Easter Weekend with the Cardinals

So my last post before I went on hiatus I mentioned that I was headed to St Louis for Easter weekend for a couple Cards games. It was a good weekend. We saw 2 Cards victories and stayed at the Drury Plaza downtown, my favorite place to stay in St Louis. Pictures from the weekend...

Ryan Ludwick and Albert Pujols receive their 2008 Silver Slugger Awards




Nikki spends Easter with Fredbird (can you tell it was cold that day?)




Amazing seats on Easter Sunday...




...for watching a complete game shutout from Kyle Lohse.

Pardon the Interruption...

Ok, back on the road and back to blogging. I had an excellent pork chop at the Beef House and am now completely stuffed. Good way to start a vacation.

Ok, now where was I....

How about some completely random stuff all thrown together, then I'll do my separate posts for my assorted trips this summer...

-I feel the need to comment on Michael Jackson. Yes, I realize that Farrah Fawcett passed away the same day but she did not have the impact on my life that Michael Jackson did. Charlie's Angels was just before my time. Michael Jackson on the other hand...I grew up listening to him. I mean who from my generation has not rocked out to his music while attempting a completely jacked up version of the Moonwalk while trying to figure out how in the world he moved like that? Was he a bit of a weirdo? Yes, absolutely. But he was an amazing performer and had some of the greatest songs from my lifetime. Of course the ultimate is Billie Jean, but that is not one of favs. I enjoy it, but my personal favs...The Way You Make Me Feel, Remember the Time and Man in the Mirror. I also love the Beat It and Thriller videos. Sadly I can still remember and do some of the dance moves from both those videos. My biggest regret is that I never got to see him in concert. He was on my list of people who I still wanted to see in concert. Sadly that can't happen now.

-Apparently I have gained a reputation in my office as being this great cook. This is quite possibly the funniest things I have ever heard. Hello...this is the girl that screwed up Kraft Mac & Cheese. I live on frozen food. I have brought a total of three things in for assorted work potlucks...crockpot pizza, Chocolate Lush and yesterday I brought Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake thanks to the recipe Marla gave me after John's birthday party. The cake caused my coworker Brian to exclaim "I don't understand why you aren't married. That was some of the best stuff I have ever eaten!" He then went on to tell me that I line formed in the break room to try it after they learned that I had made it because if Nikki made it then we have to try it. Crazy. If they only knew I lived on frozen pizza, pizza rolls and popcorn.

-My Cardinal boy Joe Mather had to have surgery on his wrist, meaning now he will not be playing when I venture to Memphis at the end of the month. What the heck? I am finally going to go to Memphis to see a game and he won't even be playing. Hopefully he will still be there. But I'm not sure how it works in the minors as far as being there if you out injured. Everyone keep your fingers crossed that he is there.

-In other Cards news....it is a total possibility that another of my fave Cards, Ryan Franklin, could be selected for the All Star team. I would like to think that the Frankie Fan Squad could have a little bit to do with that, helping give Frankie the encouragement he needed to become this awesome closer that he has become today. Ok, maybe not but I am proud to say that I was a Frankie fan before everyone else jumped on the Ryan Franklin bandwagon. Right now he is sitting on a 2-0 record with a 0.87 ERA and 19 saves out of 20 attempts. He is tied for 4th in the league in saves. He has obviously been very effective when given the opportunity. I am very excited for him. Everyone was questioning at the beginning of the season what the Cards were going to do without a true closer, without even naming a closer. I believe that Frankie has effectively silenced those questions. Keep it up Frankie!

-It has been a pretty decent baseball year for me. I have been to 8 games thus far this year. It would have been 9 if not for a rainout in Chicago back in April. That game has been rescheduled to next weekend. Plus I have 3 more to go to this weekend in Cincinnati. And even more exciting...I will be going to some of the All Star festivities next weekend. Dad got tickets for the All Star Fanfest with his ticket package this year and the tickets are for next Monday July 13. I took the day off to head down. I may not actually make it to the All Star game itself, but I can at least check out some of it. All Star game tickets has kinda been a standing "I want this for my birthday" thing for a long time since it always falls within a few days of my birthday. When I found out that St Louis would be hosting the All Star game the year of my 30th birhtday I thought it was fate and I was determined that I was going to be there. Unfortunately tickets are not exactly easy to come by, unless you are totally loaded, in which case you could check out Stub Hub and get some tickets. Unfortunately, I am not loaded. So I'll take what I can get. I'm just hoping to see some really cool Hall of Famers at the Fanfest.

Well, I think I will break here and download some pictures/video to the computer so that I can highlist some of my trips from this summer. More to come...

Greetings from the Worst Blogger Ever

Ok, don't fall over in shock. Yes, I am updating my blog. Life has been quite busy of late and I have not had a lot of time in which to blog. I am going to get at least somewhat caught up today. Fill people in on the goings on in my life over the last couple months and fill everyone in on a couple good Cardinals trips. Speaking of which, as we speak I am en route to Cincinnait for the Cardinals series this wonderful 4th of July weekend. Fireworks and the Cardinals...two of my favorite things. And to make it even better....we are stopping at the Beef House for lunch in Covington, IN in a bit. Yum!

So, what have I been doing lately....well, the most exciting thing would have to be buying a new car. I got a 2008 Mitsubishi Endeavor and it is totally tricked out. It was not what I originally planned to get but I love it. It is silver with black leather interior, has heated seats, sunroof and a built in navigation system (which has been great for my numerous trips I have taken over the last couple months...more on those in later posts). I have always wanted an SUV and now I finally have one! I got a great deal on it as it was a new 2008 that had been sitting on the lot for a year and they were trying to clear out for the 2010 stock. Here's a pic of what it looks like (not actually mine, but it looks the same)



I've also been playing softball a lot. And our team has a perfect record! And by that I mean we have yet to win a game. I swear, we really are not bad. We have good players. One night we were beating the best team in the league by like 6 runs. Then it all fell apart. It is a lot of fun though and that is all that is really important.

Last weekend I attended a 30th birthday party for my friend John. His birthday is not actually until Sunday (July 5) but Marla and Jeremiah had the party a little early. It was a good time at Old Orchard. I haven't been there in forever. Jeremiah was quite cute. And I got to hold Claire, the 2 week old daughter of the John and Marla's friend Krista that I have met on several occasions. She is a doll.

Crap....we are getting off the interstate to head to the Beefhouse. Gotta stop for now. Mmmmm....Beef House.

The Week in Review

Ok, trying to get caught up on the happenings of this week.

-First congrats to Karen and Ben! Tate Benjamin arrived at 11:45 PM on April 8. He was 5 lbs 8 oz and 19 inches long. Very exciting! Tate was not expected for a few more weeks but it was decided that he should put in an early appearance due to some concerns. I can't wait to go down and meet him. I am loving the name. It is a very Illini sounding name. I don't know if it was planned that way, but knowing Karen it could have been. Loren Tate is kinda legendary country and Tate is a much better name than Barnhardt, Shepherd or Bardo :)

-The Cards finished out the week at 3-2. But the most exciting thing to see (or hear as in my case) was Carp's great pitching debut on Thursday. Since I was at work I was unable to watch but I did listen at work. It was great to hear him bounce back his first game out this year. I really believe that confidence is a big factor in pitching and even though all the interviews say they are all professionals and one bad outing doesn't affect that, it has to feel good to get out there and see that yes, you can still do this. Plus it stops all the can he/can't he discussions in the media. Obviously he can. So close to the no hitter. Granted, not a complete game no hitter but I am not expecting any of our pitchers to go out and pitch a complete game in week 1. They are still working on the stamina and such at this point. Never fear though because our favorite, Ryan Franklin pitched a 1,2,3 8th inning and Dennys Reyes closed it out in the same manner. So good to see. I feel this bodes well for the remainder of the season. Only bad thing about listening to that game on the radio....nobody has talked to Mike Shannon about the whole "Ka-heel Green" thing yet. Help me out here people! Plus he was attempting to like give a physics lesson on the air. That was.....interesting. I also noticed on one of the other games this week that Colby Rasmus is apparently trying to compete with Chris Duncan over who can fit more chew in their mouth. At least I think it was chew. It could have been seeds. All I know is that there was a giant wad in there. Less is more Colby....less is more.

-In other Cards news...I finished reading the book "Tony LaRussa: Man on a Mission" by Rob Rains yesterday. I really did enjoy it. I read 3 Nights in August and it gives you quite the insight into Tony. This one however really took it back to the beginning. It talked about his childhood, growing up with Lou Pineila and his playing years. I learned that his first managing position was with the Cardinals farm team in Springfield, IL. Of course that team is no longer around but I just found it interesting. It chronicles all his time in Chicago and Oakland and of course in St Louis. I of course cringed a bit when reading about the rough patches he had in St Louis with Ozzie Smith and Scott Rolen since they are 2 of my all time favorite Cardinals. I realize there are some bruised feeling all around there. I just wish it hadn't happened that way. Both times the situation was a tough situation to be put in and I really can't blame anyone for their actions/comments at the time it was all going on. I just wish that it hadn't played out that way. Can't we all just get along? Next up I am either going to read the autobiography of Josh Hamilton, or a book about the Gashouse Gang, the infamous Cardinals team from back in the day. Yes, I really do eat, sleep and breathe baseball during the season :)

-Well baseball season has started so that means it is time to start softball too. We actually had our first practice last week in the rain...that was fun. By the time I got home I felt like I had stepped into the shower in my clothes. We were supposed to have a practice game on Monday night but it was kinda snowed out. That was crazy. We had our final practice Thursday night and I think we should have a decent team. If nothing else I know we will have a fun team. Everyone on the team is really fun/cool but still actually wants to be competitive. My kind of team. I don't know what position I will play but it really doesn't matter to me. Other people had much stronger opinions on where they wanted to play. I have played like every postion so I just told them to put me wherever. I am very excited for our first game on Thursday. Now it is just a matter of staying injury free through the season. I was pitching batting practice the other day and if it hadn't been for my quick reflexes I would have taken a line drive to the nose. I caught it though so no DL for me :)

As I type I am currently en route to St Louis for the Cards games this weekend against the Astros. We have a Pujols Pack for 7 games this season straight down the right field line. Then mom suggested we stay overnight and go to the game tomorrow as well. I checked out Stub Hub and apparently nobody goes to the game on Easter Sunday. We were going to get tickets in the green seats (yes, THE green seats, the crazy expensive ones right behind home plate) that were on Stub Hub for only $100 a piece (that includes food and beverage...the face value is $250 a piece but I have never seen them on Stub Hub for under $300) but we couldn't find a 4th person to go as all our regular game go-ers had other plans. Don't feel too bad for us though....I managed to find tickets in row 5 behind home plate (technically row 5 behind the green seats) for only $50 a piece. Not bad at all. Unfortunately both giveaways this weekend are for kids. Darn. I want a Ryan Ludwick bat. I don't need the Kids cap today but I would totally take a Ludwick bat.

Ok, almost to Litchfield...gonna grab some lunch and then be on our way.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

And no, I'm not talking Christmas. But there was snow.

Yes people....get excited...Baseball season is here!!!!! And it was a bit of a chilly one at Busch this year. I don't know how many times I heard it said on the game coverage today that the last time it snowed in St Louis for the Cards home opener was 1982 and things turned out pretty well that year.

Unfortunately Opening Day did no go so hot for our boys bearing the Birds on the Bat. I listened to the oepneing ceremonies and the first 5 innings on the radio at work and then on my way home. I was excited to plop down and watch some Cards baseball that counted. Then I was wishing it didn't count. We were all tied up when Ludwick, aka Monkey (after his at-bat music "Brass Monkey" by the Beastie Boys, aka Studwick hit one out in the bottom of the 8th inning. Then St Louis native David Freese came through with an RBI of his own, the first of his career. Cards up 4-2 going into the eight and Jason Motte was up for the save. Unfortunately things just did not go his way. I'm not sure if it was nerves, excitement or what but he was very much up and down. He was either right on or completely off. One minute he was killing it and the next he was getting killed. He ended up giving up 4 runs, 3 of them coming when he was within 1 strike of finishing the game. Curses. Stupid Jack Wilson. Is it just me or is he always the culprit when it comes to the Pirates beating the Cards? So not such a great start to the season. Highs and Lows...

Highs....
-Baseball season is here!!!!
-Brendan Ryan got the start at 2nd due to a lefty pitcher and he was so cute with his little camcorder.
-I love seeing all the Hall of Famers back. Especially Ozzie. Love him!
-Mass abundance of the cuteness of the players fist bumping Red Schoendienst. I still think that is too cute.
-Cal Eldred is joining the FSN Midwest Cardinals Live coverage. I enjoyed Cal Eldred.
-Mike Matheny was on the pregame with Mike and John. I REALLY enjoyed Matheny.
-Did I mention baseball season is here?
-Watching the replay of the game/opening ceremonies last night made me forget about the NCAA championship game so I was not subjected to another Tarheel championship.

Lows...
-Obviously losing wasn't so hot.
-Joe Mather is in Memphis.
-Can someone please man up and tell Mike Shannon "I know that you are a St Louis broadcasting legend, but I feel the need to let you know that our new shortstop's name is pronounced ka-leel, not ka-heel. Yes, there is an "h" in there but you are putting it in the wrong place and driving Nikki up the wall. What kind of welcome is it to a player new to St Louis when our own announcers can't get his name right?"
-St Louis fans *steps up on soap box"....in St Louis we DO NOT BOO OUR OWN TEAM!!!! This is not Philadelphia or New York or *shudder* Chicago. I don't care what our players do to make you mad, we do not boo. Grumble to your neighbor if you feel the need to vent. But no booing. It is only Opening Day. Do not start this crap already. I thought we already had this discussion during the Izzy years but apparently it needs to be said again. Give Motte a break! It is his first game. It's not like he has blown 5 or 6 in a row. It's 1 game. It is not the end of the world. The last thing he needs is Cardinal Nation booing him off the field after he already feels bad enough. Booing....FYI...NOT HELPING THE SITUATION!!!! Ask youself the question that Jane did once after Aaron Miles made like 2 errors back to back at a key moment in a game..."I want to boo. But then I think 'WWJD'. What would Jesus do? Jesus would not boo Aaron Miles." Jesus would not boo Jason Motte either. *steps down from soap box*

As I type this I am watching tonight's game in which we are currently up 8...wait make that 9 (Yadi just hit a HR) to 1. So things are already looking better. In the oddity category....Yadi hit a triple and is now blonde? Interesting. Also Colby Rasmus totally fell for the old ball switcheroo when Joel Pineiro threw the "ball" from his first MLB hit into the stands. I will say...Joel was pretty smooth on the switch. And Joe fell for it last year. I miss Joe. Even with his long hair. *sigh*

Apparently I Got the Right Stuff (aka How I Blew Off Jordan Knight)

I had to recover quickly from my fun of Jane's wedding and the morning after because Sunday night was something I had been looking forward to....the New Kids on the Block concert at the Assembly Hall. I heart NKOTB! I was in Jr High their first time around and they were plastered all over my room. You literally could not see wall through the wallpaper of NKOTB posters I had up everywhere. My favorite New Kid...Jordan Knight. He was so cool and dreamy and I loved him. I didn't care if he was like 6 years older than me....I loved him and I was going to marry him. I had lots of NKOTB memorabilia but the one thing I never got to do was see them in concert. After the break up I was heartbroken, having never seen the boys live.

When the announcement was made that they were going to do a reunion tour I totally freaked out! I WAS going to see them this time around, no matter what I had to do. And last November I did just that. My sister and I went to see them in St Louis and it was one of the greatest nights ever. I totally reverted to being a screaming 13 year old girl for the entire night. I had no voice by the time it was over. It was great singing along to the old stuff and hearing the new stuff as well.

Soon after I found out that luck was with me and I was going to get to see them again when they came to the Hall. I was so excited. I had a countdown going on the wipe off board in the usher room...it had all the guys names and a countdown of how many days til the concert (although someone *cough*JohnMarquardt*cough* kept adding random 6th members to the band just to drive me up the wall....a few of the unknown NKOTB members...Big Bird, Bin Ladin, Hitler...I don't even remember who else...it was a new one every night).

So the night had come and I was super excited. The concert was awesome and they added some more old songs that they did not do the first time around. But they still did my favorite old song "My Favorite Girl" so all was well. I was sitting down on the floor enjoing my up close view...much better than the one in St Louis. At one point in the show the Kids left the main stage to go back to a small stage at the back of the floor. The only was there was to go through the crowd. The usher and security staff was holding up ropes around the seating area on the floor to keep the people back and ushers keeping everyone else from coming down the aisles the side they were going to walk through...the side I was on of course. So basically the entire area was clear of people except for me and NKOTB's own security. I was watching the ushers on the aisles. On their way out to the stage it was dark and you couldn't really see them. However the way back was a different story. The lights were very much up so you could see them clearly. I was standing along the wall to be out of the way of their security. Little did I know the boys were going to come shake hands down at least part of the wall. I was 1 foot or less from every member of the group! Very exciting for an avid NKOTB fan. But that is not even the best part. Jordan Knight, the boy of my pre-teen dreams, was walking right through the middle, not going over to the crowd. Suddenly he turned and walked right up to me, stopped and put his hand up to give me a high five! I was freaking out internally thinking "Jordan just came up to me! ME!!! He came to me!!!!" But darn it I was working and had to be professional and set a good example for the rest of the staff. So it was with GREAT restraint that I smiled politely and stepped to the side so that he could get to the rest of the crowd, totally leaving him hanging. I know! It nearly killed me to do it but I did. He looked at me kinda funny then continued on his way. Moment...gone. I had just blown off the boy that I was supposed to marry when I was 12. The worst part....I was telling this to John and Sue later and they told me that I would have been fine to high five him as he approached me and I would not have been in trouble at all. If I had only known that 2 hours before! Jordan and I could have run away together by now. But it was not to be. It was still a great concert though. And I can now say that I blew off Jordan Knight.

In honor of a great night here is a little flashback. And yes, I had both of these posters on my wall....I'll still be loving you forever boys, even if I didn't high five you.

Catching Up....The Wedding

Yes, I know....I have been slacking. I have been told this several times because apparently more people actually read this blog than I thought. So welcome everyone and I apologize for the lack of posts lately but I have been a busy little bee. So I will have multiple posts tonight to make up as there have been some big events this week.

First we have to go back to last Friday and the start of the "Janeric" wedding extravaganza. Ok, so it wasn't so much an extravaganza, just very nice and low key with minimal stress/drama. All very Jano. Friday night was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I headed to Kennedy's for our run through which was super quick and simple. Everything is easier when there are less people involved. Following the rehearsal we headed to the new Jupiter at Village at the Crossing for the rehearsal dinner. It went very well. There was a nice variety of appetizers and pizza, plenty to keep everyone full. I had a good time chatting with the Thomas family, Jen, John, Sidney and Abigail, who had come in from Colorado Springs for the wedding. Sidney and Abigail are two of the cutest kids you will ever meet and I love talking to them. You never know what they are going to say. The best part of the night was after I had told the story to some people about my encounter with Joe Mather and company at the bar in Jupiter and the ensuing bathroom phone call to Jane. Little did I know that Sidney had been listening very intently so when someone else asked about the story she added in herself (in a very excited tone) "And then they ran to the bathroom and called Aunt Jane!" It was very cute.

Saturday morning I got up and ran to Walgreens to print pictures of Stella's adventures in Jupiter for Sidney to take back with her. Then it was time to start getting ready. I met Jane and Jen at the hotel at 10:00 in order to get my hair done. Kudos to Beth the hair dresser as all 3 of us LOVED our hair. Plus she did Sidney, Abigail and Katie (Eric's niece) as well and they all looked too cute. Once we all got dressed and taped into our dresses (side note....body tape is a royal pain in the rear to apply) we were off for pictures at Jeanne and Ted's house. It was quite the scene at with all of Jane and Eric's family there in addition to the bridal party. However it was all super organized and we zipped right through the pictures. We then stopped off at the Arboretum for a few outdoor shots there as well. Finally we headed to Kennedy's to get the real show on the road. Again it was relatively drama free. As expected Jane was a very calm bride and wasn't really stressing about anything. She just wanted to get started and get it over with. The ceremony was very nice and everyone managed to get where they were supposed to be without any accidents. And Jane made it through communion without getting grape juice on her dress. Success! We headed out to one of the patios for the receiving line. However apparently either the staff didn't know we would be out there or they forgot as there were a couple tables and some chairs out there blocking the way. So here is the wedding party moving furniture. Even Jane in her dress helped out. After everyone got through the line (another side note....they must have been serving some appetizer with something red in it because we all noticed tons of people with little bits of red stuff stuck in their teeth...it became amusing after awhile) Jen headed off to get some champagne for a mini celebration. Then it was off to get Jane ready for reception portion of the evening. We did all the introductions and toasts and then it was time to eat. The food was fabulous and we were all starving. After eating it was time to party! We did some dancing, the highlight being Jane and I doing our dance to "Proud Mary" since we can't do it across the Assembly Hall anymore. I got to see a lot of friends that I haven't seen in awhile. I am very sad because I missed talking to Allison (Hocker) Durand and her husband Bill. Allison is expecting at the end of the month so they took off before I was able to sit and chat wit them. However my mom and dad did talk to her and reported back that she is doing well. I finally got to meet Nathan's fiancee Stacey that I have heard so much about. I talked to her and Nathan a bit and from what I can tell I think Nathan found a good one. She was really sweet and seemed like she would just be fun to hang with. Good job Nathan!

It was also during Jane's wedding that I discovered that I have a bigger blog following than I even knew. I was given a hard time by a few people for my lack of recent updates and told by several others that they are reading. And April, who knew nobody there aside from my family and Jane....there were tons of people who she met that knew who she was from the blog. It was pretty funny.

All in all it was a pretty great night. Good times with good friends. However, Sunday morning....not so good. Let me preface this by saying that on Saturday night I was not even tipsy. You can ask anyone who was there. I had 2 1/2 glasses of champagne and and Amaretto Sour. That's it. However I discovered very quickly on Sunday morning that champagne is NOT my friend. I felt like someone had used my head for batting practice and even worse.....for the first time ever in my life....I threw up as a direct result of drinking. It was not a good morning. Sarah, who stayed at my house over the weekend, had quite a headache herself and she had to drive home to Mississippi. Sorry Sarah.

Here are a few pics from the wedding festivities....