Gold Division Champs!

Last night proved to be one to put down in the books. The Republic Tigers basketball team came from a 10 point deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game against the Hillcrest Hornets. The boys led the game only in overtime for the first time since the first few minutes of regulation. After battling back and forth we turned out to be the stronger team that everyone knew we were and won! We only won by two points with the final score being 43-41.
It was such a great experience being there as this is my alma mater, but now even more since Steven is coaching. I have seen him get pretty excited with games before like when they won the GLVC his senior year, but this was right up there with that. Something that really stood out to me that he said was "this was always a dream of mine when I was in high school, and to be able to see these boys experience winning the Blue and Gold was great! I am so blessed to be a part of this group." Now those of you that know Steven know that he said this with the biggest smile on his face and with as much excitement as if he were playing. I wish everyone could see the "little boy" I come home with and the giddiness that basketball brings out in him.

Congratulations Tigers and Coaches! It was a wonderful week spent with you all and a great ending!

How About Those Wild Cards?

Unbelievable.  That word barely describes the run to the World Series that the St. Louis Cardinals just completed.  Wow.
Lauren and I were fortunate enough to attend game 2 of the World Series at Busch Stadium.  It was a tough game though as we had to witness the Cardinals blow a 1-0 lead in the 9th inning and a chance to go up 2-0 in the series.  Lauren said that I took the loss like it was one of my basketball games.
The next week we traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, FL on my Birthday, October 27th.  Because of the rain Game 6 was pushed back to that day.  We had just landed in Atlanta when the game started.  I just followed Lauren's lead to our next gate as I kept watch on my phone at the gamecast on ESPN.com.  When we took off the Cardinals were struggling and mid flight we had to endure dropped fly balls and runners picked off as the Rangers took a 7-4 lead when we landed.
By the time we made it to the hotel to check in it was the bottom of the 8th and we arrived just in time to see the Cardinals strand 2 runners on base and the score was 7-5, thanks to an Allan Craig hr.


After we checked in we headed up to our room to watch the 9th inning.  In the elevator a Rangers fan had some prophetic words.  He said, "Hey kid, keep your head up.  I've seen the Rangers blow leads like this all the time.  The Rangers are real chokers."  I just shook my head and told him I hope so, trying to be a fan and hold onto what little hope was left.
Little did we know that when we entered our room that magic as about to happen in St. Louis.  After watching the top of the 9th we decided to get the Rally Squirrel out just for good measure.  I started chanting "Rally Squirrel" on every pitch and as the Cardinals began their comeback I danced around the room with the rally squirrel.  The people below our room were probably thinking that some monkeys moved in above them.  When David Freese hit the game winning walkoff hr following two comebacks in two innings from down two runs, the dancing was then mixed in with a few jumps on the bed.  I couldn't go to sleep for another hour or so because I was so excited.
The next day for game 7 we went to Duffy's.  Duffy's was a sports bar with about 17 large projector screens showing sports on all of them.  We were lucky enough to be sat next to 2 Rangers fans.  We tried to show good sportsmanship but we also rubbed in the amazing victory that our St. Louis Cardinals had just recorded.
Now a week later I'm still getting goosebumps everytime I see the Cardinals celebrating on the field at Busch Stadium after Allen Craig caught the last out.  Only thing that I keep saying is Unbelievable.  Wow.

They Did It For Torty      #11in11

Steven

District Champs!

Congrats to the Republic Girls Tennis Team for the first ever win at Districts! They now will play for sectionals on this Saturday at our brand new courts! What a great way to break in a new court!

Preview of Photo Shoot

A couple of weeks ago while Ryan Chowning and Steven were on a trip to Chicago for a PGA tournament Ryan's wife Candace brought their 4 month old little girl Avary over to the house to have some photographs taken.  Here are a couple samples.

Day 4 of 21 and going strong.

21 Days is not THAT long!

Searching on pinterest the other night I found a post that was no junk food for 21 days. While reading this it included: no chips, white bread, peanut butter, ice cream, candy, other bad spreads, etc. Well some of my favorite things are on this list including peanut butter and ice cream. I eat ice cream everyday- No kidding! So talking to Steven we came up with a bet that if I did this challenge he would buy me a new lens to my camera. Now if I lost and gave in I would have to let him get the NFL Sports Zone (or whatever it is - for Sunday Football games). I am definitely not loosing because things have to get done around here besides watching every game on a Sunday afternoon!

I am on day 3 and it isn't that hard, but I know that cupcakes are being brought to school tomorrow for a birthday. Plus we are going on a float trip this weekend. The best thing on float trips are junk food!!!! I will let you know how it goes! Let me know if someone else wants to do it with me. Maybe he will buy you something too. Ha! Ha!

Training for Life

As we said earlier, Steven and I, are training for a half marathon. We are running 8 miles tomorrow, which will be our longest run to date. I ran a half back in April but this is Steven's first half. We are excited to be running this half together.
We have been doing good on our eating as well as our running. We are making our lunches to take to school with us and are also making majority of our dinners here at home. It has really helped out with our training ability as well as feeling better in general.
Steven is in the middle of Girls Tennis season right now and the girls are doing really good. There record is  7-1. He has a tennis match most M,T,R,F nights which leaves us Wednesday nights to spend together.
We enjoy these nights to be together and catch up more than just how the day went.
I have recently started back to school to get my education degree and masters to become an art teacher. I am very excited about this new adventure and clear vision of what I should be doing. Along with this I also have joined Pinterest which I am obsessed with. Steven says I spend too much time on it - but I think that it has paid off because I have started to redecorate our entry way, master bedroom, hallway, and just tonight went to Hobby Lobby and bought 3 Canvas that I am going to paint. I think that I am well on my way to redecorating the entire house! Ha Ha! I will post pictures when I get the projects complete!
Have a blessed week.

Time to Get Healthy!

Lauren and I started our training for a half marathon last week. We are participating in the Bass-Pro Outdoor Fitness Festival Half-Marathon on November the 6th. Lauren has already completed a half-marathon this spring in Kansas City, and this will be my first half-marathon. We have added a training partner as well. In late June we adopted an abandoned puppy named Daisy Duke. She is a beagle-shepherd, according to Lauren's step dad Dave, a local vet.

Along with our half-marathon training we are also beginning a goal of eating better at home. Not only does this include eating better but also cutting down on our eating out and saving a few cents along the way.

One way that we have worked on eating at home more is by grilling a large amount of chicken breasts and then refrigerating them to use in dishes throughout the days ahead. This has simplified our cooking and shaved time off of our meal preparation.

We shall see how this trend progresses. Stay tuned for further updates.

Oh Canada....

From one trip to another. Wednesday I left with my father in law Dan, brother in law Ryan, Kevin Korner, Ernie Giddens, and Ben Giddens to go fishing in Canada. We traveled to Separation Lake Lodge just north of Kenora, Ontario Canada.

Upon arriving we were taken by taxi to where we thought would be the lodge. Instead we were arrived to see all of our luggage stacked up on a dock. After about five min of wondering what was supposed to happen next, a boat pulled up to the dock. We loaded all of our luggage and seven people into an eighteen foot boat and took off across the lake. After a fifteen min boat ride we finally arrived at a group of cabins on a point overlooking the lake.

While at the lodge we were treated to three meals a day. Eggs, choice of bacon or sausage, and either pancakes or french toast for breakfast. We had to work for our lunch everyday but on the lake it wasn't to much work. We would catch walleye every morning for our lunch. We had our lunch caught by 10:15 everyday though. With the fried walleye we also had fried potatoes and onions, cream corn, and pork and beans. Dinner was steak the first night and ribs, pork chops, and fried chicken the following evenings. Needless to say we never went hungry.

Each day we had a guide that would take us around the lake to all of the best fishing spots. Ryan and I had a guide named Daren. Daren was very optomistic. He was always saying "I feel a big one in this hole" , "It's happening" , or "That's a good sign, no little ones biting means there is a big fish in here."

Overall the trip was great. Beautiful views, great fishing, and good times. We brought back 48 walleye filets and 14 northern pike filets. Ready for a good fish fry. We were not allowed to keep any smallmouth but we caught plenty. I can't wait to go back.

One Year!

Wow that went by fast.  This weekend we celebrated our one year anniversary.  We traveled to the Big Cedar Lodge Friday night where we stayed until Sunday morning.
Friday night we had dinner at Cantina Loredo on the landing.  Excellent place to enjoy a meal at if you are ever on the landing.  On Saturday we went to Silver Dollar City for half of the day.  The highlight of the day at the city was, as always, the skillet medley potatoes.  Saturday evening we went to the Imax to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  Great movie.  We finished off the weekend Sunday with a great breakfast at the Devil's Pool Restaurant at Big Cedar.  I think that combined we at a pound and a half of bacon.
Overall, it was a great weekend and a great celebration of our first year of marriage.  Pictures will soon be posted and we will work on keeping up with the blog better.  Thank you to everybody that has helped us get through our first year.

Steven

Half Marathon

For my 25th birthday my goal and present to myself was to run a 1/2 marathon ( I guess it was also my new years resolution too - so check!) This past weekend was by birthday and the day after on Saturday I, with Steven's Dad - Mac, Brittany Park - Friend, and Brittany Welton - Future Sister in Law all ran the 1/2 marathon. It was a beautiful day. We couldn't ask for a better day. Started at 7:30 and ran the entire thing. My time was 2 hrs and 45 minutes. For my first one not to shabby. They say the goal on the first 1/2 should be to finish and that was my goal. On my next one in the fall it will be to get a better time. Probably in 2:30. Plus Steven is going to run that one with me so I will have a constant training partner this time!

If anyone else wants to run the one in the fall let me know!! It is very rewarding and lots of fun. Not lying!

I guess I should also mention what a great husband I have... After the race he got us a couples massage for my birthday. I think that is the ticket to not being so sore so I told him I need one after every race. Not any surprise he just laughed.

Vegas Baby!

Well it has been a little while since we have been on here. Just to catch you up we went to Las Vegas over Steven's spring break. While there we saw the Grand Canyon which neither of us had ever seen before. It was amazing and we cant wait to go back. We also were there for the beginning of March Madness. Steven was super excited about this because he got to bet on the first rounds of games. I don't think he won any on them but it was still fun to do. I guess at the end of the day all of the statistics don't tell you how good a team is going to play!!

MARCH MADNESS BABY!

It is now my favorite time of the year, March Madness. The time when some team's hopes are dashed and others' hopes are fulfilled when the NCAA selection committee releases their bracket for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. In the four days between the release of the bracket to the start of the first round games, millions of people will mark down their picks for the tournament hoping to win the office pool, gain bragging rights over their buddies, or beat out total strangers on the internet. Many strategies will be used to decide just which teams will capture lightning in a bottle for the month long tournament, and to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Some of these strategies may include picking which mascot is toughest, which team has the best team colors, which team can win on the road, which team can rebound the ball the best, or even by just flipping a coin.

In my madness this March, I have compiled the statistics for all 68 teams in the field. Along with this year's teams, I have also compiled the past 10 years National Champions' statistics to compare. I'm not too sure if it will be much help but I enjoy looking at what similarities all successful basketball teams have.

Let me know who you have in the Final 4 and which team will win it all!

Team	W-L	Rd W-L	Conf. W-L	Feb. W-L	Def. FG%	Off FG%	Def. 3pt%	Off 3pt%	Reb Diff	Off Reb	to's	to's op.	Conf. T.
Ohio State	32-2	9 2	16 2	7 2	43%	50	34	41	5	11	10	15	W-C
Kansas	32-2	9 1	14 2	9 0	40	51	29	39	8	12	13	14	W-C
Pitt.	27-5	7 2	15 3	7 0	40	47	33	39	10	14	12	11	L-Q
Duke	29-4	5 4	13 3	8 2	40	47	3	38	3	12	12	15	W-C
UNC	26-7	7 3	14 2	9 1	40	45	33	33	7	14	14	15	L-C
SD. State	32-2	12 1	14 2	8 1	40	47	31	34	6	13	11	13	W-C
ND	26-6	5 4	14 4	8 1	41	47	35	40	4	11	11	10	L-S
Florida	26-7	8 2	13 3	8 1	43	46	32	36	7	13	13	13	L-C
Syracuse	26-7	6 3	12 6	7 2	39	47	31	35	4	13	12	14	L-S
Uconn	26-9	5 5	9 9	4 5	40	43	34	33	4	14	12	12	W-C
Purdue	25-7	7 5	14 4	7 2	41	45	33	37	1	11	10	14	L-Q
BYU	30-4	10 1	14 2	8 1	41	45	33	36	4	12	11	14	L-C
Kentucky	24-8	4 7	10 6	8 4	39	46	33	40	4	12	11	12	W-C
Texas	27-7	7 3	13 3	6 3	38	45	29	38	7	14	12	13	L-C
L'Ville	25-9	4 6	12 6	6 3	40	45	31	36	1	13	13	16	L-C
Wisconsin	23-8	5 6	13 5	8 2	43	45	38	37	4	11	7	9	L-Q
West Vir.	20-11	5 6	11 7	6 4	41	43	29	34	3	14	12	12	L-1ST
Arizona	27-7	7 4	14 4	7 2	44	47	29	40	4	10	13	13	L-C
Vandy	23-10	5 5	9 7	6 4	41	46	31	37	2	11	13	12	L-S
K. State	22-10	5 5	10 6	8 1	42	44	35	38	7	15	15	16	L-Q
Xavier	24-7	8 4	15 1	9 1	40	46	34	33	5	10	12	13	L-Q
Cincy	25-8	8 4	11 7	6 3	41	44	32	34	5	13	12	14	L-Q
G'Town	21-10	7 5	10 8	4 4	42	49	33	36	3	10	13	12	L-1ST
St. John's	21-11	5 7	12 6	8 2	43	46	33	37	0	11	12	16	L-Q
Washington	23-10	5 6	11 7	5 5	42	47	32	37	4	14	12	15	W-C
Temple	25-7	8 4	14 2	9 1	41	45	35	35	3	11	11	13	L-S
Tex. A&M	24-8	5 4	10 6	6 3	41	45	32	34	6	13	13	13	L-S
UCLA	22-10	5 5	13 5	8 2	42	46	34	33	4	12	15	12	L-Q
G. Mason	26-6	10 3	16 2	8 0	41	47	31	40	2	11	11	14	L-S
Michigan	20-13	5 5	9 9	6 3	43	44	33	35	-2	8	11	12	L-S
UNLV	24-8	9 3	11 5	7 2	40	46	32	33	1	11	13	16	L-S
Butler	23-9	7 6	13 5	7 1	43	45	33	36	3	11	11	13	W-C
Villanova	21-11	7 5	9 9	4 6	41	44	32	35	4	12	12	12	L-1ST
Tenn.	19-14	5 4	8 8	4 6	42	43	33	30	4	14	13	14	L-Q
Illinois	19-13	3 7	9 9	5 5	40	47	31	39	1	10	13	12	L-Q
Old Dom.	27-6	7 4	14 4	7 1	40	44	37	33	12	16	12	11	W-C
Georgia	21-11	7 4	9 7	6 4	40	45	32	34	5	12	13	12	L-Q
Penn St.	19-14	3 8	9 9	4 5	44	44	37	34	2	10	11	11	L-C
FSU	21-10	8 5	11 5	6 3	36	44	30	33	5	12	16	16	L-Q
Mich. St.	19-14	3 8	9 9	4 5	42	43	36	35	4	12	13	12	L-S
Marquette	20-14	4 7	9 9	4 5	44	47	36	35	2	12	12	14	L-Q
Mizzou	23-10	2 7	8 8	5 5	44	46	34	37	-2	12	13	18	L-Q
Gonzaga	24-9	6 4	11 3	8 1	40	48	36	37	5	11	13	14	W-C
Memphis	25-9	5 6	10 6	6 4	42	45	33	33	1	12	15	15	W-C
Richmond	27-7	10 3	13 3	8 1	40	46	30	40	-2	9	11	13	W-C
Utah St.	30-3	11 3	15 1	8 1	38	47	30	37	8	11	12	12	W-C
Princeton	25-6	10 5	12 2	10 2	42	47	33	37	4	10	12	12	W-C
Oakland	25-9	10 7	17 1	6 1	44	50	36	38	5	13	14	12	W-C
More. St.	24-9	8 8	13 5	7 1	42	46	37	34	10	14	15	15	W-C
Belmont	30-4	13 4	19 1	7 0	41	46	33	38	3	13	14	19	W-C
Ind. St.	20-13	6 8	12 6	5 3	40	43	33	36	2	10	14	13	W-C
Bucknell	25-8	10 6	13 1	7 0	40	45	32	40	0	8	11	12	W-C
St. Peters	20-13	9 8	11 7	4 4	37	40	31	35	0	11	15	14	W-C
Wofford	20-12	8 6	14 4	6 2	45	48	35	41	1	11	12	14	W-C
Long Island	27-5	13 3	16 2	7 0	43	47	30	37	5	14	15	15	W-C
No. Co.	21-10	6 9	13 3	8 1	41	43	35	39	5	12	14	14	W-C
Akron	23-12	4 9	9 7	7 3	42	43	32	36	-2	10	12	14	W-C
UC. SB.	18-13	5 8	8 8	4 5	40	46	36	38	0	9	14	13	W-C
Hampton	24-8	8 5	11 5	4 3	38	41	31	33	-4	11	12	16	W-C
Boston U.	21-13	5 10	12 4	8 0	40	40	32	36	1	12	12	11	W-C
UNCA	19-13	8 8	11 7	4 3	42	46	34	33	0	12	15	18	W-C
UALR	19-16	3 10	7 9	3 5	43	43	34	40	-1	11	12	14	W-C
TX-SA	19-13	5 10	9 7	6 4	42	43	33	36	-1	11	14	14	W-C
Alabama St.	17-17	4 14	11 7	8 1	40	40	35	28	1		16	16	W-C
Clemson	21-10	3 7	9 7	5 4	40	44	32	34	2	11	13	15	L-Q
UAB	22-8	9 5	12 4	7 2	41	44	31	34	2	12	12	12	L-Q
USC	19-14	5 8	10 8	6 3	41	44	33	36	1	10	11	12	L-S
VCU	23-11	8 6	11 6	4 5		44		36	2	11	12		L-C

NCAA Champions

Team	W-L	Rd W-L	Conf. W-L	Feb. W-L	Def. FG%	Off FG%	Def. 3pt%	Off 3pt%	Reb Diff	Off Reb	to's	to's op.	Conf. T.
Duke	35-5	5 5	13-3	9 1	40%	44	28	39	6	15	11	14	W-C
UNC	34-4	8 2	13-3	8 0	41	48	34	39	6	15	12	16	L-S
KU	37-3	8 3	13-3	8 0	38	51	33	40	8	12	13	16	W-C
Florida	35-5	5 4	13-3	6 3	41	53	29	41	9	11	14	13	W-C
Florida	33-6	6 4	10 6	5 4	40	50	32	39	4	11	13	16	W-C
UNC	33-4	8 2	14-2	9 1	40	50	34	40	8	14	16	18	L-S
Uconn	33-6	6 4	12 4	7 3	37	48	32	40	10	15	14	12	W-C
Syracuse	30-5	6 3	13-3	10 1	39	48	30	34	2	14	14	15	L-S
Maryland	32-4	7 2	15-1	8 0	40	48	32	37	4	13	14	16	L-S
Duke	35-4	10 1	13-3	7 3	42	48	34	39	1	14	14	19	W-C

An Abundant Life.

What does an abundant life mean to you? Our minister gave us an assignment yesterday to take pictures this week of things that make our life abundant. Not meaning material things but people or things that make each day better.

I know a few things that definitely make my life more abundant; which are my family, friends and pets. I know those are sound very cliche but they are very true in my life. For anyone that knows who I am a smile and laughter is what truly makes my life more abundant. It is hard to go on throughout the day without a smile on my face. 

I will look forward to hearing what makes your lives more abundant throughout the week. 

Look for my picture later this week!

Welcome to the Gum Family!

After a hard loss last night we our through the first season of basketball at Republic. Steven did a great job with the JV boys and they came out with 15 wins! What an accomplishment for his first year.
No time to rest though because Monday starts the first day of Boys Tennis, which will go through the end of the year.
I am continuing to learn lots at Firehouse Pottery. I just finished 2 pieces today that I will show soon.  They will be sample pieces so other people can copy my design. Another piece that I am currently working on is a present that will be given to the couple in April. I am most excited about this piece and have been working on it for a about a week now.