how you know you are a loyal fan.

How to know you are a loyal Pittsburgh Steelers Fan:

1. Buy tickets to the first home game.

2. Fly to Pitt.

3. Drag your best friend there.*

4. Watch them lose/play  HORRIBLY.**

5. Want to do it all over again!!! 

*Holly actually wanted to go & was a great sport!

**Only I can say that they played bad... not you!

________

ah! sweet game day!

I was so very excited for my FIRST Steelers football game 

how cute was our pink cab?!

We woke up SO ready for the game Sunday!

We headed out for some lunch & it was SO awesome to see the whole city in 

BLACK & YELLOW!

Pittsburgh has to have one of the best stadiums.  It is completely open with views of the skyline and the river.  People pull up their boats and tailgate from the water.

We were happy when we were winning lol 

If you watched the game at all, you are aware that we scored within the first 30sec of the game and then did not score again until the last 5min of the game lol

it was sloppy, but y'all the atmosphere was sooooo fun. it was intense and even though we lost, I looooved being there!

as we were leaving, we saw this guy... really. a Cowboys fan?!lol 
go home!

what else are you to do after such a loss, drink your sorrows away, and that we did!

word to the wise:

do NOT text someone a picture if they photobomb you.  they will continuously text you.

creeeepy.

(but yeah I'm stupid for being nice lol)

we bought some cute Pirates Koozies

(I already have Steelers ones) 

what a day!

hate that we lost, but all in all, it was way too fun!

and it is easier to lose win you are surrounded by supporters.

Here's to this season, though it may be rough, I will stick it out for my boys!

Pitt

So Holly gets a couple out of town clients for work throughout the year.
She was supposed to be headed to LA, but it got switched to another client in Pittsburgh.
I was already planning to visit her (fun girl's trip) and when it got changed...
 I was actually more excited lol!

(My parents travel to Pitt about once a year for work. Being an only child, I would join them & grew to love the city.  I am not really sure why, but not having a Houston football team made me latch onto the city even more by becoming a Pittsburgh Steelers fan!)

____


I flew in Friday night & Saturday we woke up and did a 5k!
It was a 9/11 Memorial Run, so that was pretty awesome to be a part of, they had them in cities all around the country, all starting at the same time.

The run started RIGHT by Heinz Field & we ran past PNC Park and right along the river. Definitely the prettiest run ever.

but not mine lol 

____

After the run we visited The Church Brew Works for our well deserved beers.

They took an old church and renovated it and turned it into a brewery.  We couldn't decide if it was appropriate, but nevertheless they had great beer and pizza!

It was really pretty cool & we even sat in some of the original church pews.

After that we checked into our hotel closer to the stadium, did a little shopping, and started our bar hopping!

We ended up on East Carson Street, which is pretty much the 6th Street of Pitt.

Lots of cute patios and the weather was a perfect 75!

and wouldn't you know we found a "Rowdy Buck" bar.

Surprisingly it was a lot like good ol' Rowdy Bucks of Crosby... you can take the girl out of the country, but ya can't take the country out of the girl... lol 

we saw a Tennessee Titan fan in there... imagine that... 

we later met up with one of Holly's coworkers and had a really great time!

it was so fun to just chill and have nothing to do but day drink, talk, laugh, and enjoy the awesome weather!

____

tomorrow we will talk about that game...

______

[ Every single time I step onto an airplane I say a little prayer for the other passengers, the flight crew, and our safety. 9/11 opened our minds to such cruelty and I have never forgotten the enormous bravery of the passengers on that day. I know so many people associate today with NYC/police/fireman/soldiers, as they obviously should, but I seem to always think of the passengers and flight crew first. So as I sit here and write a traveling blog post... I am always grateful for safety and security at airports and forever changed by that day. ]

5 lies

oh hey! just over here with a semi super serious post for the week.

I haven't done that in a while and this subject is so near and dear to my heart!

I have beyond struggled with ALL of this & a sweet friend of mine posted this article yesterday on facebook & it really hit home. I added some random thoughts too. bc if I know I struggled with this & my close friends have too, it is something that should be discussed. we spend way too much of our time hiding our flaws instead of ripping them open and fixing them. 

read it. live it. stick it to the man! 

***

5 Lies Twentysomethings Need to Stop Believing:

September 3, 2013

Paul Angone is the author of 101 Secrets for your Twenties.

Sarah (Every. Single. One. Of. Us.) had been told all her life she could do anything she wanted, that success was right around the corner. But now, stuck in a menial job at 25, with no big career in sight, she—like many twentysomethings—was feeling the pangs of disillusionment.
This sense of disillusionment often stems from the lies we’ve been told and have told ourselves. We’ve been lied to, and these lies are holding us back.

You are not alone in your struggle, questions, wondering what’s next?, now what? or do I have what it takes?

Too many twentysomethings are driving through the twists and turns of their twenties with windshields covered in mud, lies and half-truths. And then we wonder why so many of us have crashed?

We need to hose these lies off right now or spend our twenties stuck on the side of the road.

1. I’m the Only One Struggling

I would love to lock this lie away in a Serbian prison and give the key to a pack of Arctic wolves to defend. You are not alone in your struggle, questions, wondering what’s next?, now what? or do I have what it takes?

Our twenties are tough. That’s the truth. Too many twentysomethings are struggling through a quarter life crisis all alone. (amen, I totally thought I was the ONLY one & sure enough after talking to friends, I am not! we ALL feel this way at some point)

We all need help. We all need support. We all need nudges, prompts, advice and encouragement. 

No one has it all figured out. The twentysomethings who think they do are in for the biggest shock of all. (ahem... that would be ME! def got a rude awakening) 

2. I Should Be Successful by Now! Like Right Now!

(this one was definitely my weakness. I for sure thought after graduating college I would instantly be a "grown up" with everything in place. ha.)

 I fully expected to walk straight into a crazy-successful twentysomething life with accolades, salaries, bonuses, a big-old-fat-book-deal, and a plethora of people who wanted to learn my secrets to success, all by 23 years old. Maybe 25 if I really hit some serious setbacks.

I didn't realize that success takes time—loads of time.
Success is not an Egg McMuffin, delivered to us for a $3, three minute investment.
No, success is the Sistine Chapel—it takes years, pain, frustration, thousands of brushes, colors and crumpled up sketches before you have your masterpiece.
Countless famed figures we idolize failed drastically in their twenties. Even Jesus, who never failed at anything, didn't begin his active, recorded ministry until he was in his thirties.

Success is not a sprint, it’s an Ironman marathon, and our twenties aren't really about running the actual race. No, our twenties are simply about building our endurance so that we can run the race in the future.

If you take one step towards your dream today, you are a success. Success happens in the details. (looooove this!) 

3. Life is Not Turning Out Like it Was Supposed To

(can we ALL just take a moment to laugh at ourselves and how prideful/silly/stupid we are for "planning" our lives out in such detail. ridiculous I tell ya!)

Well, kind of. Yes, life is not turning out like it was supposed to, but what the heck is supposed to? There is no supposed to. Supposed to is a lie. Supposed to is built on the perception of someone else’s perceived success.

Live your life right now exactly as it is and do your best to keep moving forward into where you want to go. That’s what you’re supposed to do.  (!!!!) 

4. I Don’t Have What it Takes

I 100 percent guarantee you have what it takes. I triple-stamp a double-stamp, 100 percent money-back guarantee you have what it takes. It’s just going to take some time to figure out what exactly “it” is.

Our twenties are a process, not a surprise party. You don’t just walk into the door and all of the sudden your calling jumps out from behind the couch. God has put all of us on a journey and as much as we might want to dash to the finish line, we're going to have to take our time to let Him teach us what exactly that finish line is. (I have always wanted God to just send me a GIANT sign that told me 1. what my calling is 2. what my career and relationships should look like 3. what I should be doing for him. I thought if I could just have that, I would be set! but sadly life isn't handed to us just that easily. work work work.) 

You are extremely talented at something. We just need to start pulling off the layers to get a glimpse of what that something is.

5. I am a Failure

(I literally think this 7 times a week.) 

The only failure of our twenties would be if we never had any.
The only failure of our twenties is if we fail and then call ourselves failures. (oooops) 

Our twenties are going to be riddled with failure. Anyone that tells you otherwise is a liar. But you don't have to define yourself by your failures.

Failure is not a period, it’s a comma. And only if you stop trying will you really fail.
There’s only one way to be successful in our twenties—fail, tweak, then try again. 

***

So here is to not being perfect, to "failing" miserably and trying again, to our successes and to the daily grind of "finding ourselves" and our calling. I hope you ALL realized we ALL have these silly expectations and goals are okay, but so is it all not working out how we thought.

randomness

long time, no blog.

holiday weekends throw me off so bad.
I love that the week is flying by though, fun weekend ahead!


***

a few weekends ago I finally got back into running 
(sort of).

I have a BIG run in October & I hadn't run in months and months.
(it is too hot in Texas).

they do the Lake Houston 5k/10k every year and it starts in Kings Harbor, right by my store/apartment. so there was NO skipping this one.

it wasn't too too bad.

besides the getting up at 5:45am, the hotness, and the whole running thing. lol 

I am pretty much out of shape and so it took me way too long, but I did it!

and every run (good or bad) deserves a treat!

we had the BEST frozen mimosas.

and why not take silly pictures with Peyton?! he is way too cute. 

***

hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend,
mine was pretty chill.

I painted my nails while studying for fantasy football... makes sense?!

my little sister had her  HIGH SCHOOL volleyball game.

BIG deal!

We had our fantasy draft party & I grabbed a beer at the 'Stros game.

and I may have deserved a mimosa or two:

(is it bad if this is the 2nd appearance of the mimosa in a single blog post?!)

Monday I got a lot done, but made sure and got some pool time in.

as ready as I am for fall, I will miss pool days more than anything!