Surprise! Fred Bird is in the house!

This past week was the fabulous 1st Grade Show...entitled "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." The students were adorable, the music sounded lovely, but what stole the show...Fred Bird's surprise arrival! I was lucky enough to be an honorary Team Fred Bird Girl, which is a lot tougher than it looks. I mean, the high level of energy, the t shirt launcher, keeping up with Fred Bird! He is a PARTY! And, well, there certainly was a party at school that day!

Here is a brief video as my debut as Team Fred Bird:

And a few more highlights:

Go Cards!

Fashion Challenge Attempt #1

I'm trying to be more fashion forward! Here are a few of my recent attempts at stepping out:

Chambray Shirt

I bought this one here at Forever 21. I've been looking for the perfect chambray shirt in my price range for awhile, and I stumbled across this one. I wasn't sure about the pockets, but I love it now. Here's me trying it out with my yellow pants, and a favorite scarf from my very stylish sister-in-law.

I don't love myself in this picture, but it is the only one that showed the entire outfit. I haven't yet tried denim on denim...we'll see about that. For now, I like the denim shirt with bright pants for spring! Next up, trying it with a skirt.

Accent Nail Polish

I've seen this trend on celebrities, etc., but haven't had the courage to wear it myself. Maybe you've seen it, like this one: one finger a different color than the others, called an accent nail. I started with a silver and grey combination.

I liked the look, and I felt a little edgier already!

I look forward to trying out a few more styles and fashion tips in the future!

Bloglovin'

I don't know what I'm doing in this blogging world! But, I started a Bloglovin' list so I can more easily read the blogs I like to check out.

You can, of course, follow me too, if you have one. See my new link on the right, you can't miss it! If not, get started here.

Other than that, I really don't know anything about it. I'm about a year behind with pretty much all things in life--innovations, news, fashion, technology, etc. Oh well! Maybe one day I'll be able to keep up!

Match Day

What a crazy experience! We knew that Match Day was going to be a nerve-wracking day, but we didn't know what we were in for. This was insane! But, it was a wonderful day...

We arrived at Busch Stadium and waiting in the FREEZING cold for 30 minutes. Someone was worried about getting good seats, and boy, did that pay off, when we got the best seats there! You're welcome, Tom. :) We were able to sit next to the wall of windows looking into the stadium, and less than 20 feet from the podium, directly in front of it. PERFECT!

We got our picture taken, walked around in the stadium to see the gorgeous sun coming up over the stadium and the St. Louis Arch, got some drinks and chocolate fondue, and listened to announcements. 

Then, it was 10:59am. At 11:00am on the dot they began calling names. What was amazingly fun was that each student got to choose a song, which played while they walked up to get their letter. This made it more upbeat and fun. Tom's song was Jason Aldean's Take a Little Ride. Then, the student took their letter and went back to the seat to open it. You can imagine, then, that  there is a lot going on: students getting their name called, songs played, students opening letters, people reacting. And that right there is where I began to get a little. bit. stressed. A girl to the left of us is screaming with joy. Another girl at her table is crying because she got her #4 spot. A group to the right is cheering when someone got into UNC. The guy at our table received his letter, crumpled it into a ball and walked out. He never came back. My eyes were wide and my heart was pumping. At one point they called a "Thomas" and I nearly had a heart attack. It wasn't Tom. I had the video camera ready and wanted to get it all on film, but I also wanted to survive. It literally felt like a survival situation. Don't get me wrong, it was a fun atmosphere, but there was this intensity that just hung like a cloud in the room until 12:00 when all names had been called. Whew.

Anyway, back to Tom. At 11:20 they called "Thomas Ganz" and Tom headed up to the podium. He looked fabulous and was all smiles. He came back to the table and opened the letter. I saw his reaction first: priceless. He was BEAMING, called out "YES!" and looked at me. Me? I was worried that he had read the letter wrong. Are you sure? Did it really say SLU? So, I desperately tried to read the size 8 font, and when I did, I may have given the rest of the table a show. I practically jumped onto Tom, gave him a huge hug and then a even bigger kiss. Oops! Who knew that's what my reaction would be!?  I was excited and thrilled and oh so proud of Tom! I'm so glad he was called at 11:20 because I am not sure I could not survived until noon. After that Tom just smiled and we were both so excited! And then, Tom got another drink, it was well deserved!

What does it say!? SLU!

After the Match, we had a wonderful lunch in the Redbird Club and we started to really relax. We talked about how this was the perfect venue, because people could get some space if they wanted to call relatives, and there was also something else to do after the Match. It was one of those events where you didn't want to stick around, but your adrenaline was too high not to do something else. Now it was time for fun! What fun tradition is for everyone to add their name to a map, to show where they are going for residency, which was neat. Tom added his name to St. Louis, mingled a bit, and then we headed to a tour of Busch Stadium.

We loved the tour! Here are some highlights:

The Press Box

We're on the field!

Making a call to the bull pen

In the dug out

They made a huge deal about NOT touching the grass. But, these guys were removing the sod and replacing it, so my 28 year old husband HAD to touch the "ruined" sod in the back of the gator cart just because they had said not to. Good work, Dr.!

After we left Busch Stadium, we headed to The Scottish Arms to continue celebrating. We texted friends and family to let them know we were staying in St. Louis. BUT, we kept it a surprise what program Tom got into. We wanted to reveal that at dinner with our parents. At 6:00 we met both sets of parents at Brio, where Tom gave a speech about wanting to be at SLU, but most importantly, be in St. Louis. Then, he announced he got his #1 choice: SLU OBGYN! Yea!

Dinner was delicious and then we continued the celebration once more at my parents house for a wonderful dessert and coffee. By the time we left at 10:30 we were EXHAUSTED! What an emotional roller coaster day.

We are so blessed to be able to stay in St. Louis, not have to sell our Nantucket home, and for Tom to be able to go to his top choice program in the field he wanted to be in. Praise God, He is so faithful! It is because of God's grace, and Tom's hard work and dedication that we have come so far, and we are SO thankful. It was also so neat to see our families and friends' reactions and encouragement as we went through this experience.

We are so blessed! 

I'm rather fond of walking...

I realized I think more clearly when I walk. Walking the dog is my therapy. It used to be running, but I’ve gotten a bit out of shape and, let's be honest: more lazy. And, in my defense, this is better for the dog. Always thinking of Maggie, really! 

Walking and thinking and listening to this song does a body and soul good. I just wish I could write while walking and thinking, because my thoughts are always so much more coherent and organized and well put when they are in my head then. Oh well, sorry! 

I recently watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Pride and Prejudice, and it reminded me of Lizzie: “I’m rather fond of walking.” Sometimes I wish I lived in a place and time where walking for hours was just life, true to need and reality. I think I might be a healthier and happier person.

Fashion Challenge

I don't consider myself a fashion forward person, but with the help of Pinterest, I'm trying to step out and step up my fashion choices...without spending a fortune on a wardrobe! Which, might I add, is pretty tough to do! So, this month I thought I would challenge myself to step out of my comfort zone, and use my wardrobe pieces in different ways to create new looks.

Check out my "pinspiration" here: What to Wear Board

Come back later this month to see how I did! :)

Happy Fashions!

A Little Laundry Room Sunshine

Who loves doing laundry? No one, right!? Well, our laundry "closet" left a lot to be desired, beyond the fact that no ones loves laundry.  And, yes, our laundry is in a closet. Anyone else have that? I have literally never seen it like that before! 

I wish I had taken a BEFORE picture, but it was bad. Ugly scratched up white-ish walls with holes from old shelves. Here are our IKEA (read: yes, again, we LOVE IKEA!) shelves, newly reorganized. I used up the rest of our black wedding picture frames and added bright colorful inspirational art to make me feel excited to do laundry. It's a good idea, right?! 

The walls are the same color as our lower level bathroom, so leftover paint = no money spent! I love the bright yellow/gold tone and how cheerful it is. It complements our living room color well, so when the closet doors are open, it doesn't look too much.

Happy laundering!