InKredible Kristen!!!

I'm running out of "K" words, here!

Today's "Gymnast of the Day" is the evah so eKxeptional, striKing, quirKy, Kute:

Kristen!!!

(I think I got her braids a little too tight! Don't worry, we fixed this before she was seen in public)

I'm really positive that if Kristen wasn't on our team, it'd be kinda boring. She adds so much life to the team. It's just crazy. She has been such a great addition to beam and floor for our team. (She only does the two.. she almost kills herself getting over the vault and her bar skills are downright funny) This girl has the CUTEST dance and presence on floor! More importantly, I love Kristen for her honesty, ditziness and her personality.

What I like about Kristen:
She is such a go-getter. She works so hard on her routines. She is easy to coach. She is always open to suggestions and is always eager to try something new. I just love this little gals personality, too. She's so easy to be around and loves to laugh!! She really is a sweet-heart!

Kristen's greatest accomplishment:
Last night she had a personal best on floor.. a 8.3!! Great job, chica. So stinking proud of her! I know I joked that you are dating the judges son, but I was kidding!!! You did an amazing job and we are so proud of you. She's also getting SO confident and good on beam. You are such an asset to our team! (I know you will ask me later so I'll tell you now.. asset means that it's an advantage or benefit to have you on our team)


Two of Kristen's funniest stories..
(we don't have all day.. trust me, there's MANY!)
The BEST story of Kristen happened last year when she was a freshman. We were talking about hysterectomy at practice (we talk about much more than gymnastics) and Kristen got in the conversations a tad late. She then jumps right in and makes the comment,
"Yeah, my dad had one of those."
We've all learned that when Kristen makes a ditzy comment, try to hold back the laughter as much as possible and so we can keep her going. We really wanted to know about her dad's surgery where they ripped out his woman parts. But this time it was impossible. Poor thing, we laughed at her for days about that one!
Kristen just got her license. Yes, she is my gymnasts that TURNS LEFT ON RED constantly! She can't seem to remember that it's right on red. So one of the girls wrote a big "R" on her right hand so she could remember. I think it's working.
One more.. Last year she had to wear Nika (our head coaches) bra for a meet. She had forgotten the correct one for our leos so Nika's was her last option. She comes out of the bathroom and tell me, "Yeah, it's one of those weird brands. I think it's called Good and Plenty". Um Kristen, that's a candy. And if you saw Nika's bra size, you'd know that it wouldn't be called "Good and Plenty"!

I can't remember if she was peeing her pants a little bit or if she was practicing her kegals and made a funny comment. Either way, this is the norm... everyone laughing at Kristen.

What makes Kristen, Kristen:
Kristen's ditziness makes her Kristen. She is SERIOUSLY ditzy. It's not a show, what-so-ever. You know how some people can fake ditziness? Those people are Kristen's idols! just kidding.. This girl can make us laugh!! i hope she NEVER changes. =)

How I am proud of her:
I am proud of her for where her hard work has gotten her. I cannot wait to see your floor and beam routines next year at this time. If you keep working as hard as you do, the sky is the limit!

Love ya, Kristen!

I made up a poem for you, oh blog friend of mine...
Please comment for my girls,
Just give it a whirl!
They love to hear from you,
I've heard you guys are enjoying it too. =)
So comment away
To make Kristen's day!!

Okay, I won't quit my day job. I feel like that weird girl on the Bachelor that made up stupid poems for Travis! He gave her the boot.. guess no one will boot me off my own blog! Whew. I'm safe.

Kutie-head Katelynn!!!

Today we are back to the regularly scheduled GYMNAST OF THE DAY posts! Today's gymnast of the day is the ever so cute, bouncy, bubbly:

KATELYNN!!!

Oh, isn't she cute!!?? She is yet another sophomore. (We've got 5 this year!)

Katelynn is such a joy to be around. When I think of a descriptive word to describe Katelynn, the first word that comes to my mind is bubbly. The girl's got spunk! In gymnastics and in her personality! She is an extremely hard worker and has accomplished SO many skills in gymnastics over the past 2 years. We are so lucky to have her work ethic on our team. The girl is motivated!

What I like about Katelynn:
Oh.. what's not to like about Katelynn!! I love how smiley the girl is. She's SO bubbly and full of life that you can't help but smile at the little thing! Oh, and she is tiny too! She's our little shortie. =)

Greatest Accomplishment:
I would say bars have been her biggest accomplishment. She came to us last year as a freshman not being able to do anything on bars. This year, she is competing varsity for us and doing a great job! Every meet her routine gets a little better and her score keeps inching and inching up. I can't wait to see what skills you throw next year, girlie!

Funny Story:
Katelynn sweetie.. I'm sorry but I have to tell this story!! Last year on the way to a meet I glance over to the seat beside me where she's sitting and her cheeks are all puffed out. Abby, another gymnast, tells me that Katelynn just puked in her mouth. Yep, her mouth is full of chunks. So I'm searching the mini-bus for anything I can have this poor girl throw up in. Of course the bus doesn't have a trash receptacle because they WANT us to throw all our trash on the floor! Grrr.. Anywho, then the Ritz Chips bag catch my eye.. yep, the girls are gunna have to give up their beloved unopened bag of Ritz Chips. I yelled at Sarah to hand over the bag so Katelynn can dispose of the grossness in her mouth. The girls have a DEBATE in the back of the bus discussing if they want to give up the BBQ or the Sour Cream and Onion. Gotta love my girls.. Ended up giving me the BBQ so Katelynn could finally puke in it.


What makes Katelynn, Katelynn:
Katelynn's backhandsprings make Katelynn, Katelynn! The girl flies backwards with her arms and legs about 2 feet apart. She boing's her head on the ground sometimes.. but they are getting MUCH better! She's trying so hard to do as we say and glue her legs together and get her hands closer together. She also does a fun boobie-bounce with her long-hang kips on bars. =) You gotta stop doing that or your poor boobies are never gunna grow!
And like I said, Katelynn always has such a postitive attitude and is such a team player.

How I am proud of Miss Katelynn:
I am mostly proud of Katelynn for working so hard. This girl reaches for the stars and does everything she can to accomplish her goals. I can see SO much potential in lil' miss Katelynn and am so excited to see what she accomplishes in the next 2 years at WHS.

Okay, bloggers! Let's make Katelynn's day by commenting on how super good she's doing in g-to-the-nastics! And you can tell her how cute she is too. =)

~Happy Birthday Mom~

Today my mom would have been 54. Yep, would have been. Almost 3 years ago, she passed away from her battle with cancer. Do I miss her? Sometimes it's still unbearable how much I miss mom. Just the other day I had a memory and picked up my phone to call her. Then I felt silly.. it's been almost 3 years without her. Without her laugh, her wittiness, her wisdom, her selflessness..

Most of my best memories of mom include humor. The woman was completely random at times, can put my ditzy stories to shame and was down right hilarious! Just like yesterday, I can imagine her at the kitchen table during prayer laughing so hard her belly bounced. She was queen of laughing during prayer. I can still see her in a dressing room while we were trying on new jeans loudly asking if they "fit alright in the crotch?" On vacations in a cramped car she would show us her cheer block routines from high school. I remember her saying, "Darce, cheer block was where it was at. We were cooler than the cheerleaders. When the white gloves came out, you knew we meant business."

These are memories I have of mom pre-cancer. I really think God has a sense of humor because some of her funniest moments were when she had cancer. After she had lost her hair, her favorite hat was covered in clouds. I think she liked it best so she could pull her famous one liner.. "My head's in the clouds!" Mom called dad "The Natzi" when he was protective of her by not letting her go places or making her wear her mask to shield germs. Oh.. morphine made her one goofy lady! A few days before she passed away she woke up after she was sound asleep telling my dad, "Denny! There's a man in the window wearing a tux." Dad looked at the window, saw that there was nothing there and told mom, "There is? That would be hard, we're on the 6th floor." Mom laughed and said, "Well that's his problem, isn't it?" I still to this day think the man in the tux on the 6th floor was an angel.

Even though I only spent 22 years of my life with mom, she was an example of how to conduct yourself in a way that is worthy of Christ. She was the best example that God could have given me! She taught me not to complain in any situation. Even through the immense amount of pain that she endured, I NEVER heard her complain. Nurses would fight over who would get to take care of her during their shift! I learned to smile through the worst of my own pain and suffering. It puts a whole different perspective on things when you smile. A friend wrote a song inspired by my mom and there is a part where she sings, "Do I smile when it's hard to breathe?" When my mom had to wear an oxygen mask and was close to her death, she was smiling. People could see the joy in her life only possible through Jesus Christ. She was different. She was an example of how to put God first, others second and yourself last. She didn't just say it, her actions proved it.

A couple of hours before she died, with myself, my brother, sister and dad present, she prayed. Her oxygen level was so low that she should have been unconscious. The first words that came out of her mouth were, "Dear heavenly father, thank you for this wonderful day." My mom was praising Jesus hours before she met Him! Romans 8:28 tells me, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Mom was called home at the age of 51 even though she had a loving husband and 3 kids who still longed for her to be around. She is experiencing her reward in full from her relationship with Christ and the life that she lived for Him here on earth!

Mom, I can't even imagine what birthday parties are like in heaven.. Happy 54th!

Jensational Jeni!!!

Okay, so I couldn't find a fun adjective starting with "J" so I made one up. =)

Today's Gymnast of the Day is the oh-so-fantastic:

Jeni!!!

I have the most hilarious pictures of Jeni because she's always the one yelling, "Take a picture of this, Darce!" But a lot of the times she is doing something funny so I grad my camera quick and take a picture of her hilariousness. =)

Oh, where do I even start with Miss Jeni! This girl is just the sweetest thing evah. She is the kind of girl that can make friends with a rock. Yep, she is a friend to EVERYONE. She is the hardest worker with everything she does.. not just gymnastics. Last year she was so determined as a freshman to have a varsity spot on our team. She came to Nika and I and asked, "What do I have to do to be a better gymnast?" Holy cow! The dream coaches question! If you are a friend of Jeni's, consider it an honor.

What I like about Jeni:
Like I said above, I love how coachable this girl is. You tell her to change something and bam, she's trying her hardest to do as we say. The girl is full of smiles. She had a bad beam night our first meet and after she dismounted, she stood there with tears of disappointment streaming down her face, smiling. Not kidding. She was so mad at herself but her personality was still shining through.

(Jeni is being a goof while doing her shin-splints exercises)

Greatest Accomplishment:
Okay, so she didn't have a great beam night her first meet? The past 2 meets this girl has had NO-FALL BEAM ROUTINES! Holy cow.. talk about determination! I believe she feel 4 or 5 times that first night and just 4 meets later she completely stays on. Can I say, "Awesome?!"

Funny Story of Jeni-lu-who:
I know I say all my gymnasts are riots, but Jeni's ranked right up there with the best of them. We had a little trouble finding a team manager this year and a few weeks after the season had started, Jeni comes running up to Nika (head coach) and I and says, "I found a manager, I found a manager!" So we start asking questions about this girl and Jeni starts throwing her sales pitch... "She really sweet, responsible, gets all A's and doesn't have sex." Alrighty! We weren't expecting that last bit-o-info but hey, eveyone loves a sex-free manager!


What makes Jeni, Jeni:
There are so many things that make Jeni, Jeni. She is a blast to be around, never puts people down, and is a complete ham. I think her determination also makes her Jeni.. more info below under "greatest accomplishments". I am also proud of her walk with Christ. I know as a fact that her personality, outlook on life and smiles are a result of her relationship with Christ. I've had a few talks with Jeni about these matters and the girl is pretty wise.. your inspiration is contagious.. keep it up, girl. =) People can see Christ in you.

How I am proud of Jeni:
Nika challeneged all the girls a couple of weeks ago to individually raise their all-around score by 2 points. (Eliminate falls, point toes, connect skills, for all those non-gymnastic minded peeps out there) Jeni completely took a hold of that goal and added 2 more points to her all-around score at her next meet. Since she had reached that goal, Tuesday night she made another goal to reach a 30 all-around individual score.. and she got there! I'm excited to see where your determination will take you. Love ya, Jeni-lu-who!

Here we go bloggers, here we go! Du-du. Just a little tune to get ya commenting away! Thanks again for all your warms wishes to my girls. They are lovin' it!

Just a head's up.. tomorrow's blog will take a break from Gymnast of the Day for another subject. On Monday we'll be back to regularly scheduled bloggin. =) Stay tuned...

Adorable Alyssa!!!

Today's Gymnast of the Day is the amazing, adorable, awesome:

Miss Alyssa!!!



Isn't that a fun picture? She looks like a ghost.. but a ghost that is doing a very nice front tuck dismount on the ol' beam-a-ro.. it's so nice and high but we need to work on tightening those knees so that your legs'll be a little more together.. sorry! The coach in my is a coming out!

Alyssa is SO, SO, SO much fun! She is hilarious and has supa gestures. Let's just say she gets into what she's saying and her hands'll be flying and her eye-balls start bugging out.. it totally cracks me up! This girl can DANCE too. Her floor routine has an O-so-cute Latino kinda jive. She does it so eloquently and with her own Alyssa style. Judges comment on how polished she looks.

Lys is the gal to the left with a hilarious face goin' on. =)

What I like most about Lyssa:
Lyssa has SUCH a positive outlook on gymnastics and life in general. Not much gets this girl down. She is an extremely hard worker and so incredibly coachable.

Alyssa's Greatest Accomplishment:
Alyssa has done so well at perfecting her floor routine. Last year I remember hearing her music the most during practice because she was continually doing routine after routine to make sure that her floor-ex was the best that it could be. This girl is so naturally talented as well. She recently got her backhandspring tuck and has started working layouts. By about her 3rd one we were sooooo completely impressed! They were beautiful!!! The skill looked like she'd been doing them for years. So proud of you girlie and we need to keep working them so that we can slap that baby in a routine soon. =)

Funny story of Alyssa:
Oh gosh.. she and I came up with her beam mount and it's this super cool shoulder roll thing. We were practicing it and as I was spotting her, I went in too quickly and completely punched her in the face. Yep, coachal abuse, right here. Bless her heart she came up laughing with tears in her eyes and kept saying how it didn't hurt and she was only crying because it was near her eye and her eyes were watering. Yeah, right.. "I JUST PUNCHED YOU IN THE FACE!" But we laugh about it now and this just shows how cute and tough this little gal is. =) And apparently likes to be smacked in the face!

What makes Alyssa, Alyssa:
I just love Alyssa's personality! It's so bubbly and fun. She's SO smiley and giggly.. so contagious. Love you girl and this type of outlook on life and personality will get you SO far in life. (holy cow, let me say SO one more time!!!)

Oh yeah, another ghost picture! Promise she's not see-through in real life!!!

How I am proud of Alyssa:
I am proud of you for how you've contributed to our team.. your fun-ness, talent and positive outlook benefits our team immensely. Can't imagine our team without you!

Here we go bloggers!!! Time to tell Alyssa what a cutie-head she is!!! BTW.. Thanks for praising my girls. I've got parents and some of the girls friends checking out the blog to see their Gymnast of the Day.. you are helping make this a huge success!!! They all have made comments to what you've said.. thanks so much!!

Ravishing Renae!!!

Today is RENAE'S DAY!!!

I love that picture! It's like, "Who, me? Your bloggin' me today?" Of course while she is following instructions to be in the splits. Good girl, good girl.

Renae is our only Junior this year and gosh I love this girl! If you remember me talking way back in December about one of my gymnasts that dislocated her ankle, this is the girl. I will NEVER forget #1 the grossness of that ankle, #2 all your teammates running from the scene screaming like mad, and most importantly, #3 how EXTREMELY tough you were through that injury. Holy cow, she was an inspiration and a role model to our whole team with that accident.

What I like about Renae:
First and foremost, I love Renae's laugh! Renae has a laugh that can be heard and identified across the entire gym. It's super contagious so if she's-a-laughin', everyone's-a-laughin. =) Renae is super witty. Then of course she laughs after she's said something witty and it makes everyone laugh harder. She's a total sweetie.

Greatest Accomplishment:
I think Renae's greatest accomplishment had to have been last year at Sectionals on beam. We really struggled with who to put on beam for Sectionals and we decided to put Renae on the roster. Oh gosh, she couldn't have done a better routine on the floor! She really showed us what she was made of and I was so proud of her.


What makes Renae, Renae:
First of all, Renae's pretty red hair makes Renae, Renae! It's so stinking gorgeous and she can do the whole straight/curly thing.. so versatile. Anywho, Renae is so head strong. (I think it may come with that red hair) If this girl wants something, she'll go after it. Whether it's a boys, a skill, originality in her routine.. she'll go after it. =)

How I am Proud of Renae:
Well, of course I am proud of you with your whole injury thing. It hasn't gotten you down and you are SO optimistic of next year. And she has the CUTEST irsh floor routine and music. I was SO excited to see her perform it.. But I know that you will be SO important to our team next year (and maybe some this year if your healed enough to come back). I am also proud of how you've grown up over the years I've known you.

This is a fun picture. She had just come from a doctor's appointment and when I looked at her I screamed, "Oh my gosh! They had to amputate?" Dude, doesn't it seriously look like she doesn't have a foot? Whew.. praise Jesus they didn't have to take the foot. =) Love ya Girl!!!

Alrighty, blog friends of mine! Time to Praise-up cutie-head little Renae!!!

Supa-Dupa Sarah!!!

Alrighty, oh blog friends of mine! Guess what time it is?? Time to:

DEDICATE MY NEXT 9 BLOGS TO MY ADORABLE, FANTASTIC, AMAZING, FUNNY, & OH SO CUTE, GYMNASTS!!!



One of the reasons I started this blog was to be a "coolest" scrap chick, keep in touch with friends and family, be a "coolest" scrap chick, and I wanted to be entertaining enough that my gymnasts and youth group girls would visit. Well, I think I've accomplished 2 of those 4 goals.. keeping in touch with the ol' fam & friends and my GYMNASTS are frequenting the ol' blog-a-ro! I told Darin that at some point I wanted to showcase each gymnasts one at a time and by golly, now is the time! So I've decided to start with our one and only senior and then go by class, alphabetically. No favortism here, I love them all like my little sisa's. =)

So let's get started.. SARAH, TODAY IS YOUR DAY!!!



Sarah is our only senior this year. Last year we didn't have any seniors so she stepped up to the plate as our team captain. This year again she was elected captain by her teammates. Sarah is an amazing leader and I am so super proud of her. I started coaching when Sarah was a sophomore so I feel like I've watched this amazing girl mature into quite the little young lady.

What I like most about Sarah:
Oh gosh, what do I not like about Ms. Sarah? Sarah is SO incredibly tough. This little gal hyperextended her knee during a floor routine last year and not only finished the routine but never complained.. once. She is determined beyond all measures.. she goes after something and works her hardest until she's accomplished her goal.

Sarah's Greatest Accomplishment:
Hmmm.. I think gymnastics in general is Sarah's accomplishment. This girl has worked her HINEY off to get the skills that she's got. The first year I was at WHS Sarah was a strong competitor for our JV.. she wasn't an all-star and wouldn't "stand-out" to a judge. Now.. holy cow.. Sarah is one of our strongest competitors on all 4 events and we know we can count on her scores to always pull through and contribute to the team.



Funny Story of Sarah's:
Sarah ranks up there with our ditziest of ditziest on the team but I am totally drawing a blank on one specific story. I do, however, remember eating out with the team last year as she glanced under the table, came back up and said, "Man, there are a LOT of legs under there!" K, thanks captain obvious.
But lately Sarah's been forgettting to ROTATE her back tuck in her last pass on floor. She seriously stalls out in the middle of her tuck, the ol' legs spread eagle and miraculously she puts out her landing gear just in time to not fall flat on her face. It makes us coaches laugh every time but seriously Sarah, let's decide to rotate and do a normal, pretty tuck like you usually do.

What makes Sarah, Sarah:
Her positive outlook.. ALL THE TIME. Sarah is an amazing teammate and someone that each girl (and coach) can count on constantly.

I am proud of Sarah because:
I'm proud of her beam work because she used to fall off often and lately the girl has been sticking A TON of her skills. But most importantly as a person she never alters from what she believes and who she is. Sarah is just the coolest and I love her dearly. Our team will not be the same without her next year.. but I am so excited to see what life has in store for her. Love you bunches, Sarah!!

Okay fellow bloggers.. can you do something for me? If/when you comment, make it be ALL about my Gymnast of the Day? Even if it's just, "Hey, you have really cute hair" or "Man, the way you are sticking your toe in your mouth in that 2nd picture is SO COOL!".. anything goes... I want this to be ALL about them and I'm sure they'd love to hear from you. =) Thanks!!!

Nothing a little BABY JETT can't fix!

It's been "one of those days" today at work. Yep, could have killed someone at one point.. but didn't. Whew. No jail time for this blondie.

First of all, a very good thing.. my gymnasts RAWKED THE FAB (quote so oftenly used by Miss Kayle Aimee) last night! Holy cow, I've never been so proud of them! We had 4 of out 7 no-fall beam routines. Holy cow, it was amazing. Just one after another amazing routine. GREAT JOB GIRLS!

Okay, back to my regularly scheduled bad day... there is nothing better on a bad day then to look at the cutest, most adorable, most awesome, sweetest red-head of a baby nephew evha, Jett. Whipped up a LO of him AFTER MY GYMNASTS COMPLETELY RAWKED THEIR MEET last night. They were simply amazing.. SO proud of them! K.. here it is!

My Hometown Paper

Guess what? I was totally quoted in the paper today! There was a huge write up about the head coach that I am an assistant to with my gymnastics team. I was in the paper a lot in high school with all my sports but I've never been QUOTED before! And I actually sounded intelligent! (I just did spell check on "intelligent" and I had TOTALLY spelled it wrong! I college edju-cated, promise!)

DISCLAIMER: Now, you all realize where I live, right? In a very small town in Indiana. Our paper only comes out once a week so that may tell you something. It's called the "Mail Journal" but I have always called it the "Mail Urinal". I actually looked through the entire paper (took 3 minutes & 20 seconds) so that I could blog about some of the headlines to give you a little chuckle today.

Under the INCIDENTS section:
#1 Joe So--in--So reported a tow bar missing from his property valued at $60.
Whoah, I can't imagine what I would do without my tow bar! Maybe he really misses his tow bar because he was planning on hiting someone so that he could be WORTHY of being in the incidents section!

#2 Officials at Subway in Syracuse reported someone wrote with a black marker pen on the employee entrance door. Damage $100.
I wonder if they would have reported it if it were a red pen?

Under the MILFORD MAIN STREET section:
(hehehe.. Milford only consists of a main street and a bunch of county roads! Cracks me up!)

#3 The Milford Community Building will be getting new locks soon. Anyone needing a new key must contact the Utilities Commissioner.
So I guess anyone can get one of these keys.. safe, very safe Mr. Utilities Commissioner! Next thing we know someone will let themselves in with their own key and draw on the doors with a black marker pen. Whoah, I better contact the Utilities Commissioner. (I love that fancy name for the towns maintenace guy!)

One time there was a story about how the birds had just flown back from the south. There was a gigantuan COLOR picture of a bird on a branch. HOW IS THIS NEWSWORTHY? My fave story was an article about a girl that cut her hair.. yep, basically said it was really long and now it's short. Sadly, she was my cousin.

Anywho, back to my little moment of fame! I've been coaching gymnastics for 3 years. The first year I coached we had a very skilled, mostly upper-classman team. We lost one meet and had our star gymnasts place at State. So last year our team consisted of 2 Juniors, 1 Sophomore and 6 Freshman. Yeah, kinda young. We struggled through our season a bit. I was SUPER proud of my girls because they tried their hardest but we had a loosing season for the first time ever. So that's the background to why the paper decided to do an article about our head coach... she's an amazing coach deserves all the recognition she can get. Last Thursday at our meet the guy from the paper pulls me aside and asks if he can interview me. Whoah, Nika (head coach) does the interviewing. But he explains what the article is about and that he wanted to interview me because I used to be one of her gymnasts and now I coach with her. K.. it went pretty well even though I finished every sentence with, "Did that make sense?" or "Did that sound stupid?" The guy probably walked away thinking I was the DITZIEST, tarded person he'd ever interviewed. But this is what the paper read today:

"The offseason meant some changes in the way things would be done were in order. Prather and assistant coach Darcy Holsopple, who was a product of the Wawasee gymnastics program from 94-98, took it upon themselves to find answers and bring the passion back to the gymnastics program. The passion would start mentally.

"Darcy was really upset by last season, "Prather said. "She took it personal and let the girls know that Wawasee gymnastics is a tradition."

Holsopple made sure she let the current team know where she stood.

"I told them they need to have more pride," Holsopple said, noting the success of the old teams but the necessity to look forward, "They didn't have anyone to look up to last year. I wanted them to know this is a successful program and they should be proud to be a Wawasee gymnast."

Oh yeah.. crown me motivational speaker of the year! WHATEVER! It was fun and a great write-up for our head coach. I'm also supa proud of my girls this year and how many personal and team goals they've accomplished so far. Keep it up girls!

Hey, maybe Bailey should write in to the Mail Urinal and tell them his shaving story.. NO KIDDING I bet they would publish it!!!! I can see the headlines.. "Holsopple's honeymoon in Acapulco, Roommates shave Cat"

Confessions of a Scrapaholic...

Mara is the coolest!!! She sent me a RAK (random act of kindness) and I got it yesterday...

It was seriously like Christmas. There were so many things in there that I have had in my hand at scrap stores and have put it back because I am a cheapo. Like those supa sweet KI Icicles. Oh, and see that yellow "D"? Can't wait to use my "D"!!! So, I plan to "Pay it Forward" with my own cool RAK soon.. stay tuned.

I scrapped for the rest of the night because I had new loot. Came up with this LO...

and I wasn't very happy with the turn-out. Okay, my sister gets mad if I ever say anything negative about my pages because she always likes them and says that maybe people are thinking that I'm looking for positive comments in return.. kinda an attention thing. Nope, that isn't me. I'm just being honest. So let's get real...

This picture and the journaling (written by my MOM!!!) mean so much to me that I totally stressed about this page. I've got this supa huge goal of getting pubbed sometime this year and I am totally stressing about it. I put a ton-o effort into pages and then am not happy with them. I guess I feel like I'm loosing my spunk lately. This is a HOBBY. I need to ENJOY it.. and I do for the most part. Until I put amazingly stupid pressure on myself. I think I get caught up in how much Pea praise I get or if my page gives me warm fuzzy's or if I think the page is worthy of submitting. Darin and I had a huge talk about this and more last night and it all comes down to the feeling of whether or not I feel accepted. I guess I just always assumed that by this time in my life I would get over the stupid acceptance thing. No such luck. I won't dwell on this any longer.. I want my blog to be a fun place but it also needs to be an outlet for some of the ol' feelings I need to express.

Oh, and for clarification.. yesterday wasn't my b-day! =) I was just really feeling old with our bleacher seat purchase. I'm actually 25 and a half.. YIKES!!! My b-day is July 27th. Mark it on your calendars cuz I'm in LOVE with my b-day! If you comment today, let me know what your b-day is too!!!

It's official..

I'm getting old. Yep, I'm 25 and I it's confirmed that I am aging drastically. Why, you ask me?

#1. All my friends are getting knocked up... of course the right way after a few years of marriage. I went to one of my best friends in college baby shower on Saturday. Yep, Wendy is with child. Everyone assumed that I would be the first prego cuz I'm all domesticated and stuff, but nope... Wendy is all knocked up. She is however, sporting some totally cute maternity wear. Gives me something to look forward too... the entire new wardrobe I'll get to buy when it's our turn. I have also received news that 2 other friends are prego... holy cow, my friends are reproducing and creating little spawns of themselves!


Reason #2 that I am aging... Darin and I were in bed by 9:30 last night. Yes, 9:30. Of course we stayed up until 11:00 watching the Bachelor, but still... we were IN BED by 9:30. And then I was watching all those super hip girls run around all cutsy and stuff. Didn't help that I was in bed with my glasses on, wearing a very sexy (huge) T-shirt of Darin's and my mouth guard was in. (so I don't wake up Darin gritting my teeth) Super hip look if you ask me.


Reason #3.. Just realized that some of my gymnasts are 10 years younger than me.. yes, 10 YEARS! A decade. Diez anos. I'm going to ignore this one because being 10 years older than them probably means I should ACT 10 years older than them. Not a chance.


Reason #4... and the grand finale of them all: Darin and I bought bleacher chairs last night. Yes, bleacher chairs. We both sit in the stands and watch each other coach and go to all our youth kid's games. Our hiney's get sore! So, we swing past the sporting goods at Wally World and see the coolest Purdue bleacher seats I have ever seen. They have arms, a super cool back and are PADDED! No more bleacher butt for us! We seriously stood in the isle for 10 minutes contemplating #1 if we TRUELY needed these things, #2 that they were $8 each marked down from $17.. should we really spend the $? (we are CRAZY cheap) and #3 how TARDEDLY OLD we would look walking into the kids' games with these chairs!? We finally decided to get them. And then we got up to the register and they were $5 each... even cooler. And then we couldn't wait to get home to wipe everything off the coffee table to try them out.

So it's official... I am getting old. At least my hiney will be comfy!

Tag.. I'm IT!

First of all, thank you very much for reading Mr. Bailey the fat cat's blog on Friday. He's ready for some paybacks so if anyone has any ideas of what to do to Erin while she's on her honeymoon in April, please let us know. It's got to be funnier than shaving my cat and LESS EXPENSIVE than $152. Way less than that, actually.

Alrighty, I've been tagged by Monica and Rachel!!! Here we go...

*Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. My current job... the assistant to the Vice President at Chore-Time/Brock International. We make and sell chicken cages and grain silos.. glad I'm an assistant and not a sales person.
2. Assistant Gymnastics coach for WHS. LOVE this job! Sometimes I forget that I get paid for it. =) This is the 3rd year I've done it.
3. Account Executive @ a hotel in West Lafayette, In. Was the inside sales person so I got to work with brides, religous groups and such. Pretty fun. =)
4. Mary Kay. Yep, I deal MK. Not very well, but I used to be WAY into it!

*Four movies you would watch over and over
1. Grease - my all time fave. I can recite the entire movie. Not kidding.
2. Tommy Boy
3. Meet the Parents
4. I would rather rent a new one!!!

*Four places you have lived:
1. Milford, Indiana.. my little home-town
2. West Lafayette, Indiana to go to school at PURDUE
3. Goshen, Indiana.. where I currently live

*Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. LOST - I LOVE LOST
2. Divine Design on HGTV
3. House Hunters on HGTV
4. Who am I kidding, I LOVE HGTV! I'll watch just about any show.

*Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Acapulco - My honeymoon with my new hubby. =) So incredibly fun.. I wanna go back!
2. Tennessee to see my sista ever year.
3. Scottsdales, AZ about 3 times to visit my friend Molly =) I LOVE SCOTTSDALE.. pretty sure I want to retire there. Retire at 30, I mean.
4. Went on a family cruise in 02 (mom was there!) in the Caribean.. SO FUN!!! Darin and I are planning to take a cruise (hopefully) this year.

*Four websites I visit daily:
1. 2peas to either post or praise!!!
2. my friend's blogs
3. My email account
4. I have no other time to look at any others because I get stuck at the 3 sites listed above!

*Four of my favorite foods:
1. Authentic Mexican.. Mostly The Camino.. a chicken soft taco, no queso, with a side of refried beans.. most of the servers know my order by heart. I'm such a tard.. a creature of habit tard...
2. Oatmeal every morning, again, I'm a creature of habit.
3. Veggie burgers
4. Chocolate =)

*Four places I would rather be right now:
1. At home with a baby on my hip. Darin, gunna do anything about that? JK...
2. With Darin Jay. =)
3. In my SCRAPROOM!!!
4. On vacation.. I'd go anywhere WARM right now. January in IN SUCKS!!!

Bloggers I am tagging:
1. Kayla Aimee.. I'm pretty sure you'd be hilarious at this!!!
2. Erin Sweeney.. feel up to it?? 20 days until you are a MAMA!!! Holy cow.. It'd help you BLOG!!!
Some non-scrap friends:
3. Christy
4. Niki
5. Natalie! The mother of my cutie-head nephew, Jett. They just got a blog.. check it out!
6. Jes, my super cool church friend.

Did a LO last night...

This was another roomie of mine, Alice. Yep, she used to be amish. Isn't that COOL? Her aunts made the food at the wedding and it was AMAZING. Anywho, just glad I finally got her wedding page scrapped!

one eventful week

hi. this is bailey the fat cat.

today i am going to tell you a story of a very eventful week. this was the week of may 29-june 6th of last year. my owner, darcy, got married so my other new owner, darin, took her to acapulco. they seemed to have quite a bit of fun but that is not what this story is about. this is about a very eventful week that darcy's roommates put me through while they were "supposedly" babysitting me.

they thought it would be funny to pull a prank on darcy while she was on her honeymoon and somehow i was the victim. i am a long hair kitty. sometimes people think i am a tad overweight. by the end of this story, you can make your own judgments. erin, darcy's old roommate, does human hair. for some reason, she thought that maybe her human cutting shears could cut my beast of a mane. so, she starts hacking away at my hair. i growled, hissed and bit her the entire time. i knew darcy would be mad.


to erin's dismay, her human cutting shears didn't cut my kitty hairs as well as she had hoped. this is dina, another roommate, here. dina tried to hold me down but i growled, hissed and bit her too. you can see my favorite corn puff low-fat treats in that picture. they fed me half a bag of them to try to get me to cooperate. it didn't work but the treats sure were yummy!


they cut quite a bit of my hair, but darcy sure would have been honked if they left my fro in this condition! so they put my hair in a bag thinking that one day maybe darcy would want to scrapbook my first haircut. she still hasn't.. slacker.


i then sat on the bag thinking maybe, just maybe it would somehow magically attach back to my body and make darcy happier.

no such luck.

so, erin makes a phone call to the vet so that they can finish my hair cut. this is me on the ride to the vet.

i was prepared to growl, hiss and bite and the next poor soul that tried to cut my hair. that is, unless they had my favorite corn puff low-fat treats. but they didn't. since erin didn't know my shot history, know how old i was, or if if i was allergic to anesthetics, the vet had to update my shots, and did blood work to put me under anesthetics to finish my hair cut. i guess you can't mussel a cat.

after 5 days of erin trying to cut my hair, hissing, biting, growling, a trip to the vet, my shots updated, and being put under, and $152 that darcy's roommates had to pay for their prank, i was one hot cat.

nope, darcy's roommates did not photoshop my head onto a poodles body.. that is me. a 100% fine feline. sporting my new lion haircut.


okay, so i guess i have a little belly from all those corn puff low-fat treats, but look at my legs! i am hot!


darcy didn't take it so well. she sat on the floor and cried hysterically when she saw me. darin was a good beginner husband. he just hugged her and after about 5 minutes through her hiccuping cry she told darin, "okay, you can laugh now!" and then darin laughed for a good 2 days.

amazingly, darcy is still friends with erin and dina. but the extremely good news is that erin is getting married in april and dina is still single. they better watch out!

LOST

Okay, you all know that getting a page or two published is high on my 2006 priority list. I would love to use Scrap-Submit cuz I know a few gals that have had pages picked up there and it's incredibly EASY! But there is one slight problem.. my LO's saved as jpg's are TOO BIG! I keep getting a fun message after I go through the process of filling out that blasted product form and then attach my page and BAM! It says, "Cannot uploaded your stupid BIG page to Scrap-Submit. Your never going to get published because you are LO-shrinking impaired." Don't quote me on that but I can't remember what it says. There's a 100k max.. I can't get my page that small! It's down to 121k and that's the smallest I can get it. =( Can anyone help me? I'm using Microsoft Office Picture Manager. Thank you in advance. I'm sure it'll be Mara or Gabby that helps me because they went to IU and I am a Purdue grad. Such is life...

Okay, now that "business" is taken care of.. we got some SERIOUS topics to discuss...

Anybody watch LOST? So glad new episodes are on! My small group (our 20-Something blog is listed at the top of my blog list for your reading pleasure) totally had a forum this morning about last night's epi. It's kinda like our own "book club" but of course there's no book. I laughed all morning at their responses. Jes, completely HILARIOUS friend, says, "how angry was I when I saw charlie with all those statues. WHAT AN IDIOT...if he really loved claire, he would have destroyed all of that crap right then and there...instead he replaces the broken statue...what a tool box. I am anti-charlie until further notice." Made me laugh. Then the whole flashback to Ecko's past? Supa cool! Kinda reminded me of Sayid's story a bit.. I think he and Sayid need to get together to swap bad-boy stories. Seriously, when the "others" decide to come around to steal Aaron (come-on, you know it's gunna happen) I'm pretty sure that Sayid and Ecko could wipe them all out with a pairing knife while blindfolded. And since when do DOS computers have IM? Seriously!

Sorry for that little LOST tangent. If you do not watch LOST, it's gunna be hard to start now. Go buy yourself the $50 1st season DVD's and catch up with us. It's worth 20 hours of your life that it'll take to catch up. Not joking.

Tomorrow, I'm pretty sure Bailey the fat cat is going to blog. He's gunna tell a funny story. Stay tuned...

My man, Darin Jay

I've recently scrapped 2 LO's (layouts for all the scrapbook illiterates.. DAD.. out there)of my adorable, hotie-head hubby, Darin Jay. I love this man SO incredibly much! I thought that today's blog needs to be about my Darin... the most wonderful man on the earth.

Reasons I love this man:

* He is such a LEADER! At church, with our youth group, in our family.. the man has some serious leadership skills and is so humble in the way he uses his gift.
* The man is a HOTTIE! Seriously.. I am amazed at his hotness every day.
* The boy is hilarious. He keeps me laughing and smiling 95% of the time. I still frequent my puppy post and laugh at Darin thinking that a hawk would steal the puppy on a walk.
* The boy loves me for me. A lot has happened in my past and Darin has never once judged me for who I once was or the terrible decisions I have made.
* He's got some serious energy! If Darin is excited or en fuego about something.. stay out of the way!! He may accidentally step on you.
* Darin loves sports. I can't imagine being married to a man that wasn't into sports. Sometimes he's border-line insane for the Colts, but the man is passionate in all he does!
* He is an amazing coach. I have never once heard him yell at his players (even though they've deserved it at times!) *He's super romantic. He works so hard to keep our marriage fresh and eventful! Nuf said. =)
* He loves his family and mine as if they were his own.
* Darin loves Bailey the fat cat even thought he's not too fond of kitties.
* He's never complained about my cooking and I'm pretty sure there's been a day that he should have!
* Have I mentioned that Darin it's COMPLETELY easy to look at every day?? That he's cuter than one's cuteness should be allowed?
* He's really tough, but a softy at the same time. He's the strongest man I know but majored in El Ed with a Kindergarden endorsement. Seriously sexy.
* The boy makes me anything I want.. totally made my dreams come true with that scrap room of mine!
* He puts me above himself but still remains the leader of our home. That's a hard thing to do and he's mastered it in 7 quick months! Sounds like an infomercial.. =)
* If he doesn't want to do something, you'd never know it. He doesn't complain.. EV-VA!
* Darin supports my dreams. He knows that one day I would like to possibly go back to school. He is also doing everything in his means to give me the dream of being a SAHM. (stay-at-home-mom - gymnasts and dad)
* The man can SPEAK! I am blown away every time I have the privledge of hearing him give a message. He spoke to the 2005 graduates at his old HS last year and I had chills.. the message he gave at his dad's funeral was beyond amazing and so honoring to Jim. Consider yourself blessed if you've heard this man speak. =)
* Most importantly, his love for Christ COMPLETELY exceeds his love for me. The way it should be. Period.

Okay, now that I'm crying. Can you tell I love this man? We've only been married for 7 months and have only known each other for a year and a half.. but my love for this man grows every day. I can't wait to see where we are in 20 years.

Everyday could be a weekend in my book...

What a great weekend! Why to weekends go so honking fast? Whoever created the traditional workweek needs to be seriously reprimanded. (I thought about writing "should be shot" but I'm guessing the poor dude is already dead.. and I'm a ministers wife and I'm guessing that ministers wives should not wish people shot.) A 4 day weekend/3 day workweek would have been splendid.

Friday night Darin took me on a date and we ended our date at my brothers concert. Oh.. I'm so proud of Greggy. First of all, he's a super cool pilot, a FAB daddy, and an amazing musician. Here's a pic of him jamming with his band on Friday night.

He's the keyboarder at the far left. He's incredibly talented. What's amazing is that he really can't read music that well. He listens and can just play. Crazy, if you ask me. My sister and I picked sports growing up and Greg was always into his keyboard and planes. It's gotten him far.. Denise (sista) and I still coach our beloved sports. I still think I'm cool and try to do handsprings and kips on bars and the next day I can hardly move. Yep, I'm pretty sure Greg isn't sore after playing in his band. =)

Saturday was a meet all day. Here are my cutie girls. It's a blurry pic because they're walking (captain obvious, here).

We had a good time. Again, have I told you how much these girls crack me up? Kristen, a sophomore that just got her license, keeps turning left at red stoplights. She just can't seem to remember that it's RIGHT on red. Crack me up! It's funny until I'm the car she crashes into..

Yesterday my old roomies and I had our annual Christmas lunch. Yes, Christmas in January. They are such good friends. They are the kinds of girls that just get me... that can laugh with me about the stupidest things.. that I have all the inside jokes with.. I just love them. Darin babysat our nephew while his mom (my sis-in-law) could come to lunch with us. I love this little boy so incredibly much.. when he saw me, he started clapping. Now, he's just learned how to clap and I'm sure it's not the first time he's seen someone and clapped, but I'd like to think that this little 8 month old knows who I was and clapped because he saw his Aunt Darcy! Look at him!!

I wish he could stay 8 months old for awhile. Actually, I can't wait until he starts talking. I'm sure he's got a lot to say. I really hope he can run fast with a name like Jett and that red hair to boot.

And then last night was youth group. Had a pretty good turnout to start up the new year:

Darin had an amazing lesson. He had the kids draw a picture of someone they didn't like or even hated. He then taped the pictures up on a dart board. One by one the kids threw darts and tried to hit the picture of the person they hated. Of course you are probably thinking (as did I) whoah.. this isn't a very constructive game for youth group. Just wait... he then talked about loving your enemies and how God teaches us to love those who persecute us or hate us. Darin then took down the bullseye to reveal a picture of Jesus.. with dart holes peircing his face. I think the kids learned that when we gossip, hurt, belittle or hate someone, it is the equivalent to gossiping against, hurting, belittling and hating Christ. Hmm.. made me wonder how Jesus feels DAILY when I gossip or belittle someone else. Just something for you to ponder today...

Have a FAB Monday!

Addition to our family???

Nope, not preggo. Some day, but not today. =)

One of my gymnasts's moms breeds tea-cup pomeranians. So she brings 2 to the gym last night. They are the CUTEST THINGS eva! Here's a few pics of them:

This picture was immediately before the puppy peed all over Renae's leg. Hehehehehe...

Look at this face!

This one only gets to 5lbs as an adult and his little sister will only be 3lbs! Holy cow... it's like having a puppy all the time! So I talk to Darin about possibly adopting a puppy to add to our quaint little family. He had few things to say:

#1 He was concerned that our cat would weigh 10lbs more than our dog. Now, in my opinion it would make for some good fights. =)
#2 He's afraid that when we take the little doggie for a walk, a hawk would swoop down and pick the dog up because he'd mistake it for a mouse.
#3 He asked me if I had seen the way Bailey goes after his food. He's afraid that Bailey will see the new puppy as a meal. I'm pretty sure that Bailey thinks that every meal is his last meal. I feed him every morning and every morning Bailey the fat cat almost trips me on the way to his food because he's so excited for his grub. I scoop his food with a measuring cup and he stuffs his face in the cup grabbing any piece of food he can get before I can pore it into his dish. The kitty enjoys his Iams food. (regular, not low-fat. He didn't eat when I switched to the low-fat. Maybe that's why it's cats loose weight... they simply don't eat.)
#4 The puppy would be the equivalent of 2 mortgage payments. Okay, that concern was mine. Darin's right.. there is no guarantee that the dog would get kidnapped by a hawk 2 days after we purchased him.

So I thought about it the entire drive home from the gym. Yep, a whole 20 minutes. Remember that's a long time for me. Getting a puppy right now wouldn't be fair to Darin. I am only home a couple hours of the day and Darin would have to take care of the dog until the season was over in March. And that $ to purchase the thing.. yeah, we better put that $ towards something else other than hawk meat and a boxing buddy for Bailey the fat cat. And coming home to this scene was confirmation of my 20 minutes of thought:

My boys. Darin and Bailey the fat cat. I love them and they are my family. I am content. =)

I will REALLY be content when Darin changes his mind about getting a cocker spaniel... =) Just kidding, just kidding, Darin Jay!