Nashville

In early October, Karson and I headed to Nashville for a weekend of football and friends. He's from the KC area, so Mizzou playing Vanderbilt the same weekend as the Chiefs playing the Titans is a perfect storm. One of Karson's college friends is coaches for the Titans and was kind enough to get us a room at the Loew's Vanderbilt which is a beautiful hotel in the Vanderbilt area of Nashville. The weekend was also Karson's best friend's birthday. Since we were going to tailgate, I made Ryan cupcakes and used these cute football cupcake holders.

Friday night, we went out to dinner on Broadway and then hit up some honky tonks. I think catching some live music is a mandatory thing in Nashville and always a lot of fun! Saturday morning we went to the Parthenon and the Opryland area before tailgating. In between the two, we hit the grocery store as we needed supplies for our tailgate. Karson had asked me to make buffalo chicken dip, I had brought a crock pot. So after the grocery store run, I'm lugging the crock pot into the hotel and carrying it in the elevator. There's an 60something guy in the elevator making polite conversation with me.

He pushed his floor button, and then said: "You don't really need a key card to get to the top floor."
Me: "I bet the view from the top floor is really nice."
Him: "Is that a crock pot??"
Me: "Uh, yeah. We're going tailgating today and I need to make a dip for it."
Him: "Oh. Okay." Weird look on his face. Secretly thinking I'm making something illegal with my crock pot.  I don't often cook with a crock pot in a hotel, but when I do, I try to do it at the nicest hotels possible. At least I brought the one with the damask design on it. :)

Missouri won, so the husband was happy. The weather the next day was not so great, but we had ponchos. The Chiefs won so again, the husband was happy! We had fantastic seats, which we were very lucky to be given.

 Karson at Opryland

 Me at Opryland. I LOVE this show. DVR it every week.

Go Chiefs! View from out awesome seats. P.S. Check out that guy's mullet. Ha!

 

 



2010 To Do list

I was heading down I-29 today enjoying the scenic drive. Really, there's the Loess Hills, so it's somewhat scenic, when I realized, I've never been here. So since I still had about an hour left of my drive, I thought about other things I wanted to accomplish this year. Not New Year's Resolutions, more, a "I've lived in Nebraska for Three Years, I should have...."


1. Hiked the Loess Hills
2. Completed more work on my family history project in Sioux City.
3. Visited Dixie Quick's and  Cali Taco(both have been on Diner's Drive-Ins and Dives. There are three or four other places that were on the show too. I've been to one. I'll get to the others at some point.) Dixie Quick's requires reservations and Cali Taco is a going during the daytime kinda place.
4. Hit up a fish fry or two or three. Lent fish frys in Omaha are legendary. Seriously. Some of them even involve "tailgating" for lack of a better term. Bring your own beer and drink while you wait for a few blocks. They all serve beer.
5. Watched the CWS at Rosenblatt. Not even an option, this has to happen this year at it's moving downtown.
6. Attended a Mavs Hockey game (might have to wait until the season starts again in the fall). My friend, Jason, who was a hockey fanatic in MI even told me that the UNO hockey games were great, he played against them.
7. Visited the Mt. Fuji Inn.

I might add more later.

Two weeks, two weeks, two weeks.

I am so excited that my vacation is coming up in two weeks. Work is stressing me out lately. I feel like winter is neverending. The daily snowfall isn't helping. It's cold and I have a stupid sinus infection. Okay, enough complaining....

I leave for vacation on Tuesday, February 23rd. We're going to spend two days in Disney World at the Polynesian Resort and then we're off for a three day cruise to the Bahamas!! Half of the meals are included in the cost of the trip. I did volunteer work, so I get into Disney World for free. Woot! Warm weather!!! Sunshine! Temps in Orlando should at least be in the upper 60s. And in the Bahamas it should be in the 70s. Can't. Wait.

As if that wasn't awesome enough, it gets better.

Today, I went to the orthodontist and had my permanent bottom retainer put it. It attaches to my lower canine teeth on the inside. Clearly, I'm nearing the finish line. I get my braces off on Monday, February 22nd!! Just in time for vacation.  I am beyond thrilled.

Walgreens trip

This post takes my couponing skills to the max. I love a bargain, and I like to get things for free. Who doesn't? On Black Friday, I went out to Walgreens, I go there a lot to get stuff for cheap. I didn't do as well as I would have liked because I messed up on my second transaction due to being in a hurry.

Edit: Clarification - Register Rewards are a "catalina" like item that Walgreens provides on certain items every week. They print after you pay for the item on a seperate machine from the receipt. If you've ever looked at an ad you might notice the price might say "Toothpaste $2.99 but with $1 in Register Rewards it's like getting it for $1.99." All of these Black Friday items were Register Rewarded at the actual price of the item. So, if you have an actual manufacturer coupon, you're making money after the first transaction because you're just rolling the rewards back and forth. CVS is another chain drugstore that has a reward program, but we don't have them here in Omaha.
Also, Walgreens, occassionally provides in store coupon books. This use to be a monthly thing,

First Transaction:

Infusium 23 Conditioner  = $4.99

Johnson & Johnson Soap = $5.99

Total before coupons =  $10.98
Infusium 23 coupon = - $ 2.00

Total with 6% tax   =    $9.64 (out of pocket). And I also received $11 in Register Rewards(RR).

So I went to the next store and picked up three Dove Deodarants:

3($3.99) = $11.97 - $11.00RR = $0.97 + $0.72(tax) = $1.75 out of pocket

And since I screwed up, I only received $4 in RR and $1 Dove coupon. (Instead of $12 in RR and $3 in coupons)

Third trip:

Johnson bodywash - $5.99 - $4RR = $1.99 + $0.36 (tax) = $2.35 (out of pocket) and $6 in RR.

Fourth and final transaction:

Aquafresh toothpaste $1.99

Dove deodarant $3.50 (I don't know why it was cheaper)

Puzzles as filler 2 for $1

Total $6.49 - $6 in RR + $0.39 cents in tax = $0.88 cents out of pocket plus $6 in RR for later and another $1 dove coupon.

Total out of pocket: $14.62. I did some minor price checking at Target and managed to save about $20 (including tax) not including the $6 in Register Rewards that I have to use for a future purchase, so not too bad, but I could have done better. I also really wanted to get some 64 packs of crayons that were going to work out to be 99 cents for my CASA bags for this spring, but they weren't in any of the three stores I visited.

New Moon

Up until my birthday at the end of July, I had never even opened a Twilight book. And then Amanda decided I needed to be part of the hysteria that is Twilight and gave me the first book as a a birthday gift. I then purchased the second book to read on work trip to Michigan. (Please note, that since then I have not read the 3rd or 4th books.)

So, with the upcoming release of New Moon, there's been lots of discussion about going to see the movie, and I will be seeing it Thanksgiving weekend in DSM unless something happens. But, my friend Jessica decided to assemble a group to go see it on opening night at midnight. Here's what's funny about the group that I went with....I was the youngest person in the group and I'm 30. The oldest person was about 38 or 39. Most of them also had kids. We met up at 94/95,  a bar and grill that Jessica's husband has part ownership in for drinks and snacks and then headed to the theatre around 11. The theatre was nice enough to convert our tickets to one screen since some people had 12:01 other 12:02, 12:04 and 12:05 shows.

In addition to the usual snacks, Kona grill and Coldstone were also there serving food. What cracked me up was that we were also dressed in jeans, cute shirts, cute shoes, make up etc. Almost all the teenagers that were there looked like they had rolled out of bed - pajama pants and Uggs? I'm not even kidding. We were hoping for some crazies. After securing our seats and getting snacks, there wasn't a whole lot of wait time left, the theatre even did a trivia contest in our theatre where you could win prizes. Someone in our group one free movie passes.

As for the movie....MUCH better than Twilight. And I've always been split between Team Edward and Team Jacob - somewhat Team Both of them. I'm leaning toward Team Jacob after this. Kristen Stewart kinda annoys me, I think it's her expression more than anything. I thought this stayed pretty true to the book though, as best as it can in two hours. Oh and I picked up the third book - thanks to Barnes and Noble for giving it to me for 50% off.

Girls' Night In

Back when I still lived in Des Moines, a group of us would periodically - (between monthly/bi-monthly), get together to hang out. It had started when someone was hosted a Pampered Chef party, then a Tastefully Simple party, then a Body Shop party. Then I think Abby suggested maybe we could get together and not have a sales person be present. So, each time one of us would plan the event, and we'd get together and we just took turns. It worked out great. And then, I moved to Michigan. Oops. But then I moved to Omaha. And so did some other Thetas from ISU. Kim moved away and then returned. Since Amanda and I were familiar with the concept, we thought it was time to bring it to a new city. Kim organized an event a few months back at a great little Mexican place (Senor Mateas - it's like Tasty Tacos with margaritas) and since then we haven't gotten back together as a group. So I took it upon myself to get us together again since many of us had mentioned.
Everyone agreed that Monday we'd meet up at my house for dinner. I'd make the main course of lasagna and everyone else would bring something - bread, salad, appetizer and dessert. Kim arrived first followed by Amanda with Ellie and April. So now we're just waiting for Salsa to arrive. And we're waiting, and waiting. Kim and I joke that she's probably napping again, like Saturday night when she overslept - so Kim calls Becky. Nope, she forgot. HAHAHA! All in all though the food turned out great, even though we didn't have salad. Everyone seemed to have a great time and our next get together is set for Monday. We're going to be checking out a place called SmashBurger since I guess Jenn Jenn is going to be in town. Should be good times

Favorite Websites of Late...

Oh yes, I’m a Facebook addict as much as the next person. I hit up my news pages on a daily basis, and http://www.pandora.com/ has basically become a staple in my life. But here’s list of five other sites in the past couple months that I’ve started frequenting on a regular basis.


http://www.sporcle.com/ Trivia and Quizzes all in the same place. This site is hours of mindless or maybe I should say somewhat mentally challenging fun. For the trivia geek like me, it’s fantastic. And there’s quizzes on every topic – I avoid certain areas, I will not be naming the periodic table of elements any time ever. But I can name all 50 states, all the presidents and entirely too much pop culture.

http://www.1000awesomethings.com/  This is such a great feel good site. Yes, it’s indeed cheesy. I don’t care. Sometimes when you’re having a total crap day, cheese like this helps.

And when that doesn’t work...there’s always, http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/ . My favorite of the week is an entry from October 26th. Sarcasm and passive aggresssive honesty at its finest.

http://www.iowagirleats.com/ – I’ve also recently discovered this site and realized that I’ve become really lazy and complacent with my cooking. It’s not that difficult or time consuming to do some cooking. Plus I think it’s pretty cool that she’s located in Central Iowa, so I should if I choose to make something that she’s making, I should be able to find it here in Omaha. I’ve decided to look past the fact that she roots for the wrong team.

I’m a big fan of couponing. And love sites that do the work ahead of time so that I know where the best deals are ala http://www.slickdeals.net/ . Last year at Christmas, I got my brother-in-law Aerosmith Guitar Hero with a Guitar for over 50% because of this site. Considering I doubt he uses it much, it was probably a good deal. Since then I’ve also discovered http://www.hotcouponworld.com/ , which I like because they will have info about my local grocery store. It’s because of sites like these that I sometimes leave places like Walgreens or Target and only pay $1 for $20 worth of stuff. I love saving money, who doesn't?

October weekends! :)

October has been a fantastic month for weekends! It really has - I had a great time down in KC hanging out with Kati, Stacy, Kim and Jenny and partying like I was in college the first weekend in October. Kati was such a trooper, even though she was uber pregnant. More than I will probably ever be. And I discovered just how much of a drinking amateur I was compared to Justin and his all of his Pike fraternity brothers. Yeesh! I finally made it to the Power & Light district. Caught up with Sara & Justin for a bit during some cold tailgating on Saturday. The sun forgot that it was invited as did ISU's kicker. But all in all a great weekend with lots of fantastic memories.

The next weekend, I went to a party where I again, forgot that I AM NOT IN COLLEGE ANYMORE. Jeez. Drinking games? Really? Up until like three or so? I had a great time, but needless to say, I was quite useless on Sunday. I think I slept until noon!

And the following weekend was Homecoming. I LOVE HOMECOMING! I always have, it's one of my favorite things. I mean, come on, I was Homecoming chair twice. You don't do that unless you're crazy or you really love something, or both. Probably both. My regular tailgating crew had gone AWOL, so I hooked up Salsa and Eric and their crew around 12:30 with plans to head over to Megan's around 3:00. It was cold. Despite having a tent and heaters, I was still cold. Yes, I'm a wimp. I don't care. I'm blaming the washers, and my poor ability to play washers despite a summer of practice. And ISU pulled off a big win, without much problem. And the next day was Nikki's baby shower. It was great to catch up with everyone I hadn't seen in forever.

And then this weekend, Salsa's cousin, Eric, was hosting a gamewatching party at his house for THE game. I'd been offered tickets on Thursday to go to Lincoln and even though Steph was coming to town, I decided I didn't need to witness what I figured would be a blood bath in person. I had easy access to a keg - and donuts and a turkey and a 60 inch TV. I'm going to stick with that and not be tormented, thanks though. The party started at 7:30 a.m., but we didn't get there until about 8:15 or so, which was great because the donuts were almost coming out of the fryer. We arrived and Kyle told us that Arnaud was out and so Robinson. Suddenly, having easy access to a keg seemed like a great idea. I was trying to remain optimistic, but really, the leading rusher in the Big 12 is out? YIKES!
For comedic relief, Eric and Kyle prepped the turkey. They weren't trying to be funny, but it was hilarious watching get the insides out and also cutting the handle off since it was going into the fryer. I'd never had fried turkey before, it was awesome! Plus, Couch brought buffalo chicken dip. If you've never had this stuff and you aren't lactose intolerant, I highly recommend making it sometime. (The recipe is on the foodnetwork.com) YUM!
The ratio of Cyclone fans to husker fans at the party ended up being about 4 to 1. AND then, it happened....ISU beat Nebraska in Lincoln for the first time in my life. It was unreal! I kept checking my phone to make sure it wasn't Christmas. :) I also realize more and more each game why I like Paul Rhoads. He seems like such a good person. Genuine. Real.
Yet another great weekend.

PC party

I made a last minute decision yesterday to attend a Pampered Chef party at my friend, Jessica's house.  She's in the alumnae group with me. I say last minute because she posted that she was having one on FB and I thought, what the heck, I can always use something. So I figured I'd go and get the pineapple slicer. It's similar to the apple slicer, just a lot bigger. I didn't end up getting this item. Instead as a group we ended up making three chicken recipes (which were all fantastic) and a dessert. I ended up getting some new measuring items (spoons and cups) and the most awesome knife ever!!!! I'm such a dork.  Seriously I never realized how awful my knives were until I used this knife!
In related news, I'm trying to figure out what to make for the ISU-Nebraska gamewatching party on Saturday. It will either be Stuffed French Toast from Cooking Light.
 http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=521691
Or, Sausage and Cheese Breakfast Casserole from Cooking Light
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1723431

The Saga Continues....

So, this morning I contacted my realtor and expressed my concerns about the financial stability of my builder. Or lack thereof.
She assured me that things were fine and that she would email over a letter from builders's bank stating as much. She said that what had happened was that builders's financing had been with one bank and their loans had then been sold to a bank in Australia (in the past year) who then called the loans due. Still not sitting well with me at this point. She said the owner had secured financing thru another bank - okay that's a bit better, but I'd read about a bunch of liens on the properties with the builder from contractors and wanted to make sure that those had been resolved as well. After everything that had happened with Regency Homes in Iowa and Benchmark in Omaha, I'm definitely concerned. The complex/area that I made that offer at has four units that are currently under construction (I've never seen any work being done on those units - basically it appears to be the outside is done, don't know about the inside) and then a LARGE open lot where another 40 or so units will go.


So, I asked for documentation that everything was good with their bank and my location. I've currently received a letter about another complex in town, but not my complex. My realtor called earlier tonight and said that there wasn't one for my complex and asked if it would make me feel better about this because the other realtor would get one if needed. I said I wanted one. My offer has expired. So that's where things are at this point.

This is fun.

I spend way too much time in my car

So I pretty much live in my car.  Seriously, I left home at 6:15 this a.m. and got home at 6:20 tonight. Hopefully the next car will have satellite radio. :) Anyway, as someone that spends way too much time in a car will tell you, you find ways to occupy your time. I sing. A lot. I notice random landmarks. And yesterday I finally found the number five gas station for my "Top Five Dumbest Gas Station Names." Some of these you'll recognize. These, by the way, are in no particular order.

Kum & Go - all over the midwest: Don't think I need to explain why this is on the list.
Almost Always Open - Ames, IA: I've thought this was the most random name for a gas station for ages. Why not just call it "Closed from 2:30 - 5:30" or  "Closed Sometimes" or something like that.
Infinite - Omaha, NE: When did gas become infinite? I've been under the impression that it was going to run out eventually, maybe they have a special source?
Tobacco & Phones 4 Less - Omaha, NE: Seriously, why sell gas? Why not just be a tobacco store? or a phone store? I've never actually been in one of these.
Dickie Doodles - Columbus, NE: I don't see why I need to explain this one either. I just hope it isn't some poor person's name.

Fun times....

So yesterday, one of the agencies I call on had their annual golf outing for the first time in my 2.5 years in the territory I was able to attend. Last year, I was in Portugal and the year before, the outing was the day before the Iowa-ISU game. About a month ago I decided I would attend and then I tried to remember the last time I'd even picked up my golf clubs....pretty sure I still lived in West Des Moines. Yikes. I had every intention of getting to the driving range before the outing, or a few lessons. Neither happened. Thank goodness it was best ball and I had some good golfers on my team. The weather yesterday afternoon was fantastic. Lucky for me, the course was just down the street about a mile or two from my house. I only lost one ball, that I hit into the water. And by some small miracle we won! Wahoo - free gift certicate to a local restaurant for me! Maybe I'll take a few lessons before next year. :)

Payback time....

So, my boss thinks he's really funny. The type that's always pulling a practical joke on someone. Almost a year and a half ago, on the Friday before Nikki's wedding, I was the lucky recipient of one of his practical jokes. Along with the help of the other Nebraska marketing rep, Nate, and the branch underwriting manager, Cory, he had a Husker license plate holder installed on my car. We were holding marketing meetings at the West Des Moines branch. That day I left the branch in a complete rush - I was getting a haircut at 3:30. We were supposed to be done at 2. I ran out of the office at 3:25 and hauled it to my stylist (yes, I still get my haircut in WDM). I then ran out to my aunt's house and changed and met a friend for dinner. The next morning, I went to get a pedicure before meeting up with Jason and Amanda. I walked out of the pedicure to the almost empty parking lot and looked around. Hmmm...there's a car like mine from Nebraska, but it can't be mine, it has a Husker license plate holder. WTF?!?!?! I called Amanda to ask if she had a screwdriver. This problem had to be remedied and soon. The screw up with the practical joke was that a) my boss had mentioned a long time ago he'd had this Husker license plate holder and b) he put it on the back.

And so I waited for the right time. And waited and waited. I think my boss thought that I just forgot. My boss is a HUGE Ohio State fan and Nate is a Husker fan. I thought about doing something when I was trapped in the office last summer. I didn't have anything else to do. I considered decorating my boss's office. But there would still be the problem of Nate's car. So when the reminder about our trip to Rochester came along, I asked Nate if he wanted to carpool. Check. And did he want to drive? Check (Not that I didn't have a back up plan in place). My boss would of course drive up too. Check. I ordered a cheapo license plate holder from the U of M. Packed my screwdriver. And on Tuesday night launched my assault. The lovely ISU and U of M license plate holders are now on the front of their cars. Neither of them have said a thing. Yet. I'm thinking if I can get thru the weekend without them noticing, it'll be great.