crazy weekend

Here's a weekend recap:

Friday: Relay for Life. J-rod and I headed to Indianola to participate in Relay for Life with the Sievers' family. Our team had a pool party theme, which might have been more fun if it were about 20 degrees warmer. Jared was a sport and rocked a bikini for the Mrs. Relay lap trying to raise a little extra money for our team. While he didn't get the most money out of all the dressed up dudes, he did bring in almost $60.00.

We've participated in this event in the past, it is a fun way to raise money for a great cause. I even managed to take home one of the silent auction items. Pretty excited about a dozen Funaro's cinnamon rolls, a pedicure and the rest of my beach basket winnings.

Saturday: PBC. We have had so much fun on BC the past two years, we decided to do a practice run through on Saturday. We had a great time and while it could have been a little warmer, we made the most of it and a few managed to get quite the sunburn. Oh and I'd like to add I'm sure we had the best food on the water.

Sunday: Family Reunion. While most might cringe at the idea of spending a whole day at a family reunion, I had such a great time. I hadn't seen my extended family since Christmas and was so excited to see them. I also got to see great aunts, uncles and cousins whom I hadn't seen in years. We couldn't have asked for a better day for a picnic. And you should have seen the spread, we had a dessert table that was as large as the main entree one.

We also had the chance to meet up with Jared's parents at my favorite ice cream place EVER, The Dairy Mart. I've been going since I was a child and ordered my usual, an upside down strawberry-vanilla twist cone.

Monday: Day of Rest. Since our weekend was so crazy busy we decided to take Monday off and get some much needed rest. I was able to get some reading done, watch a movie, run some errands, grab a Big Gulp and get our sprinkler system set up (not that it's needed anytime soon because I feel all it does is rain anymore.)

teenage dream

We all know how LB and myself feel about "Teenage Dream" but if you're not a fan of the song yet, this might do it...



Isn't he just adorable? Four-year-old, Kellen Sarmiento, has already gained the attention of Darren Criss and the rest of the Glee crew.

Supposedly there are already talks about him making a guest appearance this upcoming season, not sure how they will swing that but "stranger things have happened."

dam to dam

Last weekend was the Dam to Dam and I am proud to say all of Team Hot Sundae did an outstanding job and no one ended up with a "DNF." While I was disappointed my time was slower than last, I don't know what I really expected considering I trained significantly less this year. Hopefully I'll take note for next year and start hitting the pavement sooner than later.

But either way, this time around was a lot more fun and apparently the paparazzi was after me because there are way too many pictures on the Jolesch website. And I think the reason there are more pictures of myself than anyone else is because I run so friggin' slow that they were able to capture me while the rest of my team flew by them.

And my favorite quote of the day came from my Dad, "At least you look like a runner," said with love of course.


team hot sundae minus LB (she's pretty good with photoshop so she might show up in the pic soon)

j-rod decided to join in on the fun this year

nic and JW dominated the 20K

part of our cheering section, thanks mom and dad

gold status

I've reached Gold Level status at Starbucks...what does that mean you may ask? It means I spend too much money there. But either way I am so excited! I've been working on it since January.

In all actuality if you do go to Starbucks it is a great program and it is so easy! Instead of paying with cash or a debit card, you pay with a gift card and it tracks all your purchases. Just for registering your card, you get a free drink on your birthday. Once you buy 5 drinks (green level) with your card, you get to add free extra syrups and milk upgrades, free refills on tea and coffee along with a free beverage with any whole bean purchase. When you get to 30 drinks (gold level) you get all the perks that come with the other levels along with a free beverage every 15 drinks and my favorite part a personalized gold Starbucks card.

I'm beginning to feel a little like George Clooney from Up in the Air right now...

And don't you worry I've done the math, it equates one drink or so a week since January.
30 drinks x $4.19 = $125.70.

If you remember back, I received almost $150 in Starbucks gift cards for Christmas, so I technically haven't spent any of my own money yet.

summer games

I've been reflecting back on my experience at Summer Games a lot this week. The founder and director, Stan Wierson passed away on Friday and I can't help think of how my life would be different if it wasn't for Stan and the vision God gave him to start Summer Games.

In the summer after 7th grade I went a "mission trip" to Wesley Woods in Indianola. I spent the week chipping old paint off metal chairs so they could be painted again. Looking back now, I see that as a great learning experience but at the time I thought it was lame and saw all these other kids, aka cute boys, running around and playing games. I wanted to go to that camp the next summer and after asking around I discovered those kids were attending Summer Games. I talked two of my friends into going with me and we signed up for the following summer.

I didn't know what I was in for. I thought I signed up for a week of fun and flirting but instead that week changed my life. August 3rd, 1998 I became a Christian and learned my life is worth so much more.

I spent 5 years at Summer Games and they were the best summers of my life. Summer Games taught me a lot, it gave me a confidence, friendships and most importantly a relationship with Jesus Christ.

menu posting

here is this week's menu along with the recipes.

sunday: blue cheese stuffed burgers with red onion & spinach and skillet wrinkled potatoes with cilantro pesto
monday: BLT's and romaine spinach salad
tuesday: leftovers
wednesday: thai chicken tacos & garden salad with fresh french dressing
thursday: grilled chile-lime shrimp & toasted couscous with grilled mango and zucchini
friday: relay for life in Indianola
saturday: pre-BC '11
sunday: family reunion - lots of delicious food and hopefully leftovers to bring back

squinnies?

Not until I moved to West Des Moines had I ever seen or heard of a squinny or as I thought they were called "squinnties" aka ground squirrels. Pretty sure these creatures didn't exist in Mount Pleasant.

I'm not afraid of regular squirrels and growing up I was a fan of Alvin and the Chipmunks but for whatever reason I am scared to death of their much smaller, more agile relative. And they seem to really like our new house, I often see them hanging out on our back brick patio and near our front steps.

I googled how to get rid of them and have decided I'm stuck with them. None of their methods would ever work for me. I'm not on board with getting a cat, trapping them in a cage or using rat poison.

And in case you were wondering I made JH pick out the picture for my blog as I was cringing in my seat looking at their mug shots.

jeni's

I heard about Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams through a show I love on FN called "Best Thing I Ever Ate." The theme that episode was Hot & Spicy Foods, so I was obviously interested but became even more intrigued when Ted Allen was talking about queen city cayenne ice cream from Jeni's. I just had to try it, while I begged JH for a road trip but I knew a visit to the buckeye state would not be in my future. I went online and found out they delivered but of course it was for a pretty penny. Jeni's is known for their unique flavors and high quality ingredients.

Thankfully I was able to try Jeni's without even leaving DSM. One of my clients was traveling to Columbus for a wedding last year and I told her she should try Jeni's so I sent her the link and she called me almost immediately afterwards and told me she discovered through their website that they they sold it at Gateway Market! She was then gracious enough to bring me two pints the next day and I was in love.

I've tried a few flavors and hands-down my favorite is Salty Caramel, it is so good! My brother-in-law has been in Columbus for work this past week, so of course I had to pass on the good news and yesterday he sent me this picture:

I can't wait to get to Jeni's someday and check out the place for myself, I might have to trick Jared into an IA/OSU football game so I can get some ice cream.

Unfortunately, I called Gateway yesterday to see if they had any of the cayenne ice cream in because I have yet to try that flavor and they no longer carry Jeni's...I think I might have to call and beg them to rethink that.

JT

Stop the press...I've been waiting for a new Justin Timberlake album for years because you know what comes with a new album, a new tour. JT is featured in the latest issue of Vanity Fair quoted saying “I wouldn’t say I’m not going to put out another [album]. I would say that would be a bad bet, if you were betting. But I could see myself only doing one more big tour.”

What?!? Sad day. I get it he has his own clothing line, tequilla and apparently is featured in every movie coming out this fall but I want some new music!

Looks like I have to keep waiting but I can tell you if there is another tour, I will be there- I'm still dreaming of the last one.

And in case you were wondering, this picture was in poster form on my wall all through college.

new kicks

On Monday I purchased some new running shoes and I am pretty jazzed about it. It has been years since I've had a new pair and with the Dam to Dam just a few days away, I am looking forward to having a new shoe.

I went with the Asics Gel-Cumulus 12. Two of my runner friends rock Asics and I figured I could only hope to run as fast as them, so might as well start with their shoes.

I asked the kid working at The Running Room if they would make me run faster and he responded with "well how fast do you run now?" Clearly he did not understand my humor.

This morning was the first run out with them and while I really like them, they did leave me with a terrible blister that will have to be nursed for a few days.

Bring it on Dam to Dam, Team Hot Sundae is about to dominate.