5.28.2009

National Spelling Bee Week!

Random, right? But every year there always ends up being some awesome winner who makes my day.

Hopefully there will be a 2009 winner just as cool as Evan O'Dorney was 2 years ago.....



**Update: Congrats to Kavya Shivashankar for winning the 2009 Bee! She's officially our new little hometown hero!

5.26.2009

Memorial Day Cookout!

After hours of yard work and house cleaning, we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather we had this weekend with both sides of the family on Sunday. Equipped with yard games, tons of food and lots of laughs, it was a great evening! Below are some pictures of us playing tailgate golf, and the chef grilling his blue cheese burgers along with our delicious desserts. I made a dessert pizza and my Aunt found the most amazing cake from Dillons in Lawrence!
We hope all of you had a wonderful holiday weekend as well!

5.20.2009

Morning Running

I did it! I got up early and ran before work.....only made it 4 miles, but still followed through!

For those of you who don't know, I've never been a big "exercise before work" person and prefer to delay this physical labor as long into the day/evening as I can.

Last night I decided to change that. I'm burned out of not winding down at night until 8 or 8:30pm and trying to cram all my DVR shows into a couple of hours. I figured that I'm a comfortable runner now and just need a few warm up times before becoming a morning pro.

After trying (and failing) to think of an excuse this morning at 6am to NOT get out of bed and NOT run, I moped into the closet to change my clothes. Once outside, however, it was wonderful. The air was cool and crisp and no sun was beating down on my shoulders. It's not too humid yet and my energy level was surprisingly high. It DEFINITELY beat trying to run a 6pm when it's already getting up to 80 degrees. And lastly, the 'creepy' people that I'm always on the lookout for are surely snoozing away at this early in the morning!

The best part of it all? I'm DONE working out for the day by about 7am! I get to go home, relax and leisurely enjoy dinner with my husband!

Stay tuned. Morning run #2 being tested tomorrow morning.

5/21 UPDATE! My second morning run was just as strong and I again feel great having already completed that for the day. The problem I'm facing, however, is temperature. It's about a 10-15 degrees difference from the beginning of my run to the end so I'm trying to get that all worked out currently! Suggestions?

5/22 UPDATE! My third morning run was awesome.... again. I found an outfit that was a bit cooler by the end of my run and just sucked it up for the chilliness towards the beginning. Tomorrow, though, I'm letting myself sleep in an hour and running at 7am instead of 6am!

5/23 UPDATE! Stretched it to a 5 mile run today! Felt so good.

5/24 UPDATE! No running! Race day tomorrow

5/25 UPDATE! Ran the 8K in under 48 minutes which for me is great! The weather was amazing and the tiny rain sprinkles felt so revitalizing during the run!

5.19.2009

Double Graduation Day

What a crazy day Sunday was! We ran around like chickens with our heads cut off so that we wouldn't miss a thing for either Matt or Whitney's graduations.

Phase 1 - Architecture Lunch at the Kansas Union in Lawrence.
We started the day with a delicious meal and listened to some great speakers before seeing Matt get robed for his Masters in Architecture degree.

Phase 2 - Pictures.
Next was the traditional graduate pictures on campus. Bill Self even stopped by to get the annual pictures with the graduating senior players. The weather was perfect and we captured some great photos.

Phase 3 - Walk the Hill.

After pictures, we ran down to get a spot on the hill in order to see Matt make this traditional walk.


Phase 4 - The Rush to Kemper
The second Matt passed us on the hill, we (literally) ran to the car, loaded the family up and quickly drove to Kemper Arena for Whitney's graduation. I captured this video of her receiving her diploma from her father as she walked the stage covered in honors cords and medals.


Phase 5 - Dinner
After Whitney's celebration, we rushed over to The Bristol at P&L to enjoy a nice, family dinner filled with memories, laughs and gifts for the two graduates.


To Matt and Whit
-
Although these two paths have come to an end, we look forward to the next steps you take in life. You have shaped us both in ways you'll never know and we will always be here for support, encouragement and a shoulder to lean on. We are so proud of your accomplishments and know that you will do great things in the future. Congratulations again on your graduations!!

5.15.2009

Blood, Sweat and Determination

The picture to the left inspired what would be a year of hardcore running, biking, lifting, counting calories, and endless crunches. After seeing this shot, I realized that I had indulged in too many sweets, ate too many fatty foods and had let myself go. Looking at that picture that my grandchildren would most likely see someday woke me up to the reality that (gasp).... I had turned into a Fatty McFatterson and something needed to change.

Thus, the journey was set in motion. Equipped with perfectly fitted top of the line running shoes from Gary Gribbles, the running began. It was pretty sluggish at first, only running a couple of miles very slowly. Eventually I got up to about 3 miles and by early fall the nonstop running, biking and lifting eventually helped me shed 15 total pounds.

This was not enough.

I set a new goal of 20 pounds and began to work out a little more and eat a little healthier. As of this past January, I had reached a plateau and couldn't quite get to that 20 pound mark. This is when I began counting every calorie consumed. It was an extremely eye-opening task that put into perspective how much more I was eating than I had thought. I did a lot of research in order to figure the total calories I should eat daily at to continue losing weight in a healthy way. Finally, I reached that 20 pound mark, but yet, still was not satisfied. I buckled down even more and stopped splurging on food on the weekends and even upped my workouts yet again. My runs became 3-4 miles and I became faster (despite a few clumsy falls that left me with bloody knees!).



Finally, this past week, I hit the 30 pounds lost mark (actually 31)! I even called Watkins at KU to retrieve my weight each year I was in college and I'm officially lower than I ever was. I believe I am actually a lower weight than I was in high school seeing as how I've never fit into into a size 2 before that I can remember! I now weigh the "white lie" weight that has been on my drivers license for roughly 8-10 years. It is actually fun to shop now and I've fallen in love with a bunch of new, healthy foods! Even more impressive, though, are the pants in this picture that I actually wore 18 months ago. The pic doesn't do justice, but they aren't just big.... they are GYNORMOUS and could probably fit Derek now that he's lost weight too!

Needless to say, I do want to shed these last 4-5 pounds and tone up a bit more, but then I'm done. At that point, I (hopefully) will be 100% happy with my body and actually feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in my adult life.

5.10.2009

Bad Parenting 101

This saga begins on Sunday afternoon when the weather was nice and we figured that our 4-legged girls would enjoy some time at the park! It hadn't been too rainy, but they both closed right in on the one tiny area where the mud pit always exists. It must be the coolness they feel on their legs wading in the gross, swampy area, but it never fails that they leave the park a dirty mess. Once we got home, we bathed them out back with baby shampoo so that they would smell fresh and look sparkling to see both "grandmas" the next day on Mothers Day!

The weekend continued on, but when my parents came over on Sunday, we all started noticing that Bailey's tail wasn't wagging. (Anyone who's met this dog before knows what I mean when I say that tail is never down!). She is the happiest dog in the world and is constantly wagging her tail at everything! We decided to keep an eye on her as sometimes her tummy gets upset from eating too much grass, eating mulch, etc. It wasn't until 10pm Sunday night that we would realize what happened and what we did to our child.

As Derek was googling "limp tail", he came across several websites that suggested several terms like "dead tail" and "limber tail". We had no idea how that could have happened until we saw the site for "cold water tail". Basically, the water that we bathed her with outside on Saturday was too cold (even though it was 75 degrees out!) and caused the muscles to temporarily paralyze around the base of her tail. Hunting dogs sometimes have this often when they are constantly retrieving from cold water. Cold Water Tail can last just a few days to 2 weeks and can "be somewhat painful for the animal".


Our hearts sank when reading this (among some guilty laughing for realizing what we did to her) and I thought to myself that it's probably a good thing I don't have a real baby right now!
Bailey did slightly wag her tail this morning and we're making sure she's not too stimulated to let that tail rest. Equipped with Tylenol and lots of snuggling, this little girls tail should be back in no time!

Mothers Day Weekend

On Saturday morning, I kicked off the weekend by volunteering with my sister-in-law, Whitney and my friend, Morgan for the Humane Society. We helped walk some puppies in the Spirit of Mission Days parade. The picture to the right is of the wiener dog float that the Humane Society uses for parades. It takes about 10 people to walk this thing down the street and is quite a site. The parade was all of a half mile and the weather was perfect so it was easy work to be done!
On Saturday night, we ventured down to Comedy City in Westport with Whitney and Pat to watch the 10pm "adult improv act". The show was made up of six guys about 24-28 years old and was 100% improv as the audience helped create the story lines.
Overall, a funny show and Whit and Pat got to both try their first flea. What is a flea you ask? It's pretty much 1200 calories of goodness. Probably the biggest burger around, it's delicious greasy flavor and gynormous size make for a great food splurge that one must indulge in once and a while!

Sunday was a great Mothers Day with both sides of our family. We grilled out honey ginger salmon and corn around noon for my mother and then enjoyed some traditional card games. Later that evening, we enjoyed dinner and a movie (Star Trek) at the Fork and Screen with the Derek's side.

I ended up baking a small strawberry cake for each side of the family with a whipped vanilla frosting!

Thanks again mothers for being who you are and doing what you do. Your selfless caring and endless support helped mold us into who we are today. We love you both very much. Happy Mothers Day!

5.07.2009

This stuff is POTENT!

Derek has urged me to get some mace or pepper spray for a while now to carry on my runs. I finally found a place that carries this stuff and picked some up this week. Yesterday I decided to get out the bubbles in the can just like you need to do with any new spray.

I sprayed a small portion directly into the kitchen sink hole with hot water to flush it immediately down. Needless to say, that did NOT do the trick. Within seconds, just from a tiny bit floating in the air my nose stung and I was coughing. I rushed outside and left for my run, only to arrive 50 minutes later to the sight of Derek hacking up a storm on the front porch. Apparently this stuff is crazy strong and I can't imagine the pain one suffers when being sprayed in the eyes.

I LOVE my new secret weapon to use for when Derek is getting testy.....Just kidding babe!

5.01.2009

Happiest Day in April

On Thursday evening, as I sorted through the mail, I find an envelope from Sears. Thinking it's junk mail, I rip it open quickly and begin to quickly scan through before it hits the trash can. The words, however, that I began to see were so exciting that I just have to start re-reading. Only then did I realize that this letter was the answer to my prayers.

Before I continue, let's back up almost 3 years. Derek and I purchased our Kenmore Oasis washer and dryer from Sears in 2006 when we bought our house. From the first load, the washing machines control board had problems. When you begin a load, it will beep and show some error message until you press "stop", then "start" again. Repeat 5-6 times. Then, at minute 18 the vicious cycle begins again. As you've figured out, you can't leave the house when doing laundry. You have to be available non-stop and it's the biggest chore ever to baby that machine. No, it wasn't covered in the warranty. Yes, there were hundreds of websites with others having this problem. And nope, a new control board costs just as much as a new machine so that was out of the question.

Back to Thursday night. The letter was the results of thousands of people complaining about this "non-fixable" problem with our "non-cheap" machine's. Sears finally decided to do something about it and will be sending a brand new, upgraded control board to the house and then installing it for free!!

I still can't believe it, and won't, until it's actually installed and I've done my first load - BEEP FREE! Until then, my fingers and toes and everything else are crossed that my three years of washing machine agony could be almost over!

4.27.2009

Book Review - Something Borrowed

This was my 3rd Emily Giffin book, but it was actually the first book she wrote. It tells the story of Rachel, a young attorney living and working in Manhattan. Rachel has always been the ultimate good girl---until her thirtieth birthday, when her best friend, Darcy, throws her a party. That night, after too many drinks, Rachel ends up sleeping with Dex, Darcy's fiance. Although she wakes up determined to put the one-night fling behind her, Rachel ends up finding out that she has genuine feelings for the one guy she should run from. As Darcy's September wedding date nears, Rachel knows she has to make a choice. In doing so, she discovers that the lines between right and wrong can be blurry, endings aren't always neat, and sometimes you have to risk all to win true happiness.

I thought this book was great and give it another A!

Next book by Giffin on deck: Love The One You're With!

Found; One Green Thumb

I have really found a love for flowers over the past few years. Picking out some plants to display in pots is one of my favorite things to do early spring. I have to go by myself so that there are no distractions and I spend a lot of time thinking and planning.
Before the planting festivities began this year, Derek and I got up super early Sunday to run the 4-mile Trolley Run. Derek finished in under 30 and I finished in under 40!
As soon as we got home, the rain was nowhere to be seen and I was off to my own little flower-finding adventure at my fav location, The Grass Pad. This year, I brought home and planted an entire trunk full of begonias, geraniums, dahlias, and a few other unique looking flowers that I don't remember their names!

With a manicured lawn (thanks Derek!) and flowers galore, everything looks great and I couldn't be happier. As my mom puts it, "Flowers are Nature's Smiles!" and I couldn't agree more. :)

4.24.2009

Ford Flex

So we had to take the Explorer in this week for it's 60,000 mile tune-up. Seeing as how it took all day, Derek was given a Ford Flex to temporarily drive.
I pretty much think this car is the most hideous thing out there. It belongs at the beach, with a huge surf board on top and the driver singing to "Summertime" by Will Smith.

Derek does, however, have an awesome talent of making anything look amazing with his playgirl-ish posing and studly good looks. See below for what I mean.



PS - Yes, those are Bob Allen stickers and they were all over the car!

4.18.2009

Mulch, Mulch and more Mulch

Before the weekend mulching festivities began, I went to a wedding shower for a friend from work. Erin's wedding is about 5 weeks away!!

After the shower, Derek and I headed to Lowe's to pick up the first round of mulch. Once we had picked weeds out of all the landscaping, trimmed some bushes and sprayed the yard, we put down the first batch. We must have a lot more landscaping than we thought as the original 15 bags didn't cut it.
The yard was only about half mulched when we had to stop to get reach for our 2nd year attending KU's Rock Chalk Ball!
Sunday morning, however, we were back at Lowe's to grab another 15 bags of mulch! You guessed it.... it wasn't enough! After a few more errands, we went back for the final load of mulch. Our yard now looks amazing and it was well worth all of the trips!

4.14.2009

Strawberry Spinach Salad

BEWARE - The recipe below is VERY easy to make and VERY healthy.
Proceed with caution. :)
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons dried minced onion
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
10 oz fresh spinach
1 pint strawberries, halved
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (recipe said almonds - but we like walnuts better!)

DIRECTIONS
1. Whisk together the sugar, sesame seeds, sesame oil, poppy seeds, dried onion, paprika, oil and vinegar. Refrigerate until chilled.
2. In a salad bowl, combine the spinach and strawberries. Drizzle with dressing, toss lightly and serve.

4.13.2009

2009 KU Men's Basketball Banquet

Last night was the final time that Derek and I will be sitting in a room with an entire KU basketball team and their families as well as most of the 'big donors'. It was a good time with good people giving great speeches.

The best news though, was hearing Sherron and Cole personally say that they'll come back for another year! National Champions 2010 here we come!

Senile Talking Cat

This video made me laugh so hard! It sounds like one cat trying to have a conversation with another.

4.12.2009

Black Jack Luck

Derek and I have always loved a random Casino night where we can enjoy a little Black Jack. We play smart, generally take home money and then realize how much casino's hate people like us! Our strategy is to only take in like $100 and to NOT take out more at the ATM inside. We play just $5 or $10 hands until we get up to about the $70 - $80+ range. Then..... we walk! We figure if we end up making $75+ each time we go, then we're up overall in the long run and it's a win/win deal.

Last night we headed down to Ameristar (our favorite)and was joined by both of our brothers. We ALL ended up walking away even, or up some money. It was Matt's first time gambling ever in a Casino and we're glad that he didn't lose any money!

4.09.2009

Baby Malayan Tapir

Sometimes I run across an unusal animal online and end up falling in love. Below is my new favorite obsession..... a baby tapir! Isn't it just the cutest thing ever?!

Facts: The tapir is from Asia and grows to between 6 and 8 feet. They have four toes on each front foot and three toes on each back foot. The Malayan Tapir has rather poor eyesight but excellent hearing and sense of smell.

4.06.2009

Baby Shower Fun

This summer is full of baby showers, wedding showers, bachelorette parties and weddings! To kick off the season, I attended the first of the baby showers this past Sunday. Beth, a high school friend, is due in less than 2 months and it was great to see her and some of my other good friends from high school as well!

We played a fun memorization game and another fun (but kinda gross) baby food game where you had to guess each flavor. Needless to say, I won't be snacking on that nasty stuff anytime soon. Beth's cake, however, was worth the extra mile on the treadmill as it was very moist and yummy!

Can't wait to meet baby Lotus!

4.03.2009

Little Madeline

Derek and I took on a babysitting challenge Friday night for my friends 6-month old little girl. I'll admit, I was pretty much nervous ALL week as I can't remember the last time I changed a diaper before her! Madeline was such a good baby and my maternal instincts kicked right in to change that diaper. She even fell asleep on my shoulder and was so warm and snuggly!

Her she is in her favorite jumper!


Isn't this the sweetest face ever?

3.31.2009

BRIT BRIT = Awesomeness

So yes, you can judge, but I LOVE Brit's music....not so much love her!!

Last night, she and the Pussycat Dolls were amazing and I pretty much felt like an 18 year old again. I went with my sister-in-law, Whitney, and screamed my head off like a little girl to the point of hoarseness when we left! The circus themed show was complete with crazy acrobat routines, gymnasts and elaborate set designs which made the whole show fantastic!

Whit and I and then my friends Ana and Mary Ann who were there also -

And here's a small tidbit of "Womanizer" -

3.30.2009

Indianapolis Road Trip

Somehow we basically managed to miss all bad weather this past weekend with our short Indy road trip. We started out early Friday morning to drive the 8 hours or so to our hotel and at one point hit 70 degrees and sunny weather! By the time we arrived, we had a couple hours to spare and used it to freshen up and grab some dinner. Then we were off to what would become our final curtain call of the last 5 years of traveling to see our Jayhawks play.

The Lucas Oil Stadium was amazing and fully equipped with tons of restrooms and spacious seats. We were so lucky to, again, have wonderful seats only a few rows up in this ginormous stadium.
With the loss, we decided to start the trek home the next day only stopping to stay in St. Louis on Saturday night. Sunday morning was an early start so that we could all be home by 1pm. The dogs were crazy happy to see us and we took the next 6 hours to relax, do laundry and catch up on missed TV shows.

All in all: To drive over 16 hours just to see one final game was definitely worth it.

3.20.2009

Date Night - Fogo De Chao

On Friday night Derek and I went to this new Brazilian Steakhouse on the plaza to check it out and thought it was a good concept. Basically, it's a set price and you have a card with a green side and a red side. You begin by helping yourself to the cheese and salad bar. Next comes out the endless appetizers. Whenever you're ready, you can flip your card to the green side giving the waiters the 'go' to start bringing samplings from the 12 or so different meats they serve. When you'd like them to slow down, you flip the card to the red side and they'll back off.

The food was OK and the drinks were great, but we both agreed that for the same price, a meal and drinks at Capital Grille (our fav!) would have been better. Yes, you get endless food for that price, but as far as quality, it was just average. We loved a few of the meats, but all appetizer and salad bar items were nothing extraordinary. Also - DEFINITELY not a place you'd want to go on a first date. With the constant interruption in order to serve the meats, conversation was very hard. I almost felt anxious with all of the waiters running by nonstop.

We'd give this new restaurant a B rating as it's a cool concept and they have some great drinks!

3.15.2009

Chicken Caesar Pita's

This AWESOME recipe from my favorite website was really easy to make, delicious and not too caloric! I cut the bread into smaller pieces in order to minimize the carbs from the croutons and, of course, didn't use near as much dressing as they suggested. I did follow the directions exactly to cook the chicken and it came out so flavorful and moist!

Definitely an A+ meal!

Book Review - Baby Proof

No people! It's not a 'baby planning' book and we are not preggo! Baby Proof is my second book written by Emily Giffin and I loved it. Definitely worth an A!

The story revolves around Claudia Parr and her perfect live without any children and no desire to ever have them. Perfect, that is, until her husband Ben has a change of heart. This awesome story is about what happens to the perfect couple when they suddenly want different things. It's about feeling that your life is set and then realizing that nothing is as you thought it was — and that there is no possible compromise. It's about deciding what is most important in life, and taking chances to get it. But most of all, it's about the things we will do — and won't do — for love.

3.11.2009

The Last Road Trip

Well....at least this year it is as we head out for Oklahoma City. It's going to be a bittersweet weekend for us as we soak it in that the end of our constant traveling and family tickets is coming soon. Derek and I have been so blessed to be a part of Matt's journey and get to spend some good times with a team we love so much!

3.05.2009

Go Big Red

This past week/weekend was a "Matt Frenzy" and I'm going to try and squeeze a lot in this post! We had a great time at the game and it was nice to be able to see our extended family again!

- Matt going down in the record books! Read Here.
- Click here to read the latest message board notes on Matt!
- Matt made the All Academic Big 12 Team!

Matt being announced on the KU Starting Line up at Senior Night Saturday -


Starting lineup, Big 12 Trophy and Senior speech -
Family and the team with Grandma Brewer at the Celebration Party -

Here are some fun stats courtesy of the Motycka's!
* Matt has won more Big 12 regular season Championships than all other Big 12 teams
* Matt has won more regular season Big 12 games than Baylor.
* Matt has won almost 3 times the amount of Big XII titles (8 to 3 - regular season and post season) that Missouri's ENTIRE athletic department has won in every sport in the entire history of the Big 12.
* Matt has won more National Championships than K-State has in any sport.
* Matt has won more NCAA tournament games than Baylor & Nebraska

Actual NCAA champ ring!