DONALD!

Damn. Before I posted my last entry a little while ago, I was going to post a video of Donald Driver's freestyle dance from his Dancing With The Stars performance last night. Because I waited, now I look like a bandwagon jumper because he just WON!!!! Although, I did post this video on Facebook last night, so I guess that's my proof that I was rooting for him before tonight, ha. Anyway, this is the first season of the show I've watched, and to be honest, I didn't even watch this season until about half way through. Once I did, however, I was hooked, because Donald is friggin' awesome. It was actually a bit frustrating to watch at times, because no matter how amazing he did, he could never seem to get a perfect score of 30 for his dances, even when others with "lesser" performances (in my opinion) got those perfect scores. Leave it to the man to not give up and to show the judges that it was his trophy to win! If you don't watch the show, at least check out this freestyle dance from last night. So awesome! Wouldn't be surprised if this is what won it for him and Peta. Speaking of Peta, she rocked this dance too. Props to Packer Nation (me included)  for voting him to victory! Woohooo!!!! :)

Color Me Crazy!

Well, folks... I may not have gone about my first 5k the way I originally planned (considering that plan involved a training process and actually running a 5k), but I still did it, and I'm pretty darn proud of myself! :) As I mentioned in a previous entry, I decided to take part in an event this past weekend called The Color Run, aka: "The Happiest 5k on the Planet." Given the fact that I don't do much in the way of exercise, I was a little bit nervous, because to go from pretty much no exercise to 3.2 miles certainly isn't the easiest feat. Two days before the run, I decided to map out a walk that was approximately that distance just to at least get out for a bit. Turns out my walk was slightly shorter, only 2.5 miles, and sadly, even that took a little bit of energy out of me. (Note to self: Keep exercising and going for walks even though the race is over.) Fortunately, I wasn't too worried because as I mentioned, this run was much less pressure than your average 5k (or longer) race. Anyway, I geared up for the big day and had to deal with a little anxiousness simply because the run didn't start until 5:00pm on Saturday. Amanda (the girl who invited me) and her two friends came to pick me up around 3:15 and we headed on our way. They have all participated in various athletic events and races before, the two friends being avid runners, so I was a little terrified that they'd expect me to magically be able to run the whole time. Yeah, wasn't gonna happen. ;) Once we lined up and got going in the run, Amanda and I took a little more of a leisurely time through the course, which was nice. In case you're wondering, I DID actually run some of it, but probably not enough worth mentioning. Ha! There were 4 color zones throughout the race, and as you probably guessed, those zones were where they threw color at us. I'll admit, I was a little disappointed with the first zone (yellow). I was barely touched with color in that one, so I was definitely hoping to get more color throughout the race. Green was decent, pink was a little better, and purple was by far the best! Once we got close to the end, Amanda and I ran one more time so that we could do that whole cliché thing of running across the finish line. Yeah. We're cool like that. ;) After the race was the Color Party, which was a bunch of people listening to music, jumping around, and throwing packets of color in the air every so often. Doesn't really sound that awesome, but it most definitely was! We eventually got some food and headed home, and then the real work began: the clean up. I was a disaster, and the shower was quite multicolored. Think washing hairdye out, magnified by like 10, and with some crazy colors involved. Surprisingly, I got most of the color out, with the exception of the the bright pink stain in and around my right armpit. Ha! Anyway...... I've already done enough talking, so I'll get to the pictures. I will say one last thing, though. If you get the chance, do this run! I had a blast! (There's one in Milwaukee in September if you're interested!). Enjoy the MANY photos!!

The standard pre-race photo. My first one EVER! :)
Just a side note... I posted this picture on Facebook before I went for my run, and when I got back, I had so many "likes" and supportive comments that it made me want to cry. I have such awesome people in my life, and I'm so thrilled that they all wished me well for the big day. :)

The race crew before the main event!

My sweet tat.

(That tat is still there, by the way;).

One view of the crowd.

We stopped at one point in the course because it was SO pretty. Too bad it doesn't look that good.

Me and Amanda!

WE MADE IT!!!! :)

(As you'll soon see, we got much more colored in The Color Party!)

One view of The Color Party.

Green and Gold color throw in honor of the Packers!
(Of course I LOVED this!:)

After the throw. As I later discovered, being under that cloud is like being inside a building!

 The ladies!

This picture doesn't do it justice. He was completely covered!

The color throw gave me just a little more color... ;)

(I like this picture for some reason!)

I think we got the full effect, don't you?

My legs. ;)

 Another colored view!

Me and Amanda, post Color Party!

The woman taking our picture told us to flex...so we did.

 Kind of scary, but this was what I saw when I looked in the mirror at home. Yikes!

There's No Place Like Home

As I alluded to in my last entry, I was lucky enough to spend a little bit of time in Colby last weekend. It was the annual Smith Bros. Meats open house, which is why I originally planned on going home. Just so happened to work out to meet our little man Homer too! :) Anyway, L was pretty pumped about the open house concept, so he was fortunately able to make the trip to Colby too. We both took Friday afternoon off, as well as the following Monday, so we got some time with others, and then some time to ourselves. On Friday night, we went to dinner with the 'rents and then met up with a few friends. Saturday, we were pretty busy working the open house, then we did a little relaxing after, and eventually we went to a family friend's birthday party at the VFW. We slept in on Sunday, which was glorious. Mom and dad went to La Crosse for our old neighbor Brian's college graduation, but they were careful not to wake us up since we were tired. L and I lounged around all morning, got some Chinese takeout, ate it on the deck (it was a beautiful day), took a nap, and hi-jacked my dad's scooter to go to the VFW. We spent a decent portion of the day there, just relaxing, having a few beers, and playing some pool. Monday was another sleep in day, and then we went and had breakfast at the Colby Cafe. Yum! Our last little adventure involved doing some shopping in Wausau. A little out of L's way, but it made a small dent into my drive! We went because L's been on the hunt for a couple new suits. Kohl's proved to be the place to be for that! He got what he wanted, and I got to see him in the suit, so it was fun! Unfortunately, I didn't find anything, but that's okay because I don't need to spend any money. We had a "last meal" at Buffalo Wild Wings and then parted ways. Overall, a BUSY (but good) weekend. I was so happy I took Monday off. It made it feel like a longer trip, and I didn't feel so rushed on my way back to Milwaukee. Of course having L there made it exciting too! He survived the extended trip, so perhaps he'll even come back some day. ;) See a few photos from the weekend below!

Carri, me, and Bean at Hunters!

(Nevermind how scary I look;).

Me and L hard at work at the Open House.

Getting a little lovin' from the real mama and another mama!

Would be cuter if it weren't blurry!

I was truly struggling to look good in any picture, but this is one of the "okay" ones.

The aforementioned struggle is evident in my face, but HIS face (eyes) are too funny not to share! ;)

 This one isn't so bad!

Maxin' and relaxin' at VFW.

He was REALLY excited about a picture in front of the Hawkeye cone. Right... ;)

I actually WAS excited! All my life in Colby without a picture in front of the cone. A shame!

Kinda cute! And no, we didn't intentionally match. ;)

BIRTH day and Birthday!

The month of May has been crazy as usual, but I wanted to take a little bit of time to address a couple exciting things. First, MY NEW NEPHEW WAS BORN! On May 8, Jacob and Casey welcomed their first baby into this world: Homer Nicholas Scott Smith. Lots of meaning and significance behind that name. I love it. I think Casey would agree that everything went so fast. I just can't believe the little guy is finally here!! I was planning to go home the weekend of May 11 for the Smith Bros. open house (a related entry to follow), so selfishly, I thought it was pretty awesome that he arrived before that weekend so I could see him. Not to mention, I'm awesome and won the baby pool. ;) Anyway, all the build-up and anticipation and nerves have subsided, and our little Homer fits in perfectly with the Smith/Zimmerman clan! See a couple photos below!

Meeting and holding Homer for the first time! :))

Could he be any cuter?!

Even L got in on the baby holding action!

The second/other exciting thing that happened recently is that our little princess Austyn celebrated her 7th (it's still hard for me to believe she's 7) birthday on May 17! Every time I see that girl, I'm amazed at how much she's grown and how much she's learned. She is one special, beautiful young lady with an ever-growing heart. Happy (belated) birthday, A. I love you to pieces!

The Color Run

Alright, kids. I think I might just be crazy. Why, you might ask? Because I signed up for a 5k that's taking place in less than 2 weeks, and I haven't done an ounce of training for it. Yeah. Remember way back in the day (well, like a year ago) when I was really committed to the idea of doing a 5k? No? Well, see here. I was really excited about the idea, but then I experienced some health issues that got in the way. Sadly, once the health stuff got cleared up, I didn't get back on the saddle and make it happen, and I've been sort of regretting that ever since. But, as they often say, "It's never too late, right?!" That leads me to my point. A couple weeks ago, a girl I met through some previous work events emailed me and asked if I'd have any interest in joining her and a team of people for a 5k in Racine called The Color Run on May 19. I recommend checking out the link, but here's a basic overview. All people, young and old, runners and non-runners, big and little (okay, you get the picture), are encouraged to participate, as it is less about a "race" than it is about having fun. As you make your way through the 3.1 mile course wearing your white t-shirt, people on the sidelines will throw this colored powder at you, and by the end of the race, you are completely covered in a variety of different colors. It sounds weird, but it looks awesome!! It actually kind of looks like paint, but regardless, people look like they have such a good time! Check out the video below if you want to see more. Like I said, it's not really a race. Some people run, some people walk, it really doesn't matter. They don't time you or even put a limit on how long the race takes because people just enjoy going through the course at their own pace. I figure if I'm going to do a 5k, this is the PERFECT one to start with! The people I'm participating with are supposedly not overly athletic and probably won't run the whole thing, so I just feel like this will be a great thing because that is exactly how I need it to be with no training. I just registered today, so now I'm committed because it costs a decent amount of money, and I also don't want to back out on my "team." And as if the race itself doesn't sound awesome enough, they do a post-race concert to celebrate. Man, good stuff. Should be a great time, and I look forward to sharing more about the experience once I do it! :)

Trip to Anthropologie.

Just the other day, my sister-in-law did a blog post where she put together a bunch of different things to make a cute outfit. When I noticed that the shirt in her picture was from Anthropologie, I decided to take a peek at their website. It was a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I love that store... Problem is, I love it too much, and the majority of things I like are way out of my price range. Sadly, this store is the one that converted me from a, "I would NEVER spend that much on a shirt," kind of person to an, "I suppose I could afford that shirt," kind of person." Not good!! What's also not good is the fact that there is an Anthropologie down in the Third Ward, aka: not that far from my apartment. Of course, since I had nothing to do today, I decided that my morning would be well spent by heading there and checking out their selection. Oh boy... No joke, I probably tried on 20 different things. Some looked terrible, some looked pretty decent (but I didn't love them enough for the price), and some were cute enough to justify the price. Well, that's what I told myself anyway. I walked out of there with two shirts (see below), and I'm feeling pretty good about them. Sometimes when I shop there, I come back home and have buyer's remorse and quickly return them. I'm not sure I'll experience that with these shirts, and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, ha! Anyway, no need for a bunch of additional spending, so I promise I'll lock it up now. ;)

Atilla Tee

Crisscrossed Top
 

Living In The Moment

Believe it or not, for once in a long time, I'm not particularly worried about any major things these days. That being said, I recently discovered this song called "Living In The Moment" by Jason Mraz, and I think it has a great message that just makes me feel happy. I think we've all heard some line or another about not worrying about things you can't control (easier said than done, am I right?!), and this song echos that sentiment. Couple that with the fact that it's kind of light and cheery, and we've got ourselves a good tune! Take a listen. I think you'll like it! :)

I am a big fan of the part that says:

I will not waste my days

Making up all kinds of ways

To worry about some things

That will not happen to me.

(Good way to think, right?!)