WILW

"There is a child in every one of us who is still a trick-or-treater looking for a brightly-lit front porch." ~Robert Brault

I haven't done a list of things i'm loving lately, so I've been saving up!  I've got lots of loves today and even more saved up for next week.  Here we go with the WILW list!

1.  Let's start with my three favorite Halloween photos/videos.  I'm not a huge Halloween person, but luckily some other people in my life are.  Here ya have 'em....my Top 5 Halloween moments for 2012.

Cutest Costume:  Soul Mate Friend and Baby Little Tight End's costume.

Craziest Activity:  My friend who is dressed like a pirate participating in an underwater pumpkin carving contest.

Most Unbelievable Transformation:  Pharmer Girl.  Check out this video--Pharmer Girl is this total country girl that grew up in small town New Mexico like me and who went all chola for Halloween.  Hilarious.




Best Kid's Costume:  My friend's little boy wanted to be a washing machine!

Most random costume:  Ashley as a loofa.  I LOVE it!

2.  My adorable Goddaughter.  Seriously, look at these pictures from the last week.  Could GBaby be any cuter?  Can't believe it's been 9 months since the traumatic experience that was her being born.

Gbaby eating the cookies I sent her in the mail.

Gbaby all bundled up for winter.

Gbaby sporting the shirt I got her at Notre Dame on game day!

3.  These photos.  Grooms' faces as they see their brides for the first time.  Holy cow.  If that doesn't make you want to get married, nothing will.  Adorable.

4.  This idea for asking your friends to be your bridesmaids.  Awesome.

5.  This story that BFF sent me about scholarships being given to walk ons.  You've got to see the video of what the coach pulled at UMass involving the cops and totally freaking out some kids.  Hilarious and awesome.

The Things You Take For Granted...

Weekend Recap

“The simple things are also the most extraordinary things, and only the wise can see them.” ~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

How does the weekend always go by so darn fast??  I think we need to work two days and have the weekend for 5.  Let's start a petition for that or something! 

I was in town for the second weekend in a row (stop the presses!) and it was nice to have some down time to just chill out and do nothing.

On Friday night I went to dinner with two of my friends from back home who are living here in town.  I was friends with both of these girls' older sisters in school at different places, so it's so funny to me that these two are now roomates and old enough to be in college!  I may or may not have eaten like 15 rolls at Texas Roadhouse.  I went in with good intentions, but after they made us wait for an hour, those were out the window and I was freaking starving.

On Saturday I got up and got a few things done around the house, picked my my race packet for Sunday's Great Pumpkin Chase, hit up ol' Target and then it was football time.  I pretty much did nothing but watch football from 2:30 until 10:00 on Saturday.  Other than actually being at a game and you know, rushing the field at Stillwater or Notre Dame, I could not draw up a better weekend.  College Roomie swung by and brought me leftovers (flashback to living together in college and her bringing me left overs from her dates!) and watched some of the OSU game.  And, as always, I had my usual in-game texting conversations with these three....I honestly cannot watch a game without them!

Which brings me to my favorite quote of the weekend.  I love boys complimenting me on my football knowledge.  I had been texting Mr. Animal House Boy about how sick I was of hearing the Game Day guys talk about Belldozer. 

Mr. AHB:  Tiff, your football knowledge is one upping me right now.
Me:  Let me start back at the beginning (I explain what I'm talking about again).
Mr. AHB:  Got it.  Wow, this is just like when  you tried to teach me economics in college.
Me:  Let's hope this goes better...you had to drop that class!

Anyway, let's talk football, shall we?

My Pokes got the W over TCU.  Let's just get it out there, the first quarter was not pretty.  After a pick 6 was followed on the next play by a kickoff return fumble that was recovered by the KICKER (has that ever even happened before??), I turned off the tv and swore off football.  For about 3 minutes.  Then I calmed down, as did the Cowboys.  Things were MUCH better in the second half.  My love for Wes Lunt continues (first quarter notwithstanding) and Joseph Randle is still my favorite candidate for President.  Good job boys.  It's time to get serious for next weekend in Manhattan....start off like we did against TCU and it's going to be ugly. REAL ugly.  We don't like real ugly.  What I do like is the black out uniforms and helmets from this weekend.  Awesome.  Go Pokes!

And then it was Notre Dame v. OU.  I know that as a Big 12 girl I need to root for OU, but as you know I've been a ND fan since I could watch a tv, so that wasn't happening.  I was sick to death of hearing about how over rated Notre Dame was and hearing about the freakin' Belldozer.  The only thing more annoying than those two things?  Boomer Sooner being played by the OU band.  Seriously---if the stadium imploded they would play that song.  I said all week that I thought the ND defense and Mr. Manti T'eo could get it done.  And they did on Saturday night.  As much as I love my friend Manti (I think we're friends since I've touched his arm and all...that totally is part of the definition of friendship), I was most impressed with the red-shirt freshman Notre Dame quarterback.  I was pretty frustrated with that kid during the Stanford game, but he stepped up big and played great against OU.  I love how Coach Kelly was constantly coaching on him throughout the game.  That's how it's supposed to be.  8-0 for the Irish.  Go Irish Go!

On Sunday I ran The Great Pumpkin Chase 5K.  I refer to it as my redemption run.  Remember when I did this two years ago after a weekend of eating like crap and drinking to celebrate my birthday?  That was a disaster.  I had to walk part of it.  Worst 5K time ever.  Happily, I got my redemption yesterday, cutting a minute off my time from the Hot Chocolate Run a few weeks ago and giving me hope that I can be ready for my leg of the upcoming Marathon Relay I'm running in Oklahoma!

After the race, I went to work for a couple of hours, did a few errands, grabbed some lunch and then came home to do a litlte craft project.  You other bloggers have me wanting to be crafty and creative.  Turns out I'm really neither, but I'm trying and enjoying it anyway!  Here's a little teaser of one of my projects...

Then I wrapped up the weekend with a little Amazing Race viewing.  Does anyone else find the twins to be the most annoying people on the face of the earth?  They are just SO loud.  And you know it's bad coming from me.  Sheesh, shut up already.  Honestly, I don't love any team this year.  But I sure dislike them the most!

How was YOUR weekend??

Dirty Girl Mud Run Recap

“Laughter is the sound of the soul dancing. My soul probably looks like Fred Astaire.”  ~ Jarod Kintz, This Book is Not for Sale

Fair warning:  This post is random and unorganized and crazy.  It fits with the weekend that way.
A couple of weekends ago I headed to Dallas to meet up with the ladies in the family (and our male chaperone, Cousin Kevin) for a little event called the Dirty Girl Mud Run.   Picture it....12 ladies from my Aunt Delta Dawn to my little cousins Carly and Alex decked out in matching shirts proudly displaying our team name "Dirty Britches" running (not totally sure you can call it that) a race complete with muddy obstacles at every turn. 

Before and After

Y'all.  That race was not ready for us.  I have tried for two weeks to come up with words to describe it, but there really aren't any.  Pretty sure the whole weekend falls under the "you just had to be there" definition.  We not only had the best time, but it was also for a great cause--breast cancer research.

So anyway, because I don't know how else to commemorate this, I've decided to just share some of the funniest quotes of the weekend with you. 

Aunt Evil Kineval:  We have an hour before our flight.
Cousin Team Captain:  You should go get a margarita.
Aunt Evil Kineval:  We can't.  We're in training.  It started today.
Her friend Queso:  Nah.  I'll start tomorrow.

Me:  We are pulling up to the airport.  Where are you guys?
Aunt Evil Kineval:  Don't worry, just look for the world class athletes!

Me and the World Class Athletes

Aunt Delta Dawn:  Oh look, I found the other fat girls!  We can beat them!

Aunt Evil Kineval (laughing for 15 minutes until she cannot breathe):  Those fat girls were standing next to a truck that said, "Hog removal!"

The Accountant's Daughter:  Those girls were in the heat after us and they're passing us.
Me:  Allegedly. We don't know when they actually started.  I'm sure we're beating them!

Me (hiking up a hill during the race):  Why didn't we just go to breakfast?

I was not impressed with the mud on my arm.

Cousin Mim:  I have a uniboob!

Aunt Delta Dawn walks up to the first mud pit.  She was not impressed.  She had a little dixie cup from the water station.  She takes the cup, fills it with muddy water, wipes some on her face and tries to call it good.  That was insufficient, so we all went back and dragged her right through that mud pit with everyone else.  She decided we were not very fun.

Racer who shall remain anonymous:  That fart felt wierd in my muddy pants!

Me (after one of the mud pits):  Where is Queso?
Aunt E.K.:  I don't see her.
Me:  Oh my gosh, did we lose her in the mud??

Me:  Man, this is a flashback to the disaster that I was running hurdles in high school.
The Accountant's cousin:  You ran hurdles like THAT in high school?

In my defense, it's clearly genetic. Check out Aunt Delta Dawn.

Me (after hearing there was something else to climb):  We are NOT climbing anything else.  My butt cannot take sliding down the other side.

Aunt Delta Dawn's face when she saw the cargo net obstacle (below).

Aunt Delta Dawn:  Hurry, girls, take a picture of me acting like I'm climbing this net.  I've got to be able to show my friends and make them think it's real!

Check her out...bottom right, next to the sign.

The Accountant (crawling through the last mud pit):  I'm stuck, oh wait, I'm not, oh wait, I'm stuck again!

Here was the classic finish caught on tape.  (Please note we were totally setting a world speed record at this pace.)

Random guys at Buffalo Wild Wings to me covered in mud:  Excuse me, ma'am?  Where the hell have y'all been?

Waitress at BWW:  The accountant looks familiar.
Cousin Kevin:  Oh, that's because she's a porn star.

Realor (when we all piled out of the car to look at a house for sale and were subsequently introduced by Aunt Delta Dawn):  I've um, never showed a house to this many people before.

Could my family be any more awesome?  We've now decided to make this a yearly event for all of the ladies in the family.  And now I'm inviting any of you ladies in blog land to come and join in the fun.  How can you miss out on this experience?

Throwback Thursday #60: National FFA Conventions

“Memories, even your most precious ones, fade surprisingly quickly. But I don’t go along with that. The memories I value most, I don’t ever see them fading.”  ~   Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go

It's National FFA Convention week.  Reading all of the facebook statuses about people headed to convention took me back to my high school days and our multiple trips to Louisville.

It makes me think back....

 



To holding (or letting go of) 16 pound nasty live chickens on a farm in Indiana.  To food poisoning and alka seltzer.   From Red Roof Inns to irrigation boots covered in crap from every dairy between Logan and the airport.  To games of spades and dead chickens hanging from the rod in the shower.  From studying for tests to almost getting arrested for taking an egg candler through airport security a month after 9/11.  From haunted house boats to smuggling home stolen milemarkers to watching warm ups at Churchill Downs.  To trinkets stolen by Dr. Wagley and tears from Mr. Franklin at awards breakfasts and when dropping me off at the airport.  There were linear scores and slaughter cattle grading and breakeven scenarios and chicken thighs.

Fourteen years, four gold medals and countless memories later, I'd give just about anything to live those days again.  Monster scary chickens and all.

Notre Dame 2012: Let No One Ever Again Say...

"Let no one ever again say that we dreamed too small."  ~ Father Jenkins, President, University of Notre Dame

Apparently the lesson God planned for me to learn on this trip was to dream big.  God likes to work in threes.  You know...like the Trinity and all.  Here's the trilogy from last weekend.

Father Sorin's Story

Father Jenkins spoke the words above during his induction as President of the University of Notre Dame.  A college that was started by one 30 year old French priest named Father Sorin.  A man who didn't like to be told what to do and a big dream.  He built a one building college for priests in rural Indiana.  And then, it burned to the ground.  On that day, Father Sorin said, "“I came here as a young man and dreamed of building a great university in honor of Our Lady. But I built it too small, and she had to burn it to the ground to make that point. So, tomorrow, as soon as the bricks cool, we will rebuild it, bigger and better than ever.”  And the next day, once the bricks cooled, they did just that. 

Feet on the Turf

On Friday morning, we did the "tunnel tour" at Notre Dame, which lets people walk down the tunnel from the Irish locker room to the field, and to take pictures on the sidelines.  A fence blocks off the sideline area from the field.  While we stood on the sideline, I stuck my foot through a gap on the fence and touched my toes on the turf at Notre Dame Stadium.  I was so excited by this that I couldn't wait to post pictures on facebook.  I thought this was a dream come true.  Turns out, the story didn't end there.  As you know, on Saturday night at the end of an overtime victory for my beloved Irish, I wound up square in the middle of that field, both feet firmly on the turf.  All of a sudden, the whole toes on the grass thing seemed insignificant.

Full Circle

I've got a vivid memory of being a teenager standing in the kitchen at the Hepburn's house.  Mrs. Hepburn asked me what I was going to do when I grew up.  Never having an actual answer to this question, I said something like working at a bank or something.  She looked at me and said, "You're meant for bigger things than that.  You need to be a doctor or lawyer or something bigger."  I had never though about being meant for something bigger.  And idea was planted that day.  An idea that it was okay to aim for bigger things.

On Thursday, Baby  Hepburn seemed pretty unsure about the idea of going to school at Notre Dame.  Over the next 72 hours, I watched her entire mindset change.  While she was talking to the cute tour guide on campus, or walking around St. Mary's lake, or cheering for the Irish at the football game....somewhere, she had the same realization that I had in her parents' kitchen all those years ago.  It was okay to dream big, to think that she was destined for bigger things.



The Take Away Message
 

Father Sorin, Baby Hepburn, and I, we have something in common:  we dream too small.  Maybe you do as well.  Think about it.  How often in our lives do we aim too low?  How often to do settle for our toe touching the turf and never look back?  How often do we let a setback--like a fire--deter our plans?  How often do we accept the lie that we are not good enough?  Probably more often than we'd like to imagine.

And what great things do we miss out on by dreaming too small?  Running marathons?  Curing cancer?  Falling in love?  Writing books?  Laying on a beach?  Ending hunger?

What could we achieve if we set our goals higher and dreamed our dreams bigger?  What if we went for it and never looked back? 

We might end up building one of the premier universities in America.

We might end up smack dab in the middle of the field singing the alma mater next to All-Americans and snapping pictures with Heisman hopefuls and head coaches.

We might end up applying to a dream school and looking forward to four years that would shape our life.

"Let no one ever again say we dreamed too small." 

Lesson learned.  Thank you, Notre Dame.

Notre Dame 2012: The Rest of the Story!

"The best thing I ever learned in life was that things have to be worked for. A lot of people seem to think there is some sort of magic in making a winning football team. There isn't, but there's plenty of work." ~Knute Rockne

So yesterday you read about my rushing the field experience at Notre Dame.  Well, in a minute, you're going to read the rest of the story. :)  See, my family has been friends with the Hepburns for years.  My grandma and mom set up Mr. and Mrs. Hepburn in high school.  I used to babysit the little Hepburns when I was in high school.  So when they asked me to go along with them as tour guide for Baby Hepburn to do a college visit to Notre Dame, well you know I was all in.

We kicked off the trip with a flying dash through DFW after a slight delay and even slighter lay over.  There was some stress, but after a nice run to up our heart rates, we made the plane and arrived in Chicago.  If you guys know me at all, you know good and well where the first stop on our tour was.....Bongo Room.  That's right, folks, home of the infamous pretzel pancakes!  We met up with Notre Dame Friend and stuffed our faces.  And, because she's the sweetest person on the planet, ND Friend made us some of her world-famous cookies for the drive to South Bend.  You know, to wash down the pretzel pancakes.  We're kindrid spirits, me and her!

Next up was a tour of the Notre Dame campus.  We started off with the tunnel tour, which let us walk down the player's tunnel and stand on the sidelines of Notre Dame stadium.  This was super exciting at the time, but seems kinda lame after the whole rushing of the field that happened 24 hours later! 

Next we did the actual campus tour led by a kid from NM that knows Hepburn's cousins.  Small world, it is. 

While on wondering around campus, we ran into this lovely dog.  I'm usually not the kind of person who stops to see dogs, but this one was so cute.  He shook my hand and everything.  Then I asked his name.  The answer?  Rudy.  Of course....what else would you name a dog in South Bend?  Based on the picture below, I can now say I met Rudy on the Notre Dame campus.

Meeting Rudy

The next morning, we crawled out of our nice warm beds (I left comfy out...we were staying at a pretty unimpressive Red Roof Inn....there weren't lots of game day options in South Bend!) to do our Run for the Little Flower Project around St. Mary's lake with a stop off at the Grotto (you've read before about my love for the Grotto).  As you read about earlier this week, it was an awesome experience.  And we had to take a classic jumping photo!

And then, it was time for all of the game day activities.  We did it up right.  Bag pipers playing in front of the Main Building.  Trumpets playing under the dome.  Eating burgers and steak sandwiches from student groups on campus. 

I also took some time to snap some game day shots that I thought were touching, but are of kids who I don't know.  I'm probably going to get arrested for this one day.

There was also some extra excitement because College Game Day was on campus!  We got to see the crew (and I refrained from yelling mean things at Kirk Herbstreit) and the sight was great, right between the stadium and Touchdown Jesus.

During our tour on Friday, we learned about four different statues on campus that have been re-named by students with football related names.  You know me, I love anything football related, so Baby Hepburn and I decided we should pose with each of the four to share with my blog friends.

First Down Moses

Fair Catch Corby

The Holy Hand Off

Touchdown Jesus

And then it was game time.  You know already how much I loved that. Yes, it was cold and rainy.  And Notre Dame kept things way too close for my taste.  And our popcorn was way too salty.  But it was AWESOME. 

I said this two years ago when I came to my very first game, but game day at Notre Dame is something everyone should do.  There really is nothing like it.  I could not be more grateful to have had this experience (again!) with such amazing people.  I am truly blessed.  And Go Irish!