Unexpected Picture

What I notice about this picture, next to all those annoying red numbers, is the Oklahoma sunset. I am a sunset enthusiast and when I moved to Colorado I was excited to see the sun set behind the Rockies. The crazy things about mountains is that the sun just disappears, one minute it is there the next it isn’t, there are no oranges, reds, yellows & colors you only see exiting the sky in the evening. There are a lot of things I still miss about Oklahoma but the sunsets are certainly the top of the list.

Now to the point of this picture and post…those annoying red numbers. I am the queen of OCD, my icebox, pantry, bathroom supplies, movies, etc. are all alphabetized and those things which can’t be alphabetized or don’t make sense to be alphabetized are in color sequence, i.e my closets. All of this is relevant I promise. For as long as I can remember I have been a checklist, organizer, everything in order type of gal. My mother frequently tells stories of finding me organizing store shelves as a toddler, or putting all the crayons in color order in the crayon box. You see this thread of OCD has been with me since birth and although it has faded over the years it is still there. So those annoying red numbers, typically they annoy the $#^! out of me. The minute one pops on my phone it is almost immediately taken care of. What I notice when I look at this picture next to the amazing Oklahoma sunset is the massive amount of red numbers and how this over organized, checklist completer, OCD fanatic just doesn’t seem to care about those little red numbers right now. You see when something far more important happens in your life the small things just don’t seem to matter any longer. Ever since the death of Scott’s dad I have found myself in this state of not caring about the things that don’t fill my cup. Those things that do fill my cup, Christ, family, friends, intellect, and triathlons, seems to have taken a much higher priority in my life over the past couple of weeks. Do I care about work, I care about doing a good job but I don’t care about being the rockstar of the office; do I care about health, I care a great deal about living a healthy and happy life but I don’t need to be at the gym every night or eat a salad every meal; and do I care about those little red numbers, I do care about the people that reside behind them, but I don’t care that they reside on my phone screen and add a sense of clutter. Life is short, live in the moment, love unconditionally, be kinder than you feel, and for heaven sake don’t worry about the little red numbers in your life.

2015 Highlights

As 2015 drew to an end, my life was rather crazy, there was a trip to NYC, the day after I got home I was diagnosed with the flu & an eye infection, a week later Scott's father passed. Needeless to say, sending out my New Years cards was not at the top of my "Must Do" list. The good thing with New Years cards rather than Christmas is, I have a bit more time to send. In years past I have written a sarcastic, adventure filled, Christmas letter to accompany my Christmas card, this year I took a simple approach to the holidays, my Christmas letter was no different. This year my letter highlighted my adventures, accomplishments, travels, races...heck, let me just share it with you.

2015 Highlights Jan: I started grad school, pursuing a Masters in Psychology. I may or may not be tired all the time and wondering how I did this college thing just a few short years ago, you know when I was 18. Feb: I turned another year older and my body likes to remind me daily I am definitely no longer 18. March: I took a week and a half off of from the daily hustle and bustle and hopped on a jet plane to Siesta Key, FL. Time was spent on the beach, running at sea level and navigating around the happiest place on Earth visiting Mickey and all his friends. April: I found my way back to Oklahoma for a triathlon. It was the rainiest, muddiest, scariest and best triathlon I have competed in. Floundering around in water and riding a metal bike in lightening is not for the faint of heart, especially when that heart is deathly afraid of lightening. May: I joined a team of DaVita co-workers and ran the Colfax marathon relay and then could not walk for a week. June: I competed in my sixth triathlon of the year and set a personal best. July: I volunteered at IronMan Boulder. I have many amazing memories from that day but the best is having the honor of placing a medal around the neck of a team of tandem triathletes who crossed the finish lines right before the midnight cut off. A tandem triathlon team consists of two athletes, one athlete swims, bikes and runs 140.6 miles while pulling and pushing a handicap teammate…truly awe inspiring as you hear the announcer say “You are an IronMan!” Aug: Mamma came to visit. We hiked, we cooked, we shopped, we talked, we explored, we had a blast! Sept: I joined the Rodan and Fields family by starting my own business as a skin care consultant. I love every bit of the journey, most importantly how my customers have found the skin of their youth…we are aging backwards ya’ll!! (Please check out my website, my business grows mainly by word of mouth so I included a business card for you to share). Oct: My DaVita team went on a retreat to the famous Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs where we had a ball spending time together and I learned how to do archery. You will be proud to know I didn’t poke and eye out, but rather hit the target with every shot. Nov: I was lucky enough to head back to Oklahoma for a second time during the year to spend time with family and watch the OSU football team win a hard fought battle against TCU. Dec: I traveled to NYC for the first time in my 36 years. We saw the World Trade Center museum, a show on Broadway, my brother, Rockefeller Center, amazing displays of holiday creativity in the store windows and had some incredible food.

Happy 2016!!

Welcome 2016

For as long as I can remember New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July have been my favorite holidays. These two days are not about gifts and they have not yet become so commercialized that they have lost their meaning…for me they are about family, friends, fireworks, and fun. This year, New Year’s Eve had a different feel, a sort of heaviness, and much more was going through my mind than the normal number of races I am going to complete in the new year, the healthy food I was going to eat, or the amount of exercise I was going to do per week. This year, instead, I relished in the time spent with Scott and his family, the memories shared, the quite night at home watching football and occasionally flipping over to watch the festivities from Time Square. This year was different for a number of reasons, but the main reason being the passing of Scott’s father on Tuesday Dec. 29 and the great sense of loss was very preset for me last night. This morning I woke up with a feeling of emptiness, sadness and not quite ready for the change from 15 to 16. For some reason the change of the year made the realization of death that much more evident to me and I was not ready to succumb to reality. So today I am not planning my race schedule, I am not grocery shopping differently, and when I get to the gym to train is when I get to the gym to train. This year my hope is that I focus on those things that are far more important than a PR, climbing the corporate ladder, the number on the scale, getting a 4.0 in grad school, or how many laps I complete during each training swim. I hope that this time next year I can say I lived 2016 with abandon, less worry and more kindness, less stress and more compassion, less time spent at the office and the gym and more time spent with family and friends. I hope I worship more, travel more, read more, and visit my family more. This year I am not making any resolutions instead I am hoping, hoping that I can live life on my terms. Cheers to 2015 a year that had its share of accomplishments, disappointments, laughter and pain and welcome 2016!

Triathlon Season 2015

Yesterday my 2015 triathlon season commenced and being it was a whole 9 degrees when I left the house yesterday morning I was thanking my lucky stars that the race was indoors. This indoor tri, was an ‘hour of power’ if you will and once the hour was over, power was one thing I no longer had. I finished with sore muscles, slight dehydration, a headache, a sense of accomplishment, but power was not an attribute I could correlate with my current bodily state. This triathlon was uniquely different than any other tri I had competed in before. For starters it was held completely indoors which I had never experienced, the scoring was based on how much distance the athletes covered over a designated amount of time rather than speed and very little training on my part had been conducted before the event started. Also for any of you that have competed in a triathlon before or supported a triathlete you know we do not travel lightly, however yesterday was an exception; I only had to take myself, swimsuit, goggles, swim cap, and biking/running clothes and shoes. That may still seem like a lot, but trust me when I say I have a check list that typically the night before a race I have check everything off and laid it all out to make sure I am not forgetting a helmet, bike shoes, wetsuit, ect. Yesterday’s race started with a 10 min swim and thank heavens I have been taking a combat swim class in sub 0 water because it prepared me for the freezing water we swam in yesterday….I joke about the water temperature, kind of. I sadly was trying so hard to not drown that I forgot to count the laps I swam in 10 mins, but if I were a guessing girl I would say 14-16. After the swim we were given 10 mins to transition from the swim to the bike. This lengthy amount of time was due to the gym wanting a safe transition and to remove all wet clothes and replace them with dry clothes for the bike ride in their state of the art spin room. Once I arrived at my designated bike I had all of 2 mins to get all settled into the saddle. In the 30 min allotted time slot for biking I managed to squeeze in 10.3 miles averaged 20.7 miles an hour (don’t do the math I may be off a point or two on that average) and was the top girl in distance in our wave. I nearly vomited, nearly passed out when I got off the bike and had not had a drink of liquid since this fiasco started…I may or may not have been in rough shape. The transition between the bike and run was not quite as luxurious; we had 5 mins to get from the bike to the treadmill. As I began my run a huge side pain started to make routs in my rib cage and I was done. I have run through a side stich before and once was enough for me to learn my lesson. I had to walk the majority of the 20 min run portion of the race. I was frustrated, annoyed and realized even more the importance of doing those things your life that are very important but you hate, like cleaning the toilets, picking up after the dog on walks and running. Moral of this story…eat less candy and run more miles! Cheers to a triathlon season that will no doubt be riddled with adventures, disappointments, frustrations, fulfillment, joy, laughter, tears and accomplishment.

Happy New Year 2015

Today I woke up in disbelief that we are on our way to enjoying another year. I am not quite sure where 2014 went or 2013, 2012, or 2011; heck I am not sure where the past 12 years since college graduation went, but I digress. As I mentioned yesterday 2014 was a year of epic porportion, I feel so blessed to be where I am in my life, but I also look forward to 2015. It will be a year filled with challenges, opportunities to grow, joy, accomplishments & dreams realized. I start grad school next week after being out of school for over a decade, talk about anxiety, excitement & trepidation all rolled up into one trembling gal. Summer will bring a challenge like none I have ever faced before as I hope to complete my first 1/2 Ironman (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, & 13.1 mile run, all to equal 70.3 miles covered in one race). Technically I start training in February but with the daunting idea of racing that far training has already commenced for me. Come Sunday I will see how the training I have done so far Will paid off when I complete my first triathlon of the season. I hope 2015 bring health, happiness, accomplishments, joy & success to us all.

Chronicles of 2014

As 2014 comes to an end and I look back on the epic amount of blog entries I have written this past year I realize I will be hard pressed to out write 2014 in the upcoming year…I kid. I love writing, I love sharing positive experiences and I love the idea that a small part of my life’s journey may inspire someone else.

2014 has been a pretty epic year even though it was not document well here. Since my blog was…for lack of a better word…neglected this past year I will take a moment to chronicle my year that was.

February containing a week that has become near and dear to my heart, I choose this past year to be real with myself and others. I was able to come to terms with being uniquely me and embracing the life that has formed me into the woman I am today. It was huge for me to face my fear of judgment and publicly share my life’s journey through the eyes of a recovering eating disorder patient. Facing my fears allowed me to grow greatly and realize my deepest dreams of helping others find their joy, their worth, and the life we all deserve to live.

I realize as I look back on 2014 that February was a month of growth for me in many ways. After the heartbreak of the job I loved being illuminated in December 2013 and the uncertainty of floating around completing special projects I was brought in to the fold of the compensation department. This decision, made 75% out of fear and 15% out of interest allowed me to learn valuable lessons that I otherwise would not have been given the chance to learn. Beyond all else I learned that I should never make decisions based off of fear, 0 patients and a sense of failure; but rather I need to trust in my God and know that everything is going to work out just like it is supposed to. In November of this year my work like did just that, it worked out.

I somehow turned a year older.

Neither my brother or I were able to make it back home to see our parents for the holidays so we planned a spontaneous trip to Oregon to surprise my mother for her birthday. It was a perfect trip, filled with fun, family, friends, love, laughter and everything a surprise birthday celebration should be.

I got on a rather large health kick and wanted to detoxify my body, after much research, knowing my financial limits and body limits I decided to try an ionic foot detox. The theory behind the process is through an ionic balancing process in which toxins are pulled from the body through the feet. The water in which the feet are placed in for the 30 min procedure changes from clear water to a nasty color. The color of the water once the treatment is complete is supposed to represented the part of the body most of the toxins were pulled from. The water my feet sat in was a green brown color which is supposed to indicate toxins being pulled from the Gallbladder; the irony is that I do not have a Gallbladder. My uneducated advice would be to not waste your money on a ionic foot cleans.

Two of my favorite foreign DaVita teammates came to Denver for business and we met up for a shopping trip and drinks.

I joined a golf league; I loved nearly every min of being with girls and for me attempting to hit the ball. Good news is, I did improve over the course of the summer, I really enjoy the game and plan to be part of the league again this coming summer.

I ran as part of one of the DaVita corporate relay teams in the Colfax Marathon. My leg of the race was 6 miles uphill. This is not a dramatic comment similar to those our parents use to make, remember those…”I use to walk uphill both ways in the snow to school”. My leg of the race really was entirely uphill the, when I handed the baton off to Shilo I was slightly jealous that she got to run down the hill I just ran up.

A few baseball games were attended. Although the team being routed for by yours truly very rarely won, it was still fun to enjoy the sunshine, a cold beer, and the company of friends.

A sorority sister from Houston came to Colorado for a family vacations and a few of us Zeta’s living in Denver had the blessed opportunity to met up with her for dinner on her last night.

I went to Siesta Key, FL for the first time and nearly didn’t make it back, it was simply lovely. Others may argue I nearly didn’t make it to FL in the first place. Long story short, I locked the keys into my boyfriend’s which really didn’t seem like a big deal in that I had planned accordingly and had a lot of time until my flight. However, since I was driving a car in which I didn’t reside on the insure it was an act of Congress to get someone to come out to the airport to let me back in the car. If I had not also locked my purse in the car I would have just gone and gotten on the plan. After all how much does one really need in FL, I am thinking just a bathing suit. However, my purse was sitting on the front seat with my cell phone and wallet out in plain sight. Once I finally realized getting the car unlocked was going to take much longer than I had thought and that I was in fact going to miss my flight I called the airline to tell them. There were no more flights out that night and if I wanted to get out before the following Friday I was going to have to pay $400 for a new ticket. The car was finally unlocked and I was able to make my way to the airport. Although it was early in the evening I was not about to move the car for fear an additional disaster could occur. That said I spent the night in the airport, no sleep, freezing, no food and very very grumpy. I was beyond thrilled when I finally landed in Orlando, but I can tell you I will never live the experience down.

I painted, painted and painted some more to update many of the rooms at my boyfriend’s place.

I started taking Plexus, loved the results and became an Ambassador for the company.

We went horseback riding in the mountains. Although I am not sure anything could beat riding horses on the ranch in the wide open country of OK, I will tell you it is a close second.

PIC I found a gem outside Boulder when I went hiking at Chautauqua Park.

It is an understatement to say I love birthdays. I love celebrating the uniqueness, the specialness of friends and family, and I am incredibly enthusiastic about planning birthday celebrations where the birthday person has no idea. I planned and executed a top secrete birthday surprise mission for my boyfriend. It took weeks of coordination and it would not have been possible without his best buddies and his extraordinary family. The birthday celebration was a top secrete scavenger hunt of sorts, the kids gave him his first clue in which he was to go meet up with a few of his buddies for a round of golf. The tee time was all set up, his friends were going to meet him at the course, and most importantly it got him out of the house so we could prepare for the last mission. The additional clues contained gift cards, or sent him to other locations for my golf fun. By the end of the day I handed him his last clue to make his way back to the house where he found his birthday gift of a new lawn mower, I know we give exciting gifts, and a house full of his best friends. I was able to get about 25 people to come to the party. I was really proud of the success the day brought and above all else I think he loved the day which was my main mission _____ As mentioned earlier February was my month of growth, November was my month of dreams realized. My life has just not been the same without triathlons, my passion for them are deep seeded and although my life is happy, healthy, and filled with amazing people, I was still missing something, so I joined a triathlon team. I will begin training with them in February with the hoped to complete my first ½ Ironman during the summer of 2015. I was recruited, I interviewed and I accepted a new role within the DaVita Village as part of the communications team. The position turns out to be a perfect fit; I am thrilled to go to work every day. The team I work with proves daily to be phenomenal, the work I do is fulfilling and rewarding and the knowledge I seem to constantly be gaining is unmatched. A week after accepting the new position I found out I was accepted into grad school to pursue my dream of studying the brain, human behavior, and earn a degree to help others through difficulty, uncertainty, sadness, grief and loss to find joy, happiness, success, dream realized and the live we all deserve to live. ______ My life is made complete by the people in it. Although my life now is in CO and I could not ask for a better life than the one I am living there is a piece of my heart that still resides in OK. My closest friends and extended family still call OK home. Before starting work at DaVita I made it back to OK a lot, but once I started a big girl job I have been unable to travel as much and I really really miss my friends and family. So I drove to OK for Thanksgiving and got to spend quality time with a few of the people who have been my strength, my support, my courage, and those who have picked me up when I was unable to pick myself up during some of my darkest days. I will forever be indebted to the extraordinary family and friends I have in my life.

2014 is ending similar to way it was brought in, relaxing and surrounded by a few of the people who mean the world to me. I am making a similar resolution this year as I did last, to blog more frequently (fingers crossed). Cheers to an extraordinary 2015 filled with abundant opportunities, unending joy and unmatched successes.

Took the Money & Ran

After weeks of anticipation for you all I am sure, the final installment for 2014 from our March Madness MC. Hoop stars, I’m sure by now everyone is thinking that I pocketed the money in hopes that no one would call me out, well…. I got called out, thanks Rodell. Truthfully though, I haven’t forgotten about you fine people, and I’m proud to say that the lucky winners have their well-earned green on the way. It was a wild final four to say the least, and I’m more than happy, for just one shining moment, to harken back to the days of college basketball… oh, how I miss it. As most of you know already, number 1 overall seed Florida tanked on final four Saturday, losing to 7 seed UConn, a team of unmatched destiny, and as a result put the nail in the coffin of CannonVA tourney challenge 2k14, essentially handing the title to John and Will. Yet, Jennifer and Josh still had a shot if Wisconsin was able to beat an upstart Kentucky team who looked equally as destined to reach the final game. The Badgers came just 1 point shy of their first championship berth since 1941, as deja-vu struck the Kentucky wildcats. With just 5.7 seconds to go and Wisconsin up 73-71, Aaron Harrison spotted up from the left wing and drilled a 3 pointer to crush the badger dreams and with it the green dreams of Jennifer and Josh. It was the third game winner in a row for Kentucky and nearly the exact same scenario of the final seconds in Kentuckys elite 8 win over Michigan, unreal. It couldn’t possibly ring true 1 more time… We found out Saturday night who the winners would be, it was John and Will tied for 1st place and Mike holding on to 3rd. The only question going into championship Monday was who would win the tiebreaker and take home the top prize of $180. It was up to the final score, a final score which was wildly over guessed by the bulk of the pool, as defense showed it’s prominence with all on the line. UConn inevitably continued their dream tournament in glorious fashion, out-playing Kentucky in virtually all aspects, and relying on the unmatched dominance of gutty senior and unanimous all-tourney selection Shabazz Napier. The huskies found a way to get it done, beating the scrappy bluegrass squad 60-54, becoming the first #7 seed to win college basketballs most coveted hardware. We would find out 1 day later that the Husky women would make it a sweep for the second time in the last 10 years. It’s good to be a UConn fan. And so, we can officially crown the winners of CannonVA tourney challenge 2k14. Will and John as champions and Mike in a very heated battle for 3rd place. Congrats to the three of you. The tiebreak was almost a draw as Will’s final number came to 141 and Johns final number, 144. With the final score adding to 114, Will was able to edge out John by just 3 points, and with that scores the healthy margin of cash. I’d like to give a major shout out to Andrew, who’s final score projection, was, far and away, the closest at 58-52, well done AB, if only you had a few more points to your name. See below for final standings, for those of you tied, I used your final scores to determine pecking order, and, more importantly bragging rights. Thanks to all for joining in on the fun this year, it brings me great pride knowing the overwhelming interest in the best tourney challenge of the greater northeast. And thanks also for putting up with my endless novel updates. I do hope that they were enjoyable. Until next year, keep dreamin’ of those 40s…. Sorry, skeeball reference, but equally applicable to all arenas of life. Oh, and speaking of 40s, I’m still out $40. Without naming names, I’m sure you can figure out who you are, below. Thanks again! March madness MC, out! 1. Will D 87 pts $180 (final score 71-70) 2. John F 87 pts $120 (final score 76-68) 3. Mike Z 83 pts $70 4. Molly B 82 pts 5. Jennifer B 80 pts 6. Brent A 78 pts 7. Josh W 77 pts 8. Erik M 77 pts 9. Greg T 77 pts 10. Chad B 76 pts 11. Beth R 76 pts 12. Barbara A 75 pts 13. Carrie P 75 pts 14. Brian W 75 pts 15. Peter M 73 pts 16. Scott D 72 pts 17. Rodell P #2 72 pts 18. Andrew B 70 pts 19. Ashley D 70 pts 20. Preston T 68 pts 21. Rebecca F 68 pts 22. Kelly M 68 pts 23. Scott T 68 pts 24. Greg K 64 pts 25. Chris H 64 pts 26. Matt T 61 pts 27. Ryan M 60 pts 28. Rodell P #1 60 pts 29. Katie T 60 pts 30. Kristal E 60 pts 31. Ed A 58 pts 32. Justin T 57 pts 33. Lindsay M 55 pts 34. Abby M 53 pts 35. Bob F 53 pts 36. David P 48 pts 37. Deborah M 45 pts

FINAL FOUR

Hoop stars, Well, the regional finals over the weekend happened to narrow the field of contenders considerably, and today was known bracket wide as massacre Monday. I even received requests for flowers to be sent for the funeral services of a few brackets that crumbled in historic fashion. With Arizona, Michigan, and Michigan State all losing, the majority of dreams were crushed, especially with that Michigan State loss. Brian Wolf was sitting pretty after the round of 16, in first place and his champion intact. Come Monday, he finds himself in 14th position with no points left to be had. With the fall of Wolf, we now find ourselves back in familiar territory with Forgy and Will retaking at tie for first place. Unfortunately for those two, there are no points left to be had. The door is open for those with Florida and Wisconsin advancing. Saturday started off as expected, with overall #1 seed Florida taking care of the overmatched Cinderella squad from Dayton Ohio, 62-52, punching the first ticket to North Texas. The second game, however, was one for the ages. Top seed Arizona took on 2 seed Wisconsin in what would turn out to be a battle for the ages. Each team trading blow for blow deep into the second half. But much of the game, it became apparent that the Cats simply had no answer for the 7’-0” Badger center Frank Kaminsky, who aside from looking like he drools (the profound words of our defending champ Rodell), went absolutely bananas on a shellshocked Arizona squad, scoring 28 points, including 3-5 from beyond the arc. Yes…. Big boy can even hit the triple! Wisconsin won in an overtime thriller, 64-63. Had it not been for Kaminsky, Arizona would have surely advanced, heroic performance. Sunday proved even more exciting as we were treated to two marquee matchups, Michigan State vs. UConn and Michigan vs. Kentucky. Two critical games that would inevitably determine the fate of many pool goers. Michigan State took the floor first as the final four favorite out of the east region, and for most of the game proved worthy of the third slot in texas next weekend. But something odd happened to the Spartans. A historically well coached team that doesn’t often make mistakes, started making them, in epic fashion. Turnovers, lazy play, missed free throws, stagnant defense. For UConn fans, this was a highly unlikely dream that came so gloriously true and set the stage brilliantly for the baby face assassin known only as Shabazz. The kid, once again delivered and sent the much maligned and gravely under rated UConn Huskies to the final four. In the Midwest we were treated to yet another Kentucky moment, as the 8 seeded wildcats, yet again, came from behind to pull a shocker, this time over 2 seed Michigan. The Wolverines dominated most of the game, with Big 10 player of the year Nik Stauskaus raining in 24 points, en route to a 13 point advantage. Kentucky battled back though, quite valiantly, and with the game tied at 72 with just under 10 seconds left, we were staring another regional final OT game square in the face…. Until that supremely ill-advised, masterfully defended, fall away three pointer by freshman guard Aaron Harrison, found the bottom of the net. Game, set, match. Aside from last years championship loss, Michigan fans haven’t felt this much pain since the timeout heard round the world, Chris Webber, 1993 title game. And so we’re down to four, Florida, Wisconsin, UConn and Kentucky. No one was able to pick more than two correct final four teams, but two, somehow, someway were able to keep their championship game unblemished, those two are Jennifer and Josh, both with Florida beating Wisconsin, both with significant chances at scoring some cash. I’ve played out each of the 8 scenarios with the top 3 finishers below. It’s now just a 8 person race with John, Will, Mike, Jennifer, Josh, Erik, Greg T, and Brent battling for three spots. See below for scenarios and final four standings, those in red have locked in their final point totals. Best of luck to those still in the running! 1. John F (87 pts) 2. Will D (87 pts) 3. Mike Z (83 pts) 4. Molly B (82 pts) 5. Jennifer B (80 pts) 6. Brent A (78 pts) 7. Josh W (77 pts) 8. Erik M (77 pts) 9. Greg T (77 pts) 10. Chad B (76 pts) 11. Beth R (76 pts) 12. Barbara A (75 pts) 13. Carrie P (75 pts) 14. Brian W (75 pts) 15. Peter M (73 pts) 16. Scott D (72 pts) 17. Rodell P #2 (72 pts) 18. Andrew B (70 pts) 19. Ashley D (70 pts) 20. Kelly M (68 pts) 21. Preston T (68 pts) 22. Rebecca F (68 pts) 23. Scott T (67 pts) 24. Greg K (64 pts) 25. Chris H (64 pts) 26. Matt T (61 pts) 27. Ryan M (60 pts) 28. Rodell P #1 (60 pts) 29. Katie T (60 pts) 30. Kristal E (60 pts) 31. Ed A (58 pts) 32. Justin T (57 pts) 33. Lindsay M (55 pts) 34. Bob F (53 pts) 35. Abby M (53 pts) 36. David P (48 pts) 37. Deborah M (45 pts) Scenario 1&2 Kentucky over UConn OR UConn over Kentucky 1. John F (tiebreak) 2. Will D (tiebreak) 3. Mike Z Scenario 3 & 4 Florida over Wisconsin OR Wisconsin over Florida 1. Jennifer B 2. Josh W 3. Mike Z Scenario 5 & 6 UConn over Wisconsin OR Wisconsin over UConn 1. Jennifer B 2. Josh W 3. John F / Will D (tiebreak) Scenario 7 Florida over Kentucky 1. Mike Z 2. Jennifer B 3. Josh W / Erik M / Greg T (tiebreak) Scenario 8 Kentucky over Florida 1. Mike Z 2. Jennifer B 3. Brent A Chad (March Madness MC)

Elite 8

Hoop junkies, After a wild Friday night of basketball, the elite 8 is officially set, Michigan, UConn, Michigan State, and Kentucky joined Florida, Dayton, Arizona, and Wisconsin in the elitist of groups within just 1 victory of a final four berth. The night was definitely not for the faint of heart. We saw Michigan and UConn advance in the early games over Tennessee and Iowa State respectively. UConn continued its surprise run by handling a depleted Iowa State squad playing for the second game without star center Georges Niang. The huskies, behind a virtual lock for 1st team all-tourney, Shabazz Napier, continually bullied the oversized Cyclones. While Iowa State made a late rally, they were unable to hit free throws down the stretch and the 7 seed from the east advanced to the regional final. Props to Rebecca and Greg T for being the only ones to have the Huskies dancing to the elite 8. In the other early game, Michigan squeaked by 11 seed Tennessee by the narrowest of margins, 73-71, leaving big blue fans on the edge of their seats to the bitter end. The Wolverines enjoyed as much as a 15 point lead well into the second half, before the Vols made a furious rally to cut the lead down to a single possession late. However, it must have been the stroke of midnight because the orange glass slipper shattered as Tennessee left the floor wondering what could have been. Michigan advanced to its second straight elite 8 appearance and was poised for the prospective rematch of last years title game with Louisville. Only thing standing in the way of that destiny were the upstart 8 seed Kentucky wildcats… The dream matchup between bitter interstate rivals Kentucky and Louisville was realized almost out of fate. It’s as if the basketball Gods willed this epic rivalry into being when the stakes were highest. The hype didn’t disappoint. The first half was solid, as both teams exchanged blow for blow, with the defending champs taking a 3 point lead to the locker room. But the second half, my friends, left little to be desired, it simply had it all, pressure threes, tenacious dunks, gutty steals, it was a battle for the ages, true gladiator stuff. For those who were lucky enough to stay awake into the wee hours (Ed…. cough), it was a treat to say the least. With Louisville seemingly in control of the game, up 7 points with just over 4 minutes left, it was gut check time for Caliparis blue grass squad, and the wildcats delivered, in impressive fashion. Kentucky ended the game on a 15-3 run, squashing all dreams of a repeat for the Cardinals of Louisville, who lead the game for all but 65 seconds, wow. And so the 8 seed from the Midwest dances on to face 2 seed Michigan on Sunday for a shot at the final four. Congrats to Mike Z, Rodell #2, and Justin for accurately selecting the cats to the elite 8. For most though, the Louisville loss dealt a crushing blow especially, current 3rd placer Will and battling for the basement Abby who had the cards winning it all. The final game pitted final four favorite Michigan State against 1 seed Virginia in the east bracket. This game, just like Kentucky / Louisville did not disappoint. The Spartans controlled the game for most of the first half, leading by 4 at the break. Virginia came out strong in the second half and pushed the Spartans blow for blow down the stretch. However, in this game, the victory was clinched, not blown, from the free throw line. If you’re going to win a championship, you must make the easiest shot on the court. Michigan State did just that down the stretch and was able to squeak by a crafty UVA squad, who most definitely overachieved this season. And so we move on to regional finals today and tomorrow, with the final four to be set Sunday night at the conclusion of the Kentucky / Michigan game, tip 5:05 EST. See below for updated standings. Brian has taken the lead with 8 points last night, however he had Louisville in the championship game, so it’s still anyones game. The 5 of you highlighted below are the elite few who have your final four still intact, specific teams adjacent, incredible job. That means, these 5 have the most points still available. Those of you in red…. Well, that’s it. For Lindsay and Deborah, they have officially exhausted all resources, their brackets are done, RIP, funeral services to be scheduled, no further points to be had. For Deborah, she’s clinched at least a share for last place, impressive none the less. Bob may just owe her lunch, for saving his sports practice leadership, he still needs either Florida or Michigan State to win to alleviate himself of a tie for last. Curl that mustache for good luck Bob. Florida and Dayton tip tonight at 6:09 EST, just 4 hours from now. Good luck to everyone still in the running. We’ll have a clearer view of whos legitimately in the running coming Monday morning. Here’s to continuing the madness! Savor every last second, it’s gone all too soon… 1. Brian W (75 pts) 2. John F (71 pts) 3. Will D (71 pts) 4. Erik M (69 pts) 5. Chad B (68 pts) 6. Beth R (68 pts) 7. Mike Z (67 pts) Florida, Arizona, Michigan State, Kentucky 8. Molly B (66 pts) 9. Jennifer B (64 pts) 10. Rodell P #2 (64 pts) 11. Scott D (64 pts) 12. Ashley D (62 pts) Florida, Arizona, Michigan State, Michigan 13. Brent A (62 pts) Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan 14. Andrew B (62 pts) 15. Josh W (61 pts) 16. Greg T (61 pts) 17. Matt T (61 pts) 18. Kelly M (60 pts) Florida, Arizona, Michigan State, Michigan 19. Rebecca F (60 pts) 20. Rodell P #1 (60 pts) 21. Preston T (60 pts) 22. Kristal E (60 pts) 23. Barbara A (59 pts) Florida, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Michigan 24. Carrie P (59 pts) 25. Scott T (59 pts) 26. Peter M (57 pts) 27. Justin T (57 pts) 28. Chris H (56 pts) 29. Greg K (56 pts) 30. Lindsay M (55 pts) 31. Ryan M (52 pts) 32. Katie T (52 pts) 33. Ed A (50 pts) 34. David P (48 pts) 35. Bob F (45 pts) 36. Abby M (45 pts) 37. Deborah M (45 pts)

Terrific 12

Hoopsters, Last night we whittled the field of 16 down to 12. The first team to clinch an elite 8 spot was those surprising flyers of Dayton who handled 10 seed Stanford with relative east 82-72, proving that speed and quickness can beat size if you have the shooters and ability to finish at the rim. Now the pride of Dayton Ohio is just 1 win away from a final four appearance. Lindsay M must be beaming with hometown pride at the moment, even if she picked her alma mater over the fliers in round 1. Although Dayton will get a tough test on Saturday as they face #1 overall seed Florida. If the Cinderella somehow finds a way to keep dancing, all hell will break loose, as brackets will burst worldwide. The Florida win over UCLA was just another breath of fresh air for most, but our defending champion Rodell, must be stewing over his boneheaded decision to take the Bruins to the championship game, might just seal his fate. On the other side of the bracket, in the west, we saw Wisconsin crush an overmatched and overachieving Baylor squad 69-52, as the Badgers gave the Bears a little taste of what Baylor did to Creighton last weekend. All but 7 had Wisconsin in the elite 8. It was a tough pill to swallow for Bickell, who was the only one to have Baylor advancing. Had the Bears found a way to win, the one they call “tickle” would have made a huge jump up the standings. And then there was Arizona who did right by the majority of our pool, with the exception of those very few who said that surely….. surely Oklahoma State would beat the cats… What could have been. The 1 seed in the west got by a scrappy San Diego State squad who pushed them hard into the final minutes. For Forgy, who had SDSU winning, it was a tough loss, because now we have a 3 way tie for first place with John, Will, and Brian. The top 18 are only separated by 12 points, a lot of shuffling still to be seen. Tonight, 4 more games before we round out the elite 8. Tip of Tennessee vs. Michigan is set for 7:15. Let the beautiful madness continue!! Best of luck to all. See below for updated standings. 1. John F (67 pts) 2. Will D (67 pts) 3. Brian W (67 pts) 4. Chad B (64 pts) 5. Beth R (64 pts) 6. Molly B (62 pts) 7. Erik M (61 pts) 8. Josh W (61 pts) 9. Scott D (60 pts) 10. Mike Z (59 pts) 11. Scott T (59 pts) 12. Greg T (57 pts) 13. Matt T (57 pts) 14. Jennifer B (56 pts) 15. Rebecca F (56 pts) 16. Preston T (56 pts) 17. Chris H (56 pts) 18. Carrie P (55 pts) 19. Ashley D (54 pts) 20. Brent A (54 pts) 21. Andrew B (54 pts) 22. Peter M (53 pts) 23. Kelly M (52 pts) 24. Rodell P #1 (52 pts) 25. Greg K (52 pts) 26. Rodell P #2 (52 pts) 27. Katie T (52 pts) 28. Kristal E (52 pts) 29. Barbara A (51 pts) 30. Lindsay M (51 pts) 31. Justin T (49 pts) 32. Ryan M (48 pts) 33. David P (48 pts) 34. Ed A (46 pts) 35. Abby M (45 pts) 36. Deborah M (45 pts) 37. Bob F (41 pts) Chad (March Madness MC)

Round 3

Hoop stars, First of all, I want fess up and personally apologize to Brian Wolf, whom I left off the second round rankings. Must have been his intimidating bracket that made me subconsciously misplace it. Not to worry, all is right now, although he has passed by most of the field with his 13 bonus points from 4 upset picks. As we gear up for the sweet sixteen, set to tip in less than 24 hours!, there is need to, once again, catch up with the 3rd round happenings. While we saw 7 low seed upsets in the second round, the third round exhibited much greater big name carnage, as Syracuse, Kansas, Villanova, and # 1 seed Wichita State went down in shocking fashion. Although, Wichita State was matched up with a Kentucky team that began the season ranked #1 in the nation. I can appreciate the intellect of this year’s pool as 12 of you correctly picked the Wildcats to advance, well done. Others were not so lucky, like Beth who was livin’ the dream and sittin pretty Friday night, but come Sunday, her dreams may have been dashed with Wichita State as her champion. Or “what about Bob”, who also had the shockers winning it all. Notorious for his outlandish picks over the years, the mustache made much more reasonable selections this year, yet somehow finds himself battling for the basement. And then Lindsay, oh boy…. Also a believer in Wichita State, she now finds her bracket nearly finished, only able to score a maximum of 12 points out of a remaining possible 96, ouch. Villanova came into the tourney as a bit of head scratcher. Most felt the cats weren’t too deserving of a 2 seed, and UConn quickly confirmed the hesitation as Shabazz Napier went bananas on a seemingly overmatched Villanova squad. That “upset “ didn’t hurt few in the pool, as most had the cats out well before the final four, except for 1 drowsy mountain man, who must have slept through the early tourney analysis. Thacker rolled the dice on Nova, and paid mightily. Picking them to win it all was a long shot, now I’m just hoping to get that $10 before he falls asleep again. Congrats though to Greg K, Greg T, Rebecca, Molly, Jennifer, and myself for accurately advancing UConn.. And so the sweet sixteen is set, including 3 double digits seeds: #10 Stanford who slayed a shaky Jayhawks squad, #11 Dayton who may just be playing the best basketball of the tourney so far, and #11 Tennessee, who has yet to be tested, crushing both opponents en route to a match up with 2 seed Michigan. Props to Andrew, Brian and yours truly for having Tennessee still alive, and major props to the Longhorn himself, Preston for being the ONLY one to have Dayton flying in the sweet sixteen. It’s still anyones game, as all but 11 have still their championship game intact. Most teams still alive goes to Will D and Brian W for having 12 of 16, incredible job! And, it seems we must be family because the only perfect regional brackets left are Jennifer and myself, accurately navigating the east bracket. Biggest drop of round three was Bob, who fell a staggering 26 slots. Not even the mustache could save that freefall. Biggest rise was Greg K who moved up 9 slots, although, the Wichita State final four could hamper his chances. See below for up to date rankings. Bring on the madness! 1. John F (59 pts) 2. Chad B (56 pts) 3. Will D (55 pts) 4. Brian W (55 pts) 5. Preston T (52 pts) 6. Beth R (52 pts) 7. Mike Z (51 pts) 8. Molly B (50 pts) 9. Erik M (49 pts) 10. Greg T (49 pts) 11. Josh W (49 pts) 12. Matt T (49 pts) 13. Rodell P #1 (48 pts) 14. Jennifer B (48 pts) 15. Rodell P #2 (48 pts) 16. Scott D (48 pts) 17. Scott T (47 pts) 18. Lindsay M (47 pts) 19. Andrew B (46 pts) 20. Deborah M (45 pts) 21. Rebecca F (44 pts) 22. Greg K (44 pts) 23. Chris H (44 pts) 24. Kristal E (44 pts) 25. Carrie P (43 pts) 26. Ashley D (42 pts) 27. Brent A (42 pts) 28. Peter M (41 pts) 29. Kelly M (40 pts) 30. Katie T (40 pts) 31. Barbara A (39 pts) 32. Ed A (38 pts) 33. Abby M (37 pts) 34. Justin T (37 pts) 35. Bob F (37 pts) 36. Ryan M (36 pts) 37. David P (36 pts) Chad (March Madness MC)

Round 2

Hoop fans, Apologies for keeping everyone in the dark until now, no excuses, you all deserve better. Since we’re now a full 3 rounds into the madness, there’s quite a bit of catching up to do, not to mention unveiling the most important details, the CD VA tourney challenge standings. Stay tuned for a 3rd round update, but for now, I’ve got to give props to those who dominated the 2nd round on Thursday and Friday, the two most glorious days of the year. We saw a total of 7 upsets with double digits seeds advancing: (10) Stanford, (11) Dayton, (11) Tennessee, (12) Harvard, (12) North Dakota State, (12) SF Austin, and the most shocking of all (14) seed Mercer knocking out (3) seed Duke, adding to the extensive list of disappointing first round exits of the infamous blue devils. While many in the pool correctly picked Dayton, Harvard, North Dakota State, even SF Austin, only 1 was able to summon the basketball Gods and roll the dice on Mercer, that one was Beth, who was able to utilize the 5 bonus points to catapult her into second place after round 2. Incredible job, without a doubt THE pick of the second round. While most brackets are still very much alive, the first two days proved crushing to a select few including Deborah who picked VCU and Duke to the final four with VCU winning the whole thing, ouch! And yours truly, who, despite my better judgment picked my beloved and beleaguered Cowboys to reach the final four. Picking with the heart can prove demoralizing, especially when OK State has NEVER beaten those white boys from Washington, unreal. I will say, that I appreciate the sentiment from those who went out on a limb to pick against Gonzaga, including fellow alums Ashley, Jennifer, and Carrie. The only consolation is that they went on to get stoned by number 1 Arizona last night. But, I might just take an 8 point loss over that gut wrenching, last minute 2 point loss, the favored Buckeyes of Ohio State had to endure, after what looked like a sure victory was in hand. I feel your pain Lindsay and Andrew. All in all, bad weekend for the OSU’s. At least Preston got to savor the second rounds only buzzer beater, as his Longhorns downed Arizona State on a last second tip in. Unfortunately, the horns ran into Michigan two days later. Surprisingly, that monumental Duke collapse, was but a small ripple in this years tourney challenge, as only 3 picked the devils to the final four, Deborah, Katie, and Ed. However, the weekend games proved much more disastrous, but that’s for another email, sit tight. The champion of the second round was the Flea Flicker himself, John Forgy, guy went absolute nuts, picking 5 of the 7 upsets correct, missing only Mercer and Stanford, unreal. Also, props to those who had perfect regional brackets. Jennifer, Scott T, Josh, Will and myself correctly picked all 8 matchups in the East. Molly, Deborah, Beth, Mike Z, and Rodell nabbed a clean slate in the West, but most impressively Preston, by some divine force beyond himself, picked a perfect South region, including all 3 upsets in that bracket: SF Austin, Dayton and Stanford. Well done PT, well done. See below for standings. Note, these are not current standings, just after two rounds of play. 3rd round update as well as compiled and scored PDF bracket to come later this evening. I’m sure everyone is eager to see just how they stack up against the competition. Sadly, we have to wait 3 more days for more basketball. Until then, keep the madness alive!! Second Round Standings: 1. John F (39 pts) 2. Beth R (38 pts) 3. Chad B (34 pts) 4. Lindsay M (33 pts) 5. Preston T (32 pts) 6. Matt T (31 pts) 7. Will D (31 pts) 8. Molly B (30 pts) 9. Bob F (29 pts) 10. Mike Z (29 pts) 11. Greg T (29 pts) 12. Deborah M (29 pts) 13. Rodell P #1 (28 pts) 14. Rodell P #2 (28 pts) 15. Katie T (28 pts) 16. Erik M (27 pts) 17. Josh W (27 pts) 18. Scott T (27 pts) 19. Kristal E (26 pts) 20. Jennifer B (26 pts) 21. Chris H (26 pts) 22. Brent A (26 pts) 23. Andrew B (26 pts) 24. Scott D (26 pts) 25. Peter M (25 pts) 26. Rebecca F (24 pts) 27. Ed A (24 pts) 28. Carrie P (23 pts) 29. Barbara A (23 pts) 30. Abby (23 pts) 31. Greg K (22 pts) 32. Ashley D (22 pts) 33. Justin T (21 pts) 34. Kelly M (20 pts) 35. David P (20 pts) 36. Ryan M (20 pts) Chad (March Madness MC)

March Madness 2014

As the madness of March & the NCAA tourney is unwary I am handing the controls of my blog over to my brother for his yearly basketball commentary. I will be posting Chad's ever entertaining March Madness play-by-play emails here. I must confess I am a couple of days behind, but none the less I hope you enjoy! Hoops junkies, Thank you all for joining the #1 rated NCAA tourney challenge of the greater northeast. It gives me great pride to announce a new participation high at 36! This means our pot will be $360. Anyone who wants to donate another 999,999,640, we’ll have an even billion dollar bracket! Further, I’d be happy to lower the stakes, you do not have to have a perfect bracket to win. Just let me know… Until we land that money, we’ll go ahead and stick to the $360 to be divvied up to the top three finishers. We’ve already seen two upsets today with the Buckeyes goin’ down to 11 seed Dayton and Cincinnati falling to 12 seed Harvard. Tough… TOUGH day at the Meyer household, I’ve gotta say, in fact tough day for the entire underpants state. Good thing Dayton was able to shine on Ohio a bit. Congrats to John Forgy and Brian Wolf for being the only ones to correctly pick both upsets, notching a total of 7 points in the process, well done. Although, Harvard happened to be a sexy pick as 12 made that selection. Spoiler alert for those who picked the #1 overall seed to win it all…. Florida happens to be on the ropes against Albany, tied midway through the second half. Stay tuned… Again, thanks for joining, and happy watching / streaming. Don’t let work get in the way too much. PRIORITIES people! This magical time comes just once a year. Enjoy the madness! Go Pokes! Chad (March Madness MC)

Surprise

My mom turned a year older this year, shocking I know; and as fate may have it my brother and I had something up our sleeves to make this birthday one to remember. In our family, birthdays are a big deal, and we tend to go all out on the one day a year when it is all about the birthday girl or guy. From time to time my brother and I get a wild hair and like to surprise our parents with fun out of the box gifts for their birthdays. This past Christmas Chad and I were unable to travel back to Oregon to spend time with our parents for the holiday. Something happened when we joined the workforce, this thing called responsibility seemed to take hold of our lives and we simply don’t have the opportunities to take time to visit family during the holiday season like we use to. That being said, talk about surprising mom for her birthday came up in December when I realized my work obligations would not allow me the time to fly home for Christmas. I may have been the one that caused the talks to start due to my busy schedule, but my brother….he was the mastermind behind the surprise. After much coordination, discussions with my father, internet searches, many DC to Denver phone calls, plans were set. We were going to fly to Oregon the evening on February 27th Chad and I were going to stay in Portland for the evening, we were going to drive to Lincoln City, get there early (this piece of information is critical to the story), and meet mom and dad at a pre-selected restaurant on the 28th. The plans nearly came to fruition until I was taken on guided architecture tour of Downtown Portland by my architect brother Chad and his girlfriend Ashley who also happens to be an architect. The morning was beautiful, which in February is hard to come by in Portland so our tour ended up taking slightly longer than anticipated resulting in a less than planned late departure. This late departure may not seem like a huge deal to most, however when you have a father who happens to run a tight ship and is typically always prompt, a father who if by the grace of God has his phone on, will never answer it, and a father who when things do not go exactly as planned tends to have difficulty improvising. All of these elements proved to be a huge hurdle when trying to problem solve how to notify daddy that our caravan was running behind schedule so it was essential he stall or he was going to arrive with the birthday girl at said restaurant before we do. I tried to call his cell phone and as anticipated it went immediately to voicemail. I knew we had two choices, 1) we could keep all our toes and fingers crossed for the remainder of the drive, and well that was not going to be comfortable, hoping and praying that we beat them to the coast or 2) I could call mother and figure out a reason in which I needed to talk to dad, in a state in which it is illegal to talk on the phone while driving I guessed mom would ask if she could just relay a message to him. As our caravan saw it, it was a lose lose situation, so I threw caution to the wind and dialed my mother’s cell. It rang……Hello? I thought crap now what do I do, here is the exchange that took place. J: Hey what are you up to? M: Well dad is driving me somewhere. J: Where is daddy driving you? M: I don’t know. J: Well that sounds fun! M: How is the weather there? J: Partly cloudy, we are supposed to get snow tomorrow. M: I think it is supposed to rain here this weekend. As I was making headway the call dropped so I did what I would do any other time a call drops, I called her back M: Sorry we are going through a bad area for cell usage. J: That is okay. J: Can I talk to the man in charge; I would like to know what he has planned for you. M: He is driving, but I can hold the phone up to his ear. J: Great thanks (while thinking to myself……holding the phone up to his ear, I am going to have to be super cryptic incase she can hear me) D: Hello? J: Hi daddy, what are you guys up to? D: Driving mom to Lincoln City. J: That sounds fun. J: How is your day going? D: Good! (my daddy is a man of very few words) J: My day is going well also, I just seem to be running behind in everything I try to do today. D: Me to. D: Well I am driving so I am going to put your mom back on. J: Okay love you daddy! D: Love you. M: Hello? J: So I guess you heard you are going to Lincoln City! J: That will be fun! M: It will be a fun weekend. J: Well I better let you go; I will talk to you tonight. M: Okay, love you! J: Love you. I hung up the phone and received a round of applause from my caravan, Ashley follow-up with ‘well played……partly cloudy’. I felt as though we dodged a bullet and was still confident we were in disguise and mother didn’t catch on. The rest of our drive to the coast was beautiful; in true Jennifer form I embarrassed myself on many different occasions, but as a result kept the car laughing. We talked about how I missed my calling to work for the CIA, any of you who know me, know I did not in fact miss my calling. We talked about Ashley’s deep desire to move to Oregon (I have a little secret; she doesn’t like the rain...the things that make you go ummmm). It was a truly delightful drive and as we neared Lincoln City the anticipation grew. The restaurant we chose to meet at was tucked away a bit and our caravan driver missed the turn, as we drove up the road to turn around I spotted mom and dad….see these eagle eyes of mine, confirmed to everyone in the car that in fact the CIA will be calling to employee me soon. Mom and dad were turning around in the same parking lot we were so the chase began and we followed mother and daddy to the restaurant, we pulled up right beside them. Once the car was in park and when I say once I mean .0000078546 seconds after the car was put in park I jumped out and said “what are you guys doing here?”. I wish I could have taken a picture of my mother’s face, I don’t think she knew what was going on, what to say, or what to even think…..it was priceless. After our hellos, hugs, and smiles we headed inside for an over the top yummy coastal cuisine.

Reflections

National Eating Disorder Awareness week has passed and my last post is trailing a few days behind. My brother and I took a quick trip to Oregon to surprise my mother for her birthday and as a result I chose to go computerless as much as possible. The story of the surprise trip will be posted later in the week. So as I close this past week packed full of emotions, hard memories, and good memories I find peace. As I sit back and reflect on what has been my life, what currently is my life, and what I hope the rest of my life to be, I realize I would not want to change any ugly detail. I don’t have a single regret, if it were not for my life’s journey in its entirety I would not be the woman I am today. I have been asked more times that I count “how is it that you can push through the desire to go back to where you were”? I can’t sit here and tell you it is easy, but I can tell you that the life I have now is so far greater than any life I could dream of having while in the relentless grasp of Anorexia. I live a life void of ‘should haves’, ‘would haves’, could haves’ and now live my life in the moment. I realized that when writing the story of my life, I didn’t want anyone or anything else to hold the pen. I didn’t want my life or legacy to be defined by Anorexia; I wanted my life to be defined by strength, determination, and perseverance. It is within the power of every one of us to change what we don’t like, to change what is not healthy, and to refuse to use the phrase “I can’t”. I was amazing the amount of times I heard “I can’t” while I was in treatment, it was never a matter of ability it was a principle of attitude.

This is one of my favorite quotes as I continue my path to recovery. Before treatment I remember back to the rigidity that was my life, I sacrificed friendships, I sacrificed jobs, I sacrificed my health, I ultimately put my life in jeopardy for an unrealistic expectation that punishing myself with the lack of food would make everything better. What I didn’t know then, but I know now, is that all of the elements of my life that I sacrificed are the elements needed to live a full and complete life. As I conclude I want to again thank the people that stood by my side during the darkest hours, put up with my irrational, illogical, and often time uncompromising attitude, and loved me through my tears, pains, and struggle. To each of you, so many to mention here, but I believe you know how you are, I will forever be indebted and I love you all so much!

Support

Support is an amazing thing which can help make anything look and feel better. Spanx….help to support me in my business suites, books…..help to support my expanding knowledge base, heels….help to support my will to be taller, and friends and family…..support in a way that make the difficult bearable, the excitement extraordinary, and the impossible possible. I can’t imagine any journey, especially the one I have shared with you over the past few days without the love and support from my friends and family.

My anchor when I felt as though life was out of control

This girl has been through many of my ups and downs in life over the past…….nearly 20 years. I never doubted her prayers and the unmatched strength that knowledge gave me in treatment keep my faith alive.

I received cards from time to time from this amazing cousin, I am not sure she will ever know the magnitude of her action. Her cards keep me going when I wanted to give up.

Friends I met along the way supported me in a silent yet profound way Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way and continues to support me, your love and encouragement has meant everything to me.

Treatment

With anything in life, we as humans tend to have preconceived ideas of what something, someone, or someplace should look like, feel like or be like. Embarking on the unknown and at the time, very scary path of treatment, I had a million and one preconceived ideas of what this treatment thing was going to be. I thought ‘I am not going to fit in’, ‘I am not sick enough to be in a treatment center’, ‘everyone is going to wonder why someone as fat as me was in a place for skinny people’. All of these thoughts plus so many more swarmed around in my mind manifesting my fear into a paralyzing state. The one tricky thing about Anorexic’s is we don’t realize how sick we really are until it is too late. I knew the doctors were telling me my organs were shutting down, I was fully aware that I passed out in the middle of a busy street in Tulsa while I was running, I was aware the ambulance had to be called in to assist me during a track workout (I blamed both times I passed out on the hot summer temperatures), I heard my therapist when she told me she didn’t think I was going to be able to kick this preoccupation with food and exercise on my own, I was smart enough to comprehend insurance and that insurance companies would not pay for just anyone to enter a treatment center. Yet, I still was unable to realize that I had an illness serious enough for me utilize a resource for help. After all I strived daily for perfection, I could do anything I set my mind to, I wore a cape under my day clothes and when things got hard I pushed harder and made it happen. When my mother and I arrived in Denver the reality of the situation became very clear and with clarity came anger. I was never one to express my emotions well; in fact the only emotion I could express well was happiness and let’s be clear, I was as far from happy as one could get. So when the time came for my mother to leave me at the Eating Recovery Center (ERC), similar to a mother leaving a toddler at daycare for the first time, I believe I said something along the line of “if you leave me here then don’t expect to have a daughter anymore” or something like that. I actually have no recollection of this statement or much memory of the last couple of months leading up to treatment. When we don’t feed our bodies….brace yourself for this epic announcement….our minds are not fed either. Being my brain was not working at it highest capacity when I went into treatment I have had to rely on my mother and her memory to shared with me some of the things I said to her as she left me kicking and screaming, and to be honest I am surprised she still wanted to be mother when I got out. As my journey started at ERC the mountain in front seemed far too great to climb. Everything that I thought I loved in my life was taken away and everything that was uncomfortable was brought to the forefront. Yet over the course of three months the unhealthy life I had lived for years was becoming a distant memory and I surprisingly found myself embracing the new lease on life I had been given. I will be honest, treatment was not fun but it led me to a life that I can now enjoy, it introduced to me to some extraordinary people who grew to be called friends and I looked up to daily for their strength, resilience, and grace. I often times sat in admiration of the fellow ERC patients who surrounded me, the group was so diverse yet so similar. Each person was beyond incredible; I was convinced world peace could be a reality if the heads, hearts, and hands of these extraordinary people worked together. The IQs were off the charts and I was blown away by how inwardly and outwardly stunning every patient was. Those million and one preconceived thoughts….very few were actually accurate.

Intervention

Sometimes it is the most unexpected events which change the trajectory of our life’s journey in an unanticipated way. Two years ago, my life as I knew it changed suddenly when my mother showed up on my doorstep, packed up my apartment, put all my belongings into storage and loaded me up in the car. Yes, I was 32 years old, yet I had no strength to fight my mother regarding her will to drive me 700 miles from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Denver, Colorado. You see, my mother’s will to save my life was greater than my will to lose it. I had been battling an eating disorder for 15 years, visited therapist after therapist and finally in the summer of 2011, I hit 100 lbs and rock bottom. My mother, in collaboration with my therapist at the time, staged an intervention and my life as I knew it was no more. Everything was arranged for me to arrive at an inpatient facility in Denver on October 18, 2011. The few months following proved to be both the hardest and best months of my life. All of my control was taken away; I was exposed, vulnerable, and for the first time, forced to face my hurts, my pains, and my fears. I grew, I changed, I ate, I talked, I cried, I lived! It continues to be a daily journey to remember to eat, to want to eat, to not use food, or the lack of food, to escape my problems. Nonetheless, the all-encompassing journey has led me here today.

Warning Signs

Eating disorders are very complex in nature according to the National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) they “arise from a combination of long-standing behavioral, biological, emotional, psychological, interpersonal, and social factors”. There has been a plethora of research done on the complexities of eating disorders yet there is still so much learning to be done. The propensity of eating disorders is become so prevalent that it is very likely that everybody knows somebody inflicted by disordered eating. 30 million Americans will suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lifetime. Anorexia nervosa (significantly reduced appetite or complete aversion to eating), bulimia nervosa (binge-eating followed by overcompensation for the behavior by over-exercising and purging), binge eating (uncontrollable eating), and ‘other specified feeding or eating disorder’ are all spokes off of the eating disorder wheel. Although I can pinpoint the exact trigger that led to my 15 years of darkness, there were many factors that perpetuated the cycle of destruction in my life. My journey started as I stood in line for the school bus during my freshman year in high school; a male classmate of mine made a comment to me about my size and that is all that needed to occur to send me into a tailspin. I already had very low self-esteem and was surrounded by women in my family who engaged in disordered eating, so when Chris made his comment to me it was the last straw. Individuals suffering from disordered eating typically are great at hiding their behaviors, yet there are warning signs that can be spotted if you fear a loved one is suffering from an eating disorder. Here is a small list for Anorexia….dramatic weight loss, preoccupation with weight, food, calories, fat grams, dieting, and exercise, refusal to eat certain foods, withdrawal from usual friends and activities. Bulimia….unusual swelling of the cheeks or jaw area, calluses on the back of hands and knuckles, discoloration or staining of teeth, withdrawal from usual friends and activities, excessive exercise. For both Anorexia and Bulimia in general, behaviors and attitudes are focused completely around weight loss, dieting, control over food, and exercise.

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

When I was younger I remember hearing about awareness days, weeks, and months. Never did they really resonate to me and I guess a lot of that was due in part to not being effect personally by any of the illnesses that were brought to the forefront during these different times. However as I got older I found myself taking note of Breast Cancer awareness month, after losing my grandmother to the disease, Brain Tumor Action week after losing my cousin to Brain Cancer at the age of 6. Furthermore National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, as a person who has recovered from anorexia, this is a personally significant week for me, after battling the relentlessness of Anorexia for over 15 years. I am going to spend this week sharing a snap shot of my journey, signs and symptoms to the diseases, and support you can provide if you fear a loved one is within the tight grasp of an eating disorder.