4th of July Shenanigans

I hope this finds you all coming off a good weekend of celebrating our Nation’s Independence with family and friends.

 

Independence Day

We had a great one around here!

Thursday night the hubs and I rode down to Malvern, Iowa for dinner at the Classic Cafe.

Beautiful evenings for a ride!

 

Harley Sunset

 I love riding at sundown.  So peaceful and relaxing. 

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Friday we packed up the trailer and headed down to New Market, Iowa for the 4th of July parade.   It’s been years since we’ve celebrated the 4th in Iowa, so we were pretty pumped to get back!

 

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Clint’s trailer is definitely a looker, eh?  He created this baby in 2008.  I thought it would fall apart.  Maybe I was hoping it would fall apart???  6 years later, two hauls to Sturgis, one haul to Milwaukee and multiple hauls around Iowa and Nebraska and this thing is showing no signs of slowing down.   The stupid thing has actually grown on me.

It is so Clint.

 

4th of July 2014

An obligatory selfie before hitting the road.

First stop: New Market for the parade!  Kyle usually rides his horse in the parade, however, this year he drove his grandpa’s tractor.  He was pretty stoked about that.

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After the parade we stopped to stock up on some beers.

What to do when they don’t all fit in your saddlebags?   Strap ’em to the top of the trailer of course!

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Next stop: a friends house for afternoon shenanigans including but not limited to:

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moonshine ↓

Moonshine

 

Gravel travels ↓

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Canon Balls ↓

Canon Balls

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Bullshitting ↓

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Chilling

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Photo Attempts (impossible with these two)

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RZR riding

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Backseat selfies on the way to fireworks

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Back Road Firework Waiting

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We had a great Friday night, celebrating with multiple friends.

Saturday morning got off to a slow start due to storms rolling through.  We just camped out at Kayla and Jade’s until around lunchtime before heading out on the bikes back to Omaha.   The ride was an interesting one, to say the least.  50 buzzards, road kill galore, cold, hot and rain.   I was happy to get home!

Saturday night we  spent the evening doing some front porch drinking and cuddling cute kids at our friends Sara and Troy’s house.   Nice, relaxing evening with good friends.

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Clint caught me taking the pic, so a stupid face was what he chose.  And you are darn right I’m going to use it.  🙂

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Lil Miss Kaeleen.  What a dolly.

Kae is now a BIG sister!  Baby sister Ady was born two weeks ago at 5 weeks early and is doing so great.  She is such a little peanut.  No pics this time.  Maybe soon. 🙂

Sunday was pretty typical- laundry, book reading, gym time, basement work, meal preps…

and the Monday dread.

😉

Cheers, friends!

Harleys, Cheesecake, Vodka, Yoga – The Weekend Review

The Weekend in Snapshots

Immediately after work on Friday I hit up Barley’s in Council Bluffs to celebrate a co-worker and friends last day.   Cheers to you, Lindsey.  You will be missed!

 

After a few beers I made my way back into Omaha to meet my mom, step dad, sister and nieces for dinner and CHEESECAKE at the Cheesecake Factory.   My sister lives in Texas so it is a rare occasion I get to see her. 2011 was the last time, to be exact.    It was so great to chat and have dinner.  Aren’t these two not the cutest little girls ever?

 

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Check out that Oreo Cheesecake.  Um, yes please!

 

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Saturday morning I taught TurboKick at the Council Bluffs YMCA and then Clint and I worked the remaining part of the day in the basement.  This remodel is darn near finished.  We scrubbed the tiles one by one you guys.  I scrubbed, he followed behind me with the shop-vac.  It was the only way we could get all the residue from the dry wall off.   Talk about team work! 🙂

 

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This photo is still before we scrubbed the tile.  Not sure why I haven’t posted an after yet.  Eh… next time.

 

After slaving away in the basement, Clint cooked us steaks over our backyard fire pit and then we decided to get on the bikes and go for a ride.   A perfectly good Saturday and we were inside working.  WHAT is WRONG with us!?

We rode about 50ish miles before deciding to stop at Heron Bay in Springfield.  I just love that bar.

 

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Had a few beers, listened to the live music and bullshitted with my Aunt Marla who came up and had a few beers with us too.  Unfortunately we found ourselves facing a storm rolling through, so we had to cut the night short and high tail it back to Omaha.  We beat the rain, but the lightening show was absolutely fantastic to see on a bike.  I wish I was able to video what we were seeing.  Straight ass cool.

 

Sunday:  Lazy morning while I finished reading a book.  Maybe lazy is a negative way to say it.  I was relaxing!  That’s better.   Around noon I looked up my girl Tyree  to see if she wanted to attend Yoga at the Cove with me.

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Yoga at the Cove was put on by Stir Cove-Harrah’s Casino and was the first event of its kind.  Unfortunately due to the rain, it had to be moved indoors to the MidAmerica Center.  They still had a great turnout and I had a lot of fun.  Good work to Katie who was the mastermind behind this gig!

 

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I won’t lie and say I didn’t laugh at myself and some of the stuff we had to do.  Honestly, the whole “center yourself… reach for the sun” talk just annoys me.  I like Yoga for the movement and stretching.

Definitely NOT for the whole “ooommmmmmm” experience.

 

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And after Yoga is when it all goes down hill. 

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Well, actually.  I would say it went up hill because it was hands down the best Sunday Funday I have had in a long time.

 

Let’s just say appetizers and a cocktail at Rock Bottom

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turned into 6 Red Bull Vodka’s at The Stadium

 

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turned into 4 Vodka Redbulls at Barrett’s Barley Corn , puppy love and 1:1 drunk sand volleyball.

 

It was simply fantastic.

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Monday morning I woke up to cotton mouth, a smile on my face and a ton of sand in the bed.

 

Sorry, honey!

 

 

Cheers!

Holstein Harley Davidson Women’s Run

Holstein Harley Davidson

Omaha, Nebraska

All Women’s Run – May 31st, 2014

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Each year, Holstein’s Harley puts on a Women’s Only cruise.   It’s a tradition that is holding steady and each year more and more women turn out for it.

Our 2014 route took us through Oakland, Iowa -> Harlan, Iowa -> Neola, IA -> Council Bluffs, IA.

 

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The event is organized by Kristen, Holstein’s Motorclothes Manager.    She put together a flawless event this year, covering every detail imaginable.  From creating a route with the least resistance, fuel stops perfect for those with peanut tanks, solid 25 mile or more distances between each stop, lunch details to raffle prizes – the girl had it all.

Unfortunately, Kristen’s father passed away unexpectedly the day before the event.   As Kristen dealt with the loss of her father, numerous women stepped up to the plate to help out in anyway possible.   Kristen’s dear friend, Suze, reached out to Tyree to help her lead the pack and Tyree in return asked for my assistance as the route hit up all the Iowa bars that I was used to.   Several ladies stepped up and helped with the check-in and announcement making.

A biker community banding together – one of the many reasons I love the two-wheeled life.

Good people.

After we dedicated the ride to Kristen and her dad, we loaded up and headed out.

Thanks to Holstein Harley for the first three pics

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There we go!  Front of the pack!

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Watch out fellas.   Us chicks know what’s up.

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Thanks to the Riders for Christ in the road blocking assistance.  We made it out of Holstein’s safely!

The first goal of the ride was to just get out of the Omaha Metro area.  We crossed the bridge into Iowa and stopped briefly to get the girls back together again.   Street lights in Omaha are abundant!

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Marcy’s Posse 

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This is Marcy and her new man, Jared.   😉

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Next up?  Oakland, Iowa!

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Shenanigans

(thanks Traci – I swiped your photo)

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Marcy’s Posse (Thanks Kim- swiped your pic too!)

Next up: Harlan, IA

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Clearly the red cage didn’t get the memo

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Thanks Lora for the pic!

Next up: Neola, IA

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Last Stop: Salty Dog, Council Bluffs, IA

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The day was a big hit and a ton of fun!  New friends, many miles and memories to last a lifetime.

 

Thanks Tyree for letting me be a co-pilot with you.  I think we did alright!

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I’ve got you, babe.

The Blogettes, E-Money, Mud Wars and Beer

I don’t know about any of you, but I keep looking at my clock wishing it was bedtime already.   Man I need some serious zzz’s.   Why not take a nap, you ask?

Because, I don’t do naps.

Lame, I know, but they just make me feel worse, so I fight the sleep in true toddler fashion until my actual bed time.

So, how about a recap?

 

weekend-recap

 

Friday:  Our friends Cyndi and John came to town.   First stop- dinner at Quaker Steak and Lube.

 

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And a giant Lube Tube of ice cold Bud Light.  Clint always wants to get one of these babies when it is just the two of us out to dinner.   Eh… I’d be a hot mess trying to get all that down.   FINALLY someone to help fulfill that dream of his.

Weekends with these two are never dull.

Case in point:

 

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Oh man, I don’t know who the owner is of this little gem, but it keeps finding its way back into our lives.  Exactly one year ago, this same picture happened with this same exact car.   Seriously.    It’s like destiny for these boys.  What are the odds that we’d see this car on the weekend they were in town?

Thank you to the owner of this masterpiece.   You made their day.

Again.

After the car hugging, we made our way into the MAC  to see Eddie Money and Rick Springfield.

 

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Thanks to the connections made with the Omaha Bloggers group (specifically Katie!) I received tickets for me AND to giveaway.   You can find the Concert Recap here.

There were several of us Blogettes (<—- yep, John.  I’m using it) at the concert, so we all got together for a photo opp between sets!

 

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Left to Right you’ve got:

Erin from Girl Gone VeggieAngel from Positively AngelLisa from Midwest Mammas and Sweeties FreebiesLeslie from Mom on the RocksYours TrulyLisa from The Walking TouristsMegan from Smile Like You Mean It

It was so great to meet a few more Omaha Bloggers.   This makes 10 that I’ve met so far.  The other gals I met this night and one other, Jess, I ran into at a YMCA event.

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SaturdayWarrior Dash, Nebraska!

This is the second year Clint and I have run the Warrior.   The 2013 Dash was actually the last time J and C were in town.

The Pre-Dash Walk.   Isn’t Clint’s outfit just precious?

Oh, that man of mine….

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I was able to meet up with my YMCA family prior to the race start as well!   Such a GREAT group of peeps.  LOVE them all.

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And look who else I found?!?!

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JEN!  I was so excited to see that chick.  She is a freaking machine.   Jen and I met at a former place we occasionally called work and we’ve managed to keep in touch.   We really need to meet up more though.  We have sucked at that.

When are we going to schedule an actual happy hour, Jen?  As in, a real one.  Not a “let’s just talk abut it” one.

By the way, Jen owns a little piece of the blog-o-sphere too, so y’all should give her a shout at Red Lipstick and Sneakers.

Ok, back to the Dash.

The obstacles were awesome this year!  I conquered my fear of heights multiple times thanks to obstacles titled Deadman’s Drop:

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and the Cargo Climb:

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In addition to the climbing, we did a lot of crawling, sliding and swimming.   The last obstacle course required all of those components:

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No control on that slide.  Hella fast.   The water (shit water, mind you) at the bottom was FREEZING and thanks to no control on the slide, there was no way to bypass going all the way under.   Shock to the ol system, my friends.

What a freaking blast.

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Team Y also living it up:

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Thanks, Carrie.  I swiped a few pics. 🙂

I’m so ready for the next one!  Any of you in?

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Saturday night we headed downtown to the Old Market.  Dinner at Old Chicago and a little bar hopping.   Surprisingly, we were all well behaved last night.

Shocking.  I know.

Sunday: besides a trip to the gym for a quick lifting session, our day can pretty much be summed up from this pic:

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Cheers to another great weekend!   Now, if Monday-Friday will just hurry on by, I’ve got another good weekend ahead!

🙂