We Got The Runs

Whoa. We have a whoppin' six SEVEN followers on this blog now. Hoping for double digits by the end of the year. (Fingers crossed!!)

A follow up to last night's blog:

There is no easy way to say it. So I'll just say it. We Got The Runs got beat tonight (insert sad face here). Beat by those blasted Jimminy Kick Its! I have never been a fan of the phrase, "Second place is last." And I still don't like it. I think it's an awful outlook. We played our little hearts out tonight and throughout most of the season. I am so proud of our little hodge-podge of a team making it to the championship game tonight. And man, was it ever fuh-reeeezing out in that outfield (What? We live in Minnesota and it's almost November??). A lot of us were sick too (including our fearless leader and coach who was also celebrating her birthday today--HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MA! Sad you're sick. We'll make up for it next week). I suspect foul play. That's right. I may or may not be eluding to the possibility that those Kick Its! poisoned us. I ain't sayin'. I am just sayin'.........really though, kickball has seriously been so much fun. SO.MUCH.FUN. I have made some great friends and I am so happy I stepped outside of my comfort zone and did this. And I think I speak for Jesse as well when I say we cannot wait for it to start back up next spring. Right, Jesse???? RIGHT?????

Jesse and I are hibernating for the weekend. We got asked to take part in a few fun Halloween celebrations this weekend but we've chosen to take a trip down to Dodge Center for a relaxing couple days at my parent's humble homestead instead. I am soooo looking forward to an entire weekend with my parents (with an extra side of wedding planning). And I am so thankful that I have a fiance who values family as much as I do. I am being serious. Jesse legitimately loves my parents and the rest of my crazy family as well (I love his too!!!!). And I don't even get scared anymore when him and my dad go out and shoot guns together.

Hope everyone has a spooktacular Halloween weekend!!!!

Before or after every game we'd head to the fabulous Cedar Inn (our team sponsor) for a cool brew, a slice of pizza, and/or cheese curds. In my case it was usually all three.

We Got The Runs. Do you?

Deluxx...he was the first of four teammates who got injured. YIKES! Who knew kickball was so dangerous?

PBR me ASAP!!!!

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We Got The Runs

Our Kickball Squadron

I wanted to figure out a way to incorporate writing about our kickball team into our impending wedding.....hmmmmm....I suppose the easiest way would be to mention that members of said kickball sqaud will be present at our ceremony next August...

There, that's now out of the way.

I can't lie, I wasn't totally thrilled when I had found out that I was "on" the fall co-ed kickball team.... I had gotten more than my fill of it over the summer.

Needless to say, I didn't necessarily volunteer to be on the team.......Rather, Lauren informed me about an hour before a game was to be played that I needed to suit up.....I was not thrilled....It was in the middle of an American Gladiators marathon....Shouldn't I have to complete the paperwork for the league or something?....or maybe have my parents sign a waiver?

Any how, the first few games I "filled in", we did as I expected......We lost...real bad....This is not exactly a talent-laden team like historic kickball teams of yore such as the 1993 "Too Legit to Kick" team and the 2004 "KickDonalds" squad........

The team must have enjoyed my services, because after a couple weeks I had become a permanent fixture....yay!

Our team consists of equal parts boys and girls, but with a different twist....We have about 5 foreigners on the team....Spanning the globe from Sweden, to France, to Australia, and probably even to Latvia......Although I can neither confirm or deny this.....

Something then happened over the past several weeks...an epiphony perhaps....We had learned how to play kickball!!!! We began to talk strategy over pilsners.We began to utilize players in their best capacities....and we won, damnit.....We won!

Lauren Cooper, on a side note, does not envoke images of the graceful Joe DiMaggio on the kickball pitch. However, I must say that she has improved vastly over the past several weeks....I would even go as far as to consider her one of the better girls on the team at this point.....All from hard work, sweat, and a little bit of spilled blood at first base.

And here we stand, on the eve of the most anticipated kickball championship game since since the Owatonna Ice Bowl Kickball final of '74....Against the hated (insert tomorrow's opponent here).....With a punchers chance at the ultimate hardware....Whodathunkit?

We're comin!!!! ◦

Our Kickball Squadron

But you can wear it again...

Those famous last words. All of us seasoned bridesmaids have heard them before, uttered from the lips of our blushing bride-friend. Well I never thought I'd see the day...but I think I just let the phrase escape my lips as well. I am not saying my friends were liars (I would NEVER!) but I have never worn any of my bridesmaid dresses again...and don't really plan to either. However, they have gotten quite a few miles out of them after they stayed in my car for almost an entire winter. You've heard of people who put giant bags of sand in their car to keep from sliding too much in the winter months? Well instead of sandbags I used bridesmaid dresses. Nah, not really. I was just too lazy to bring that last load of crap (errr....I mean precious garments) into our new apartment last December so in my car they stayed....for the rest of the winter. Oops.

So I think we said yes to the dress. The bridesmaid dress that is. Me and three of my six bridesmaids went shopping for dresses this past Saturday. I know that they (whoever "they" are) say that the bride should have her dress picked out before bridesmaid dresses are picked out. Well as I have stated plenty of times prior, I am an NTB (pay attention people---it stands for non-traditional bride) and I don't do things just because that's what THEY say I should do. That's lame and a conformist I am not (not most of the time anyway). So off to Rush's Bridal we went for a 3:30 appointment with a pleasant (thank the good Lord!) sales lady. Originally my madre wasn't going to make it but she ended up being able to come at the last minute. I am glad she did because she snapped some pictures while Nic (Who? Nicky? Nicole?...nope, just Nic) helped as we spent a good hour perusing through their lovely selection of dresses. Quite honestly, I never anticipated us being able to find a dress so easily. But it was. So easy. I chalk that up to my incredibly cool bridesmaids. And it made me an oh so happy bride to know that they seemed to genuinely like the dress as much as I did. But how could you not? It's the touch. The feel. Of cotton. The fabric of our lives. And it has pockets. Does it get much better than that? I think not. Here is a link to the pictures the mother of the bride put on Shutterfly (hahaha....I wrote Shitterfly at first. Why do I find that so funny? Probably because I am an 8 year old trapped in a 27 years old's body?).

And this is the link to the dress we chose (there is also a few pictures of it on the Shitterfly link as well--it's light lavender in the pics but I am going with a latte hue). And did I mention that it has pockets? Sure does. How cool is THAT? And to my bridesmaids....if you never wear this dress again, I promise I won't be too mad. OK, I won't be mad at all. It really just means so much to me that you want to be a part of our day. And you're gonna look bangin' while you are. YAY! ◦

But you can wear it again...

Dollar dance anyone?

People still do the dollar dance, right? Pretty much every wedding I went to growing up had one. They always made me feel uncomfortable. I have semi-disturbing memories of standing in a line, awkwardly waiting to dance with a new uncle or a friend of the family. And then as I got older I found myself going to a lot of my girlfriend's weddings. It was around that time that I opted out of the obligatory dance with their husbands for a chance to twirl around for a few seconds with my newly married gal pal. It was always one of my favorites.

So who started the dollar dance? Where did it originate from? I did a little online research (thank you Google gods) and found a little history on this tradition.

-- The custom originated in Poland in the early 1900s in immigrant neighborhoods and is still celebrated at many weddings today. The money is to be used for the bride and groom to use on their honeymoon

or to give them a little extra cash with which to set up housekeeping.

-- At Ukrainian weddings, the father of the bride usually begins, pinning money on her dress. He is followed by the best man and groomsmen, and, finally, by the remainder of the male guests. Another variation is where the bride's veil is removed and given to the maid of honor and an apron is placed on the bride. Money is then placed into her apron during the dance. I don't want anyone pinning anything on my dress. That's weird. And I am not sure yet if I am going to wear a veil, but I am definitely not going to don an apron at anytime during the reception. Again, very wierd.

-- At Yugoslavian weddings, instead of pinning the money on the bride's gown, the male guests give the money to the best man for safe keeping. At Hungarian and Portuguese weddings, the bride takes off her shoes and puts them in the middle of the dance floor. Then the shoes are passed around from guests to guest and each deposits a contribution. For the sake of all that is pure and good, neither Jesse or I (especially Jesse 'Stanky Feet' Jerle) will be taking our shoes off and asking you to put money in them. It just ain't gonna happen. Gross!

But I have given it some thought and have decided that we're definitely going to do the dollar dance. We'd love to get our groove on with you. And while we do that, we'd love to take your dollar dollar bills, ya'll. And why do we want your money so bad? Here's why: As I am writing this blog, a good friend of mine is on her way back to Minnesota from Kentucky. And with her are a couple other volunteers and 70 stray, abandoned and surrendered dogs from high kill shelters in Kentucky. These people all volunteer for Safe Hands Rescue. Safe Hands is a small, no-kill, volunteer run organization. It is so humbling to know people who volunteer their time to do such selfless acts of kindness. As most of you know, Jesse and I adopted a second dog back in February. I don't feel like a hero by any means. In fact sometimes I feel like Bowie deserves much better parents than Jesse and I. And I will be honest, sometimes we question whether we made a good decision in adding him to our family (WHAT? Bowie pooped on the couch AGAIN??!??). But we know deep down in our hearts we made one of the best decisions of our lives when we brought our little David Bowie home with us. Look at his face. How can you not love this face? He, along with his sister Apple own our hearts (yes, even Jesse's heart, though he'd never admit it of course).

Wait. Where was I going with this? The dollar dance...your money....Safe Hands Rescue.....oh yeah, so we want you to dance with us and give us your money so that we can then give it to Safe Hands. Jesse and I feel very blessed. We may not have an abundance of money but we always seem to have enough. Combine that with our amazing friends and family (that's all of you!!), our secure jobs, and a home to live in....well we really can't complain about much. We have a strong desire to give back to an organization that does so much to save and rescue these sweet and precious pups. So please consider dancing the night away with us at our wedding reception. Give us your dollar. Give us two. Hey, give us three and maybe Jesse will even do the robot with you. Our goal is to raise $500 for Safe Hands Rescue so that they can continue to acheive their amazing mission. And if any of you are interested in getting involved with this group, feel free to email me and I can put you in touch with the right people. Check out their website HERE.

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Dollar dance anyone?