My husband is awesome.

I've written a little bit about him before, but after the last couple of days I've decided that my wonderful, amazing, sweet, fantastic husband deserves a post of his own.  He makes me laugh without trying, makes me happy on my worst days, and is so incredibly supportive of me in whatever I want to do.  He makes me feel like I can do anything.  I got absurdly lucky with him and I honestly have no idea how.

This is us from (almost) 3 years ago!  Time has flown.

Matt's been my biggest supporter and motivator through this experiment that I started a little over a year ago.  I've not always been successful, but he's always been there pushing me to keep going when I stop, or to do better when I feel like I'm doing the best that I can.  I love that he's taken this on as well, because having him as a workout partner makes me 100% better.  I was running yesterday and had 1 minute and 30 seconds left to go which doesn't seem like much but it is. I didn't see the 1 at the beginning and I was already feeling like I wasn't going to make it the 30 seconds that I thought I had left.  I looked at him and just said "Please tell me I can do this."  He kept encouraging me through the last minute and I'm 100% sure that he's the only reason I actually finished my run.  It doesn't seem like much, but I would have been kicking myself for not finishing that extra minute.  There's so much satisfaction in saying that you were able to finish a difficult workout and I wouldn't have finished mine without Matt's encouragement.

Beyond that, I just want to give him MAJOR kudos because he has lost almost 30 pounds (and gained a whole bunch of muscle) since November.  We've been stuck in a rut a bit here lately, but he has worked SO HARD to get to this point and I am so, so incredibly proud of everything he's done.  His progress makes me want to work harder and it just adds to our motivation.  

Part of the reason we have been stuck in a rut is because we have (or mostly he has) been dealing with a lot of stress from a lot of different sources.  Even so, after accidentally getting locked out of our house yesterday after he had already had a ridiculously stressful day at work, he ran to the store to pick up some groceries while I hurried home to let him in the house.  I got home and opened the door and he walked in and handed me these:

I just stared at him blankly for a second and said, "But you're the one having a terrible time.  Why do I get flowers?"  He told me (like it was the most obvious thing in the world), "You're the one who's helping me through it."  It was a simple gesture, but it speaks volumes about the kind of man he is - one who, as I've said a million times before, I am so, so lucky to have married. :)

Why Women Should Do Strength Training

For as long as I can remember, I've preferred strength training to cardio.  When I was 10 years old in gym class and preparing for Pacer Tests or the mile run (these gym class periods were basically the worst of my life) if I could have been given the choice between spending an hour doing push-ups and crunches instead of running, I probably would have kissed the person who offered.  I've since gotten over my fear/loathing of running, but I still prefer strength training to cardio 99% of the time.  (The 1% accounts for the times that I've got something I need to think through.  Nothing clears your head better than a nice long run.)  This thinking puts me in a very small fraction of women.

When Matt and I go to the gym, I'm often the only woman (or one of two) in the weight room.  Some would attribute this to the fact that we get to the gym between 5 and 6 am, but when we were going later the ratio was the same.  The number of men in the room outnumber the women by a significant amount.  There seems to be this idea among women that we should do cardio and men are okay to do strength training.  One of my coworkers even told me that she only ever does cardio because she doesn't want to bulk up.  I think that many women have a lot of ideas about strength training, cardio, or working out in general that are wrong.  I've done research on this particular topic (and can speak from experience too!) and would like to make the case for why women should do strength training in conjunction with (not instead of!) cardio.

1.  Contrary to the fears of many women like my coworker, doing strength training will not cause you to bulk up.  Testosterone is one of the major players in building muscle mass and men have significantly more of it than women.  Without taking in large amounts of testosterone, strength training will not bulk you up.  It will give you definition, however, and curves in the places you want them.

2. Cardio is not the only way to lose weight.  For every pound of muscle you gain, you can burn an extra 30-50 calories per day - which adds up to losing 3 pounds of fat per year per pound of muscle you add without so much as changing your diet!  In addition, your metabolism spikes after strength training and can stay elevated for up to several days afterward.  (The effect is especially noticeable if you do cardio after your weight training workout!) Speaking from personal experience, your baseline metabolism increases as well.  I've noticed that where I used to be cold (and where all my current coworkers still are) I've been comfortable.  This is likely because my metabolism has increased and it has the pleasant side effect of keeping me warm.

3. This isn't unique to women, but the number of ways strength training is beneficial to health is kind of amazing.  It can help stave off Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Osteoporosis.

4. It can boost self-esteem and self-confidence.  I can personally attest to this one - I track my weight lifting at the gym and watching the numbers increase since I started has been a huge confidence booster.  You can know that you're making progress even if you don't see it on the scale or in the mirror.  But my absolute favorite thing is feeling the difference when I flex my muscles.  It's such a good feeling to be able to notice the change.  I'm pretty sure I make Matt feel how strong my various muscle groups are at least daily.  He probably thinks I'm insane, but it makes me feel good about myself.

5. It can alleviate pain.  I've had back problems for the past several years that I have noticed less and less frequently since Matt and I started seriously working out.  I've strengthened the muscles in my back and core, and it has made all the difference in the world.  Working out your muscles can also increase joint stability and build stronger connective tissue.

There are probably a hundred more reasons, but I covered the big ones.  I can definitely understand the intimidation women feel when they walk into the weight lifting area of a gym because I still feel it most times I'm there.  I manage to work through it though, because I know that the end result is going to be worth it.  I have never gotten a strange stare or had anyone say anything to me.  I comment to Matt all the time that I feel like a weakling because there are so many times when I have to use the smallest weight available, but I've only ever gotten support from him and from the others in the weight room.  I only hope that what I've said encourages some woman somewhere to start looking into or trying weight lifting.  It can be kind of terrifying and intimidating at first, but when you move beyond that the benefits are countless.

On that note, I'm going to go take a nap.  The early wake-ups and gym trips are always worth it, but I'll still take as much sleep as I can get. :)

Post-hiatus Blog

Apparently my goal to write a blog post a week has been incredibly successful, except for the minor detail about me not having written a blog in about 8 weeks.  Oooooops.  Anyway, this blog is going to make up for that with a vengeance (I hope).  I've pretty much come up with about a topic a day to write about, I just haven't had the time and/or energy and/or motivation to actually sit down and write about it.  But now that I have 4 hours of migraine-induced sleep behind me, I have the time AND energy AND motivation to actually write.  Yay!

So, first things first: I'm getting on my soapbox and getting my ranting out. Skip the next two paragraphs if you don't want to listen. :)

 I heard a commercial the other day that made me really, really annoyed.  It's for a plastic surgery firm that advertises that they can fix "nature's mistakes".  There's also a plastic surgery firm (not sure if it's the same one) who's advertised the "Mommy Makeover" for women who want their pre-pregnancy bodies back post-pregnancy.  I have three MAJOR issues with this.  First, these commercials are never directed at men.  Why is it that women are expected to maintain themselves to this level but men can just get by?  So, so, super annoying.  Second, I understand that bodies change with age and that you get wrinkles, etc.  I should probably preface this by saying that, given my genetics, I will probably have a significant amount of grey in my hair by the age of 35 and you bet that I will be dyeing my hair long before then to cover it up.  But there is a HUGE difference between that (a temporary, non-invasive, and generally common practice even for women whose hair isn't grey) and having surgery to alter one's appearance to make them look younger.  I understand that aging happens and that eventually I will get wrinkles and all of the fun things that come with getting older.  I will, however, never surgically alter any of those things.  I think so much is wrong with society that anyone would refer to aging as a mistake; that it's not okay to age naturally or to just appear as who you are.  This is also coming from the girl who was forced into wearing makeup on her wedding day, but this is what we get from society: it is not okay to be who you are.  It's disgusting and annoying and I think it's absolutely appalling.  I'm glad that, for the most part, I have enough self esteem to say that I am who I am and I am (mostly) okay with that person and I am trying to fix the problems I have.  I also have an amazing husband who does nothing but shower me with compliments, even when I'm having my worst day.

What makes me especially livid, though, is the fact that there are "individualized mommy makeovers".  I have never had a child so I can't speak to the struggles that women go through after having a child to return to as close as possible to their pre-pregnancy body, but I do know this: that womens' bodies fundamentally change during and after pregnancy.  You cannot (CANNOT) return to your pre-pregnancy body after the fact.  Your skeletal structure is permanently changed during the course of pregnancy and this means that the rest of your body is affected.  So hearing commercials saying that they'll do tummy tucks or breast augmentations or liposuction for women who want to return to their pre-pregnancy bodies makes me want to bang my head against the wall.  I imagine that it is very difficult to find the time to exercise and take as much care of yourself as you did before having a baby once the baby has actually arrived.  I do know a few people, however, who have managed to find the time to exercise and return to the same size they were pre-pregnancy without liposuction or a tummy tuck or anything else.  They did it naturally so I know it's possible.  The thing that I want to make abundantly clear though, is that it is OKAY to not have the same body post-pregnancy.  When Matthew and I have kids, I have no doubt that I'll put back on some of the weight that I plan to lose this year and I know that it will be okay if I don't lose it immediately afterward.  I can't imagine what it would be like to live with the idea that I have to be exactly as I was before and anything else is unacceptable.  It must be absolutely awful to be under that impression that having some physical imperfections is not okay, ESPECIALLY for a woman who has just had a baby through the miracle that is childbirth.  Bodily imperfections aren't a bad thing - they tell the story of your life.  I have scars that I love talking about because of the funny reasons why I have them - and any bodily changes that occur when I'm pregnant will be celebrated because they are the result of bringing a new life into this world.  That someone could think otherwise makes me sad for humanity.

Now that I'm off my soapbox, moving on to the more blog-related things.

Matthew and I have recently-ish started going to the gym really, really early in the morning (we're usually out of bed by 4:45 or so.  We LOVE it.  It frees up our evenings so we have more time to do the things we need to or want to do, like eating a relaxing dinner and watching our favorite TV show or cleaning.  It's also helped boost my metabolism and puts me in a great mood for the day.  On the days we don't go to the gym or have to go in the evening for whatever reason, I can't stand it.  I think Matt and I are both naturally early risers anyway (him more than me, but I'm adjusting nicely!) so it works out wonderfully for us.  I highly recommend giving it a try!

On the same note, we met with Matt's trainer today and spent an hour going over nutrition.  We now have a list of approved foods and came away with some GREAT insights and fun facts.  Among the things we learned:

- Everyone's portion size is different and it is based on the size of your fist.  If it's bigger than your fist, you shouldn't eat it in one sitting.
- The higher your metabolism, the warmer you are.  I've always been a cold body but I've been noticing lately that when everyone else is freezing at work, I have been comfortable.  This is an indication that my metabolism has definitely picked up steam, much in thanks to all the strength training I've been doing.
- You shouldn't eat any simple carbs (sugars like fruits, soda, candy, etc) after your "noon" (whenever you eat your lunch, basically) and no carbs at all after 7 pm as the body can't process them effectively.
- Every meal needs to contain one serving of protein and one serving of a carbohydrate (except the meals after 7 pm) and that you should eat every 3-4 hours.
- That it is okay (and recommended!) to eat before bed (but only a single serving of a protein) as it will help you sleep better and curb any midnight cravings.
- One free meal per week is okay and encouraged!  Only rules are that the meal has to contain a protein and a carb, we have to be able to eat another meal of a protein (and a carb, if before 7 pm) again 3 hours later, and that we can't spend more than an hour eating.  I'm pretty sure this means that I'll be eating Runza once per week.
- Eat before going to the gym in the morning so that we have the energy for our morning workout.  If you eat a single serving of a protein and a carb, it shouldn't be enough to make you sick.

And, in my opinion, the one that everyone (especially those who drink diet soda) needs to understand:
- Regular soda is better for you than diet soda (which isn't saying much). Diet soda is absolutely terrible for you.  The ingredients in diet soda only need heat and moisture - both of which the body provides - to continue the chemical process into formaldehyde (an embalming agent).  Since heat and moisture are both provided by the body, this change does occur and can cause sepsis in people who drink large amounts of diet soda.  Sepsis makes you lethargic and can (very eventually) be deadly.  People say everything is okay in moderation, but I feel like formaldehyde doesn't count.

I should also note that the definition of protein is much more expansive than one might imagine.  Matt and I are really, really super excited to start our new nutrition plan and are really looking forward to the progress we'll make!

As far as German goes, I've made some changes.  From what I've been told, my written German is fantastic.  My problem comes with speaking and listening to German, which Rosetta Stone is not really helpful with.  I can repeat what it tells me to, but I am terrible at coming up with the appropriate things to say in the context of a conversation.  It takes me way too long to formulate sentences.  At the suggestion of several friends who've learned English by watching TV shows or movies, I've started doing just that - Netflix has a decent selection of German movies and I've watched a couple.  They are definitely different from American movies to be sure, but they've all really encouraged me to think, beyond just about the German language. One of my friends also sent me the German Harry Potter audiobooks that I've been listening to.  Because I'm so familiar with the stories, there are a lot of things that I pick up on that I wouldn't otherwise and there are a lot of words that I've heard that I've been able to understand because I know the books so well in English.  It's also really interesting to see how they differ from or are similar to the English books.  So far I'm only onto chapter 5 of the first book but I've listened to the first couple chapters (or parts of them) more than once so I get the full meaning and to attempt to understand them better.

It's been very, very difficult to learn German without living in a German-speaking country or having access to a ton of resources, but having friends who are native speakers (and a sister who's close to fluent) who are willing to help me has been HUGELY beneficial and helpful.  Big thanks to everyone who's helped!  Hopefully it all pays off and when Matt and I make it to Austria, my German will be good enough that I can actually have the conversations in German that I'd like to.

Anyway, it's late and I have to get up early and I think I've written enough for now.  Till next time...

Tschüss!

Not the most popular of opinions, but it should still be said.

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed today, and I came across an image posted by one of my favorite sites (Spark People) that I completely and wholly disagree with.  The image was this:

This is where (I have a feeling) my opinion gets really unpopular.  I think it's a terrible idea to tell people that it's okay to be a size 26 and that it's okay to be fat and that if you're beautiful on the inside, it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside.  I want to clarify and say that it is hugely important to be a good, kind, considerate, and loving person.  I am not in any way knocking those traits.  What I'm saying is that you wouldn't tell an alcoholic it's a good idea to spend every day knocking back cold ones, so why would you tell a fat/obese person that it's okay to be that way?

I am well aware of the fact that I am overweight.  Fat.  I am fat.  I know this, I have accepted it, and I am trying to fix it.  But when all I was hearing were messages that told me it was okay for me to be obese, that's what I believed.  I understand that there are people who have conditions that severely limit their physical activity.  For everyone else, there is a way to lose weight and I think that society should be encouraging that instead of saying that it's okay to be obese.  At this point to me, it sounds like they are saying (more or less), "I know you're 200 pounds overweight and I know that this means you'll probably die about 10 years sooner than you would if you were in the normal range for someone of your height because of the health complications associated with obesity, but you're a nice person, so it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside."

When I was at the heaviest I've ever been, I was miserable every time I looked in the mirror, but I was hearing these speeches and trying to convince myself that it was okay for me to weigh that much because I was a generally nice person.  In reality, I was only hurting myself.  

Beyond that, weight does define who you are.  It defines everything about you, because it's what people see and it's what they form their opinion around before they ever talk to you.  It defined (and still does define) me.  When I walk past a random stranger in the mall or on the street, wherever, they don't know that I am working my butt off (literally and figuratively) to become healthy.  All they see is the fact that I am currently overweight.  I doubt that many random strangers stop to ponder all of my life choices that led me to this point, but I'm sure that they quickly pass judgment on me as I do on them.  It's human nature.

I don't see the point in hiding behind feel good messages.  What makes me feel good is working out, is looking at the scale inch ever closer to my goal weight, is eating healthy.  I don't think anyone who is legitimately overweight ever looks in the mirror and says, "Damn, I look awesome and there is nothing I would change about my weight situation."  I'm sure when I lose the weight and get down to where I want to be I'll have things I want to change about myself, but not near as many as I do right now.  Being told that it's okay to be fat and that I'm beautiful regardless never made me feel beautiful like losing weight has made me feel better about myself.  Not beautiful yet, but I'll get there.  (Although I do get pretty close on good hair days.)

I guess my point is that the focus of our culture and our ad campaigns and whatever else should be on getting healthy and getting to the point where every person is healthy and comfortable with how they look, instead of trying to convince people that even though they may not like where they're at, it's okay and they're beautiful regardless and there's no point in trying to change anything.  Those messages doom people to complacency, which is one of the worst places to be mentally.

For the record, I don't think the ad campaigns that imply that you're obese if you're more than a size 2 are great for society either, and should absolutely be sent away as well.  People should be encouraged to be healthy - to be in the ideal range for their body type - which almost never happens.  I won't hold my breath for any of this to happen, but maybe someday people will come around.

Things That Are Gross

Remember back in the day in grade school when they used to show you what a smoker's lung looked like as opposed to a nonsmoker's lung?  I specifically recall a day in grade school when they actually brought in models of lungs for us to look at and hold.  I had enough of a reason not to smoke purely because it's the reason I never really got to know my dad's parents (they died when I was 4 and 5), but I remember how disturbing it was to look at the difference between the two lungs.  Just in case you never got to have the fun and exciting experience of seeing the difference, let me show you:

Guess which one is that of a smoker!

Anyway, it seems that now here in America, we've pretty much accepted that smoking sucks with the move toward severely limiting where smoking is allowed.  For example, here in Omaha you can't smoke in bars or restaurants anymore.  It's so nice to be able to go to dinner or out with friends without having to be around cigarette smoke.  

The new problem America faces is obesity.  While people are definitely acknowledging that obesity is a problem here, most of the country is not doing nearly as much as they should.  I've heard people throw around the idea of a 'fat tax' on things like soda and fast food, but I don't think any of it has been a serious discussion.  It also doesn't help that kids are spending so much time playing video games and so much less time doing things like going outside and playing.  Anyway, I saw a picture tonight (courtesy of SparkPeople on Facebook) that I'm pretty sure would solve the obesity problem.

This is what one pound of body fat looks like. ONE POUND.

Maybe it would have more of an effect on adults than it would on kids, but either way it's still absolutely disgusting and I'm pretty sure anyone can see that.  As if I wasn't motivated enough right now to lose weight, this just made me want to work that much harder to achieve my goals.  Can't wait to be rid of all of that grossness and way more muscle-y.

Runza

I know I didn't write a blog last weekend like I said I would try to do, but I didn't have anything to write and I didn't want to force it.  I was flipping through twitter today and I came across a tweet from Runza (pretty much my all time favorite restaurant) and I realized what I should write about.

I love Runza.  I don't know if it's because of the childhood memories of going there with my family many, many Friday nights and spending what felt like hours playing on the playground at one of their locations, or the association with the Cornhuskers, or just the fact that the food is so fantastically delicious, but I would eat there every night and never get tired of it.  This is something of a problem considering the fact that it's a whole bunch of calories that I don't need and supporting them because they are a huge supporter of Cornhusker athletics isn't a great reason to eat there (even though in my mind, it totally is).  Proof that it is a problem: as I was writing that sentence, I realized that Matthew and I have tickets from the Husker game we went to that include a free offer from them and thought that would be a good reason to go there.  Yikes.

In any event, with my goals to lose weight and eat healthier plus not spend as much money on pointless things, eating out is something (seemingly) easy to cut out that will help in all areas.  I've done just fine for the most part.  There are a whole bunch of restaurants I would love to go to that I have no problem in the world saying 'no' to.  But when Matt and I are at home looking at the semi-thawed chicken that we don't really want to cook for dinner and we both kind of just look at each other silently daring the other person not to say it, it is almost impossible for me to deny myself the opportunity to have a gloriously delicious cheeseburger (ketchup, mustard and pickle are fine, but no onion please), crinkle fries with a side of ranch, and a lemonade.  (I'm so predictable it's pathetic.)

I'm fortunate that even with my far-too-frequent indulgence in Runza I haven't put on any weight.  I just haven't been losing as much as I should be because, as you might imagine, fast food (even the super-fresh and extra delicious kind they serve at Runza) has a lot of calories and other bad things in it. Since I obviously have a problem (for example, all this post is doing as I write about how terrible it is that I eat there all the time is making me want to eat it more), I need some motivation from somewhere to make myself stop.

I was thinking about it the other day on the way home from work and I decided that I'm going to give Runza up for Lent, as it would obviously be a great sacrifice for me a great test of will.  The only problem with this decision is that Lent is still a couple of months away and I would still like to lose almost ten pounds before Christmas.  The obvious solution is to give up Runza for Advent.  Matthew and I are going to be making several changes in our spiritual lives for the upcoming season but I thought it would be appropriate to make this change as well.  It'll take a lot of will power and some divine intervention, but if I could give up soda and almost all other restaurants plus make the decision to start going to the gym multiple times a week, there is no reason I can't cut this out of my diet.  It'll probably be way more of a struggle than it should, but I can be very, very stubborn if I want to be.  As a reminder to myself, I'm going to make a bunch of notecards that have my next goal weight on them and put them places I'll look whenever I think about going to Runza or eating anything I shouldn't.

I also have to remember that doing the exercises Matt's trainer planned out for him will be of no use if I continue to consume 1460 calories (SERIOUSLY? HOLY CRAP. YIKES YIKES YIKES.) in one sitting.  I should have looked that up a lot sooner.  Maybe instead of writing my goal weight, I'll just write that number all over the place.  Wow.  As much as I love their support for Nebraska football, it's more than a little difficult to continue to blow my daily calorie count on one meal.

Even though Advent doesn't technically begin until Sunday, I am going to attempt to find a way to control my desire to eat Runza for every meal for the next 25 days.  If I do make it through the 25 days, instead of immediately going out and getting Runza, I've decided to reward myself by buying this:

Instead of rewarding myself by making it through the majority of December without Runza by immediately going there and eating nearly 1500 calories in one sitting, I've decided to reward myself by buying this guy.  Manner is my favorite treat from Austria and it's not easy to find in America.  It's also something that I can make last and won't regret indulging in, bits at a time.  I'm sure I'll find my way back to Runza sometime in January, but I think I'd rather have this instead as I've had my eye on it for like, a year.

Hopefully my strength of will and the prospect of a giant bag of Manner Schnitten is enough for me to make it through the next month without Runza. Wish me luck!

Good Day

I've been to quite a few Husker games at Memorial Stadium and Nebraska has always won.  They have all been great experiences.  There have been more exciting games that I've been to, like watching Alex Henery kick a 50-something yarder to go ahead of Colorado only to watch Suh pick off a pass and RUN OVER the CU quarterback/coach's son for a touchdown to seal the win.  But today's game was far and away my favorite game.

Aside from it being the last home game of the season/Senior Day it was also Tom Osborne's 500th game in official capacity for the University of Nebraska, and his last home game before retiring at the end of the year.  For those not in the know, Tom Osborne is basically the definition of college football in the state of Nebraska.  He was an assistant coach before he was the head coach for 25 years and led his team to a bowl game in every single season.  He never won fewer than 9 games in 25 years.  He led the Huskers to 3 national championships and one of the most dominating stretches in college football history.  During the 1995-1996 season, for example, Nebraska won every game with the closest one being decided by a margin of 14 points and the national championship by a margin of 38.  After retiring in 1997, he went on to be a 3-term U.S. Congressman, lost a gubernatorial race, and then became the interim-turned-full-time Athletic Director in 2007.  There's hard to find one bad thing to say about the man.  I think it's best summed up by this story: a state legislator for Nebraska wanted to make the point that the general populace is a bit sue-happy so he tried to bring a lawsuit against God.  When the courts said he couldn't sue God because he couldn't be served, the legislator sued Tom Osborne instead, stating that he was as revered as God by the people of Nebraska.  Needless to say, we take our football seriously here.  But Tom Osborne really was and is something else.

I'm sure he was absolutely mortified when they told him this game was going to be a tribute to him and his career, but for everything he's done, he deserved it.  They changed the tunnel walk video to focus on his achievements, had him lead the team out onto the field (!!!), had several "Thanks Coach" videos recorded by various individuals, and had a halftime video full of highlights and people talking about how he impacted them.  One of my favorite clips they showed was this one - especially the part where Lee Corso talks about his record vs. Tom Osborne.

Aside from that, it was also just a hugely dominant effort from everyone on the Husker team.  The game was a fun one to watch, a nice break from the cardiac kids in the last 5 weeks - there's only so much coming from behind to win on the final play a person (or fan-base) can take.  To see all the seniors step up was great.  Only way it could have been better was to have Rex Burkhead back.  It was at least nice to see him suited up for the game as opposed to in street clothes.  Even Matt had a great time.  I think he was hoping I wouldn't notice him cheering and clapping and jumping up and down every time something good happened. :P

Things got interesting after the game though - as we were walking back to our car from the stadium, we were crossing one of the major streets when we had a walk signal when Matt almost got hit by a car.  I mean, this car came probably within two feet of us.  When I turned to look at the car and say some not-so-nice words, he honked at us.  Because it is definitely our fault that we got in the way of his car when he was trying to make a right hand turn even though a) we were pedestrians (who always have the right of way as it is) and b) had a walk signal.  After that super exciting experience of practically seeing my husband run over by a car (not an experience I recommend, by the way) I noticed a random cell phone sitting in the grass halfway down the next block.  Naturally, I picked it up and called the kid's mom (thank goodness there was no lock on the phone!) who got me in touch with her son.  He was a nice kid, but blissfully unaware of any streets/locales outside of Bellevue.  After getting off the phone with him, Matt and I were crossing another street with another walk signal when we almost got run over again.  Apparently no one in the city of Lincoln knows how to follow traffic laws.  I guess I missed the memo where making a left hand turn when there are pedestrians in the cross walk is totally legitimate - no big deal if you almost run them over.

Anyway, so we got back to our car and went to the gas station where I suggested that we meet the kid who's cell phone we had.  I called his girlfriend to let them know we were there and he apparently thought we were meeting in Omaha.  I guess my saying 84th and Cornhusker wasn't clear enough even though I said, "It's on the way out of Lincoln, about halfway to Waverly."  We ended up having to double back because the on-ramp we tried to take was closed and go seriously out of our way to get the kid his phone.  We were a little aggravated the whole time because we were just trying to do the right thing and it was causing way more drama and stress than it was worth.  Of course, when we finally got to where we were meeting in Bellevue and gave the kid his phone back, the look on his face made it all worth it.  Knowing how much he appreciated it and the fact that he had some really treasured pictures and things on there he hadn't gotten a chance to transfer off the phone yet made me glad that I was the person who found the phone.  It made all the hassle completely worth it.  It just felt good.

I got to spend a fantastic day with my wonderful husband (who I appreciate so much more after the way-too-scary traffic fiasco) celebrating a college football legend and watching the Huskers put up a great win in addition to really helping someone out.  Plus, I was wearing my skinny-day jeans today and they were loose.  I'm just going to add 16 points to the Win column for today.  I don't think I can find anything to complain about.

And just for fun, a few pictures:

 Post first-score balloons floating into the sky

The view from our seats - surprisingly good!

Husker game number 3 together!