Overwhelmed

I have actually had somewhat of a life the past few weeks, so after slacking off a bit, I have felt a little overwhelmed at the thought of catching everyone up on my life. I'll give it a shot...

BRIDGE

First of all, thank you to everyone all over the WORLD who has contacted me to see if my family, friends and I are okay after the bridge collapsed here in Minneapolis yesterday. Luckily, although I work about a half mile from the bridge, I do not commute to/from work that way. None of my family or friends were on the bridge. I did hear stories from several co-workers who had just driven over the bridge about 30 minutes prior to the collapse on their way home from work. Crazy timing. Today after work was my happy hour "going away" party at a nearby bar/restaurant, which happens to be located at the exit ramp just before the bridge (a football field or two away). From there, looking down 35W toward the river, I could see the other side of bridge, and it just looked like a steep hill leading down into the river. It's hard to explain, but I really didn't get up close or even try. There are news crews and rescue teams everywhere. And it was really sad walking to our cars. The parking ramp happens to be right next door to the hotel where the family waiting area is -- so there are chaplains and police and reporters hanging out there, while family members give descriptions of their missing loved ones and just wait to hear if they're found. My co-worker and I had actually gone inside the hotel to use the restroom before we knew what it was. It was as I was walking to the bathroom that I overheard a terrible portion of a conversation between a red cross worker and a man describing a missing woman. I felt bad just being there, like I was trespassing or something. I can't even imagine what that would be like.

RED RIBBON RIDE

A couple weekends ago, I volunteered as a crew member for the Red Ribbon Ride, a 4-day, 300-mile bike ride that benefits eight AIDS/HIV organizations in the Twin Cities area. My aunt Katie has done the ride for the past three years as a bike rider, and I wanted to participate this year as well, but I had a crappy Huffy from 10 years ago. Hence, volunteering as a pit crew member was more realistic for me. It turned out to be an awesome weekend filled with lots of funny memories.

I was part of Pit 1 (which was the first pit stop every day of the ride). There are five pits total each day, and each pit plans a theme for each day as well. Our themes were: Village People, Jetsons, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Phantom of the Opera. We were up at 4 am each day, set up our pit stop with food, water, decorations (of course!), ice, etc. and then we'd welcome the riders and entertain and cheer them on. After they left our pit, we'd pack up and follow along the route, cheering out our car windows, stopping at the other pits to chat with them and check out their themes, and then we'd finally get to camp each night at a different high school in a different city in southern MN and camp out. Oh yeah, and our team (Team Wells Fargo) would go out each night for a beer. :) Don't worry, we'd be in by 9:30 pm. Anyway, if you want to hear more about it or get involved, call me or write me. It was so fun. Exhausting physically and emotionally, but also so refreshing to be with such a positive group of people for four straight days. Oh yeah, and I was so inspired that I have now upgraded from my old Huffy and just bought a Trek 1000 road bike -- yay! I'm seriously considering doing the ride next year, so let me know if you want to join me!

My RRR pictures

Team Wells Fargo RRR photo site

RRR site

BASTILLE DAY WEEKEND

The weekend prior to the RRR, I went to Indianapolis for yet another college friend's wedding. I got the chance to hang out with all my old roomies and co-workers, hit up my favorite places out on the town and also see my first pregnant friend, Eleni! We had a surprise baby shower for her, and she is just so darn cute. This is my favorite picture of the weekend (only the girl in the middle is pregnant -- we didn't all get knocked up just for the picture):

It was so fun to see everyone and see Nathan and Leah get married -- the whole wedding was like a mini-Butler reunion. Here are more of my favorite pics of the weekend: