Pink on the Rink

This past weekend was an eventful one. Friday night some friends and Kurt & I got together for a hockey game. It was called Pink on the Rink, and it supported Breast Cancer. The Iowa Chops played the Chicago Wolves. They had a pink floor under the ice, so it made it look like pink-ice. Kurt and I have gotten into going to some Des Moines Buccaneer games, so it was fun to see Des Moines other team. It was disappointing that the Chops lost, but also disappointing that there wasn't many fights (that's what we like to watch). But all in all, we still had fun.

Pre-game warm ups.
Ready, Set, Play HOCKEY!
Bruce, Kyle and Kurt watching the game.
Julie S. and Me
Kurt and Me
Our beer comparisons: mine is the bottle, Julie G got the middle cup, and Julie S. is sad because she got a baby cup! Ha Ha Ha!

Publish Post

My partners in crime: Julie S, me, Julie G

Happy Valentines Day

I hope everybody had a good day for Valentines Day weekend! Friday night Kurt and I went to the Funny Bone because we got free tickets. It was fun, but the opening act was funnier than the headliner. Then afterwards we went out to eat.

Valentines Day, Kurt woke up early and went bike riding with his nephew and their friend. They go ride on the gravel around various towns. When he got back, we rested for a little bit, then got ready for our Valentine's Day Luncheon. He wanted to go to this restaraunt called Green Briar, but they weren't open, so we drove over to HuHots (Mongolian Grill, you must try it if you are ever in DSM), well HuHots had a LONG wait, so we went over to Best Buy for a little bit. I suggested we go to the Olive Garden. They have pretty good food. As we drove in the parking lot, there were people waiting outside. It seems like everybody had the lunch idea like we did. Kurt had another restaraunt in mind, and he took me to Biaggi's, which is a very nice Italian restaurant. We got in right away. The service and food was really good. I put it on my "favorites" list. We spent some quality time afterwards palying games. In the evening, Kyle and Julie invited us to come over for supper and a movie. We ordered pizza from Cheese Castle and watched "Step Brothers." We ended our night down on the south side hanging out w/ our friend Matt and going over to Southport.

BRR 2009

What a wonderful February weekend we all had. Can you believe we are having 50+ degree weather? Kurt and I had a busy Saturday. We participated the the BRR Ride (Bike Ride to Rippey). This year was my FIRST year of doing it, and I coudln't have picked a better time for my first time with the beautiful weather. The ride is 24 miles roundtrip and it takes place no matter what the weather is. I rode with the 2 Julies and Kurt rode with his nephew and friends. They rode their bikes on gravel to Perry, while us girls brought the vehicles.

My new cycling shoes. First time wearing them outside beyond the indoor trainer.
All 9 Yards women's team and some extra people (I'm in the back).
Everywhere you look, you're going to see bicycles.
Here I am cycling down the road.

Kurt and I in Rippey.

Well, I made it there...to Rippey that is and back to Perry (24 miles). I only managed to fall from my bike once. It was a pretty stupid mistake because I'm so used to having my feet free, I totally forgot that my feet didn't move and down I went. It hurt a little bit and I have a minor sprain in my wrists, but my pride was hurt the most, but now I'm over and I can actually laugh about it.

A Funny SNL skit

Beyonce and Justin Timberlake SNL Skit (11/15/08)

I sure hope this turns out. It's Justin Timberlake and Beyonce in a Saturday Night Live skit as a parody of her Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)

Just a Quick Note

Just wanted to let everybody know that I'm still alive. Nothing has really happened since the beginning of the year. Work has been stressful more than usual due to the lack of help we have, and having to do my job plus somebody else's. I've been trying to stay warm, but I complain as usual. Next weekend is the BRR ride (Bike Ride to Rippey). I'm excited to participate this year, although my main worry is being able to find the right clothing to wear because I'm not a biking pro and have all the gear. So wish me luck. Hope everybody else is doing well.

Happy New Years

I hope everybody has a great 2009!
Just was thinking about what I would like to do for my "New Year's Resolutions." We all know resolutions are made to be broken, but this year I'm motivated to make change in my life. I've come up with 3 for this year.

1. To lose weight. I'm going to eat much better and exercise a lot more. Hopefully this year I can do more things with my bike if I can drop my weight. Also I'd like to get off my diabetic medicine. One of my doctors told me that if I lose enough weight, I'd have a chance to stop taking them. And I have a great circle of people to be my support system, who will help and guide me along the way.
2. To save money. I'd like to say that I have good money managing skills, but I don't. My goal in 2009 is to save money. By doing so, I'd be able to pay off some of my credit card bill and maybe purchase things that I'd like.
3. Being nice to people. I can be pretty snotty and mean to people, so I'm going to try to be a little nicer to people.

So I hope everybody has great success in 2009 and I wish everybody good luck with their New Years Resolutions!

Bye Bye Vegas, Hello Real World

Vacation is over, and I'm still not ready to be back from it. We had a fantastic time in Las Vegas. We left for Cedar Rapids on Wednesday the 10th and stayed at Tony & Kathy's house. We were up at 4am and probably at the airport by 5am. We flew out of Cedar Rapids to Denver where we had a layover for a couple of hours. Then hopped on another plane to Las Vegas.

View from the top over the mountains.

As soon as we got off the plane, Kurt found a slot machine to play.

Tony, Kathy, Kyle, Julie, me, and Kurt

Kurt and I by the Las Vegas sign.
Our view from our 18th floor room!
Night View of the Strip.

Our first day, Thursday, in Vegas we got settled in our rooms and then got ready to roam the Vegas Strip.

Fountains in front of the Bellagio.

Julie and I met Tim McGraw. (Just kidding, it was just a wax museum.)

On Day 2, we traveled down to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam. We took the Power Plant tour and saw some of the guts of the dam.

Me, Kurt, Julie and Kyle @ Hoover Dam
View looking down.
Hoover Dam
Kurt and I

After returning home, we relaxed for a bit. They boys (aka Kyle and Kurt) decided to drink their signature drink called "chupacabres" which is tequila and monster energy drinks mixed together. Then we went to the old strip on Fremont Street.

Kurt and Kyle with their chupacabres.
Who has 2 thumbs and going out with Mindy....this guy.
On Fremont Street.

On Day 3, we were greeted with 60 mph gust of winds, but we still decided to do some more sight seeing and went down to the "other" end of the strip. We went through the Excaliber, Luxor, Mandalin Bay, New York New York and MGM.

Outside the Excalibur.

I'm a big fan of Criss Angel Mindfreak, and was excited to go to the Luxor.
On one of his shows, he did a trick with a deck of cards and one of the cards got stuck in the door.
New York New York....Julie and I were going to ride the rollercoaster, but they shut it down due to the high winds. Bummer!
We also went to M&M World.
Taking advantage of my yellow guy! He likes it!
Kurt and his buddy Blue.

Night 2 of Chupacabres....yes they put down ANOTHER bottle of tequila.
What happens in stay in Vegas, usually doesn't stay there. (he's not really passed out, just posin for the camera.)
Kurt and his muffin top. Long story short, they tried to fit into other people's pants. Julie had had Kathy's, so Kyle decided to wear Tony's, and then Kurt put on Kyle's...pictured above.


On our last night we went to a Cirque de Soleil show at Treasure Island called Mystere. We all got dressed up nice.

Here is a clip I found on YouTube about Mystere. It's about 8 minutes long, but well worth watching it. The show was just amazing! I definitely would love to see another show like it!

I, along with the others had a wonderful time. We left Las Vegas Monday morning. We arrived at the McCarran Airport, and had to stand in line for awhile. Most flights were cancelled due to the weather, but we our flight to Denver was still ontime. We had a quite a bit of time in Denver due to the delay of our aircraft from Idaho Falls, but we arrived safely in Cedar Rapids about 8pm Monday night.
This is what happens when you get bored at an airport. You decided to give yourself glasses or do shadow glasses on people. Thanks Kurt!