Once (maybe twice) in a lifetime!

Sorry this is slightly long-winded... you can skip to the pictures if you'd like!

I don't know how many of you actually care about Duke basketball but around here it's like Husker Football.  Except instead of the biggest rival being hundreds of miles away (Oklahoma) it's about six miles down the road at UNC!  Each year the teams play each other twice - once in each of their homes and it is a BIG deal - like voted one of the biggest rivalries in ALL sports (according to Sportscenter).  Ryan unfortunately did not get a ticket this year and was hesitant about the walk-up line.  The undergraduates have been camping out since DECEMBER - you saw right - TWO WHOLE MONTHS to guarantee their spot as a Cameron Crazie!  Well, as the game got closer, Ryan just couldn't resist.  After all, he's been a Duke fan LONG before coming here.  I think he has a 13-year-old pair of Duke shorts!  Anyway, it just so happened that I had the time off of work so before I knew it we were packing up and heading to campus for a long night.  Unlike the camp out in October, we were prepared for the cold this time! Even with a low of 22 (which froze Ryan's memory foam pillow...), Ryan persevered and we made it!  BUT, that still didn't guarantee we would get in.  We got to leave at 7:30 in the morning but had to return at 5 p.m. to wait again and just pray that there was space for us.  We were numbers 36 and 37 with Ryan's classmates right before us and a few church friends just a few spots behind us.  As game time got closer, we were getting very anxious and we EXPLODED with cheer as they gave us the go-ahead!!  The seats weren't great, but we got to experience something that very few people do.  I hate to admit that basketball is growing on me, or maybe just because the games inside Cameron are so exciting.  At the end my ears were ringing and we couldn't even hear the announcer it was so loud!! I am so happy we made it in and that we got to share it TOGETHER!

The undergrads looked like a bunch of homeless people...

 

 So we might have had pizza five nights in a row last week...

 

 Seriously, it was frozen. My weight is on it and it barely budged.

 

 School amigos

 Church pals

 

 

  BONFIRE!

Thu, Fri, Sat

Thursday

was Ryan's intramural basketball game.  It was the 1st year DPT students vs. the 2nd years. Boy, was there quite the turnout.  I don't think the refs or any other bystanders had ever seen anything like it before! They painted up, had signs, distracted during free throws and even made a tunnel for the winners to run through. These PT students really know how to party!

Friday

we encountered the pothole of DOOM.  We spent the evening with Ali and her parents (it was so nice to be around family!!) and all we decided to take a different route home so we could pick up a Redbox.  Well, it was dark and before we knew it, WE GOT ROCKED.  We weren't even speeding and I've never heard such a loud noise or felt such a jerk from a pot hole.  Apparently, neither had the jag because IT STOPPED.  Yes, the engine SHUT DOWN.  11:30 p.m. right on the street it just died.  Talk about FREAKING OUT!!!  It said, "Gear Box Failure" and we couldn't even put it into neutral to push it to the mechanic that was 1.5 blocks away.  That's it, 1.5 blocks!!  After 15 minutes of feeling sick to my stomach watching everyone else hit the pot hole, Ryan pulled out his owner's manual and happened to turn to a page about an inertia switch. (I know this was an answer to my quick prayer!)  Apparently his car can senses if you've been in an accident and it shuts down for your safety.  I'm so thankful we discovered this and all it takes is the flip of a switch to turn the car back on.  We pulled into the auto shop just as Ali and her parents came to our rescue.  A flat (maybe two) tires later and all valuables out of the car (we were in a GHETTO part of town), they brought us home to wait until morning to really discover the damage.  It bent the front and back rim but luckily only the front tire was flat so the spare is on and here comes the battle with the city to see if we can get any money out of them.  They OBVIOUSLY knew about this because the next morning there were cones up.  AND we heard that they used to have a big steel slab over it.  Pay up, Durham.  You owe us big time.

Saturday
was game day!  Note the tents that have been there for WEEKS camping out for the UNC game!  We had one ticket to the Duke vs. NC State basketball game so Ryan let me walk right in and he waited in the line of nearly 200 people.  Game time was nearing and still no Ryan.  I would have felt AWFUL if he didn't get in but thankfully he was one of the last 8 students and we had a spot for him in the FRONT ROW right under the basket!  Remember how I said that his classmates know how to party?  They decided to dress up as Zombies for the game and even invited the Duke basketball game out to a bar called "Shooters" with them.  And you know, what? They showed up!!  I really don't know what Duke Basketball would do without DPT.

Do you see Ryan just to the right of #5? He's famous. :)

24th Birthday

So I'm 24.  And I have to admit, I actually feel old.  I'm done with school and just working and now 24!  A lot of people are still in school at age 23, but 24?  Most people are done by then making me officially OLD.  I don't know how I feel about that.  I got quite homesick and really just wanted to be home with my parents for my birthday, but Ryan planned a great weekend for me!  We went to dinner on Saturday night with a handful of his classmates and then more joined us ice skating (even though they had HUGE tests to study for!).  Ryan does NOT like ice skating but knew I wanted to go so he held on tight the whole time and survived without falling once.  What a good sport!  At midnight that night he gave me a present - a HUGE bag of York Peppermint Patties - YUM!

On Sunday morning (my actual birthday) he woke me up with breakfast in bed and then cleaned up his entire mess and whatever mess I had left around the apartment.  :) We had not talked at all about what we were doing that night and I thought he might be planning something but he was NOT fessing up.  Finally, after I got a little grumpy he admitted that Mitch and Maile were coming over for dinner.  Little did I know, he invited the whole gang!  Dinner was oh-so-tasty as were my birthday cakes!! I have the best husband and the best friends.  I have had some AMAZING birthdays over the years thanks to all of you, wherever you live!

I also wondered if the York Peppermint Patties were my only gift.  I mean, I know money is tight, but it is my birthday!! Again, I was not disappointed.  Though at first I was worried - do you see the wrapped Cheez-It box?  I thought that's what was actually in the box.  However,  Ryan got me a Cricut cartridge I've been wanting and some all weather running tights for our marathon we are running on June 12, 2011 (our 1-year anniversary).  Yes, I know we're crazy.  But it's a goal of Ryan's and I'll give it a shot! AND my great friends Megan and Conner will be running it, too. Again, my friends ROCK!

My First Quilt

It's DOOOOOOOOOONE.  And I couldn't be more thankful.  This thing was a BEAST.  A few inappropriate words may have been uttered in the process, but it is DONE.  And I will probably put myself through the same torture again and again; I'll just make my next quilt on a much smaller scale.  Like a baby quilt... I have so many baby quilts that I want to make.  But I digress...

And now, the reveal!!!

 It is seriously MASSIVE.  It's the size of a queen size quilt, which my mom makes all the time, but it was quite the task for me.  I decided to machine stitch it unlike my skilled and patient mother who does it all by hand.  However, rolling it up to fit under the arm of my sewing machine was NOT as easy as I thought it would be!

As I was looking at my quilt I decided to go looking for pictures of me wearing some of these old high school t-shirts!

My first concert was the Dixie Chicks in SLC and we decided to rock some hand-made Cornhusker shirts

 

This is my "Kick Some Mass" T-shirt.  My physics teacher said this before a football game and after finding it quite amusing, we again made t-shirts for the football game.  Then afterward, we found a random rock pile that we slid down... oh high school!

A few Student Council T-shirts

 

Pole Vault Camp

 

Not the same Sonic T-shirt, but proof that I slaved away there for almost 5 years!

 

Rockin' a Student Council shirt at Girl's Camp.

I thought you'd like this picture, Heather. :)

BFF

 

Another Student Council shirt ("Get Lucky" which was banned from wearing in school...oops!) 

with my pole vault teammates and beautiful sarmiento brace from my broken arm!

 

Finally, class of 2005, baby! (And don't worry, it's sparkling cider....DUH)

Isn't reminiscing so much fun?

I get grumpy every time I...

HAVE TO PLAN MEALS!!

Seriously. I. HATE. IT.  Everything about it.  I'm sure it will get easier with time, but for now, Ryan does not like to be around me as I'm figuring out what to make, then what to buy and then having time to make it after I get home from work.  Especially if you try to factor in eating on a budget and healthy. YUCK YUCK YUCK.  I know I have to suck it up because I'll be doing for the next... well, pretty much forever... but for now I will continue to complain!  So if anyone has any easy recipes or tips, please save my sanity.  Muchas gracias.

Slightly Obsessed

Oh. My. Heavens. 

We cannot get enough of this salad dressing!  

I originally saw it on a blog with a salad of just tomatoes,

cucumbers and avocados but now we eat it ALL THE TIME.  

Seriously, mix up a jar and you'll never turn back.  

And this is coming from a die hard ranch lover.  

It's THAT good! (AND HEALTHY!)

3 T freshlime juice

2 T olive oil

1 T red wine vinegar

1 tsp granulated sugar

¼ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

My Funny Husband

One great thing about this blog and facebook is that my silly husband never checks either one!  Nor his email.  Or texts.  Basically he hates communication unless it's convenient for him.  So I can pretty much say whatever I want and he won't know until someone else informs him!  I'm trying to convert him but it's a long process. :)  In the meantime I find it quite amusing that his classmates and friends tag me on facebook for photos they take of him, or quotes that he has said, or things that they want him to see.  I even get cc'd on emails to him because people know that I will check mine and then spread the word.

I think you can get quite the feel for his personality from the pictures, quotes, links, etc below:

It started off with this one from our friend Bryan

 Which I later found out was Photoshopped, but I wouldn't be shocked if

Ryan was holding hands with Barrett.  I've felt a bromance developing...

Oct. 8 from his classmate, Melina:

 "Hard at work...."

"No wait, morning nap time."

Or this one from Melina on Nov. 1:

"Ryan's classroom supplies. Who needs a pencil when you have WD-40 and a can opener!"

Quote posted by Erika, another classmate, "No one's stealing a fat kid." - Ryan Sweeney

Video from a longtime friend, Rachel:

Omaha Nebraska (official) Music Video (Lucky Charm, Whyte Myk, and  Flocain)

Ryan's week-long clinical before Thanksgiving

A possible necessity (as recommended by his classmate, Michelle)

to survive one of Ryan's hated classes.

He survived last semester by sleeping through it.

http://www.incrediblethings.com/work/eyelid-stickers/

But apparently, he just decided to nap BEFORE class today!

Isn't he just adorable?  Now you see why I love him so much.  He never fails to make me laugh!

Speaking of adorable and laughing, check out my SAWEEEET outfit as the new Merchandising Supervisor at work! 
Gotta love the sweater vest.  And you can't beat the khaki color.  HOLLA!

 

 And if you have not seen enough for one day, here are a few throwback photos of Ryan

(circa 2003-2004) that Rachel posted.  And yes, that is Pauly Shore.