Ketchup Day

It has been a really, really long time since I've done a "Ketchup Day" post. But as I sit here and think about what it is that I want/need to write about, it is a hodge-podge of stuff so I was having trouble coming up with a title. Then it occurred to me--it's Ketchup Day. Because I'm catching up, you know.
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We made the leap and ordered CORK FLOORS for our entryway, kitchen, and half bath. I am still so nervous about the whole thing, because this wasn't an easy decision. It is the largest investment we've made in our home so far, and I just really, really want to love it when it's all said and done.

Obviously, in an ideal world, I think we'd all love to have gorgeous, continuous flooring all throughout our homes. But we're not dealing with a new build; our house is 40 years old. An "open floor plan," we do not have. We wouldn't have been able to match our existing hardwoods in a way that was satisfactory or affordable for us, so we had to look at other options. We couldn't get behind the idea of tile, so... we're taking a chance on the road less traveled with the cork.

And, well, I'm shaking in my boots about it. It's just such a huge change. But I haaaaate the current parquet, so I figure that at the very least, it has to be an improvement. Right? I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but nothing really is.

Here are the photos of the floor I shared when we were going through the process of debating and deciding:

{Cork with our existing hardwoods--which are staying--in the dining room and formal living room/playroom. There will be a transition strip here, just as there would be if we had done tile.}

{Cork next to our carpet that we have just in the family room}

{Cork with the white of our cabinets and with a peek of our countertops}

The floor is scheduled to be installed (by a pro) the week of August 20th. We have a lot of prep work to do leading up to it, including as much demo of the old floor as we can manage on our own. Every square foot of it that we rip up ourselves saves us like $2 or $2.50 so YEAH.

Here's hoping that the cork is everything we dream it will be!
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The Olympics have made me a completely worthless human being. Seriously, if I'm not working or taking care of/playing with Nora, I have my ass parked on the couch in front of the boob tube. It's addicting; I can't turn it off.

I have always loved the Olympics, especially the summer ones. I still vividly remember watching the '96 games while we were at my dad's for the summer. I was 14 and just obsessed! It was so cool back then to have them in the States here; I'd love to have them back again. The worst thing about being in a different time zone from the games is THE SPOILERS! I feel like I can't go anywhere without seeing something Olympics related so I've been staying away from all news sites. And I find it to be completely obnoxious when people announce stuff on Facebook.

I can watch pretty much any event, but my favorites are swimming, gymnastics, diving, the track and field events, and volleyball. I have to say that I'm pretty sick of hearing about the decline of Michael Phelps, but it's nice to see the other American swimmers succeed. And the women's gymnastics last night? Incredible. I cried.The lack of sleep is surely going to catch up with me at some point but for now I am hanging in there. So far, the late nights have been worth it!
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We had a mini family reunion of sorts on Sunday. My cousin and her husband were visiting from Shanghai (where they currently live), so my mom invited a bunch of our extended family members over to her house for a barbecue.

We had great weather and my cousins brought all of their kids, so it was a lot of fun to see all of them run around together. There are five kids who were all born within 20 months of each other, and it was hilarious to see them all interact. I get such joy out of seeing my girl with other kids, because she just seems to love them so much.

{Jake, 18 months & Nora, 22 months}

{Nora, 22 months & Logan, who will be 3 in September. I love the way Nora is looking at her!}

{Ring Around the Rosie}

{The Toddler Club + Michael}

{We also did a big birthday cake for my grandma, who turned 80 in April}

It was one of those perfect summer days that for some reason reminded me a lot of my own childhood. Kids running around outside having fun all day... I didn't want to go home!
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On a final note, I can't believe it's August already. I love summer so much that I'm not ready to begin even thinking about the end of it yet. But I know that before we know it, we'll be welcoming football, apple picking, and crisp mornings and evenings back into our lives. I do love fall; I just don't like what comes after it.

Here's to making the most of the rest of the summer. Cheers to tank tops, shorts, flip flop tan lines, bare feet, sidewalk chalk, cold beers, and sleeping with the windows open!

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Five Rings

It's that time again, folks.

Time for me to get all caught up in the tremendous life stories of athletes, watch sports I normally don't give a crap about, and root for people I've never heard of before. It's time to stay up way too late every night, cry at the sound of "The Star Spangled Banner" as it's played for someone standing atop a podium with a medal around his or her neck, and feel myself fill with pride for the good ol' U.S.A.

My favorite sports to watch are skiing (all events), snowboarding, speed skating, and figure skating. Even the bobsled and luge events are cool. Although I do prefer the summer Olympics, I always enjoy the winter ones as well. I've been growing more and more excited every time I turn on the Today Show in the morning and see them broadcasting from Vancouver. And tonight, it's finally here!

I'm still in quite the funk about winter (will we EVER get out of 20-degree temperatures again?), but the Olympics should hopefully help a bit. Go U.S.A.!

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Ketchup Day

We only went away for three days, but I feel like I've been running myself ragged this week just trying to "catch up" from being gone--at work, at home, and on my blog. I'm doing OK, but I find that I can't organize my thoughts enough or concentrate on one thing long enough to put together a coherent blog post.

Instead, this will jump around quite a bit, with a little of everything! Get ready to read some of the thoughts rolling around in my head, none of which are really worthy of individual posts.
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At this point, I'm happy to say that with this post, I am officially caught up on my blog. For now. I intended to blog from Chicago since our hotel had free internet access, but every night, I just wanted to relax. Looking back, I can't believe I managed to blog every day of our honeymoon last year. At the time, it didn't even seem like a big deal, and it's not like it really took that much time.

Who was that Heather? I'd like to have her back.
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One thing I failed to mention about Chicago... it's currently in the running to host the Summer Olympics in 2016. I had no idea until we were visiting and I saw all of the advertisements everywhere, and also heard about it on the city's local news.

But how AWESOME would that be??

I can't imagine a better city to serve as host. The other candidate cities are Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid. I don't know how good Chicago's chances are, but if it does get chosen, I'll go ahead and say right now that we would seriously be looking into making a trip to the Olympics.

Not only do I love Chicago, but I loooooove the Olympics. The final selection will be made on October 2. I'm anxious to see what happens.
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The day before we left for Chicago, I did a "portfolio building" photo session with a coworker's son. "Porfolio building" = I offered to do it for free. It went really well, and I've spent the last few nights furiously editing the photos to put together a little collage to display at her son's first birthday (totally cute for my coworker and her family, and totally awesome advertising for me).

Speaking of his first birthday... this same coworker has hired me to photograph the birthday party. I'm still only charging about half of what I probably should be charging, but since I'm just starting out, I'm feeling OK about that. At this point, I'm just excited that people actually want to hire me.

Speaking of HIRING me... I actually have a second paid photo session on Saturday morning. It's to take photos of my friend's son. So Saturday's going to be busy! I have to do his session in the morning, then head over to photograph the coworker's son's big birthday in the afternoon. Fun, fun!

I'm working hard and getting excited about the payoff I'm starting to see. I'm afraid to dream too big, but I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for me...
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My aerobics classes started up again on Monday night. Well, actually, kickboxing started on Thursday, but I had to skip it since we were flying to Chicago. I'm back on my schedule of step on Monday nights and kickboxing on Thursdays (and regular ol' gym on the weekends, as time permits). So last night was my first class, and wow, it was nice to get back into it. It's nice to have a break over the summer, but I always sort of want to kick my own ass once I realize how much I've let my fitness level slide in those 2.5 months off. Stupid. But the good news is that I'm really not all that sore, so I might not be in as bad shape as I thought. Thank you, 30 Day Shred.

Since I brought that up, I feel the need to confess that I stopped doing The Shred the second week in August. I'm seriously not cut out for DVD workouts. Yes, 20 minute workouts are appealing. But HOLY CRAP did I get bored with it. Sure, the elliptical is boring as hell, but I keep myself entertained with reading my books. I'd much rather spend 60 minutes reading on the elliptical than spend 20 minutes following along with Jillian Michaels, knowing every word she's going to say before she even says it. Knowing the workout by heart made it seem impossibly and torturously long.

The good thing is that I felt so guilty for giving up the 30 Day Shred that I actually started going to the gym more often. Funny how that works.
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Now that our weekend in Chicago has come and gone, this is the first time in over a year that we have not had our next vacation already planned. We've done quite a bit of traveling over these past 15 months of marriage. First came Hawaii, then Charlotte, then Vegas, then Seattle and San Francisco, and finally Chicago. Since I'm a planner by nature, we always had the "next" thing planned. Now? Nothing. It's a weird feeling, and I'm not sure I like it. Since we got married, I've liked always having a trip to look forward to.

We'd like to remedy this by planning our next vacation, but there seem to be a lot of variables. Mainly, where do we want to go? And when? We have quite a few places on our "list," but we're sort of having trouble prioritizing. I think some research is in order.
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I'm feeling the need to tell you that when I did a Google Image search for "Ketchup Day" for this post, I came across a picture of ketchup cake. I love me some ketchup (like, seriously love) but even I think that ketchup cake is wrong on so many levels. I'm thinking that those crazy, ketchup-loving Canadians must be responsible for that. ;)

Anyway, I think that's enough randomness for one day. But this was actually really fun--perhaps more "Ketchup Days" are in the cards for Heather Drive?

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Run like the wind

Tonight, while watching the Olympics, I made quite the observation.

The runners were preparing for the women's 100m final, and at first, I was admiring their physiques. And, of course, wondering how they come to look like that (with muscles bigger than some men) without some sort of steroids or human growth hormones. But I know they're tested, so until I hear otherwise, I give them all the benefit of the doubt.

Then it just hit me. None of these ladies have boobs. (Don't ask me about my train of thought. I have no idea.)

They may be able to run as fast as lightning, but boobs? None to speak of.

And then it dawned on me. This is why they can run like lightning. You're not going to see some lady out there with her DDs running the 100m in 10.78 seconds.

Laugh now, but I know there are ladies out there who know what I'm talking about. You know who you are.

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My 1st Birthday

As a wife, that is.

I had a really nice day. Got up around 9:00 this morning and relaxed around the house while Michael took a quick trip to the gym (no way in hell was I going to the gym on my birthday).

When he got back (with surprise flowers, awww), we headed out for a long bike ride. We rode on the canal path all the way down into the city. Once down there, we got off the path for a little bit to go and get ice cream (well, actually frozen custard--sooo much better than regular ol' ice cream). Then we got back on the path to head back home. All in all, it was a 28-mile ride. Since we had ridden the entire 14 miles toward the city with wind blowing against us, the ride was a little more tiring than it might normally have been. Of course, going the 14 miles back home was a little easier, thank god.

Once we showered and cleaned up, we decided to go for an early dinner at this small restaurant in the village. On the way there, I called my granddad to wish him a happy birthday (yes, we share a birthday--I love it). It's an annual ritual and it's fun. He always manages to put some kind of pressure on me for something. A couple years ago, he asked, in his thick southern drawl: "You got any news?" (His way of asking me if we were engaged yet. We weren't.) This year, it was: "Is there a little one on the way?" Oh, Granddad... you don't ease into conversation, do you? :) I told him no, and he said, "Well, what are you waiting for?!"

The restaurant has nice outdoor seating, and since the day was absolutely perfect (mid-70 degree temperatures), we decided to take advantage and spend more time outside. We had never actually eaten at this restaurant before--we had only been there for drinks--so we were excited to try it.

Good food! It's a casual menu... burgers, sandwiches, etc. We both ordered the pulled pork and were amazed at the portion size. The sandwich came out open faced, and there was so much pork on either side of the roll that we actually couldn't even put the sandwich together and eat it like that. We ended up eating them open faced with a fork and knife. We each only ate half of our sandwiches and packed up the other halves to take home. Next time, we'll probably only order one and share it! But it was delicious... good BBQ sauce, which I think really makes or breaks pulled pork.

After that, we went home and took Tess for a short walk (our legs were still tired from our ride). Then we spent a quiet night at home and just relaxed. We watched Michael Phelps make Olympic history by winning his 8th gold.

The day was low key, but it was exactly how I like it. If I was going to pick a perfect way to spend a Saturday, this would have been it. Happy 26th Birthday to me.

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