Cars, Running, and Football - Thursday Thoughts

So after our amazing Fiesta Bowl Win (and the rest of the BCS Bowls finished up) UCF finished the season ranked #10 and #12, which is pretty flippin' awesome! Some people think we should be ranked higher but I'm more than happy with these rankings! The highest ever in school history!

I don’t think I ever posted about my new car! A few days after Christmas, G and I went car shopping and I came home with this beauty! 2014 Nissan Rogue SL – Fully Loaded! LOVE IT!

The same day I bought the car, I had gone to my orthopedist and I was diagnosed with Plantar Fasciitis, inflamed tissue in the foot/heel. I self diagnosed myself first via Dr. Google and then went to the doctor and he confirmed it. The remedy: cortisone shot (damn that shot hurt!), inserts for my shoes, and calf stretches 20x a day for about 4 weeks and then I should be good to go about the time the shot wore off. He said I could still run just not to do speed work (which is exactly what I was planning on working on in 2014 so I’m glad he told me that). I had been running even with the foot pain as it actually felt better once I started going (probably from getting stretched out) and hurt the MOST when I wore flip flops. He suggested not wearing flip flops but understands we live in Florida and I live in them and pretty much told me if I’m going to wear them then I need to get a good pair of flops from the running store. I plan to do that next time I venture to that side of town.

Tomorrow, I’m running the Inaugural Walt Disney World 10k! I haven’t ran since the day I got the cortisone shot – so 2 weeks from tomorrow. I probably should have got a few miles in this week but oh well, I guess this will be a good kick off to the year. G is crazy and is doing the Dopey Challenge, which is the 5k, 10k, ½ Marathon and Full Marathon, 4 races in 4 days – 48.6 miles! I’m just really hoping he doesn’t injury himself, he hasn’t trained at all and has ran even less than me the last few months.

And that concludes my Thursday Thoughts for today, a link-up with Jen @ Ramblings of a Suburban Mom.

We drove, we saw, we won! - FIVE on FRIDAY

As I mentioned earlier this week, we took the long drive to Glendale, AZ to see UCF win the Fietsa Bowl against Baylor University, so with 6ish hours left of the drive, I figured I'd work on my Five on Friday post and our trip recap (sorry in advance, it'll probably be long)

(ONE) THE DRIVE

The drive there wasn't that bad, I kind of recapped it during my earlier post but here is a little FlipaGram (btw this app is awesome!) documenting it! (PS. Hubby made it and  is a huge Eagles fan and they clinched their division as we were driving through Tx, while playing the Cowboys, so that is why that is in there). Took us 32 hours and ~ 2,200 miles to get there and 30 hours, 51 minutes; 2,165 Miles  to get home (that includes stopping, it's much faster when you don't get lost lol) The drive home was uneventful and we didn't many pictures - believe me, no one needs to see what I look like lol, but the few that were taken are in the video below.

During the drive, I've been able to finish 4 (well 5 if you count a short story prequel) books. I haven't had this much time to read in so long and I loved it!!  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight were both really good! I also read Diane Chamberlain's Necessary Lies which was amazing (although I'm a little biased since she's one of my favorite authors). - I also read the short story prequel called The First Lie. I threw in a kindle freebie called A Family Affair by Mary Campisi which was good (although predictable). 

(TWO) THE STAY 

We stayed in Downtown Phoenix, which by the way is the lamest city ever. I get that it was a holiday, but seriously it was incredibly dead. Even Starbucks! The most action in the 3 days we were there, was when we went to breakfast at Matt's Big Breakfast. (Was featured on Food Network's Diners, Drives, and Dives). We had to wait 45 mins, food was really good although I wouldn't wait 45 mins again, but being 10am on New Years Day, I guess it should have been expected. I saw more people there than I saw the entire rest of the time while walking around Downtown Pheonix (including going to 3 other restaurants and Starbucks). I did get a chance to meet up with my 2 cousins and Aunt and new baby cousin (does that make her like a cousin once removed or a 2nd cousin? I never know). It was nice to see them, it had been 8 years. I had been nervous it would be awkward since we hadn't spoken much on those 8 yrs besides FB comments and such but it wasn't awkward at all and I'm glad we got to get together! Our hotel was nice and we got an excellent deal on it since we got the employee discount from our friend so that was a plus but if we ever come here again we're totally staying in Glendale by the stadium, the nightlife seemed to be much more exciting there! 

(THREE) NEW YEARS EVE

We drove out to where the team was staying in Scottsdale (our big man-ly UCF Football players were staying at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, couldn't help but laugh at that) on the morning of NYE. We picked up some UCF Fiesta bowl gear and our commemorative tickets (our reason for going there) which showed all of the scores for the games this season. We explored the gorgeous resort, complete with a winter wonderland and $25 ice skating (which I wasn't paying to do but still cool they had it). We then went down to downtown Scottsdale since we heard there was another store with UCF gear, and the store was actually the Liberty Bowl Museum which turned out to not really be as cool as we thought it was and had the same stuff they had at the team hotel headquarters. (Plus ugly Baylor stuff too).  For NYE we went to a sports bar by the stadium called McFaddens. We knew the "place to be" was at the Mills Ave Block Party in Tempe but none of us felt like being super crowded and not able to get drinks so we chose what we hoped would be more low key (the UCF Alumni association was also supposed to be there but for some reason they weren't). It was definitely more low-key but we didn't make a decision on what we were doing early enough to get reserved seating so the only table we were able to find was outside and it was really cold. Good thing we were dressed casual and in sweatshirts plus they had heaters so it wasn't too bad and we made nice with the bar tender so drinks were served very quickly to us! We did get a chance to move inside towards the end of the night though. I was expecting the night to be more like the night before the Penn State game, and it wasn't, so I was slightly disappointed but I got to ring in the new year with my love and some great friends while making an awesome memory!

(FOUR) THE TAILGATE

We couldn't decide what we were doing in advance so we picked up two 12pks, parked the car, and walked to the organized Fiesta Bowl tailgate. Well obviously we couldn't bring our beer into it and there was no re-entry so we decided to stay out and drink our beer first and hen decide if we wanted to go in. G wasn't feeling well so he wasn't drinking and went in to the tailgate to meet up with some friends that were already inside and I called some of my friends who were doing a normal tailgate in the parking lot and they invited us over there so we went over there to hang for awhile. Turns out they randomly parked next to a large group of people who went all out for the tailgate (they were locals who apparently come every year regardless of the teams playing). I mean they were grilling prime rib, ribs, burgers, dogs, etc. the spread was incredible and they had a full liquor bar, margarita machine, tons of beer and music playing. Best of all, they were the most friendly and generous people ever. Invited us right over to drink and eat and have a good time. We ended up staying there until the start of the game, it was a ton of fun and I got to hang out with my friends who drove in from Santa Barbara plus some other Florida friends. I think I speak for the group of us when I said it was an awesome time! 

(FIVE) THE GAME

The game was awesome! We had great seats on the 20 yard line, back row (which is our preference so we can stand and not bother anyone) the row in front of us was empty and so ewe had a lot of space to spread out and be comfortable. We were surrounded by (mostly) UCF fans and the atmosphere was so much fun. We played great, always ahead of Baylor (well they tied us once) and came out with an amazing victory of 52 to 42. (I was annoyed that it was impossible to get a picture of the scoreboard that was clear though!) UCF, the team who wasn't supposed to win (unless you ask the Phoenix Zoo Tiger who has now predicted the correct team 4 years in a row), the underdog, the team from the school that people don't hear about often enough, yea WE WON A BCS BOWL! We went in ranked 15 and beat the #6 ranked school. Just another milestone for UCF's incredible football season! We have come a long way from my first year at UCF where we were on a 17 game losing streak in a crappy conference. I couldn't be more proud to be a UCF Alumn! I'm very anxious to see where we end up in the rankings on Tuesday. We stayed after the end of the game to watch our team receive the Fiesta Bowl Trophy and continue to cheer them on. This was such an incredible experience and totally made the long drive worth it. (And the ride home not feel quite as long as it would if we would have lost). I won't lie, I didn't go into this thinking we'd win, I mean I was hoping we would but if we hadn't I wouldn't have been too shocked only because just getting to this bowl was a big deal and we were playing a "better" team.  Boy, am I glad I was wrong and the tiger was right! 

receiving the trophy

And just because I miss my baby girl so much (she stayed with my parents for the week) I figured I'd throw I'm a couple pics of her that my parents sent while we were gone. Can't wait to see her in a few hours, I swear she looks like she grew!!  (my parents really do need to learn to take better quality pictures *hint hint*)

Thursday Thoughts

Well I wanted to get you all a recap of the cruise we just got back from but I ended up having to work super late last night and by the time I packed for today's cruise, I was just too tired to use my brain to recall everything. Maybe I'll be able to type it up on this cruise and be able to post it when I get back. 

Yes, you read that right, I'm going on another cruise today. It's the same ship and destination (Cozumel) as EM and I did in September on EM's 1st Cruise but one less "sea day" as this is only a 4 night weekend cruise vs a 5 night week-day cruise.  This will be EM's 3rd cruise. This makes my 5th for the year and overall 23rd cruise. Yes, you can say I'm obsessed and luckily I married someone who loves them just as much!

UCF is going to their first ever BCS Bowl! The only downside, it is in Glendale, AZ. We were really hoping to go to the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans but it was announced that we will be playing Baylor at the Fiesta Bowl on New Years Day. As soon as we were able to start making travel arrangements (we were on our cruise) it was already 3 days after the announcement and only 3ish weeks before the event so all the flights were coming up around $800-$1k, wayyyy too much. After about a week of exhausting every travel option, we decided we are going to drive. This means a 30+ hour car ride, EACH WAY.  I am not excited about the drive at all. It'll be G and I and our friends Dan and Shari (they just got back from the cruise with us). With splitting  rental car (since we all drive sedans, we decided to rent a SUV), gas, hotels and the cost of tickets and NYE/tailgating plans we'll each probably spend about what it would have cost for JUST the flight which makes me feel better about actually driving. Yes, the drive will suck, but it was the only affordable option for us to go and we're all very excited about the game! So, we're leaving the 29th and plan to get there sometime on the 30th (recover from the long drive), party it up for New Years Eve, tailgate for the game, hopefully WIN the game, and then drive home on the 2nd to be back the 3rd. No, we're not taking EM, she'll be getting some nice bonding with my parents that week. It's just not the trip to take a one year old on. I might actually get to see my two cousins (one which just had a baby girl a few months ago) who live in Phoenix too! I haven't seen them in like 10 years so it'll be nice to see them in person and not just on FaceBook.  GO KNIGHTS! #ChargeOn #UCFiesta

Today starts 18 days off from work! My company works a 9/80 schedule so I get every other friday off plus they shut down from December 24th through the 1st every year. So with the way the off fridays fall with the holidays, by taking 2 true vacation days, I was able to have 17 full days off and because of the cruise I had to take 3 vacation days and have 18 days off. This is my favorite perk of my company! Although, I won't be getting much relaxing done during these 2.5 weeks. Between the cruise, hosting Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, celebrating Christmas at my parents the 28th and heading to Arizona, I'll be exhausted when it comes time to go back to work on the 6th. Oh yea, I have a baby shower too! I'm exhausted just thinking about it lol #FirstWorldProblems

So that's it from me for my Thursday Thoughts... be back in a few days!

UCF vs. USF

all bundled up

Black Friday is not just for shopping! As a UCF Fan it meant wearing black for our blackout game against USF and having a blast tailgating. We hate USF and it took us until Friday to FINALLY beat them. In the past they really weren't that much better than us when they beat us, and this year we are SOOO much better than them and they ALMOST beat us. It was a rough game to watch, way too many interceptions and fumbles and just crappy playing by the Knights, but we did it, we finally beat our rival USF. Tailgating was fun even if the game was stressful to watch. We brought EM for the tailgate portion since it was beautiful outside. She was pretty cranky though (she has a cold and is hardcore teething - has gotten all 4 teeth in one month and is working on cutting her 5th) and since we knew the temperatures were going to drop, my wonderful mother in law took her when she left tailgating so that we both could stay for the game. I left in the 3rd quarter because I had a massive headache and wanted to get home to EM (even though she was sleeping, I still felt bad not leaving with her when she was feeling sick). I listened to the end of game on the radio during the 45 min ride home and it was definitely a nail biter. Final Score: 23 to 20. Whew!  

Plus we moved (some back) up in all the rankings this week (surprisingly, considering how terrible we played) Up to 15 (from 17) in the AP; up to 17 (from 19) in the USA Today; and up to 16 (from 19) in the BCS - breaking all UCF records in the polls!

A few fun photos from tailgating and the game. 

Giant Size Beer Pong

EM had fun playing in it (no there wasn't beer in it)

our Knight mascot

BLACK OUT

Jacob was sporting all our UCF Swag

hey, they don't sell beer in there!

My love and I

Thursday Thoughts

It's UCF game day! Of course we're out here tailgating but since we can't officially start for a few more minutes figured I'd make a quick post :)

We started decorating for Christmas on Sunday night and finished on Monday night. We knew we wouldn't have much time after that to do it and since we aren't hosting Thanksgiving we decided to decorate away. We put on some Christmas music and Em "sang" along as we decorated the tree. It was so cute! I should have recorded it! We got a bunch of decorations for Christmas gifts last year (that's what I told my mom I wanted)  so I was happy to put them up, but we still need more. There are still a few more that need to go outside but am happy to have some more than we did last year! We also decided to not start our Elf of the Shelf until next year when Em can name it and really get into it. We also just acquired a new curio cabinet which is housing some decorations now as well, not sure what we'll put in it once Cheistmas is over though.

EM had her 12 month check up this morning and had to get 4 shots and a finger prick for an iron check. Her iron came back fine and she took her shots like a champ like usual. She is now 18 lbs 10.5 oz (still only in the 25th percentile) but she grew just a tad over 2 inches so her height us now in the 25th percentile too (it was in like 15th I think). Everything looks good with her although the Dr was a little concerned about her rattle in her chest and congestion/coughing so we had to get a chest x-ray to just make sure everything was ok. She did good during the x-ray but are atill waiting for the results but I'm pretty sure she just has a little cold and combined with teething it's causing more mucus but I guess we'll see in a few days. 

Tomorrow, G and I (and our friend Tommy) are heading out on a weekend cruise to the Bahamas, a little pre-cruise before the Allure in a few weeks! Can't freaking wait for the Allure, that ship looks amazing!! 

Well, time to crack a beer and then cheer on my Knights in a few hours! Go UCF Knights! #chargeon #BeatRutgers

Any fun weekend plans? Have you decorated for Christmas yet? Would love to hear from you!

UCF Football and Friends - Weekend Shenanigans

This weekend flew bye, as most do! I was off on Friday (LOVE a 9/80 schedule!) Unfortunately I wasn't able to really do much on Friday because I had to sit around waiting for various contractors to show up between their designated windows to fix things as part of our 1-year anniversary of our house. And of course that 9am-12pm window turned into 8:30am-2:30pm window. (Yes, one guy showed up 30 mins early! If I hadn't already been awake I would have been pissed) The last guy who showed up was done by 11:30 but one contractor just didn't show up at all and I gave up at 2:30 (got it rescheduled for next week when G is working from home) and went and got my MUCH needed pedicure!

Friday night we went over to my in-laws for a few hours to hang out as my MIL had friends in from PA who hadn't met EM yet so we stopped bye to show her off! 

Saturday was another UCF Football Game! I love, love, love tailgating! It's just so much fun! The game didn't start until 7pm but EM and I arrived at 11:30am (official tailgating couldn't start until noon). EM took her morning nap in the car on the way there and was an angel the rest of the day! We ate some good (aka crappy for you) tailgate food, drank some beer and hung out with the usual Team Tailgate and other friends for 7 glorious hours! I put EM in my soft carrier and she fell asleep in like 15 minutes of the start of the game, we then transferred her to the umbrella stroller and she slept the rest of the game. (Her and I left in the 3rd quarter because I was tired). She slept great between all the transfers between strollers/carseats/crib. UCF didn't look like they were going to win this game, it was very close and they weren’t playing the great. They ended with a 19 to 14 win over Houston, which was the only other non-defeated team in the AAC. This makes us 7-1 overall and undefeated in the conference. This win really improved our rankings too: Up to 15 (from 19) in the AP; up to 19 (from 21) in the USA Today; and up to 17 (from 21) in the BCS! EM's 1st tooth also finally broke through! She had been drooling a lot, but since we always think she's teething, we didn't question it too much, but her tooth popped through, you can see it and feel it! FINALLY! 

having fun, playing at the tailgate

G and I

EM and I during the 1st quarter, cuddles before sleep

LOVE SEEING A FULL STADIUM!! GO KNIGHTS!

sleeping like an angel through the noise

On Sunday, I drove to my hometown to get my hair done! Love a fresh foil and cut! My parents watched EM while I was at the hair stylist and then we all hung out for a few hours. I then spent a few hours visiting with one of my BFF's. She loved getting to see EM and I loved getting to see her two kiddos and her too of course! It sucks when we grow up and move away, but you know you have true BEST friends and a strong relationship when you don't let hundreds and hundreds of miles interfere with a friendship! I'm just glad she's finally back on the east coast, when she lived in Cali, the time difference sucked! and I didn't take any pics of the kids playing or us gabbing, guess I'm not a true blogger yet! In fact, I didn't even take any pics of EM yesterday, it's the first day of her life that not one picture was taken by anyone :( total fail, her first year daily collage is going to be empty for November 10th. I did take this one of my hair though :)