Opening Day 2013-The Official Unofficial Holiday in St. Louis

Monday was that very special day again in St. Louis.  The day that almost every St. Louisian has circled on their calendar and starts counting down to beginning in January.  Opening Day for the St. Louis Cardinals!!

St. Louis truly is "Baseball Heaven" and there is no other place that I would rather be that at Busch Stadium on Opening Day.  This year I decided to surprise Kanin and pull him out of school to go to his very first Opening Day.  He was so excited!

For the past several years I have been in charge of the tailgate.  I normally get all of the food and get down to Busch early in the morning; however, after spending the entire day out in the rain at last year's Opening Day, and the forecast of rain again this year, I decided to skip the official tailgate and just eat at one of the restaurants downtown.

We were meeting other people downtown so we brought a cooler, some chairs, and bags to hang out for a bit.

My love and me

Two of my 3 main men

Scott and our nephew, Paul

Our niece, Susie, and her hubs, Doug.  Notice that he is wearing a blue shirt . . .he's a Cubs fan.  He was banned from wearing Cubs gear to Cards' Opening Day so he chose the bluest shirt he could find.

Our neighbor, Corey, and my bonus daughter, Emily

If you ever get the chance to come to St. Louis, you must go to Grant's Farm to see the Clydesdales.  They are beautiful, graceful, and elegant animals.  When they entered in to the stadium, and I got really excited, Kanin made the comment that "they are just horses".  I had to school my son!! The Clydesdales ARE NOT just horses.  To St. Louis, the Clydesdales represent so much more.  Yes, they are Anheuser-Busch (which employees thousands of St. Louisans) and beer (which we are a drinking town) but they are a representation of the pride of St. Louis.  They are a connection to the past. 

Each year for Opening Day, after the Clydesdales come out, we have the player parade.  This parade is always led off by our Hall of Famers.

Bob Gibson

Lou Brock

Red Schoendienst

Ozzie Smith

 

Whitey Herzog

Of course, the biggest glaring absence this year was that Stan the Man Musial wasn't there.  Sadly, we lost him over the winter.  He will never be forgotten in St. Louis.  The Musial family unveiled a new memorial out on the left-field fall.

After the Musial memorial, the players all started to come around.

Cy Young Winner, Chris Carpenter

Adam Wainwright saluting the soldiers who were preparing for the National Anthem.

Kanin's favorite player, Jason Motte

Matt Holliday

 

The most exciting thing of the day happened in the 6th inning when Reds shortstop, Brandon Phillips, hit a home run ball.  One of the bleacher bums we sit with caught the ball and then gave it to Kanin!  He was SO excited!

The ball had an official Opening Day 2013 stamp on it.

Even though we lost, we had a fantastic time and we had so much fun celebrating a Happy New Year!

I truly love this town

Easter 2013 Re-Cap (Late)

I know this is late but I finally am feeling well enough to post about Easter.  I was hit hard by the flu bag for an entire week and still have a nasty cough to show for it.

Because of the flu, I really didn't think that we (I) were even going to celebrate Easter this year.  My sister-in-law volunteered to host it again this year but I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to make it.  Luckily, on Saturday I felt well enough to get out for a couple of hour to pick out Easter outfits and then made it to church on Sunday.

 The kids woke up to their Easter baskets.

My babies:  Caleb (3), GracieAnn (5), and Kanin (9)

Family picture 2013

Caleb received an extra special gift . . . a big boy seat.

After church we headed to Scott's sister's house for lunch.  Of course, there was lots of Pinterest inspiration present.

After lunch, the kids were definitely ready to hunt Easter eggs.

My great-nephew, Ben (5).

I was happy that Kanin still wanted to hunt Easter eggs this year.

My other great-nephew, Ian (2).

Ian decided he didn't want to be in the picture.  Of course, we missed the other kids this year--Ali, Aidan, and Kenzie

After hunting Easter eggs, we came inside and dyed a few eggs.

I was really happy that I felt good enough to be able to be with the rest of the family.  The kids had a great time and it was nice just being together. 

St. Patty's Day 2013

What a difference a year makes!  Last year it was sunny and warm for the annual St. Patty's Day parade . . . this year it is freezing cold and snowing.

We made a last minute adjustment yesterday morning since forecast was snow today and skipped the Dogtown.  There is a little town about 2 miles from my house that also has a parade so we decided to go to it yesterday instead of standing out in the snow today.

Once again, St. Louis weather was just all over the place.  When I checked the weather yesterday morning, they said it was going to be 46-56 degrees. . .not so much.  It was FREEZING!  Cold.  Cold. Cold.  Of course, since we had never been to this parade, we got there early so we could get a good spot.  2 hours early means more time to freeze!

In the end, though, the kids did end up having a good time.  They got lots of beads and candy.  We had fun helping the kids and then we had fun when we finally got out of the cold and headed to Llywellyn's-an Irish pub here in town.

 My sister and me snuggled up throughout the day

 The kids played out in the field until time for the parade.

 Gracie snuggled with Marissa, too.

 My sister, nephew, and niece

 My friend Sue's family

 The Big Cousins

 All of the cousins

  

 

Yesterday was a GREAT Day!

Let me tell you about yesterday.  Yesterday was a great day!  Yesterday I accomplished a goal that I had set for myself way back in July when I started CrossFit.  I remember walking in to the box and there was this woman cranking out pull-ups with absolutely no help at all.  When Josh (the owner/trainer) asked me what my fitness goals were I told him that I #1 wanted to look good in a bathing suit and #2 that I wanted to do THAT with my finger pointing.  I didn't know it at the time but that beast of a woman is Josh's wife, Mendy, and she is incredible.

Well, yesterday, I did it.  Over the last couple of weeks I have done a couple of pull-ups here and there but yesterday I did an entire WOD without any band assistance, without jumping off of a box or off stacked weights.  I could not believe it.

Now, granted, I am not going to say that they all were beautiful or even all "to standard" but for it being my very first time, I'll take it.

I have worked so incredibly hard on pull-ups.  I started with 2 bands (blue and red), then just red, then just blue, then just a little skinny one.  Finally, I moved to standing on a box and jumping up over the bar and lowering myself down.  Next step, stacking (2) 45lbs weights and jumping from them.  
I was so happy when I finished that WOD yesterday that I cried.  I literally cried.  One girl asked me if I was ok because I've been kind of sick and had a really tight chest.  I told her yes that I was just happy.  Honestly, it was one of those few times in my life that I was really, really proud of myself.

Even with yesterday's WOD, I don't have it down.  I went in today and my hands were so sore that I could hardly grab the bar.  I'm sure that I will still use bands to practice my strict pull-up and I may even do jumping pull-ups again if I feel I need to but at least I am on my way.



     

CrossFit 13.1

The CrossFit 2013 Open started this week.  The CrossFit Open will eventually lead to the CrossFit Games in California.  Basically, anyone can enter into the Open.  Each week the CrossFit Headquarters will announce a WOD and if you are officially competing, you then have to have your score verified, upload it and then you get compared to other CrossFitters.  There are eliminations each week until the best of the best reach it to the CrossFit Games

Since I don't feel that I am "quite there" in terms of entering into a competition, I didn't enter in to the CrossFit Open; however, each Friday we will be doing the weekly workout at our box.

13.1 (CrossFit Games 2013-Week1) posted the following workout.  The weights are the prescribed (Rx) weights.  When doing the burpees, your body must be all the way down and touching floor.  When you come up, you must jump up and touch an object that is 6" above your maximum reach.

WORKOUT 13.1
Men
17 Minutes total reps
40 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
135 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
165 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 Burpees
210 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

Women
17 minutes total reps
40 Burpees
45 pound Snatch, 30 reps
30 Burpees
75 pound Snatch, 30 reps
20 Burpees
100 pound Snatch, 30 reps
10 Burpees
120 pound Snatch, as many reps as possible

Things were going great for me through the first 40 burpees and the 45 pound snatch.  The next 30 burpees were fine, too.  It came to a screeching halt for me at the 75lb snatch. My former 1 rep Max snatch was 70lbs so I didn't think I was going to be able to do 75lbs . . . and I was right.  I attempted it a few times and then went down to 65lbs.  I did 6 at 65lbs and then tried to go back up to 75lbs thinking that maybe I just needed to "warm my body" up and that it was a big jump from 45lbs to 75lbs but sadly, no, I just couldn't do the 75lb snatch.

I was so upset.  Honestly, it was one of the only times in the last 9 months that I was really mad finishing the WOD.  I was really disheartened and disappointed in myself.  I know that sounds absolutely ridiculous because a year ago I wouldn't have been able to do any of these weights or these movements but it still was an eye opener for me.  I've got A LONG WAY TO GO.

The good thing is that unlike before, I know that this isn't a phase.  I know that I won't just do it for a little bit and quit.  I know that come next year and the 2014 CrossFit Open that I will enter it.  I will have the confidence to and I will be able to do that 75lbs snatch and then some.

For me, it's not about the destination . . . it's about the journey.

Want to see someone rock the 13.1?  Watch this: