bowling in christmas sweaters

I wish I'd taken pictures of us bowling Friday night! We planned a bowling night with some friends and Ryan made it an ugly Christmas sweater extravaganza! Ryan scored 177 in the first game! My high score of the night was 117... which beat Ryan by 1 point that game!

Don't mind Bryan's high score of 170 that beat us both. Look at how many strikes he got! 

Brooksie, Kramer, Bryan, Amy, me and Ryan

Saturday and Sunday, Ryan spent most of his time at a workshop at Liberty University learning Graston's technique (http://www.grastontechnique.com/AboutUs/ASynopsis.html). I spent most of my days at home sewing/crafting/football watching and getting ready for the holiday!

Talking about football. Auburn had another big win Saturday in the SEC championship game. Knowing it could rock the boat with the BCS rankings, we watched the first half of the Michigan State/ Ohio State game. And it sure did! Before Ryan left for his workshop early Sunday morning, he left me a note so I wouldn't miss the big news.

The stage has been set for Jan. 6 at 8:30. Florida State vs AUBURN.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10103718/florida-state-seminoles-auburn-tigers-play-vizio-bcs-national-championship

W A R   E A G L E. 

Christmas decorations

As we get ready to head out to see family tomorrow, I thought it'd be nice to put up pictures of our Christmas decorations. We didn't do a big tree... although I look forward to being mesmerized by my grandparents trees in Alabama. One of my grandparents does an angel tree with white lights and ALL angel ornaments (except for a few with pictures of grandchildren, but they don't distract from the angels). My other grandparents have a tree with ornaments that remind me of things that represent my family... Auburn, music, trains, baby pictures, ornaments from travels, etc. Both trees are the focal point of the living rooms during Christmas, even after the presents are opened.

The other reason I love Christmas decorations is because it's a traditions to drive around the old Decatur streets and neighborhoods to spot the houses that participate in the decorating contests. It's a competition. And we all know I love competition. They have awards for lighting, traditional, winter wonderland, and other categories. As you drive around, there are signs out front for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd place and honorable mention winners.

These houses are decked out.... wreaths in every window, weighed down with pineapples, oranges, red and green apples, bows, lights, and ornaments. There is garland, everywhere. There is always a giant nutcracker, that stands in a front doorway. There are lots of reindeer, sleighs and Santas. One wreath features a pair of ice skates. There is a Charlie Brown Christmas house. I guess I'm giving too much away.... I will definitely be posting a week's worth of pictures this year for all to see!  It.  is.  the.  best.

Enough about the AWESOME decorations I'll see in Alabama... here are some pics of my apartment decorations....

Reindeer sitting in my kitchen window

A "mantel" with stockings... hanging above the couch.

The teapot I got for my birthday and some winter salt & pepper shakers.

And the star topper

A mini tree with Chicago Bears ornaments. 

There are also white lights outside, wrapped around the stairs leading up to the porch, however it's hard to take good pictures of lighting.


The holiday season is a special time of year when we all get to spend time with family and friends and celebrate the birth of Christ Jesus! MERRY CHRISTMAS !!

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!

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?