Quoted!

I made the paper today!

A coworker had emailed first thing this morning about a 'nice quote' in the paper. There was a quote by me in an article in today's Indy Star about Butler's "New Found Fame". The reporter caught me buying shirts for Eric and I in the Butler Spririt Shop at Hinkle Fieldhouse - he happened to come in and ask if there were any non-Butler students/alumni buying stuff, and there I was. He didn't even use some of my best comments, which were about the Hinkle Fieldhouse Experience.

In case the above link is taken down, here's the article - it's a good article, regardless. My quote is in "Butler Blue".

Butler's newfound fame: Everyone's a fan now
Overshadowed no longer, Bulldogs come into their own
By Tom Spalding
Posted: March 31, 2010

They have become America's team. The darlings of the dance. The team you're supposed to pull for -- if you're not from Duke or West Virginia or Michigan State.

But just as the nation discovers and embraces Butler University, in some ways, so, too, does Indiana.

Truth is, in a state known for its hoops hysteria -- the Milan Miracle-inspired "Hoosiers," Oscar Robertson, Larry Bird, Reggie Miller, John Wooden, Gene Keady and Purdue, and Bob Knight and the championship banners at Indiana University -- many basketball fans here know Butler as that nice, little team that plays in that quaint fieldhouse, somewhere over there in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood.

Always the Bulldogs. Never the Big Dogs.

Until now.

"It's a great Cinderella story," said Kara Cwalina, 33, Indianapolis who graduated from Auburn University. "I've watched the team progress. To be able to see that local team do well, that's cool. Even though it's not my school."

It's not Jeff Friar's school, either. Yet there he was Monday afternoon among those crammed into Butler's small shotgun-shaped souvenir shop inside Hinkle Fieldhouse, snapping up T-shirts for his wife and two children.

"First Butler items I've ever bought," said Friar, 45, who lives on the Southside. "Just getting involved in the hype."

Friar played for Indiana University's football team in the late 1980s and was in the crowd when the Hoosiers won the 1987 basketball championship. The 6-foot-8 lineman is still a diehard IU fan.

But the Bulldogs' storyline is simply irresistible.

"Just a great program now," he said. "To me they are Indiana kids working hard, and you've got to support the Indiana brand."

In Indiana, though, the most popular brands remain IU and Purdue. They have the Big Ten crowds -- and the Big Ten television contracts and exposure. They have the huge alumni following. They have the tradition.

Butler spokesman Marc Allan said the school, which has an undergrad enrollment of 3,899, has 42,000 alums, with 17,000 of them in Central Indiana. That compares with 51,982 Purdue alums in Marion and the surrounding counties. Indiana University has more than 265,000 graduates who live in Indiana, with 102,000 of them in Marion and surrounding counties.

Even in a down year, IU drew more than 15,000 fans per home game this season.

Butler, though, is gaining ground -- not because of some Cinderella run, but because the school has built a legitimate Top-25 program.This year, 33 of the Bulldogs' 36 games were on television, including ESPN. And average attendance at Hinkle Fieldhouse was 6,852 -- the best in 39 years but well short of its 10,000-seat capacity.

Weekend Update

Not that there's much to say - it wasn't a super exciting weekend or anything. But there are a few notable things to mention.

Saturday I spent the day recuperating from my total exhaustion from the week. Still not sure what wore me out so much. Though I did get a decent run in on Saturday - I knew it was supposed to rain all day Sunday. And boy did it!

Sunday morning, Eric and I had a little fun, though! Crate and Barrel has become a fun favorite of ours, if nothing else, to browse for ideas. On Sunday, they had a special event for brides and grooms to-be! Let just say they had mimosas on hand when you came in the store, and lots of 'exhibits with samples' showing how you could use things to make food and set up a nice table. Obviously, it was focused around getting you to register there, though we weren't really looking to register anywhere else since we're already set up at Macy's and Target. But it was fun, none the less! We even used the time to set up our Easter table for this weekend. Plus, as a bonus, we got a "Thank You" gift when we left, which turned out to be some awesome toasting flutes. So one more thing off the list to buy!

On a side note, Butler made it to the Final Four on Saturday night!! How awesome is that?? Talk about home field advantage... their campus is only, like, 6 miles from Lucas Oil Stadium (where the games will be played). Not too bad for a little school of only about 4,500 students! Go Butler!

A Slew of Randomness

My mind has been all over the place this week. So in an effort to not go crazy, I’m jotting it all down here. Well, at least what’d in my head at this time… So unless you’re ready for complete randomness, I’d suggest you just stop here.

First off, what seems to be on everyone’s mind but mine… March Madness. I’m just not a big basketball fan. Never have been. Auburn didn’t have a strong program when I was there, and I only had the Tragic to follow growing up in FL… so I just never got into it. Just stuck with football and baseball. That being said, I can’t help but feel a twinge of pride with Butler heading to the Elite Eight for the first time in the school’s history. For a small, local school, that’s awesome! I even went to one of their games this year… in fact, Eric and I went on the night after we were engaged! Maybe there’s a connection…

Earthquakes. Have you noticed there seem to be a lot this year?? Recently, even?? Off the top of my head, I can think of four…. Haiti (multiple there, actually), Chile, a relatively small one in California, and then just this week, the Philippines! Now this brings to question… is it just better media coverage and technology to track them… or are there really more happening??

Burgundy/Dark red is not an ‘in color’ for sandals this year. Funny how when you start looking for something specific, it’s nowhere to be found.

I love the smell of new leather. Not sure what it is, but it is just so intoxicating to me! Whether it’s new shoes, a new purse, just being in a leather store… I just breathe it all in.

This year is just flying by. This weekend is already the last weekend in March. Less than 80 days until my wedding! Why does time start going faster and fast as we get older? Do we just get too busy for our own good? Or do we just forget how to enjoy life the way we did when we were kids?

This week has been an exhausting one for me, and I have no idea why. People at work have been telling me I look exhausted and Eric even says I sound exhausted on the phone. It hasn’t been a stressful week, so it’s not that. I don’t think my workouts have been any more intense than they have been thus far. Maybe just the first month of them have caught up with me? There is a definite physical exhaustion I feel. Maybe it’s the change in diet that’s caught up with me. But I’m taking vitamins, so I should still be getting everything my body needs. I haven’t been going to bed as early as I’d like, but that’s never been an issue before. Not to this extent, anyway. Maybe it’s just everything combined. I don’t know. But I plan on sleeping in tomorrow, that’s for sure!

Getting Over the Hump!

I had my best run ever tonight!

Well, the best run since I started training for The Mini.

Right before winter hit, I hit a wall in my training. I couldn't get over this one hump in the interval training I was doing. And it was frustrating the hell out of me!! So the hiatus in training during the cold months didn't bother me - I was too frustrated, anyway!

As spring approached and I started my work-outs with a trainer, I knew I needed to get back into the interval training runs, as well. I decided to try putting some music into my runs alone, to help set the pace. Well, apparently, that's what was off - my pace! I think I was either trying to run too fast to take too big of a stride or something! Because once I had that beat in my ear, I hit the perfect pace. I probably could've run a little further, but I was so thrilled to have done what I did that I stopped to enjoy the moment!

So I feel better about the upcoming half-marathon, now. Especially if I can keep improving now that I'm over that initial hump!

The Bathroom Renovation (part 1)

So we got the tile down! And a brand new toilet installed! It looks awesome - I was so excited to see it done! It sucked having to use the other bathroom for so long, but it was worth it for the floor and the new toilet. Only, this led to more desires of renovation (hence, the 'part 1' in the title). We're going to replace the vanity top, faucet, AND light fixture still. But that will be another weekend. We bought the light fixture, but decided to wait.

Eric did most of the work, which is almost how it had to be with such little space! Sure is nice to have a guy around that can do these types of things - not to say I couldn't tackle it, if need be, it's just nice not to have to be the one to tackle it.

The last thing I did was paint my bathroom the wonderful red that it is, which I still love! You can kind of see the before look of the floor in that blog... but the only thing you really need to know is that it was carpet! Luckily, there were no issues encountered while tearing it up. it just feels much better to have the tile in there.

A St. Patrick's Day Twist

With Fionn MacCool’s out of business this year, my girls and I were left lost on St. Patrick’s Day. No one knew where to go, and because of that, we all ended up on different sides of town. I miss Fionn’s… it was such a wonderful Irish bar… and we had many fun-filled St. Patrick’s Days there. Well, at least four, anyway…

Alas, I was lost downtown with Eric, at least. With the training schedule I’m currently on, I didn’t get to duck out of work early and hit the Claddagh next door like some did. I’m dedicated, so I stuck with my training… but, damn, the gym was empty! I powered through my workout, though, including cardio, and headed over to Eric’s to shower around 7pm. A late start compared to years’ past.

We still had to eat, though, so we walked into town and I thought we were just going to grab something quick, or even grab something at Scotty’s, what I thought would be our first stop for some Irish beer (even though Scotty’s is not an Irish bar). They even had corned beef and cabbage going, which I thought might be pretty good! But instead, and here’s the twist, we went to St. Elmo’s Steakhouse for dinner. This I was not expecting.

Now, if you’re from Indy, you know all about St. Elmo’s. It is a premier steakhouse in Indy – one of the top, actually, and the oldest in town. It has a hell of a history, actually, and is often visited by some very famous people. In fact, it was even on the Food Network’s “The Best Thing I Ever Ate ” (Hot & Spicy episode) last week for its shrimp cocktail (think horseradish with a little ketchup mixed in). Anyway… that’s probably what put St. Elmo’s in our head… watching that episode last week.

And of course, we started with a shrimp cocktail. Yum! I followed up with a Filet Mignon and Eric had a New York Strip. I had these awesome green beans with mine… they’re, like, cooked up in garlic and there’s even pieces of garlic on the beans. So yummy! We split a nice bottle of wine with our meal, as well, but we did skip dessert.

So we turned St. Patrick’s Day into a nice date night instead of hitting the bars. Funny thing is, I bet the two of us eating at Indy’s top steakhouse still got away cheaper than many of those out drinking green beer and car bombs… plus, we didn’t fight the crowds or pay a cover!

Some of my critics may be wondering how and why I did this amidst my training, which includes a pretty strict menu. Well, I’m allowed one cheat meal a week. This was it. Personally, I can’t think of a better place to eat a cheat meal than St. Elmo’s!

A Sneak Peek

As you are aware, there's been a lot going on as Eric and I get ready for the wedding. We're almost there, to that point where we can take a deep breath and say, "the planning is done!" But we're not quite there yet. especially since we're doing the separate reception in Indy... that has brought on a whole slew of additional planning that pretty much has to be planned out simultaneously with the wedding. But it'll all be worth it in the end!

As far as the wedding goes, there really isn't much left in the 'Major Items' column. At least as far as booking things goes. The details have yet to be hammered out. I still have to get my dress fitted... but I'm waiting until April to do that. We have to make one more trip to FL to detail out things with venders, but I don't see that as a problem. I'm thinking the weekend after Easter for that. My gift to my groom is in the works - can't spoil it here, though, so you'll have to wait!

I will give you all this, though... a sneak peak at Eric's suit he'll be wearing. He got it tailored and finally got it back. It looks really sharp on him! Now if I can just get the rest of the family attire nailed down - it's hard to plan from afar, but so far, so good. I think. I hoping to keep it casual enough that everyone's comfortable in what they're wearing. I'll be happy if I can just tie in my color with the fathers, which Eric's dad already a bought a complimenting tie. I plan to buy one for my dad, as well, so that will help that. My sister is close to finding a dress as my MOH. (Eric's dad is his BM). So then it's left to the mothers... both of which are searching, but without much luck yet! So it's all coming together... just over three months away!

Let's Get Physical!

I hired a personal trainer. I’ve been planning to since they first introduced the availability of one at work (cheap!) late last year, but the wedding just amplified the desire. I want to look good in that dress! But besides that, I intend on doing The Mini in May… that alone is enough reason to get in shape. And I do not have the ability to force myself to do things, let along do things in proper form. So this week, my sessions began.

First off, Laura is awesome. She seems to push just enough and doesn’t ask for anything too outrageous when is comes to changing your diet to nutritionally supplement your workout to get the best results. Though I have to say, changing my diet is proving to be the hardest part! I’ve always read and heard that 5-6 small meals during the day is the best way to go. That’s one change… which is surprisingly gratifying when it comes to hunger – I’m always full! The hardest part, thus far, is eating breakfast! I haven’t eaten breakfast since I was old enough to get ready and get myself out the door and to the bus… so junior high maybe?? It’s not that I don’t like breakfast – I LOVE breakfast foods! I’m just not a morning person, and I’m just not awake enough to function, let alone eat! So the morning ritual REALLY fills me up – a full serving of oatmeal (which is really a lot!), plus a serving of egg beaters. The rest of the consists of small meals that include minimal carbs/sugar and high (good) protein.

The workouts are intense! From day one, she was pushing my limits. And it’s fast paced – barely enough time to stretch between exercises and grab a drink of water. But that’s a good thing. The first day was legs, and on Tuesday, I was in pain already! WOW! Today was upper body. I’m sure I’ll be feeling it tomorrow! But the weight training on only 2 days a week, then I’m on my own to do cardio 4-6 times a week. I did learn the optimal time to do cardio… right after strength training… on an empty stomach. So it’s up to me to knock out these 4-6 workouts. But with spring around the corner and The Mini on the horizon, that shouldn’t be too hard. I’ll be needing to run more often!

Water – that’s the other hard thing!! Drinking a gallon of water a day! I’m just not used to it, I guess, so I’m working on that… drinking water, constantly, even if I’m not thirsty. So we’ll see if I can get into that groove, as well.

Not sure how much I’ll talk about my training on here, but there might be a few blogs about how much pain I’m in. LOL