What a mess!

I thought I loved the way my blog looked, but I decided that it's a huge mess. Yuck! Maybe with this next week that I have off, I'll simplify it again.

Isn't that always the way?  The time we take for ourselves is more often than not spent cleaning up the loose ends we let get away while we were busy with work/responsibilites/etc.

In addition to cleaning up my mess this next week, I'm looking forward to making some messes. Whether they be in the kitchen, in the piles of snow we have, or with wrapping paper.  I'm ready to be around those I love. It's been too long.

I'm a Grouch(o)!

Heeeey guys! Guess what?! I've recently been given the honor of being part of the Groucho Sports Team! You get to read even MORE about my adventures!


Okay, enough with the exclamation points, but you guys missed one rad "happy dance" when I found out they wanted me to write for them.  So who/what is Groucho Sports?  Oh, I'm glad you asked! They are a sportswear company striving to provide quality stuff for a righteous price.  If you're curious to find out more, you can read all about them on their blog.

I'm super excited to be a part of this group of contagiously-enthusiastic individuals. I have a feeling that it's going to be a wild ride, so stay tuned for updates on our shenanigans.

All That is Fall

Note: this post was started during the warm stretch and JUST finished it, just in case you're going, "um...hello...it's already FREEZING out there, idiot".

We got an early dose of autumn here in Minnesota (read: it was cold and gloomy), which quickly faded into the much-loved and rarely appearing "Indian Summer". Yuck, I hate that term. Please hold....

Okay, so after taking a jog over to Wikipedia, I found out that I can also refer to the phenomenon as "St. Martin's Summer", or if I want to stick to my German roots, "Altweibersommer". Done and done.

Anyway, we've been enjoying a stretch of said Altwiebersommer, and quite frankly it has been amazing. Soon however, the comfortable temps will fade away and the explosion of outdoor activity will calm down, and we will fall back into our normal seasonal cycle. (Pun intended.) This warming period that is delaying the inevitable has given me a chance to reflect on the things I love about autumn in the Midwest. So I'm going to be incredibly self-indulgent and tell you about a few of my favorite things. (Cue thunderstorm and kids singing along...)

Let's just start with the obvious; Color!! Fall probably makes me a road hazard with all of my "ooing and aaaahhhing" at the bright reds, flashy yellows and warm orange colors painting our treetops.  It's all I can do to not pull over and take pictures on my daily commute. Next on my list of favorites are bushels of APPLES!!!  So I know that in this wonderful modern world apples are available year-round, but the crispy Macintosh apples, and the insanely flavorful Honeycrisp apples just bring me to that warm and cozy place.

Speaking of cozy, this time of year means I get to bring all of my wonderful sweaters out of hiding and very soon don my wonderful mittens that my awesome roommate made me last year. All of these warm, wooly things make me a little less forlorn that summer is not to be seen for another six months.

I could continue along this path of listing all of the things that make autumn in the midwest phenomenal, but I'm sure that most of you are aware of these wonderful things, so I will bid you adieu and let you get to brewing your hard cider.

I don't write enough, so it's time for a change.

I think this is because I write for a living, so the last thing I want to do when I get home is write, but it's time to UNLEASH.

As Darkwing Duck used to say..."Let's get dangerous".

New goal: write at least once a week, even if it's just a couple of sentences. Will check back/revise goal in a month.

Let's do this!

It only took 100 miles...

I apologize that it took so long for me to finish this post. I was incredibly emotional after finishing America's Most Beautiful Bike ride and had a hard time putting my thoughts into words. This is still kind of work in progress, so it might change as my emotions stop stealing my words.

I am not a half-way kind of person. I cannot only commit half of myself to a cause, idea, or project. It's not really in me to be overly cautious with new experiences or adventures. I'm of the mindset that if something scares the crap out of you, you should probably do it, because it will probably turn out to be a fun and rewarding experience. So with this mindset, I decided that my first "official" cycling event should be 100 miles long. Yup, I'm certifiably crazy. I thought so myself when I first signed up for the ride, and I'm still not sure that I'm legally sane. With that said, let me tell you what I learned in only 100 miles.

Teamwork:
I learned that there is nothing more powerful than a group of individuals working towards a common goal that they really believe in. Being surrounded by the Team In Training participants from all over North America while I pedaled along in Tahoe was incredibly inspiring. The comraderie and support from total strangers is still absolutely mind-blowing to me.

Discipline: As anyone close to me will tell you, when it comes to personal physical limitations or anything that involves an incredibly exciting outcome, I am not a patient person. Because of this, I found it difficult to spend the time to train properly and build up to that distance was a learning experience. Because of my coach, and the results I saw as we stuck it out, I learned that there's a rhyme and a reason to taking the time to do things "properly".

Faith/Belief in myself:  I learned that I really can do anything if I believe in myself. Sounds lame and cheesy, but it's absolutely the truth. I may not have believed in myself 100% of the time, but when I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to even make it to the starting line, there was my team, cheering me on and encouraging me to keep pedaling. It was because of them, and their faith in me that I made it to the finish line.  Also, faith that what I was doing was helping my cousin and others with Leukemia or Lymphoma fight for their lives. If they can fight for their lives, I can certainly climb some hills to help them out.

Gratitude: I wouldn't be here, writing these words about lessons learned if it wasn't for my team and those friends and family that listened to/sweated with me/donated/sent words of encouragement.

Below is a link to a video that one of my team members made of our adventure. It's kind of long, and I still can't watch it without getting all choked up, but it will give you an idea of what my experience was like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGPSF613Hk8

I have many moms

First of all, I would like to say happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother. She gave birth to me, and continues to guide me in my daily life. I'm not yet a mother myself, but I hear that the bond between mother and child is something that cannot be touched by anything else. I would have to agree, seeing as my mom is my best friend and I would be utterly lost without her at times. She still leaves me in awe to this day as I watch her continue to change the world with her kind heart.

I would also like to thank all of the other women in my life that have taken on the role of "mother" in my story. My stepmom is a wonderful example, not only because of the title she has been given, but because of the unconditional love and support she has given me from the age of three, all without actually giving birth to me. Sure, we've had our differences, but everyone has a time where they don't see eye-to-eye with their parents. She has truly been a force of nature in my life, and having her as a role model has been a great thing in my life.

More recently, I have become aware of my "other moms". They are coworkers, friends and other people's moms that have taken an interest in my life.  Being 4.5 hours away from a decent mom-hug, it has been a blessing to have these women in my life. They may not know me as well as my own family, but having dynamic, wonderful women that care about me makes an incredible difference as I go through my daily life. 

So, to all of my moms, I would like to say "thank you" and let you know that you are appreciated and loved.

The day I sold my dignity for comfort...no, not for Uggs...

As you might have read before, my biking obsession is coming along quite nicely; aided by my Tahoe TNT Team, my enthusiasm for stretchy fabric, and my (now far away) boyfriend.

I haven't really done too many long rides, so I was not so sure about the infamous padded-butt shorts that most spandex-donning cyclist owns. Mind you, I was not in doubt of their comforting qualities, I was more so in doubt of my ability to shrug off my vanity and put on what essentially feels like a tight, expensive, adult diaper. I figured that I just needed to condition my seat (read: torture myself) until I was, as my team mates put it "ready for the saddle". (I love how cavalier that sentiment is.)

I saw however, that we had a 30-mile ride on the schedule last weekend (and a 40 this weekend), so I figured it was time to swallow my pride and add some padding to my backside.  My friend that "helped" me pick them out (the quotes refer to her inability to stop laughing while I was strutting out of the dressing room) and my roommates said the same thing: "Hey, now it looks like you actually have a butt."

Gee, thanks guys.

Bottom line is (pun intended) I'm sold on padded butt shorts.