Hullaballo Caneck Caneck

It was quite an exciting weekend in my life...we ventured south on 35 to College Station! 
Earlier this year, when Texas A&M decided to join the bit boys in the SEC, my dad made the comment that he would like to see a game at Kyle Field.  So Will got on-line, bought tickets and my dad flew up for the weekend! 

He arrived on Thursday afternoon, I had to work on Friday, so Will and my dad hung out for the day.  Friday evening, we finalized plans to leave at 8 am on Saturday morning.  See when we bought the tickets, the game was scheduled for 2:30.  My dad even checked on Wednesday afternoon and the game was still set for 2:30.  Those sneaky Aggies though...

Saturday morning, we load up the car and head south on 35.  We made it past Waco with no major issues, traffic was light, it was a beautiful day, it seemed nearly perfect.  My dad made a comment about gametime and Will decided to "triple check".  It's never good when someone who is checking on something says "uh-oh".  Game time had changed to 11 AM, and it was now being televised by FX...sigh...

At that point we realized there was nothing we could do but miss the first quarter of the game.  If you know me, I HATE missing kickoff, so I was annoyed with myself for not checking on Friday. 

The rest of the drive was easy, we parked, rode the shuttle to the stadium and entered with no issues.  We took a potty break, grabbed a snack from consessions and made our way to our seats. We thought we were making great time as the game was still in the 1st quarter.

 As we looked down the row (of course we were on the opposite side of the row), we realized that there wasn't room for us to sit.  My dad found his spot and quickly claimed it, but Will and I were stuck standing in the middle of the row.  Two very nice girls scooted over so we could sit, but did warn us that their boyfriends were coming back soon and those were there seats.  We asked them to get the usher when the boys came up.  Apparently two groups of people decided to switch seats, but not everyone had tickets in the row and the groups were not equal.  The usher very kindly made the idiots who cannot sit in the correct seats move. Of course they fussed and grumbled, but I bluntly kindly reminded them that we paid for our seats too and we deserved to sit in the seats that we paid for. 

Whew, all of this before halftime! 

The halftime show was great!  I really enjoyed watching the band and how intricate their choregraphy was.  All of the band members are also in the Corps of Cadets, so everything was instep and regimented.  If you haven't seen a halftime show at Kyle Field, I highly suggest it!  Be sure to keep an eye on the tuba players!

The rest of the game went off smoothly, well except for the whole A&M blowing another lead thing.  They really need to learn to play a full football game before next year or they may regret joining the SEC, especially the SEC West...

We got to see the campus, and while nothing holds a candle to my Auburn's campus, it was a beautiful campus.  We drove around, found a place to eat, then stopped in Aggieland Outfitters to get some Aggie gear (for the men, not for me). 

All in all it was a great trip!  We had some hiccups, but it was a beautiful day, an exciting game and I had some great company!

Easy Peasy - Pinterest style

During the week, I usually have a very quick breakfast like a bowl of cereal or strawberries and cream oatmeal.  On the weekends though, I like to something with a little more "oomph".  I have started making pancakes or waffles and making extra to take me through the week, just so I have something different. 

A couple of weeks ago, I found a cool recipe on Pinterest that I wanted to try.  It was a version of sticky buns, but much, much less work! I couldn't wait to try it!

Like any good cook, I gathered all my ingredients first:
3 tablespoons of butter- melted
1/2 cup syrup
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tubes of the Pilsbury Grands Junior biscuits
A bundt pan (or any circular pan) greased

Preheat oven to 375

Mix the melted butter and syrup together

Mix the brown sugar and the cinnamon together

Pour in half of the syrup/butter mixture, then sprinkle in half of the sugar/cinnamon mixture
Place biscuits in, overlapping so they fill in all the pan
Pourin rest of syrup/butter mixture and sprinkle rest of sugar/cinnamon mixture

Cook until biscuits are done (took about 20 minutes)

Flip over onto a plate and enjoy!

These were soooo very good and soooo very easy!  I can see this being kid-friendly too!

A visit with an "old" friend

I've known Nicole since we were freshmen in high school.  We had several classes together and somehow we ended up on the swim team together (although neither of us remember how we actually ended up joining swim team).  We became fast friends and have remained friends ever since.   

See, this is us in high school...Nicole is on the left, I'm in the center...we were cute, weren't we?  

Anyway, we visited each other in college (she went to LSU) and always found time for dinner or something when we were home from school. 

After she graduated from college, she got married and became an adult and stuff.  Her husband moved her around a lot for his job (luckily she is a teacher and easily found work each time they moved).  Each time I talked to her it seemed like it was from a new place.  But eventually, his job landed them in Texas...about 30 minutes from me!  I was thrilled! 

We don't get together as often as we would like to because we both have busy schedules, but when we do get to hang out, it's always a great time!  Sometimes I go to her, sometimes she comes to me, sometimes we meet in the middle!  This past January, another one of our high school friends, Kellee, came to visit me for the weekend and we (Nicole, Kellee, Alli ~ another high school friend who also lives in Dallas, and me) had a great girls night out!

This summer, Nicole and I had been playing phone tag and trying to schedule a get together for quite some time, but with our schedules, one of us was always busy or out of town or something.  When we finally were able to make it work, the first thing I asked her when we sat down for lunch was, "How are you?"  I was expecting a response like "Loving summer" or "Well rested", but no, I get, "Well, I'm pregnant!"  I was soooo excited!  Even more excited when I found out a few weeks later that she would be having a little boy!  A fun little "nephew" to play with!!!  (Hey, I'm the closest "family" she's got!). 

Anyway, I invited Nicole over today to watch the LSU/AUBURN game and just hang out.  We had a great time and I finally got to see her preggo belly!  I can hardly wait for her shower in a few weeks...I have the cutest gift picked out! 

And yes...I must point out that Nicole will turn 30 before I will...only one day before I will, but she's still "older" than me! Hahahahahaha!

Oh and GO RANGERS!!!

Up in the gym just workin on my fitness

Well, it happened today. I pulled a pair of pants out of my closet today that "didn't fit". I could put them on and zip them up, but they were umm...tight. My mom would have yelled at me if she saw them on me.

I've been trying to run lately. I downloaded the Couch to 5K app and am successfully on week 2. For someone who is not a runner, I consider this a huge success, that means I have run 4 times in the past 2 weeks. I'm certainly not fast, I'm not even gonna post how long it takes me to run a mile, but I'm doing it! Not sure if I will actually sign up for a 5K, but we'll see.

Part of the inspiration comes from (and I feel a little weird saying this) pinterest. All those workouts that people keep posting. I knew I didn't have time for the gym yesterday, and it was too windy to run in for me (let's be honest, I struggle when it's not windy), so I did the 100s workout. Yep, 100s workout. It consists of 100 jumping jacks, 90 crunches, 80 squats, 70 leg lifts, 60 jumping jacks, 50 crunches, 40 squats, 30 leg lifts, 20 jumping jacks and 10 minute run. I didn't do the run, but I did everything else. Surprisingly, my legs felt strong today (well, until about 15 minutes into my run), even after all those squats!

I've also been trying to be more conscience about what I eat. Not really depriving myself of anything, but portioning better. I recently bought some new tupperware, and the smaller containers really help me not over pack for lunch.

So, here goes my quest to lose 10 (or 15 or 20) pounds. I can't believe I'm doing this with Thanksgiving and Christmas around the corner. I'm gonna have to learn to love running really quickly to keep those pounds off! Maybe if I buy cute running clothes I will feel more inspired...hmmm...a trip to Academy or Luke's Locker maybe necessary!

Coaching

I'm getting into my groove in my new job and really enjoying what I do.  I get to see kids for awhile, then, if they get on my nerves, send them back to their teacher to annoy them.  Win-win! I'm getting my footing and not having to ask quetions every 5 seconds. 

I do miss teaching...well, parts of it.  I don't miss the lesson plans or the grading.  I don't miss calling parents to tell them their child was written up or is failing (I was never good at those phone calls anyway).  I miss the kids, I miss the comments, I miss the meetings with other teachers laughing about something that happened in class.  I miss seeing the "lightbulb" moments, I miss telling a kid who was "on the bubble" they passed TAKS, I miss hearing all the "Good Things" they share with me at the beginning of each class.  I miss the, "Coach Winck, can I talk to you?" moments. 

While I miss teaching, I am HEARTBROKEN that I am not coaching this year!  I absoutely adored my Fossil Ridge swimmers.  We weren't the biggest team, we weren't the fastest team, but we were the best TEAM. 

Most people thought I was crazy for waking up at 4:30 am each morning and beginning swim practice at 6am each and every morning.  My swimmers made it worth it.  They came in each morning ready to push themselves further than they had the day before.  They did their workouts without question and they trusted me entirely, even though sometimes I'm sure I didn't deserve it.  They inspired each other and they inspired me each and every day.  They cheered for each other, they encouraged each other, they looked out for each other, they cheered for athletes on other Keller teams, they set goals for themselves and the team- then surpassed them.  They made me smile every morning! They celebrated together and more importantly, they included me in their celebration! They kept me on my toes and pushed me to be a better coach.  They asked to be pushed harder and wanted to work more. 

I hated giving my team over to another's hands.  I put so much of myself into that team, I almost didn't apply for my new position because I couldn't imagine someone else coaching the Fossil Ridge Swim Team. 

What I love most is that they still contact me!  The ones that graduated come back to swim with the team over holiday breaks.  They text and ask how the team is doing.  And the kids that are still on the team text me and tell me how they did in their races.  I missed the first meet of the season, but I fully intend on being at the next meet and cheering on my former swimmers and watching them continue to grow as adults. 
I hope they know how much I loved being their coach and that I still think of them every day!

Rules

So Will thinks I have too many "rules".  I call them "words to live by."  Some of them I don't really think of as "rules" because in my world (aka Lauren-land) these are things that should be unspoken. 
Here are the "rules" so far:
1.  If you wear a t-shirt to sleep in, you may not wear that same t-shirt when you leave the house.  Back me up here ladies...
2.  If something is not in use, turn it off/unplug it.  No need to be wasteful of energy. 
3.  Anything below 72 degrees is cold to me...I will need a sweatshirt, long pants, closed toe shoes and a blanket readily available if there is a chance of this happening. 
4.  Things work in Lauren-land...and we welcome new comers.
5.  The world will stop when Auburn football is on.  Period. 
6.  The clock in the car is set about 15 minutes fast.  This is so I "trick" myself into thinking I don't have time to stop at Starbucks or Sonic...I don't need the calories or to spend the money. 
7.  Some shoes are only meant to be worn around the house/yard.  They should not leave the perimeter of your property.  Everyone has THAT pair of shoes...admit it. 

There are more rules, I just can't think of them.  Will has decided to write a book of all the rules, so he has a complete list...see him if you need further clarification. 

When you finish playing with something...

Remember those rules you used to have when you were little?  The ones your parents said that you had to always follow? Like the one about when you are finished with a toy, put it away before you pull out another one...yeah, I need a reminder. 

I have all these projects I want to do.  I even have a list to keep me organized! 
Normally at work, I finish one task before I start a new one.  I am one of those crazy people who likes crossing things OFF my To-Do list, so when I finish, I can cross off. At home though, recently, I've been a little ADD.  I think it's because I WANT to do all of these things, not have to do them.

Anyway, I have a couple of projects that were started, but haven't yet finished. 
The first one is my shadowbox from the National Championship game.  I'm actually quite proud of it.  I haven't quite figured out where I will hang it yet, but it will be hanging in my house soon.  I started it a few several months ago, but thankfully I finished today!

My amateur photog skills were failing me and I had to go with the automatic shot, which meant I had to shoot from an angle to reduce glare.  Oh well...you get the idea!

My second project is another one from Pinterest!  To make those decorative spheres, I'm using foam spheres, thumb tacks and paint.  I've finished a couple of them, but it's tedious and I get restless.  I'm making myself finish this before I start anything else!