Friday, November 30, 2012

reconnecting with my first love

Last fall, my co-worker, Jean, invited me to play in an all-day soccer tournament the Sunday before Thanksgiving in Charlottesville. I was timid to get back out on the field, as the last time I had been running around on a full field it resulted in debilitating back pain. After weeks of telling me to "just come play," I finally agreed. I had a BLAST. I played outside mid and just ran and ran and ran. I scored goals, assisted goals by crossing the ball, won tackles and overall reconnected with my love for soccer.

I couldn't stay away, I joined the team for a full spring season playing on Sunday afternoons, and again this fall. I used to think I liked playing positions on the outside (either defense or midfield), so I could always turn with my back to the sideline and see the whole field. Now, I've moved to play center mid, which I LOVE. At center mid I get to be apart of EVERY play! It's a lot of running, but I train during the week to be ready for it.

I wrote a blog post for the Sweet Briar Athletics blog site about our fall tournament the weekend before Thanksgiving.... check it out here!

Thursday, November 29, 2012

thursday thanks

soccer, scoring, competition

college friends reuniting

staying up late talking with Amy like old times

morning snuggles with wrigley

not setting an alarm

family time

christmas pillows

cross stitching

gold stars

christmas planning

athletes doing rehab exercises

close friends getting married

wedding planning

gorgeous friends

sparkly lace wedding dress

payday

saying i'm sorry



Wednesday, November 28, 2012

everything orange

The week of Thanksgiving we had a great time travelling to see family and friends.

Ryan, Wrigley and I met my parents, my sister, and the dog, Terra, at the cabin on Wednesday. Thursday - the whole day was about cooking - my Mom was in the kitchen and my Dad smoked a turkey on his bbq deck. My sister, Amanda, and I helped in the kitchen with pumpkin bread, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pies. Ryan and I went for a short run (wearing orange since it's huntin' season) to prepare for all the food we were about to eat, threw a football with Amanda, played pool downstairs and entertained the dogs (or maybe the dogs entertained us).

Orange orange orange. Running, carrots, fire, Terra's collar, sweet potatoes. 

By 5:30, we'd eaten the "big" meal, we decided to wait on pie. We all fell half asleep by the orange fire burning slowly in the fireplace. Eventually we mustered enough energy to eat the orange pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream and a chocolate leaf decoration that Amanda made.


Friday night, Ryan and I drove up to Maryland for Fallon and Charles' wedding! Fallon is one of my close friends/teammate/housemate from college. Saturday some of the girls got ready at Fallon's parents' house that included a delicious breakfast prepared by one of Fallon's bridesmaids, lots of "getting ready", and catching up with friends!


The wedding was early afternoon, in a gorgeous cathedral near Baltimore. Their colors were navy blue and orange! The cathedral didn't need a lot of added decorations, it was immaculate on it's own. Fallon looked beautiful, I LOVED her lace and sparkle dress with an open back. The reception was at a nearby old manison.... unique with a huge porch, grand foyer and a warm fireplace. The reception was full of traditional events like speeches, first dances, tinging glasses, smooches, bouquet and guarder throwing, cake cutting, picture taking and dancing. Fallon and Charles seemed calm most of the day and took the time to soak it all in.

The kiss, blurry sorry

Me, Amy, Fallon, Joanie and Kate at the reception. LC Women's Soccer represent!

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

wood projects

Ryan started making wood projects out of pallets. I love my man who is a combo of crafty/creative PLUS an excellent carpenter/handy man. He does it right, without shortcuts, just the way I like it and another reason why I love him.

Project #1: Shoe storage by the entrance

It's stable and functional.

There are numerous pinterest projects that have always made us throw ideas around. I'm sure some of you have seen my pinterest board titled "projects for my man" ... and I want you to know that Ryan found most of those himself. I'm just the brain that saved them so we can go back to them. We make a great pair!

Project #2: A flat pallet with chicken wire behind it. Great for pictures, cards, invitations, etc. 

Please notice wrigley's king size bed. Just like her mama ...she needs room to sleep!

As a hobby, he has worked along on these projects during the fall when he didn't have much time off from work. He would spend half of his day before or after work being crafty, which was a great stress reliever for him. Project #3 was the most "creative" project. He spent lots of time trying to lay out pieces of wood. They are all different, some stained black, a few darker brown, placing the ones with holes strategically, adding depth with overlapping pieces ...it was several days of reworking the lay out to get it right.

Project #3

With so many antique and vintage shops in our area, it is typical for us to walk through one or two when we go on outings on the weekends. Some of the shops have refinished vintage-looking furniture and decorations. A few weekends ago we found lots of old, big trucks (I should have taken pictures..SO many).  Others have really smelly, gross pieces of furniture... dressers, mattresses (ew), rooms full of lamps + lamp shades, doors, rugs, vintage posters, etc, etc.

Yet, some of the smelly shops have treasures, like the windows that we found last weekend! I have lots of ideas about what we might to do with them. Maybe use them to frame pictures. Or just to decorate the boring entrance hallway in my apartment. Or make one into a coffee table. Or a cabinet. Who knows... I'll update pictures when they become something awesome.

Monday, November 19, 2012

dads visit

Another trip... a quick and meaningful trip. A weekend in October my Dad came to visit for the night!

He had been working for the day in Charlottesville (only an hour from me), and drove down to stay at Sweet Briar for the night. We caught up over dinner at the Briar Patch (everything is amazing there), we both had blackened salmon with a creamy, fluffy baked potato with toppings plus steamed vegetables. We watched the Nationals lose a heart wrenching game. On Saturday morning, he cooked me a DELICIOUS omelette with salmon and vegetable leftovers from dinner.

I also have been trying to grow basil in my kitchen. At walmart, buying fresh basil was more expensive than just buying a basil plant. The plant is on a shelf RIGHT next to the basil leaves... clearly they think we should just try to keep our own plant alive (which is harder than it should be). My dad took me to get potting soil, pots and pot trays - knowing that my plant needed more love than I was giving it. We came back to my apartment, and my Dad taught me how to re-pot plants, how often to give it water (not twice-a-day, everyday ...oops), how to pick the leaves to encourage new growth, how to spread out the roots so each plant has enough room and to find the sunniest spot in my apartment. Dad at his best! I was so glad he was able to come visit!

Here are before and after pics of my plant. It's doing better. I only water it every couple of days and I open my curtains so it gets plenty of sun on my bedroom desk. I know it looks droopy, but I think it's doing better!

Any other suggestions for my droopy basil?

Sunday, November 18, 2012

cockapoo gang

Friday night Wrigley hosted Fenway for her first sleepover!

These two have hung out several times when they were younger and have gotten along great. Wrigley is a fairly passive dog who doesn't fight to be the alpha dog in the room, and doesn't really like to rough house. Fenway is even more passive! She likes to follow people around, and she loves to sit in laps. Their "rough housing" is very tame compared to others dogs (ugh... can't get video from my iphone to load... does anyone know an easy way to do that?).

They look so different for both being cockapoos, however they have similar mannerisms. Both don't bark, they whine when a toy is stuck under the couch, they like to snuggle and both wanted to share MY pillow when we went to bed (yes, we had a slumber party).

These two did a great job sharing toys and playing. We left them out when we went to a bonfire Friday night (Wrigley usually stays in her crate when she's home alone) and Saturday for several hours when we went down to Lynchburg. When we got back, they were sound asleep on the couch and nothing was destroyed! Fenway was a gracious guest and Wrigley did a great job entertaining her!

**photo disclaimer -- Wrigley just got a short haircut, it's just started growing back.
Hanging out

Fenway brought these awesome treats to share! Wrigley ended up taking both of them.




Thursday, November 15, 2012

thursday thanks

Heather being by her phone 24/7 after surgery

surgery went well - not worst case scenario!

wrigley going back to sleep after 7am for 2 hours

racquetball with Ryan

coffee in the morning

chai tea with lunch

playing squash and basketball with co-workers

after lunch walks with wrigley

wrigley's haircut is growing in a little

students appreciating my review of cpr at work

a large athletic training room with windows and sunlight

thanksgiving means being with family and friends

single digits to Fallon's wedding

wrigley coming to work today, and all my co-workers' dogs are here too

my big girl wrigley doesn't fit in her first bed anymore
Left: Early this summer, comfortable and sleeping
Right: Today, not comfortable and not sleeping

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

cpr & racquetball

I remember the first time I was tested on how to do CPR... in 6th grade during PE. I was the first to pass the skills test in my class! (And I'm pretty sure I guested at which steps to do when... and "knew how to do CPR"). Since then, I've taken a lot of CPR/AED courses, at different levels, with many different instructors.

My biggest frustration with CPR classes is trying to process, learn and remember - in detail - life saving information, in less than 2 hours. Every class feels rushed. All the information is ALMOST straight forward... but it's still confusing. Does a rushed class prepare people to be confident if they are presented with an emergency, in which they need to start CPR and use an AED...? I don't think so.

In August (during the crazy two weeks of preseason), I took a course so I could be an instructor for CPR courses! The class was a grueling 8 hours. The first part of the class was reviewing material and taking the tests myself. After lunch, as a group, we taught two 2-hour classes before we could go home.

Upon receiving the formal instructor manuals (including videos, lesson maps, evaluations, equipment requirements, evaluations, exams and re-certification requirements), I was determined to sort through it all to have my classes be straight-forward and easy to understand. Most of the students I will teach are Sweet Briar students who work with me in the athletic training room, at practices/competitions, in the athletic building or fitness room. It is important for me to have these students leave my CPR class feeling confident that they know what they're doing. I'm depending on them since I can't be at every practice - they're my eyes and ears most of the time!

Last night, I taught my first class! I had four students who needed to be certified to start working with me after Thanksgiving. From the beginning, I made it clear that the goal was to leave the class with confidence in their ability to perform CPR and use an AED. We met in a classroom, watched video, reviewed material, practiced CPR, added the AED, reviewed more material and questions, etc, etc. Although I was nervous about keeping them engaged and rushing through material, it was a success! It was still about 2 hours and they seemed to respond well. I plan to do a review with them when they start work with me... you know, to build their confidence when they remember what they learned!

If anyone wants me to teach them CPR, I will keep it clear and straight-forward!

P.S. Ryan and I played racquetball this morning before work. We are good competition for each other, and we're both REALLY competitive. We played best of 5 games. In the 5th game... tied with 2 wins each... final game was to 11 points... had to win by 2.... final score was 12-10... who do you think won?

Monday, November 12, 2012

fall trips

This fall we've had a few days here and there for trips. I was able to cheer on the Hokies at a horrible game at UNC with my best friend, Heather, and her new hubs, DJ! Heather is in graduate school at Campbell University, located south of Raleigh/Durham, NC. DJ rides on ambulances to save lives every day. On game day we met up with one Heather's classmates for a morning tailgate, went to the game, sweated it out, hung out in Chapel Hill and picked up Chinese food.

VT @ UNC football game

The rest of the weekend included events such as, trying to paint Puck's nails (which he nor DJ approved of), shopping at the outlets, eating baked brie (my fav), drinking muscadine wine (also my fav) and catching up with my bestest friend!

Pucky, who doesn't like his nails painted.
The very next weekend, I convinced Heather (and Puck) to come visit me in VA by enticing her with the VA Garlic & Wine festival. Ryan, Heather and I drove up the road about 15 minutes to Rebec Winery to fight the crowds! There were SO many people there, I didn't realize most of our time would be spent waiting in line for tastings. Nevertheless, the waiting was worth it. We found lots of wine we liked (of course), and sampled food, cheese and garlic items that were delicious.




Saturday, November 10, 2012

the start of something new

As I get older, it has become apparent to me that it is more and more difficult to keep my friends and family updated on my life. With that said, I have decided to create this blog to share my projects, adventures, and thoughts. In addition, staying true to the title of this blog, I will be featuring Wrigley, my fluffy little cockapoo.