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Here it is! The second installment of the brave ones who came out to show their stuff & try to take away my job. (The coolest job in the whole world, by the way.)

Enjoy!

Nine years ago this weekend I was moving into a dorm room getting ready to start the university experience.  I was a transfer student at Bowling Green State University with two years at Lorain County Community College under my belt.

It brought back memories on Friday when I went to cover the National Tractor Pulling Championships in BG because students were moving in.

On that day back in 2000 I really wasn’t too sure what I was getting myself into.  I applied to BG not ever seeing the campus with my only visit being on transfer student preview day (not sure if that was the exact title) and by then I had already confirmed I would be a falcon.

I was nervous yet excited to begin a new chapter in my life.  Although things didn’t always go how I planned I believe God had a plan for me and my future.  I met some great people and made great contacts at BGSU that’ve helped me in my personal and professional life.

Sometimes I think hmmmm……would I ever go back to undergraduate college life?  It was great but…naw….I think I’ll just continue to look forward.

Good luck to all the new and returning college students!  Have a great year!

So, being that I don’t cook as much as I should, my husband and I are always on the lookout for new restaurants.

Just recently we were walking through uptown Perrysburg and saw that there is a new eatery/bar called ‘Swig’.

The menu is pretty casual. They serve hot dogs, sausages, and brats in baskets.. usually with cole slaw. They specialize in making all of their own sausages.

They also have pretty unique beers on tap..

Luke and I went there and left with about an $18.00 bill for the both of us.

Not bad, especially since we usually pay $30.00 for a standard restaurant meal.

Check it out, ‘Swig’ is pretty decent.

Something you may not know about me….

I used to be quite fluent in sign language. But, like most things, if you don’t use it, you start to lose it. (more…)

So for the past couple of nights I haven’t been able to sleep.  I don’t know why but I find myself tossing and turning every night.  One night I just got up and started cleaning.  When you have problems trying to fall asleep what should you do.  A friend of mine – TDAWG – told me to count sheep, lol what the heck?!  Reading a good book before bed doesn’t help either because sometimes I have nightmares.

Since the end of June I have been in training.  I have set a goal for myself to run the Columbus Marathon (26.3 miles) on October 18th.  As some might know, I ran the Toledo Half Marathon in spring.  And since then I decided I wanted to run the full thing.

So many people come up to me and say, “there is no way I can do what you are doing.”  And I tell them “yes you can.”  Two years ago, after my daughter was born I started walking, increased that to running a little and walking a little.  When I began training for the half marathon (13.1 miles) I could only run 3 miles at a time.  But there are training programs out there that make it easy to increase the amount of miles you run. 

Training is fun, because it is something to work towards, but it is exhausting.  I get up everyday during the week around 4am.  That is the only way I can get my runs in before my husband leaves for work and my daughter get up, and still gives me time to get ready for work.  Then every Friday, I run a long run.  Tomorrow I have a 16 mile run ahead of me.  It takes a lot of time out of my day (around 3 hours).  So as you can see it is a big commitment and I am so tired by the time Saturday comes around.  

So I have two months to go before the race.  My long runs are becoming very difficult, and the lack of sleep is getting to me.  I just hope I can complete my goal and run the full marathon.  I will keep you posted. 

But a question for you … is anyone out there planning on running the Columbus half or full marathon?  It would be great to hear how the training is going for others.

There are a lot of people who work behind the scenes of Fox Toledo News that you never see on the air. One of them, hard-working photojournalist Craig Picklesimer, got married to his beautiful bride Cassie this weekend. I (of course) had the Flip Camera handy and shot a little video to share with you.

You may, or may not recognize a few other people in the clip. Several ‘behind the scenes’ Fox Toledo staffers were there, so you might not recognize them. Be sure to keep an eye out for photojournalist and some-times sport guy, Mike Thompson. He (appropriately) caught the garter.

Mike and his fiancée, Katie Snodgrass will be getting married later this month. Katie also works in the newsroom. She is the producer of Fox Toledo News First at Ten.

‘Tis the season for wedding at Fox Toledo. Congrats to them all.

I just returned from a four day weekend trip to Minnesota and South Dakota for a wedding. Flew in and out of Minneapolis and then put a lot of miles on a rental car.

I’m not sure what I expected on my first trip to the bigger of the Twin Cities. Maybe Prairie Home Companion characters walking among the downtown highrises. It was a lot more like NYC than I expected. Big city with more elbow room than you usually get in a big city. Nice, vibrant, walkable downtown. Lots of people exercising and strolling in parks and around lakes. I’m sure winters are another story, but a comfy day in August made me want to visit again.

Just in case you’re ever there. My restaurant recommendations include Solara, a Spanish tapas restaurant where your dinner will be made up of many little appetizers of your choice. Vincent is a wonderful French restaurant offering lunch and dessert for $12.50 at the time I wrote this. A bargain for white tablecloths and carefully prepared food. They even offered a salad of watermelon, fresh tomatoes, basil, cheese, thin sliced radishes and olives that I duplicated at home today with decent success. Don’t knock the combination ’til you’ve tried it.