Monday, December 22, 2008

Happy 8 Years... Dang!

Today marks 8 years since Gearry and I went on our first date... incredible. Eight years? That doesn't even seem possible, but I've stopped trying to understand how time passes so quickly.

We spent Wed., Thrs., & Fri. in Columbus, Ohio visiting Hillary, Chris, hanging out, shopping, and going out to eat. Therefore, staying in tonight seemed most appealing, so Gearry is cooking a tasty dinner and popping open a bottle of wine, and I'm pumped for the IU basketball game and The Hills finale! Haha... yes, I'm serious. We need a chill night, 8 years or not.

Break has been going well so far, although I've kept busy. I'm still helping one of my undergrad professors with research and I've been doing lots of cleaning, organizing, cooking, and shopping... pretty much catching up on everything I neglected this past semester. Oh yes, and sleeping!

It's hard to type because Bailey is passed out in my lap and has his head laying over my right arm. Little guy had a big day... he had a vet appointment this afternoon because of his allergies. He probably didn't mind too much though, because I went through the Starbucks drive-thru on the way and he got a "puppy latte" and then I went through the bank drive-thru and he got a dog treat. And no shots at the vet, so I don't think he would complain too much, if he could.

Heading home to spend a few days with the family tomorrow afternoon... If I don't post again before Christmas, enjoy the holiday and enjoy every moment with your family and friends!




Sunday, November 30, 2008

Is it Christmas Yet?

Hmmmm... Know how I said I needed to spend all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday working on various final papers and projects for school? Well... I didn't. And I am paying for it today with a hellacious, labor-intensive Sunday. But that's my own fault. Nevertheless, today's post is short.

Gearry and I had a great day yesterday. After Gearry went for a run and I finally got out of bed, we went to town to grab a few things, chiefly among them Christmas tree ornaments! Thanks to Gearry being decisive (since I am the queen of indecisiveness) we finally walked out with a variety of brown bulbs (glittered, dark brown, light brown, textured, milk chocolate brown), which fit right in with our usual decor and look very subtle and awesome on the tree!


We even played Christmas music while we decorated. Cheesy greatness! Later we watched a movie (a great documentary I've been waiting on to come out on DVD, Spirit of the Marathon), took the puppies for a long walk, made some tasty dinner (nothing like grilling out in November) and capped the night off with the second in the Jason Bourne trilogy that we bought a few weeks ago. A lot more sitting on my butt than I'm used to, but it was a nice, relaxing day.

And today... Well, let's move past today. Eww.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Ahhhh, the Holidays Have Begun :)

Just a quick note to say that my Thanksgiving with my family was wonderful and I hope that yours was too! I got to see many of the family members that I unfortunately see for the most part only on holidays and spend some quality time with Gearry's family as well. I also got in a nice bike ride with Josh on Wednesday, a good run on Thanksgiving morning and a couple sweet naps.

Now it's time to go back to reality: Writing papers and studying the rest of the weekend.

Gearry is off tomorrow and needs a break after a very hectic Thanksgiving week at work, so we're planning on hanging around the house, taking it easy and decorating for Christmas! I got new stockings for us and the puppies tonight, as well as new stocking holders for the fireplace, so I put those up tonight, but we'll put up and decorate the tree tomorrow. Don't worry, I'll post pics!

Love you all!

Monday, November 24, 2008

I'm baaaaaack... For today, at least.

Don't freak out, but, yes, it's true: I'm updating our blog. But it's going to be short.

It's Thanksgiving break and although my "break" consists of finishing a project, putting together two portfolios, and writing a paper, I don't have practice, office time or class to contend with, so I thought I'd use a little bit of time over these next few days of semi-freedom to provide some brief updates on the various aspects of my wonderful but crazy life.

Let's structure today's entry with the 5 top questions I've been asked recently:

1. How are Bailey and Zoey???!! (From the way people ask it, I think it deserves to be number one on the list and deserves three question marks and two exclamation points.)

Answer: Great! After finally making it through a recent bout with fleas (eww), Bailey and Zoey are just doing what they do best: chilling and being spoiled. They both got haircuts a couple of weeks ago and look way cute. As winter quickly approaches, they're making great little snuggly cuddle buddies on cold nights! Zoey usually goes to sleep by our feet in bed and Bailey somewhere in the middle or under the bed. But when we wake up every morning, it is pretty much guaranteed that they are both cuddled up in between Gearry and me, often using our pillows just like they were people. Now that it's too cold to keep them on the back deck, we've been keeping them in a huge kennel is the guest bedroom when I am at class or practice and Gearry is at work. Gearry trained them in about two days to get in the kennel on their own. Now you just say "get in" and they literally run in and sit, expectantly waiting for a treat.

2. How is grad school?

Great! Stressful. But great. I definitely over-committed myself this year. But the program is good and I love that it's structured in a cohort, so I do all of my classes and field experiences with the same 23 people the whole year. Having friends in the program makes it a little easier to get through the rough patches. Right now I am in a placement in a sixth grade class at Childs Elementary. I love my supervising teacher, although I am realizing that sixth grade is not for me. I've always worked with first grade, and I definitely like the grades 1-4 range. Not sure what my placement is yet for the spring, but next fall I'll be doing my student teaching, most likely in second grade at Lakeview Elementary, which should be awesome. I am taking 14 credit hours this spring (ewwww) and then two classes next summer (perhaps both of them online so that I can do a lot of traveling next summer!). Student teaching in the fall of 2009 and then getting licensed shortly thereafter. Gearry and I aren't sure how long we're going to stay in this area (warmer weather is continually calling our names), so I haven't thought that far ahead on where exactly I want to teach in the future. But I'm just letting life roll the way it wants to...

3. How is rowing?

Rowing is going well, although I have never been more physically exhausted in my entire life than this fall. From the first week of September until the week before Thanksgiving break, we were conducting three practices a day (5:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm, 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm) in order to accommodate all the crazy schedules of our walk-on athletes. Because I have class during Monday evening practice and all day Wednesdays, that meant I was doing 11 two-hour practice sessions a WEEK. That's insane. That's incredibly insane. Now we are down to one practice a day from now through Christmas break and I'm slowly starting to regain a bit of my sanity. Sort of. My hair has been falling out hardcore... literally. That's how stressed I've been. But it's worth it, because I do love it. The novice that I am coaching this year are an awesome group of young women and we have a really, really good chance of doing very well in the spring, so I am excited to see how the year progresses.

4. How is Gearry?

Good, as far as I know. He has been working day hours for the last few months and we both LOVE IT. So instead of getting home at 11:00 or 12:00 at night, hours after I've already gone to bed since I have to be up at 4:15 a.m., he is typically home between 4:30-6:00 p.m. We actually get to make dinner together, watch movies, go out to dinner, play tennis, or, if I'm studying as usual, at least be in the same room together! They were having some issues with quality of service for breakfast and lunch, so they asked Gearry to kind of step in and take charge of daytime service and get everything smoothed out. He's doing a great job and although I know I can't expect these awesome hours forever, I'm enjoying them while they last!

5. Anything else exciting going on in your life?

Depends on what your definition of "exciting" is. In an effort to make the cold weather go away, I've been trying to plan our vacation for next summer. We're strongly leaning toward Mexico, but a few other wild card spots keep popping up. We'll see... For now, just imagining laying on a beach with a drink in my hands helps.

We got a new TV -- 42" flat panel LG LCD. I'm LOVING it. Too bad all my favorite football teams (IU, Colts) haven't been much to watch on it this season :(

I also got a new trainer for my bike so that I can use it indoors this winter in anticipation of next year's triathlon season! It's not the most exciting thing pedaling away for hours without actually moving an inch, but at least I have my new TV to watch while I do it!

Alright, that's all for today. As usual, I have stuff to do, including finishing cleaning the house. Tonight I am hosting a game night for some of my cohort friends... Board games + food + drinks + stressed out grad students finally on break = what I'm imagining to be a really great time.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Miracle of All Miracles

I am actually updating! But a very short post, because I need to get back to studying. My goal is to have my homework all complete by Saturday night so that I can have Sunday just to myself... I spent ALL of last weekend studying. My goal is not very realistic, but I'm at least trying to get as much as possible done as early as possible so that there is a fighting chance I'll have five minutes for myself come Sunday.

Mostly, I wanted to post pics from our Hilton Head trip and also let everyone know that despite the fact I am running around like a crazy person and, with three rowing practices a day (waking up at 4:40 a.m.) and 11 grad school credit hours, barely getting any sleep, I'm happy and excited and feel semi-fulfilled for the first time since I graduated from undergrad. I love what I'm doing... it's just a lot. A LOT. And I'm a spazz-tastic perfectionist, so I try to give everything my all. So forgive me if I'm absent for this next year or so. And still love me even if I don't call you or write you as often as I should :)

OK, here are the links to the two photo albums from our trip. I didn't take a ton of photos because I was really trying to just enjoy the moment for myself, but I got some great ones and I think they really capture what the week was like:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2495244&l=46398&id=6807128

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2495283&l=8b3b6&id=6807128

Love you all!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

40 Hours...

In about 40 hours from now, our plane will be touching down in Savannah, Ga., just a short 45 minute drive from our home for the week: Hilton Head.

Hillary and Chris headed down a couple days ahead of us, arriving today. And they sent this picture with the caption "See You Soon!!"

Can't wait!! I'm trying to finish my packing tonight, but I keep getting distracted by the Colts game. Tomorrow I have to spend the day on campus: Buying books. Getting my student ID card. Picking up some books at the library. Meeting with a professor. And then, from 3:00-5:30, mandatory orientation for my graduate program. Then... Off to Indy to spend the night at Ashley and Jeremy's, and off to HH in the weeeeeeee hours of the morning.

I'm sure I won't be updating until we get back, and even then it's probably not going to be too often. Between an insane amount of classes and rowing, my little free time is probably going to be spent sleeping! But I'll try to pop on here as often as possible.

NOW, the most exciting part of my post. Stebby came in for the weekend from OSU. We took lots of pics, but I'll have to wait for Colleen to post them. YES, COLLEEN! As in Colleen Ryan, my bestie that I haven't seen since last November because she lives in Maryland. She flew into Columbus and drove over with Stebby and their friend Alli, who is also, oddly enough, the rowing G.A. at Ohio State. Apparently they've been planning to surprise me for sometime now, and it was a GREAT surprise. I couldn't believe it when I opened the door and she was standing there! Sooooo great! We went out to dinner Friday night, then out to the bars, where we introduced Alli to the fabulousness that is "Sink the Biz" at Nick's. (If you like beer and don't know the game, I highly suggest discovering it.) On Saturday we slept in, made a late breakfast and then went swimming in the lake. That evening we hit up Domo for some sushi, walked around campus and took pictures, had ice cream at Jiffy and then headed back to mi casa for a late night of raspberry margaritas and chick flicks.

Today we got up at a slightly decent hour and enjoyed a late breakfast at Village Deli, made a pit stop at T.I.S. for some IU gear (I got the puppies two really cute IU bandannas/collars that are crimson with cream IU symbols and bones). Back at the condo, the girls and the dogs enjoyed a little nap before the 4 hour drive back to Ohio. Yep, it was a snore-filled scene at the Young Caudell house around 3:00 this afternoon:

That's Stebby on the far right, snoozing with Bailey cuddled up in her lap. Those are sleeping Colleen's legs with a dozing Ollie (Stebby's dog) holding down the fort. And that's Alli rocking the sit-n-sleep on the couch.

I love my friends.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Two of My Favorite Things: Family & Food (Not Necessarily in that Order)

Josh headed back to Purdue to start his junior year on Thursday, so on Wednesday the Young family gathered at the lake for a last little family get-together picnic. It's not very often that our schedules work out so that Mom, Dad, Josh, Gearry and I are all able to be together at the same time. The weather was gorgeous, the food was delicious and the football tossing was atrocious, but fun. (How QBs get the football to spiral like that is still beyond my realm of understanding.) I LOVE MY DAD BEING RETIRED!! I think I've seen/talked to him more in the past couple of months than I have in the past couple of years. Looking forward to doing a lot more family stuff in the future.

Mom took some good pictures of our little picnic, so I'll let those tell the story of the day:

There is a reason Josh was a lineman and not a QB in football... He throws a football about as well as I do. I do a lot of things well, I'm not modest about that. Throwing a football is not one of those things.

Peyton Manning, watch out. Stacey's coming for your job.

That sign that said "No Dogs Allowed on Beach"? Yeah, we pretended like we didn't see it. Zoey and Luke LOVE to swim; Bailey is more of a wader.

Awwww, Luke. I heart him. And he's lost weight! For real, you should see him.

Ah, what a great day.

Munchkin #1

Munchkin #2 (In no particular munchkin order)

Who wears short shorts? Josh wears short shorts. (Hey, Josh, Nair called. They want you for their next commercial.)

Gary David and Gearry David (I know, creepy, right??!) dig into the scrumptious feast.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Du'in it.

Look at those big smiles at 7:00 in the morning, fully aware that we're getting ready to torture ourselves for approximately one hour and 35 minutes (me) and one hour and 28 minutes (Lanie).

The inaugural Tri Indy Triathlon & Duathlon this past Sunday, August 15th, was a BLAST! I finally got over my fear and managed to battle through my stupid knee issues and finish my first multi-sport event, and I am HOOKED. I'm pretty sure that I will never be doing the distances my cousin Chris does (Ironman) -- actually, I'm positive -- but sprint distances are a blast and Olympic distances aren't even all that bad. I think I'll stick with those ;)

Lanie and I both did the duathlon, because we hadn't really had time to train for swimming. Our race started at 7:45 a.m. in front of the NCAA Hall of Champions downtown. The first run (2 miles) followed the pedestrian path up the White River toward the zoo, across the bridge, and back down the other side of the river on the IUPUI campus.

From there we transitioned into the bike event, which was a 12.5 mile loop through seemingly every imaginable part of Indy. I didn't have a speedometer (that was dumb), so I had NO clue how far I'd gone or where I was. I just kept biking my heart out and feeling giddy every time I passed someone. The bike course was pretty good, with lots of police protection at every intersection and lots of volunteers shouting out sharp turns and such.

I felt pretty good when I arrived back to the transition area after the bike, knowing I just had to conquer the last 3.1 mile run. Unfortunately, my knees had been acting up for the past several days, and although I had them taped, the combination of sweat and biking had loosened the tape to the point where I just had to rip it off. I have illiotibial (IT) band issues, which are pretty common in people who run, bike, etc. a lot. They tend to flare up when I'm training for any kind of event, and sometimes the pain is bad enough that it keeps from competing (i.e. the Susan Komen 5K in Columbus back in May, where I had to walk the last half of the race). But, somehow, I convinced myself on Sunday that I was NOT going to let me knees stop me, and I didn't. They starting hurting pretty horribly a mile into the second run, but I was determined to finish. And I did!

It was an amazing feeling running through that finish line. The announcer said something like, "Here's Stacey Young-Caudell, from Bloomington. Hopefully you're going to go celebrate at Nick's later!" (Nick's, for those of you that don't know, is a well-known IU bar in B-Town.) I immediately sat down in the grass and drank a cup of Gatorade, in lieu of passing out, and waited with Lanie for the results and watched all of the sprint and olympic distance people finish.

One of the best parts of the whole thing?? I won my category!! Yep, first place. One of the funniest parts of the whole thing?? I was the only one in my category!! Instead of entering my age category, I entered the "Athena" category, which is women 150+ lbs. Now, a majority of the women in the duathlon looked to be 150+, but they all opted for their age categories instead. So, I won! I got a kick out of that, especially since I got a trophy:

Needless to say, I will continue to enter the Athena category in the hopes of accumulating more trophies :) Lanie actually won her age category, 21-24, and so we went home exhausted and satisfied with matching trophies.

Lanie finished 38 out of 77. I ended up finished 51 out of 77. My only goal for the race was to finish ahead of the 72 yr. old man, and I did that, so I felt fulfilled. Can't wait til next summer to get some more races under my belt, definitely including the swimming portions.

In other -- more important news -- my newest little cousin was born on August 18th, but I was just informed yesterday. Apparently I was supposed to know that she was going to be born on August 18th since it was a scheduled c-section, but, umm, I forgot? And Mom gave up trying to call and tell me after I didn't answer the phone twice. Anyway, I believe her name is Alexandra Helena Day (but I could be spelling that wrong) and I don't know height, weight or any of that fun stuff yet. But I will update when I find out!

Stebby is coming in town tomorrow for the weekend! Can't wait! I need a weekend of mayhem. Then Monday is my graduate school orientation, and then super early Tuesday morning we fly to Hilton Head for a week of fun in the sun!!!

Sunday, August 17, 2008

I did it!!

I finished my first duathlon today! Such a blast. More to come after I take a loooooong nap, and after Lanie posts pictures from the event online so that I can put a few of them on here. Soooooo tired.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

GORGEOUS!

Wow. What can I say about today other than "Wow?" Beautiful, beautiful day, and a relaxing one at that. Not too hot, not too cool. Slightly breezy, not too windy. Not a cloud in sight. Amazing!
Slept in.
Scrambled eggs & veggies, biscuits and coffee on the deck with Gearry.
Swimming, laying out and chilling by the lake with Josh all afternoon.
Hanging out with my puppies and watching Olympic gymnastics, diving and swimming all evening.
Amazing. Nothing super special... just the combination of lots of "pretty good" things all in one day. It probably helps that tomorrow marks the beginning of my last week at AuthorHouse. And that I have our Hilton Head vacation to look forward to in two weeks. And that, although I'm terrified of so much change at once (TERRIFIED!), I'm really looking forward to the craziness of grad school and coaching. But, not even considering all that, today was great :)
It doesn't help that I sprained my ankle yesterday. Yes, really. Yes, for, like, the fifth or sixth time. But once you sprain a joint, it gets easier and easier to sprain it again. So it's not really surprising that I do it once every couple years. Fortunately, with lots of ice and exercising it's already feeling better today, so competing in the duathlon a week from today shouldn't be a problem. Have to take a couple days out of my training, which stinks, but at least I didn't do this the day before the race. Gonna take today and tomorrow off from working out and probably try to get in a really good swim on Tuesday. Hopefully I can be back running & biking by Wednesday, which will give me four good days before the race.
Mom and Dad are on their way home from vacation as I write. It sounds like they had a great time, first visiting with Dad's aunt Betty in Florida and spending a few days at Fernandina Beach, and then visiting with Bobbie and Jerry in South Carolina and making a pit stop at the Biltmore Estate before heading back north. Tomorrow Mom and I have a "date," so I'm sure I'll get more details of their trip. It's pretty sad, but Mom and I have both been looking forward to the release of "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" for months now. Yeah, make fun of me, whatever. We saw the first one together and it was such a good movie and a good mother-daughter bonding time.
Alright, back to devoting my full attention to the fabulousness of Olympic gymnastics. Peace out, people.

Friday, August 8, 2008

It's 08.08.08, People!

In trying to explain to my co-workers what Wednesday was like, I first said "It was like Christmas!" And then, thinking about it a bit more, I said, "Well, a sad Christmas." Which is a good description, but, I realize, doesn't make a lot of sense until I explain.

On Wednesday, while I worked a big part of the day in the rowing office, Gearry headed out to Brown County to spend the day with his friend and best man, Tim, for the last time for at least awhile. Tomorrow, Saturday, Tim and his girlfriend, Jess, are moving to California. We're excited for them -- Tim has a great job lined up and his family lives there -- but we're sad to see them go. They've been good friends and although I am sure we'll make it out there to visit them, perhaps even next year, it can't really be the same.

So, that's the "sad" part of the Christmas analogy. The "Christmas" part comes from the fact that since Tim and Jess are driving all the way to California (with their belongings, three dogs and multiple cats... that should be fun!) they wanted to give us some things from their house. Which resulted in us receiving this crazy awesome stainless steel grill:

Cookout at the Young Caudell house! Mmm, I can taste all the yummy things we'll be making on it now.

OK, and perhaps even better than the grill... If you know me, you probably know how much I LOVE condiments. Love, love, love. Especially ketchup, but I'm open to all kinds. Where most people think a condiment should be a complement to a food, I think that the food is simply the vessel for the condiments. Jess and Tim didn't want to take any of the food they had with them on the long trip, so we became the proud owners of pretty much every condiment, oil and sauce you can ever imagine: ketchup, mayo, mustards, balsamics, dressings, barbecues, Thai sauces, vinegars, etc., etc., etc. If you can think it, we probably have it. Three boxes worth. And while most people would be like, "Eh, condiments," I was like, "Yay! Condiments!" Yes, I'm a dork. Behold, a tiny sampling of the goodness:

A whole shelf and a door in the fridge and a whole shelf in the pantry dedicated solely to the flavor-licious sauces that make food worth eating? This is a grand, grand thing my friends.

Away from my freaky obsession with sauces and on to the greatness that is 08.08.08: The opening of the summer Olympics! Now, I know there is a ton of controversy with China as the host, which makes sense, but that doesn't really deter my excitement for all of the great feats of sport to take place over the next two weeks. Every four years (I'm not big on the winter Olympics) I get sucked into the television for the games. It's fun to watch new and unique sports, but I mostly tune in for gymnastics, rowing, swimming, diving, triathlon and track & field. A fellow athlete at IU, Christina Loukas, is a very strong contender for a medal in diving (She was in the top three at Worlds this year) and I can't wait to cheer her on, even if it is through the TV!

Rowing, of course, is always awesome to watch, because I know just how hard those guys and girls are working. They may make the sport look graceful, but you can't even imagine the pain they are in. I can't even really imagine the pain they are in, since I've never rowed at the national/international level, but I have a small idea at least.

Right now I am watching the opening ceremony, and it is absolutely indescribable. I hope that you are watching it too, but if you aren't, you should check out some of the pics at http://www.nbcolympics.com/photos/galleryid=183797.html.

There is just something about the Olympics that makes me think the world really could exist in perfect peace if everyone would just try. I know that it will never happen. It can't. And it will never even come close. But can it get better? For two weeks, at least, I like to think so.

AND... my last day of work is a week from today :)

Sunday, August 3, 2008

80

Happy birthday, Mamaw Jackie! Today we celebrated my great aunt (who I've always called "mamaw" since I never knew my grandma on that side of the family) Jackie's 80th birthday. All I can say is, I hope I have as much energy as she does when I'm 80! It was a fun time and great getting to see lots of my family who I only see on special occasions. I didn't take any pics today, but below is a picture taken recently of four generations of the Nolan family, including Jackie (center), her son Steve (left), granddaughter Shannon (right) and great grandson Asa, on her lap. Hopefully that makes sense, for those of you who read this and aren't related to me ;)

After Jackie's birthday party, Josh and I actually went for a bike ride together for the first time. We both have such busy schedules, but neither of us had anything planned for the afternoon/evening except a workout, so we figured why not do it together and make a fun time of it? We meandered around the country from Mitchell to Orleans and back, about 22.5 miles. I ran out of water way too early (Josh doesn't even take water... what a weirdo) but other than that it was a great ride. We rode through lots of Amish farms... so beautiful, in a unique, simplistic way. Got chased by a few dogs too. I'm still amazed how many people leave their bike-chasing dogs off leash. Scary. But no nibbles, so it's all good.

I thought I'd post a few more pictures from the same batch as the four generation one above, which were all taken on the Nolans' recent trip to visit Shannon, Eric and Asa in Washington state.

Eric, Shannon and Baby Asa.

Erin (Susan's daughter, Shannon's niece, Asa's cousin) reading to Asa. So cute!

I love this picture of Erin playing in the surf! It makes me want to be at the ocean NOW.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

A Green Tea Solution

I haven't been sick since March (the flu... boy, that was a blast) so I was pretty dismayed to discover I had developed a sore throat Thursday evening. And when I woke up Friday... worse. I tried to attribute it to allergies, but then I talked to Mom last night and found out Josh has been sick the last two days and even had to go to the doctor to get a strep & Mono test. I hung out with him for awhile on Tuesday, so I'm sure we're sharing the same thing. Luckily, his tests came back negative, and he was already feeling much better by the third day. So, hopefully, between healthy eating, lots of rest, gallons of hot green tea and vitamins, I can nip this thing in the butt ASAP. I need to because I have to kick my training into high-gear for... the Tri Indy Duathlon on Sunday, August 17th!

Yes, that's right, after planning to do several triathlons this summer and having them fall through (first one because of my knee, the others because I was worried I didn't have enough time to train) I finally decided I was going to just say "heck with it" and work up the guts to do at least one this summer. I opted for the duathlon, rather than the triathlon, however, so that I can focus more training time just on running and biking. For those of you not familiar, a triathlon is swimming, biking, running, in that order. A duathlon is running, biking, running, in this case a 2 mile run, 20K bike, 5k run, in that order.

The event I'm participating in sounds really cool. It's the first one of its kind in Indy, because it is held all downtown. Indy already has a triathlon sprint series, but this tri (and du) has both sprint and Olympic distances and takes place entirely within the downtown area. Here are the run and bike course maps (If you click on them, it will bring up a larger, more readable version):


The swim part is even in the canal that winds through downtown (pictured at the start of this post)! Pretty cool. Hopefully next year I'll feel confident enough to do the swim as well.

Lanie, my old teammate and now a fellow coach at IU (she's a strength trainer), is doing it with me. She's doing part of a team-triathlon the day before, but even so she'll still probably kick my butt. But, it's OK... this isn't so much for victory as it is simply for myself and for a bit of that sense of challenge and competition that I miss. The outcome (as long as I finish) isn't so much important as is the fact that I'm doing it and enjoying it.

So, really, really hoping that I start feeling better and can get back into action tomorrow. Time's a-wasting!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Adventures in Blue Ice Cream

On Tuesday, Gearry and I hopped on the motorcycle and cruised down to Santa Claus (we took the Patoka Lake route... such a beautiful ride!) to meet up with Gearry's family at Holiday World. They had been wanting to take his nieces and nephew for a day of fun, and use it as a chance for the whole family to do something together, so Gearry, myself, his parents, his sister, brother-in-law and their three kids (Cynthia, Makayla, Jayden) spent the day at the park. It was super hot and super crowded, so we didn't get to do much in the way of rides and such, but it was a good opportunity to spend some time with the fam, especially with the kids, who are growing so fast. Gearry and I decided we're definitely going to stick to going in May, when there's pretty much no one else there, but it was totally worth it for some quality bonding time! I wish I had pictures to share...
Oh, and blue ice cream? Yeah, Holiday World blueberry ice cream is amazing! I've been craving it all summer (the ice cream stand was closed when we went back in May) and finally got what my heart had been desiring at the end of the day, just before Gearry and I headed home (Well, me to home, him to work... yuck). It was a lot bluer than I remember in the past. Instead of a nice sky blue it was... almost royal? Yay, blue food coloring for the health food person. Anyway, it was VERY blue and I was happily licking away while walking toward the exit when I looked down for some reason and... Stuck the bill of my WHITE baseball camp right in the top of the VERY BLUE cone. After laughing hysterically and then pouting, I tried to rinse my hat out, but to no avail. That was some intense blue, and since I spilled a few more drops of ice cream on it in the process of getting it off my head, I now have essentially a blue and white tie-dyed hat.
There are a few morals to this story: 1) Maybe you really shouldn't eat things with enough artifical dye to stain an article of clothing in point-five nanoseconds. 2) Don't eat while walking... this usually ends in disaster, for me at least. Actually, don't do anything while walking except... walking. Yesterday I was walking while talking on my cell phone and BAM, cell phone hits the pavement. I think I fixed it. I hope. 3) Order the small cone, not the large. The large IS tall enough to compromise your headwear.
Today is FRIDAY... whoo hoo! Which means only two more Fridays of work after this. Yessssss! I'm going to be even more busy than I am now with both grad school and rowing, but when it's stuff that interests you, it's a whole different ballgame. 60 or 70 hours suddenly seems much less than 40 when you're busy but happy about what you're doing. And I'm... ready to be happy about what I'm doing.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Countdown

Tomorrow is my third last Monday of work... three more weeks, three more weeks. I feel somewhat refreshed after these last five days off, so I'm hoping to go back in there tomorrow morning and just rock it out for the next three weeks. My life is about to change greatly, but it's all in good way (other than perhaps the severe lack of sleep and sanity I'm anticipating) and I can't help but be excited, terrified, intrigued and unsure, all at once. Giving up a full-time paycheck seems a little crazy to the practical side of me, but it also seems like a testament to my belief in myself, my ambition to truly love life and not just live it, and my faith that God has a plan and that I'm listening to Him and following it.

Three more weeks of work, a week of work in the rowing office, a week in Hilton Head with Gearry, Chris & Hillary (Yay!!! Friends, beach, food, drinks, dancing and more beach!) and then GRAD SCHOOL & COACHING AT THE DIVISION ONE LEVEL. Crazy.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

2-4 Fun

My 24th birthday rocked! Perfect weather for a day on the lake with Dad and Gearry. We spent most of the day relaxing and tubing. Gearry and I are both black and blue from tubing (seriously, hardcore bruising) but it was so much fun. Gearry took a couple awesomely bad spills I wish I would have captured on camera! And I somehow managed to lose my bikini bottoms on one spill, but I caught them on one ankle, thankfully. Haha! We coated ourselves in 30 SPF but somehow still managed to get burnt. Gearry is, once again, a lobster.

When we got back we took the dogs down to the water to swim (and discovered that Bailey can't swim) and then ordered in pizza for dinner. A great, chill way to wind down after a long day in the sun.


Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Happy Almost Birthday to Me!

Tomorrow is the big 2-4, but since I won't be at work tomorrow (or Thursday or Friday... yay for mini-vacays because I have so much vacation time!) my co-workers celebrated the event today. My department rocks... I actually will be sad to leave them in another three weeks or so.

They made strawberry shortcakes with angel food cake, berries and homemade whipped cream. Delicious! Although I have to be semi-careful with how much sugar I eat (or risk passing out), I kind of blew caution to the wind today and enjoyed a couple big, tasty servings. So worth it. Yum! They also made me THE coolest birthday card ever. Brandon, one of the new people in the department, is a Photoshop whiz, and -- although my name is spelled incorrectly (something I'm pretty used to) -- created this little masterpiece:

I love it!! It was a birthday/good luck with coaching at IU combo card. And, yes, that's all my department co-workers behind me in the boat and in the water. I'm not a card person, so I was rather impressed with their originality.

On another good note, I took a break from work this morning to run over to Assembly Hall and take my NCAA coaches complaince exam and... I passed. 100% actually. (That was a combination of bragging and slight disbelief on my part.) Whew! I don't have anything to study for until classes begin on Sept. 2nd. Thank goodness!

Birthday action tomorrow includes Gearry, Dad and I boating and tubing at the lake, and probably ordering in pizza in the evening. Low-key, but just how I like it :)

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Sigh of Relief.

Gearry and I finally broke down and bought plane tickets to Hilton Head this morning. We're cramming in a vacation between my graduate orientation on Monday, August 25th and my rowing responsibilities and starting classes on Tuesday, September 2nd. We've been really pumped about the vacation, but dreading (DREADING... All caps gets the degree of dread across a little better) the 12-13 hour drive. That takes up two whole days of a vacation that's short anyway, not to mention that I HATE driving/riding after so many 10+ road trips for rowing. So, flying it is. I feel like I can now think about enjoying our relaxing getaway, rather than just thinking about getting there and getting back. Fantastic. Worth every penny!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Happy Birthday, Frankie!

Sunday marked a happy day in the Young family: Mom’s birthday! I won’t say how old she is for fear of retribution, although I think age is something you should be proud of! (We’ll see if I say that 20 years from now.) Maybe she wouldn’t care if I said… but I’m not taking any chances.

Gearry had to work, as usual, so Mom, Dad, Josh and I trekked down to Louisville to have dinner on the river at King Fish. It was a sunny, slightly breezy, gorgeous day, perfect for eating out on the deck and watching the river traffic and downtown Louisville.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Can Summer Please Just Stay Around Forever?

Well, no news can really top that of my last post (thanks to everyone who sent "congrats") but I thought I'd just write a small update to appease those who log on regularly and are saddened so often to find that I have not updated.

Gearry and I have taken up tennis, one of the few sports I've never really played but wanted to for a long time. Gearry loves racquetball, so he's also been wanting to give tennis a try. Suiting, since we live at a golf and tennis resort. Gearry bought me a racket for my upcoming birthday (it's pink and brown, for breast cancer awareness, and a portion of the proceeds go to breast cancer research... I love it!) and we got in our first match on Wednesday. We pretty much... stunk? I mean, I guess we didn't play too horribly considering we were both novice. But we played again Thursday evening with much better results. (i.e. some sense of hand-eye coordination). I can't remember the score, but I do know that Gearry won in 3 sets. Today, after I returned from volunteering at the animal shelter, we managed to cram in 2 sets before Gearry had to leave for work. He won the first set 6-2, and I won the second 6-3. So that means that tomorrow morning we have a tennis date so that we can play the third and final set and determine the winner of the match (hopefully me). We really need to stop adding additional fun sports to our lives, as it is growing increasingly difficult to decide if we want to go swim, run, bike, kayak, golf or, now, play tennis. Guess that's a good problem to have: options.

Hmm... not much else to report on. I've been sleeping most of the day since Gearry left for work, although I should have been working on research for my professor and studying for the NCAA compliance exam that I have to take on Tuesday, July 22nd. And, as we all know from recent experiences with the IU men's basketball team, knowing your NCAA compliance rules is pretty darn important. I have to get an 80% on the test, but it is an open book exam, so I'm not too stressed about it. But a little. Because I stress about everything (duh)... the curse of being a perfectionist/over-achiever. Oh, well... I needed a semi-lazy day (minus the volunteering and tennis).

Oh, I almost forgot... our vacation has finally been confirmed! Hillary and her husband Chris were making the reservations, so we've been waiting patiently. We are, for sure now, going to Hilton Head from Tues., August 26th through Sunday, August 31st. We've never been to Hilton Head, but Chris has and loved it, so suggested it for a couples' vacation. I have grad school orientation on Monday, August 25th, or we'd be leaving much earlier. Then I start grad school on Tues., September 2nd. So, basically, we're cramming this vacay into the absolutely smallest hole of vacancy I will have available for some time. But Hill's in grad school (master's of social work) at Ohio State, so it's hard to work around both of our schedules.

I'm really looking forward to the time away, however. Although I know my mind will be racing 100 miles an hour with all the thinking about the upcoming year, I hope I can sit back and relax a bit and charge up my batteries for the next 9 months or so. We're planning on lots of beach time, relaxing in the sun, biking, eating, tennis, kayaking, etc.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Celebration!

Thought I'd bring back the retro picture (dang, I don't even remember my hair being that long!) in honor of this fabulous, awesome, exciting, celebratory day. I, Stacey Young-Caudell, received some exciting news on Monday and wanted to wait to share it with everyone until it was made official and I signed my contract today.

I am the new graduate assistant coach of Indiana University Women's Varsity Rowing. Yep, COACH! As the G.A. coach I will be helping with the day-to-day administrative activities of the program as well as coaching at the varsity and novice levels for the upcoming 2008-2009 school year, while I am earning my certification and master's degree in elementary education.

SO... it's going to be an INSANE year (I will need lots of hugs and prayers, and some dog-sitters, I'm sure) with a full load of graduate classes AND a coaching assistantship, but I couldn't be happier. My four years of rowing were tough, but they were also some of the best of my life. I would venture to say that I learned much more from my rowing experiences than I did from my in-classroom experiences during my four years as an undergrad, and I'm happy to be able to give back to the program in this way. Plus, it pays for all of my tuition, fees and books, which just sweetens the deal.

I'm pumped to get started. I'll be at AuthorHouse until Aug. 15th and then will fully assume my new role. It's gonna be a long -- but good -- year, kiddos. I was always kind of sad that not many of my friends and family came to my races throughout my four years of rowing, so hopefully I can drag some people out to watch the Hoosiers as we head into what is hopefully a very proud and productive season.

You can read the official announcement here:

http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-rowing/spec-rel/070908aaa.html

Monday, July 7, 2008

GREAT Weekend.

Fourth of July 2008 officially ROCKED. It was a lot of time in the car (7 hrs. there, 7 hrs. back) but it was well worth the time and the incredibly sore back (sitting in the car for long periods of time inflames my back issues like WHAT).

Early on Friday I headed to Columbus, Ohio to meet up with Stebby and her cousin, Alicia. I stretched my legs and we grabbed some brunch at my favorite Columbus eatery, Northstar, with Hillary and Chris and then hopped back in the car for the 3 hr. drive to Wampler's Lake in Michigan, the site of Stebby's parents' lakehouse. I had been once before, for my bachelorette party, but this was the first time I had been in-season, and the first time with the extended Stebbins family. It was a blast! Stebby's parents are amazing (and know how to party) and her brother, cousins Alicia and Josh, and Josh's girlfriend, Missy, were all great. Below is a pic of the house from the end of their dock, taken on the night of the 4th. The little glowing things are luminaries that their whole section of the lake lights every year on the 4th. That evening we all hopped on their boat and went out to the middle of the lake to watch the fireworks people from various houses were setting off all over the lake. I couldn't believe these were private firework shows; many of them rivaled public shows in small communities.

We spent most of the weekend playing in the water, eating great food, playing Wii (I rocked at tennis, was OK at bowling and accidentally punched Stebby's brother in the head for real when we were boxing) and playing old-fashioned greats like charades. "Playing" seems to be the common theme.

Above are Stebby and Missy playing Wii. Not sure what game. I'm pretty sure this was a posed picture.


Above is the view from the bedroom I shared with Stebby and Alicia.

And above is the view from the back porch.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Toasty

Today was a glorious 85 degrees and Gearry and I spent much of it out on the boat with my (newly retired) dad. Sunny, sunny, sunny! Gearry, once again, looks like a lobster. You think he would have learned his lesson by now, right? SPF 4 does nothing for you, Gearry! And the sun was pretty intense. My nose is a little bit red, but I am otherwise unscathed. Gearry, however, is sitting here in his robe after being slathered with after-sun aloe gel. Silly Gearry. Nevertheless, the day was beautiful and it was fun being on the lake, rather than just looking at it all the time. I also discovered that I apparently have a great fear of geese. I was, to my credit, bitten on the foot by a goose when I was little. But the geese that would not leave us alone today caused me to curl up on the floor of the boat and hide myself under a towel. I just knew one of them was going to hop in the boat and try to eat my toes. Did you know that geese hiss? And have these big, nasty tongues? They hiss like snakes and stick their creepy tongues out at you. What's not to be afraid of?

I suppose I should do a quick run-down of Days #2 & #3 of our anniversary celebration, since I never updated. A super quick run-down. Had brunch in Nashville on Sunday afternoon, check into our cabin and relaxed for awhile before getting ready for dinner. Went to Bloomington for the Bloomington Slow Food dinner, a fundraising event for the Blooming Slow Foods Movement. The 7-course dinner was AMAZING and we got to sit with some really, really cool people who have done a lot for Bloomington through the years. We lucked out with an awesome table... we were the youngest by decades, but the conversation flowed freely. Unfortunately, so did the champagne and wine. Therefore, at the end of the 5-hour dinner, we found ourselves unable to drive back to Brown County to our cabin! Responsibility got the best of us and we ended up taking a cab back to our condo and crashing. In the morning Gearry had to drive back to Brown County just to pick up our stuff from the cabin we only spent about 3 hours in. That was the crappy part of the weekend. A little drama, and not exactly how we planned to spend our 1 year anniversary. But, it's over, and we're looking to plan a big trip for next year's to make up for it...

On Day #3, that Monday, after Gearry and I finally got over our dramatic evening the night before and made peace, we ended up playing 18 holes of golf here at Eagle Pointe, the first time we've played the course even though we've lived here since last June. We are both pretty crappy golfers, but it was a good time nonetheless. And by "crappy" I mean that we didn't even figure our scores at the end and we definitely cheated on a couple holes. (Whose idea was it to put water traps right where you tee off???)

I probably won't be writing for several days, just a warning. Tomorrow I have to work and then in the evening Gearry and I are going out with his friend Tim and his girlfriend Jessica for dinner and drinks and such. Tim and Jess are moving to California very soon :(

Gearry has to work all July 4th weekend (the pitfalls of a resort) so I am going to be enjoying Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Stebby's parents' lakehouse in Michigan (The Irish Hills area, about an hour and a half west of Detroit). I'm meeting her in Columbus, Ohio on Friday afternoon, we're grabbing some lunch with Hillary and then it's up to Michigan to chill and party all weekend! I looooove Stebby's family (so much fun) and their lakehouse is really cool (same place where we went for my bachelorette party) and I can't wait! Wish Gearry could join...

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Anniversary Celebration Day #1

Yeah, so your anniversary is technically only one day... but when you're livin' it up, might as well make it three, right?

Today was Day #1, and it was fantabulous. Gearry never has a Saturday off, so that alone made the day great. Gearry and I are sitting here just relaxing a bit and drinking water (can you be hungover at 9:41 pm? I think so... too much wine at dinner) and getting ready for bed shortly. Big day tomorrow! This morning I woke up super early (yuke) and biked to the animal shelter to volunteer (yay!). 20 miles of biking and 2 hrs. of dog walking later, I returned and Gearry and I took the motorcycle into town to run an errand and enjoy some ice cream on this gorgeous day. This evening we went to 1875, one of the restaurants at French Lick. Connections are nice, of course, and after a wonderful and very large and very comped meal (well, after wine and tip we still paid $90 but that's way better than $200, right?) we headed home happy and stuffed.

Tomorrow morning we head to Brown County and are really looking forward to the Bloomington Chef's Dinner tomorrow evening. Apparently the theme of the weekend is "food," but for a chef and a foodie, I guess that's a good thing.

On Monday Gearry and I are going to play our first 18 holes of golf here at Eagle Pointe, even though we've lived here for a year now! And, I'm excited/sad to say, it will be my first game of golf EVER. Tonight we just messed around on one of the holes for a bit and I actually hit quite well considering my golfing experience has involved going to the driving range twice and a few scattered games of putt-putt. I have a pretty good idea of what will happen, though. I'm guessing around Hole #4 I will be beyond frustrated with my crapiness and relegate myself to just driving the cart. But, we'll see. My ridiculous competitiveness will likely kick in.

Friday, June 20, 2008

363 Days Later or So...

It is hard to believe that this coming Sunday will mark our first year of marriage. A year! It really seems like it was just recently that I was sweating out every last detail of our upcoming nuptials, so excited about the weekend that lay ahead. Well, now it's unbelievably a year later and I'm also excited about this weekend ahead... our first anniversary celebration.
Because we're planning a bigger trip at the end of August, right before I start school, Gearry and I decided to just do something small and close-by for our anniversary. We're both off Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Saturday evening we are going down to French Lick for some tasty (and free, as usual... whoo hoo!) dinner, per request of Gearry's chef. On Sunday (anniversary day) we are heading to Brown County early to peruse the shops, grab some brunch, do some wine-tasting and check into the cabin we rented for the night. It's just a couple miles outside of Nashville, looks nice and cozy and has a hot tub. Sunday evening we are trucking back to Bloomington to enjoy the 2008 Bloomington Slow Foods Chef's Dinner, a 7-course masterpiece with wine pairings held once a year as a fundraiser for the Bloomington Slow Foods Movement. Each of the seven courses is prepared by a different area chef and paired with wines from area wineries. Gearry knows most of the chefs well, of course, and I have a feeling it is going to be an absolutely delicious and fun way to celebrate the big "1." Then, of course, back to BC for the night. On Monday we don't have any solid plans; probably sleep in at the cabin and enjoy some lunch or something in Nashville before we head back to pick up the furbabies from our parents.
I kind of wish now that we had planned a bigger trip for our anniversary, but it didn't make much sense to me - since I'm going back to school in September - to schedule two big trips for one summer. We're hoping to truck it over the pond to Europe (predominantly Italy) next summer, so I like to think that we're saving up our pennies for that little jaunt with every "little" trip we take, rather than "big" trips.
So, lots to look forward to, but that makes it even more difficult than usual to get through this work day!
And about my potentially exciting developments in school from last post? Ehhh, don't think it's going to happen :( But I'll let you know.
Annnnnnd, my cell phone was pronounced dead on Wednesday morning, apparently the victim of some sort of overheating/explosion/detriment that caused the battery plug-in port to corrode and essentially burn the phone up from the inside out (complete with permanent marks on my formerly beautiful nightstand). There were no dramatic sounds or sights; it just stopped working. I had to order a new cell phone yesterday, which won't be in until Tuesday. So, until, then I'm old-schooling it. It is a weird, weird world to not have a cell. If you desperately need me, call Gearry or shoot me an e-mail.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Ewwwww.

I made a sweet slide into base last night during my softball game, but sweet comes with a price: For about the hundredth time this season I sliced and diced my left leg to pieces. Now it's burning and oozing and just all around gross, and I'm really tempted to post a picture to show you all my cherished/painful battle scar, but don't fear, I will spare you the disgust. Let's just say it's... ewww.

Aside from my massacred leg, today is absolutely glorious. Gearry had to go into work today for a special event (plating up a catered dinner for 1000 people... something to do with the circus... I don't know) so it's just me and the puppies today. I would rather have Gearry here, of course, but at least the weather is gorgeous (76 and sunny) and there's not much else to complain about.

This morning I went for a nice bike ride, my first since my left knee started acting up about a month ago. I've been working really hard to stretch, ice and rehab it, and it is doing much better. Now, hopefully, I can get back on the triathlon track, since it caused me to miss my planned first one on June 14th. I'm shooting for a sprint tri in Indy on July 19th, I believe, but we'll see what happens. I'm not going to go crazy trying to meet that goal, but at the same time I'd really like to. Mostly I just want to be able to bike, swim and run for fun, which means not screwing up my knee time and again.

After my bike ride (only about 8 miles, I believe) I went straight to the pool and got in about 20 laps in my unisuit. It's definitely heavier than a bathing suit, but I think it's going to work out well for tri purposes.

So, all that is done before noon and now I have the rest of the day to read, lay out, veg and - hopefully - work on my prof's research and a graduate assistantship application that I'm turning in for grad school, although they are requested a doctoral student, not a master's student, so the chances are slim. But there are some other very exciting possibilities looming in regards to grad school (ones I can't really discuss here, as I'm not sure who reads this). I will be sure to update with any news as the summer progresses. No matter what, I'm starting master's studies at IU this fall, but there is a possibility that it could be a really, really interesting opportunity depending on how things go.

Oh, and our beautiful flowers that I posted pictures of all died. Mmm, we didn't really do our research and no NOTHING about flowers, so we weren't aware that they bloom once a year, die, and then don't come back until next year. So now we have some nice green stems on our front porch. Oh well.

And for those of you who still haven't ever been by to see our house, come check it out! Open invitation. Maybe just call me first? Haha. Really, it's so beautiful here this time of year, I absolutely love it. And if I can just break down and finally clean/organize/finish our guest room/office, the house will be perfect.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot...

The ever-trusty weather.com and my burning flesh every time I go outside tell me that with the humidity it is 88 degrees and currently feels like it is 92 degrees outside! Yikes. Needless to say, Gearry and I finally broke down and shut our doors and turned the air conditioning on. I'm all about conserving energy, but when you break into the upper 80s, lower 90s, it's just time to start using the man-made wonderfulness that is artificial air.

I mentioned in the last post that Gearry and I had finally found some flowers we liked for our front porch. We're picky, so for the last month or so we've just had empty pots of dirt sitting there waiting until we found the perfect plant accompaniment. They are asiatic lilies and they look great:



I heard so many boats out on the lake this morning when I took the dogs out for a walk. Dad is working, working, working for the next few weeks with no time to bring the boat up, but as soon as July 1st rolls around, he'll probably be up here a ton, and Gearry and I can't wait! It'll be nice to just walk down to Harbour Pointe and hop on the boat! I spent so much time on the boat growing up, and last year was probably the first year of my life that we didn't go out even once, thanks to the boat being jacked up. But the boat is as good as new and I'm ready for another summer of swimming, skiing, cruising and -- with gas prices as crazy as they are -- sitting on the water.

July 1st, for those of you who don't know yet, is my dad's last day at work. Yes, Gary D. Young is officially retiring. I am SO happy for him, and although it is going to be a big adjustment, I'm sure he'll be happy with the decision in the long run. I give him about six months before he gets bored out of his mind and starts his "second career" as is typical for young retirees. But, still, that's great. Life's too short to not do what you love, hence the reason I'm going back to school to get my certification and master's even though I feel like I should be well into my normal non-student life by now. But it's OK; life is a big, crazy, mostly fun or at least interesting adventure, so it seems.

Mom is on her way up to pick me up. We're going to head into town and enjoy the day. Library, a few errands, some shopping and dinner out. It's a little too hot to put poor Bailey and Zoey on the back deck while we're gone, so I think I'm going to (stupidly) let them stay inside. That usually results in disaster... yesterday, they were left alone for 30 minutes and that resulted in the shredded of the insoles of Gearry's work shoes and the continued shredding of our front door mat (they've been working on it for awhile). But, I'll puppy proof as best as I can!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Post #100!

My 100th post... well, technically "our" 100th post since this blog is supposed to be updated by both Gearry and me. Gearry has technically written 2 of the 100 posts, I believe, so I'll give him 2% credit.

Today, like yesterday, was another rainy, very stormy day. Gearry and I were both super grumpy the first half of the day -- not really for any particular reason -- so we canceled plans to go see a movie (we were sitting in the car in the parking lot of the theatre and changed our minds) but, luckily, we both got out of our funk and enjoyed the rest of the day doing a whole lot of nothing. We went grocery shopping, planted some pretty flowers on our front porch (pictures tomorrow... it was too rainy and dark today to get a nice shot), did a bit of house cleaning and baked some whole wheat honey bread.

We're starting to make our own organic bread. I figured I'm already a vegetarian, recycling, outdoor enthusiast, so why not add to my hippieness and start making homemade bread and granola? Honestly, it tastes better than anything you'll find in a store, it's less expensive (even with organic ingredients) and it's probably better for you... whole wheat flour, wheat germ and NO high fructose corn syrup (this is a common ingredient in most store breads). Plus, I sort of have a husband who is a chef and certified in baking and pastry arts, so I felt the need to take advantage of the "baking" part. He made a test loaf this afternoon and it turned out great. As I write he is in the kitchen whipping up enough dough for a few more loaves. We're making four loaves total; enough for one per week for a month (freezing the extras, of course) so Gearry will only have to bake once a month.

Most of the day, though, was spent doing lazing around, wishing it were a bit nicer outside, but enjoying the break.

Gearry and Bailey, watching TV.

Zoey watching TV/napping.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Waterslides and a Beautiful Ride

This past Thursday, Gearry and I hopped on our motorcycle and cruised down to Holiday World for the day. Even though we're married, have careers and own a house, we're really just big kids. And I think it'll probably be that way forever. And I like that.

The motorcycle ride down and back was one of the best parts of the day! We took Hwy. 37 all the way down to Interstate 64, meaning most of our route ran through Hoosier National Forest. The weather was absolutely perfect -- 70s and 80s and clear skies -- and the drive was gorgeous.

The best part about taking a motorcycle to Holiday World? Front door parking. The motorcycle lot is literally fifty feet from the entrance, so it was fun bypassing the hundreds of cars in the giant lot and cruising on up to the front. Not that we wouldn't be walking about a bazillion miles that day anyway, but hey, still.

I grew up going to Holiday World, and although some of the stuff still looks exactly the same as it did when I was 6 years old, a LOT has changed. Namely, the addition of three world-class wooden coasters (The Voyage is the newest and Gearry and I both agreed it was the best coaster we'd ever ridden) and an awesomely huge water park, Splashin' Safari. Gearry and I hadn't been in a couple of years and they've added several more rides and attractions to the water park since we'd last visited. We basically go just to ride the roller coasters and spend the vast majority of the day in the water park. We don't play the lottery and don't plan to, so we can't say "If we ever win the lottery" but if we ever randomly come across a ridiculously large amount of money, Gearry and I said one of our dreams would be to rent out the park for the entire day and only allow our friends and family in, so that we could all enjoy the rides and slides as many times as want to, with no lines. Seriously.

So, we had a great day. Went on lots of slides, chilled in the wave pool and lazy river and applied sunscreen liberally. Although Gearry still got pretty burnt up. He now has a Rudolph nose. And similarly colored back, arms, etc. Poor guy! I keep forgetting and doing annoying things like pinching his nose, rubbing his shoulders or hugging him really hard. All of these innocent gestures result in dirty looks and dirty words and cries of pain from my poor hubby. I swear I'm not mean on purpose!

In case you are wondering how softball is going (if you ever knew I was playing softball), it's going pretty well. It's a lot of fun; I had forgotten how much I missed playing. I'm still super competitive so I kind of freak out if I screw up or when we lose, but thankfully most of the girls take it pretty seriously and we have a decent team. I'm not sure of our exact record, but I think it is along the lines of 5-4 or something of that nature. We play on Tuesday nights and some Friday nights, like last night (we won!). I always seem to find an excuse to slide into the base, so I'm getting used to coming home every week with a little less skin and have some nice scars already to add to my collection. When you slide into home and score the game-winning run, however, loss of skin and blood is totally worth it.

Today is gorgeous... 85 and sunny! After volunteering at the animal shelter, I met Gearry downtown at the farmer's market where we picked up some fresh goat cheese, tomatoes and a baguette. This, along with a little bit of local honey and some fresh herbs, is our favorite lunch of all time, which we enjoy as much as possible in the summer. Nothing really tastes better than fresh, local food. Too bad they don't have a farmer's market every day of the week.

I need to go do some work for my professor for awhile (my little on-the-side-do-however-much-I-want-when-I-want job that) but I just wanted to give everyone a little update on the Young-Caudell clan! We're happy, healthy and a little stressed out (starting school this fall is the main culprit there)... life as usual.

Friday, May 23, 2008

The OFFICIAL Start of Summer

Yeah, yeah, I know summer doesn't technically begin until mid-to-late June, but Memorial Day weekend is most definitely the real start of the season. I just took the dogs out to potty and was absolutely delighted to hear the extremely loud sounds of a band doing a rocking cover of "Down on the Corner" coming from the clubhouse deck. It is now officially in-season here at Eagle Pointe, which means live bands by the clubhouse pool and cabana bar every Friday night, an influx of summer residents and vacationers, a heightened need to be on constant alert for stray golf balls whizzing through the air (if my car gets dinged again this summer, some golfer is going DOWN) and the ever-present smell of grill smoke, fresh grass and suntan lotion.

Not surprisingly, Gearry has to work this entire Memorial Day weekend. I probably could have made other plans, but I decided I needed a weekend to just chill. Therefore, if the weather cooperates, I plan on spending much of the next 72 hours laying by the pool, ordering drinks from the cabana bar and working my way through the pile of cheesy chick lit books I picked up today.

Gearry begins his new role as "floating" Sous Chef in the next couple of weeks, so he may may may (I'm not holding my breath) have some Friday evenings off this summer since he'll be working mostly mid-shifts (approx. 9 am to 6 or 7 pm). This will make me very happy, as Friday evenings jamming to a band by the pool just aren't that fun alone, and my besties are usually working (Gearry) or 4 hrs. away (Stebby, Hillary) or 10+ hrs. away (Colleen). I guess this will be good once I start school in the fall, because I won't have many distractions from the ridiculous mounds of work I'm hearing that I will have, but for this summer... blah.

I'll leave you with the sweet performance Taylor Swift (warning: she's country... I'm mostly a pop/rock/92.3 type of girl, but I still have a weakness for a few great country singers) did at last week's ACM Awards in Las Vegas. I loved it because 1.) She went all out... you could see that she put every bit of energy into the performance. 2.) It contains the coolest costume change I've ever seen. 3.) Who wouldn't think an on-stage downpour was cool? Enjoy! (Unless you are one of my many anti-country friends, and kindly opt out ;)


Sunday, May 18, 2008

Fantastic.

A great weekend in Ohio with Josh, Hillary, Stebby & Co.

Very tired. Will provide a real update in the next couple days when Hill hopefully uploads some of the many fun pictures from the Columbus Race for the Cure 5K we all took part in on Saturday morning and the fun craziness we all took part in Saturday night!

I'm sleepy and more than a little stressed out by the thought of this fall and upset because my knee (illiotibial band) is seriously messed up and I'm not going to be able to run or bike for awhile, so it's nap time.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Jammin'


Bailey rocks it out to Jason Mraz. Seriously.

One of Those "Good for No Particular Reason" Days

I liked today.

I volunteered at the shelter this morning, then went grocery shopping, then enjoyed a tasty salad and lemon water for lunch on the back deck with Gearry before he headed off for work. Napped, ran, showered, walked the dogs, worked on a research assignment. Nothing particularly special, but a good day. Good mood. Lots of things to look forward to.

Tomorrow, Mother's Day. We're brunching at Gearry's resort with my parents, his parents and my brother. I can't think of a prettier or classier or tastier place to celebrate Mother's Day.

Next Wednesday, finally finishing the bathrooms and guest room in our house. I know, I know, we've lived here almost a year. Nevertheless, we're finally doing it... touching up paint, installing all new hardware (towel racks, towel rings, etc. in brushed bronze for the master bath and wrought iron for the guest bath), putting up a few shelves, etc., etc. I feel like such an old married lady for getting excited about decorating/remodeling, but when you own your own place... it just feels good to have it "perfect."

Next weekend, Columbus, Ohio, to spend a couple days with my besties!! AND... Josh is coming with me! My friends all love him, but it was hard for him to hang out with all of us before because he wasn't 21. I'm so glad he's coming (even though I'm still mad at him for ruining the Indy Mini-Marathon), and so are Hill and Stebby. We're heading over Friday evening after Josh and I get off of work. On Saturday morning, Hillary, her husband Chris, Stebby, Josh and I are all running in the Race for the Cure 5K in downtown Columbus. And Saturday night... paaartay! I need a good, fun, go-crazy, bar-hopping weekend. It's been far too long.

Friday, May 9, 2008

I'm Yours!

As you all know, summertime rocks my socks. In honor of this most wonderful season, I decided to share my fave song of the moment and my definite 2008 "summer anthem." It makes me think of laying by the lake, or sitting on the beach in Key West with a drink. Love it. Enjoy!

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Happy Voting Day!

If you're reading this and you live in Indiana, I sincerely hope you took the time to go vote today. I was at the polls bright and early, around 6:15 a.m, so that I could make it into work by 7 am. (I work four days a week, 10 hour days, so I like to make it in by 7 am so that I can be off by 5:30ish.) I've always voted absentee, so actually going to vote was a new experience. I'm sure you all know by now where my allegiences stand... Go Clinton!! I'm excited to see the results later today...

I took these pictures yesterday on a long walk with Bailey and Zoey. We've lived at Eagle Pointe for almost a year now, and I keep finding new trails and fun little community features. Last week I discovered this sweet gazebo (accessible by about 150 stairs), perched on the side of a huge hill, that has an amazing panoramic view of the water. My camera most certainly doesn't do it justice, but it's a great place to go for some R&R and stress relief... that is, if you don't have the dogs with you, who spent the entire time I was trying to chill attempting to jump off the side of the gazebo so they could go down to the water.

Hey, look, Bailey's a blur as usual. I'm pretty sure that if he were a kid, he would have ADHD. Asking him to stay still long enough for a picture is usually out of the question. But, othertimes, he'll sit contently in your lap for hours and not move a muscle.


Friday, May 2, 2008

Josh forgot his shoes.

We're not going to the Indy Mini-Marathon tonight and tomorrow because Josh forgot his running shoes at Purdue. You're coming to a RACE and you forget your shoes??!

I'm in a bad mood, needless to say. We canceled our hotel and I'm home wallowing in self-pity. It was silly to go up there and spend all that money on dinner, hotel, parking, etc., just for me to do a 5K, which I can do plenty of around here. Even though I've been registered since December.

Yep, I'm in a bad mood. Lonely weekend ahead. Sweet.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Wonderful, Wonderful Weekend

Well, I'm writing from my usual spot this time of the year, where you can find me when I'm not working, sleeping, working out or walking the dogs: the back deck. The trees have really bloomed out in just the last week, so we can barely see the lake now, but it's OK. All the green and bright purple buds on the trees are a beautiful sight as well. From about April through November, the back deck is basically just another room in our house. We have great flow-through air conditioning from the lake, so we usually just leave the doors to the deck open and enjoy the sights and sounds and smells of the outdoors all day. Love it, love it, love it. And since it's screened in, no bugs or adverse weather to worry about.

I just got back from kayaking with my friend Allison, who is a senior at IU this year. She brought her dog, a lab-chow named Mia, over to play with Bailey and Zoey, so the puppies entertained themselves while we kayaked around Eagle Pointe and over toward the spillway. Allison has a big final exam and project due tomorrow, so she headed home and now it's just me and the puppies chilling and enjoying the rest of the gorgeous day, dreading going back to work tomorrow. I'll probably be sitting right here the rest of the day, minus a break for a nice run. I've been doing a lot of biking lately (biked 20 miles yesterday) and slightly neglecting running, but Josh and I are headed up to Indy for the Indy 500 Mini-Marathon next weekend, so I need to get a couple good runs in this week. Josh is doing the half-marathon and I'm only doing the 5K... which I could probably do in the worst shape imaginable, so I think I'll be OK ;)

This weekend has been great. A little on the chilly side yesterday, but still nice weather. Friday I found out that I got into IU for grad school, so the weekend started out great. Mom came up and we had dinner at Mother Bear's and then spent the rest of the evening taking the dogs for a long walk by the lake and hanging out here on the deck chilling and talking.

On Saturday, I biked to the shelter in the morning to volunteer, volunteered for two hours and then biked back. It was kind of nice to be back to the house by 11 am and know how much I had already accomplished for the day! I spent most of the day out here with my laptop, working on a research project for my professor. (Yes, it's fun to do, because it's a subject I'm interested in: sociology. And the professor is one of the best in the country. But I also get paid to help :)

It stinks that I never get to spend the weekends with Gearry, and probably never will, as is the nature of his job. But it's OK, too. I get a lot of stuff done, have plenty of time to swim/bike/run, and can just enjoy some personal time. But, truthfully, I wouldn't mind having a little less personal time if it meant more Gearry quality time. Honestly though, I can't complain, because we get to spend more time together now than we ever have before in our 7.5 year relationship: Monday nights, Tuesday nights, all day Wednesday and a couple hours on Sunday mornings. Gearry has lots of exciting things (i.e. promotions!) going on at work right now, so his schedule is about to change again in the next couple weeks. Not sure exactly how it will change, but supposedly it's going to be even better. I'm cool with that.

Friday, April 25, 2008

I got in.

I, Stacey Young-Caudell, start grad school at IU this September. Grad school! WHOO HOO! I love knowing. More to come later, but this girl has had a super long week and is ready for some shut eye.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

An Upland Addiction

This weekend, Hillary came to visit from OSU. Yay! I think the last time I saw her was in early February, when she and Stebby last visited (yep, it’s my turn next to truck myself over to Ohio). She got in around 8:00 p.m. on Friday night and we spent the rest of the evening sitting on the back deck, talking and drinking wine. On Saturday, I had to get up early and volunteer at the animal shelter, but I was back home, had gone for a run and showered before noon. Gearry had to head off to work, so Hillary and I spent the afternoon doing a whole lot of nothing other than relaxing and playing with the pups.

Later in the afternoon we headed to town and spent a couple hours shopping at the mall. I found a store, believe it or not, that sells jeans up to 37 inch inseam. 37! As in “too tall for Stacey.” I haven’t had a long enough pair of jeans in years, so I was pretty ecstatic. And they were super cute, too, which bumped up the excitement level even more. Two new pairs of jeans, a cute shirt and some earrings later, we headed to Upland Brewery for dinner.

Now, I had eaten dinner at Upland just a week before for Josh’s birthday, but it seemed like the perfect place once again, and I have a permanent craving for their seitan tenderloin, so Upland it was. After a super tasty dinner, we headed to the Student Union on campus to take in a screening of the movie “27 Dresses.” I’d never seen it; Hill had and loved it. It ended up being a great, great movie. It also reminded how much I miss being on campus. Love that atmosphere.

Because we’re so cool and it was 10 pm, we headed home so that we could get to bed at a reasonable hour. Yeah, really cool on a Saturday night, I know, but Hillary had to leave for Ohio by 8:00 am the next day, and we were both pretty pooped. It was such a relaxing weekend… loved it. Love my Hill! Why is it the best ones always have to live so far away?

On Sunday I spent the day at Mom & Dad’s, just hanging out with Mom, watching TV, playing with the dogs and – above all – cleaning my car, which was atrocious after the long and nasty winter. I mean, BAD. I try to keep it nice in the spring-fall months, but it almost seems pointless in the winter. I have such a nice car, it’s a shame I let it get as bad as I did. But now, after two and a half hours of washing, cleaning carpets, de-hairing, vacuuming, etc., it’s pretty much brand new again.

Yesterday I worked (of course… and it was a long one, man) and then Gearry and I attended a focus group at IU Auditorium, to help them make improvements/changes to their wedding rental program. We rode the motorcycle for the first time this season, which was fantastic. Zooming around campus in the 75 degree sunshine is alright with me. After the focus group, we went to… yep… you guessed it… Upland. Gearry’s choice, not mine! As usual, though, it was super tasty and we had a great time dining on their outdoor patio.

Tonight Gearry actually has to work, unfortunately, because there’s some special event going on, but I have my second softball game to keep me preoccupied. The weather is gorgeous, so it should be a good time. If I don’t get hit in the throat again. Or the shin. Or any of the other places where I still have bruises from last week. Yeah, this former all-star is rusty. Tomorrow is supposed to be even more gorgeous: sunny and near 80. That means a long bike ride in the morning and kayaking with Gearry in the afternoon! I LOVE SPRING!