Thursday, November 29, 2007

I am Cursed!

I make teams lose. That's all there is to it.

The men's soccer team lost to Bradley in the second round of the NCAA tournament last night. They made it through regulation, two overtimes and into penalty kicks... and our LAST penalty kick was high. That was one silent crowd. We lost to BRADLEY?! We're a powerhouse, Bradley is kind of an... underdog? That wasn't supposed to happen. But, when I'm in the crowd, it always seems to.

No national championship this year :(

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

If at First You Are Frozen and Miserable... Try, Try Again!

Sunday afternoon I headed to campus with my friends Carly and Parman to take in Round 3 of the NCAA women’s soccer championship. It was the first time IU’s women had ever made it to the Sweet Sixteen of the tournament. Unfortunately, it was also the stopping point of a very successful season, as they were defeated by Duke, 2-0. Perhaps even more unfortunately, it was absolutely freezing, growing colder as the minutes passed by. And the rain that had started as a simple nuisance became a downpour, soaking us to the point of misery. Yet we hung in there, at least until 10 minutes left to go. With the Hoosiers down by 2 and our teeth chattering, we hated to bail but our shivering bodies demanded it. We stopped for a tasty dinner at Siam House, complete with hot (well, lukewarm) green tea, but I still didn’t warm up until over an hour later when I got home and stood under the hot shower water for about 20 minutes.

This evening we are going to try again, heading over to Armstrong Stadium to cheer on our men’s soccer team in Round 2 of their NCAA championship tournament. It is still quite chilly today, but it is forecasted to be dry, which makes an incredible world of difference. You better believe I will be there, complete with gloves, hat, wool socks, and scarf. In addition to my other clothes, of course ;) Mom is joining Carly, Parman and me, so it should be a fun evening. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the Hoosiers, who have won many NCAA Championships, the latest in both 2003 and 2004, I believe. GO HOOSIERS!

Sunday, November 25, 2007

I am so...

... sleepy. It's been a long weekend. A great one, but a long one.

... content. Again, the great weekend thing. Lots of time with my favorites, and no work stress.

... a little sad. IU women's soccer lost to Duke today in the third round of the NCAA tournament, and the men's basketball team got whooped on by Xavier last night. Come on, Hoosiers.

... grateful. For many things, but chiefly among them that I am sitting here warm and dry (after a very very very cold and wet time at the IU women's soccer game) with Bailey cuddled up next to me, watching Grossman make a fool of himself -- as usual -- as the Bears take on the Broncos.

... proud. Of Gearry. He loves his new job. I can't believe the level of responsibility he has. He's the right guy for the position. He's amazing, and I know he's going to keep on kicking butt.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

What a Holiday Weekend!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. I could drone on and on about this weekend, because it was basically fabulous, but I'll try to keep the update to a minimum. Try is the key word here.

Wednesday - I got off work around 3:00 on Wednesday, not to return until this coming Monday. Excellent! I miss all those mini-vacations you get with school! I packed up my stuff and Bailey and I headed down to Mitchell. It was nice spending some q-time with Mom, Dad & Josh. Mom took Bailey for a walk around Spring Mill while Josh and I ran trails. I was wearing longsleeved underarmour and long running tights, and Josh was running in shorts and no shirt. Go figure. Josh took me on some killer trails... I run a lot, but running steep, curvy and slick trails is totally different than road running. It was a good workout, and we didn't get shot by any deer hunters, which was my biggest fear, so I guess it was good experience all-in-all. Gearry got off of work pretty late and I met him at his parents' house, where we spent the night. It was the first time Gearry and I have ever spent the night together in his parents' house, so we got a kick out of it. We're dorks, what can I say. We are perpetual little kids.

Thursday - Happy Thanksgiving! Gearry had to work, not untypical for someone in his profession, so we hung out with his parents in the morning, stopped by his grandparents' to say hello, and then headed out to Cheryl & Larry's, where my family was having Thanksgiving dinner. Gearry had about five minutes to grab some turkey & mash before heading out to work. Dinner was great; it's always fun catching up with everyone. Jerry & Karen's daughters, Kaylee and Kylee, are so cute and always entertaining. They are Josh's number one fans, hands down, so it was funny to watch them hanging all over him all afternoon. They are definitely smitten.

Post-dinner, we headed home and I think I slept for at least 2 or 3 hours on the couch. And I don't even eat turkey, which is the thing that is supposed to make you sleepiest! I did eat roughly a ton of rolls, corn and mashed potatoes, so it's no wonder my body was begging for sleep! Bailey and I finally packed up later in the evening and headed back to the lake, after making a pit stop at the Caudells' and hanging out for a bit. Gearry's nieces were there, and they got a big kick out of Bailey. He loved all the attention, as usual.

Friday - Gearry and I slept in! As of late, this NEVER seems to happen, at least not together. Our schedules are just so different. And on my days to sleep in, I seem to do silly things, like sign up to volunteer bright and early at 8:30 a.m. Nevertheless, Bailey was strangely cooperative (he must have been tired from all the action the day before) and we actually made it until 11:30. It was amazing and much-needed. We took Bailey for a walk around the Pointe, went for a run, and then got ready to go out for the evening. We had dinner and drinks and watched some football at Scotty's Brewhouse (loving it as Arkansas beat LSU), walked over to the square to catch some of the downtown Bloomington holiday lighting ceremony (so pretty... why didn't I take pictures??!) and then parked ourselves at Coaches to watch the IU men's b-ball game vs. Illinois. It was late and we were pretty pooped by that time, so we only stayed for the first half. IU was playing pretty badly, so I am glad to say we did come out with the win in the end. Something just seemed off... but hopefully they'll get it back together! They are definitely one of the best teams we've had in years. I like how all the good teams seem to skip my time in college.

Saturday - Happy Thanksgiving again! Today we celebrated T-Day on Mom's side of the family, at Aunt Sharon & Uncle Steve's in Heltonville. I had to volunteer at the shelter this morning, so upon my return I got ready in a hurry and we headed over to the Nolan homestead. There are a lot of ways to get there through the country from here, and Gearry thought it would be a good idea to try a different one. Needless to say, roughly 40 minutes later we finally found our way there, after seeing some very interesting southern Indiana scenery and a whole lot of cows. The afternoon was so much fun! I looooove my family, what can I say? And I thought it was really nice that they put together a special salad (with no bacon), stuffing (with veggie stock) and green beans (no bacon grease) just for me. I don't ever expect anyone to cater to me, because pretty much everyone else eats meat and I don't want anyone to go out of their way, but it was so nice of them. The meal was great, the company was great, and being with Gearry was great, since he rarely has a Saturday off and very rarely gets to go to any family events. When we got home we spent a little time with Bailey and then promptly passed out for a wonderful three hour nap. Now we're just hanging out until it's time to once again head back to bed. Wonderful laziness!

Alright, so that was my weekend, even though it is not quite over yet. Tomorrow Gearry has to head back to work :( But the time with him these last couple days was awesome, so that is OK. Plus, he loves his new job (who wouldn't love running an outfit of West Baden's caliber?) and is probably ready to get back in there.

I'm meeting my friends Carly & Parman in the afternoon to go to the IU women's soccer game at Armstrong Stadium and cheer on our Hoosiers... they have made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament and IU is the lucky host.

A Game to Remember

If you missed the IU/Purdue Old Oaken Bucket Game last weekend... well, sorry about your luck, because it was definitely one not to be missed, whether on television or in person. Especially if you are a Hoosier fan!

After my rowing alumni events in the morning (more about those later, and the weekend with my friends, when Stebby gets pictures posted so that I can add some!), Mom, Josh and I went to the game (Dad also had a ticket but was sick).

Josh and I pretty much bash each other's schools 24/7, so it was awesome to sit next to him, me decked out in IU gear and he in Purdue. And it was even MORE awesome when Indiana came away with a crazy, crazy win, thanks to Austin Starr's freakin' long field goal with a few seconds left in the game. The crowd was riled up the whole time, of course, and the win brought them raining down on the field. We were on the high side of the stadium, so we stayed put, but it was fun watching everyone on the low side rush the field, jumping one after another like lemmings over the concrete ledges and banisters.

The best part of the whole thing was razzing Josh, though I tried *tried* to keep it to a minimum. The game could have just as easily gone the other way, so I kept that in mind. All the while wearing a huge grin. The is the first year in a long time that IU is bowl eligible, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we make it. It should be announced sometime early next week, after everyone else finishes up their games.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Misc. in Life

Somedays, I get the urge to update our blog, and then I realize, "Oh yeah, I have absolutely nothing to talk about." Hence the few days between posts.

Today, I don't really have anything too important to say, but that never kept me from talking before!

Colleen and Stebby will be here in 3.3 days and counting! I have a very full weekend, hanging out with all my friends coming in town on Friday and Saturday, partaking in alumni race activities on Saturday, IU/Purdue football game with Mom, Dad & Josh, and Britney's baby shower on Sunday afternoon. I think I will need an extra weekend to recover from the weekend!

Sunday is also Gearry's last day off (Saturday is his last day at Jazz) before starting his new job at the West Baden resort on Monday. Other than the long drive (no, we will not move away from Bloomington, no chance), he is very excited! Hopefully we will get to hang out some on Sunday, because I know he will be a very busy boy for awhile as he settles into his new role.

And, because Kath asked me so nicely, here are a couple more recent pictures of Bailey:


Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Bailey's First Haircut

OK, seeing as Bailey is around a year and a half old, I am certain that he has had several haircuts throughout his lifetime. But today was the first time we had him groomed since we got him back in September. He looks so spiffy!

Fortunately for us (although perhaps unfortunately for her), my former rowing teammate Steph got the pleasure of being Bailey’s groomer at Canine Companions. Apparently he was a really good boy during his haircut, but, in her words, he turned into a “Tasmanian devil” when she tried to clip his nails. It ended up taking three staff to finish the job: one to lay on top of him, one to hold his paw, and one to actually cut the nails. His foster mom had warned us to never try to cut his nails by ourselves. We now know why!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

A Very Happy Halloween

I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween! It’s such a fun holiday, whether you like to dress up or not (I don’t, but I love checking out everyone else's costumes).

Gearry and I spent Halloween a little differently than most people, but it was a perfect evening. We took a bottle of champagne down to the water just to chill and ended up getting to experience one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen. The combination of the colors in the sky and the colors of the trees was amazing.

After we’d drained our bottle and started to get a little chilly and a lot hungry, we walked back to the house and made a huge pot of tasty chili. We spent the night playing with Bailey, watching TV, and just generally being lazy. It was great.