Wow... it's been a while

I haven't blogged in a while but hey, here is a quick one...

It has been an exciting and exhausting week... I got a job offer 2 Fridays ago, turned it down on Monday... wiped my hands of it then they followed up and gave me a new offer on Wednesday - that I excitedly accepted. :)  Start the new adventure with Silver Eagle Distributers as a Benefits Administrator on December 13th!

Thanksgiving was great!  My parents-in-law came down to celebrate the festivities.  We started with a Hooters wings party Wednesday night, Thanksgiving dinner with great friends and family on Thursday then a relaxing Friday.  Saturday I had to start pumping out my research paper (due Wednesday - eek) then dinner and fun.  Yesterday was study group (a final today) and got some Christmas shopping done. 

I can't believe my semester will be over after Wednesday... that flew and provided I passed both classes... I am 25% complete with my Masters... YAY!!!

My nerves are going crazy today though as I have to still let my boss in on my little two week notice for my new adventure.  EEK!!!  I hate that feeling cause I know she likes me and it will put them in a bind but I have to do what is best for me and SED is best for me.

Hope everyone had a great and safe holiday and I look forward to more time to blog with school being out for the next 6-7 weeks!

Toodles

All kinds of stuff...

Well, unfortunately baseball season is officially over.  Congrats to the San Francisco Giants on their World Series title... I was pulling for the Rangers but that's ok - anyone other than the Cardinals and I really don't give a s#$%.  LaRussa and Duncan both committed to another year, or two, or three with the Cardinal coaching staff.  Pujols contract should be (hopefully) locked up during the off season.

On another note... I have less than a month left in my second semester of grad school and I am hanging in there... yay!!  I have a few assignments left, a mentor chronicle, a final and a research paper.  I can do it! 

We are very excited to have Jason's parents come for Thanksgiving and my mom for Christmas... should be fun!!!

That's all for now... more later!

Home Sweet Home

After a fun quick trip to California and two successful (I think) interviews... I am glad to be home sweet home with no trips in site for  few months.  I am excited to stay home with my husband, dog and school work.  I am eager to finish my second semester of grad school and enjoy a month off around Christmas and just work... with a week and a half off during that time to do as I please.

I did have a great time in California though - I was able to see Laguna Beach and drove out to Long Beach and had dinner at Newport Beach.  Beautiful area but the cost of living there makes me proud to be in Texas.  

Excited for Wednesday to come and the World Series to start... GO RANGERS!  (Although I hate AL and their DH BS)  They are the closer team here and I actually don't care for either team enough to watch them during the regular season.

Will post more later!

Vegas Baby! 10-10-10

So... my friends and I made it back alive from Vegas... and it was AWESOME!!!  We started our adventure with mimosas and a limo to the airport.

We had a fun filled flight and made it safely to our hotel... HOOTERS!

We immediately used my Groupon's I bought 6 months ago at Tenaya Creek Brewery - a Las Vegas original.  Back to the hotel to check in and Margo and Chris joined us.  Jason, Kris, Renee, Justin and Paige all went to take a nap.  Margo, Chris and I decided to go out exploring... we walked around a little bit then stopped at Hard Rock Cafe for some drinks and appetizers.  Then off to the Bellagio... we found a blackjack table that we stayed at for the next 7 hours... what can I say it was good to us... until I had a few too many to drink... then I just walked away even.  Justin, Paige and Jason joined us and about 330am we decided to grab some grub at a restaurant in the Bellagio, then off to the hotel for some shut eye.

I was the earliest riser that day... that day - being my birthday - up at about 730 and ready to roll.  We had some brunch at the "Mad Onion" for bottomless mimosas and breakfast buffet.  Then hung out until...

Kris and Renee got married... check us all out - we clean up nice!

Then we hit up the Pawn Shop from Pawn Stars... sorry no pics but it wasn't anything very exciting.  Back to the hotel after that then off to New York New York to gamble until me and Margo were off to Thunder from Down Under - see a pic for that later ;-)  Celebrated my birthday the rest of the night at Excalibur, Luxor and back to Hooters.

Monday was great - up and went to lunch at Harley Davidson Cafe then off to wander around... through Planet Hollywood and the Venetian.  Went through the wax museum and saw some crazy looking statues...

Then after all that fun...  We went to Old Vegas - Downtown...

After a fun few hours in downtown it was time to head to the airport... but apparently not everyone was having as much fun as we were...

All in all, I had a fantastic time and one final picture concludes it all...

And I can't wait to return!

Ever have one of those dreams that REALLY makes you think?!

First of - a quick update to this crazy random busy life of mine... this weekend was WAY quick... but eventful... I got a check up on my retainer, got a pedi with some friends (2 in 2 weeks - WOW!), and got my hair chopped and some low lights put in.  Then we got to see Louie (our puppy) graduate from beginner training school.  After puppy graduation we got news that our friends got engaged.  Spent Sunday going to brunch with a few friends while my husband went riding his motorcycle, then I went to hang out to have a couple cold ones at the same friends house... then we had the fun of meeting our family at Chuck E Cheese for a little bit of "Where a Kid Can Be a Kid" time. :)

I know you are waiting so patiently for my dream... but, I gotta tell you about my day today.

I woke up - let Louie out, got ready, fixed my new do, went to work, went to a career fair recruiting some laid off NASA folks, came back to work, went to school then came home and vegged while watching The Biggest Loser and Amazing Race. - OK so my day wasn't that exciting but I like to build up the anticipation anyway :)

So - you all know how big of a Cardinal fan I am and if you know who my future ex-husband is then you will find this dream quite humerous.

So there I was... at Busch Stadium... hanging out in the Champions Club (high roller area) laying on the floor chit chatting with Albert Pujols.  After a little while he reached for my hand, I didn't pull back and just let him hold it for a little while.  Then he had a game to play so he went to get ready.  I met back up with him and some other players again after the game... he again reached for my hand and held it.  We gazed into each others eyes and instantly felt a connection.  Next thing you know I got this insane feeling come over me and I immediately run through many levels of the stadium to find Skip Schumaker and I say "Did you hear, Pujols is going to leave his wife for another woman?"  Skip said, "Yeah, I heard" and I started smiling cause I knew that other woman was me.

So - there it is... if any of you really know me, you will know how funny that dream really was.

Can't win every year!

So - my Redbirds have officially been eliminated from any chance at making the playoffs.  But hey, there are 32 teams in the majors and we just won a World Series in 06 so we are just being fair.  I just hope we don't decide to wait 31 years in between World Series... which I really don't think would be the case.  One thing that has been rather exciting though is seeing some of these newbies get a chance to play and I must say - they are doing pretty dang good.  Good job guys!  Get you a spot on next years roster!

I am currently sitting in Michigan as we attended yet another career fair today.  It was a beautiful day today - 70 and sunny!  Woohoo!  Been a good trip but as always - wish I had a little more time to see the campus and area but oh well, it happens.  Ready to head home though - busy weekend ahead and the anticipation is killing me - in 1 week and 3 days we will be going to VEGAS BABY! 

What a great day!!!!!!

I completed my first Urban Dare today with my sister in law Jamie and I can't wait to do another one!  I had a blast!  We got to see all over San Antonio... and learned about the various historical intricasies and cool parts of San Antonio.  The only "dares" we had were a three legged race, doing the "wheelbarrow" and finding letters to spell our passport word and take the corresponding numbers and add them up.  We figured we probably walked about 6 miles (or more) in this trek of fun.  We finished the experience in 2 hours 41 minutes and we are proud to say we finished in the top 10!

On a not so exciting note - I am watching the Cardinal game and I think Ludwick wanted to prove why we were sad to see him go... by hitting a 3 run homerun in Busch Stadium.  We miss you Luddy!

On a final note - I am enjoying some R&R with my brother watching sports and hanging out - I could never get tired of that!

It's good to be back in Texas...

I just got back from another recruiting trip today.  This time I got to go to University of Illinois in Champaign.  It was so nice - my mom and Barbalicious came up to see me for one night and we hung out with some interesting locals.  Barb pulled out some "Arrribas" and gave everyone a good laugh.  (If you know Barb, you know what the arribas are about).  That was Tuesday night.  Wednesday I had the career fair and Wednesday night I was able to meet a great friend Amanda Strausbaugh for dinner in Bloomington, IL (an hour away).  It was so nice to see some familiar faces while traveling on the company dime :)

I have some fun stuff coming up in the next few days too so I will have to report back on how it all went.  This weekend I will be going to San Antonio to compete in the Urban Dare with my sister in law, hang out with my bro and sis in law Sunday (full day of movies and pedi's <3) then off to Austin for two days for more career fairs. 

As for baseball, I know on my last post I mentioned I would talk a little more about baseball.  I only have one thing to say... WE GOT SWEPT BY THE CUBS AND NOW 8 GAMES OUT - I am not a pessimistic person... BUT... I am thinking we are going to take a rest from the post season this year.  It's all good though - we are only going on 4 years without a world series... not 103!  Haha.

Well, that's all for now - until next time!

What a week?!

Well, this has been an exciting, exhausting and short week.  With a three day weekend that was relaxing and uneventful I can actually say going to work on Tuesday wasn't bad!  Well rested and excited for my week to come.  I went to work Tuesday morning only to leave by 2 to catch my flight for my first traveling college recruiting assignment.  It started off interesting as I dazed off driving to the airport (I know, I know - terrible) and missed my exit.  Checked my flight status while driving cause I was running really late (again - I know, terrible).  Noticed my flight was delayed an hour and a half and honestly didn't know why - apparently we were being hit by a tropical storm and I had no idea... lol.  Well, I immediately go into panic mode cause I know my connection has only a 40 min layover based on original flight time.  I get to the airport, they need to redirect me but can't get to my final destination until Wednesday - NOT OK.  I notice on the departures board there is a flight that says delayed and that it's new departure time was in about 15 minutes to my destination - BINGO... I tell the counter employee to check on that flight and who would of thought - got on it - departed at the exact same time my original flight was supposed to leave and everything worked out perfect.  Got into South Bend, IN safe and sound - HELLO NOTRE DAME!  Got settled in and went down to the hotel bar and had a nice conversation with the bartender then called it a night.  Took my own little tour of the Fighting Irish campus - only one word is needed to describe it... BEAUTIFUL!  Saw the main attractions of the campus... The Basilica, the Grotto and Touchdown Jesus.  Went to the career fair(s) and was lucky to see them installing their new jumbotron in the basketball stadium.  After a long day - a beer and dinner was all I needed.  Today's flights were on time and smooth making for a nice end to a very quick trip... then I did it again - dazed out and missed my exit to go home.  GO FIGURE!  And the best part about this week - tomorrow is Friday already!

That's all for this post - will post more this weekend with some thoughts of mine on what is going on in baseball and my cheers and jeers for this week with the Cards.  Until next time...

Maybe there is a little crying in baseball!

After another disappointing loss by my Redbirds it makes me really think and analyze what is going on with them. I went to the game last night and had awesome seats! (Craigslist rocks!) While watching the game from my awesomely close 15 rows from the field behind home plate seats I found myself in disgust with the way things were panning out during the game.


First - LaRussa, what are you doing?! I mean - I love Yadi like the every other Cardinal fan but batting 5th - REALLY?! He is not a power hitter and pardon my lack of a better phrase, but gets around the bases slower than my 90 year old grandma!

Second - what happened to everyone? Where is the team that just less than a month ago swept the Reds and staked our claim toward the NL Central division title? Firing on all cylinders - excited to be on the field - playing both offense and defense with desire, fun and flair? I mean - the errors Skip had last night are unexcusable... the lack of hustle by Colby Rasmus to save 2 runs - ridiculous... and the fact that we have the best player in baseball in Albert Pujols and a backup man for him with Matt Holliday and neither can seem to do anything with the ball just kills me! They don't look like the team they did just one month ago... now they are just a ho hum lackluster team with an over 500 average that probably shouldn't even be close to a chance at playoffs.

I mean seriously - we have won 2 of the last 10! There were quite a few Cardinal fans at the stadium (not to be confused - the stadium was bear but out of the few of us there - we had a good turnout) and we stayed til the end - the last out when Skip and Ryan both didn't do anything to help us continue that game any longer. We stayed, we cheered, we clapped, we left disappointed and angry for the 8th time in 10 games. We were picked the team to beat at the beginning of the season and I guess we are officially the team to beat in every literal way possible.

I don't want to only put down the hitting and fielding aspect of the Cardinal game either though.  Our top three pitchers have gone from unstoppable to average.  Giving up runs left and right, while I realize not all of the runs are earned to affect their ERA but complete games, shut outs and wins seem to be a thing of the past for Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia.  And personally if LaRussa doesn't pull Kyle Lohse out of that starting rotation I will lose it!  Westbrook is doing alright and we will see how Suppan does today now that he is back, but I am not keeping my fingers crossed for a lights out type of game.  Hope for one, but not exactly confident in it.

Here is an interesting article I read today and while it pains me to think about it - I agree with a lot of things said:

http://www.bnd.com/2010/09/01/1383625/with-few-exceptions-cardinals.html


Ugh - so like I said in the title - there may be a little crying in baseball at least from the fan base and I would be rudely awakened if I found out this string of losses doesn't hurt those guys out there too. However, I do love my Cardinals and I will keep cheering and watching and hoping to see my boys of summer become the boys of Fall too in the playoffs. Until next time!

First Blog... Let's run with it...

Well folks... here is my first attempt at a blog... I say folks like I have followers - well Sara - here is my first attempt at a blog.  (haha)  Kidding... roll the credits please!

As I mentioned in my "About Me" I am a small town girl that has been through many facets of town sizes - going from my hometown in Illinois of 900 people, to my college town of 30,000, then to my first home in Texas of about 600,000 and finally settling in this huge city of over 4 MILLION!

While many things have changed over the past several years there are a few things that haven't... like my relationship with my family and close friends and my love for Cardinal Baseball.  While we all have our problems, likes and dislikes with our family and friends there is nothing that compares to my disappointment with my Cardinals lately.  I love my Cardinals but I don't particularly like them right now. 

Here I sit on a Monday night with an ice cold beer in hand and the Cardinals on the tube playing the Astros and it makes me cringe to think just one month ago they were the sole first place team in the National League Central and we (I say we as if I am a part of the team) decided over that month we weren't loving being the best so we took a few steps back (or 5 games back) and let the Reds take over the lead with many of their members being former Cardinals - including their GM.

I always have faith in my Cardinals but their recent playing has made me finally realize what it feels like to be a CUBS fan.  Hahahaha - that was wrong.  Just kidding.  Disappointment is running through my veins but I have faith that they will pull through in the end. 

We will be attending the game tomorrow night at Minute Maid park and hopefully Carpenter and the Redbirds will give us a win!

On a more personal note - my dad is visiting this week and we have been having quite a good time... he has had some memorable quotes I would like to share one:

"San Antonio is on an island right?!"

Until next time... have fun, laugh a lot, and GO CARDS!