Ultimate Frisbee: Monkey Bowl

A couple of weekend ago, Zack and I headed to Nashville with Zack's club Ultimate Frisbee Team so that they could participate in the Monkey Bowl Tournament. Zack's Ultimate team, while good, is new on the scene and so not too many people know who they are. So, our guys were placed in the open division with the possibility of advancing themselves to the elite brackets for Sunday.

The wives and Girlfriends that had come to support our men! :)

Our guys did great! They ended Saturday with a 3 wins and 1 loss. Unfortunately there were 2 other teams in there division that were also 3-1 and they only took the top 2 to the elite brackets for Sunday. We aren't exactly sure how they decided which 2 of those 3 teams moved to the elite, but we wonder if the fact that we are not as well known as the other 2 teams might have played a part.







The guys were pretty bummed, but they rallied and ended up winning the open division...and getting their team name out there at a big tournament. So, even though it was kinda a bummer, it was a small victory for the team.





Due to all of the flooding that had happened in Nashville a week or so before, they were not able to play on the fields that they normally would have. So, the elite and open tournaments took place in 2 different places on Saturday. We were a little apprehensive about the location of the fields as we drove by a prison with razor wire surrounding it on our way to the fields. The fields themselves ended up being pretty nice.



It was REALLY hot all weekend. So, Gretchen and I made a couple of Walmart runs for Gatorade, ice, and Popsicles. Thankfully, we had taken a couple of tents along to offer the guys some shade between and during games while they were on the sidelines.



One of the guys on the team is originally from Nashville and the majority of the team was staying with his family. So, after the tournament on Saturday, we all headed over to his parent's house for a team dinner. The meal was excellent, and it was so amazing of them to not only open their home to a bunch of college and post college guys but to feed us all as well. His family was very sweet and their house was beautiful.

We rode to the Tournament with our friends Zach, Gretchen, and Jeff and we ended up staying a short distance from the rest of the team at a mutual friend's sisters house. She and her husband were out of town and they let us borrow their house for the weekend. They had never even met any of us...how amazing and awesome is that! Needless to say we did our best to leave their house just like we found it! I made a half apron for Eric's Sister, but I didn't get a picture of it. I was literally finishing it as I was running out the door to ride to Nashville.

Sunday, the open and elite teams played at the same fields. We drove up to Percy Warner Park and as we neared the fields we were struck by the sight on HUGE mountains of trash (debris from the flooding).



It made it feel a little like we were playing in a third world country. It was so sad to look at those mountains of debris...debris that symbolized some peoples whole existence...their memories, their possessions...their lives...it was humbling and heart breaking.



Sunday while driving around to find a Walmart to stock up on gatorade, Gretchen and I stumbled across a Jim N Nick's BBQ. Zack and I had never eaten there before, but Gretchen and Zach had and apparently it was one of Zach's favorite places to eat. So, after the tournament and watching a few of the elite teams play, our team headed to Jim N Nick's for some much needed fuel.

Jim N nick's was everything that Zach and Gretchen had said it would be. The food was AMAZING, and the cheddar muffin/biscuits were awesome!! After finishing lunch, we headed back home. It was a fun and rewarding weekend, and Zack and I enjoyed getting the chance to strengthen friendships and watch/play some Frisbee.

True Things...

Today I stumbled across a song by JJ Heller. I had never heard of her, but LOVED her voice and really liked her lyrics...so, I decided to learn a little more about her. I found links to these 2 songs by her and thought that I would share them here with you.

The first song is called true things. This is the initial song that I stumbled across today and it really spoke to me. I can be so bad about criticizing myself for all of the things that I lack and I often belittle the things that I am...who am I to question what my God has created?! God made me the way I am...He made me purposefully...nothing about me is a mistake. He takes pride in me and he desires me to live up to the potential that He placed in me. There is no one else that is exactly like me and no one else who can fulfill my role in His will the same way. I SO often forget this. At that Beth Moore simulcast that I went to Beth compared insecurity to unbelief...Lord, help my unbelief. I need to remember not to focus on the things that I am not and to focus on what I am, His beloved child, wonderfully and intentionally made! This can be incredibly hard when constantly bombarded with ads and images of what the world thinks it means to be a sucess or to be important. I am not important because of what I do or what I have, but because of WHOSE I am!!! Now if I could just make myself remember that!!!




After I heard the song true things, I stumbled across this song....This song is called "Your Hands". I really love this song too. It is so true. When our world seems to be falling apart and nothing seems to be going right...Heaven stands. When we are faced with hard things and our hearts are broken....He holds us in His hands. He is in control and He is ever there with us.

It has been a while since I made a new recipe....in fact, it's been a little while since I made a home cooked meal. Poor Zack! We have been either eating out or living on frozen/convenience meals. So, tonight when I got home from work, I made homemade chicken fingers, corn on the cob, and fruit salad. The chicken fingers were pretty good, but the breading was not my favorite. Guess that I will have to try some other chicken finger recipes until I find one that I love! :)

Swagger Wagon

Our friend Forrest showed us this Toyota commercial last weekend and we got a good laugh out of it. I thought that some of you would get a kick out of this if you hadn't seen it yet. There are some other pretty cute commercials with the same family here.

Zumba

I decided to tackle my fear and take a class at the gym that I joined yesterday...The class that I ended up taking was Zumba, a cardio workout that is inspired by latin music and dance steps...ummm...what was I thinking? This white girl can't dance! I especially cannot move my hips like you see women doing when they salsa and samba. The class was an hour of constant movement...I was about to pass out by the end of it, and despite my exhaustion and lack of rhythm, I had a lot of fun. I have a feeling that I am going to be REALLY sore tomorrow.

In case you are wondering what Zumba looks like, here is a little video to show you...Those of you who know me, know that I cannot dance. My excuse for my lack of rhythm is that because I am tall it takes too long for the message to get from my brain to my limbs...yeah, I know...but it's the best I could come up with. Anyway, Beth, if you are reading this post, you would LURVE Zumba. Wish that you lived closer so we could go to classes together. I plan to go and humiliate myself again sometime in the near future! :)

hittin the gym

I did something that has been LONG over due. Today, I joined the gym. My employer offers a free gym membership, and up until today, I had not taken advantage of it. Before I went back to work, I was running or biking about 5 days a week. That all went out the window after about the first week of work. Life got hectic and the weather turned cold. I recently went from working 4 days a week to 3 and thus have a little more time to get things done outside of work. Yay!!

So, I filled out my health questionnaire and set up my appointment for my fitness assessment. Today was the fateful day. I have heard a couple of horror stories about sit ups and push ups from the girls at work. So, when I got there I was a little nervous. The trainer took me into a little side room equip with torture devices, such as a scale, a mat, and a bike. He started off by weighing me...not pretty, and measuring my height. Then he had to get my pulse, heart rate,...and, gasp, my percent body fat! Seriously, is it important for me to know that? ...really?!

After that humiliation, I had to do a flexibility test, as many crunches as I could in a minute, and as many push-ups as my feeble arms could manage. And, if that wasn't bad enough, then I had to ride on a bike with blood pressure cuff and pulse ox attached to my body for 9 minutes while the trainer gradually increased the resistance. I think that I am going to be sore tomorrow! Isn't that sad...that's all I did and I am going to be sore! At least I passed the fitness test. It confirmed what I already knew. I am out of shape!

The embarrassment was continued as they took a pitcure of my sweaty, red face to have on file....now that's attractive!

I am looking forward to getting back in shape...hopefully I can make myself be consistent. I think that it is going to be hard with my long hours at work and other demands on my time, but at least now the option is there.

Look whose one!!!

Little R just turned 1!!

Believe me, he is even cuter in person!

Zack and I were blessed to be able to go and celebrate his first birthday with him last weekend. Little R was not feeling great, but he still managed to find a sweet smile for everyone. Pam made R a SUPER cute little jonjon with a cupcake on it. It turned out really cute and it is reversible so that he can continue to wear it all summer. And R had such a good time opening all of his presents...he was a little more interested with the tissue paper and wrapping paper than the gift at times, but it didn't take long for him to discover his new toys.

Cliffs dad made him this amazing wooden toy. What a neat keepsake!

We love this little one too!! Isn't he cute?
Sweet little C came to celebrate with his buddy!

Little R gets his first taste of cake!

Boys, Boys, Boys...if you had just used these:
Then maybe you wouldn't have had to do this!

they did finally get it put together only for the wheel to fall off! ha!

It is hard to believe that this little one is already turning 1. It seems like he was just born and we were visiting him and his happy parents during his first few days of life! I can still remember how excited I was when we received a picture of him from Cliff and Pam. We were in Iowa visiting my family last year when he made his appearance. I felt so honored that Cliff and Pam would take the time to send us a picture and I was SO excited for them as they welcomed this little boy that they had been praying for for so long.

He has grow so much since then, and Zack and I have been so blessed to be a part of his life. He is a blessing to his parents and all that know him. He is such a sweet little boy, with a ready smile and adorable laugh. I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord continues to grow R to be a man after His own heart!...and I feel honored and humbled that Zack and I will be able to be there to support him and his parents throughout the process.

Supporting a good cause.

Last week, Zack and I were invited to attend a fund raising dinner for Battlefield Ministries, a Christian counseling group that my dear dear friend/"sister" Anna Lauren works for. The night was entitled "Laughter is the best medicine". Zack and I decided to attend the event along with several other couples from our small group, and we ended up having a great meal followed by lots of laughs.

Zack and I feel very strongly about the importance of marriage. We want to fight for our marriage and to have support and accountability in that fight. That is one of the reasons that we love our small group so much!

So, it is an honor to be able to support a group of individuals that strive to that goal...fighting for marriages that last. They do a lot more than just marital counseling, they do counseling of all kinds. They are a really neat organization and they are dedicated to helping people in this community to find God's healing in their lives....I don't know about you, but I think that that is something that I want to get behind and support. The healthier the people in a community are, the healthier the community itself becomes. Isn't that better for everyone that lives there?

We were not able to give a huge donation, but we were able to contribute something. And, I am certain that God will use our small donation to His glory to bring healing to someone that otherwise would not have known His peace. God's pretty amazing that way. I mean if he can bread bread and fish and feed thousands just think of what he can do with our meager offerings.

Swing batter batter!

Zack LOVES to play church softball. So, when the guys decided to get a team together to play again it was hard for Zack to say no. The softball games were all on nights that he has Ultimate practice and so he struggled with the decision on which one to devote his time to. He ended up getting to do a little of both. The softball team had a couple of 7:30/8:30 double header games on Tuesday nights (light practice day for Ultimate). So, Zack was able to go the games straight from Ultimate practice. I remembered to take my camera along to the last game, but did I take pictures of the guys battling for a win out on the field?! No! :) ha! I took pictures of the super cute future softball players that were out there supporting their daddies.

Love these little ones! Aren't they cute?!

Food Fight!!!

Last Saturday, Zack and I attended our friend Patrick's graduation party. Patrick and his wife Embo are friends of ours from college. They both ran on the cross country team and so we have a lot of history together. Patrick was at Berry for a couple of years, but ended up transferring and finishing school at another college.

Well, Patrick FINALLY graduated from college and so in honor of that occasion, Emily threw a graduation party for the Graduate. They decided to do something really classy and grown up...they hosted a FOOD FIGHT!!

I have never been involved in a food fight before. So, when we got the invitation to his party, I was really excited. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun. As it turns out, it was a lot of fun! We all had a blast!!

Preparing the grits

Packing the Car

Emily had set up tables in her parents field and we placed all of the food (ammo) onto the tables. Some people had brought things like colored instant mashed potatoes while others brought expired canned goods from their pantries. Leave it to our friend Skye to bring some rotten/ moldy food to spice things up. Zack and I brought some grits, old cake mix mixed with expired heavy whipping cream, 4 bottles of ketchup, a couple bottles of chocolate syrup, and some old pantry items.

The before group picture

Once everything was set up, Patrick, dressed in cap and gown, gave an opening speech, reached into a couple of bowls near him and threw out the first squishy messy throw. Then, all chaos broke loose. Food was flying everywhere. The food fight actually lasted for probably 20 minutes. People were running around scraping food off of eachother, themselves, and he table to keep the battle going. Everyone was laughing, slipping, and sliding around the tables. It was a lot of fun.

The after group picture!!

After everyone got sufficiently covered with food, we all hosed off in the pasture with the COLDEST well water ever, changed clothes in a changing room that had been set up in a horse trailer and headed down to the Bonfire for hot dogs, chips, and smore's.

Oh, found some more grits!

Zack and I really enjoyed getting to fellowship with everyone there and it was a really fun and memorable way to celebrate the day.