Rob and Amy Holleman

Side note on new years resolution --moderation is key

2011-09-06T21:53:00.002-04:00

I didn't spend any money for those couple months and I believe it backfired...we bought a house, a driveway, a basketball hoop, weight equipment, clothes, shoes etc.

Next years resolution: Do all things in moderation.

Kind of funny if you think about it. Now I'm enjoying spending money a bit too much! What can I say, helping the economy out!

It's been awhile...

2011-09-06T21:04:00.003-04:00

Well readers...I know you have anxiously waiting for this. I haven't written in a very long time and I think it's because I'm ashamed of my failure on my new years resolutions. I have read some more books but I don't remember what they are. Here is a brief update of the last few months...

July 21 we bought our first house. We now live in Dexter in a wonderful house. We spent the summer just relaxing and barely left all summer. Last week they finished putting in our concrete driveway with ample space for our "goal-rilla" basketball hoop. I think the space is big enough for a 3 point line almost all the way around. Probably not all the way to the corners but I was never much of a corner shooter anyway, too confining.

Our basement is my most favorite part of the house. It is 800 square feet open span (no poles or walls) with wood floor (think yoga flooring) and 10 foot ceilings (important for weight lifting because if you are doing a standing shoulder press the weights don't hit the ceiling, you can also do step ups without hitting your head). It is a walkout basement with huge windows that will eventually be very expensive to replace. Rob and I bought some nice gym equipment and now we never have to leave our house! I've enjoyed having my Dexter girls over for some lifting this summer. Wade has lots of room to run, play, and jump on our old king size mattress. I could go on and on about how I love our house but that would be boring. Just come see it sometime!

Wade is nearing 2 years old. He is starting to babble more and say some more words but really he isn't much of a talker (gets that from his dad). His words right now are, hot, mamma, dada, papa, theo, eggs (sounds like ass), tato (potato), all done, thank u, kitty, and no.

His favorite toys are any type of cars or trains. His favorite thing to do is dive onto the mattress on the bed and he also loves to grab us by the shorts and make us go to a certain spot. aka..boss us around. His favorite movie is "Cars" and I will admit we probably allow him to watch it too often. The kid doesn't sit still so when he does sit and watch a movie I don't really mind.

We went for 1.5 monts without cable and just recently caved. Cable guy is coming sometime tomorrow. Rob bought the baseball channel when we moved in and we had been watching Wade's movies. It will be nice to have t.v. back. We were just being cheap and seeing how long we could last. I actually really enjoy "Cars". The other night I asked Rob if we could watch it because we hadn't seen it in a couple days. I did cry the first time I saw Lightning slam on his breaks and throw it in reverse to go help out the other car. I'm such a sap..and no I'm not pregnant I just tear up easily at that kind of stuff.

My dad and mom have helped with a lot of house projects. We built shelves in the basement, painted the kitchen, bathroom, and Wade's room, and just lots of general organizing. Peg specializes in this.

Next on the list is to get the basketball hoop assembled and up so we can use it before it snows.

Other than a couple beach days we didn't really go anywhere this summer. We did go up to Traverse City for a long weekend early in the summer but we were very content in our new house here in Dexter.

Next trip is back to Scottsdale, Arizona with Rob's college roommates and kids for a Halloween vacation! Basically we wanted to squeeze in 1 more airplane trip before Wade turns 2 (fly free until age 2) in November and get away before basketball takes over our lives this winter.

Rob will be coaching the JV boys at Dexter and I'll be coaching the JV girls again this year. This will be Rob's first year and we will be very busy shuffling Wade here and there. Should make winter go by fast.

I'm still personal training some (15 hours per week) and giving basketball lessons (6-8) hours per week to kids in Dexter. I love doing it and look forward to working with them right here in my driveway soon. Rob is still working at the VA hospital as a data analyst but is job seeking and may have a lead (has had a couple interviews with the company). He also recently got certified as a personal trainer (NASM). Passed the test and barely studied..ughh.

I am a bit out of practice and I promise my blogs won't be as boring and dry next time. This is more of a recap blog...I'll do better next time.

Deciding if I cheated on my resolution

2011-04-28T21:10:00.002-04:00

Book update:

Book 14: Kite Runner (recommended by Paul Steih)

Book 15: Big Girl (recommended by Laura Becker)

I'm only a book or two behind schedule. I've very surprised because it doesn't seem like I've been reading that often.

Shopping update:

At my work they are now selling the clothing line called "Lucy". The clothes are expensive but comfortable and we get a nice discount. I came home with some clothes and I told Rob I wanted to quit on my resolution. He bailed me out by saying that I could have the clothes for Mother's Day (yeah I know it isn't Mother's Day yet). Then I went to Meijer and I was looking at tank tops and I found a bunch of them for dirt cheap $4.99 each to be exact. I couldn't resist. I bought 9 tank tops with the thought that instead of the expensive clothes I would rather have lots of different color tank tops for work. So, I bought (I mean Rob bought for me) 1 pair of capris from work and 9 tank tops from Meijer.

Now the dilemma...if I say that I failed and that I gave up on my resolution then it might be all down hill..or I could say that all of it was for Mother's Day since Rob was going to buy me 2 tanks, pair of pants, and capris anyway. I'm going with the latter. I'm saying that all of it was for Mother's Day because I really don't want to turn back into the mass consumer that I once was just a few months ago.

I also bought a book that is work related so I guess I need to write another amendment stating that I can buy books that are work related. I did buy it on Amazon "used" for 7 dollars so at least I didn't go to Barnes and Noble and get it for 24.

And then Rob needed some new shorts so he bought some and I found another dang tank top at Kohls (bad store for me to be in)...and I'm calling that another Mother's Day present. Now I'm going to "lock down" till my birthday (May 17) and not find any excuses for my purchases.

I will not give up. This is just a little speed "bump" and I will recover and continue to strive for less. I am proud of myself for how long I did make it though. Solid 4 months is pretty damn good, for a female.

April update

2011-04-12T12:40:00.002-04:00

Book 12: Zookeepers Wife (recommended by Esther Ullman)

Book 13: Bridge of Sighs (recommended by Carol Cole)

My team bought me a gift card to Dicks Sporting Goods so I decided that I could shop if I use a giftcard. I found shoes that I wanted and the total was .69 cents more than what I had. So I have officially blown my resolution unless I write another amendment.

Amendment #1: Use of gift cards are ok.

Amendment #2: Must be over 1 dollar to count against my resolution.

So, I still haven't bought anything. I thought I needed a new rug for our house but I just shifted a rug from another room and that took care of that need/desire. Still going strong. I have been struggling lately because I'm headed to Arizona this Thursday. Whenever I go on vacation I always think I need new clothes. It has been tough I will admit. I want to go to Old Navy so bad. I will not go though. I have plenty of clothes.

Another struggle has been at work. My gym has decided to torture me with selling a clothing line, Lucy, and I want to buy some pants sooo bad! I get 40% off and so it is killing me. They are still ridiculously expensive so I will not do it. Everyday I am being tested. If I make it to the end of the year, January 1, 2012 will be a big shopping day! If I make it....

Book 11 - and Shopping Amendment

2011-03-25T21:14:00.002-04:00

Book 11 - Love the one your with - quick read. chick book. Not much to say about it. Easy read. Nice follow up to my 670 pager.
I'm 1 book behind schedule but almost finished with one so I am just about on schedule actually.

Shopping Amendment

Last night we had our end of the season basketball banquet and I received a gift card to Dicks Sporting Goods from my generous team. Back in January, I never specified if I was allowed to shop with a gift card. I have decided that I am allowed to shop with the gift card and it will not count against me (I love making up the rules.) I am still "clean" with no shopping. This week at Target I almost bought Wade a little toilet, coat, and some foam things for the bath. I actually had them in my shopping cart and when I approached the check out counters I took a beeline straight to the Starbucks counter and ditched my cart deciding that my mom could probably find all these things at a garage sale for under $5. Another victory for me! I am safe for another day! With ever shopping trip that ends in success I gain more and more confidence.

I will let you all know what I decide to buy with my gift card. It seems so much harder to chose what I want because it will probably be my only item for the rest of the year = ) I'm thinking new shoes or maybe a new pair of workout pants as mine are getting a little "grubby." Even typing those words I kind of sigh and ask myself, "do I really need them?" This resolution has really changed me.

I never thought I'd be able to read this many book or not shop. I have many people telling me that I should not deprive myself but I've gone this long now and I don't know if anything will feel worth buying ever again (slight exaggeration). Wade will need some things eventually but Rob can handle picking up some shoes or pants.

Moral of the story is, set your goals high because you never know what you can achieve unless you try.

Book 10...finally completed

2011-03-18T10:33:00.003-04:00

Book 10
Cutting for Stone: 670 pages (should count for 2 books if you ask me)
Finally finished it. Good but could of been even better if it was half the length. I think it took me about 3 weeks to finish this one. I am a bit behind now so I will have to pick it up a little (aka, read some short quick chick books).

Frisco Lodge Colorado March 2011

2011-03-13T23:18:00.000-04:00

Rob and I are currently in Frisco, Colorado. We are at a small lodge 20 minutes from Vail, 15 min to Breckenridge. I highly recommend this lodge to anyone who is on a budget. $99 bucks per night, free full breakfast, free wine and snacks after the mountain, and a hot tub. At Vail you can easily spend about $350.00 per night so I feel pretty good about our choice of lodging. My dad has been here numerous times and recommended it to us.

We arrived last night and the roads were completely dry with no snow in sight. We woke up this morning, opened our door, and had been blessed with 5-6 inches of fresh Colorado powder! What a wonderful surprise!

We headed off to Vail because there is nothing better than the back bowls at Vail with fresh powder. I only say this because without the powder to slow us down we wouldn't even try to tackle them. The powder enables the "average" skier or snowboarder to experience the vast openness of the back mountain. It takes about 1 hour (4 chairlifts and 3 runs) to get to the back bowls --Pete's bowl. At breakfast, a nice older gentlemen filled us in on how to get back to the bowls and you should of seen how excited he was to share his knowledge. He was verydisappointed that his daughter wanted to go to A-basin instead of Vail today. When his daughter was up getting some more coffee he said, "I don't want to ski anywhere but Vail. I've been skiing it my whole life and I don't want to waste my time at A-basin or anywhere else." So, in a way he was living vicariously through us. I hope he had a nice time at A-basin = )

Rob and I found some amazing runs in the trees (and both had some near collisions with the trees) and enjoyed making fresh marks in the powder. We boarded about 17,000 vertical feet at Vail. The "winner" of the day skied over 100,000 vertical feet. They have this great computer system that you can log onto after you ski and check your vertical feet. Every time you go up a chairlift it records it and approximates your vertical feet. We only took 1 break for lunch and we were so wiped on the last run down. The last run was 4 miles long and it was not easy! I thought we were never going to reach the bottom. Rob claimed his legs felt like spagetti and mine were more like jello.

This trip marks our first time away from Wade. We both miss him but are enjoying all the free lounging around time at night. We went to a nice dinner (Rob even had some of my fries and we had a brownie dessert!) and are recovering from our first day on the slopes. Wade is staying with my Mom and my Aunt Mary. They took Wade to the circus today and I guess he had the most fun watching the elephants, chickens, and ducks (since when are there ducks at the circus?)

Snowboarding is very hard if you haven't done it in a couple years. My body aches all over. I took a couple good falls and I'm sure I'll be feeling it even worse in the morning. We plan to hit up Breckenridge tomorrow and do some "less intense" boarding.

The fresh mountain air makes you feel alive. The temperatures were near perfect. It snowed in the morning and was sunny in the afternoon. What a most perfect ski day! Hopefully more tomorrow!

I'll post some pictures when we get home.

Update NYR

2011-03-07T21:12:00.003-05:00

Well it is now March and I am proud to say that I still haven't bought anything. I will admit that I did buy a storage bin for the basement for Wade's clothing that he has outgrown but being Type A, I consider this a necessity. Some will say this is cheating, and I say to them...baa mind your beezness, this is my goal.

I bought the storage bins because we are on the house hunt, hard core. Let me describe to you what that means.

Here is how I spend my free time:

1. Searching new homes online

2. Meeting with my realtor on a weekly basis to view homes

3. Constantly thinking about houses

4. So consumed by it I can hardly do anything else.

5. The worst is when I literally star placing our furniture in the "new" house (the house we haven't even placed an offer on). I start erecting the basketball court in my mind. It is so exhausting to live like this and I know it is very unhealthy and I know I should just relax and quit moving in and out of these "potential" houses.

I do enjoy looking but I just can't believe how hard this has been. We started looking last year and then decided that we should save a few more pennies so we can put down a substantial downpayment. So we saved and now we are in a much better position to purchase a house that is bigger than a shack.

We still haven't found the perfect house, and I'm not sure there is one. We seem to be getting closer and kicking ideas around of putting an offer out on one.

For those of you who don't know anything about Ann Arbor I will fill you in a little so you can better understand our predicament.

Ann Arbor is ridiculously expensive! For example, a nice ranch 1500 sq feet in Ann Arbor is easily over 200,000 dollars. We really value a close commute and we do really want to be in town. We looked outside of town but we aren't sold.

Book Reading:

As for my book per week...I am on track but I am at a standstill. House hunting has consumed me and I can't even focus on a book. If I finish my current book by the end of this week I will be on track (not looking likely though).

I currently can do 8 pull-ups (all the way down to a dead hang) on the first set and my goal is 10. Second set is only about 5 reps. (I'm just posting this so I can track my progress.)

Wade's latest fun is playing in his empty diaper box, trying to stand on top of the kitchen table, climbing on all the furniture, and blowing lots of kisses. He sort of says "yes" and he puts together sounds and we can tell what he is trying to say. For instance, "u do it" is a nice three syllable grunt.

Life is good. We leave for Colorado on Saturday (Rob and I..Wade is staying with Gma and Gpa) to hit Vail, Breckenridge, and maybe Beaver Creek. We are looking forward to our first trip away from the boopermagooper aka bumblebee joseph aka bee, because he is busy as a bumblebee.

NYR update

2011-02-24T09:42:00.004-05:00

Time for my NYR update. .

Forgive my ignorance...I can't figure out how to rotate this picture of Wade. This shot was taken at Sears at 14 months old.

Also, the picture of me in the Nash jersey, I only posted that because one has to be able to laugh at oneself. We had quite a fun night playing dress up. Youth, size small. I bought the jersey for Wade for his first birthday but I think he is going to have to wait till his 4th birthday to actually wear it.

Reading update

Book 8: "In Thin Air" suggested by, Mr. Cares

Book 9: "Change of Heart" taken out of a garage of my client.

Written by Jodi Picoult. I absolutely hated this book and I honestly decided that it was worth my time to quit. I read about 3/4 of the book so technically this book shouldn't count officially. I give myself credit for making it as far as I made it. It was hard to quit. I finally tossed it on the floor and said, "Enough is enough. I am not reading another page of this awful book. Complete waste of time.

This has shown me that I really enjoy non-fiction books or historical fiction. Fiction is starting to seem like a bunch of crap.

In Thin Air, was a great book about a Mt. Everest climb. I learned a lot and realized that I never ever want to climb a huge mountain like Everest. It was what I call "heavy, factual reading." When I finished it was hard to start another book because it left such a weight on my heart.

Ballhandling update

As for my ballhanding, it is not good. I need to get back at that goal. I won't say I am giving up but I haven't been moving forward. What do they say again, "if you aren't getting better, you are probably getting worse."

Shopping update!!!

They say, "the proud will fall." Well, I am very proud that I haven't bought a single thing yet this year. We are saving money like crazy and I don't even crave shopping anymore. Sometimes on a nice sunny 40 degree day it does make me want to get out and shop in anticipation for spring weather. I have been to the mall a number of times with Wade and I haven't even browsed. Wade likes the pink ice cream truck at the mall (small mechanical car) so we go to hang out in the pink truck. The strong train, and fast motorcycle doesn't seem to interest him at all. Future entrepreneur?

New resolution

My latest and greatest resolution is to not sit on the couch. I will be like the people of the east..floor sit. My back hurts so much from our furniture. I started this one today = )

Coaching update

Other news...my JV girls basketball team is 17-2. Both of our losses were 3 points or less so I take full responsibility for the losses. Losing one or two keeps a coach humble. (That's my defense mechanism kicking in.) We had a team "sleepover" that I attended in my pink penguin pajamas (although I didn't actually sleep over) and had a blast. The things you can learn from 15 and 16 year old girls. wow. Just being with them for a few hours I learned so much about each of their personalities. We "should of" done that earlier in the year.

March is almost here and now comes perseverance. Two months has been a piece of cake, can I do 3 months?

Book 6 and 7

2011-02-04T15:13:00.003-05:00

Book 6: "Reliable Wife" - recommended by Carol Cole - client

Book 7: "Angela's Ashes"- Recommended by Esther Ullman- client

Both books were not my favorite to read. I plowed through them just for the great feeling that one has when you complete a book. "Reliable Wife" could of been written in about 30 pages total. Angela's Ashes kept my interest but I think I prefer more uplifting novels. This was about a family in Ireland back in the 1940's. Sad, sad times.

I have not gone shopping but I did have to buy a baby shower gift this past weekend. That doesn't count against me. Gifts are ok, not everyone should suffer.

Wade is in his room right now yelping for me to come and get him. He is like a caged lion sometimes. Actually he is more like a raging bull the way he slams into the door! He is starting to sit next to us and watch his Baby Einstein a little. He is not one to cuddle. He is also starting to bring he favorite books to us so that he can sit on our lap and read. Things are looking better.

Winter blahs.

January 27th- New Years Resolutions update

2011-01-27T17:08:00.003-05:00

5 books completed

"Swan Thieves": recommended by Kroger grocery store

"The Shack": recommended by Zayrn Jennings (dexter basketball player)

"Psychological Defenses" : recommended by Rob Holleman

"Water for Elephants" : recommended by Olivia Cares (dexter basketball player)

"Tell No One": recommended by Esther Ullman (client)

No shopping or returning! I can hardly believe it myself!

Appreciate my "things" more since I can't buy new things.

Having lots of fun asking others for good book recommendations. I guess this is what a good book club would feel like.

I "should" take Wade to the pool. . .

2011-01-27T12:51:00.004-05:00

For the last couple months I've been telling myself that I "should" (a very dangerous word that brings guilt upon oneself) take Wade to the indoor community pool. I think I bought swim diapers about 2 month ago so that I would be prepared when I finally found the gusto to make the trip.

Why of all days did I chose today? I don't think I could of picked a worse day. I was up late last night mopping floors at Coach me Fit, I was up this morning at 4:50 am so I could be back to Coach me Fit to train my 5:30 am client so was on little sleep. I was tired, hungry, and grumpy before I even left the house. I had the mindset, "that's it we are doing this today so I can cross it off my mental list!" (Stupid Type-A personality, ugh)

As I prepared us for the pool (45 minutes of finding bathing suits, changing diapers, gathering towels) my spirits were actually starting to pick up. I thought, well this could be fun Wade likes to swim.

We arrived at "Mack" indoor pool at 11:20, 10 minutes before "tot swim". I was envisioning at least 5-7 kids with their moms swimming and laughing in the pool. We paid our $4.00 entrance fee and entered the desolate old grungy locker room - not a good first impression. I was still optimistic that it could be a good time. The nice man at the counter told us it was nice and warm so enjoy which really helped build more optimism.

We enter the pool deck...not one person in the "tot" pool. There were no mom's, no kids, no nothing. A lone basketball hoop and a laundry basket full of balls sat poolside. There were four old geezers swimming in the lap pool which made me feel more comfortable in my bikini. Still I had some hope. There was a hoop and balls, how bad could it be.

My first touch of the water was "chilling" a bit shocking actually. The sign on the wall said the air temp was 81 and the water temp was 81 degrees. This made me question the temperature of my own showers, 120 degrees? At first I could barely bare the water. I slowly glided in and held Wade close in my arms stealing his warmth. Let me tell you, when I finally put some water on Wades feet he was not happy! Instant tears and screams. I thought to myself, "give it time he will get used to it." We went and shot some baskets while Wade held onto the top of my bikini for dear life. This would be a great blog entry if somehow he ripped it off, but he didn't so just get your mind out of the gutter.

I gave wade a ball to hold on to and honestly he wouldn't let go of the ball. His lips were turning a bit purple, he was shivering and didn't look like he was enjoying his first indoor swimming experience. I tried to pry the ball out of his hands by pulling both arms away from his body. Wade is a strong little dude and I couldn't believe how tight he was holding onto this ball, maybe we have a future weight lifting champion in the Holleman family.

Eventually, we did have some fun as our bodies developed a tolerance for the water temperature. Wade did some jumps off the edge and went under once or twice. He did some walking in the shallow end but after about 40 minutes we were done.

So we exit the pool deck and I pull open the women's locker room and a large arctic blast hits my entire body. "Holy shit" are my exact words. I quick shut the door. I look around to try to express my emotion to anyone. I want to yell out, "You gotta be kidding me? It is so frickin' cold in there." There is no one there to express my disbelief. How could that locker room be that frickin' cold? I wrap our towels around us and we enter the cold cave. The strange thing is, I didn't notice the cold temperature on the way into the locker room so here are the facts:

Air outside : 19 degrees

Air in locker room: 55 degrees (which feels warm compared to outside)

Air on pool deck: 81 (whatever that must be an embellished lie)

Water temperature: 81 degrees (complete bullshit)

Things I learned:

1. Swimming is something you do in the summer when it is hot outside

2. Wade is as sissy as his dad when dealing with cold water and air temperatures

3. Don't give in to you "should's". Listen to what your instincts are telling you. All my instincts told me it wasn't a good idea and I didn't listen.

4. I realized how it is very important that we do not encourage Wade to join the swim team as I hate the whole "process" of getting ready for swimming.

5. It is exhausting trying to find Wade other kids to be around. Everywhere we go there is only me, him, and a basketball hoop.

Needless to say, we will not be going back to the pool, ever. I will wait till the short Michigan summer hits and we will hit up the outdoor community pools.

P.S. I pray that Wade sleeps for at least 2 hours since this blog entry took me so long to type.

January 13th

2011-01-13T11:06:00.002-05:00

This morning I wanted to go to the mall and return something. I told Rob about it and his comment was, "so now shopping is called returning?" He got me. Instead, I finished up Book 3 and relaxed. The mall is only an escape from the real world. I'm still staying strong. Haven't bought anything and my list on Rob's Ipod is getting bigger.

Day 8

2011-01-08T19:01:00.002-05:00

So far so good...no shopping..still reading. Haven't finished book 2 yet but almost done. I'm starting to realize that the reading goal might be a bit unrealistic. I'm not giving up yet but I might have to alter it to 3 books a month or something.

Day 5 - Letting go

2011-01-05T19:25:00.002-05:00

Well, I have made it 5 complete days! I haven't bought anything. Rob keeps asking me, "so you getting anxious yet?" and I really am not. Sometimes when I really put my mind to something I can really do it.

I have decided that everyday I am going to "let go" of something that I own. It could be something as silly as an old notebook or something bigger like some old clothes. This should be fun. This will help if we ever decide to move out of this house once June rolls around.

I am on my 2nd book and so I am ahead of schedule in that area. Wade and I went to REI to return a shirt today and I let him "browse" around and I didn't do any "looking". I left $36 dollars richer.

So no begins my "letting go" phase. I'll keep you all updated. I can't even imagine how much money we are going to save this year.

Day 2 - Mastery

2011-01-02T18:50:00.002-05:00

Day 2 is almost finished and I am proud to say that I haven't bought anything yet! wooohoo!

Don't worry I won't bore you daily with how my resolutions are going but I wanted to add a few things. I have almost finished my first book of the New Year, "Swan Thieves", and have enjoyed it thoroughly. It has kept my mind off shopping and helped me relax over this nice holiday break.

Rob and I have decided that it is important to continue to strive towards "mastery" of something. We brainstormed and both decided that we were going to "master" ballhandling. This will aide in my shopping resolution because it will keep me busy as I will need to get my practice in daily. Neither of us were every "great" ballhandlers and that is why we decided that it is never too late. I play in a women's recreation league on Thursday's and we both play in a men's church league on Saturday mornings so our new skills will be helpful.

I'm not sure how long it is going to take to "master" ballhandling but we are going to make a full effort at this. Maybe we will work at it for the entire year, maybe half a year. We are not sure yet. We even downloaded a great app for Rob's ipod that is taking us step by step to help better our ballhandling. Session 1 didn't go that great. Rob and I got in a fight about a specific drill and he said I was going to fast and that I always hurry ahead. Hopefully tomorrow will go better.

We aren't going to practice what we have always done. "If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you always got" --that being mediocracy. We are going to research new ideas and challenge ourselves to take it to the next level. For example, I have never been able to effortlessly dribble between my legs and drive in for a layup. This is one of the things that I will work to master.

Bryan, when we come visit you next fall we will have to play some one on one. I'm getting bored with kicking your butt in H-O-R-S-E anyway = ) . Now it is time to go read my book so that I can start a new one.

Good night!

Last day of shopping!

2011-01-01T11:21:00.003-05:00

Today is the first day of the rest of my life. It is a new year, 2011. I have already stated that one of my new years resolutions is to not shop at all for "things" in 2011. Rob is convinced that this is only going to bring on "more shopping than normal". He thinks that when I "cave" I'm going to go on a gigantic shopping spree and spend more money then usual. I will prove him wrong. Isn't that what marriage is all about? The sheer competitiveness that every day brings? Oh wait, I'm getting confused, marriage isn't about proving the other wrong it is about being supportive in each and every way.

Last night (New Years Eve), I told him that I had to get some last minute shopping done before the New Year. I had a few returns to do from Christmas and a few exchanges as well. Then I started to feel anxious. I thought to myself, I need a new bra before 2011 begins. There is no way I'll be able to go a whole year without a new bra. So I went shopping by myself (every women knows that bra shopping is not fun and must be done alone without a nagging husband/baby waiting for you outside the fitting room asking when you are going to be done).

Alone at the Briarwood mall cell phone in hand so that the kiosk people won't confront me, I said goodbye to the bright lights and the useless apparel and "things." It was actually kind of sad thinking that I would not be able to use this mall for my "therapy" sessions. I reassured myself that I would have other outlets for therapy in 2011.

I started at JCpenny and had zero success. Moved on the Victoria's secret and was very pleased with their service and how easy it was to bra shop. They were wonderful. I'd advice every female or male, for that matter, to at least go there and check out their service. No success.

Macy's was next, anxiety was starting to build that I would not have any "support" in 2011. Failure again. "How could Macy's fail me?" I started to think I had to go to Kohl's, my bread and butter. I took a deep breathe and moved on to Sears which ended up being worse than ever but I did buy something but it is by no means perfect. I started to think I need a boob job. I started to give up hope. I started to wonder, "do I even need to wear a bra? I do live in Ann Arbor and I know many people who skip out of this displeasurable article of clothing."

Finally, I put my old bra back on feeling the perfectness of it and said, well maybe this will have to do for the next year. It is perfect in every way. I took another breath and decided to just go home after almost 2 hours. Maybe this was my first learning lesson of my new years resolution.

"Use what you have until it is completely and utterly used up."

That is what I strive to do this year. Wear my most favorite shirts so many times that they look and feel used up by December of 2011. Wear my shoes out until there are holes in them and my feet get wet when I go outside (this will never happen because I have plenty of shoes).

Day 1 is here. I have one other resolution that I feel is really going to help me with my shopping resolution. I will read a book every week. Doesn't matter how long the book is, I just have to read a book (Wade's books do not count.) I do love to read but I am streaky, kind of like my shooting. When I'm hot, I'm hot. When I'm cold...there's a frost like no other.

I am confident in my endeavors and I will blog about how long my Valentines Day, St. Patricks Day, Columbus Day, Birthday, Halloween, Easter, and Christmas list get over the year. I have two things already on my list and I'm sure it will build dramatically as the year goes on. Actually, there are three things..just thought of another one. Now I must go tell Rob so he can enter it on his Ipod Touch (his new girlfriend) so that we don't forget all the useless things that I think I need/want.

Farewell! Pray for me.

This post is a reminder to myself...Think before I speak..

2010-12-30T17:08:00.004-05:00

Think before you speak. Don't speak when overly emotional. Remember that nothing that great ever comes from words spoken out of anger. Today at my game I was very upset with a player and instead of doing the grown up thing (pull her aside and talk to her) I yelled at her in front of the team. I benched her for the entire game (this all happened before the game even started) for being disrespectful.

Why do I feel so bad about it?

Is it because she is only 16? Is it because I'm a mom now and I'm becoming soft? Something had to be done but it didn't have to be that way. I regret the way that the situation took place and hopefully I will learn from it. How did Bobby Knight live with himself when he berated his players day in and day out? I think I'm getting soft. I am. shit.

Next time I will just breathe and think it through.

Wade 13.75 months

2010-12-28T13:21:00.002-05:00

Wade is nearing the 14 month mark. At age 1 we moved him to a big boy bed on the floor. He really liked it right away. There was a learning curve at first as he thought he could walk out of the bed and not fall down. After some bad falls he soon learned to go down backwards to get out of bed. Once in a while at night we will hear him fall out of bed and cry for a second so we get up and put him back in bed. No blood no foul.

He is saying mamma, dadda, and something that sounds like "drink" "bird" "tree" but they aren't really words yet. He is almost running as his walking is getting faster and faster. He started to walk at 10.5 months old. He has outgrown his little basketball hoop that Derek and Laura bought him for his birthday a year ago. For Christmas we brought home a bigger Little Tikes basketball hoop for him to use in the living room and he is dunking on it like a champ! He can't "shoot" it yet but he dunks it over the rim. He makes 2 handed "passess" with the big basketball and sometimes does "no look" Steve Nash passes as well.

The other day I asked him for a hug because we were having a nice time on the bed playing (note: when I ask him to hug his stuffed animals he always does) and instead of a hug he chucked his matchbox car at my head. Must be love..ahhh. I didn't get mad and I didn't get even either. That will be the last time I ask for a hug. He will hug me when HE feels like it.

He is really enjoying baby einstein videos and waves "bye bye" when the video is all finished. He waves bye bye and hello as well. At the basketball games he loves to wave at the crowd and entertains all that are above him. He still weighs about 23 lbs. Just like Theo.

We took him to a boys basketball game and he wanted to go out on the court so that was fun chasing him.

His diet is mainly scrambled eggs, hamburger patties, roast, dark chocolate, vit D milk, water, sweet potato, string cheese, blueberries, and ice cream.

Our diet is the same.

A few weeks ago we had a big snow storm so I took him outside and I put him in the snow and he didn't even move. He wasn't that into it I guess. Oh well, maybe next year.

That's a little update on our little man. He loves his blankie's and sadly he sucks on them like a pacifier. When his blankie isn't around he sucks on his own tongue like a pacifier.

December 2010

2010-12-28T12:34:00.003-05:00

Another year has gone by and in a few days another year will begin. Wade is almost 14 months old and is a happy little guy. This year for Xmas we decided to not buy presents for him figuring other people would buy him plenty of gifts. It was wonderful. We did feel a little guilty so we bought him a Christmas Mr. Potato Head and he seems to like his $5.00 Target gift. He is only 1 years old and our house is being overrun by toys. I can't imagine what 10 years of toys will bring. Rob and I will continue to downsize our "things" to fit his "things". Which brings me to my New Years resolution for 2011. Now, Rob claims that I made this my resolution last year and maybe I did but I think I'm more serious this time.

I will not buy anything for myself, Rob, or Wade in 2011.

I think this will need some specifics. "Anything" meaning:

1. Clothing

2. Shoes

3. House crap

4. Things

I can still buy things to maintain the house like cleaning products and such.

I can still go to the movies and spend money on entertainment and such.

I can still buy Birthday presents for family members and such as well.

So, this is going to be a very very hard task. Any female will attest. So I need a plan of action.

Step 1: Never go to Target. Old Navy or Kohl's. Never. Ever. Never Ever.

Step 2: Never go to return anything ever. Ever time I return things I buy more things. On the same frickin trip!

Step 3. When I want something I will tell Rob and he will put it on "my list" for xmas/birthday.

Step 4. Find a couple hobbies: Learn how to use my macbook, read more books, go to the gym to shoot hoops.

Step 5. Believe that I have ENOUGH/PLENTY and resist the temptation when I am bored to go shopping.

Step 6. Post blogs monthly about my adventures.

The reason for this radical resolution is not to "save more money". The reasons are very basic. This is to kill an addiction. A gross ugly addiction that is eating away at my very being. This is for discipline. This is for trying to live a more "zen" life. Of course this will definitely save money but that will just be an added plus.

So before January 1 hits I need to go return a couple things at the store and then take a deep breath and find some fun things to do in 2011.

I don't want another Christmas where I sit and twiddle my thumbs and say..."hmm I don't really need anything because I buy myself so much gd stuff all year long." It will feel good to wait.

Wish me luck. If I succeed maybe we will go to Hawaii or something fun with all the money we saved! I say there is about a 65% chance that I will succeed at this resolution. Rob will say that there is no way in hell I will be able to do this. My dad would say the same. Maybe I could just prove them wrong!

Some dates...

2010-08-15T20:29:00.003-04:00

Lift head up: 2-3 months
Army crawl: 7 months
Stand and walk furniture: 7.5 months
Stand on own and not realize it: 9.2 months
Eating meat and eggs by 9 months
Walking holding one of our hands 9.1 months
Our first movie date : 9 months
Sleeping through the night (most nights): 9 months
Still taking a morning and afternoon nap: 9.1 months
Standing in bathtub: 9 months
Dumping mouthwash onto the bathroom rug: 9 months
Slamming his own fingers in cupboard doors: 9 months
Opening drawers: 9 months
Crying when I leave the room: 9 months
4 teeth on top, 2 on bottom: 9 months
Doesn't want to sit in high chair: 9.1 months
Still likes it when mom dances in kitchen: 9 months
Really likes it when I headbang and let my hair go all over: 9 months
Laughing lots: 9 months
No talking really: 9 months
Still likes to go for long walks: 9 months
Still thinks it's funny when we brush our teeth: 9 months
Comes when I call him: 9.1 months
High five's me: 8 months
Still won't do patty cake..he must know that cake is bad for him.. 9 months
Still nursing: 9 months
Still hasn't taken a bottle: 9 months
Drinks from a sippy cup: 9 months
Likes egg yolk and yogurt: 8.5 months
Most noises are growling or crying: 9 months

Simple pleasures

2010-07-13T10:40:00.003-04:00

I was thinking about how much joy I get out of "life's simple pleasures". Here is my list...

1. Going for a walk and getting a coffee with Wade.
2. Putting Wade down for a nap.
3. Going to the gym and playing basketball all by myself.
4. Talking to Rob in the car after Wade has gone to sleep.
5. Taking a bath with Wade.
6. Watching Ellen
7. Talking to Rob after Wade goes to bed
8. Dark chocolate
9. Sitting on the front porch while Wade plays in his saucer outside
10. Talking to old friends on phone, text, or facebook.

Stop and appreciate the small wonderful moments in your life! There are so many.

Camping = Greater appreciation for thy home

2010-07-12T13:31:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we took a camping trip to Bruin Lake in Pinckney. We went with our friends Jay, Stephanie, and their two kids. We had a good time but camping is a lot of work! I have no idea why my mom liked to go camping when we were little. It is constant work. Wade was such a good boy though. I think he really liked being outside and he loved the lake too.
Needless to say, that will be the one and only camping trip this year. I have decided that I much prefer staying at someone's cottage!

Camping =

2010-07-12T13:31:00.000-04:00

Oh where O where did the time go...yet it feels like it stands still at times

2010-07-08T14:18:00.003-04:00

July 8th, 2010

I haven't blogged in quite some time. Something usually stops me and as sad as it is it is usually because I'm afraid that I'll have to enter a password that I can't remember.

Wade is now 8 months old and things are getting easier and harder all at the same time. Anyone who has had a baby or who has raised a baby can understand the whole time thing. The first 4 months were a blur, each single day seems like an eternity, and somehow he is already 8 months old? How is this possible? How can one 24 hour period seem like a month? Wade is walking around all of the furniture, pulling himself up in his crib, and pulling Theo's tail regularly! He hasn't figured out how to crawl (other than army crawl) but he prefers to walk. I think it is because our carpet isn't all that soft and the rest of our house has hardwood floors.

Speaking of hardwood floors...any HGTV watchers out there? If you ever watch any of the shows start keeping track of how many times the people mention how "wonderful" the hardwood floors are. We watch this station regularly and I cannot believe how it is mentioned in every single episode and if there is carpet don't worry they will find a way to say "I wonder if there are hardwood floors underneath this old shabby carpet." I don't know much about home building, but isn't there wood under all carpet?

Ok, back to the update...What else is Wade doing these days? Some say my generation is called the "selfish generation" and the selfish person in me wants to tell you what Rob and I have been up to instead of telling you all about Wade. So here it goes...

Things Rob and I enjoy when we don't have to take care of Wade:
1. Playing tennis
2. Playing basketball
3. Lifting weights
4. Drinking coffee

Doesn't that list seem too small? Yes it does! This is another simple joy of parenthood. You have such little time to spend with your spouse your list of things that you like to do together gets smaller and smaller. Things become super fun again because you finally get to take part in them again! (Don't get me wrong, Wade is great but man a child sure does put the brakes on all sorts of things.)

I am starting to sound kind of whiny. Those who know me well, you know that I can't mask it. There is no masking those true colors. Life with an 8 month old is a dream for some...those people probably really enjoy sitting around the house all day and are not Type A's. I am a Type A through n through. Some would say...why don't you go back to work? Get a babysitter. Bring Wade to daycare. Those are all great ideas but I really do enjoy spending MOST of the time with Wade. I love him and I can't imagine someone else getting to watch him do all his fun "firsts".

This blog is getting too long. I'm going to start a new one. Actually I'm going to re-read this one and decide if it is "blog worthy" and then edit it and post it.

If you live in a cold house...

2010-02-12T13:44:00.002-05:00

If you live in a cold house it is essential to stay warm. Let me start off by saying that I usually do not keep up with the fashion trends nor do I spend a lot of money on clothing.

Last Christmas Rob bought me a pair of Ugg boots. These boots are warm, fuzzy, brown, and quite tall. I loved them. I still love them. I love putting them on everytime. When I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is put on my boots. They are worth every penny that he paid for them.
Now that we live in an old cold house I wear my boots 24/7! I am getting so much use out of them this winter that it doesn't even matter that I can't wear my boots in the summertime because I'm making up for it now.
For "Wife's Day" Rob bought me another pair. Short black ones. You may be asking, "What is wife's day?" Well, wife's day is a special day where it is ok to buy your wife expensive things. It's not a Halmark holiday yet but I'm sure it will be soon enough.

So, here is my email to Rob from earlier this am:

Rule #1 : Always wear your Uggs.
Rule #2 : Never take your Uggs off even if you are in a rush (don't worry about getting carpet dirty)
Rule #3 : Coach in your Uggs
Rule #4 : Buy your husband a pair of Uggs so that you can get a second pair.
Rule #5 : Own at least 2 pair of Uggs in case your sister in law shovels the driveway in your Uggs and then she comes in and they are soaking wet ...must have a back up pair because they take a long time to dry.

I don't spend a lot of money on clothes or jewelry but I will say that these boots are quite expensive (especially if you are married to a Dutchman). These boots are the best thing that have ever happened to my feet and I know that everytime I slip my boot on my feet what to yell "Thank God I'm back in my Uggs"!

Some Wade pictures

2010-02-03T10:58:00.002-05:00

Here is Wade at about 10 weeks. I always dress him up cute and nice for our away games. He is sporting our team's colors with the maroon and gold.

Here is a picture of our 2009-2010 J.V. girls team. This is at Xmas time 2009. We won the Xmas tournament and took home some hardware!

This picture is when wade is 12 weeks old. We call him our little Wader Gator so I just had to buy this over priced onesie from Gymboree. It was worth it. He should fit in it for about another ...4 days. haha.

Here is Wade in his crib doing some more tummy time. He can really lift up now and looks all around.

Our new house guest

2010-01-26T16:36:00.003-05:00

For the months of January and February Rob's sister Lesa is living with us. I found her an 8th grade coaching job at Dexter and some other odd easy jobs on the side. She is also working at the YMCA partime.
I wasn't sure how it was going to work out with someone else living with us but it really has been wonderful. Even though we don't talk all the time during the day it is nice to know someone else is in the house with me and Wade.
The best is when we get home from the varsity basketball games. We just go crazy talking about Dexter basketball. Somehow lesa has learned just about every player in our program and she is in on every conversation. The amount of time spent talking about Dexter basketball is ridiculous. We talk about her 8th graders, our JV team, and of course the varsity.

She is being very tolerable with Wade's fussy time in the evening too.

We hold many "meat" parties in the kitchen and bacon making parties.

I'm glad that Lesa is here for these two long cold winter months. I'm really glad that she decided to move in.

Dance Dance Dance

2010-01-26T16:24:00.002-05:00

Wade is 11.5 weeks old and we are starting to figure out what to do with him now = ) After he eats he likes to play and do different activities for no longer than 1.5 hours. His play time consists of: 1. Lay on the ottoman while I dangle his favorite ladybug play toy over him. 2. Sit him in his bumbo chair and put a mirror in front of his face. 3. Sit on my lap and look at the big picture that hangs on our living room wall. 4. Lay him in his crib so he can look at his mobile that Grandma made him. 5. Do a little tummy time to strengthen his back and neck. 6. Maybe read a book to him or a few pages at least.

If I can get through all of those activities without tears I consider it a good day. Today we made it through all activities and I changed the activity at the right time which is key to his overall happiness.

After active playtime then he gets wrapped up in the blanket that his Aunt knitted him and then we head off to the kitchen to dance to his favorite songs from my Itunes play list.
1. I know you want me by Pitbull
2. I got a feeling by Black Eyed Peas
3. Meet me Halfway by Black Eyed Peas
4. Tick-Tock by Keisha
5. Three Little Birds by Bob Marley

Usually by Meet me halfway Wade is sleeping in my arms.

Not comes the tricky part. Will I be able to place him in his bouncy chair without waking him up? A sloppy put down means more dancing in the kitchen and a possible re-wrap in his blanket. I could be looking at an extra 5-15 minutes.
I had 2 sloppy "put downs" today but on the third one he finally fell asleep.

That is what I do between the hours of 10 - 4 pm. We usually watch "Ellen" while Wade is eating "breastfast" I mean breakfast. = )

When I have time to myself while he is sleeping I usually sit in the kitchen and write emails, lift weights in the basement, or maybe watch TV.

So ....that is what we do everyday. I can't believe how good it feels to finally be in some sort of a routine. Although, usually once I say that Wade changes it on me the next day!

Labor November 7th, 2009

2009-12-10T13:17:00.004-05:00

Ok it has been a while since I've blogged. I think I have given myself enough time to reflect on my labor before blogging about it. If I would of blogged right away it might have been a very negative blog if you know what I mean.

My water broke on Friday around 3:30 in the afternoon. I called Rob and told him to come home and I called my Dr. and he said to come in right away. We were in triage for about 1.5 hours if I remember correctly. There are some gross details that I could share with you all but I think you will be thankful that I am choosing not to share those particular details.

We were admitted to labor and delivery and we were both quite excited. My contractions were not very strong but they were pretty close together. My plan was to get an epidural when the pain seemed intolerable. A couple hours later they decided they wanted to put an internal monitor inside of me. The Dr. couldn't get it passed Wade's head so it was very painful. I hadn't had my epidural yet but needless to say after 2 tries (failing both times) I was begging for the anesthesiologist to stab me in the back with that gigantic needle! He was up to our room in a jiffy.

I felt relief right away and was so thankful. Hours went by and I wasn't dilated very far. I think I was only 4-5 cm when I asked for my epidural. The next time they checked I was 6 cm and I was very disapointed that it was taking so long. The next time they checked I was 10 cm and ready to go! I was in shock, all the sudden I wasn't ready! They said I was ready to push and I was like.."what push...oh boy". The first push was a really good one. The Dr. saw Wade's head and he sounded optamistic. Well, that gave me some false hope because it took nearly 2.5 hours before I actually delivered the little guy. I had to have a episiotomy and the vacuum was used to get Wade out. I was actually begging the Dr. to use anything he had to get him out! I didn't care at that point what it would take I needed him out. They didn't use the vacuum until Wade's heart rate started to drop and I was then put on oxygen.

Wade was born at 8:56 am and weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz 19 inches long. I was so exhausted and angry that truthfully I didn't even want to hold the little guy right away (I know it is sad that I am admitting that). They had me on oxygen towards the end of the pushing and after all is said in done, my epidural had worn off during all of the actual pushing. That is why I was in so much pain!

The worst part of it all was the hour it took for them to try to deliver my placenta. He pushed and pushed on my tummy and it wouldn't come out. So he had to go in with his hand and tear it out. Well, he went in and it hurt like hell and it tore in half and had to go back in a second time to get the remainder out.

After 6 weeks I finally don't cringe or get weak in the knees reading this story. Wade is such a blessing and we love him dearly. I'm a mom now and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Random

2009-10-23T21:46:00.002-04:00

This picture of me stretching is when I officially had my worst day of pregnancy. It is about 4 am and we are at a rest stop just outside of Ann Arbor. We were heading home from the U2 concert and I was the most miserable person in that car for the 4 hours. I made Rob stop when we were only like 15 minutes away from our house so I could do some streching. I'm in my pj's if you were wondering. That isn't what I wore to the concert.

This picture of Theo is just another adorable shot that should be on the front of a greeting card.

The picture of Rob is him assembling the Pack n Play. He did a good job without the instructions. I just thought I needed to catch him in action.

One of my clients, Mary Keineth, had a wonderful shower for me at her house. The theme was over-the-top and everything was just perfect! The cake was amazing! Thanks Mary! You are the best.

Zingerman's Pizza Pie Making class Sept 2, 2009

2009-10-23T21:39:00.002-04:00

Back in September we thought we needed some personal enrichment. Zingerman's is a great bakery/restaurant business in Ann Arbor and they host a ton of cooking classes. We thought pizza would be the most useful.

The class was very worthwhile but I will say we were very very sick of pizza after about a week. We brought home 4 made pizza's and we brought home 4 more (just the dough) to make on our own. We had a good time and realized that sometimes you have to pay a little money to have a new experience! I would like to do the Christmas cookie class but maybe I'll hold off until next year.

Almost 38 weeks. .

2009-10-23T21:33:00.004-04:00

I just had to post this picture of Rob. Words can't describe it really.

Random Pictures

2009-10-22T21:16:00.003-04:00

These are some more pictures of our vacation up north on Mission Point. The house was amazing and there were a lot a dogs too. The little one that is humping my leg was my favorite pup. He was a very nice Boston Terrier.

Theo's Fall photo shoot

2009-10-22T21:09:00.003-04:00

Our yard is covered in leaves. We have so many trees in our neighborhood. It really is pretty. Theo still likes to go outside and here is his latest photo shoot.

Amy's version of waiting...

2009-10-22T20:16:00.002-04:00

Everyone tells me I should take a week or two off before the baby is born so I can relax and get things done. I laugh at their very comments! I have so much time on my hands I'm not sure what to do at times.

I have been feeling really good and sleeping like a baby. My ankles aren't swollen and my biggest complaint is that I get really hot.

We both are getting ramped up for JV girls basketball. The season starts November 9th. The baby is due November 10th. So, we actually have 2 things to look forward to right now which sort of makes things move super slow.

I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant and I think I am finally used to the size of my body. I feel like I could keep him in there for another 2 months if I had to but I'm sure in about 10 more days I might be thinking otherwise.

As for an exercise update: I go for a 30-60 minute walk a couple times per week, lift weights at least 1 time per week, and I do a yoga video at home 2-3 times per week. I think all of it is helping me feel better. I gained a lot of weight but I kind of knew that would happen since I have close to some of the worst eating habits on the planet.

Like Rob said, we don't have a name picked and that drives me a little nutty but I just don't like any of them. I don't know what that means exactly but hopefully when we see the little guy we will know what to call him. If all else fails we will call him Theo.

19 days to go...

Waiting

2009-10-22T19:59:00.002-04:00

We have just over two weeks to go until the due date. I think we are prepared for him to arrive. Amy has cleaned every closet and found a place for all the baby gear. The car seat was put in by Ben and Mindy. In the mean time we are trying not to count down every day and trying to stay occupied.

Amy has continued to work nearly 20 hours a week as a personal trainer. I can just see her working into her 40th week. This past week I took a short one day trip to Washington D.C. for a seminar on Stata which is a software package that I use everyday. Not the most exciting trip but it sure beat the "beige cage" for a day.

We still haven't decided on a name for the baby boy. We change our minds everyday. And some days he doesn't even have one. We'll decide when the pressure is on.

U2 Concert: Chicago, IL

2009-09-14T11:17:00.001-04:00

So I totally can't remember this guy's name. He played bball at Cornerstone and the girl in the yellow jacket went there as well. Can anyone help me out. They were sitting by us so in a stalker type way I took a picture of them.

This Sunday we ventured over to Chicago for the U2 concert. Snowpatrol opened, which was actually quite good, and U2 was the main event. We left Ann Arbor at 12:30 and stopped at Ben and Mindy's for a little R&R before we continued our drive to the windy city. Like a good female/wife, I'm going to bitch first and then tell you about how wonderful the concert was...

Well, we made it home at about 4 am. Wow, that was a long frickin' day. After the concert we were planning on sleeping at Ben and Mindy's but neither of us felt like stopping, we just wanted to get home to our own bed. The concert was pretty fun but not worth the hassle. When we got to our seats no one was around us and then this huge 300 lb lady came and sat right next to me and I just couldn't believe it. There was no way I could sit there through the concert. It didn't help that I am way bigger than normal either so you can just imagine how uncomfortable I was. So we found this place where you can stand and drink a beer (down lower) so we stood there the entire concert! I'm so glad we moved because when U2 came on everyone in the entire place stood the entire time anyway so this way we had better "seats" and quicker access to the bathroom. Rob was drinking the beer not me by the way.

Luckily, we did leave before the 2nd encore with about 10,000 other people so we busted out of the parking lot (Luurtsema/Gizarelli style) before the 100,000 others came out. We had learned from past concert going experiences that if you leave with everyone else your trip home will be miserable! I know which songs we missed and I didn't care. My feet hurt so bad from standing and my legs were so tired a couple more songs weren't worth the hassle of waiting in a congested parking lot for 1-2 hours. So, we escaped before the gridlock traffic. Around Kalamazoo, MI Rob got pulled over! I was sleeping and woke up and somehow I rubbed my fat belly just enough that I think I got us off the hook for a speeding ticket. It was 2 am when that took place. He was only going 78 in a 70 mph but 1 of our taillights was out so that gave him another reason to pull him over and see if he'd been drinking. He had been but it was hours ago and he had had a coffee to mask his breath.
Around 4 am we rolled into our driveway grumpy and uncomfortable as hell and crashed in our bed. Needless to say, it was wayyyyy too much for me to do at 32 weeks pregnant. I felt bad for my little baby in my tummy that he had to be scrunched in the car that long.

The show itself was pretty amazing. The lights and stage set was incredible. The voices were incredible. I have just come to realize that pregnant women are not made for concerts. You can't drink, and that is half the fun, parking is miserable (guess how much they charge at solider field? ...$45 frickin dollars!) We couldn't believe it but we were just in time for the concert and we didn't know the area well enough to look around for anything else so we just bit it and paid it with the other 80,000 people. All of my numbers are merely estimates keep in mind. The stadium was sold out and then on the floor there were probably another 20-30k people.

Lessons learned:
#1 - Don't go to a concert at 32 weeks pregnant unless it is only about 30 minutes or less away from your home.

#2 - Research the parking situation ahead of time so that you don't get ripped off.

#3 - The cost of going to a big name concert is always going to be way more then the ticket price. The extras are what really pissed us off.

#4 - Be nice to the cop that pulls you over at 2 am because you may just catch him at a good time and you can get out of a $130 dollar ticket.

#5 - Let the female do the talking to the cop because usually she will have better luck winning the cop over at 2 am.

Vacation : Old Mission

2009-09-07T22:25:00.003-04:00

In August we went up to my friend's cottage on Old Mission peninsula near Traverse City. The weather wasn't supposed to be that nice but that didn't matter to me because I was still on partial bedrest so I had to take it easy anyway.

If you ever get a chance to drive out on this peninsula spend the 30 minutes and do it. The scenery is spectacular. There are many winery's, cherry tree fields, and nice big houses.

Katie told us that there would be plenty of room and that we would have our own house. She wasn't kidding. We stayed in a house that was built in the 1890's by her great-great-great grandfather or something like that. The house had all of the original furniture in it and was very very unique. Up until 5 years ago her whole family would stay the summer in that house but her dad got sick of it and wanted to build something nice and new next door.

The house that they built was really amazing. The view of the bay out the back windows was spectacular. They have a tennis court right next to the beach where they get together every morning for 10:30 tennis time. The same 5 families are still original owners of the 5 houses that are next door to eachother so they have lots of friends to hang out with.

Anyway, we had a great time and we were treated with royal treatment. There were 4 dogs running around which kept things quite interesting. They cooked some great meals for us and we relaxed and enjoyed ourselves. The water was very cold but Rob did go tubing once and I just spent that time sunbathing.

We were only gone for 2 nights and it felt like 1 week! That is when you know it was a good vacation! Thank you to the Brickman's for their wonderful hospitality! We had a great time and it was the highlight of our summer!

The mysterious house smell

2009-09-07T22:10:00.002-04:00

Last Thursday we had to call our landlord because our kitchen sink wouldn't drain. (note: perk of not owning we didn't have to pay $175 to have our sink snaked). Steve came over and called the roto man and they took care of the problem in less then an hour. Then we went away for the weekend to St. Joseph / Dyer, IN for a family get together. Upon our return we opened the front door and we were hit with this smell of dirty water / stinky socks. We sniffed all around the house trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. At first we thought it was from our heat vents. Then we thought it was our cold air return ducts. After about an hour I started doing some Internet searching to see what it could be. I felt better that there were many people out there with this same problem. Most said they ended up finding a dead animal in their vents (ewww..I hope this wasn't our case). I remember on Friday I told Theo that he wasn't much of a cat because he had never caught us any animals like my old cats did growing up. I was now in fear that Theo really was part human and that he could actually hear me. Theo must of caught an animal in the house.

The weird thing was, that the smell would come and go and move from different parts of the living room. Finally, we gave up and just turned on our fan so that we couldn't smell it as much.

I texted my landlord to tell him that we have a weird smell in our house and that I thought it was from the roto man. He didn't respond and I'm glad that he didn't.

On Monday I was in the baby's room and I smelled it again. Then I looked down in the laundry basket that was mostly empty except for some dirty dish rags. I took one whiff and new that I had found the source of the mystery stink. We had made homemade pizza's recently and had a bunch of flour on our table and I cleaned it up with a dishrag but I guess I didn't rinse it all that well. I think that is what smelled so awful! So before going crazy about a smell in your house....check your dirty laundry basket!

Rob's 28th Birthday Party

2009-08-28T20:03:00.004-04:00

Last weekend we decided to see who we could round up to meet at my parents house in Grandville for a last second birthday party for Rob. Somehow it worked out just perfect. Everyone could come with just a day's notice.

Our parties have really changed over the last year or so. Eric and Amy Smith have a little girl, Randy and Erin have a little girl, I have a baby in my tummy (therefore no drinking for me of course) so needless to say the party tends to be a little more "adult." They both brought their kids and put them to bed rather early. I bought Rob a PS3 for his birthday, somewhat reluctantly, but I think it will be fine. Video games are not my thing but if it's something he enjoys then I should let him enjoy gaming if he wants to game. right?

The party kind of ended with a bash. Lesa brought a homemade pinata and we spun Rob around in the yard until he wanted to puke and watched him try to swing and smash the ice cream cake shaped pinata. Candy went flying and we all acted like we were 5 years old and collected all the candy. The funny part about the pinata was that we should of hung it up when the kids were still awake, oh well we all still enjoyed it.

I fell asleep on the couch around 1 pm, Randy and Erin left a little early, Eric and Rob stayed up playing PS3, Derek and Laura stayed much longer then expected (and I mean that in a good way), and Lauri and Lesa took home the trophy for being the most drunk.

All in all, it was a nice party for being thrown together at the last second! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us.

This is what Theo did while we were away for the weekend. Just thought I'd throw that in here.

Random pics from a while ago

2009-07-30T13:18:00.004-04:00

Ok I'm an idiot. I can't figure out how to rotate this picture. I found these and thought I'd put them up. That is "The Hulk and He-man" and I am "Cat-Women" of course.

The other one is me kissing my old boyfriend Mr. Captain Morgan. This is when Lesa, Rob, and Lauri all went down to Arizona with me. Fun times! Add that to my I can't list....Can't drink.

Can't Can't Can't

2009-07-30T11:47:00.002-04:00

Ok I promise this will be my last post where I complain about this bed rest crap. Writing a blog is a therapeutic thing for me and it seems to help a little bit so bear with me or stop reading..

Rob and I were driving home from GR on Sunday and I was having a pregnancy meltdown. Here's what my list of complaints are:

Can't run
Can't bike
Can't go for a walk
Can't swim
Can't lift
Can't have coffee or pop
Can't stand for too long
Can't have sex
Can't sleep on my back
Can't pick up Theo (22 lbs remember) but now he comes to me = ) Amazing how that works.
Can't play basketball

So that narrows it down to...
I can cook
I can clean up kitchen
I can watch TV
I can read
I can go to the store briefly
I can work some
I can do knitting, sewing, and other seated activities...although I don't know how to do any of them
.....I think that is about it.

This all reminds me of a story about myself when I was little. My parents took us to Cedar Point and I'm pretty sure we went 1 year too early because I was too short to ride most of the rides and it was driving me nuts. Finally I said, "I bet I'm too short to buy cotton candy too!"

Hopefully August will go by fast. I don't see it happening but then again I'm in a mood right now so time is practically standing still!

Week 25 / week 2 of partial bedrest ...15 more to go

2009-07-28T16:32:00.002-04:00

Last week when I found out that I couldn't exercise anymore I had a good attitude. Not so much this week. I am feeling really good so it is hard to just sit still and do nothing. Hopefully this is preparing me for the many weeks after the baby is born where I will be locked down in my house (that doesn't mean I'll be bored...just sick of being inside I'm sure I'll be busy). I'm sure there is a good reason for this...other than just to annoy me. I guess I am getting another lesson in patience!

The first time in my life....

2009-07-23T21:39:00.002-04:00

Ok it is official I'm not allowed to work out at all! This is the first time in my life where not only can't I workout but I can't even go for walk.
Last week (Week 24 of preganancy) I felt like crap Wed, Thur, and Friday. I felt like I was really crampy and I didn't want to walk or stand up at coaching. So I went to the doctor on Friday and they found out that my cervix is shortening or thinning. I am only 6 months pregnant so that is not good. The Dr. told me to take it easy over the weekend and do nothing. I listened and did as she said. I went back on Tuesday and things looked the same so that was good news. It can't get better at this point but it can get worse. So now I am on "partial bedrest" I guess you could call it. They said I can work but I can't lift any weights or actually do anything at work. I also have to try to sit as much as possible. When I'm not at work I should be home with my feet up.

This is what a typical day is for me... (and for those who know me well, you aren't going to believe that this is actually what I'm doing)

Wake up around 6 am go to work for a few hours (anywhere from 2-5 hours).

Home around 11 or 12.

Nap from 12:30 till 2:30 ish sometimes longer.

2:30 - 5:30 Lay on the couch and read a book or watch a movie (there is nothing good on tv in the middle of the day.)

Rob gets home around 5:30. Lay on the couch and talk to Rob. Eat something. Maybe go back to work for an hour of two. Come home and resume position on couch.

So needless to say, I am not very active. I'm wondering how long it will take for my muscles to deteriorate into mush mush. I'm guessing about 3 weeks.

If you like to exercise and always are thinking about exercising and then a doctor tells you you can't do it anymore it is kind of a relief actually. This is the first time that I actually can sit on the couch and not feel like I should be doing something else. Don't get me wrong, there are times when I would really like to go for a nice walk or head out to the mall but I've made it 6 months and I'm not about to blow it. I'm following the doctors orders and hoping for the best. I don't miss exercise yet but I'm sure in a month or so I will.

Lesson learned: make sure when you are pregnant to stay hydrated with lots of water and if you don't feel well to call your doctor and they can advise you on what to do. I wasn't drinking enough water and I think that was part of my problem.

All of this sitting around is kind of cool though. I wasn't really feeling much movement from the baby and now that I'm more relaxed and still I feel him all the time! So I'll use these 4 months to bond with my little alien that's growing inside of me = )

Anne and Aaron Shinn's Wedding July 11, 2009

2009-07-12T09:18:00.008-04:00

So here is a much awaited picture of my belly. This is at about 23 weeks I believe. I don't do those nude belly shots.

Here are Anne's new muscles. She really did work hard in the gym!

This is Mary, Anne's mom. She has given me so many funny memories while working out!

This weekend we went to our friends wedding here in Ann Arbor. The church was blazing hot but the ceremony was nice. The reception was over the top with amazing food and decorations. Some highlights of the night were the candy buffet, late night nacho bar, and of course the cake. I realized that I'm not much of a dancer if I don't have alcohol rolling through my veins = ) Anne and her mom Mary are 2 of my clients that I train at Coach me Fit. They have been coming consistently for a while to get ready for the big day. I also coach basketball at Dexter with Anne.

We have become close friends and I will miss

training her now that the wedding is done.

Our obsession with Theo 'bonz' Holleman Jones

2009-07-12T09:05:00.003-04:00

I know that we take a lot of pictures of Theo. I'm also aware that when the baby is born we will probably take a lot fewer pictures of our wonderful cat. So just be patient with me as I post more and more pictures of our cat on our blog. This is kind of like his last horay! Enjoy!

Marley & Me

2009-07-03T21:56:00.002-04:00

Tonight we rented Marley & Me. Let it be known that I have already seen the movie in the theater and cried my eyes out once. I thought Rob should watch it and for some stupid reason I thought I wanted to watch it again. There is still 35 minutes left in the movie and I had to walk away and quit watching because of all my crying. The dog hasn't even died yet (oops sorry for anyone who hasn't seen it yet) and I am absolutely hysterical. It's even worse because our cat Theo is sitting watching the movie with us. I think I'll stay on the computer until the movie is over. Hormones...ugh.

Exercise Update

2009-06-30T13:53:00.002-04:00

Still running about 2-3 times per week 20-30 minutes. Sometimes it turns into a run/walk if it is too hot. Lifting more regularly to stay strong. Everyday tasks are still easy enough. The belly isn't getting in the way yet but I am only a little over half way. I played bball in open gym last week and that was quite fun. There was a "no contact" rule so the girls weren't allowed to pic me or touch me basically. That night I was so sore! I guess next time I'll just have to remember to sit out a game or two during the two hour span. At my 21 week doctor appt I decided that I didn't want to see the scale anymore so I stood backwards on the scale and told the nurse to not tell me how much weight I had gained. I don't really like gaining weight but I know that I need to and that it is inevitable.

IT'S A BOY!

2009-06-30T13:49:00.002-04:00

Yesterday (June 29th) I had my 21 week ultrasound. Within 5 seconds the lady told us we were having a baby boy. I was in shock. For some reason I just thought there was a girl inside of me. I was building a picture of pink clothes and girl stuff. Needless to say, it took a couple hours for it to sink in. Rob was very excited it was a boy. They said that the baby looked healthy and everything looks ok.

Now onto the name picking. We don't plan on sharing the name of the baby until he is born. We have been talking about names a lot and neither of us what outside opinion! = )

Jen Newsome already informed me that we need to move back to GR so that our boys can play in Gus Mackers together.

19 weeks to go!

Practice makes perfect

2009-06-30T13:38:00.002-04:00

Ok I know this is ridiculous but we just had to try it. Here is a great picture of Theo playing "baby" in the basement. Enjoy the cat pics! I'm sure after the baby is born we won't have as many of Theo.

Gus Macker All-World Tour

2009-06-28T07:44:00.006-04:00

Rob plays basketball at the Ann Arbor Community Rec Center 2x per week and one of the guys (the guy with the goofy hat on; Charlie Darnell) invited him to play on their Gus Macker team'S' this summer. Last weekend was the Ludington Macker, and boy oh boy did it bring back some great memories of two summers ago up at the Luurtsema cottage. Can you say SeeDoo anyone = )

(Rob, Charlie, 'E' Eric, and Dave)

They placed 3rd in Ludington. They couldn't seem to get by the large and in charge beer bellies of a couple of the teams.

This weekend was in Southfeild in the middle of a parking lot (a little different scenery compared to the beach of Ludington.) The weather was great and luckily for me it was only a 1 day tourney so it was done by Saturday night. They placed 2nd and they might of placed 1st if their 4th teammate didn't have to run off to a wedding at 4:00 pm.

(Rob striking a pose...I have to teach him that's not how you "pop" your jersey...that is the feminine way I believe = ) haha)

It has been fun getting to know the guys and they usually bring their girlfriend/wife's with them. The day is very long when I am not the one playing but I figure this is good training for me since life will be a little different in a couple more months.

(Rob, Charlie, E, and the two guys in the back are two guys who ended up beating them in Southfield Gus Macker. They practice 2x per week together and run plays and everything.)

(Rob working on his tan before gametime.)

The next tourney's are Greenville on July 18th and then Belding and Lansing I think. I don't think I will be making it to all of those but Rob will try his best to bring home the gold trophy!

The new house and 21 improvements

2009-06-16T08:39:00.005-04:00

We are all moved into our first home rental. My parents helped us move this past weekend. It was kind of a spur of the moment kind of thing as we were not supposed to move in until July 1st.
Rob started carrying boxes around 4:30 and we didn't conclude until 10:30 at night. I thought it would take about 2 - 2.5 hours. I think we had the record set for how much stuff you can fit into a 540 sq ft apartment.
Initially I thought the house was going to be too small. I envisioned a bigger living room and bigger bedrooms. Now that we are all moved it I can't even believe I thought I needed bigger! We have so much space. We have a basement to store our "crap" too.

Here are the top 21 improvements :

1. 540 sq ft vs. approx 1000

2. No basement vs. basement

3. Annoying neighbors all around vs. if I look closely I think I can see in my neighbors windows

4. We could smell every dump Theo took vs. litter box is downstairs

5. We have a office now vs. Our office was in the living room behind the couch

6. We have a kitchen table now vs. We used to eat on the couch

7. Had to wait to use the Jon vs. 2 full bathrooms

8. Had to pay to do laundry vs. free washer and dryer in the basement

9. No yard vs. Nice fenced in backyard with a patio and a charcoal grill

10. 2 windows total vs. 17 windows!!!!

11. Avg of 82 degrees during the summer months and some spring months if we were cooking vs. about 72 degrees avg thus far.

12. Wake up sweating in the middle of the night vs. 2 windows in the bedroom

13. Dark vs. lots of natural light

14. Dirty carpet vs. Hardwood floors

15. Fat cat from lack of movement vs. Theo moves into different rooms all day long to look out different windows

16. Ghetto-like environment with a Ghetto Kroger for shopping vs. Nice huge Kroger by TJ max = )

17. No where to walk except for on busy Packard st vs. Parks in our backyard with lakes/ponds.

18. Never could wash or vacuum our cars out vs. We now have a hose and a driveway!

19. Sunbathe at the community pool with creepy old men looking at you vs. Sunbathe in our
backyard which is semi-private.

20. Cook in a kitchen where if two people were in it you were bound to be bumping into the other person vs. Large kitchen and I'm pretty sure I haven't bumped into anyone yet.

21. Smell the garbage can while watching tv. vs. The garbage can is now in the kitchen where it belongs.

I'm sure I'll come up with some more but for now that's all I can think of. All I can say is that I have no idea how I survived almost 4 years in that apartment. You could say living under those conditions has helped me appreciate all the little things that come with a house. Even better, we don't have to take care of the lawn and if something breaks we can still call our landlord!

I will say that even though Pine Valley was awful, Rob and I have 4 years of great memories of that place. I tear up thinking about Theo sitting on the bathroom sink counter every time I took a shower (pervert) and how easy it was to clean the place and never feeling alone (because that is impossible in a 540 sq ft apt...you are always in the same room). I wouldn't trade it for anything and if we didn't stay there for 4 years we wouldn't be out of debt and we wouldn't have been able to go on all of our vacations. It really was a good thing for us. = )

Starting the 19 week

2009-06-08T23:05:00.001-04:00

It's official I'm feeling quite pregnant. = )

Noise update

2009-06-08T22:58:00.002-04:00

Today our noisy neighbor was sent his last letter before the eviction process begins. The intolerable circumstances have forced us to break our lease and move out into our new house earlier then expected (can't say I'm disappointed). It is costing us quite a bit of money but we both came to the conclusion that this is not a livable situation. We are more worried about the tenant and what he could possibly do to us when the eviction begins. I'll pay a little extra to keep us safe.

We have many boxes packed already and hope to move this weekend. I did learn one thing from the process of dealing with noisy neighbors. . . don't post any comments on apartmentratings.com. The leasing office reads those religiously and I had to eat some of my words and it almost cost us a pretty penny. My frustration wasn't with the landlord, it was with the tenant and I shouldn't have posted anything online. So, the lesson learned is: think before you speak and think before you type = )

Our 1st House Rental

2009-06-08T22:50:00.002-04:00

Today we signed our lease for our first house rental. We are excited to get out of the apartment and have some more space. The house has a basement, 2 (sort of 3) bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen, and living room.
It sits on a corner lot in a nice mature neighborhood with a fenced in backyard so Theo can play outside. Move in will be soon and I'm sure it will all happen fast as I don't really do anything slow. Here are a few pictures.

U2 360 concert

2009-06-03T08:34:00.003-04:00

I know it is a long time from now, but today I purchased tickets to the other concert that I have always wanted to see. U2 is touring this summer in the US and Europe in the fall. I bought tickets to the concert in September at Solider Field in Chicago! I figure we better spend all of our money before this baby comes. I will be about 7 months pregnant but oh well. Looking forward to a great show!

The House Hunt (rental)

2009-05-30T10:24:00.002-04:00

Well our neighbor below us has quieted down which is a relief. We have been looking at some houses to rent here in the Dexter/Ann Arbor area. We found one in Dexter that I absolutely fell in love with but it needed to have renters in it asap. Rob talked me out of spending an extra $2500 dollars and I'm sure I'll be thankful later. We are stuck here at Pine Valley until the end of August. I'm sure we will find something just as good but this one just felt perfect. I hope we don't regret it down the road.
We also saw a very dumpy house for $875 per month which was very tempting. It was a classic. The kitchen had purple counter tops. There was also a mirror wall in the kitchen and painted on it was an underwater dolphin picture. There was some water damage in the basement and I saw two large bugs while we were there. The living room floor carpet was a deep red and one of the bedrooms was a deep green. Most of the light switches didn't work and I peaked in the toilet and I really wish I could take back the memory of what I saw. Needless to say, it was a dump! Price was right though! We aren't looking for cheap this time. We are looking for a place where people might want to come visit us!

Exercise and Pregnancy

2009-05-30T10:20:00.003-04:00

I'm almost on week 17 (of 40) in my pregnancy. I thought I'd give an exercise update so that in the future if I decide to have another kid I have some memory of what I did the first time around.
Lately I have been running 2-3 times per week anywhere from 2.5-4.5 miles. My last run was 3.3 miles in 30 minutes (9 min mile). So I'm not running that much slower then before. It still is very comfortable to run and I hope it lasts for a month or two more. Rob and I went for a morning bike ride today. We rode around Ann Arbor for 14 miles in 1 hour. I lift weights about 2 times per week. One upper body workout and one lower body workout. I didn't workout as much in the first 12 weeks as I spent most of my spare time sleeping.

Memorial Day weekend - BBQ's and sports

2009-05-27T08:33:00.004-04:00

After the late night at the Billy Joel concert we were quite tired so we decided to stick around ann arbor for the holiday weekend (which was a risk because of our loud neighbor underneath us.) It turned out to be a great weekend filled with lots to do. Friday night we went over to Jay and Stephanie's house for a BBQ and his grill caught on fire so we ordered some pizza instead. That was kind of crazy. They have 2 little girls and one of them just loved Rob.

Saturday we went to the Ufer cottage on Bruin lake for annual "Dock Day". I think Rob was supposed to get in the frigid water but we conveniently arrived late and he dodged the ice water. Tom Ufer is the son of Bob Ufer who was the voice of Michigan football for years. He is one of my clients at Coach me Fit and has invited us to a number of parties over the last year. His niece married Shane Battier and their cottage is on the lake as well (in construction). Shane Battier plays bball for the Houston Rockets for you non-bball fans. He is a former Dukie. So we stayed for a BBQ that evening and retired early around 8 pm. I am starting to have a difficult time with the "no-alcohol" thing.

Sunday I did some shopping for some bigger shorts and t-shirts. I am now 4 months along and things are getting a little tight.

Monday we played some doubles tennis with Alex and Kelly Clay and beat them again. Then I was beaten pretty badly by Alex in singles tennis. In the afternoon we were invited to another BBQ at the Keineth's house. They have become close friends of ours. Anne K. is the freshmen bball coach at Dexter and she is getting married this July. Her and her mom are clients of mine as well. We played Aaron and Anne in some corn hole and took them 2-1.

Overall it was a great weekend. They say you are not supposed to mix business with pleasure but it has worked out ok so far!

The Music Men

2009-05-22T15:03:00.003-04:00

I am impressed that I am actually back on here again so soon. It is partially because Rob left the account "open" so that I don't have to remember our password which has kept me from blogging in the past.

Last night we went to the Billy Joel / Elton John concert at the "wonderful" Palace of Auburn Hills. We left Ann Arbor at 5:15 and it is about a 1 hour drive to the Palace with no traffic. Ha! We arrived at 8:00 pm and missed a couple of Joel/John's opening songs but we made it in one piece.

Elton John played first after a couple duets. I'm not as familiar with his songs, except for of course "Can you feel the love tonight" from the Lion King soundtrack = ) . He didn't even play that one. A few of his good ones that he did play were; Benny and the Jets, The Bitch is Back, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Walking in my sleep. (Not sure if those are the actual name of the songs but that's what I call them. His voice and piano skills were amazing!

Billy Joel came on next and every single song that was played I knew! I am a big fan (me being a fan of music means that at one point I owned a greatest hits cd and played it repetitively until I got so sick of it that I put it in hibernation for 5 years.) In other words, I knew all the songs he played because I own the greatest hits CD. Some of my favorites were: We Didn't Start the Fire, Uptown Girl, Piano Man, and Big shot. He had great onstage showmanship and kept us very entertained - well as entertained as he can by singing and playing a piano. My biggest shock is how old he was! He must be in his 60's and he was sweating worse then some of the NBA basketball palyers. The vain in his forehead looked like it might explode.

The concert went on for nearly 4 hours and then we had to try to escape the Palace parking lot. We tried to sneak between a couple of barrels only to be stopped by puny parking lot attendant who wouldn't let us through. We finally escaped and got home at around 1:30.

Camping in May? Whose idea was that?

2009-05-18T18:42:00.005-04:00

We haven't been camping in a couple of years. I believe the last time I went camping I decided that it really wasn't for me. Well, I guess I was wrong. I suggested that we go camping sometime soon just to get outside and have a fire. Our friends Randy and Erin thought it was a good idea too but the only free weekend was this past weekend May 16-17. So we planned (rather Randy planned) to meet Eric and Amy Smith in Climax, Mi at Cold Brook County campground.

We were going to leave on Friday night but there was a bad rainstorm so we postponed until Saturday. On the way to the campground we got a flat tire. Surprisingly, this didn't disappoint me because the weather was cold and rainy around Jackson, Mi and we still had another hour to drive. I thought if we took our time we would get there and the sun would be shining. (No I did not slash the tire.) We made it to the gas station and Rob did a great job changing the tire with only about 2 minutes of help from a nice truck driver. Then we ventured off to Jackson Belle Tire to buy a new tire. We finally arrived at the campsite around 3 pm.

We beat the crowds and the sites were in good shape. The campground was quiet with about 5 campers total. Everything seemed like it was going pretty smooth. We started a fire around 4 pm and had one going the entire night. Things were pretty mild as far as drinking as I am pregnant and Randy and Erin have a 1 year old and Eric and Amy have a 2 year old! Oh yeah the point where it got bad....

So we retired at a reasonable time and headed to our "summer" tent. Summer means that it has screens across the top so we can look at the stars if the rain cover isn't on it. Well we had the rain cover on but little did we know it was going to get down to freezing at night. (When we woke up there was frost on my car.) Now this would of been fine if our space heater worked but that didn't work either. It also would of been fine if I would have been drunk and passed out but again I'm pregnant so I couldn't opt for that either. It was a long night and I will have to say that Rob and I were both sleeping with our heads under our sleeping bags. I slept with a baseball hat on to keep my head warm and I had multiple layers of clothes on. I kept thinking to myself...how do the people in "Survivor" do this? I made it through the night with little sleep but I did survive.

Now I know that going camping should not be done in May in Michigan.

We did have a lot of fun catching up with our friends and eating snacks galore!

Peace and Quiet

2009-05-18T18:33:00.004-04:00

Life in Pine Valley has treated us pretty well over the last 3.75 years. Quiet days and nights are all that we know here in our old apartment community. Well, not anymore! We have a new neighbor underneath us. Most of you are thinking, "oh his music" nope that's not it. He just watches his tv at such a loud level! The bass is driving us nuts. It woke us up at 2:30 am the other morning and I about snapped (irritability; symptom of pregnancy)! I started stomping on the floor in hope that he would get the point. No luck! Actually right now as I am typing I can hear the bass. It haunts me. I went and filled out a complaint form at the leasing office so hopefully they will take care of it. Amy Smith suggested playing some DDR (dance dance revolution) early in the am to get back at him and I think that may be a great idea.
Which leads to my next item of information. We will be moving from Pine Valley either August 1 or September 1 of this year. This 540 sq ft apartment is going to be too small for the 4 of us (Rob, me, Theo, and baby). We are looking to rent a house here in Ann Arbor so we can have some peace and quiet.

Our biggest news!

2009-05-18T18:26:00.003-04:00

This is my attempt to get back blogging. I'll just start with the biggest news, we are having a baby! In January we decided that there was no time like the present to start a family. Well, it happened really fast and sometime in late January we were pregnant. We didn't officially find out until March 16 but I knew well before then as I had many symptoms. I am finishing week 15 right now and things are going well. I'm not sure how much weight I have gained but it isn't that much yet. . .and I repeat yet.
The hardest part has been how tired and sleepy I have been. Going to work has been a drag and I require at least a 2 hour nap every single day. I am still running a couple times per week and lifting weights. The due date of the baby is November 10th. Basketball season starts November 12 so that is going to be interesting. We plan on coaching the JV girls at Dexter again this season but I'm sure it is going to be a challenge.
All in all, Rob and I are very excited about this baby and the changes it will bring!

Wandering through London

2008-10-27T09:34:00.006-04:00

After sleeping for 12 hours on Friday night we had the intention of going to Madame Tussauds in the morning. We hopped on the Tube and got to the museum and saw a really long line. That was enough to scare Amy away. Instead we just walked around North London through Regents park and went up and saw the view on top of Primrose Hill.

After that we headed towards Piccadilly Circus where we met up with Amy's cousin Samantha. She showed us around all the famous sites of London including Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, and Trafalgar Square.

That night we took a trip on the London Eye which is a big ferris wheel in the center of the city. It is enclosed with nearly 20 people in your pod. Unfortunately it was a little rainy during our flight so we couldn't see as well as we would have liked.

After all this wandering around we had grand plans to go out to the local bar that night with Samantha and her friends. Well everyone got ready and it started raining and we decided to stay in instead. Oh well we still had fun.

London Part 1

2008-10-19T20:25:00.006-04:00

Amy's perspective...

After a smooth direct flight from the Detroit metro airport we landed at Heathrow at 7 am London time. I had no trouble sleeping on the airplane (2 dramamine worked like a charm). I logged 5 hours of airplane sleep time on the way out there! We arrived on a Friday and we planned to stay with my "cousin" Samantha for the first 2 nights. The downfall....she didn't get out of work until 5:30. This day was close to the most miserable day. There was one other day that actually was worse. So we went to her office in Primrose Hill and dropped off our luggage. We managed quite well on the Underground tube. Rob was really good at getting us around London and Rome on the underground. The sites we visited on the first day:

The Tower Bridge: Not much, pictures describe it quite well. We went up to the top and walked across. Nice views of the city.

The Tower of London: huge castle right near the river in downtown London. We took a tour by the Yeomen aka "Beefeater" and learned about the gruesome history that took place at the Tower of London. (Picture 2: Yeomen at Tower of London. )

Rob in front of Tower Bridge. A guy in Arizona bought "London Bridge" thinking it was Tower bridge...he must have been disappointed considering London Bridge is a boring old bridge and Tower bridge is this beautiful sight!

The picture of Theo is what he looked like when we left from vacation. He's covering his eyes so we can't see his tears!

Oct 19 - Treadmill Half Marathon

2008-10-19T20:12:00.004-04:00

Today I realized that I haven't run more than 10 miles since Oct of 2005. Rob and I were driving and we were talking about the Detroit half marathon (today was the Detroit Marathon) and we both agreed that we should do a half marathon today. Neither of us wanted to run in the cold weather and why would we want to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage? So we made it as miserable as possible and trudged up to my gym and hopped on the treadmill.

I believe the last time I did 10 miles was April 2008. Since then...no more then 7 miles. The first 6.5 were pretty easy.
Mile 8: right hamstring pain.
Mile 10: hip pain.
Mile 12: Left achilles tendon pain

The last .25 I sprinted at 9.2 so that I could finish in a perfect 2 hours. Rob finished in 1:54 and he got a blister at about 12.5 miles. All in all we both feel pretty good about pushing ourselves and finishing the race. I am worried about the stairs at 5:20 in the morning. I hope my legs don't give out!

Rob's "Golden" Birthday

2008-08-29T23:11:00.004-04:00

Dunham's had a great sale on Tennis rackets this week. I wasn't planning on buying Rob a tennis racket for his 27th birthday but with the deal that I found I couldn't resist! I bought him a new racket and we have hit the courts a couple times this week.

I have a nice racket that I bought a couple years ago and Rob had been using an old one that had absolutely no spring or kick; therefore when we would play we would play fairly even. Well, what a mistake I made buying him a new racket! He is kicking my butt on the court now with his new racket. It is very humbling. I am trying very hard not to get mad when he beats me 40-0. It is difficult. What is even worse is when I feel like he gives me "charity" points. For instance when the ball is clearly going to go long but he'll hit it anyway just so the volley will last longer. I might have to post an ad on craigslist to find a female partner that is more at my level = )

I also bought him a cheap skateboard for his birthday. I think he wanted a skateboard so that he could hold onto his childhood as we near 30 years old (or he just wanted to be like Steve Nash; he also skateboards.) So far no broken bones only my broken ego on the tennis court!

Eat, Pray, Love

2008-08-29T23:02:00.003-04:00

Bob and Nancy Holleman (Rob's parents) came to visit last week and Nancy forgot her book "Eat, Pray, Love." I started reading it last week and it is an absolute page turner. I'm not finished yet but that is because this book has made me think on so many different levels. If I read it too fast I feel like I'm missing out on valuable knowledge.

The middle section "pray" has been my favorite section thus far. The author travels to Italy, India, and Indonesia (Bali) for 1 year. In India she learns the art of meditation. I would have to say that I did try to meditate once thus far. It is the most difficult thing that I have every tried. Quieting the mind is not easy. Prayer is easy, it is simply talking to God. Meditating is listening to God. I'm a better talker than a listener! ha ha! I haven't finished the book but I would recommend it to anyone. Rob is reading it also and has enjoyed it as well.

Germaphobes beware!!!!

2008-08-29T22:42:00.006-04:00

Today I took the "plunge" and tried something new. It's called Bikram Yoga and it is quite popular all over the world. The "plunge" was me diving into my own pool of sweat on my towel/yoga mat. I know, I know, sounds disgusting and I would agree it was beyond disgusting.
I've been wanting to try Bikram for quite some time. My client Dawn Peacock and I decided that we would go and try it together. I think it is important to share new adventures with someone else. Who else would I have made faces at during class.

The yoga class is 90 minutes long and the room temperature is 105 degrees with 60% humidity. I was warned by one of my clients that the smell was going to be a bit overwhelming. For those of you who know me well, you know that I have a very very sensitive nose. I can smell everything and unfortunately this classroom didn't smell like roses.

For those of you who are familiar with Yoga this class did some very basic balance poses and floor work but when you have sweat dripping out of every single one of your pores those simple "basic" poses are quite difficult! I'm not kidding you, I have never in my life sweat as much as I did in this 90 minute class. I was so sweaty that after about 35 minutes I decided to quite trying to wipe the droplets off my face.

We made it through the class and I'd give us an A for finishing but there were times when Dawn and I were both laid out on our backs in the "rest" position. After about 45 minutes we were both about ready to quit but we pushed forward and finished up strong. For me it was more of a mental accomplishment then a physical accomplishment. I don't do well in the heat and mentally this was grueling for me. We paid 20 dollars for 10 days of Bikram yoga. We can go as often as we like in those 10 days as the introductory rate. I didn't think that I'd want to go back but I am planning on getting back at it tomorrow. There is something so pure about cleansing the pores and sweating that much. It's rejuvenating! I'm trying to talk Rob into coming to class but I'm not sure if he's sold yet = ) I'll keep you posted. I would recommend trying Bikram yoga for yourself. It's an experience you will never forget!
- Amy
P.S. Bring your own yoga mat, one big towel to lay on, one hand towel to wipe your face with, and a large bottle of water!

Steelhead Half Ironman

2008-08-04T16:22:00.003-04:00

The plan was to complete my first half ironman on Saturday, August 3rd. I have been quite anxious for this for a while especially for the swim. I hadn't really trained for an open water swim and now I was about to try to swim for 1.2 miles in Lake Michigan. The night before I checked in and racked my bike in the transition area. That night I tried to sleep at my brother's house in St. Joseph but was hardly able to sleep. After trying a couple different places in the house I fell asleep around 2:30 only to get up at 5 in the morning. Not exactly a good nights rest.

The first thing I noticed when I got to the parking lot was 3 flags flying absolutely stiff. I couldn't believe it since it was incredibly calm the night before. This could spell trouble for both the swim and the bike. Since I was in the second to last wave for the swim I wasn't going to start swimming until 8:30 a good hour and a half after the first group. However we had to set up our stuff in the transition area by 6:30. I met Randy and Jason in the transition area and we got ready and headed down to the beach with our wetsuits around our waist. The waves were pretty large and there were whitecaps. We probably only walked about a tenth of a mile down the beach when some guy said the swim was cancelled and they were turning it into a duathlon. This was a dissapointment and a relief for me since swimming is by far my weakest event but I still wanted to do it because that is what I signed up for.

So after waiting around until about 9:30 Randy and I finally started the first run leg which was only 2 miles. We took it nice and easy and talked the whole time trying to save energy. I decided to wear my cycling shorts for the event instead of my tri shorts because they have more padding and we no longer had a swim. I finished the first two miles 17:06. Then I had a nice transition of 1:27. I met Randy right on the first hill and started to climb. The bike was fantastic. Although heading north was into the wind. I kept it in my small chainring up front to save my legs for the way back. The bike course was packed and I was either passing someone or being passed constantly. I have a pretty nice road bike however it paled in comparison to some of these triathlon specific bikes people were riding. I decided not to use aero bars and just ride it like any other ride. My greatest strength in the bike ride was going up the hills. I swear I was the only person getting out of the saddle and I would fly by about 10 to 20 people on each hill. Maybe I'm unaware of something but I don't see the benefit of staying seated and trying to grind up the hill when I can stand on the pedals and go up much faster. Anyways the return was nice and I finished the bike leg with a time of 2:37:56 (avg 21.3 mph). Well faster than I thought I'd get. I think the course may have been a mile short though.

I was cramping a little in my hamstrings on the bike and dismounting felt horrible. I walked through the transition and put my hat and running shoes on. Started out on the running course and promptly threw up in my mouth. I knew from then on I wasn't going to be able to eat anything. The first 7-8 miles weren't bad however the last 5 to 6 miles were pure agony. There was one incredibly steep hill that they made us climb twice. It was unnecessary to included that in the course. I finished with a time of 2:08:43 and a time of 5:08:13 overall. I was happy with my time but felt really sick afterwards. I hadn't eaten anything other than a couple of gu's since an apple at 6:45 in the morning. And I still couldn't stomach food afterwards. I finally felt better after a shower and about a 2 hour nap at my brother's house.

Overall it was a fun experience but it was overpriced. I would have liked to complete the full triathlon and may have to try one of similar distance. There has to be a cheaper one somewhere else. Also I need to figure out the eating part and also train a little more for the run. My body was absolutely broken down by the end of the run. It was great to have people cheering for me including Amy, my parents, Ben/Mindy and fam, Erin and friends, Jason's wife Melissa, and Eric and Amy Smith. It definitely gives you a little boost along the route to hear people cheering for you. And I'm sure it wasn't that exciting to watch.

Game losing Grand Slam

2008-07-29T13:32:00.002-04:00

Amy and I are playing on a summer league co ed softball team with her work here this summer. Last night we were playing the top team and had a battle most of the game. We went into the bottom of the 7th, which is the last inning, down 3 runs. Somehow we managed to score 2 and had a runner on 3rd with 2 outs. The pitcher walked Jeff on 4 pitches which means he gets to walk and the girl batting after him gets to walk too. So I was up with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 7th. I was hitting the ball really well in this game so far which isn't always the case. The four outfielders were all playing pretty deep and all I wanted to do was hit a hard line drive over the infielders heads. Instead I absolutely crushed the ball probably harder than I've hit the ball over the fence which sounds great, however a home run is considered an out in this league and we ended up losing the game by one run because of it. I'm not really sure how or why I managed to hit it out that at bat since I hadn't done it all year. We ended up losing by one run because of it.

Tennis in Toronto

2008-07-29T13:24:00.002-04:00

This past weekend Amy and I went up to Toronto to watch a semifinal tennis match in the Rogers Cup. We bought the tickets about 2 weeks ago with the hope of seeing Federer vs. Roddick. However that didn't happen. They both ended up losing early on in the tournament so instead we saw Rafael Nadal vs. Andy Murray. Nadal has been on fire this year winning the French Open and Wimbledon. He was quite amazing to watch in person. Neither of us had seen a live professional tennis match before so we really had no idea what to compare it to but we really enjoyed watcthing it. It is a lot different than most sporting events I've been to because everyone is so focused on the action. There are no vendors yelling and screaming. Nobody is talking during play. There are just a lot of Go Rafas and Go Andys in between each point. I really enjoyed that the sport was the real entertainment. Kind of the exact opposite of an arena football game where it is nothing but a big distraction.

We also went and watched a play called "Dirty Dancing". I'm not sure if it is based on the movie because I've never actually seen the movie. We didn't really plan on going to see this but we were walking around Toronto and there were huge thunderstorms coming in and we decided what the heck. I thought it was a pretty average play. They could have cut out about half the scenes and I don't think anybody would have noticed. Oh well I guess it is better to do a little research before you go to a play.

Other than that we spent a lot of time in the car. In fact way to much. We spent about an hour and a half waiting in Sarnia to cross the border into the US. This made us pretty grumpy because we weren't able to make it to open gym that night to play basketball. Oh well I guess Toronto really isn't that close.

One Helluva Ride

2008-07-15T10:49:00.003-04:00

Since moving to Ann Arbor and picking up cycling I've wanted to do this local bike ride that attracts thousands of people. There are different lengths ranging from 36 to 102 mile rides. I signed up for the 102 mile ride with Amy's dad, Paul, and a coworker of mine, Dave. We headed out there in the morning realizing that we might get very wet. We started at around 8 in the morning and after downing our chocolate doughnut we were off.

We started off at a moderate pace from Chelsea fairgrounds and into Dexter. Then we made a loop out to Hell. We were all feeling pretty good at this point and we got to the first food stop which was about 33 miles into the ride. We stopped for about 15 minutes and were back on the road. There were all sorts of cyclists out on the road. Some extremely advanced and some not so. At about mile 40 the rain started coming and it rained hard. We were all completely soaked and ended up leading a pretty large group of cyclists to the halfway food stop.

We ate some peanut butter and jelly, cookies, and other goodies at the stop. I stocked up on lemonade in my water bottle and we were off. I felt great and was really looking forward to doing the hundred miles. Unfortunately we reached a point where we were supposed to turn to do the 100 mile route and they had closed it because of a chemical spill. I was pretty disappointed. But oh well. Instead we were re routed and started to head back to the finish in Chelsea. Paul and I were consistently pushing the pace around 20 mph and Dave eventually dropped off the back. Finally Paul decided he was going to push it with about 13 miles left and we sped along around 23 mph for most of the remainder of the ride. At this speed a guy and a girl just flew past us and we tried to jump in there draft. I was in there for about a minute til we started going up hill and I realized they were maintaining a 26 mph pace. Then I faded off the back and Paul lasted a little longer. It was humbling. Either way it was fun ride and we ended up doing 86 miles at a 19.5 average mph. Dave eventually reached the end and decided he wanted to ride home from Chelsea to get his 100 miles in.

Overall it was a fun experience and I realized that riding a bike in a group is a lot more fun than alone. I thought I'd go out a punish myself and did a 69 mile ride yesterday to Dundee. A solo 69 mile ride is much harder than 86 in a group.

Madras Masala

2008-07-10T08:24:00.002-04:00

We have lived in Ann Arbor for nearly 3 years and haven't really tried many of the variety of ethnic restaurants. At the urging of one of Amy's clients we decided to try some Indian food last night at Madras Masala. Her clients even told us what we should order. I'm glad they did because there was a numbered list of 136 different options for entrees. We really had no idea what to expect. We ordered the Muttar Panner, which is a cheesy vegetarian dish, a chicken curry, and 2 pieces of naan bread. The waiter asked us if we wanted medium spicy or spicy. I guess there is no mild when it comes to Indian food. We waited for about 15 minutes and then they showed up with our bowls of food, rice and bread. The flavor was very strong for both dishes and varied by each bite. It all depended on what spices/vegetables you got on your for for that bite. We both liked the Chicken Curry a little more but we were lukewarm on the whole meal. The bread was quite good but we wanted some peanut butter to put on it.

Afterwards we went for a half hour walk around campus and saw 4 teenage kids trying to carry their drunk friend I'm not sure where. They weren't very successful however since he was passed out and dead weight. As we were walking back to our car we were able to smell the Indian restaurant that we ate at from 3 blocks away. It had a very strong odor.

Catching up on Summer

2008-07-09T08:45:00.004-04:00

Summer is halfway over. I'll try to recap what we've done so far this summer. We don't really have a reliable camera at this point so I don't have any pictures.

Currently I'm still training for the Steelhead Half-Ironman on August 2nd. Things have been going pretty well other than a really sore right foot that has really hampered my training runs to about every other week. I'm not too worried about the run and have been doing plenty of biking and swimming to make up for it.
We also are still living in our 540 square foot apartment in Ann Arbor. When we get real antsy that we don't have much space we just throw a bunch of junk out or give it to Goodwill and then we like our apartment again.
Amy played in the Ludington Gus Macker on June 28-29. She had a real good team with 3 other girls from her Cornerstone team. They did well but lost in the finals and got second place. The weather wasn't all that great for that weekend and some storms even knocked over basketball hoops during the nights.
Amy also bought a road bike this past week. She had been riding around on a 1985 Schwinn. So it was quite an upgrade to get her new LeMond bike.
I am still working at the Ann Arbor VA doing the data analysis thing. I also went to the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis at the end of May to present some of our work from the previous year. Indianapolis is not the most exciting town but I really enjoyed swimming in IU Natatorium and find nice games of pick-up basketball in the evening.
Amy and I are playing on a co-ed softball team for her work. We have enjoyed it so far however Amy would like to get a few more balls hit to her in right field.
Other than that we've just been enjoying a few sporting events on TV including an awesome Wimbledon (we were cheering for Federer), Euro 2008 soccer tournament, and even enjoying the first place Cubs. That feels strange to type.

River Bank Run

2008-05-12T12:18:00.003-04:00

I ran the River Bank Run in Grand Rapids this past weekend. This is a 25 kilometer race that starts downtown and runs along the Grand River and eventually winds itself back into downtown. Amy and I did this run in 2004 together, but we didn't pay and we actually ended up quitting around mile 15 because Amy could hardly walk anymore. We stopped with a time around 2 hours and 15 minutes. I wasn't sure what I would actually be able to complete it in if I went for a competitive time. I found out there was something called a 2 hour club about a week before the race but I really hadn't been training for a long race. The longest run I've done in the past year was an 8 mile run a couple weeks ago. The weather was perfect in the mid 50's and sunny.

I started running with a guy I knew from Calvin when I saw him at the starting line. I kept pace with him for the first 6 miles and then he pulled away. At that point I was averaging about a 7:30 minute mile. I reached the halfway point at 58:56. This was faster than I thought I'd be able to sustain for the rest of the race. But my body never really broke down that bad and I ended up with a time of 1:59:31. So I made the 2 hr club by 29 seconds. It felt pretty good to complete it in that time but my legs hurt pretty bad afterwords. I think the keys for me were drinking a couple of glasses of water at each aid station and eating the two GU packs that were given to me. I also tried to focus on my form a lot of the time and tried not to think about how much was left. Amy helped me through the last 2.5 miles by running with me after she had run the 10K earlier.

A Real Spring Vacation

2008-04-14T09:24:00.003-04:00

In the past couple of months we have gone on a couple of ski trips to Utah and Aspen. However living in Michigan we were starting to miss the sun and decided to take a short trip down to Scottsdale with the Luurtsemas.

We took off on Thursday night the 3rd on Northwest Airlines from Detroit. Our flight there wasn't all that great. Amy and I sat in the middle sit in the same row. As soon as we took off the lady in front of her reclined her seat right into her and she had no room to move on either side because she was in between some pretty big people. She made it through the flight only because of a few mini bottles of Captain Morgan. Also Colleen, who came with us, had a man pass out behind her. She thought he was dead and they even had doctors go check on him. However, I guess he was just really drunk and they finally woke him up and he kept throwing up the rest of the trip.

Once we landed in Phoenix, Bill picked us up from the airport and we went and stayed in a condo he owns by the TPC course in Scottsdale. It was a really nice place and we stayed there the next couple of nights. I hadn't eaten dinner yet so of course I talked Bill into stopping at In-N-Out Burger for a Double Double. Our next day was spent hanging out by the pool at one of the Luurtsemas other places up at DC ranch. They had an awesome outdoor pool which I was able to swim laps outside. It is definitely more fun to swim outside in the sunshine than indoor at the YMCA.

We ate dinner that night at Blu Burger which I read was one of the best burger places in town. The food was good but Amy and Colleen weren't impressed with the atmosphere. They kept saying, "I took a shower for this". As a male I guess food is more important than atmosphere. Also this place was really small and we had a hard time finding it. People told us it was right next to a huge restaurant called Barcelona. So we drove through and asked the valet where Blu Burger was and he said, "Never heard of it" with a disgusted look on his face. So we drover around a little longer and sure enought it was the absolute next building to Barcelona.

On Saturday we took the traditional hike up Camelback Mountain. This was our 5th time on the hike and I think Amy may be tiring of the descent. The parking by the entrance was full because it was a Saturday morning so we had to park and hike 15 minutes to the entrance. Colleen also had a weird reaction with the sunblock in which she ended up looking like a mime for a while. It was a good laugh. That night we enjoyed watching Carolina get beat and eating some chinese takeout from Pei Wei.

Sunday was spent as another day by the pool and playing some tennis. Amy even talked me into a little bit of shopping. The next day we went gofing at Grayhawk's Talon Course. This was an awesome course and I ended up getting beat pretty badly by both Amy and Bill. I hit too many balls into the desert which I took for a penalty. The highlight was Amy's chip in out of the bunker. She was in a greenside bunker and launched the ball out and it went screaming along the ground and hit the pin and went right in. It would have went past the green if it wouldn't have hit the flag. That night after watching the NCAA championship game we had to sadly go back home. We took the red eye flight and some Dramamin. I think this put us all out because the flight was really bumpy and we hardly noticed. It also made for a tough day of work the next day. Our camera is shot so that is why there is no pictures.

YMCA Indoor Triathlon

2008-04-01T18:55:00.003-04:00

Since I signed up for the half Ironman in Benton Harbor this fall I decided I need to practice a little bit. This past Sunday the Ann Arbor YMCA had their first indoor triathlon. I decided I would give it a try. It involved swimming, biking and running for 15 minutes each with a 5 minute transition in between each. Swimming is not my specialty but I managed to get almost 700 yds in 15 minutes. This put me near the the pack. However the biking went much better as I got 4.51 miles in 15 minutes. This was on an upright indoor bike so I was definitely happy with this time. I think that I used up most of my energy on the bike because I felt very uneasy on the treadmill and only managed to get 2.11 miles for the running portion. Overall it was a lot of fun to push myself against some other people and I ended up in 9th place overall out of 27 guys that did it. The winner was determined by overall distance so it definitely helped to be better at the bike than the other events.

Snowboarding 2008

2008-03-15T13:20:00.002-04:00

We decided to take two trips out west to go snowboarding this year. First we went to Utah and stayed in Salt Lake City. We went to three different locations including Brighton, Snowbird, and Park City. I enjoyed Park City the most because it snowed around 8 inches that night and there seemed to be the most fun runs there. We stayed in Salt Lake and rented a car to drive out to the different resorts. We had a small Dodge Avenger but had no problems getting to our resorts.

At the end of February we went to Snowmass, Colorado. This is an awesome resort with an absolutely huge mountain. The weather was sunny and warm. This is the warmest I've ever had it while snowboarding. Usually the temperatures were in the high 30's or lower 40's. We went out there with the Luurtsema family including Bill, Wanda, and Aimee. We enjoyed a lot of fun runs. Bill really enjoyed Sheer Bliss. We enjoyed doing jumps and rails in the medium size terrain park. We even tried the larger terrain park including the halfpipe. I wasn't very good at this but still gave it a shot. We had a couple of injuries on this trip. I took a pretty nasty fall on the second day and sprained my ankle. It was painful the next couple of days but was still able to make it out there. We ended up snowboarding for 5 days. Amy took a fall on the second to last day and had a pretty sore neck from then on.

We were supposed to leave on a Sunday but it snowed all night on Saturday and none of the planes left Aspen on Sunday. So we went rented some cars and tried to make it to Denver in time to catch our flight out. After 4 hours of driving through the mountains we were able to drop the Luurtsemas at the terminal and they just made the flight. Amy and I got to enjoy another day in the hotel. We weren't too disappointed. All in all it was a very fun vacation. We ate out a lot courtesy of the Luurtsemas and enjoyed one of the best meals we've ever had at Ruth's Chris steakhouse. Here are a few pics.

A Cure for Seasonal Distress Syndrome

2008-01-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

I spend most of my days stuck in a cube staring at a computer screen. Also living in Michigan leads to a long winter spent trying to avoid being outside. Then last Saturday I saw the sun on the way home from the YMCA and got the idea to go for a hike up at Potawatomi trail in Pinckney recreation area. We drove out to Hell, MI and hiked around for nearly 2 hours. It felt fantastic to get outside even though everything was brown. Amy did have a clumsy moment when she stepped wrong on a rock and sprained her ankle. Hopefully it heals in time for this weekends trip out to Utah for some snowboarding. It is supposed to be a challenging mountain biking trail. Maybe I'll have to give it a try this summer.

New Years Resolution

2008-01-07T18:03:00.000-05:00

So much for writing on this thing more frequently. Oh well it still exists and I feel like doing it right now. Not much new has happened with us in the last couple of months. We have been quite busy working and Amy is coaching Freshmen Girls basketball at Dexter. She likes working with the girls but they have a lot to learn. The one game that I've been to they ended up winning 20-4. Trust me it wasn't all from Dexter's stifling defense.

Instead of buying Christmas presents for each other this year we decided to buy some plane tickets to go snowboarding out in Utah. We enjoy doing this and since we could hardly remember what we got each other last year we thought this would be a little more memorable. We are going there over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend since I get that day off of work.

Well I made a resolution to write on here once a week this year. I made it a whopping 15 posts last year. Perhaps it will get easier as I go along. I've also made some training goals for my hopeful attempt at a half ironman in August. I'm going to track my mileage for all 3 events and hopefully complete 52 half ironmans for the year. I better get my butt in the pool and eventually to the lake. My other goal was to read at least 2 books a month. Hopefully they end up being of decent length and will help me feel as if I'm not gradually getting dumber. Perhaps I'll write myself a book report on here so I can remember what I read.

Cubs chances

2007-10-05T16:14:00.000-04:00

If there are any stat heads out there.

Here are Cubs chances of winning in the playoffs.

The Cubs chances according to this guys Monte Carlo simulation is now 11.87 % chance to win the division series. I think it is interesting ot see the day by day changes in the odds of winning either the division series, LCS, or world series.

Well last year the Tigers and the Cardinals both had the lowest probably entering the playoffs for their respective leagues and they both made the World Series.

What have we been doing?

2007-10-05T15:19:00.000-04:00

I haven't written on this thing in a while. Either it is because we no longer have the Internet at home or because I haven't felt like writing too much. We have done some fun things since the last time I wrote. A couple of weeks ago we went to Scottsdale, AZ with Amy's parents and her Aunt Mary for a long weekend. It was very hot so we did most of our activity early in the morning. We climbed up Camelback mountain again one morning. I believe that is my fourth time going up it. I always enjoy doing it because it is semi challenging but not ridiculously so. Plus the view at the top is pretty cool. A 360 degree view of the Phoenix area.

The next day we went up north to Sedona for a little trip. Amy, Paul and I decided to try mountain biking on the red rocks. So we rented some bikes from a local bike shop and started off on our trek. It was supposed to be a 13 mile trip, which sounds pretty short when you are used to cycling on the road like myself. However mountain biking is a whole different animal. This was very technical riding over jagged rocks and up and down inclines. Amy and I had a difficult time and even Paul who has done a fair bit of mountain biking said it was difficult. Anyways there were some pretty amazing views of I think it was Bell Rock and Cathedral Rock. After this trek which took us around 2.5 to 3 hours in bout 85 to 90 degree sunlight I was pretty exhausted and dehydrated for that matter.

The next day we went golfing at We Ko Pa golf resort which was pretty cool because it was a desert course so there were only patches of grass on the in the middle of sand. We ended up playing decent for us which is around 100 for 18 holes with a few mulligans of course.

Another thing I did was compete in the Reed's Lake Triathlon in September. I decided I would try it about a month before the date and realized I hadn't swam any distance since taking swimming class in college. My swim training started out ok but I never really felt comfortable in the water. When it came to race day I was definitely ill prepared. I was very nervous for the swim because I hadn't swam in open water before. Well about 5 minutes before the race was to start I realized I forgot my goggles in the car which was parked quite a long way from the start. So I tried to swim without goggles but I wasn't able to relax and ended up swallowing a bunch of water and coughing. I did a modified breast stroke which was pretty pathetic. I ended up finishing the swim in around 24 minutes. I was pretty demoralized however and wasn't feeling to good after swallowing, hiccuping and coughing all the way through the swim. I felt pretty bad for the first half of the bike portion which was evidenced by me being passed by people that shouldn't have been passing me especially with my new fancy bike. Well I finally regrouped about halfway through the bike and then I ran a respectable run to finish in 1:56. Randy and Jason also did the race and I think Randy beat me by 5 minutes and Jason by 30 seconds. I think that Randy was playing with me because he didn't think he could break 2 hours. Oh well I think we are going to try a half ironman next year (1.25 mile swim, 56 bike, 13.1 run). I better learn how to swim before then.

Other than that we are still living here in Ann Arbor. I am now working full time at the VA hospital working on various research projects and Amy is now a personal trainer and doing quite well at it. She is much happier now that she doesn't have to work behind a desk. Well that's all for now. I'm going to try to write a little more frequently mostly because it is fun to look back at what we've been doing.

Go Cubs!! They actually made the playoffs but it looks to be short lived as they are down 0-2 to the Diamondbacks.

Mount St. Helen's

2007-06-29T13:54:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I went to Portland, Oregon on a short vacation. Reuben my friend from college now goes to school at Portland State University. So once he decided to move out there Randy and I decided we needed to plan a trip to visit him and explore the Northwest a little bit including a climb of Mount St. Helens. Our plans were to fly out of Detroit on Thursday night and get to Portland late that night. Then wake up early (6 am) and drive to and climb Mount St. Helens which is around an hour away from Portland. But flight troubles along with incompentence on our part as well as Delta airlines caused us to miss the only flights for Thursday night so we had to leave early Friday morning instead. Friday was the only day we would be able to climb the mountain because only 100 people are allowed to climb it each day and all the other days we were in town were sold out. So Reuben picked us up at the airport and we got to the base of the mountain at around 1:30. We had to change into our hiking gear which including old tennis shoes, pants, long sleeve T's, baseball cap, and for some reason Randy had a stocking cap and gloves. I think he was the only one who knew what we were getting into. Here is a picture of us as we are about to leave.

We needed to hustle since most people were already on there way down and we were just starting at now 2 pm. We were told that it takes around 5 hours to summit and we didn't want to be on top of the mountain at 8365 feet at 7pm. So we started through the forest at first, which ended up being quite warm.

Eventually we reached a clearing where the real mountain climbing began.

We met some people along the way that scoffed at us, told us to turn around, and gave us crazy looks for the clothes we were wearing. We kept going at a pretty consistent pace climbing up mostly large rocks to begin then eventually looser ash/gravel.

At this point once we reached above the cloud line it was starting to snow a little and the wind had to be around 30 miles an hour consistently. Needless to say we were ill prepared for these conditions. Frost was forming on our faces but we eventually made it to the top in 2.5 hours. We could hardly see a thing.

On the way down we did a mixture of running and sliding down gravel, climbing over rocks and sliding on the glacier on pieces of plastic that were given to us. People were calling at a strange term which we later learned was glissade, which is basically a controlled slide down a glacier. We did both the standing and sitting glissade.

We eventually reached the bottom in about 4.5 hours roundtrip. Overall I would say the hike was quite strenuous especially for those ill prepared. But it was a lot of fun and while I'm sitting in my exciting cube at work I can think about climbing and sliding down the mountain. I'll write more about the rest of our trip next.

ACSM New Orleans

2007-06-05T22:14:00.000-04:00

This past week I (Rob) went to the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in New Orleans, LA. This is the first professional meeting that I've ever been to and on top of that I was to present the results from an analysis that we performed over the past year. Public speaking isn't my favorite thing but I practiced the speech many times and felt quite confident in my ability to present my slideshow. My topic was about how bout and nonbout physical activity is related to obesity. By bouts I mean at least moderate intensity activity for at least ten minutes. And by nonbout I mean all moderate intensity that is not inside of these bouts. We were able to calculate physical activity levels from a national sample of people that wore accelerometers. These are little pager like devices that are worn at the right hip and measures the movement of the individual and saves values for each minute on the device. So we had nearly 6500 people that wore these monitors for 7 days with each person having around 1080 minutes worth of data. Quite a bit of data. I spent a good portion of my internship last summer learning computer programming and writing a code to make this data usable for our analysis. I'll try to sum up our results simply. Bout minutes are more strongly related to obesity measures of Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference than non-bout minutes, however the main reason for this difference is that people perform bout minutes at a higher intensity than nonbouts. Our final conclusion was that all activity matters in relation to obesity however bout activity is more time efficient because you tend to perform at a higher intensity. However all activity matters so if you are trying to lose weight simple things like taking the stairs matter along with structured exercise.

Ok enough of that but I thought maybe someone would be interested in what I've been up to. Well I think its been about 20 months since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. I must say that this is by far the worst shape I've ever seen a city. I stayed in the Hilton Riverside which is right next the to convention center. However if I went in a mile in any direction and past the French Quarter it was a disaster. In fact I went for a 8 mile run one day and ended up running through quite a bit of devastation. A lot of the buildings were washed out or appeared to be looted, with windows smashed in and stuffed turned over. They have a long way to go and it was pretty sad. Its hard to tell what is even being done especially in the area that I ran through. Well I don't have any pictures because Amy took the camera to Jacksonville. Maybe I'll get her to post about that soon.

Joan C. Banfield 4 mile run April 22, 2007

2007-04-22T23:28:00.000-04:00

This Sunday Rob, Carly (a friend that I coached), and I ran the 4 mile (I think it was a little longer then 4 miles) race in Dexter. It was to benefit Dexter High School women's athletics. Dexter is where I helped coach this past season. The race was at a local metro park and it was a 4 mile trail that ran throughout the park. It was a smaller race, about 500 participants, but it had everything a normal race usually has -- a start line, finish line, food at the finish line, a raffle, and an awards ceremony.

The weather was gorgeous and there wasn't a cloud in the sky! Rob finished the race in 28:00 minutes. That was good enough to place 2nd in his age division (20-29). I finished in 35:30 which got me a 5th place finish in my age division (20-29).
So we both brought home some "hardware" to place on our fireplace mantle..ha ha. OK so the trophy's are in our closet right now but maybe someday we'll have a fireplace mantle to put up our awards on.

I guess we are runners now? I will admit that winning a trophy at age 25 still gives me the same feelings that I felt when I received my roller skating trophy's at age 12!

Lesa's Going Away Party

2007-04-22T22:58:00.001-04:00

Mota and Mota...sharing a Holleman moment. They were actually watching the Duke video "This is why you suck."

This is Amy, Grythoms aka Gary Thomas, and Lesa. He works with us at the Ymca.

As most of you know Lesa is leaving for Guatamala at the end of April. She joined the Peace Corps and is going to go out and save a village = ) Last weekend she packed up her stuff and moved back to Fruitport so that she could spend time with freinds and family in Grand Rapids. Lesa made a lot of friends during her short stay in Ann Arbor and we had a going away party for her. We invited our Ymca co-workers, Raddrick Farms Golf course co-workers, and our basketball team. We went bowling and had a great time. Some had more fun then others for various reasons but we'll just leave it at that. Here are some photos of the night. .
We are all going to miss Lesa and hopefully she can get blogging in Guatamala somehow! Bye Lesa...

Below is Margaret aka Mad Dawg and her sister. Mad Dawg worked with Lesa at Raddrick Farms golf course. The bottom picture is Theo resting peacefully after everyone left the apartment to go bowling. He likes his alone time. ...Oh and the picture behind Margaret and her sister...my sister made that.

Stretch it out Theo!

2007-03-27T12:27:00.000-04:00

Amy and I were watching fat cat videos on youtube and found one that showed a fat cat doing stretches. We have a fat cat named Theo who recently weighed in at 24 pounds, which doesn't make much sense to us. It seems the less he eats the more he gains. Maybe he knows how to get in the refrigerator when we aren't home. I thought I'd put a picture of Theo in an interesting pose. I believe in the photo below he is attempting to stretch out his hamstring. He needs to stay loose so he can jump up to the sink to get a drink.

This is more of the typical way he spends his time. Although lately he has been fascinated with cats roaming outside. I don't know that he is aware that he is fixed. He also does a lot of different poses but these are the ones we've caught on camera.

On another note my rec basketball team is still undefeated and going into the final game of the playoffs on Sunday.

Against all odds

2007-03-14T15:04:00.000-04:00

Last weeks rec basketball game is quite worthy of a post. Since we only have 5 players it is crucial to stay out of foul trouble.

Well, with 3 minutes to go in the 3rd quarter, yes the 3rd quarter that wasn't a type-o, Colleen fouled out of the game. At that point we were up by about 6 points. The rest of the game we played a 2-2 zone and scrambled and hustled all over the floor. I even dove onto the ground a couple of times for a loose ball, which doesn't happen all too often and anyone who has seen me play knows that this is very true.

They tied up the game and maybe took the lead once but we fought back and used up our time outs and ended up beating the other team by 5 points. It is simply amazing how much harder you have to work when the odds are against you. --- Kind of like any visiting opponent at Cameron indoor stadium = ) Our team finished 4th out of 9 which is decent considering our team has only 5 players. Rob's team won their division and begins playoffs next week.

Shamrock Shenanigans!

2007-03-13T11:46:00.000-04:00

This past weekend we decided to run a 5k here in Ann Arbor. It was used to benefit the children's hospital in Ann Arbor. We've never run a 5k race before and it equals about 3.2 miles. I'm guessing there was around 800 race participants. The course was a loop that went through downtown Ann Arbor and down a hill and up a hill. We all started out together and jogged down the hill for the first lap. We includes Amy, Lesa, Colleen, and myself. Once we reached the first corner I decided I needed to run faster and took off. It was a great day outside probably in the mid 50's. I finished the first mile at a 6:40 pace. It felt good to keep passing people because I had started off slow until the uphill on my 3rd lap when the leader flew right by me --he was lapping me. The winner ended up finishing in 15 minutes. After one more lap I ended up with a time of 20:51 which is a pace of 6:43 per mile. Lesa finished second with a time around 25:25 and Amy finished 25:30. Colleen, after battling recent illness, brought up the rear. We had some nice pictures of us taken however they are on someone elses camera. Overall it was a lot of fun and we all were very happy with our results.

Spring Break 2007!

2007-03-01T22:07:00.000-05:00

To most people spring break should be spent on the beach in Florida or Mexico. However for us white folks a trip to Colorado to snowboard sounds like a better idea. We took off on Friday February 23rd and landed in Denver, CO around noon. From there we met up with Amy's parents, Amy's sister Holly, and Holly's boyfriend Chad. We packed all our things into a minivan and headed for the mountains. An hour and a half drive later and we were at Breckenridge in a Condo right across the street from the lift. Breckenridge is more of a family resort and was a good start for us on Saturday. It is called Brecken"flats" by Paul. Of course if he isn't speeding down black diamonds than he considers it flat. We also met up with Bill, Wanda, and Aimee Luurtsema and snowboarded all over until 4:00 when the resort closes. A trip to the hot tub and a fantastic mexican dinner at Mi Casa restaurant finished off the day. Below is Holly and Chad at Mi Casa. For some reason we were unable to stay up past 9:00 for the entire trip. I think it is a combination of altitude, fresh air, time change, and being on your feet all day that really wiped us out. Our evenings were spent watching movies and talking about the morning plans.
The next day we went to Keystone which was a 20 minute ride away. It was a rather regular day on the mountain however getting there was the problem. Paul locked the keys in the minivan while it was running. Finally AAA came and opened the door for us so that we could be on our way. But there was more trouble...As we were loading into the van Amy got her fingers slammed in the door. The noise that she made pretty much woke up the entire condo complex!
Monday was by far the most eventful day of the trip. We went to what could be considered the Mecca of skiing, Vail. This mountain was huge. We probably only skiied about 25% of the mountain. To top it off we received almost a foot of fresh powder the night before and it snowed all day while we were there. The highlight was riding up chairlifts battling the fierce 40 mph winds and then getting to the top and walking about a quarter of a mile to the start of the run in sinking snow! It's true what they say about exercising in a high altitude, it really is harder. Amy thought she was going to collapse on this snowy walk. It was worth the walk. The run was pretty much untouched for us to carve some new tracks! It was an amazing run through deep powder and trees. Vail really wore us out. We enjoyed one last day back at Breckenridge. We messed around in the terrain park for a little bit. I even tried the halfpipe but ended up taking a pretty nasty fall and snapped my neck back. Over all it was a wonderful spring break that we won't be forgotten. There is nothing like looking down at God's creation from the top of a mountain. It is something everyone should experience. What a blast! We are hooked! Special thanks to Amy's parents for their generosity. Forget Christmas presents, we want vacations from now on! Thanks Mom and Dad!
Amy's Top ski resorts
1. Vail
2. Snowmass
3. Park City, Ut
4. Breckenridge
5. Keystone
6. Snowbird, Ut
7. Solitude -- very difficult
8. Crystal, Mi
9. Nubs Nob, Mi
10. Boyne, Mi
11. Bittersweet, Mi

Amy's ski resorts she wants to visit
1. Whistler
2. Jackson Hole
3. Big Sky, Mt
4. Chile
5. Swiss Alps
6. Holiday Valley, NY

2 Games in One Week

2007-02-22T19:21:00.000-05:00

During the last two weeks Amy and I went to two basketball games that were exciting for different reasons. The first game that we went to was the Pistons vs. the Spurs at the Palace. We had unbelievable tickets in the second row behind the scorers table. Supposedly this is where the brawl between Ron Artest and fans took place. The game was alright the Pistons really kind of stunk and it was fun to see and hear the guys up that close. However the best part of this game was the pregame and the halftime that we experienced. The Pistons have what is called the Ersa Club which gives you unlimited drinks and food in a private lounge before the game and desserts during halftime. They had food all the way from prime rib, to brick oven pizza, to grilled whitefish, and on and on. It was unbelievable and we felt like royalty. Here is a shot from our seats so you can see just how close we sat.

The next game that we went to was this past Wednesday night at Michigan State. Bill Luurtsema had some extra seats and we sat in the final row behind the basket in the lower bowl. Bill sat behind the Wisconsin bench with the high school caravan from Unity Christian. Wisconsin who was number one in the country at the time was who MSU was playing against. The game was higlighted by Drew Neitzel scoring 11 straight points to give MSU the lead and having Amy jump hysterically. MSU ended up winning and all the fans rushed the court aftewords. Nietzel finished with 28 pt and was 10-17 from the floor. We met Bill and his caravan in the parking lot with the high school girls screaming about how they hugged this player and touched this other players abs. I think they were more excited for that then seeing the exciting game. I must admit that I was skeptical that Neitzel could be an impact player at MSU but he was more than that. He made every big shot. Amy thinks he is going to get drafted in the 2nd round of the 2008 NBA draft. Of course I'm skeptical.

Snowboarding at Boyne

2007-02-07T09:39:00.000-05:00

Well I was a little slow on this post. The last weekend in January Amy and I made plans to go snowboarding up at Boyne with Randy and Erin. Its a nice 3.5 hour drive from here to there. We had a good time up there, however I don't recommend going to this particular resort. It was filled with greens and blacks that weren't very fun, the terrain park and superpipe were closed. Just over all I wasn't impressed. Plus they charged 50 bucks for a lift ticket. I'm glad we had a nice buy one get one free courtesy of Randy. Well we had a couple of funny moments. The first being Amy's reluctance to get off the chair lift at the right time. We put all four of us on a chair lift and it was a little tight. When we got to the top Randy, Erin, and I got off quite easily and then we looked back for Amy and she was still sitting on the chairlift as it was about to make its turn to go back down the hill. We had to wait 10 minutes for some guys on snowmobiles to come help her get off the lift. She kept saying "I just couldn't do it, it's too steep." Well she is the most experienced of all of us. Here are some pictures to show what I'm talking about. It snowed the entire day which was kind of fun. However snowboarding up north doesn't compare to going to the mountains out west.

We also stayed in a hotel up at the Best Western Inn in Petoskey. Randy got a deal on it for listening to a timeshare offer up there. It was frigid that night and we had a good time running to the spa and back.

Ann Arbor Rec Basketball

2007-01-25T21:54:00.000-05:00

If you know anything about us you know that we both enjoy playing basketball. We both played in college and now look for any way in which we can continue to play. Amy plays on a team called the "Free Agents". This team was made last year out of all the ladies who didn't have a team. They enjoyed it so much that they decided to do it for another year. The team is made up of only 5 girls because none of them really want to sit out. It didn't seem to matter tonight because they dominated the "Perfect Strangers" with a fast breaking offense that scored 66 points and won by 30. Here is the team picture.

Team Photo: Colleen, Shannon, Amy, Lesa, Shannon

Lesa taking a break during halftime.

I also play on a team for the Ann Arbor YMCA. It is fun playing with a new group of guys and we have done quite well so far going 4-0. Lesa and Amy keep stats for the game in the midst of their cheering of course.

Quick Trip to Arizona

2007-01-18T23:01:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Bill and Wanda Luurtsema we have been able to take a few vacations to Scottsdale, AZ over the last few years. They have an incredible house down there that makes us feel like royalty when we are there. This year we decided that we needed a little company when we went down there so my sister Lesa and Lauri Saul joined us for the trip. There are a lot of hikes to be done in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area and I thought it would be fun to do a "peak a day". We didn't quite do a "peak a day" however we did climb three including Pinnacle Peak, Camelback Mountain, and Squaw peak. Pinnacle peak is a simple climb that anyone could complete. On the other hand you better be prepared to do some serious climbing for both Camelback and Squaw. Camelback is much more enjoyable with a better view of the Valley of the Sun. This is our second time up and would do it again. In fact a lot of locals run up and down the mountain. I might have to give that a try someday. Climbing is not entirely safe as we realized when Amy sprained her ankle on the way down Squaw peak. Needless to say it was slow moving after that.

Other things that we did include a trip to US Airways Arena to watch the Suns play the Magic. Amy and I bought face value tickets off of Craigslist for the eigth row. It was worth it. In our opinion watching the Suns is everything that is fun about basketball. Lesa and Lauri also got tickets for the upper deck. We were quite annoyed with the traffic coming into town because there was a Supercross at Bank One Ballpark. We were consistently stuck by large trucks with decals of anything from cowboy hats to naked girls. Other enjoyable moments were going to Martini Ranch and Mickey's Hangover in Scottsdale. Martini Ranch was a nice bar with live music and a dj dance floor. To wind up the trip we took the redeye home to detroit and got home by 7 am on Monday morning ready for another week of work.