Fiesta Bowl 2009

Pre-Game at the 2009 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl

The Buckeyes made it to the Fiesta Bowl this year and thankfully my friends hooked me up! I was able to get me, my brother, and uncles tickets to the game as well as some pregame party passes. Basically I have great friends in high places :)

The Family

The guys heading to the stadium

Although the game didn't end the way we would have liked, it was still a good one. I can never complain when I'm surrounded with scarlet and gray, hear the hearty cheer of O-H and I-O, get to see the best damn band in the land, and witness the sweater vest in action. It's also so nice to spend time with my uncles and brother (who never misses a game).

I Love Brutus! Right after I took his picture he pointed right at me. Swoon! haha

Drum majors for the best damn band in the land!

They are awesome.

Me and Keith inside the stadium during the game.

Goodbye Mali...Hello Roxie

It is with my saddest regrets that I inform you that Mali and I had to part ways. She was a great car who got me to many places, including Arizona. Unfortunately, she came down with a bad case of engine disease. The “doctor” told me he wasn’t sure what her life expectancy was and “she could go forever, but she might die tomorrow”. Also, he informed me to avoid using highways and to just ride with friends as much as possible. The medical bills to just do an exam on Mali would cost a pretty penny without even a cure involved. It was time to put Mali down. It was a very sad experience as I had many memories with her, but I know she will be with me in spirit.

The sudden need for a new car led me into a panic/obsessive mode to fix the problem. I dove into researching cars, figuring out my budget, making a list of needs, and educating myself on car buying tactics. I must say I did a good job of knowing my stuff and even though I had to take my uncle along for moral support, I did everything myself. I guess that makes me a little bit of a grown up, huh?

Even though the actual car shopping process was not fun, the end product was well worth it. The goodbye to Mali was sad, but driving off the lot in Roxie was a nice experience. I tried to be practical in my decisions, but for this one time in my life, a convertible isn’t actually considered impractical! With no kids and nice weather year round, why not take advantage of it ☺

And thus, I now have a white 2008 Chrysler Sebring and she’s beautiful! It’s so much fun driving around with the top down and everyone should come visit so I can take you for a ride.

Roomates Reunited in PHX

The coolest college roommate ever, Brandi M. Killinger, came to visit me in Phoenix. On New Years Eve Day she departed from Cleveland, I departed from Columbus and we raced across the country to land in Phoenix. (I won by the way)

Her entire visit was a whirlwind and it flew by way. Right after we got home from the airport, we threw down our bags, did a quick change, and then got a ride down to Mill Ave for the Tempe Block Party. Thanks to my wonderful friend, Maureen, we had VIP wristbands which entitled us to free food and drinks and to hang out with the lovely people at the Fiesta Bowl.

I think we got more tipsy off of the excitement of being together in PHX than from the wine and margaritas. It was a great way to start a new year. I think I had as much fun on the walk down Mill and our cab experience than I’ve had in a whole year. Nothing is mundane or boring with Brandi in the picture haha.

New Years Day we set out to let Brandi experience the desert life. We went to Papago Park to climb to the Hole in the Rock and then went to the Desert Botanical Gardens to see the Chihuly Exhibit ( I highly recommend it by the way).

Brandi liked how this glass matched my hair.

Brandi with a real live cactus!

After our exercise we needed nourishment and what better than to introduce Brandi to In & Out Burger? And since we were in the area, we might as well stop by Tempe Market Place for a little shopping. This shopping trip actually spurred one of Brandi’s big ideas. (You know the ones that she gets really excited about and there is no turning back? Yeah one of those exciting ideas haha). She found some baskets that would go well in my room. When she tried to buy them for me and my argument was that I didn’t have room, so proclaimed we would rearrange my entire room. She wasn’t kidding. Brandi is the master of arranging rooms and creative projects. I felt guilty letting her clean and organize my room on her vacation, but like I said, there is no stopping her once it’s in her mind. We worked for hours, moved around all my furniture and did some heavy lifting, but by the end of the night my room had 3 times as much floor space, was clean and actually felt like a room I wanted to spend time in. This was just one of the many things Brandi improved in my life when she was in town. I don’t have room to list them all, but seriously, how did I live without this girl in 2008?

The rest of Brandi’s trip was slightly dulled due to my car (Mali) becoming seriously ill. She had to put up with my distress over what to do and we had to take more cab rides, but we still managed to go out on the town and have a blash. When you have Brandi, you end up making friends with pretty much everyone in the bar and we met some fun people. We even made Keith (who came out for the Fiesta Bowl) hang out with us at Dos Gringos (but we had to promise him there would be no dancing).

Brandi and I on Mill Avenue

These two had never actually met until they both came to Phoenix haha.

It was one of the saddest things to take Brandi back to the airport and send her back to the frigid North. Why can’t she just move out her to AZ and live in the sun with me? Brandi, I think you should seriously consider this ☺.

"You really shouldn't have worn that shirt"

A couple weeks ago, our choir performed at the Mormon Temple. They have the whole grounds covered in a beautiful light display and we were asked to perform. I realized as I was getting ready for choir, that no matter what, you will not look cute for a choir concert. I had to wear a white button up shirt, black pants, black socks, and black shoes. The old people were very adamant that if you wore a skirt it had to be floor length and no skin should show! This is serious stuff people, don't mess with the blue hairs and their dress codes. Unfortunately I threw a wrench into their pre-conceived notions of dress and it did not escape their attention. See, I decided to follow the rule with the white buttoned up shirt. It had a collar, but I guess it wasn't enough of a collar and the addition of a white tie on the front did not please them. As I went to sign out the red scarf I had to wear, the lady said to me
-" See, you shouldn't have worn that shirt" as she pointed at my little white tie at the collar.
-"Oh, well don't worry the scarf will cover it up! (big smile).
-"Don't wear that next time ".

I decided to brush it off and skipped up to my spot by some other old ladies. They were discussing how we were to wear the silk scarf and I asked how I should put it on. They looked at me and one lady responded. "Oh, well you really shouldn't have worn that shirt". Ha! I about lost it. I couldn't decide if it was annoying that they were picking me apart when clearly everyone else wasn't exactly uniform or if it was strictly comical. I tried to not let them get the best of me and put on my happy face as we were about to sing Christmas music. Just when we were about to file out the door and to the stage I hear a buzz and someone taps me. The ladies around me are all frantically looking at as if I've committed some hideous crime. I hear " take the label off!" Apparently my black binder had a label on the binding. My bad! You should have seen their faces as I went to take it off. It peeled off quickly in one simple pull, no biggie, but they sure didn't think so. Bahahaha I think I rocked their little choir world in one single night. Needless to say, I didn't feel like attending the rest of our concerts and going through their inspections.
The actual singing part went well though! We were on a stage facing the temple with a long pool between us. People were sitting along the water and the lights created a beautiful effect. We sang the Hallelujah Chorus and it was really good. It was the first time I've performed anything since graduation so it was good to be on stage. I'm not sure I'll keep with the choir anymore, but it was fun do it for a bit.

What are you really good at?

After ballet class the other day, I stopped in the costume shop because the strap on my shoe had come undone. The costume lady told me there was pink thread in the sewing machine and asked if I could sew. I wearily sat down at the machine and managed to fix my strap. I don't know what it is about sewing that scares me to death, but it does. I always get so stressed out and frustrated with myself about it. I mentioned to her that I wished I was good at sewing like my mom and great grandmother. Her response was actually a question and it really caught me off guard. "What are you really good at?" It was such a simple question as if everyone has something they are really good at. I thought for a long time and couldn't come up with an answer. I could only think "I'm mediocre at a lot of things". I used to think dance was my one thing, but that was compared to my high school classmates who could care less about taking dance. Dance was obviously not going to be my answer as I had just fumbled through a ballet class pathetically.
The question brought me back to my earlier ponderings / freak out when I watched Michael Phelps at the Olympics. Watching him be so successful actually sent me into a panic. He was made for swimming. That was his purpose in life. What is mine? What was I made to do? What's my one thing I'm really good at? I'm still trying to decipher the answer. Hopefully I'll find it one day. But now I'm going to throw it back out to you all. What are you really good at?

Small Town Girl

Growing up in the middle of a cornfield has many advantages, however, the arts scene and cultural events is not one of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm very grateful for my upbringing and can now see the blessings of a small town, but I've always wanted to be able to experience more. Phoenix isn't a huge arts city, but for me it's quite a big change from good old P'ville. This past week I went to the Symphony, to see the Broadway "Spring Awakening" and of course worked at the opening of the Nutcracker. 3 different arts events in one week! Needless to say it was a very good week and I feel very cultured if at least for a little bit.
As we were sitting in the second row at the Broadway play I mentioned to the other girls I was with how drastically different this week was to my time back home. I explained that it was quite a drive even to a Walmart which of course brought a response of dropped jaws. (get's em' everytime!) Megan's next response was "How'd you get so stylish?". I think it's funny that people are surprised I grew up on a farm. My boss at work thinks it's the funniest thing to know someone who lived on a farm and she even introduced me at a cocktail party with that opening. I guess out here it's a novelty haha.

24

I can’t believe I’m a year older. Twenty-four seemed pretty scary to me at first, but I’m warming up to the idea. I safely made it through 23 without continuing the trend of my mother and grandmother who had their daughters at that age. (So glad to escape that tradition haha.) I had a great birthday thanks to my friends and family. Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes, cards, and an adorable cupcake flower arrangement my way! (Ally, that was so perfect that I still can’t get over it!). I even had a call from my brother, Keith, which was quite surprising and highly entertaining ☺ . One of the best presents ever was that Chevie arrived in PHX. It was so good to have her back in the valley of the sun if even for a short time. We only had a weekend but we managed to cram our favorite things in. Here’s a breakdown of my birthday weekend.


Thursday:
Chevie & I celebrated with Champaign and Happy Meals ☺. After staying up talking, giggling and dancing around the kitchen we reluctantly turned in for bed because I had to work the next day.





Friday:
Jordan and Chevie met me for lunch at Sacks. When I got off work, Chevie and I went shopping and then to dinner with Jordan. We decided to make a quick stop at the Coach House to admire the lights and have a drink. When we arrived we noticed lots of Ohio State fans and the idea of leaving soon was out the window. It was so nice to hear everyone doing the O-H cheer or randomly busting out into “We don’t give a damn for the whole state of Michigan…”. It definitely felt like home!...I don’t think the Michigan fan enjoyed that as much haha.


Saturday:
We watched the Buckeye win (yay!), did a little more shopping, and then hurried to go to my birthday party. Everyone dressed up in their little black dresses and I wore my new blue cocktail dress. We ate at Grazie Pizzeria, which was super cute. It was so nice to have everyone out together. I realized I have more friends than I thought because we took up a whole long table. Not to bad considering I joke about only having 2 friends. After dinner we walked over to (non other than) the Coach House where we met up with a few more Fiesta Bowlers. We eventually left the Coach to head to the Sand Bar so we could do some dancing. Although the dj apparently had a liking for older songs that weren't even good in their day, we made the best of it. I think I must have belted out every song on the way home because my voice was scratchy for a few days. From the way 24 started out, I’d say this is going to be a very good year! Thanks to everyone who helped make it great!