Happy New Year!

Ok I am a few days early but I may not remember to post Tuesday. Speaking of not remembering things, I had a great title for this post last night....okay there may have been alcohol involved so that may be why I don't remember it. Anyhoo...we survived the trip back to Chicago from California after alight at a hotel/casino in Reno. Turns out, my brother and I discovered a new favorite card game: Let It Ride. Yeah it's a version of Poker but way more fun. If you have never played it (we hadn't), it's too complex to type but just trust me. We like it so much we are heading to the casino after work tomorrow for a little New Years Eve card play before we head o a party.

Oh and I apparently am learning to sew. Mom and I worked on my Princess Merida costume last week (see pic below). I think it looks a little Star Trek-ish but Jess, Julia and Tania all said it looked good so we shall see. I may modify the sleeve caps a bit but I am going to try it on with my curly hair and tiara first.

Here's today's trivia lesson:

Chicago is most commonly referred to as The Windy City but it is also known as The Second City. History says it is because for a long time it was second in population to New York. However, most Chicagoans call it the Second City because the city was rebuilt after the great Chicago fire.

The cutie in the pic with me is Shaine, my bro's roommate.

Holy Snow Storm Batman!!

Yes, Virginia. It snows in California. For those of you who are not familiar with where the Campbell parents live, picture Southern California and then picture the exact opposite. Northern California looks pretty much like the Upper Peninsula. And the storm that hit late Thursday night into Friday was pretty much a UP storm, too. So what that translated to was Rob and MK landing in Reno (which is where we always fly into Reno because McArthur, California population 1000 does NOT have an airport) and finding out the 'rents were snowed in and we needed to either stay in Reno until the storm cleared (which was to predicted to clear until Sunday) or rent a car and drive SLOOOOOOOOOOWLY up the mountains. Well, we did both. We hung out in Reno at a casino for about an hour or so and then decided we should just try to go. Now mind you, the car that Pops had reserved for us was a Chevy Malibu. This doesn't exactly scream "Snow Car". Bro went rounds with the be-atch at the rental car company about whether we were allowed to put chains on the car. Yeah...guess who won that fight.

Anywhoo...so we start the drive. Normally it's only three hours. The 1.5 hour drive from Reno to Susanville, CA went off without a hitch. It was a wee bit windy (read three semi trucks blown over on their sides.) Unfortunately, in that part of the world there is no radio station to entertain us. Lucky for us, I have a Mad Libs app on my ipad so we had a grand time. There may have been some stories that I can't share on this forum as they may not be appropriate for certain readers. Just know that we were fully entertaining ourselves. Once we rolled into Susanville, we hit the local tire store and got chains. Heading up the mountain, we quickly realized the chains were needed. Now, dear reader(s), what is important for you to know is that we are two city kids who have never put chains on tires before. I would just like to state for the record that I wanted to put the chains on the front tires because I was pretty sure the car was front wheel drive. After a minor disagreement, we ended up putting them on the back tires. As an aside, when Pops and I took the car to the local shop today to have it checked out, the mechanic told me that the chains should have been on the front and they didn't do any good on the back.

45 minutes later, we got the chains on and were on our way at a speedy 25 mph. I won't bore you with the details of the next 5 hours (that's how long it took us to go about 100 miles). Needless to say, we arrived at my folks place about 9pm and a discussion with Pops ensued about not being cheap next time and springing for the 4x4 rental car.

Now that we are here, I will say that the snow (which continues off and on) is beautiful and it's the first time I've seen this much snow here.

During a break in the snow today, I managed to get in a run. During my run, I found a bird that had gotten his little wing stuck on a barbed wire fence and he was flapping his good wing like crazy. I was afraid he was going to do more damage so I went to help. He let me hold him in one hand while I gently pulled his other wing off the barb. I was worried he wasn't going to be ale to fly but I set him down on the snow and he flew to the nearest tree. So I am hoping his is okay and found his family/friends and told them about the nice redhead that saved him. Yes, I have a soft spot for animals.

I've included some pics of the past 24 hours. Enjoy!!

Who Ordered the Snow?

Oh, I guess that was me!! Of course, I would have preferred it if it had snowed a few days ago so I didn't have to drive 45mph today. But I made it to Chi-town and that's the important thing.

I had a whole list of things to share with you but I forgot what they were. So, this post will be short.

I haven't shared any fun trivia with you this week and I realized this as I was driving today. So in honor of the holiday season, I did a little research on the history of the Christmas tree. Turns out, it is thought to date back to the Middle Ages and a play about Adam and Eve. There was a Paradise Tree that was covered in apples to symbolizes Eve's downfall. The tree used was an evergreen to symbolize fertility and life.

From there, the Germans in the 16th century hung apples, roses and gilded candles from the tree. It is said that King George brought the custom to England and German immigrants continued the tradition once they settled in the United States.

So there is your holiday trivia for today. Gotta be up at o dark thirty tomorrow to fly to California. Don't worry...I am sure I will blog while there (not much else to do!!!)

I Am A White Mystery

For someone who doesn't do much during the week besides work and workout, I sure did make up for it this weekend. But I'm definitely not complaining. It was a good kind of busy. Unfortunately, my phone has decided to take its sweet time emailing photos so there are some stories here-in that I have pics for but can't include them (again, lets tAke a moment to thank my phone).

Friday night found me inside a high school cafeteria for the first time since, well since I was in high school. And even then I hardly went to the cafeteria (because of courses was too cool for that, wink wink). I volunteered to help sell concessions during the Kingsford girls basketball game. It was fun and just one more reminder of why I am okay not being able to have children. Some people have the patience to deal with pre-teens and teens but I am tone of them. I did have fun, though. It's always fun to hangout with Tania. When she introduced me to folks, they kind of looked at me like they were not sure why I would willingly come help. My response??? This is what you do when you are single in a small town. I think I got some pity laughs.

I had every intention of getting up Saturday morning and going for a run. Yeah, you can figure out how that turned out. I really do need to get back out there though. It's only been two weeks and I have been doing sprint intervals every few days. But a LNG run needs to happen here before too much longer. I did sign up for a 5-K in January and another in February though so that will keep me conditioned. The one in January is a "Color Run" which should be tons of fun!!! If you are not familiar with what a color run is, you get a white shirt and as you run, people throw colored "chalk/dust/powder" in various colors on you as you go by. It's another one of those new things someone created to make it ore fun to run 3.1 miles. Of. Of course at this point, 3 miles is child's play for me!!

I did have a minor injury last night. Turns out scrap booking can be dangerous. I was erasing pencil lines on e paper and brushing it off and my finger ran into the tip of my exacto knife. Turns out, finger tips can bleed like a blankety blank for a LOOOONG time. I took a picture of the paper towels but alas...that's one of the stupid pictures my stupid phone didn't want to send. Let's just say it was a bloody mess (pun intended).

Tania and I drive over to Escanaba today and went to the casino's Spirit of Christmas show. It was a nice show. There were some songs that I'm pretty sure are not Christmas songs but hey, that's what artistic liberties are all about, right? I have a picture of us there too but...

I finally bit the bullet today and paid the 70 flipping dollars to download my half-marathon pictures the contracted photogs took. I will say though there are a few great photos that are SOOOOOO me. I've included them below.

Today is a four-day week for me and then it's off to California for Christmas. I will still blog while there and while in Chicago for New Years. If I don't talk to you before, Merry Christmas!

Break From the Norm

I was going to post a funny blog tonight but in the wake of the events of today, I decided to take a break from the norm and be serious and reflect on the lives lost today. It never ceases to amaze me when these types of things happen. The senselessness of it all; the tragedy of innocent lives lost. This one hit a little too close to home. My friend Marc who I haven't seen in years but who I've known for years is from Newtown, Connecticut and went to Sandy Hook elementary. Luckily, no one he knows was there today at least not that I've heard. I know he's hurting almost as much as the families affected today and it just makes you stop to think how it could be you the next time. Because we all know there will be a next time. Unfortunately the country we live in today as great as it may be still has these senseless acts. We wish it didn't we pray that it won't but we know it will. It's a matter of when not if. So tonight hold your loved ones a little bit closer and tighter and say a prayer for those who can no longer do so. Tomorrow or the next day I will get back to being funny. For tonight, God bless you all.

Brussels, Here I Come!

I checked the Brussels Marathon page this morning and it was updated recently with the info for the 2013 race. It had previously still been with info for the 2012race since it was just in October. So what did I do with this new information? I registered, of course! So now it's set. October 6, 2013 will be my first international half-marathon. I am already counting down. Well, not really. But I am looking at hotels and such. YAY!!!

Driving from Tomah, WI to Freeport, IL today was beautiful. And definitely rural. But with all of the snow on the ground it was just like a winter wonderland. The roads were clear though so that was good. I discovered many things on the road today. I should have stopped to take pictures of all of them but when you are driving 55 down the highway and you pass something quickly, you don't react quick enough to stop. One of the most interesting things I saw was a large tree stump (probably 7 feet high so maybe not a stump) that was painted to look like Bart Simpson. Kinda cool.

The coolest site today was completely random and unexpected. How many of you remember and/or have ordered from The Swiss Colony? I know I have. Well, guess where it's located? Monroe, WI which is right on the Illinois border. Who knew? So I, of course took some pictures of the front. Here's the problem with driving on these trips in a government car...I couldn't stop and go inside. That's actually probably better for my checkbook anyway but it would have been cool to check it out. But there "plant" or whatever you want to call it was HUGE! And, of course, I had to do a little research once I got to my hotel. So here is a synopsis of how The Swiss Colony came to be:

Ray Kubly, who was from Monroe, WI, was a Senior at UW-Madison and did a business case project on selling cheese from Green County (where Monroe is) via mail-order. When he graduated, he moved back home and decided to implement his business case. He shipped 50 orders his first year and now they are a multiple-business company.

So there is your history/business lesson for the day.

One more gift on the road this week and then I will be home for a week before heading to CA for the holiday.

I decided today that I am going to try to educate you, dear reader(s), on one random piece of trivia each week. Today was Swiss Colony. Stay tuned for the next lesson........

Weird Dreams, Snow and Reindeer

Yeah, that's a weird combination I know. But c'mon now, lets face it. Would I be me if it was a normal combination? Yeah, that's what I thought you would say.

So let's start with the Reindeer. Last Thursday was the annual Christmas Walk in downtown Iron Mountain. Tania and I decided to check it out (Lynea was at a swim meet in which she won first in the 50 Free!). Now, ever since my folks moved to small town America (yes, I realize I now live in small town America but their towns are always smaller than this one), I have seen some small "parades". I use that term very loosely. The rodeo parade in White Sulphur, MT consisted of about 10 entries and they went up the 5 blocks of Main Street and then turned around and came back down Main Street. But the Iron Mountain Christmas Parade was by far the smallest parade I have ever seen! There were two groups walking, one truck with the owner's business on a hand-written sign in the window, a reindeer and a fire truck carrying Santa and Mrs. Claus. Yep. That's it. But it was fun. We wandered around downtown, roasted marshmallows (yummmmmm) and did a bit of shopping (insert shocked expression here). All in all, it was an entertaining evening.

The only complaint I have about that night was the weird dream I had. Apparently my abs were hurting from my bootcamp because in my dream I was accidentally sliced across my stomach by a cute guy with blond dreads. Have I mentioned I hate dreads? So my whole stomach was sutured and right before I woke up, the President of China was touring through a slummy part of Kansas City (where I apparently lived with my new husband (the guy with the dreads)) and rounding up Chinese immigrants (of which I was apparently one even though in my dream I was the same person I really am) and I was lying in bed (because of the stitches) and covered my face so she (yes the President of China in my dream was female) passed by our porch (which apparently is where my bed was) and saw someone lying there covering her face (me) and stopped the procession and came over to uncover my face and then my alarm went off and I woke up. So I was sharing this with Tania and she thinks the China piece was because we walked by a Chinese restaurant and were discussing it. The rest??? Yeah. I have NO idea. Craziest dream I have had in a while.

Anyhoo, I am on the road this week. But it's my last road trip for a while I think. That makes me happy. So does snow! Although when I was driving through the snow last night, I had to dig waaaay back in my memory to remember how to drive in it!

Oh, the other exciting news is that I FINALLY got my brother to agree to a half-marathon location next fall. We are doing the Brussels half-marathon next October! WOOT WOOT! I am so excited to plan it and do my first international race! Plus it will be his 40th birthday celebration. Speaking of races, I have a new idea for my Princess Merida costume for Disney. I will upload pics when it's finished. It's gonna be AWESOME!!!

And so dear readers, on this snowy night in Tomah, Wisconsin, I bid you good night. I hope you all have a wonderful week! And remember, don't do anything I wouldn't do! HAHAHAHAH!!!

It's Official!

Yep! That's right! I DID IT!!!!! It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life but I am so glad and so proud of myself for doing it. And, thanks to Mr. Murphy, I was sick the days up to the race and on race day. But fortunately, I don't remember coughing during the race. Thank heaven for small favors. And it was so great to have my dad, Bill, Teresa and Nelleen there to cheer me on. Here's some pics from the big day!

That last picture was my pre-race dinner compliments of the St. Jude Heroes Pasta Party. Speaking of St. Jude Heroes, here is how much money the 7,000 of us raised...

I'm really glad that I decided to raise money and be a "hero". It made the run extra special. Especially as we were running through the St. Jude campus. There were parents and a few patients who were along the route and cheering specifically for heroes. There were signs people had made just for the heroes too. It was amazing. And definitely made it all worth while. So here are pre-race pictures

My pictures during the race I don't have yet but will post them as soon as I do. Here's the start of the race.

And the finish (yeah, that's relief you see on my face).

And all of us celebrating my big day!

So next up is the Princess Half Marathon in February. I'm sure I will be ready for it but I am taking a few weeks off from long runs. I deserve it. I would share my official time with all of you but since Jess runs her first half-marathon next month I don't want her to have my time to beat :) So I will post my time after January 7th. I know, I'm a stinker! So now that the race is over, I can focus on Christmas! And my apartment really does look like it's Christmas. Though you would never know it to look outside. For living in the UP where I expected tons and tons of snow, it's a bit disappointing that we don't have any. It's snowed once this year and all that is gone. :( I sure hope we get some soon.