Been Gone A Long time

It looks like I have been gone a long time from posting. Actually, it looks like I never really got started. So, here's a quick update. We just spent the weekend in Madison at Derby in Dairyland. OMG! It was so much fun. The Mad Rollin' Dolls hosted an amazing Eastern Regional Tournament this past weekend. Stephanie, Aaron, and Jackie joined us throughout the weekend. After a full weekend of cheering and screaming, I can't wait to catch more derby action in Portland at Nationals in November.

 

 

Polar Plunge 2008

Brrrrrr. It's cold in here. Yesterday, I joined my roller derby leaguemates in the Madison Polar Plunge to support Special Olympics. Our team raised over $5000. Amazing! I raised $600 of that making me the recipient of the team's first Golden Plunger Award/Trophy. Cool! We jumped through a hole in the frozen lake. Crazy! Would I do it again? Absolutely!

Wes and I arrived at the Coliseum Bar shortly after 11:00 to meet up with the rest of our team. From there we all walked across the street to Olin Turville park to sign our waivers, strip down to our bathing suits, and take our place in line to jump into the lake. When I went intot he changing tent to get ready, I began to wonder about what I signed up for. Wisconsin has had record breaking snowfalls, many days of near or below zero temperatures, and here I was, a girl from the Sunshine State, getting ready to step outside the tent in my bathing suit, t-shirt, knee socks, and tennis shoes.

Standing outside in the sunny 18 degree afternoon my body began to adjust. Jessica and Hoi Ming showed up to give us their support and to film us. It was cool to see them while we were standing in line. By the time we took our spot on the platform to jump I was ready. Expecting the worst - everyone said my lungs would shut down - I was pleasantly surprised when I hit the icy waters and it didn't feel as cold as I expected. Don't get me wrong. It was cold. So cold that my body was numb as I made my way to the wooden steps to get out. Once out of the icy lake, we made our way to the hot tubs. The hot tub water didn't feel scalding hot (although who knows how hot it was since I was so cold). The water in the hot tub helped warm me up before we made our way back to the changing to tent.

Thanks to everyone for their support in making the Polar Plunge a success!

P.S. That's me in the middle in the black/white striped socks making the plunge in the top picture. The middle picture is os me and Wes after the plunge with my Golden Plunger award. The last picture is of the ice cut out of the lake to make the hole we jumped into.

To check out more pictures go these other sites---

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stechschulte/sets/72157603920634480

http://www.madison.com/tct/polarplunge/video/

Birthday Fun

Yesterday, we kicked off a weekend of birthday celebration in honor of Wes's birthday. Wes and I went for a cruise in the convertible and ended up at a Classic Car Show which was fun. We both enjoy looking at classic cars.

Later in the evening, as is our tradition, we got together with our amazing friends Stephanie and Aaron to celebrate.

We kicked off the evening by taking in a Wisconsin Wolves football game (wiwolvesfootball.com) at the Middleton High School stadium. If you haven't seen the Wolves, you are missing out on some awesome Women's Professional Football action. While at the game, we (actually it was more like just Stephanie) convinced Wes to pose for a picture with Wolfie the mascot. The game was great. At half-time the Wolves were leading 21 - 0 against the Indiana Speed.

At half-time we left to go to dinner. The birthday boy wanted to get some steak at Jim Delaney's, a local restaurant, so that's where we went. We had a wonderful time at dinner. Stephanie an Aaron gave Wes an amazing storybook called The Farmer's Find. This very personal book had surprise gift cards inside and wonderful illustrations by Miss Grace. Quite simply...an amazing personal handmade creation that truly touched Wes. We wrapped up our meal with a birthday sundae for Wes and then headed out to Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. Before we left the restaurant though, we had the hostess take our traditional group birthday photo.

What an awesome celebration! We are truly lucky and fortunate to celebrate occasions with our great friends.

Our First Blog Day

One of my co-workers was talking about his blog the other day and how awesome it is for his family (and all of his siblings' families) to post stories and pictures. It sounded really cool, so I thought I had to check it out for myself. So, here we are. Our first blog day.