Master the Met...

...I did it!!! I Mastered the Met! And let me tell you that every single step of the 1,000 that I walked...SUCKED!!! BIG TIME!!! But I felt so awesome (well, after recovering) for achieving it and I had a blast. This event raised over $330,00 for the American Lung Association!!!

Here is our team minus Adam. Go Stairway to Heaving!!!


Here is the Metropolitian Building where me and my team climbed all 42 flights of stairs.

There were 10 of us on our team...7 co-workers and 3 firefighters. Our firefighters climbed all 42 FLIGHTS IN THEIR FULL GEAR!!! (I'm making another post just about them). Here I am trying on the helmet and jacket...whatcha think? Maybe I have a future in fighting fires? Nah...

April, Amy, me and Shelley boasting about Mastering the Met!!!

I must admit that when we got our bib numbers, I was beyond thrilled because mine was my birthday 313 (which is in 5 days if anyone is counting)!!! I was rocking out to some "Electic Avenue" on my way there and really the most stressful part of the day was driving downtown, now I remember why I always take the Metro when I go to Cards game.

Here is a step (no pun intended) inside my mind during the race:

Start line: AH!!! Time to do this!!!

Floor 5: Sweet! Floor five already!!! I'm rockin'!!!

Floor 8: *Shelley, the marathon runner, passes me* Awesome, I held my own for 8 floors.

Floor 15: I must be halfway there, tell me I'm halfway there...*looks at wall* crap...

Floor 18: Okay, halfway there...

Floor 19: You are soooo NOT halfway there.

Floor 21: I love the number 21 but how in the he** am I going to do this many more flights...again?

Floor 27: What have I gotten myself into? There's no turning back now though...

Floor 30: I think I'm going to puke...

Floor 31: What would I puke? I haven't eaten anything today. Don't be a wuss! You CAN.NOT. puke!!!

Floor 32: Seriously, I'm going to puke...where's the trash can?

Floor 35: Don't puke, don't puke, don't puke...

Floor 38: How much further????

Floor 39: Where's the freakin' finish line?

Floor 40: Shoot me now!

Floor 42 *smiles for the photog* Can I puke yet???

So there's a look inside the mind of a climber! FYI-I did NOT puke!!! When I finished though, for about 10 minutes after I thought I was going to and O.M.G. my ovaries hurt soooo bad!!! I thought they were going to fall out or something!!! But it was definately worth it for the feeling of accomplishment I felt (after the puking feeling went away and my ovaries were feeling back to normal).

Body feeling wise, my legs surprisingly didn't hurt at all. It was all my chest and lungs!!! Saturday afternoon, I felt like I could go running or skiing (yes skiing, I was jumping around doing that at my house) or something (of course, I didn't) but geez, I felt like I had smoker's cough all afternoon.

I climbed all 42 flights in 13 minutes and 36 seconds, slowest of my team, but I did it!!! When someone got hurt, sick, or "went down" the building alarm went off so I feel that since the alarm didn't go off when I was climbing, that's a big accomplishment! I raised money for the American Lung Association so all in all, it was 14 minutes of agony but it was definately worth it. I did forget where I parked and wandered around the parking garage until some co-workers found me and we drove around until we found my car. What can I say? I was excited when I got there and forgot to look to see what level I parked on!

Tomorrow I will be posting about the firefights on our team so tune back in!!!

Awww...They Missed Me!!!

...my co-workers couldn't stand the thought of me being gone so they introduced a "replacement" me. Isn't she lovely?
The "replacement" was made of everything at my desk...a bag of volleyballs, my jacket and even the red Cardinals helmet-no I don't wear that when I am at work. And please disregard my bulletin board behind my desk that looks like my high school locker with all those pictures up. What can I say? I like to be surrounded by family and friends! So thanks guys for missing me!!!

Phone Call...

...So last week I was at conference in Tan-Tar-A. On Wednesday, I had to be up at 5AM to meet a co-worker and head to the conference. That night, I'm barely able to keep my eyes open and I lay my head down on my pillow when...my phone rings. It's hubs, I had already talked to him earlier and said good night. He never calls just to talk so I knew he wanted something. Here's our convo:

Me: Hello?
Matt: Hey babe, I just wanted to see what you're doing.
Me: I'm about to go to bed.
Matt: Oh, okay...
Me: Everything okay? Did you need something?
Matt: Well there is one thing...how do I know the alarm is set?

I just started laughing and when I told my co-worker who was rooming with me, she thought it was funny too. Funny how husbands don't realize what they have until we're gone for a day...

Rumor Has It...

...that I'm getting an I-Touch for my birthday (which FYI is only 8 days away!!!)!!! I'm soo excited! When I first got into working out about 4 years ago, I spent $60 on a cheap MP3 player and it's lasted me pretty well. Nothing is wrong with it but when my dad asked me what I wanted for my birthday and he denied my request for cash flow (because he knows that I'll just put it in my savings account and won't spend it), I had to come up with something. Hmmm...an Ipod? So I sent in that request and within an hour my sister calls telling me all about the I-Touch and I was sold not to mention TOTALLY excited!!! Music AND the Internet-watch out, I'll be harvesting crops ALL DAY!!!

So Haley is planning on making a playlist for me which I've been told will include Black Eyed Peas, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus AND the soundtrack from Thirteen Going on 30. My current MP3 player has the following:

*Just Add Water (a local punk/skater STL band from years ago...big fan in college but they've broke up now-this is the kind of workout music I like best)
*Britney Spears-Lucky
*Bare Naked Ladies-quite a few songs by them
*Jimmy Buffett
*Jodie Messina (are you catching on that my playlist is all over the board???)
*Tech 9-KC y'all!
*Trina and the list goes on...

Obviously, this music is all over the place and it goes very upbeat to totally slow.

What other songs should I put on there? I'll primarily be using this to workout so I need some pump me up, push me over that last hill, make me feel like a rock star music!!! So please comment with songs I should invest in for my new I-Touch!!!

The Great Debate at Our House...

...is about religion. I know this should have all been discussed and worked out PRIOR to marriage but we got hitched at a winery so it didn't. You would seriously think we're like polar opposites when it comes to this but we're really not. Hubs is Lutheran and I'm Methodist. We can't agree on a church to save our lives...it.is.FRUSTRATING!!!

Hubs grew up Lutheran, went to school Lutheran, knows no other religion than Lutheran so he's 100% stubborn and will not even blink at the thought of learning something new. His family is Lutheran, his friends are Lutheran...everyone but his wife. His wife is Methodist. My big beef with Lutheran is that they don't let me take communion and the way they word it in their bulletin is very misleading but that's another story for another day. I believe that if you confess and repent of your sins then you are welcome to take communion. His church believes the same BUT you also have to believe the Lutheran religion to take communion. So every holiday, I sit all alone in the pew, waiting for everyone to come back so I can slide out or move my legs funny so that they can all sit back down. They do let me get ashes though so that's nice of them.

About a year ago, Matt and I "agreed," or so I thought, to find a church together that was "our" church that we could start attending and raise our children in. We found a church we both really liked last spring but then summer rolled around and he ended up working every weekend so we quit going. This fall rolled around and I was ready to start going again only for hubs to say, "Okay, I'll start going to church again but to MY church." I asked him what had changed his mind and he admitted that he just agreed to find "our" church to make me happy.

Needless to say, we didn't go in the fall. So now Matt has started wanting to go back to church but only at HIS church. He said he didn't feel it was fair for me to ask him to give up his religion. I don't remember ever asking that, I just asked that we find one together. But, at the same time, since he's refusing to budge on going to any church but his own, why should I have to give up mine? I know a little bit about his religion and there's that communion aspect that I don't agree with so why would I join his church when I don't agree with it? He told me I could go to my own church if I wanted too but I want to go to church WITH MY HUSBAND!!! I want US to find a church together!

I'm not 100% not budging from being Methodist as long as I find a church that I can agree their beliefs. FYI-I'm not knocking any religions here just stating that I have different beliefs. The great thing about America is that we have that right to pick what religion we belief in.

So anyways, this is the great debate around our house...happens every 2-3 months.

Karate...CHOP!!!

...a big shout out and thank you to Amanda over at It's Blogworthy for the Master of Karate and Friendship Award!!! I never even told her about my mean karate chop but we're just on the same wavelength. Please hop over to her blog and check it out-this girl is hilarious!!!

The rules are simple, write SIX things that you are a master at and then give this award to SIX people who are the Master of Friendship. So here goes, SIX things I'm a master at:

1. I am the master of making room for my dogs. Seriously, I have to make room for them in bed every night, I let Emma sit beside me as I type this, I always leave them enough room in the car when we travel and the funny this is Emma is the smallest weighing in at 60 pounds!!!

2. I am the master of randomness. Probably 99.9% of my posts are tagged as random but come on, who doesn't love a good random story!

3. I am the master of harvesting crops. Yes, friends, I've admitted it but I am addicted to Farmville and I usually harvest crops daily.

4. I am the master of mood swings, ask my husband. I can be in the best mood in the world and then I notice the picture if off center and its like WATCH OUT WORLD!!!

5. I am the master of taking 10 minutes to tell a 10 second story.

6. I am the master of blowing things out of proportion (see #4) and ask my boss.

Now for the Masters of Friendship.

1. Although we don't comment too often on each other's blog, I have to nominate my girl Kristal who has been one of my best friends since 7th grade.

2. Adie who is helping me along my weight loss journey this time around. Her positive comments keep me on track every day.

3. Angie who I just met almost exactly a year ago but I feel like we're old friends. She always makes me feel so welcomed where ever we are.

4. Cece...what can I say? This girl and I relate, we just get each other!

5. Britni-while I started off as her boss four years ago, I would definately say we ended up as friends.

6. Amy-we've only commented back and forth but I feel like she's an awesome woman and friend.

So there you have it! FYI-I will be out of town for a conference today-Friday so I'll spend the weekend catching up on blogs after my stair climb Saturday AM-wish me luck!!!

Olympics Recap...

...okay, let me grab my hair tie box that I wrote my Olympics recap notes on...got it! Okay, here are some of my thoughts now that the Olympics has ended:

*Apparently the dress attire for the Winter Olympics is spandex and the dress attire for the Summer Olympics is no pants (think gymnastics, swimming, track).

*I guess Spiderman hit all the bobsledders on the butt for good luck because they all had a spider web on their butt.

*Lindsey Vonn, I'm sorry for you fans of hers out there, but she is just on my last nerve.

*Apolo Ohno (when I say his name, I really want to say Yoko Ono) is like supernatural and unhuman. His face is always so smooth looking and I think he wears that bandana over his ears to hide his pointed supernatural ears. Oh and the guy is great (and I'm a fan now) but he never wins gold...I think so that people won't think he's supernatural. Sorry Apolo but it's not working.

*Olympians only date other Olympians. So if you have a major crush on an Olympian (and I may have a small crush on Apolo but being that he's not human AND I'm married, it would never work despite this rule) then you should start working towards becoming an Olympic athlete so you've got a chance.

And that my friends is my recap of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

UPDATE! What the crap??? All my comments from 12/16-1/18 have been deleted!?!? Any ideas? This happen to anyone else???