Kris and Adam from AI would be making an appearance. Shaun thinks I'm ridiculous for all the Idol stuff I've been hunting down, but that's okay...it's fun. And I think it's slowly dying down. Anyway, Kris is hilarious at the beginning and end of this clip (though I wish Adam's face weren't blocked at the beginning):



"Yeah capes!" LOL. And Adam answers all our burning questions in this one:



Lastly, I would like to ask anyone interested to settle something for my lovely husband and me. I think that this last video is funny...yes, it's odd, frightening, and totally fake, but when it hits about the halfway point, I can't help but start to giggle. Shaun, on the other hand, thinks it's stupid.



What say you, dear reader? And do you like the video-heavy posts or do they get annoying? I like sharing fun stuff I've encountered but if links are better than embedding I'll do that...I aim to please. For now, off for more Conan!

Spring

I love spring. I'm a sucker for color so I love when everything is in bloom...like this tree near our building.


My favorites though are lilacs...that's got to be one of the best smells in the world. My parents' previous house had a huge lilac hedge in the backyard that would bloom around this time of year, and I loved it. We don't quite have the space in our little townhouse garden for a lilac bush, but I told Shaun that will be my one landscaping requirement whenever we have our own yard.

Spring might be my favorite season...it definitely makes me nostalgic...so pardon my forthcoming rambling. I think of high school, when in mid-May we'd have prom and our big spring band concert. And college, when every year I got to stick around campus for senior week, just hanging out, enjoying the (usually) nice weather, and going to band rehearsals for the graduation events. Of course, it was always tough to say goodbye to each class of graduating seniors - and especially bittersweet to actually graduate. I can't believe it will be 5 years tomorrow since I graduated from ND!

Now that I'm out of school, the only bittersweet part of this time of year is the season finales of all the shows I follow (for example, The Office - WOW what an ending!!!). American Idol usually ends last, so I get sad when I hear that 19 Entertainment/Fremantle Media chime for the last time and wonder what I'm going to do with my evenings. Pathetic, eh?

We do have some fun things to look forward to this summer though: celebrating an anniversary (how we're celebrating, however, is still TBD), maybe a couple weekend trips, and the main event - a trip to Minnesota in July. We'll of course be visiting my family (seeing them for the first time since Christmas!), and we're also bringing along a couple of our baseball-fanatic friends who want to take advantage of their last chance to see a Twins game in the Metrodome before the new outdoor stadium opens next year. I'm excited to show them around my hometown, and I'm excited to meet my cousin's baby! She's due with her first daughter in June. She also has a son who's 16 months - it'll be fun to see how much he's changed since we last saw him.

I'll try to wrap this up, but as a belated nod to Mother's Day, I have to share a cute and funny mom story. I was talking to my mom on Sunday, and she mentioned she had tried a recipe from "that frontier lady site" that I had introduced her to. I said, "You mean Pioneer Woman?" and joked that I might need to get her the Mom Translator. ;-) Don't worry...tomorrow is the season finale (with Will Ferrell hosting, it should be a good one!), so I will soon stop bombarding you with SNL videos.

Monday randomness

What a weekend! We had lots of fun, part in thanks to the beautiful summer-like weather. We haven't hauled the air conditioners up from the basement yet, so it's been pretty warm in our house, but at this point I don't even care because I love being able to have the windows open. (And especially sleeping with them open, on the soft jersey sheets we use in the summer...ahhh.) Anyway, on Friday night we had family game night for the month, and I will soon post the dessert recipe I made for that. On Saturday, we had a nice day with our 13-year-old niece, hanging out and watching a couple of movies, and on Sunday we finally got out for a walk and realized how out of shape we are (in our defense it was pretty hot out, but we were probably sweating a bit more than we should have been). I also went grocery shopping on Sunday, as I usually do, and wow...even though the store was way more empty than it usually is, it seemed everyone had gotten in line at the self-checkout. I know machines can be stubborn, but seriously...sometimes I think there should be an exam before people are allowed to use these things. I guess if that was my complaint for the weekend, it was a pretty good weekend.

Other random stuff I've been thinking about lately... I'm bad at blog comments. I blame a lot of it on the fact that I mainly read blogs through Google reader, which is quite helpful, but once I've read it I'm not likely to go back and look on the actual blog for comments, so sometimes I miss them. Not a big deal, but I feel like I should participate more. I also blame myself for blog ineptitude - it took me quite awhile when I started this blog to realize that I wasn't getting emails when people commented...so if you still read me and happened to comment way back at the beginning, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you!

Also in the technology vein, I've been debating joining Twitter. With Facebook, blogs, message boards, and all my other regular sites I'm addicted to, part of me knows I really don't need any more online distractions. But, part of me is curious, and it seems like the new "in" thing to do. So right now, I just don't know. Is it worth it? Any thoughts?

Well, for now, I'm going to go watch the season finale of Chuck. With any luck, it's only the season finale, not the series finale - but we'll find out in a week or so if it's renewed. I did my part tonight by buying dinner at Subway, a major sponsor of the show (Give Me My Remote is a TV blog that has been awesome about drumming up support for Chuck). Either way, I'll shut up about it for awhile once the decision has been made - thanks for bearing with me. Time to go!