Amazing Race Baby

So the time has come for us to apply to the most amazing reality show on earth. THE AMAZING RACE. You know it's gotta be good when you have to sign a waiver with this clause in it:

All applicants must be in good physical and mental health and must be aware that, and

sign releases attesting that, the activities in the Program may involve risks and hazards,

and that participating in the Program may expose applicant and other participants to,

among other things, the risk of death, serious injury, illness and property damage

caused by the risks associated with their participation in the Program, including,

without limitation, the following: latent or apparent defects or conditions in any

equipment used in the Program; the use or operation by applicant or others of said

equipment; acts of other people including, without limitation, acts of the Producers or

other participants; accommodations; weather or other natural conditions; the nature of

travel including, without limitation, latent defects and human error; applicant’s

physical condition; applicant’s own acts or omissions; sleep deprivation; first-aid,

medical or emergency treatment or other services rendered to applicant or others;

exposure to illness; consumption of food or drink; acts of God (e.g. earthquakes and

floods); laws or local ordinances; war or riots; terrorism; strikes; and/or no reason at

all. Applicants must understand and acknowledge that the above list of reasons is not

complete or exhaustive. Applicants must accept and assume all risks of injury, death,

illness or disease, or other damage to themselves, to others, or to their property, which

arise in any way from their participation in this Program.

HOLY MOLY. We might die, people. But man would it be amazing. This is assuming that we get chosen for the season that will film in late spring/early summer. February 14th kicks off season 16 so we are going to be watching and studying ;o)

We see ourselves as the next Megan and Cheyne (season 15 winners) but with more experience together and cooler names ;o)

Here's the deal, though. It seems pretty difficult to become the 1 white couple hat isn't inherently cool. They like to pick people who are like 70 year old with 22 year old, or Harlem Globetrotters, or former Miss Americas, or minorities. They haven't had a token Christian couple, so I'm not sure if we can play that card. We'll just have to trust that if we get picked, it was God's will. But we do get to make a 3 minute video, so we have to make that FREAKIN AWESOME.

For our video, we have a few ideas but not a ton. We're going to start out with us doing pullups and other crazy things in the gym, and then I think we're going to tell our top 5 ideas of why we want to be on the amazing race. Anyone have any other crazy-cool ideas we could add?

We're going to have the song "Remember the name" in the background (obviously the clean version). Here are the top 5 reasons that we'll discuss in the video and then I'll post it later this week when we complete it. It will be my fist go at video-editing, so if anyone wants to help let us know...We might pay you a portion of our million dollar winnings... ;o) But we need it done by Friday.

Reason #1: A Physical Challenge

Reason #2: A thirst for competition

Reason #3 We want to see the world

Reason #4 We love people

Reason#5 We want a BIG family

So I wrote out like a little script/screenplay...and here goes nothing!!

Rated "R" experience at Starbucks

I'm sitting on Michigan avenue on a rainy Saturday morning because no other stores or fun coffee shops are open. The city is a bit slower on the weekends I guess. Hope the ice skating rink is equally slow when we go later this afternoon! If it's not cold enough to skate and re-live our engagement (haha) we'll go Shedd Aquarium! How fun!

So to start my day off on the right foot, a couple homeless guys who initially appeared to be getting along got into an F-word fest-fight as I stood waiting for my double skinny vanilla latte to come up on the bar. Needless to say, they were told to remove themselves from the store. Wow, exciting. (I heard it only takes 3 F-words to make a movie Rated "R." Hence, the title of my blog today =)

I'm totally pumped to meet Aubrey at Cosi for lunch, also to get bubble tea and dinner from Joy Yees in Naperville tonight with my sis and see her new crib!

We have been in Chicago for four days now for a big Central Regional meeting for work and it has totally been a blast. We had a couple big dinner/dance parties and I borrowed a couple dresses so I could feel fancy. Fancy is one of my favorite feelings. It makes me feel glamorous and lovely, and maybe a little sexy and fun. ;o)

Being in Chicago just brings back so many memories, big sibs, college friends, modeling stuff (blehh), and being here also invokes my inner shopaholic. I love it!

I'll be heading home in style. Peace out.

To self-publish or to fight your way into a big publisher?

Writing+Reading+drinking coffee and tea=The life I want to live in 2010!

In terms of goals for this year, I guess I have a few. Health and fitness: I'd like to improve even more than I have over this last year. I'd like to get pretty "clean" with the way I eat. but I'm not sure how likely those are to happen, since I made a lot of changes in this area in 2009. I'd also like to get rid of my Shop-aholic tendencies ;o/ I'd like to read the Bible, 20 books, etc...BUT

The goals that are trying to skydive out of my brain into reality this year are the ones that relate to career choice and passion-pursuit. I have this intense desire to WRITE and PUBLISH books. I read once that 90% of the population in America wants to write a book at some point in their life. But SO few do it. Maybe 5% of those? And how many of those get published...I think it was something crazy like 20% of the 5%. I really would like to think that ONE of my TEN ideas could become a real book. How do I break out of the wannabe zone?

I set some goals in 2009 to get my books done or submit them for publishing, but it has only been over the last couple months that I've really taken to reading some serious publishing books. I get more and more excited with each page I read (good sign, I think) but the major problem lies in my current lifestyle: I work full time. I am exhausted and spent at the end of each day, and I am usually only able to squeeze 4-5 hours of SERIOUS writing each week. I could do more on the weekends, but I want to spend as much quality time with my husband as I can.

So, I had coffee with a wonderful contact through work yesterday. He challenged me to do some writing/publishing and just run with it. Even if I have to self-publish. And he challenged me to do it NOW/SOON/IMMEDIATELY/BEFORE WE HAVE KIDS/WHEN I'M YOUNG AND FULL OF IDEAS!

So I have been in a sort of dazed stupor as I face the decision of what to do. Do I just jump off the cliff and pursue my dream? All the books I read tell me that I should. "Just go for it. Make the sacrifice of income vs. passion and happiness. What better time to be poor than when you're young?" But...then the voice of reason and logic pops in. Plus it's not that I don't enjoy what I do as a recruiter, but it's just not as much as I would love writing for a living.

I can't wait until the only question I am debating over is whether I should submit proposals like a crazy woman to get into a publisher, or self-publish.

God, please give me guidance and strength to make the right decision!

2009 Recap and 2010 Goals!

Well 2009 was quite a year, and I can say that it probably topped 2008 in eventfulness!

A little recap:

January-went to Florida with Ash Redman to visit a friend. Ran a 10K down there..got tan...avoided the negative 40 windchills that were happening back home!

April-Started Crossfit. The workout extraordinaire that has revolutionized both my husband and my bodies! (Now I can do at least 75 pull-ups...not in a row, but in a period of about 20-30 min, which means I can check "pull-up" off of my bucket list!)

May-Graduated from College and started my first "real" full time job at Northwestern Mutual as a Recruiter. Getting a paycheck and awesome benefits for working just as hard as you worked in college is GLORIOUS!

August-Went to Wisconsin with the work group to go skiing, boating, relax for a few days because Kev qualified for the "summer contest" at work

We also bought our house August, and we absolutely LOVE IT. It's perfect for us. This was a huge step! We were in a bidding war for it, and we definitely ended up spending more than we had planned. But it's one of those things that's worth it...and so much more!

October-Let's just say that RIGHT when you feel comfortable and like you know exactly what God is up to, you just might find out that he has another plan. Our church family has gone through a lot, with the result of two churches coming out of one. I think this is a good thing! The church Sacred City was born and has caused/allowed us a ton of room for spiritual growth as God prepares us for what is to come. Kev and I open our home for church on Sunday mornings now and it has been really exciting to see people grow and people come to church who would never have come with us before. There's been a LOT of growing pains/friendships that we aren't sure what's happening in/changes but God is faithful and we are confident that He will supply all our needs according to HIS glorious riches. (Phil 4:19)

Wow, so, but we'll leave it at that. Graduating from college, getting a house, the church (and maybe the pull-ups) are milestones in my life, and I don't want to forget to thank God for providing in abundance this last year! Whatever 2010 has to bring...we're ready!

2010 Goals to come...

What happened big for you in 09?? I'd love to know!!