slightly embarrassing...

If you want to read a story about yours truly...then click here.


There ago, you did it. You may have already read it, so didn't have to click there.

Just thought I needed to post it on my blog.

I'm excited for this weekend! I'm doing a race in Indianapolis called the Mudathlon with Jessie and Patrick. Three miles, forty obstacles. This should be fun.

Jessie and Patrick are getting married in September. :) I was there when they met. This picture was taken the day they met. We were at a party at Jake's house. Jake's was a coworker of our friend Lynsey. I thought Jake's roommate Jake was cute. He did triathlons.

Here's Jessie and I that day:

So, back to Jake...this could be embarrassing. haha. For the sake of this story, I'm going to change one of the Jake's names to cute guy. I got Jake's email address from Lynsey, and I emailed Jake about his roommate cute guy. Well, thanks google, it saves everything.  Here is the email I sent.

how are you?  what's new?
my thoughts for the day...
I think your roommate is really cute....and really nice...and really cool...because he runs...and likes outdoorsy stuff...plus...he's a Christian...I like that. 
I think your roommate and I...and for that matter...you and I should be friends. 
You should pass this along to your roommate... :)
Rose

WHAT WAS I THINKING???????? Wow. I was gutsy.  I got a response... suppose I will show you.

Jake forwarded the email on to cute boy with the response "here you go brotha."

Then cute boy e-mailed me!!!!

Really cute, really cool, and really nice, huh? If onlythat were enough to get me through life I'd be set. So, you seem to begetting into rock climbing. I went to RRG about a month ago to climb forthe first time. Climbing is definitely a good time. I do more than run,by the way, I bike and swim too (and a lot of other stuff). I competedin a half Ironman on Sunday. Finished in 5:43:32. That's a long time. Thatwill wear you out. What have you been up to since that awesome party Jakeand I threw? Anyway, I'm training for a marathon right now. Maybe we canhook up for a run on the Monon sometime. You better bring your fast runningshoes though, because I run like the wind. -Jake

We emailed back and forth a few times, and then I guess I got gutsy enought to ask to hang out... haha.  I through it on at the end of an e-mail.

so yeah, if you ever want to get together to run, or ride a bike really slow, or eat, or watch a movie, or kick a soccer ball...or climb...or go to church...well, we should :).

The response I got at the end of the e-mail he sent back?

Anyway, about getting together... It sounds like of like a date and I usually don't date shy girls which you so obviously are. I might be able to make an exception for you though. When do you leave/get back from KY this weekend?

That's Jake sitting next to me...

So we went on a few dates...but nothing came of that.

I told you all that because it really is funny. I went back through our e-mails, and they are pretty boring. I thought they were pretty fantastic at the time, but I guess that is what a crush is. All we talked about was soccer, running, climbing, and triathlons, and church. Fanstastic huh?

Well I did my very first Star Wars movie with him. That's significant. I am sorry Andy if I told you differently, I may have forgot.


This isn't the same story as Jessie and Patrick.  Jessie and Patrick also met at that party, but things turned out way differently for them :). I am so happy for them!

I ran a 5k with Jessie the morning of the day of their first date. They went to a baseball game.


This is Jessie and I on the morning of the day of their first date.

That's my white Jeep in the background, and the car in front of it is one I bought for $500. It was amazing.

So, anyway, I'm glad they went on a date. Turns out she is marrying one of the funniest guys around. He is spectacular. Here he is.

Ok, I picked a very old, very goofy picture, but that's Patrick. :)

Here they are now.

Well, this was really chaotic. It will be fun to read a few years from now, and that is what is making this blog fun anyway.

Congrats Jessie and Patrick! Can't wait to see you this weekend!

Shop Local

We hear this a lot. As a small business owner, I agree with this a lot. I will spend a little extra to buy local too. As long as it is within reason.

If possible, I buy my climbing shoes and my running shoes locally. I will pick Beauty's Boutique or Suite One if I want to buy some clothes. I'd pick The Woodsmen if I wanted a jacket or some chalk. I love Blaze'n Burrito.  Andy buys his brewing supplies from GrowFresh.

I would rather eat at Friday's or Beef O Brady's rather than Olive Garden.

Wait a minute...WHAT??????

Yeah, that's right, I feel like I need to clear the air. We say shop local, shop local, but them we turn our noses up at franchises.Turns out a lot of places we recognize as being everywhere can be locally owned too.

Guess what? When you eat, shop, or whatever you do at a franchise, you are supporting the local economy. They are providing jobs, they are buying things in town, they do care.

Ok, so not all franchises are locally owned. It's worth checking out before you slam it.

I know you may not think you are slamming them, but as a franchisee when you say to avoid these types of places and go elsewhere in order to "shop local" , I just don't like it.

Did you know that many McDonald's are locally owned? So is Sonic. So is Burger King.

Andy was talking with a guy at the climbing gym whose family owns four Mcdonald's. Andy said it was hard to look at him and think that eating at McDonald's (some of them) isn't shopping local. I knew a girl growing up whose family owned a Sonic. The parents of a kid I went to high school with with opened a Burger King.

There are over 300 Plato's Closets in the country and each and everyone of them is locally owned.

Buffalo Wild Wings is a franchise. I'm so excited that one of these is coming to Fort Smith. I have talked with the owner of the Fort Smith one. I have met the owner of Friday's. I have met the owner of Beef O Brady's. How could you say that you aren't shopping local?

Don't hate on these places just because the owners chose to buy a franchise.

These local business owners still put a lot of blood and sweat into their business.

One argument I heard was that franchises don't support the local economy. These businesses will use their parent company for supplies and services, so they aren't pumping money back into the local economy. This isn't so.

Here's a small list of stuff Plato's Closet uses the local area for:
pest control
air conditioning repair
window washing
employees
some office supplies
all of our used inventory
our sign
electricians
plumbers
advertising
carpet cleaning and water removal (thank you premiere carpet cleaning for coming to our rescue in the middle of the night.)

and the list probably could go on.

So how could you say supporting a franchise is not supporting local business? If you still feel like this is true, let's talk. Maybe just a short conversation with Andy and I will change your mind.

My dad...

It's Father's Day, so I thought I would go ahead and write a little something about him. It seems appropriate, doesn't it?

If you know my dad, you know he isn't the picture of normality. He is truly a unique individual. I love him that way. 

*He used to send me a check for $5 every week when I was in college. Sometimes it would just be the check in an envelope. Sometimes it would be the check with some random object. I looked forward to that every single week.

*He likes to give us sketchy looking bags full of all sorts of randomness. He will hand Andy and I a bag and tell us we can't open it until we leave Indiana, or until he leaves Arkansas. You never know what will be in these bags. It could be a tax return from the 80's, a receipt from a lunch we had at Fazoli's two years ago, a bunch of safety pins (all not in their safety position), a flashlight, tea, pictures, newspaper clippings, and well...you get the idea.

*I don't understand how he has a tax return from the 80's but doesn't hold on to many possessions at all. If I want to buy my dad something, I know not to give him things that I want him to keep for long periods of time. It is likely he could pack up all his belongings in the back of his Saturn and be on the road at any moment. For Christmas, he asked for hot sauce with the wooden top.

*When I was in high school, he had this Volkswagon Jetta that had a wrecked side. The door wouldn't shut correctly and it was bungee corded shut. When it rained, he would put a bath mat over that side so that water wouldn't get in. He got in an accident in that vehicle and the police officer was very confused.

*After that, he got an 87 Crown Victoria. That car was something.  I was able to win my dad Colt's tickets because I called into the Smiley Morning Show and described it. It won "worst car in Indianapolis." My dad was proud of that. He would be. 

*He once bought my mom a shower cap for Christmas. My mom doesn't take showers. It was a thoughtful gift. My mom doesn't take showers because she doesn't want to get her hair wet. (She washes her hair in the sink). My dad got her the shower cap so she could take showers.

*He once came home with an inflatable boat. His idea was that this could be a bed for my sister or me. My mom did not agree.

*He calls me with random facts all the time.

*He likes to hide things around my house when he comes to visit.

*These are some of the things I will always remember about him...and I am hoping for many many more memories in the years to come.

I'm a maniac :)

Well, I've neglected this thing. I'm good at that. I have had this blog since 2004, and it started out strong. It fizzled out completely, but now I'm back to it.

Why don't I update more? That's a simple answer. I don't ever want to spend the time to do it. Now, that doesn't mean I don't have the time. It just means I don't want to spend my time on this. Plus, nobody comments on here anymore. :( I know I know...I'm lame!

So Andy said I needed to update. He said you've ran a marathon since then. That's true. I've done a marathon plus some other stuff.

I did the Andy Payne Memorial Marathon in Oklahoma City. It was a tiny tiny marathon on a terrible course and it was windy and hot. Sounds fun huh? Well, sort of. :) Besides my legs cramping up on me. At least some good people ran it with me, and a good friend of mine worked hard on the sidelines.

So why did I do this? Well, it turns out if you run 3 marathons in 90 days, then you can sign up to be a Marathon Maniac. What's that you ask?  Click here and find out.

So, let me introduce you to Marathon Maniac #5578

Well I look crazy enough don't I?

In other news,

*I went on a cruise. I won 3 trophies, 4 medals and a bottle of champagne. That's what I do.  Maybe I will blog about that another day.

*I did a Warrior Dash with my lovely friend Vicki. It's always an adventure with her. We had sooo much fun and I got third in my age group and seventh overall for the women. Doesn't it look like we are having fun?

*The day after the Warrior Dash, I ran with my friend Case in her first real half marathon :). We had a good time, and I drank mimosas. I'm proud of her for finishing. She had ran a total of 3 miles in the past 6 months before doing it. Maybe I shouldn't have talked her into it, but I knew she could do it. On another note, aren't we sexy??

*I like peanut butter sandwiches

*I can't live without chapstick

*I like bananas

*My puppy dogs are cute

*Andy stole my Darth Vader helmet I was using as decoration at work.

*Random enough?

*I read through old blog posts recently, and you know what? I used to talk constantly about the Pacers.

*I still love Scot Pollard. No idea who he is? It doesn't matter.

*Do you know who Here Come The Mummies Are? If you don't, google them.  They are great.

That's it.