An unsuccessful day at the track...

Yesterday Travis and I went to the horse races in Hot Springs with several of my friends from work. We had a great time, but we left broke, only cashing in two tickets the entire day. One for $40 and one for $12 (I picked the horse for that ticket!) It was a great time getting to hang out with everyone and we don't ever take more money than we would be sad to lose, so better luck next time I guess. The weather was perfect for the races because I personally like to stand outside and yell for my horse. I was sure the louder I yelled, the better my horse would perform (obviously, I was wrong). After the eighth race, we were tired of losing, so we decided to go check out the gaming room Oaklawn offers. There are no actual casinos in Arkansas, and the closest thing we get is Oaklawn's gaming room. They offer slot machines, black jack, and poker. It's all computerized though, so it's legal somehow. I don't really get it. I played the slot machines because that's all I know how to do and lost $20 within about 15 minutes so I gave up on gambling for the day. Travis went and tried his luck at the black jack tables, but once again, left empty handed. Oh well. It was a fun day.

Now for a long gripe:

On our way to the horse track Travis texted his workout/throwing partner Cliff Lee to tell him he wouldn't be working out till much later and Cliff told him he was going to the track too. Cliff played with the Indians and won a Cy Young award (highest award for a pitcher), got traded to the Phillies and won 2 games in the World Series, and just recently got traded to the Mariners. So needless to say, over the past two years, he's become quite a big deal especially in the Saline County area. While we were at the races, several people came up and wanted to get their pictures taken with him. He agreed to every single one of them. Now, he's not at the races making an appearance. He's there to have a good time and hang out with his friends, but he signed and took pictures with everyone that asked. A guy came over and asked if his girlfriend could take a picture of them, Cliff said sure. Today I get on facebook and the picture is posted and a friend of mine had commented on it (the girlfriend went to high school with me, and her photos weren't set to private so I could see it) under the photo the caption says "Jeremy with Cliff Lee (he's a rick jerk btw)." How dare you. I was standing there the entire time, and Cliff was not a jerk. He agreed to take the picture. No, he didn't have much small talk for the guy. But we were all standing there in the middle of trying to decide what horses to bet on the next race. He's not at a baseball camp, or anything to do with baseball. He's in the middle of what little personal time he does have, leave him alone. I know he's a professional baseball player and he's a "big deal" to some people, but he still deserves to be able to go out with friends and be left alone. And if you don't leave him alone and you do interrupt what he's doing, and he does take the time to take a picture with you, how dare you say he's rude.

Sorry to rant for so long, but it just hit a nerve.

P90X: Round Two

And by round two, I don't mean I've already finished the 90 day program and I'm coming back for 90 more days. I mean I'm trying to finish a full 90 days. I completed two full weeks back when I started, but then life happened, and I got behind on my workouts and just quit. You have a specific workout for six days and then rest on the seventh, but if something would come up I would just double up workouts. Then I got a few days behind and there was no way I was going to be able to do four P90X workouts in a day, and I just gave up on it. This time around I just have to make time for it. Whether that means getting up before work, or suffering through a workout after...NO EXCUSES. This time I plan on at least making it until we leave for spring training, and then I can start running again. I'll be bringing the dvds just in case I feel motivated to continue the program, so be prepared Lisa. I'll even bring along my extra yoga mat :)
I'm excited to get to spring training because all of the girls are so motivating. Everyone's in such great shape, many of them are personal trainers and very into working out. When Lisa and I lived together last spring training, she always made me get out and run. She was an athlete in college and still has that drive I guess. I just don't have it. I want to have it, and once I get started I can motivate myself, but this cold weather really makes it hard for me to get motivated. What are y'alls motivations for working out?
I really, really want to run a marathon one day, and I'm definitely thinking the sooner the better. I mean, I'm not getting any younger. But when I'm running I always get to the 2 or 3 mile mark and just bottom out. What are your motivations to get past that slump, to add more reps, or more weight, or add distance, etc? I don't know what to tell myself to get past it. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Pictures from Silver Dollar City

Silver Dollar City at Christmas has to be one of the best places on Earth. The lights are absolutely beautiful. The tree at the front of the park has lights that dance to Christmas songs every 15 min., there's a parade, good shows, and wonderful hot chocolate.

Our 1 Year Anniversary!

Travis and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on December 12. It's so hard to believe that it's already been a year. It's been the fastest, best year of my life. To celebrate, we went to Branson, MO. Neither of us had been in years, and I have always wanted to see it at Christmas time. If you haven't seen Silver Dollar City at Christmas, I highly recommend it. The lights are absolutely incredible. We drove up Friday morning and stayed until Tuesday. It was a wonderful trip. We ate lots of really good food, did A LOT of shopping (luckily we hadn't really done much Christmas shopping for each other before the trip, or we would have been in trouble) and of course went to Silver Dollar City. We stayed at a hotel that has several different themed rooms. We chose the Aspen room which had a mural on the wall of a skier and snow covered mountains (still waiting for my snow this year). Our room had a jacuzzi in it, which was amazing. We really couldn't have asked for a better trip. It was a wonderful way to celebrate our first year of marriage!

Reds Fest

Travis was invited to attend Reds Fest in Cincinnati. It's a weekend where fans can mingle with past, present and future Reds players. Over 17,000 Reds fans came to the event that was held Dec. 4 and 5. The guys have photo sessions, autograph sessions, they read to kids, have a wiffle ball home run derby, and Saturday night there was a poker tournament with 500 participants. All of the proceeds from the event benefit the Reds Community Fund. This year they raised over $50,000! It was really an honor for him to be invited and it was such a fun weekend. The best part was getting to catch up with part of our extended baseball family.

Enjoy some photos from our trip. I was horrible about taking pictures while we were there and only got one picture of Travis and I from the entire weekend.

Walking around Cincinnati after we got into town (that's why I look so tired; travel days are always tiring). We didn't get to go ice skating because we think the Reds would frown upon that

:(

Travis accepting his Reds Minor League Pitcher of the Year award

Reds players-past and present

So much talent and history on stage, I got goose bumps, and that doesn't happen easily

A HUGE Reds jersey, I should have stood by it so you could see exactly how big it is, but it's covering the whole wall

Bike the 48

Today I met two guys that are trying to do something amazing, and some would even say insane, to help make this country a better place. They are dedicating one year of their lives to bike across the country (one is biking, the other is following behind him in a support vehicle). Below you will find their mission and their website so you can follow their year long journey, see when they'll be in your city, see what all good they've done along the way, and even help support their journey. They're only on day 7 of their journey, so your thoughts, prayers and well wishes will do them a lot of good.

"We are going on a mission to spread Christ's love throughout the country, and inspire others to do the same. JJ Kelley will be riding his bicycle through the 48 contiguous states followed by Rod Casey in a support vehicle. He will also be filming the events of the trip, and we will both be volunteering our time in every city to serve God wherever we can. We are doing this to show people that God is at work in our country and there is hope for our future. It's going to be a long arduous journey that will push JJ's body to the limits and test the bonds between friends and family. Although this trip is a dream of ours, the purpose of it is to serve others and bring glory to God. Our country is currently struggling with many problems and we want to find people and organizations that are making a difference and help out in any way that we can."
http://www.bikethe48.com/

P90X

I have become a P90Xer. I had watched the infomercials and the workout program peaked my interest. So one day two weeks ago I got on Ebay and ordered it. I got the complete (13 dvd system, nutrition guides, and calendar) for $75! P90X is a ninety day workout plan that has you doing a different workout every day, core, cardio, yoga, kenpo (boxing), legs, arms, everything. I started last Monday and let me tell you, there are muscles hurting I didn't even know existed. Muscles in my neck were hurting! I'm not so sure how I feel about that. I don't need a big, muscular, manly neck, but hopefully that won't happen. So far I really like it. I mean, I hate doing it and it takes some internal motivation to put the dvds in, but once I get started and afterward I'm very glad I did it. With P90X you get to do all sorts of different workouts. Kickboxing, yoga, everything. It keeps things interesting and fun. It's going to be a long ninety days, but I hope at the end of it all I'm a stronger, healthier person (and I would like to do one real pull up).

It comes with a nutrition guide with a very specific diet that I can't follow. I just don't eat that kind of stuff so instead I'm just trying to eat better. I say this as tonight I had McDonalds for dinner :), but that's the first fast food I've had in TWO WEEKS! That's really good for me.

I only have 78 days left!