Run A Race

The annual Thanksgiving Day Race in downtown Cincinnati was November 27th, Thanksgiving morning. This is my third time doing the 10K (6.2 miles). I very much enjoy this race and the course b/c it goes thru downtown and New Port and over some of the bridges. Its pretty scenic which helps keep my mind off any pain! :) I went again with my brother and Brett (Alissa's brother) who are avid runners and try to beat their last years times of 30 and 40 minutes or something around that. Yikes! Im still trying to get under 60 minutes. If I wasn't sick for so long I think this could have been the year, but I hardly ran close to 4 miles even close to training for the race. But oh well I gave it my best, and thanks to nice weather and my ipod I got a time of 61 minutes. Not bad and beating my last year's time by a big minute! We didn't have Alissa with us this year to help take pictures so I took a few of myself while waiting in the warm car before the race. My phone camera seems to create a fun house effect so I think I look very strange with BIG googly eyes but it's something. Next year in under 60 minutes!!!

  

FOSTER DOGGIE!

After lots of investigating and reading "URGENT" on pet lists, I found a rescue in Kentucky: Pet Connection, who needed help with a litter of Puppies that were dropped off there over night. Many rescues in Kentucky euthanize once they get over crowded and it breaks my heart to have an animal's "number come up", I can't even express how I feel about people who neglect their animals... but anyway Since Pokey has passed to doggie heaven, I realized we just had too much space in our 935 square foot home! So that is how we got Dexter!!!

I met him on October 14th at the Kenton County Dog Park. He was as cute as a button! Once I got him home Doug immediately feel in love with him and so did I... and so did Bear so we have decided to adopt him! He is a great Pup! Doesn't get into too much trouble but he is still a little mischievous. He loves to cuddle and he sleep with Mom every night. Of course we spoil him, but how could you not, just look at this face! Bear seems very happy to have a little brother also. We've had him for about a month now and tomorrow is his first vet visit for some major surgery. Hope all goes well! (he's getting rid of the boys). :) But shhh don't tell him!

UGH IVE BEEN SICK!

So I have been a bit held up on my fall things to do. I have been sick with a chronic cough that sometimes scares people. It seems to be what was left over from a quick flu like sickness I had before Halloween. I have been to the doctor and after a 30 minute drive and a $20 visit, he game be antibiotics that really didn't do anything...So anyway.. I did not get to go to a Pumpkin Patch. Maybe I can still find one... but I have done something else that was not on my list, that I have wanted to do for ever which is foster a dog or adopt a puppy!!! So happy and love him so much! So on with the list.. hopefully I can get a lot accomplished in a few weeks!

Give to charity

So I have actually given to a few charities this year, but this one I wanted to use for my list b/c I did more than just give money. On Saturday October 11, we went down to Coney Island and did a walk/run for the 2008 Cincinnati Walks For Kids for Children's Hospital. A friend from high school has a little girl, Brylee, who was born with a heart condition that she will have her whole life. This event raises money and celebrates the children and families cared for at the medical center. Amy and I met Brenna and her family and friends and walked with them, talked and caught up for a while. Then Amy and I took off and ran to get in some good exercise for the day. It was an awesome day out, and a great cause to raise money. Here are pictures with our t-shirt on that Brenna made for the team.

http://giving.cincinnatichildrens.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=546&srcid=546

Go to the mountains!

I flew out to Denver to visit my good college friend, Erin. As soon as I got there we drove up into Breckenridge to the huge cabin we rented for the weekend. This weekend was a great time to be there b/c all the Aspen trees were changing to an awesome yellow. There was about 8-10 of us, some came up on Saturday and some left. It was a great time of drinking and playing with the dogs. We went into town Friday night and saw a cool funk band play. We all piled into one car and went into Breck to Sherpa & Yeti's and saw the band Papa Grows Funk. They were great, interesting and a very diverse crew! On Saturday we went to Peak 8 with the dogs and walked around and adored the view, ended the night in the hot tub that also had a great mountain view! Sunday we went back into Denver. We were exhausted but we managed to get out to Appaloosa Grill downtown Denver where Erin's very good friend works and manages. We ate a delicious dinner and washed it down with an excellent Pinot Gris. Erin was excited to find out the band The Clam Daddy's where playing so we stayed and listen to them break it down for a set. They were awesome! (picture with the band in the background and Erin's younger sister.) I left Denver Monday morning. Good bye mountains! Hopefully Ill see ya again soon!!! 

Andrea and Jo

The group at Breckenridge

Lake Dillon Denver

Ride A Roller coaster!

So... last Sunday Amy invited me and her cousin and her cousin's husband to P&G Day and Kings Island! We got there around 12:30 and for some reason crazy weather likes to follow us. The remnants of Ike was starting to show his face. The day was fore casted for high winds and later some rain. At noon the weather wasn't too bad just some wind so we went for it. We got there and had issues with the very first ride we got on. We pulled down the restraints and buckled ourselves in and then nothing. They announced there was a tech difficulty and they couldn't release the restraints so we had to sit there for at least 5-6 minutes waiting. Here I have pictures of Amy and myself in this predicament. Amy is expressing how she really feels about the whole situation.

So we got off that ride with nothing but slight claustrophobia.. but next we went on the Racer and we also got to ride the new ride Fire Hawk. The new ride was awesome! It was like you are flying b/c you are laying down and it turns you to face the ground. It was great. Here are a few picts of us on the racer. (top)  That ride never gets old!

So we started to go for the Vortex and then the winds really started to pick up and right as we got in line they started to shut everything down. The Park was starting to fall apart. We were getting blown over walking to the cars. It was crazy. We only got to ride 2 roller coasters but those 2 were fun. The next ride was the car ride home with howling winds and trees falling over... but that starts another story....

Us with out power for the last 3 days!!!

NOT ON LIST

ENGAGED!!!!

Yea! Finally Doug and I are engaged! The last weekend in July Doug got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! (of course I said yes!) He didn't have anything really planned... no ring... but that was fine with me!! I went and got my ring custom made using a very special part of my Grandma Jackson's ring that I have had for years. It turned out better than I can image. We are planning to get married August 8th, 2009. 

(sorry no picts...)

Also... The Memory of Pokey

Pokey went to doggie heaven the morning of Friday, September 5th. She was an old girl and having all kinds of problems once you get that old. She had some tumors and fluid in her lungs and it started getting difficult to breathe and lay down. So after a long night and a rough week, Doug took our baby to the vet and they agreed that it was the best option. 

Doug and I took her in from his parents, almost 2 years ago, since they were having a hard time keeping her inside and giving her all the love she needed. They were in the process of renovating their house and seeing grandkids etc... so although they tried their best we decided to take her to our new house January of 07. She was a great dog and Ill miss her very much. RIP! I love you Poke!

1994-2008

Graeters!!!

Doug and I went out to dinner because we were too tired to cook anything. After dinner Doug was still hungry (shocker)... so we decided to go to yummy Graeters!!! I got the typical cup of cookie dough chip and Doug got his Scrumptious Sundae. And yes it is called The Scrumptious Sundae. We both cracked up to hear him order his scrumptious sundae. But it was scrumptious!!!

Here it is!! YUM...

Here is Doug trying to take my highly lethal camera phone away....

Ride on a boat

YES! The 4th of July this year was so fun! Doug and I went up to Jackie and Jason's Saturday day and night. We got to Akron around 1 pm and went to her parents house right on Portage Lakes. The ladies took out the Pontoon boat first. We had a blast dancing to music, and waving Hi to everyone out side and on boats. The lake is gorgeous and its a big party there. I couldn't believe it. Ill have pictures soon once I get them from Jackie and Tia. Can't wait for next yr so that we can enter the boat into the boat parade, ours will be the best! Good Times and the fireworks were awesome!!

Here is a picture of me and Jackie on her pont

oon boat! Good times!!!

Read a Book

The book I read was The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini. It was a great book. My sister lent it to me and both her and my Mom recommended it. The main setting was based Afganistan back when the Russians and then the Taliban came into the country and turned it into what it resembles today. The author describes it as beautiful and prosperous back when he was growing up, before it was taken over. It was a touching and grabbing story about his father and friendships while going thru the horrible changes in his country. Id recommended this is anyone. It was a fast and gripping read which makes you feel lucky to be an American.

Go to Concert

So concert #1 for the year was James Taylor. It was great! Went to Riverbend with Amy, her parents and her Aunt and Uncle. They got 2nd row seat and Amy and I were in the lawn but had decent seating. He sang some covers and also some oldies but goodies.... "Sweet baby James", "Mexico", "You got a friend", "Carolina in my mind", and "Country Road". He sounded as good as I can ever remember. After we met her parents back at the car and Amy's Mom had gotten us signed ticket stubs from JT himself!!! He signed for people during intermission. Thanks JoAnn!!! Perfect weather for an evening out door concert!

Concert #2 for the year was Tom Petty and Steve Winwood! Another great concert!!! We were in the lawn again, but it was fine accept for the young 20 yr old chicks that were all around us. And yes being somewhat obnoxious. I thought Devine was going to lose it. But once Tom came on stage they all ran down to the front! So it was lovely from then on. He sang a bunch of great songs...Steve opened and playedjjj "Higher Love". Some of Petty's songs were "Refugee", "Wont Back Down", "Free Fallin" "Learnin to Fly" "Don't Come Around Here no More" and closed with "American Girl" WOW! Good ones!
A few dark videos for ya.. you can see them pretty good on my camera but not so much on computers.

Concert #3 Was Brad Paisley. This was a bit unexpected but was really fun. Went with Jen, Kristina (of course those crazy country girls) and Jason. I didnt know any of his songs but I tried to listen to the verses and they were pretty funny. I liked the fishing song the best.

Concert #4**** BUFFETT!!!**** Another unexpected one, last minute Jannelle calls me and has a ticket! Yeah!!! So it was great and crazy. I forget how crazy it gets down there. I had to get a good buzz to handle it for sure! He sang his classics Changes in Latitude, Margaritaville, Fins, Cheeseburger in Paradise and so on....

He sang Brown Eyed Girl and Southern Cross which were super fun to hear from him again! The only thing was that the music wasn't that loud. We were back in the lawn but still it seemed a bit quiet for Buffett.. not sure if they have to do that b/c all the people are so loud and there is a decibel law or something but it was kinda bummer but all in all...Good times all around.. here are some quick video clips of me and Jannelle and my chin and big face!

Go Camping

And Camping we DID! Another thanks to Amy Devine for indulging me in this idea. I have been wanting to go to the Red River Gorge for ever and I reeled Amy in with camp, hike, boots and fun!

We had a great time only we got to the gorge a little later than expected but Saturday was awesome. Perfect May weather. We walked around the whole park (well drove and walked). Found a great camp site and saw some awesome scenery. I even scaled a small rock free hand. We grilled some dogs (hot dogs you sickos) and dranks some drinks and before we knew it we were out of TP, drinks and smokes so we figured... time for bed. Only we did not realize the storm was a brewing. Ill just let Devine's email tell the tale for she did it so well....
Around 9:45am, I woke up to rain pounding on our tent. I heard it and remember thinking “why is it raining right now?”. That’s when Andrea nudged me to wake up. I lifted my head and looked at her like, “What is going on? It’s not supposed to rain until later on today.” And she returned the look as if to say, “I know! What is this crazy weather??” And just then it started howling and wind started gusting all around us, trying to lift our tent up. So we had to seriously hold the tent down with our bodies on either side, to keep it from lifting up with us inside. Andrea was incredibly nervous and didn’t want us to move, and I was sortof just waiting it out, unsure of what was really happening. That was when it started hailing on top of us like someone was throwing sticks and stones at our tent. What?? Tornado never even really crossed my mind. Well, not for serious consideration anyway. And.. Who goes camping and gets a tornado in the camp? I mean, really. It was insane. We could hear trees cracking and falling down around us, but we thought it was thunder at first. So this lasted not long, maybe about 4 minutes or so. Then it dissipated and flew off over the rest of the canyon behind us.
We sat in the tent, hearts pounding, for another 5 minutes to make sure it was gone before climbing out. Finally we got out, and there were trees down left and right. As we looked around, we heard people up at the street yelling (about a quarter mile from our camp), but we didn’t think anything of it. That’s when a guy came running down our trail yelling. He stopped and we couldn’t tell what he was yelling at us. We moved closer towards him, and we were like, “What????” He yelled, “There’s a tree on your Jeep!!” OMG. Grabbed the keys, and we flew up the trail to find a very large tree lying across my dad’s Jeep. That was when we realized the scope of the situation.
Here is a photo that Andrea took from further down the road, looking up at the tree that landed on the Jeep. You can’t see the Jeep, bc it’s buried under all of those branches on the right hand side. It’s actually on the far right, up on the bank of the road in the grass. The car behind that tree in this pic is the woman’s sedan that got trapped with 4 kids. Yes, you read that correctly. Read on below.

A woman was driving down this road with 4 kids when it started hailing and pouring so hard that she had to stop the car right in front of a ravine…..and unbeknownst to her, right in the path of the tornado (or whatever it was if it didn’t actually register). When she stopped, this tree in the photo above came crashing down just feet in front of her car, and landed on my dad’s Jeep. Screaming out for help, she reversed to get out of there, and just as she did, another very large tree came down just feet behind her back bumper. They had become trapped. Just then, everything dissipated and we had blue skies within minutes. By the grace of God everyone was alright, no injuries.
My phone was dead at this point, so I couldn’t get any pictures, but Andrea was able to capture a little footage on her phone. It’s quite pixilated, but it gives you an idea of the damage. Try this link below. Feel free to laugh at her scintillating reporting comments. I did. It’s the 2nd video if you play the slideshow. The 1st video is from when we walked all the way down Chimney Rock Road to see how widespread the damage was. There were quite a number of trees that the officers had to hand saw and chainsaw apart to get back to us.

Go to the beach

I wasted no time this year getting to the beach. Thanks to my good friend Amy Devine who came up with the idea to go to Florida and my nice tax refund check, I couldn't think of anything better. Its been a month since we went so Ill just sum up a few fav. things. We ate a bunch of fried food at Ricky T's and it was delicious. We laid on the beach all day and watched the sun set. We got extremely intoxicated with some fabulous and talented lesbians. (Thanks Pammy love for your vocal talents and Danielle for introducing all of us). Next yr we want to make sure to check out St. John's Pass and one more day at St. Pete's Beach!

29 things to do before I turn 30

Things that have been done

1. Create mixed media collage

2. Ride a roller coaster

3. Take some really cool pictures with a new digital camera (a day of cool picture taking at a park etc..)

4. Run a race

5. Take pictures in a photo booth

6. Start and finish a book

7. Buy a new car *if funds are not available by Jan. see Replacements

8. Go swimming in a pool and do water gymnastics

9. Go fishing

10. Go to concert/s (other than DMB b/c I go to that every year)

11. Go camping

12. Go to the beach

13. Go to the mountains

14. Ride a horse

15. Play the lottery

16. Give to a charity

17. Watch NO t.v. for a day (24 hrs) does not include if Im out of town etc...

18. Go to Graeter's

19. Take the dogs on a trip (camping etc..)

20. Go sledding

21. Find and cook a new recipe

22. Ride on a boat

23. Paint a picture on canvas (go to art store)

24. Cook Doug a real three-course meal

25. Go to a pumpkin patch

26. Make soup/chili in the crock pot

27. Go to a very high spot and look over so that I am scared of the height

28. Buy cheap guitar

29. Take guitar lesson

Replacements

climb a tree

go ice skating

bake cupcakes and bring into work