J, like José!

I volunteer once a week for one hour at an elementary school where I help students that are a little behind. I'm paired with a student every school year (usually a kindergartener) who just needs a little extra help. This year I have Miguel and he's adorable. We just started meeting a few weeks ago so he hasn't really warmed up to me yet, but this week he was very interactive and talkative which was awesome.

We usually read a book and do an activity based on the book (coloring pictures, etc). This week the book was about letters. One of our activities was to write out the letters on one of those big chief tablets (you know, with the dotted line through the middle). So I let him choose which letter he wanted to start with - thought it would be more fun than going through the alphabet in order. He said he wanted to start with "M, for Miguel". I then asked him if he remembered my name. He didn't...so I said, "my name is Jenn, we can write the letter J, for Jenn". Miguel then responded, very excited "J, like José!".

So maybe my phonics lesson was killed, but I got a good smile out of it!

DC/Annapolis/Baltimore Trip

I had some meetings in DC Friday 10/23 and Saturday morning 10/24. So Tyler and I ventured north together to make a long weekend of it. Thursday night we met with a former NASS worker of mine, Clif. for a little bite to eat. Friday while I was in meetings all day Tyler went around DC and saw some sights. Friday night we went to dinner with his friends Tommy & Laura - they were out of the country during our wedding so I was not able to meet them until that night. They were super fun and we had a nice dinner with them. Then we met a former DC roommate of mine, Talia, for drinks before we turned in early (gone apparently are my late nights in DC!).

I had another meeting Saturday morning then we headed off to Annapolis for the Wake/Navy game. I've always heard that the game experience at Navy is very cool...and it was. All the fanfare surrounding the game was quite fun to watch. We were told that it would be best to use the park and ride shuttle to head to the stadium. As we are riding the school bus with other (mostly navy) fans we heard the guy behind us talking about the weather that was probably headed our way during the game. He kept referring to the wind speed in "knots" rather than MPH. Come to find out he was a retired Naval officer - very cool. Of course I don't know my "knots" to MPH conversion so I had no idea how fast he was saying the wind was going to be that day...but I found out really quickly once the game started that it was crazy fast wind.

We got into the game early so see all the pomp and circumstance surround the pre-game festivities. The midshipmen start an hour before game time marching from campus to the stadium (all the roads get blocked off). About 30-45minutes before game time I started to see (in the far off distance) the midshipmen coming down the street to the stadium. They just kept coming and coming and coming. It was very cool. Then once they got to the stadium the announcer announced each brigade and it's leaders as they marched in. Then they took their place in the stands and were very involved (and loud!) during the entire game.

And then came the rain! Seriously, I've never sat through rain like this before in my life. It was coming down so hard and the wind was whipping so hard I really couldn't even look up to the field because my face would get pelted with water. I have no idea how the players played - I could barely sit! Tyler was rather impressed that I made it through the game. Thankfully the temperature was warm or I would have been out of there. I was really impressed that ALL the midshipmen stayed the entire game. Probably has something to do with the fact that they are taught to stick together - and those guys on the field are their fellow brothers - so they didn't leave either.

Navy ended up winning the game (and never even attempted a pass). I told Tyler during the game that I would almost feel bad beating them (if we had) - just because of the real sacrifice they are making for our country. The game almost seemed silly in the grand scheme of things. So I was almost happy for them when they won - and all the midshipmen went crazy at the end of the game which was fun to watch.

After the game we headed to Baltimore to have a fun (and dry) evening with Tyler's cousins. After a very short stay there we headed back. It was a great trip - here are the pics of the game.

Navy Stadium

Midshipmen marching to the stadium

Proof we were actually there


Proof of the crazy wind


Midshipmen marching into the stadium


All in the stadium


Midshipmen doing push-ups after a Navy score


Midshipmen in the stands and the horrible weather headed our way


Picture of the downpour through my rain poncho

Done!

As of last week (or maybe the week before) I'm done with Thank You notes!!!!!!!! I would estimate that I've written somewhere around 200 thank you's. I'm sorta priding myself in getting all my Thank You's out within 3 weeks of their respective event. Our last wedding party was about a month ago and all the thank you's for that are done - so I'm officially done! I did especially well with the actual wedding thank you's - those were done within 3 weeks, but we spent one week in Mexico, so really those were done within two weeks! GOOO MEEE! As much as I would like to say that I'm awesome at being on top of things...really I'm a chief procrastinator. I just did NOT want to have all of those hanging over my head for a year. Or be the girl that sends them out so long after the event that you're slightly embarrassed that you're just now sending a thank-you. I also knew that if I didn't do each event's thank you's before the next shower/event that I would just get overwhelmed with the number to write that I would put it off even more. I made Tyler write some, but I think he purposefully wrote extremely short notes just so I wouldn't let him write anymore. Worked out great for him. :)

Here's my problem with thank you's (and probably most people would agree with this). I am very genuinely, truly SOOO thankful for the gift that I really have a hard time putting it into words how much I really appreciate it...all without sounding cliche' or cheesy. So I find it really difficult to write thank you's and get across my true gratitude.

My other fear with thank you notes is that I mixed up the wrong thank-you in the wrong envelope. So Aunt Sally got my friend Sarah's thank you. OR that I told them thank-you for the wrong gift. I really tried to double check that this didn't happen, but who knows. The only thing that is really still lingering out there (that will probably never get resolved) is from my work shower. There is a person's signature written on the card from the group gift that I can't figure out who it is! I've asked several people around the department and no one knows! So I know there is one person out there that never got a thank you for the group gift - so whoever you are (and if there is anyone else that I mistakenly missed)...THANKS!

Front yard project

Tyler and I are doing some yard work this fall. I really feel that the front yard will be set after we get this done. The backyard is a whole other story and will probably be a next spring or fall project. We broke down and hired chemlawn to get the grass in shape. I think after they get it in shape we'll be able to keep it up, but we just could not get rid of the clover. So between the lovely grass we'll have and the new landscaping I think things will look really nice and hopefully low maintenance! :)

Tyler always jokes about how he wanted to live in a house in ardmore and have the little yard to keep up - since most of the houses in ardmore have tiny yards - but no, he ended up with the largest yard you can get. And my house (that's rented now) is probably a close second on yard size. Something to keep us busy I suppose!

I could about kick myself for not taking before and after pictures of all the work we did on the inside of his house. So I decided I wouldn't let that happen with this project! Although, I did forget to take 'true' before pictures...the path had already been dug up by the time I took pics. But you'll get the idea. So look back in the next few weeks for the lovely after pics!

The project is to build a walking path from the side of the house where the driveway is to the front walk/front door. This will also require a small retaining wall, which I think will add some nice dimension to the side of the house. We also need to move out the front bed about a foot and move the azaleas out - they are too close to the other plants. And finally, the beds under the trees in the front yard will be combined and eventually we'll put some plants under them.

front of the house - you can see where we've already dug up the grass for the path
closer look where the front bed will be moved out, the azaleas moved out and the path built

street view

the beds under the trees will be combined and get mulch and eventually some plants

the beds cleaned out - this was no small undertaking

the beds combined and cleared out...still to come mulch and plants

where the walk will start - from the side door all the way around to the front walk. we'll build a retaining wall around the corner

another close up look at where the walk will be

My first fair!

I don't know how I've managed to never attend a fair in my life. The Missouri state fair was in the same town as some of my family so that makes it even more weird that we never made the trip. I'm pretty sure I'm not dysfunctional now because of I've never been to a fair, so you can rest easy, Mom. The Dixie Classic Fair here in Winston-Salem comes every year and I've never made it to that either. When Tyler heard that I've never been to a fair he made sure we went this year.

I've been to a carnival before - ie - the Gladfest in Gladstone, so I had a general idea of what to expect. This blew anything I had in my mind out of the water. Just the massive scale of food stands, games, and rides was pretty amazing. I really didn't get to see the food competition parts or the animals (besides the pig races), but I think I got my money's worth...and holy cow - that place is expensive. No wonder I never went as a kid! $7 to park, $8 to get in, probably $12 for all my food (I HAD to get a $5 funnel cake) and then $20 for the rides (we went on unlimited ride night which actually is quite the bargain). And that's just for ME. I can't imagine if you had a couple kids and went - that's a small fortune!

My dinner was excellent and my funnel cake was out of this world. Then we saw the pig races. I was particularly excited about this - I kept hearing everyone talk about it - these little piglets race around a track for an Oreo. The show didn't disappoint - the piglets were so cute!
Then came the rides. I'm not afraid of amusement park rides...I'll ride those all day long. However, there's something about rides that get taken down and put back together fairly often and by people that don't have all of their teeth and are probably not sober when they put it together (I know I'm being very stereotypical here, but I swear I saw a few ride operators that would fit in this category). So I was VERY hesitant to ride anything. The first ride was the worst. Thanks to a little cool weather and pouring rain earlier that day the crowds were light, so we didn't really have to wait at all to get on any rides. So the operators would just keep the ride going until another good-sized line would start forming. This proved to be a problem on the first ride. Seriously, I thought we would never get off. I'm used to rides at amusement parks that are automated in length instead of some guy deciding when I can get off. I wish I had timed that ride, I seriously think it was close to 5 minutes of constant spinning. Then came the next spinning ride and the next. Then I started to feel sick - my dinner was very close to resurfacing. I had to sit out a few rides to recoup. I think between the fact that almost all of the rides were spinning and that we didn't have to wait in line to get on anything (and therefore rest between the spins) led to this stomach problem. I'll definitely pace myself next time.

I rode the tilt-o-whirl with Sarah which is a staple for her, then saw someone get arrested - so my fair experience is complete! :) Overall it was a great experience and I look forward to going back next year!

Sarah & Tyler on Top Spin. They are on the back row - on the left.
Tyler & me racing down the slide

ahhhh, the ferris wheel!

Another spinning ride I chose to sit out! Sarah, Tyler, and Scott are on this, though

This was all Tyler & Scott in one of those little egg bins.

Sarah & I did the tilt-o-whirl while the boys rode the zipper

Sarah & Scott right before the longest ride of my life.

There go the pigs!!!!

my favorite line "who will be the next weiner?"

The race track. I thought it would be a lot bigger :)

Ahh, my dinner after I ate it. Fried chicken, mac & cheese, and mashed potatoes & gravy.

September body pump review

I do have other things going on in life that I can update on besides body pump - and I promise those are coming soon! We are doing some major work on the front yard and I have "before" pictures to show of that as well as some exciting pictures from my trip to the Dixie Classic Fair...all of which are still on my camera and on my to-do list to take off! So look forward to hearing about that soon!

This blurry picture was taken from my phone so I can give a quick September update. Overall I suppose I'm pleased with my attendance for September. There is an obvious gap during the third week - we were in KC for a long weekend so my attendance & running was a little spotty before, during, and after our trip. Back on track now. I also have officially entered my training season for the mistletoe half marathon in December. This has lead me to drop Wednesday's body pump class. I'm still sticking with Monday and Friday, though. Between 4 days of running and 3 days of body pump I really wanted another rest day. And every other Wednesday I didn't like the instructor anyway (felt like a yoga class - not that that's bad, I wanted body pump, not yoga). And, the real truth is that I needed another day to sleep in. Three early mornings a week were killing me and I felt so unproductive in the evenings because all I wanted to do was go to bed. Therefore, maintaining my sleep during the week I believe will be really helpful.

As far as results go - I feel as though my core is stronger. I wish I could report rock hard abs, but I do feel like I have a stronger middle section. I also feel stronger on my runs from the loads of squats and lunges we do during class. I'm hoping to see a faster half-marathon time because of this. And I'm a little disappointed in the upper body. I don't feel like we work that as much as I would like. But I did finally graduate to 6 & 8lb weights (from 5lbs) so as I move up in the weightage I hope to see more results.

Let's hope for a successful month in October!

Happy National Ice Cream Cone day!

Because my favorite food is ice cream I couldn't help but give a shout-out to National Ice Cream Cone Day! Apparently, the ice cream cone was invented on September 22nd, 1903.

I think I'll celebrate by going to Blue Ridge Ice Cream tonight!