Natalee Fuller

2011. 2010. 2009.

I was really hoping to get by January without any mention of Bop to the Top from friends. Leave it to both BA and CS to bring it up. I just can't say no because it's so short, although I was really worried about the state my legs were in. Different weight sessions during the week had both the quads and the hammies screaming. I was banking on a 8 minute finish. Stretched for a few minutes prior, slopped BioFreeze on every bit of the lower extremities and was off. Death warmed over again...

After a few minutes of rest at the top, I looked much better (I think).

Turns out I was 1 second faster than last year at 7:02! Holy hell I even won my age division. I didn't know this at the time so didn't even consider to stay for the awards that took place hours after we finished. But now that I know I got one, I want it! Mr. Carr is getting a call from me!

K planned a get-together at Dave and Busters during their half price game night. Note to self, they don't take coupons for extra points on half price game night... Go the night before, add/buy points, leave, return the following night. So while I dominated at pop-a-shot and skeeball for the first few competitions of the night, my focus was elsewhere. Enter The Claw Game. I love the claw game. I'm not really sure where the relationship started but it goes way back. I tried to win KVin a toy Tootsie Roll thing from the normal machine. I had it in the talons and the claw was swinging and then dropped it to a spot no claw will ever be able to go. That's when I spied the gynormus claw game. Must play. Must win.

After 3 tries, hell ya! Papa, meet The Enforcer. Best claw game prize eva. I really enjoyed the tag that came with it.

Yeah, the tag is the dangerous part for a 3 year old.

The first concert I ever saw was in Ft. Wayne and it was MC Hammer with my Mom in 1993-ish. This is a totally different hammer-time experience between a child and a Mom. Ft. Wayne does it again.

http://www.fox59.com/news/crime/wxin-hammer-son-mother-accused-of-hitting-son-with-hammer-for-eating-her-food-20120119,0,2267900.column

With Devour Downtown going on, it finally seemed like the right time to experience the gluttony of Fogo de Chao. I planned the first portion of the night, Glow in the Dark golf! 

I constantly felt like I was going to trip on something and fall on my face. CS racked up 4 hole-in-ones in our first 18 holes. My tickets bought us 3 rounds each, but there was no way I could last for 3 full rounds of this. After the first game, we both had a few bad scores so I said we could each pick 2 holes to redo. Better or worse, you take the new score. My score stayed the same but CS improved his by 4 shot, pushing him into the winners spot. Dumb idea by me. We played another 9 before heading over to our reservation. We were tied after 9 holes, picked 1 hole to redo, and again CS wins 2. Fail by me.

At Fogo, the meat portion of you meal is controlled by a single card with red and green sides. I mistakenly thought this was my drink coaster until the waitress informed me of what that was. I hope my mistake didn't come across as disgraceful. I really didn't know!

The salad bar was great and mostly filled me up. I was able to muscle down some mashed potatoes, 10 bites of filet mignon and 8 bites of chicken wrapped in bacon. I was uncomfortably full and looked like it. Clearly I will never eat here at full price of $50 a person. But there was something weirdly sexy about men in gaucho pants walking around carving meat off of skewers.

Attended the Butler game over the weekend and was delighted with the best half time show ever. Mascot basketball!

K spotted the mascots first and quickly got my attention to know who they all were. I responded with "The lion, walrus and meerkat are all from the zoo. That bear is from St. Vincent's Hospital, Rowdy is the Indiana and Big E is from the Ice. I don't have my picture with Big E and lost my one with Rowdy. The others, done."

These guys were trying to dribble, shoot and pass off to one another while keeping their big mascot heads on. It. Was. Fabulous!

Since I don't have any projects needed at my place, I turned my crafty side else where. Getting some inspiration from Pinterest, I asked PS if she wanted a pin board for her room above her desk. She said yes, so I got the supplies.

I didn't have a step by step plan, but I had worked it out in my head on what I thought we needed to do to make a 1/2 cork board 1/2 pin board. PS wanted more cork, so only needed to make an easy cut to make the length fit. She spray glued the material (which was a pre-cut quilt square) to the cardboard that came with the frame. Then spray glued a piece of cork down. Hot glued the elastic straps on to the cork and backside of the board. Spray glued another piece of cork on top, and Volia.

Not bad for a first attempt. I culd have gotten a bit straighter with the elastic, but not to shabby for $25!

My hometown. Really dude?

Whenever I'm out of town for an extended period of time, A&K take care of my mail. I return the favor for them. Over the past holiday, I left K a semi-hidden present in her room.

I stuck a wallet size head shot photo of me in the corner of a piece of her artwork. It (I) was looking at her while she was sleeping. I found it hilarious and anxiously awaited to see how long it would take her to find it.  Day 1... Day 2... Day 3... Day 4 at 2:15 am I get the picture above with a "WTF is this?!" text. Awesome is what that is.

A very good friend of mine had his recent CD debut on iTunes this week! Check out Bruce Barker if you are looking for a new artist to add to your playlist!

I guess this was K's payback for 2010.

We headed south to Assembly Hall to watch what we thought was going to be a dismal game. Turned out to be a fantastic nail biter that had me up and cheering for the Hoosiers. Yes, I said rooting for the Hoosiers. I had to pick a team and my energy was not going to be used towards THE Ohio State punks.

But I didn't forget my alma mater during my trip. I got the restaurant we were at prior to the game to put on my beloved Boilers!

After we quietly rooted them on to victory, I returned the favor to K and felt it was safe to become a Hoosier for a few hours.

I got what every girl wants for Christmas...

A tow system! When I traded in ole Lexy, the tow system went with her because they are so specific to each car model. I was very excited to help my Dad bolt this baby to Lexy Dos!

15 minutes, done!

Let's haul some sheet!

My bib number was randomly drawn for a prize at the Trail Daze run. They had a few things I could choose from but the RoadID gift certificate caught my eye fast! I've been debating getting one. They are only $16 bucks but with a $15 gift card and free shipping, I had no more excuses. Here's what I came up with for my 5 lines of text:

Final cost: $0.99

We finished the tournament in September and received our championship prize in December. Good thing its long sleeve.

I always had a different definition of racked. Went to the grocery the other night and right when I walked in, I noticed something was up. I usually check out what kind of new cheap swag there may be. There were envelopes taped to several coin machines.

They said "You've been RACK'D (Random Act of Christmas Kindness)" and had quarters in them! Very creative idea for the holidays.

A race I'd never heard of before passed through my inbox that I thought sounded pretty fun. The Red Bull Trail Daze. Everyone starts together but then you choose your own race and merge back at the finish. Easy, Medium, or Hard. No route is more than 5 miles and no less than 3. To make it more enticing, I offered RBVs after the race for any friends that would join me.

EL and BA were the only 2 knuckleheads that joined in the fun. I did pick up 2 more players at the start line, one of which was a high school friend I hadn't seen in probably 15 years! We all chose hard and were off! I was feeling pretty good until my fall at mile 2. WTF? Sneaky branch was hidden in a pile of leaves and took me down. Even with that, I finished in the top 10 females!

The boys handed me a Red Bull to pound during the last 20 meters. Cheers with them afterward!

When I crossed the finish, one of the race directors asked me which course I did. Hard. The next question was "Well, was it hard?" I said no, its Indiana. Not trying to be snobby, just have a different perspective than most with my history. While we were hanging out for the awards, we got some photo ops with the best part of the event. The Red Bull monster truck!

This thing had a full DJ booth equipped with TV monitors, turntables, space heater. DJ Metrognome is a full time DJ and this is his gig with Red Bull. He DJs at all Indiana events. What kind of awesome gig is that?! He let us up into his sanctuary to get a better view.

I'd definitely do this race again but I'd prefer it be on a course I didn't know. I've run about every trail in Eagle Creek now so I could picture what was coming up the whole time. Would be pretty fun to know nothing about the adventure you were getting ready to do.