When it makes a Hummer look small

You know it’s massive!

Lost Passport!!

I leave for Germany/Denmark in essentially 15 days and my passport is officially lost. This may be the third passport I have lost (I only count two as one the bank in Amsterdam kept when I exchanged money). I feel totally irresponsible for loosing another passport. Today I applied for a new passport and paid all kinds of extra fees to expedite but no guarantee it will arrive in time!! Plus all my stamps accumulated over the past three years (yup my passports have a short life span) and the pink United Kingdom passport cover bought in London (always fun to pretend I am British) are gone. I am still hoping that it will show up – just for memory keeping purposes. But now I have to play the waiting game and hope that the passport Gods will shine down on me and ensure the arrival of passport number five before 3 July. Plan B is a quick trip to Chicago (the nearest passport processing agency) to obtain a passport - if that happens my passport fees will cost more than my plane ticket!

*I just realized this is my 100th post! Never thought I would keep the blog going this long. Too bad I am not posting on some wonderful far away adventure (I guess in a way this is the prelude to the July travel adventure) or crazy exciting good news.

Let the games begin...

The yard is freshly mowed.

The house restored to some level of sanity with not a power tool in sight.

I feel like jumping for joy, my house feels like a home again and is ready for guests! The bar and fridge are well stocked and ready for the weekend. The weekend kicks off tonight with the Heartland Properties party and there’s no quitting til Monday. For the first time in weeks I don’t feel compelled to work on the house or train for a half marathon. My agenda is to enjoy my friends, family, and summer - if the sun would come out.

As of Saturday we will be cheering Virginia or Texas on to a Victory and tailgating it up. There are sure to be great stories (many I predict will not be suitable for documentation on this blog) and memories made. My first College World Series in 5 years due to deployments. I am EXCITED – just please please keep the rain away and bring out the sunnnnnn.

USACE Day

Corps Day (organizational day for the USACE) was last Friday and consisted of an awards ceremony, picnic, then baseball game at Rosenblatt. We were all given 4 hours off work to attend. Game plan was to arrive early have a drink or two at Starsky’s (a very “fabulous” bar that is only a hit during CWS) and then attend the ceremony. Turns out Starsky’s was closed so we deviated to Plan B = a beer in the parking lot. No go, we were scolded by the lot cops that open containers aren’t allowed. Next up Plan C, beer in water bottles I had in the jeep. No go, this was interrupted by a lady yelling for help. She must have had heat stroke or something – not sure. The four of us called 911 and stayed with her till the paramedics arrived. Eventful start to Corps day eh! By then it was time for the big ceremony and award presentations.

Awards were given out for length of service. Several people had in 30+ years and one lady has 49. 49 years with USACE are you kidding me!! Wow. Luckily by the end Starsky’s was open for business so a group of us headed over for “a drink” before the picnic and game. Finally success (not that anyone has a drinking problem it was just hot out and a Friday afternoon).


A drink turned into several pitchers, some darts (my partner and I won hence the victory dance), and a whole lotta fun! The place was actually full of Corps folks when we walked in - everyone had the same idea.




Who knew work peeps could be so entertaining (well I know Tia is entertaining but wasn’t sure about the rest). I actually had to make myself leave by 8 to head to Platte River for the family reunion. This was a good 3 hours later than planned. So much for my no drinking on race weekends plan. Future happy hours are currently being planned. The longer I am back the better it gets. I feel like part of a team again. I also foresee drinks at Starsky’s in the very near future as College World Series starts Saturday – woo woo.

Council Bluffs Half Marathon Review

All I really need to say is Thunderstorm! Yes we ran in a full on thunderstorm Sunday. The first 5 or 6 miles we endured rain pelting us, thunder, and lightening. Great. Because running 13.1 miles dry isn’t fun enough – you add sopping wet to the mix and it is excellent! My shoes are still wet and it’s Tuesday. Even when the rain quit there were the mini lakes along the route and no way to avoid running through them (we even tried to run in the grass which was just muddy water even worse). Seriously we looked like drowned rats at the end.

However, had it not been for the awful weather it would have been a great race. The course was super flat which is a bonus, plenty of water stations, and overall well organized. Had I planned the race I would have avoided the scenic route through the trailer courts. Nothing wrong with trailer courts but not really what I would put front and center for all non Council Bluffers to partake during the run. Just adds to the stereotype Council Bluffs already has. The only negative was no restrooms. We got to the start line and everyone wanted one last potty break before the run and lo and behold no restrooms! The boys were able to due their business in the woods but the rest of us had to lump it. So next year CB we need restrooms.

The after party was good – free beer, Arby’s, and other goodies but it was so rainy and cold we didn’t stay. At that point everyone just wanted a warm shower and dry clothes. I loved our medals – they were dog tags. Clever and different. My time was nothing to write home about. It was actually about 11 minutes slower than my last half in Lincoln (2:15 awful I know). My excuse is that I ran with my cousin Rod - as it was his first half marathon he wanted to take it easy to ensure a strong finish. Truth be told I don’t know how much faster I would have ran without him in tow (and it was much more fun to run and talk than run solo). The rain ruined it for me. Once it started to pour I just wanted to stop. In fact at one point I even stated that “if I had some place to go I would stop, however as it stands I would have to walk back in the rain so might as well keep running.” Nice. I also partake in several alcoholic beverages both Friday (details to come) and Saturday so not the best pre race nutrition plan.

This was the first race in ages where I knew a bunch of people. It was great to hear you name called out as you were chugging along. Ran into a guy I had a major crush on in my early college days. And I saw the girl from Cross Country Squared whose blog (http://crosscountrysquared.blogspot.com/) I stalk for running entertainment.

I am proud of myself for not quitting in the downpour but definitely wish I would have ran faster. Always next time and gives me something to work towards. Oh and the cool green shirts – I put Rod in charge of buying shirts last minute, and in typical guy fashion he just grabbed sizes and didn’t realize some were loose fit and some “skin” fit. Therefore I have a mini dress and Christine has a shirt so tight I don’t know how she was able to breathe. Fun times.

Breakfast at Twisted Fork afterwards was excellent as was the peach Bellini and nap. Now its time to prep for the Des Moines HyVee Triathlon June 29th.

Half Marathon this weekend!!!

I can’t believe it’s almost time for my second half marathon! I am running the Council Bluffs Half Marathon on Sunday. Here is the course:

A nice scenic route along the Missouri River and Lake Manawa and pretty much all flat. That’s the type of run I can handle. Its predicted that there will be almost 1,000 runners! Great for the first year. Very excited to participate but also nervous as it’s my home town. At least in Lincoln I didn’t know anyone so less chance of looking lame – here I’ll know lots of people. Plus I feel pressure to finish faster than the last half marathon. Ugh! We’re running it as a family (myself, my brother, sister in law, and cousin) as we have family reunion this weekend – an excuse to escape early. Shirts are being made tomorrow…

A glimmer of hope

Wallpaper is hung, lighting installed, woodwork painted, and I am in love! I am thrilled with the new look of my kitchen (full review to come mid July when floors are finished and appliances installed), even with its old house imperfections. Remember the old kitchen looked like this - ick

I may have lost my cool a few days ago with the house and all those involved. I normally love projects and its fun to see things change from awful to amazing (or close). But right now I am feeling overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of awful that needs tackled. I feel as though my life has been a constant state of renovation mess since my return home three months ago. Add in trying to adjust to a new job and essentially a new life and its not pretty. I am ready for a clean organized house! Next weekend I have guests coming to visit for the College World Series so the pressure is even worse. Two weeks ago the “guest bedroom” looked like this



Definitely not fit for a guest. Not to fret, the room is currently undergoing transformation and will be guest ready by next Thursday. Maybe not up to five start standards but at least four stars I hope!

If I had a million dollars…

Ok I don’t really need a million, just half a million. But either way it seems to be a bit of a pipe dream at the moment. I can’t seem to justify spending that much money on something so small. Saturday was the Downtown Living Tour and I was finally able to check out the Riverfront Townhomes. I LOVED them! They felt perfect – I wanted to move in immediately. With all the house renovation and repair work at the moment I crave a new place where everything works and I don’t have to spend all my spare time fixing, painting, yard work, etc….this is the place. It has a great open floor plan on the first level


A deck overlooking the Missouri River and the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge


The master bedroom has a balcony and great views (Kirk not included in the price)

Along with a very cool bathroom with seperate shower and bathtub


The top floor was a large living room

And an amazing rooftop patio with even better views perfect for cocktail parties with friends

It would be awesome to walk to work everyday (well maybe not in the dead of winter) and be right in the heart of the downtown excitement. Yet this is just far enough off the beaten path that it wouldn’t be noisy and annoying. The great trails for biking and running are a few steps away. I love my house and its history, my neighborhood is great. I just don’t love looking like this

in my spare time and feeling like a constant pain in the behind by having to rely on my poor dad and brothers to help me with all the tasks that I am not equipped. Being the girl I was never taught dry walling, wiring, plumbing, etc…They are troopers and always there to help but they have their own homes, careers, and projects.

This is how I roll

Today I made a quick stop at Nebraska Furniture Mart for a new guest bedroom mattress. I truly thought the Jeep was plenty large enough to accommodate a full size mattress. Clearly I was wrong. However, the kind boys at NFM offered to tie the mattress on the roof like so

Swell. They claim its done all the time. I did make it home with said mattress fully intact so it was worth the embarrassment factor. To add to my coolness my curb currently looks like this

I am totally that house with the trash. Perfect. Isn't home renovation fun!

Birthday Bar Crawl

Yes I know I am entirely too old to attend a bar crawl. My excuse is I was celebrating my two little brother’s birthdays! And I must admit it was quite fun…

The whole family was in attendance which made my mom immensely happy.

The festivities started off innocently enough at Barleys in Council Bluffs with several cocktails.



Then this lovely gem picked everyone up



And transported us to Billy Frogs La Vista where they had $1 you call its. Like that isn’t bound to be trouble. Even shots were $1 so we decided they were an excellent idea….

Of course the three siblings

(well four as Christine is a Head/sibling now as well) had to participate in a bit of family bonding. I am sure our parents were very proud of our party skills!

Oh wait is my mom in on a round?

The bar was quite packed and overall fun





But why have a party bus if you aren’t going to bar crawl, next stop was Whiskey Tango in the Old Market (Omaha) for some dancing




This bar was hilarious as one minute they would play country and the next song rap. Gotta love variety!


Overall a great way to celebrate Justin turning 26 and Erik turning 28. Gosh we are all getting old – but we can still party like rock stars (as can my parents and their friends who made it all night as well). Of course we ended the night with a late night stop at Taco John’s per party bus tradition.