Football weekend

Over the weekend I got the joy of not only having my sister, niece and Grandpa Cowboy in town, but my cousin Chelsea came to stay. It was nice visiting while the kids played. And sipping on wine on the deck after we put the kids down for the night, you can't beat that! The Steelers were scheduled to play the Lions for the first preseason game and Cory was able to get us all tickets for the big event. Normally, we would be 100% all in for the Steelers, but Caleb especially has become quite the fan of #57 of the Detroit Lions. We all meet up for breakfast in the city, which went amazingly well for a sit down meal with three little ones.

Attie, Chelsea, Caleb Jordon and Makaylee

After breakfast we did what girls do best and went and got pampered with pedicures. Then got decked out in our black and gold, scratch that, blue and silver for the big game.

 Me, Brittany (Chelsea's friend) Chelsea, and Kaycee

The game didn't go exactly as planned. Right after the second half began Jordon got injured and we didn't know exactly what happened. Then it started to lightening, so there was a delay. We had to wait to know Jordon's status. It was hot, the kids were tired and we were concerned.

At first, Chels was told it was a sprain, but it turned out it was the whole knee, ACL, PCL and MCL. Such a bummer!! Caleb asks every day about how Jordon is doing, what happened and if he is playing football again. Jordon has a great attitude about it and looks at the positive. He gets a season to let his body recover from the years of pounding.

Never give up Tri

After playing a college sport I think there is a little bit of a longing for the adrenalin and excitement that goes along with each competition. So my sister, my cousin Chelsea and I decide about six months ago to motivate ourselves to workout by training for a Triathlon. We all probably realistically started our training about 13weeks out, but it was a great discipline.

The day before the race Cathy our awesome coach prepared us for all the elements. Numeral uno being the super cold water. I have had two children with not a bit of pain medicine and I have to say I would rather do that than get in the painfully cold water. First, we jumped into Chelsea's pool at a whopping 62 degrees. It did give me some confidence for race day, but sadly my swim was more of a flailing please make it to shore without needing one of the surfer duds to come rescue me than an actual swim. I was a little disappointed, because I really thought this would be my strength. I guess my lungs just couldn't hang with the cold water.

Surprisingly the bike was refreshing. Around a third of the way into it we hit a head wind and I would have loved to have a road bike to get down in a tucked position. I really think spin class prepared my legs for the mostly flat track. It was a little humbling to have multiple women I would have sworn I was in better shape than cruise by me, but I was having a blast.

Finally, on my run, probably my true strength I was able to pass many of those people that boggled my mind on the bike. However, after riding a bike that long my legs felt rather odd. It felt like I had heavy weights tied to my ankles and the needle sensation you get when you stand up and your legs are numb is the best way I can describe how it felt to make this transition.

I remember feeling emotions of joy and accomplishment rise up at the end of my first mile. I knew I would finish strong, because I finally could feel my legs again. It wasn't pretty, my running form never is, but it made for such an exciting finish to have friends and family cheering me in.

We accomplished our goals and I to my great surprise actually had a faster time than my cousin the track star and my sister who historically during a run I'm looking at her backside.

We are all ready for another one, but I have to say sharing it with these two wonderful girls is what really made it special.

Go Lions

We had such a fun time at the game even though the Lions lost. The fans were pretty brutal. This surprised me. I thought, if you are going to take time out of your schedule to go watch your team, win or lose you'd think they would cheer? But no, I think the majority of booing came from the weirdo who sat right in front of us. He absolutely annoyed the you know what out of me. I was about ready to give him an ear full, but he was a rather large guy and I didn't think Cory would appreciate a repeat of the movie scene from How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days.

We decided to put the kids in childcare, so we could actual watch. Caleb was a little bitter that he didn't get to enjoy some football. When we picked him up I was greeted by the cold shoulder followed by screaming and crying. Did I mention how nice it was to be kid free for a few hours.

Me, Kaycee (my sissy) and Chelsea (my cousin).

What a fun group of girls. I sure would love it if we all lived a little closer.