A Little Contest :)

Today at work we had a site breakfast with a themed photography contest. Theme: Shining the Light.

I entered the following photo.... and it WON The Judges Choice & Warm & Fuzzy award. Yippy! It's not a huge contest by any means but it was fun & nice to show off my photo. There were lots of other great photos too... So, Congrats to them as well!

Bulldoggin' It Up!

Three & half years ago I ran accross a flyer of a bulldog. I've always loved them & have a gooshy place in my heart for those dopey dogs. I stopped by, checked this bulldog, Bruiser, out. Turns out the family just had a baby & wanted to get rid of the dog - who was 4 years old by this point (they had him since a pup). He was underweight & bored out of his mind. They handed me his file which showed he was a petland pup who spent more time at his vet then at home (they boarded him just to have 'dog-free' weekends). After that I loaded him into the Jetta.  Dallas didn't approve of this 'adoption,' it took a while for her to warm up to him.

At the time I lived in Manhattan, we would go on walks & Bruiser would take to rolling. Not a gentle romp in the grass, but more of a flop onto his back in the middle of the sidewalk or street, totally regardless of people & or vehicles. Once we moved to the country I discovered his true favorite toy, a 5 gallon bucket! Absolutly loves them, they are his crack! If there's no bucket around he'll settle for a 55 gallon trash barrel too. I like to say he's my special ed & that is his helmet. He also LOVES boxes & water/pop bottles (20oz-2 litre). If you bring home a t.v. turn your back on the box he will have it ripped to shreds in seconds! With the bottles his first goal is getting that darn cap off. You could tighten it with he-man strength & he'll have it off in no time... maybe I should try some JB weld or lock tight :) Stuffed animals are a nice treat, first thing he does to them is chew their eyes & nose off. It's kind of disterbing around the house, we'll have faceless (or headless) stuffed toys laying around. Bruiser won't refuse a car ride either, especially riding shotgun! Water is another great entertainment piece. Him around a fountain, you know the kind that sprise pop out of the ground that kids play in, is extremely halarious. A creek or flooding street with sticks will also keep him busy.

Oh, Bruiser... he has 3 tricks: sit, laydown, & speak. If you hold the treat long enough he will sit & run through his 'routine' before you even say sit.

On his warning lable:

 - When riding in vehicles: he will jump at overhead bridges, semi trucks, loud motorcycles, & hail. Also, bites the air if head out of window... would probably jump if it was far enough down.

 - During rainy season wish for NO thunder & lightning or have a saferoom. He runs from wall to wall barking at lighting & thunder. He gets locked in the basement with the lights on at our house.

 - Wheels: Dangerous. Will take out your bike OR skates. Attacks the lawnmover. Chases any vehicle. (note: has been run over for doing this...twice)

 - Will beg for a place in bed or on the couch...especially if it's cold.

 He's great at kennelling up & dressing up... a real ham! He's a true people lover, even with the little ones, he just walks up, gives a big kiss & sits. That darn dog may make a mess but he also can light up your day with just one look.

.... I may start a Bruiser story or picture of the week... he always has one for me :)

Laundry day

As I was putting my laundry away today I looked in my drawer...

I always have known I was a t-shirt gal, but when you take a look into my drawer it really defines my high points. K-State purple. Green & Black Crushers. John Deere. Hill's royal blue. A little breast cancer pink. Red Horsetooth, FoCo (red's my one of my favorite colors). I truly LOVE t-shirts! Clever Sayings, "You train to look good. We train to kick your ass," places I've been, concerts I've seen, causes I support, & my new t-shirt love is roller derby team shirts! 

Some girls don't like them because they 'aren't flattering,' awe horseshit! There's different types & even ways you can cut them to style 'em up. We do it all the time in derby. Here's a blog I stumbled over on pinterest that gives tips on different t-shirt ideas. Jewelry also dresses it up a notch. There's just something about pulling on that cotton top with a saying/picture accross my boobs that I find so comforting. If you spot a good one pass it on! :)

Does your drawer define you?!?

Surprise!

(sorry about the last entry, not sure why only half of it showed up)



Justin Moore



Randy Rogers Band

Last week was my mom's birthday and well I had an extra vacation day to burn & thought, "well, heck I haven't been home for mom's birthday in forever..." For her birthday, my parents always host a camp out, nutfry, hayride, & I have missed it EVERY year since they started it.



Miranda Lambert



Pistol Annies

SO.... Around the first I turned in my vacation for Friday, October 7th... which worked out awesome since the Miranda Lambert concert was the Thursday before. Paul was able to get off too!

Thursday, the 6th, Paul & I headed to the expocenter to see one of my favorite singers & bands of all time! Miranda Lambert & The Pistol Annies!!!! Opening for them was The Randy Rogers Band & Justin Moore! Both also equally awesome. Needless to say it was a great show!



Friday I forgot to turn off my work alarm so there it was rubbing in my throbbing head at 6:30 am... which turned out to work for the better. Paul & I were on the road by 8:30! Props out to us, I rarely leave early for long drives.



Three hours in we receive a text from my dad saying the hayride party was cancelled. We were both bummed but I knew the schedule would change when they knew we were there, haha! Called mom around 'getting out of work time' to find out where she was & what they were up to. No clue. Stopped in Boulder to pick up some balloons & flowers to go to mom's work & embarrass her, only when we were pulling into the parking lot there she was climbing into her truck. Paul non shlantly drives up, "Excuse me, mam?'" She turns around getting ready to respond snotty then realized it was us & nearly peed her pants in laughter. Haha! It was great! Definitely in the top 3 mom surprises! Of coarse not 10 minutes later she called everyone saying the party was back on. Mom & dad also took heat for not making up their minds, which was also kinda funny.



Captain Rod (Dad!)



Causing traffic in Niwot



Saturday, we woke up to cold rain. Colorado was trying to throw some snow at us, but nothing would spoil a Gettel birthday! Around 2pm the campers started arriving & 4 pm we carharted/cubbied up, topped off our hot chocolate & schnapps, & loaded on the trailer. It had stopped raining just for us it seemed. We headed down the dirt road, onto HWY 119 (awesome!), into Niwot (a little rich, yuppy town), & to the liquor store for some refills. I thought some champagne was appropriate. :) Headed back with a shorter highway route... I could only imagine the what people were thinking seeing all of us. Classy! Back at the shop we enjoyed fried pickles, french fries, & Rocky Mountain Oysters! YUM! Then continued into the evening with good ole Gettel fun! Not to mention K-State won against Mizzou bringing them up to 17th!!!!

Sunday, everyone stuck around for a big ole farm breakfast. Afterwards, Paul & I headed out for that 8 hour trip eastward. This time we had to take shifts, mine first. Note: I am an awful long distance driver, I drank 2 Rockstars, 1 Dr. Pepper, ate licorice, Bugals, & chewed 4 pieces of Bubbalicious. 'Hello calories!' Goodland, Paul was up for his shift!

Overall it was a short but excellent trip. Saw a lot of cousins & friends that I hadn't seen in a long time.

~ Happy Birthday Mom! I love you! ~ 

Regionals Update

Regionals was a blast!... and I was only there one day. I arrived a little late and missed the Bout between Omaha Roller Girls & No Coast Derby Girls (Lincoln, NE). Their final score was Omaha 45 - No Coast 159. I got there during the break before the bout of Green County (Tulsa, OK) and Gold Coast (Ft Lauderdale, FL). This was an excellent bout! One that went back and forth up until the very last jam. The final score ended up being Green County 127 - Gold Coast 137.   Then the girls and I went and ate at Nara, a sushi place... and it was happy hour for food & drinks, SCORE! Once we returned we finished up the next bout, Atlanta Rollergirls  vs Houston Roller Derby with a final score of Atl 133 - Hstn 117. Bout 4 consisted of the Nashville Rollergirls taking on the Tampa Bay Derby Darlins with a final score of Nash 122 - TB 102. At 6pm the Texas Rollergirls (aka: The Texacutioners - Love it!) took on No Coast Derby Girls. Unfortunately for No Coast the score was TX 274-No Coast 64. For the last bout of the day... it was our home team! The Kansas City Roller Warriors taking on Gold Coast Derby Girls. They also rolled over Gold Coast with a 274 to 36 victory.
Unfortunately, I couldn't make it back Saturday or Sunday. I did catch the final 2011 WFTDA Southcentral title taking game online! It was an excellent game as well and only wish I could have been there! 
Here are the scores from the rest of the weekend:

Saturday, October 1st
10am – Bout 7: Omaha Roller Girls 103 vs Houston Roller Derby 170
12pm – Bout 8: Green Country Derby Girls 130 vs Tampa Bay Derby Darlins 117
2pm – Bout 10: Nashville Rollergirls 75 vs Texas Rollergirls 218
4pm – Bout 9: Atlanta Rollergirls 96 vs Kansas City Roller Warriors 220
6pm – Bout 11: Houston Roller Derby 138 vs Gold Coast Derby Girls 106
8pm – Bout 12: Green Country Derby Girls 41 vs No Coast Derby Girls 163

Sunday, October 2nd
10am – Bout 13: Omaha Roller Girls 73 vs Tampa Bay Derby Darlins 176 (9th Place)
12pm – Bout 14: Gold coast Derby Girls 97 (8th Place) vs Green Country Roller Girls 144 (7th Place)
2pm – Bout 15: Houston Roller Derby 173 (5th Place) vs No Coast Derby Girls 157 (6th Place)
4pm – JR Derby Showcase
4:30pm – Bout 16: Atlanta Rollergirls 38 (4th Place) vs Nashville Rollergrils 213 (3rd Place)
6:30pm – Bout 17: Kansas City Roller Warriors 92 (2nd Place) vs Texas Rollergirls 132 (Champions)

Congratulations to all the ladies who participated!!!

Now, a few ladies and myself will be off to Broomfield, CO for Nationals in November to watch our regional ladies The Texacutioners, The KC Warriors, and The Nashville Rollergirls take on ladies from the East, the West, and the North Central.