Where I've Been - One Month Left

Hello AGAIN from Columbus, OH. Pretty sure this has been my most frequented location of tour...and let me check - Yep, according to foursquare it has been (47 check-ins here to be exact).

Well, I only have ONE MONTH left of tour now, which is so stinking crazy! And to be precise, I have 29 days until I'm on a plane back "home" (which is going to be NC at this time) and because we have to drop the vehicle/trailer off in Wisconsin & finish up work in Chicago before we fly home...technically I only have 25 days left of actual "event" work. I cannot believe that it's almost been a year & that I've been living out of hotels for almost ten months now. Ha.

I could officially do this at the very end of tour, but I feel like writing about it now, the "best & worst" of Map Team 1 (aka Team Jetfire) from my perspective & a review of the last 9+ months.

We've been to 23 states, driven approximately 39,000 miles...visited countless cities, (I) made it to 12 MLB stadiums and 2 Spring Training stadiums. Our most common event to do in our "free time" is shopping, whether it was just window shopping or actual shopping, we found ourselves in a mall in basically every city that had one. My favorite cities were, Orlando (probably because it was right after spending a MONTH in Indianapolis in February...), Kansas City, State College, PA & Milwaukee (disclaimer: when we visited these cities, the weather was PERFECT & usually the events were fun, which had to do with my "decision" on this). My least favorite cities were; Annapolis, Maryland...rude people, nothing special to look at or do, Wheeling, WV - terrible, just terrible...oh & I also disliked the entire state of New Jersey.

Let's talk food: Best cupcake (and we tried SEVERAL) goes to Smallcakes Cupcakery in Kansas City, which is also where I had the best BBQ of my LIFE...at Oklahoma Joes! Best Brazilian place (we tried a couple) was at Brazil Grill in NYC on 8th & 48th, most of the staff spoke Portuguese & according to Michelle, the food was pretty authentic! We had a running theme of finding "fro-yo" in places & basically Menchie's has the best. And the best brew I tried along the way (didn't have much of an opportunity for this) was White Beer from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee.

While at work: My favorite event to work as far as the "cool-factor" goes, was probably the Jets/Giants Draft Party at New Meadowlands Stadium (aka MetLife Stadium). While I enjoyed working NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB, PGA, LPGA, NCAA & Minor League Baseball events...that one really stuck out since I actually got to go on the field (first time EVER on an NFL field) and be a part of the action, it was really fun! The most interesting event has to go to the Lunar New Year event in NYC, our very first event! It was SO different than any other event we worked & will forever stick out in my mind like, yeah...I just did that (along with driving a SUV & trailer through Manhattan!) Another cool event was the series of Droid Scavenger Hunts we did for the launch of the Samsung Charge...it was really fun to be a part of something so interesting & viral-marketing driven! The only "celebrities" I saw/met were, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns while in Indianapolis, Jack Nicklaus in Dublin, OH and I got to meet Dan Mead, President and CEO of Verizon Wireless, while at State College, PA.

While at play: My favorite thing we did on our day off is when Kevin & I were able to go to Universal Studios in Orlando to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! I have a whole blog post about it back in March, if you haven't read it...you should. :) I also very much enjoyed going to sporting events, I got to see baseball games at Yankee Stadium in New York, Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, PNC Park in Pittsburgh, and Miller Park in Milwaukee as well as the Braves vs Tigers spring training game at the ESPN, Wide World of Sports Complex in Kissimmee, FL! And just recently I was able to watch the Red Wings take on the Blackhawks in a pre-season game in Chicago at the United Center!

The most beautiful place we went would have to be Traverse City, Michigan, and I would say it's because I'm biased...but looking back on all the places, that really was the most beautiful in my opinion. It also had my favorite hotel we stayed at...the Great Wolf Lodge, which we stayed at by force, due to a complete sell-out of hotels for the National Cherry Festival!

I think that pretty much sums it up for now, hopefully I can do a more complete overview with some exciting stuff to throw in from these next 25 days! Hope this posts finds you all well, MUAH!

Back in Black

Hey y'all! I'm currently in Lexington, KY (again). In the past three weeks I have been to nine different states: Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Maryland! Crazy stuff. Just about seven weeks left of tour!

So, you might think that my blog post is going to be about AC/DC or something...but you're wrong. It has to do with my wardrobe! Back in college, when I gained a substantial amount of weight, I didn't want to wear anything but black, because it was "slimming" and it would hide all that extra weight I was carrying around. So, that's basically what I wore, mostly black with some items having a splash of color or a little polkadot action. After I started to lose weight, I rediscovered the rainbow of colors I was missing out on, I wasn't afraid to draw attention to myself anymore. Now, since I've been on tour...you can't exactly fit a wide variety of clothing unless you want three suitcases (like some people I know, eh-hem, lol). But for me, it's more, less is more while I'm traveling, so I packed a lot of basics but still tried to keep a variety of colors & styles for the days that I wasn't in "uniform".

The last three months of this tour have been brutal on me, I got used to the waking up in a different city every day & the sporadic schedule changes, but man...I wasn't prepared for 70 hour work weeks & a schedule so unpredictable I don't know where I'm going in THREE DAYS! I knew before I started this tour that I liked structured flexibility, and to many of you that might be an oxymoron but it makes perfect sense to me. Structured flexibility is constant change with a plan...I like to plan, I like lists & a constant but I also like things to change to keep things interesting. So, when I was no longer in control of anything in my life (other than maintaining a relationship with God), I have kind of "let myself go". Which brings me to the fact that I'm "back in black" when it comes to my wardrobe!

I feel a little disheveled & haggard lately, my hair hates me for switching up hotels every few days, the climate changes (going from Maryland to Alabama) are awful on my skin & the constant on the go, or don't know where I'm going causes stress that is also not helping my skin or those giant circles under my eyes! Haha. Let's not mention the fact that there seem to be no L.A. Fitness locations in the cities we go to & the fact that I'm just too tired or lazy to work out lately & my eating habits are extremely difficult to manage out on the road.

I think I'm writing this blog post because I have gained some weight since being on tour & I've seen myself go back to some of my old ways of wearing black more often, being totally uncomfortable just sitting in front of people & being disgusted with myself when I look in the mirror and I'm TERRIFIED I'm going to let myself slip back into that downward spiral that I was in three years ago! All those factors about my current lifestyle have made it more difficult for me to maintain or lose weight, but they are also excuses & I need to make sure I'm not slipping back into my old ways on account of me feeling sorry for myself. And that brings me to the declaration that things need to change in my life, I have seven weeks left of tour & I want to enjoy it! I want to spend the next seven weeks happy to take pictures with Kevin & Michelle & feel good about myself! So, there it is...now you know, I'm struggling but I will come out of this tour feeling good about myself!

From Here to There and Everywhere!

Hello from the car (that’s a first)! On our way from Annapolis, MD to Prattville, AL with a stop in Knoxville, TN tonight. Now, your first thought if you know me is…Knoxville, TN!? Like University of Tennessee country…Neyland Stadium!!! YUP! When I visited Tennessee back when I was a teenager, I totally fell in love with everything, the people, the schools, the football and the state as a whole & I’m still in love. UT is my second favorite college…right after my Alma Mater of course, Western Michigan University! So needless to say, I am STOKED about passing through Knoxville!

Now, let’s talk about Annapolis, MD. If I had to describe this city in one word it would be…rude. I swear to you, everyone I met that was from Annapolis acted as though they had GIANT stick up their butt! Ugh, what a way to live! But seriously, I did not meet one nice person there unless they weren’t FROM Annapolis! But, it officially wins the award for the rudest, most unfriendly people in all of the cities I’ve traveled to so far. A close second would be all of New Jersey, but to be fair…I’ve only been in the Carlstadt/East Rutherford areas mostly…but besides their people, their road systems SUCK…no left turns!? What is a JUG HANDLE!? I’m excited to be heading South for some southern hospitality, that’s for sure!

We’re going to be in the South for a couple weeks, we’re heading to work the LPGA Golf Tournament in Prattville, AL, and after that we’re doing a couple University of Kentucky football games. I’ll be experiencing fall in the South for the first time, which is almost a bummer because fall in the Midwest is my favorite part! I know that working at college football games is going to bring back a rush of nostalgic memories of being at WMU with my best friends in the whole wide world! Ahh, just thinking about it makes me miss those days!

Speaking of sports, we’re coming to my favorite part of the year! This is when baseball season is serious business, football season is underway & hockey is about to start! It’s even better when the Tigers look like they’re headed to the post season (magic number is 7!!), the Lions had a great pre-season & won their first game (even though they turned into the typical Lions & made the end of the game pretty nerve-wracking!?) AND the Red Wings may have had some crucial changes due to retirements, but we still have a solid program that is going to bring it home this year! Man, I love being a Detroit sports fan! I’m a fan win or lose, but when they’re winning it’s a whole lot more fun! I’m really pumped about the Tigers, seems they really have their pitching down which is what we’ve been missing for a while & I couldn’t be happier (okay, maybe if we had the Phillies’ record, but still).

Well, that’s kind of an update on my life lately…I would update you with the rest of the month, but out schedule isn’t posted yet! I never realized how much of a planner I was until I live my life week by week & sometimes don’t even know four days in advance what state I’ll be in!! Talk about anxiety…ha, I guess it’s helped me manage the fact that I’m no longer in control of ANY part of my life! And guess what…tour is almost over! Saturday will officially be our 8-month mark, meaning only two months left! Crazy.

I miss all my friends & family back home & am so blessed I’m able to have them as long-distance support when I need it! Until next time…MUAH!

::Update:: Made it to Alabama & am staying in an INTERESTING hotel...

Help is on the Way!

Hello from Milwaukee, WI.

You know the saying, "you don't know what you have until you lose it?" Well, while I've been on tour I've realized something about myself & it makes me kind of sad. I didn't know how much I WASN'T doing until I couldn't do it. For instance, Michelle & I have been visiting churches every Sunday we can and a common theme from church to church is "small groups" "outreach groups" "community involvement", etc. Obviously in my state of nomad-ness I cannot become a part of any of these things & it makes me realize how much I WANT to be a part of them & it also makes me think, why on EARTH was I not a part of these things before I started this job? Now, to defend myself specifically with church...I've grown a lot in the last couple years & just recently have felt the urge & desire to join these types of groups. And actually before I moved from Michigan I started the process of joining the church, wanting to get involved with a small group, etc...but then I moved to NC where I worked retail & usually worked Sundays & relied on the podcasts of Lake Center Bible Church in Portage, MI for my Sunday service since I hadn't found a new home church yet. But that aside, I should have been doing more & not just in the church!

How many times have you thought to yourself, "I want to volunteer" or "I wish I could make a difference in someone's life"? Personally, I think that a lot, but then the excuses start pouring in...I don't have money to give to people, I hardly have enough time to get my own personal things done, what if I fail at it? Do you know how much you can do with just your TIME that doesn't involve money at all? And time, if that is your excuse...I challenge you to go about your natural course of your week, but count how much of your precious TIME you spend on your smartphone, computer, tablet or whatever device you use or how much television you watch or if you sleep more than 8hr a night, how much time you sleep...THEN tell me you don't have enough time. If you're a business owner, perhaps you could donate your services or items once a week to a special cause, every little bit can help! And the ever-present issue in any human being's life, "what if I fail at it!" ...trust me, you won't fail. While I was in college I participated in the Big Brothers, Big Sister's program & after I had to quit because of time & money reasons, I felt like a failure...but I can guarantee you that the year I spent with my little, the very small amount of time I spent with her, was an escape, a fun adventure & moments she will remember for a long time. Same with Habitat for Humanity, I helped build someone's HOME, a home they will live in for a long time...and walks/runs to benefit cancer research, I made a difference in SOMEONE's life.

I can't do much while I'm on the road, but the first thing I plan on doing when I'm in a steady place again is volunteer my time, join a church & get involved, put a smile on someone's face & make someone's day better. If you're too shy to do something for a stranger, start with your own family! Go visit an elderly relative that doesn't get visitors often, sit & talk with them, play games or offer to do chores & run errands with/for them. Every LITTLE thing helps & I encourage you to go out TODAY & do something for someone else!

August 3, 2011 - Addition

Per feedback from some of my readers...this post was in no way intended to make you feel bad, but if it did make you feel bad maybe you should think about why it made you feel bad & decide what to do about it! :) Also, as I was listening to KLove, a christian radio station available online (http://www.klove.com/) yesterday before work they were talking about a current ministry "Water of Life" that provides families in Rwanda with water filters which is CRUCIAL for life there. I was interested in the ministry to begin with, but it was after the radio show host said, "if you've been wanting to do something, to help out, to make a difference & you don't have the time, perhaps you have the means to monetarily donate to this cause" that I was called to read further into this charity. It is a beautiful thing that is happening here & I encourage you all to take a look at their website & see what wonderful things are taking place! http://www.klove.com/ministry/featured.aspx

Love y'all! Muah!

Weigh Station Ahead, Must Exit...Or Else!

OMGOODNESS. It's a blog entry! It's been over three months since my last post and for that I am SO SORRY! I've been through a lot in the last three months, I've been to about 15 new cities, met an amazing man, no longer talk to that amazing man, got to go to Michigan for a few weeks for work AND play, had fun at some events & pretty much let work take over my life oh & did I mention I gained 12 lbs! So, as best I can, I'll give you the rundown without making this too long...and here it goes.

After we left Springfield our schedule began to pick up & all of the sudden the last month has been brutal, I'm happy to work...I mean, no better job security but goodness, it has increased my stress level quite a bit, forcing little tweaks & changes to our team and routines to best accommodate the longer hours & the amount of days between our day off. So far this month I've had two days off, definitely looking forward to next week when we should have two! I can finally make a spa appointment & relax!

Okay, so I met an amazing guy on a Christian dating website. I had kind of sworn away dating sites as I really feel they just aren't for me, but recent success on this site by a friend convinced me to give it a go. So, this man is awesome, everything I'm looking for...right? Well, he lives in Phoenix, AZ...and although I travel 24/7, I unfortunately haven't made it any further West than Kansas City, MO. So, after a couple months of talking, texting & regular Skype dates we decided to meet while I was headed home to Michigan for my niece's 1st birthday party. I'll spare you all the details, but we had a fairytale weekend, one of the best I've ever had but inevitably he had to fly back to Arizona & I had to fly back to Dublin, OH, which is where our event was. After a couple weeks we both felt the tug of "long distance blues" and seeing as how we didn't have the most solid of foundations built on a virtual relationship we decided to put things on hold & will reevaluate once my tour is over & when we find out what both of our futures hold. So, that is that, I'm fully confident that if God wants us to be together, we will be together, if not...He has something better in store for the both of us! Sometimes it isn't the easiest thing to just let go & trust that God will take care of us, but it is always the best decision!

So, not only did I get to go home for a few days to see my family & some friends...but I also got to go back to Michigan AGAIN, this time for work! We had an event cancel, so we actually got to spend a couple days in Kalamazoo, doing guerrilla work & then we headed up to Traverse City for the National Cherry Festival. The festival was nice & the weather COULD NOT have been better, but a little drama & 10 days of LONG hours...we were all ready to leave Michigan & wouldn't be sad if we didn't see a cherry for a while!

Well, since we've gotten so busy I've been making every excuse in the book not to exercise, not to count my WW points & obviously not to blog! This all came to a crashing halt while in State College, PA (VERY nice area btw) when I saw the sign, "weigh station ahead". Now, obviously this sign on the highway wasn't directed at me, but when I saw it, I knew what I had to do & after eating too many rolls (with that amazing cinnamon butter) at Texas Roadhouse for dinner & treating myself to an ice cream at the infamous Berkey Creamery, I decided to face the scale & weigh in. The receptionist literally said, "it says you're up 12 pounds, could this be a mistake?" I looked at her & replied, "no, it's possible." Now, I think all the crap I ate the night before could have been part of the issue & the fact that I wore jeans when I usually wear lighter clothing...but regardless, it's a gain & I'm not okay with that. You think that would be a nice wake up call though, right? Well, goodness...it's SO difficult to get back on track once you've been off for so long & not even that...but all your resources were left at the last hotel! Haha. My goal for this month & next is to lose those pounds again and to get back under my lowest weight & with determination I know I can do it!

So, there it is...that sums up a lot of the last three months of my life. I'm sorry I've been such a blogger delinquent, I promise I won't let it happen again. It's going to be my goal to update my blog at least once a week to keep y'all informed on my ever-changing life. Plus, it feels good to be back! Hope this post finds you well, I missed ya! Until next time...MUAH!

Hi, I'm a Mac...

Hello from Springfield, MO.

Last week we were in Chicago for the World's Largest 8k race...the Shamrock Shuffle! It was pretty exciting, but definitely made me jealous that I wasn't running it!! It's a race I'll keep in mind for the future though...anything with beer at the finish line is a win in my book! I even found a cute sticker at the race that says, "Will Run for Beer" ...pretty much sums up why I run. Well, that & my love for cupcakes & ice cream...and not to mention runners are awesome. :)

So, while in Chicago I made an investment purchase...I BOUGHT A MAC! I definitely needed an upgrade on my computer, although I have to say my Dell PC got me through almost 7 years with nearly no problems...but it was very outdated & SLOW. Anyway, I made the decision to buy a Mac back in January during training, but decided to hold off so I could save a little money, do some research & make sure it was the right purchase for me...three months later I own a 15-inch MacBook Pro and I LOVE IT so far! I haven't done a whole lot on it yet...and certain things I'm still clueless about, but I love learning new things!

One awesome feature is in iPhoto there is a thing called, "faces" where it recognizes faces in ALL your photos...so for the last two days I've been tagging faces so I can search for photos of all my friends by their own face folder (for example, if I chose "Megan Collins" it would open a folder that had all the photos that I'm tagged in!) There are so many cool things, but like I said, I'm just learning, I can't wait to be a Mac Pro myself!

Other than that little diddy...I haven't had anything too exciting going on. Our event in Missouri is the "Rockin' Ribs BBQ Festival" at the Bass Pro Shop! I'm excited because I'm sure there will be some meat eating fun times ahead! Springfield is Kevin's hometown...so we have had the privilege of meeting his mom, great aunt, grandma, sister & some friends and his mom made us a DELICIOUS feast of Korean food while his grandma made us an array of blueberry desserts! It's nice to have a home cooked meal, that's for sure...not to mention it was SO YUM.

As far as running goes...I'm on day 6/100! I took the two days off that we worked 10+ hours last week (and I don't count those days) so I look forward to adding a few more days on before the event this weekend. I'm still struggling a bit with food though, so many good choices out there & by good I mean HORRIBLE for you...but tasty. I need to really focus on practicing self control!!!

That was just a quick update on my life...hope this post find's y'all well. Hopefully next time I'll have something more exciting to talk about! :) Until then, love you! Muah!

100 Days of Running

Hello from Cleveland!

So, as summer approaches, I'm like any girl...I think about shorts, tank tops, swimsuits, etc. All that is great...warmer weather, sunshine & tans, but it also means more visible skin! Last year at this time I was training for a half marathon & sprint triathlon and I've never been in better shape! (My photo is after I finished my triathlon in August 2010 with my reward: Oberon mini keg!) This year I'm traveling the U.S. with a fairly unpredictable schedule, changing climates & uncertainty of a gym in the area. Thankfully, most hotels at least have at least a treadmill in their "gym" and my team also signed up for an LA Fitness membership & have full access to their gym when we're in an area where they have one.

However, as you can imagine it is pretty easy to get side tracked, to lose focus when your life is so sporadic. Eating is a huge struggle for a couple reasons, location, limited use of the car, agreeing with two other co-workers, etc. But, I'm done making excuses...I want to reach my goals & I'm going to do what it takes to get there! So I've created this challenge to myself...and I'm determined to stick to it!! So, here is the deal:

My goal is to do 100 days of running in a row. Here are my rules...

1. Minimum distance is .5 miles
2. If I miss a day, my count starts back at one
3. The allowance for a missed day are

• Drive day of up to 10 hours
• Work day of up to 10 hours
• Injury

I made this goal up two days ago...and already missed running yesterday, so I'm starting over again today & I did run! Tomorrow is a long work day, so I'm off the hook...unless I feel like it when I get back to the hotel. If I don't mess up, this goal will bring me to mid-July & will hopefully kickstart a weight loss spree! Lately I've been hovering around the same weight, still my lowest ever...but I need to break out of this funk. I know if I count my Points+ and exercise, I can make it happen. I'm hoping that even though my life is a giant road trip right now, I can still find a race or two to do this year! Our next event is actually the Shamrock Shuffle in Chicago & although I wish I could run it, I'm happy to be working it & cheering on my good friend Shelly!!! I'm keeping my eyes out for a race that fits my schedule!

Speaking of Weight Watchers...I went to a meeting today for the first time in a MONTH!! I actually only had a small gain which I was thankful for, but the leader of the meeting was hilarious! It was my first meeting with a male leader & although I didn't know his story, I could tell by other comments & his dedication to the program he had a success story! One woman had a 1.6 lb loss & a total of 248 lbs loss & another member made his 100 lb milestone at the meeting! Even though I don't know these people, their stories are extremely inspirational!! Also, the meeting coincidentally was based around the Walk It 5K Challenge...and the final quote of the meeting really spoke to me in my new goal. It was a quote by Jim Rohn, "Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going." So, I hope I've encouraged y'all to make a goal of your own & set rules that get you motivated to form a habit that keeps you going! Until next time...MUAH! <3