Weekend in Review 2 | March 2015

Oh, man.  This warm weather makes a girl HAPPY!

But also makes me want more weekend.

Let’s get started.

Friday

My hair was sending out an SOS, so early afternoon I took off for Clarinda to see Kayla.   I haven’t had a trim or color since January.   YIKES!  My hair was very very happy to see her.  After she was done working her magic, I popped on over to my mom’s to see her pup and hangout for an hour.

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Lucy was playing bashful.

Mom was actually on her way to the grocery store when I stopped by, so we loaded up in the Jeep and made our way across the big city.

Ahem, big city complete with ONE stoplight, on the square, y’all.

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I am posting this photo to show my hand on the steering wheel.  The one she took directly before this I was steering with my knee.  Which happens, a LOT.   Oopsie.   We deleted the evidence.  haha

A trip to the grocery store took well over 30 minutes.  I kept running into folks I knew so of course had to chat!  Was a lot of fun seeing folks I only normally see on Facebook.  ha

I dropped her back off at home and headed down to J. Bruner’s for some appetizers and cocktails with Kayla, Nicole and Tina (mom stopped by later, too).   I planned on two hours.   I should know better…. I didn’t leave town until after 10pm.   😉    I would have stuck around since Clint was also in Clarinda for the weekend, but I teach Insanity at 24 Hour Fitness on Saturday mornings and I would have been sad to miss my peeps.  So, late night travel back to the city, which is not uncommon with me.  It just is usually even later then that.

#roadwarrior

Saturday

Rise and Shine!   Insanity at 8:15am and then I had this BRILLIANT idea to get in a run afterwards.   Uh… Dude.  Just, no.   My legs promptly reminded me that I just got done killing them in the gym with Round 11.

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1 mile.  9:17 pace.   I thought I was going to die.

Moving on….

Home for a morning marathon TV session of Ree Drummond’s Pioneer Woman.  I am obsessed.  It’s my Saturday/Sunday morning ritual.  She’s just so gosh darn cute.

Champ also has a ritual on weekend mornings… Sunbathing.

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I had all intentions to get a giant to-do list done after lunch but the open road was calling me for some solo wind therapy.   Clint was gone for a guys weekend that he had been planning for a few weeks (which ended up not being a guys weekend due to others misunderstanding, but I still didn’t want to impose.  Sometimes you just need to chill with your buddies, ya?).

So, I leathered up and took my girl to Southwest Iowa.

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Made my way through the Loess Hills, back roads, wherever my beauty decided to take me is where we went.

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Early afternoon I found myself in Silver City, so I stopped into The Hood (great little bar in that quaint town) and had a Miller Lite while I made friends with another biker couple and the bartender.  We chatted a lot about Sturgis.  Super stoked about heading back there this year.  🙂  After about an hour, I bid farewell and decided Emerson would be the next stop to see Sara, Troy & kids.

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I love that little town of Emerson.   Actually, I love most little SW Iowa towns.   Quiet, cozy, peaceful, relaxing.   It’s nice to get away from the crazy that is Omaha.  I love my neighborhood and the folks we live around and definitely appreciate living in the city, but, getting away is welcomed.   I can’t wait for the day when we finally get to move just outside the city limits back to the country.

After a few beers with Troy, good chats with Sara and gummy worm sharing with little Ms. Kaeleen, I headed back to the city just as the sun was going down.   My favorite time to ride.

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Dusk means the world is just starting to slow down, the chill in the air starts to settle in and the traffic begins to calm.  Peace, serenity and a great time to be alone with your thoughts.   I love riding after nightfall as well, but knew that I needed to get home just prior to that otherwise chaps would have been necessary.  And, if you know me, you know I hate putting those things on.  🙂

Sunday

After some early morning cleaning, I met up with Blair to get in a 7 mile run.  She has her first half-marathon coming up, so I love that she has asked me to join her on a few of her distance weekends.  Super stoked for her to experience her first 13.1!

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After our WINDY as hell run, I came home to find my hubster back.  So, a trip to Subway for a little lunch and catching up was in order.  The rest of the day included running errands, a Goodwill drop-off, grocery store and Champ shenanigans.

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Showing us his best Stevie Wonder moves… or he’s just not impressed.

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Mean-mugging

For dinner I decided to try out the cauliflower pizza crust that I’ve seen floating around the Pinterest/FB world for months.   Wasn’t too shabby.   A few tweaks and I think it will be even better!  Recipe to come soon.

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And, THAT, wraps up my little weekend.   Far too quick, as always.   I strongly believe in four day work weeks in the spring and summer.   Wonder where I can find one of those gigs?

Cheers!

10 Year Harley-versary

This fall marked 10 years since I bought my first Harley-Davidson.

10 Years

Harley-Davidson has been in my blood since I was little.   The loyalty to Harley bloomed early on, thanks to my dad.

Live To Ride

Ride To Live

Those words signed every letter written between my dad and I.   Harley-Davidson was the only connecting piece for a period of time.

In some ways, it still is.

Harley’s; the lifestyle, the dream, the freedom.  It goes much deeper for me.  It isn’t about being a woman and “hearing me roar”.   It isn’t about making a statement.

Harley-Davidson is me.

Harley-Davidson is us.

I made a promise to myself that I would buy my first Harley as soon as I graduated with my Bachelors degree.   And I held to that promise.

October, 2004, my first beautiful blue baby came into my world.

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And my world forever changed.

In that first year of riding, I met some INCREDIBLE people.  Several of these folks remain a very large part of my life to this day, one even a best friend.  My Best Biker B!tch. ❤

I learned a lot about myself that first Harley year.   That open road… I’m telling ya.

It does magical things.

 

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I also learned that I looked like a dude with short hair and a do-rag.  Buying my first Harley also meant it was time to grow back out the hair.   No dude, here.

I kept my Sporty until 2008, when I traded her in for a bigger, meaner, faster bike.  Why?  Because my Sporty was becoming uncomfortable.   And, because my boyfriend, now husband, had bought a new Chopper and I was immensely jealous of the newness and the attention his bike got.  I wanted a head turner too, darnit.

Enter Harley #2: The Rocker C.

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She was a beauty.   She was fun to ride in the city.  And she got a lot of head turns with her “floating” back fender.  People were intrigued.  This was a new venture for Harley-Davidson.  It was a risk.   They were following the Chopper trend and attempted to make one of their own.

Just look at the big back tire.   Be still my heart.

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I loved riding that thing.  It was fun riding around the city.  It hugged the corners on the back roads.  It had some get-up-and-go.   People asked me a lot of questions.

And then we went to Sturgis.

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And Clint proposed.

This has nothing to do with the Rocker C itself, but, I can’t start a post about my love of Harley-Davidson and not include this incredibly precious and important moment in my life.

Clint and I bonded over bikes.  Our friendship began thanks to the two-wheeled lifestyle.  He and I never would have established a relationship, or even met for that matter, if it hadn’t been for two-wheels.   Remember when I said my love of Harley goes so much deeper?

Well, it just keeps getting deeper.

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Let’s go back to that Rocker now.    After Sturgis?

I HATED it.

Dude.   That ride sucked.  That seat sucked.  That suspension could take a hike.

I was SO OVER IT.

Sorry, baby #2, but you’ve gots-ta-go!

Time to make room for my beautiful, sexy, old-school Baby #3.

My Softail Deluxe.

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My Precious.

My love.

My Shining Star.

My Most Prized Possession.

The reason for my heart beat

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Ok, ya.  Too far.

But, you get the idea.   I am in love with Baby #3.  She and I are going to have a long relationship.

 

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I mean, she married me off, after-all.

I love my two-wheeled babies.  I love the life it has given me.  I love the people I’ve met.  I love everything that is Harley-Davidson.

It isn’t the brand to me.

It IS me.

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Cheers!

Our Harley-Davidson Wedding- Part 1

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All pictures courtesy of Gulizia Design.  My favorite photographer of all time.

 

Taking it back today to 9.10.11~ Our Wedding Day.

In planning our wedding we knew we wanted it to be totally us, no-nonsense, lots of fun, Harley-Davidson centered, full of our favorite people, lots of beer drinking and good rock-n-roll.  I think we pulled it off with flying colors.  It makes my heart happy having people still talking about our wedding day, two years later.

The Day started in a hotel suite with my beautiful bridesmaids, a lot of hairspray, makeup, champagne drinking and laughter.  Perfect way to calm a nervous bride.

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Yes, I am hugging my own bottle of champagne.  I know how to do this right.

 

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Time for The Dress

 

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The Orange Sparkly Shoes

 

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The Jewelry

 

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Deep Breath.  Let’s Go!

 

I will never forget his face.  He cried.  I might have laughed. 

 

 

 

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His First Look

 

At this point we loaded up the entire wedding party, plus their significant others, onto a party bus.  Yes.  We did a party bus BEFORE the Ceremony.  It was all about celebrating that day.  No stress, no Bridezilla, no worries.  Just fun.

 

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We took the bus down to the Old Market, Omaha to where the train station used to be located.  A perfect place for the style of pictures we wanted.

 

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The Girls

 

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After pictures we hung out at a bar for a few pre-ceremony cocktails and time to just relax and let loose before hopping back on the party bus for the 20 minute drive to the ceremony.

Nothing but Shenanigans, friends.

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Up Next: Wedding Ceremony, Reception and our kick ass dance with the band Lemon Fresh Day!