Goal #4: See my Father -- Check!!

Wow... honestly, I thought this was the goal that wouldn't get accomplished this year. Not to be rude to my father, but he isn't the greatest on follow-through. (You know it's true, Dad!). I can't tell you how many times we had "planned" a visit to see each other only to be canceled at the last minute for some obscure reason.  So when I first chose this as a goal of mine, not only did everyone think I was crazy, but I told my father about it over the holidays.  Had to give that man enough prep time. He had 12 whole months to get his act together and make it happen! :) It wasn't one I was going to stress over, though.  If it happened, then great. If not, life still goes on.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I don't exactly have the picture perfect relationship with my father. My mom raised us on her own, and I've really only met him once during my adult life.  We first met when I was 19 years old in sunny Florida. That was an interesting experience to say the least. A lot of emotions run through you when you realize someone so critical to your life missed out on so much.  Seven years had past since our first visit, and I had figured it was a good time to see each other again, but little did I know it would happen on a whim. My dad is like an energizer bunny and a ghost combined (His favorite line - Often imitated, but never duplicated - that's a good thing! ha!).  He flies from city to city and you can't keep track of where he's going next.  I think it's safe to say that I have certain aspects of his personality - the love of travel, the adventuresome spirit, the on-the-go mentality, and the ability to charm the heck out of anyone. Two weekends ago, I was in Pittsburgh visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and the two CUTEST little nephews ever. I know, I'm biased....but, I'm there Aunt and I'm allowed to be :).  See pictures below....

Me and Graem, my 2-yr-old nephew!

Me and Emmett, my 4 month old nephew!

While in Pittsburgh, I received a call from my Dad saying he was doing business in Ohio and he wanted to do dinner with me and my sister. I was a little skeptical at first that it would actually happen, but figured that these opportunities don't come around that often (since he lives in Florida), so I thought it was best to go see the old man! I'm a happy-go-lucky person and I've forgiven my Dad for not being there for me.  At the end of the day, I am the woman I am because of my upbringing and my stricter-than-life mom (love you, Mom!). I don't hold any grudges or bitterness. To me, there's no point. God hands you circumstances for a reason and I ended up just a-okay in life.

My sister and I took a mini-road trip and met my father in the hoppin' city of Youngstown, Ohio (insert sarcasm here), about an hour from Pittsburgh. [Side Note: I rented the 2011 Hyundai Sonata to get there - SWEET car!]  I realized I'm SUCH a city girl now.... Youngstown has all of a few stop lights and restaurants, with men named Billy-Bob whose goatees are longer than my hair.  Not really my style.   We went to the highest-rated seafood restaurant in all of Youngstown. It was a cute place and we met my dad and had drinks by the bar in the first part of our visit. My dad looked great. He looked healthy and still had memories of all his old stories...even some crazy ones about times when my mom and him were together back in the day! We caught up on life, and all that we were doing over the past few years. I think I shocked my dad at first.... 10 minutes into our aperitifs, I was like, "Can we get dinner now? I'm hungry..."  I wasn't trying to rush, but my stomach was a-growlin'! He told me I was a bossy kid... guess that hasn't changed too much now that I'm older :). The man was smart enough to order an appetizer, so I could fill my stomach without getting cranky.  What can I say, my less-than-perfect patience and my demanding personality must come from my Mom....

While at dinner, I felt like my sister saw heaven's gates open up.  She hadn't had an alcoholic beverage in three years due to having two kids.  She was quite content to have a few cocktails on Dad's dime. ;)  Dinner was great, though, and all in all, the visit couldn't have gone better.  We reminisced, talked about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness, and Dad was sure to throw in a few of his jokes here and there.  I know it meant a lot to him that Marci and I took the time to go see him. Who knows when that next time will be, but I was glad I went to see him and was able to get a few nice pictures of us together.  I mean, he is partially responsible for my good looks, so I have to kind of thank him for that right?! .....haha, just joking!

At the end of the day, we all have to make choices and decisions that allow us to be at peace with ourselves when we lay our head down at night. I knew making the effort to go see him was the right thing to do and I'm happy with my choice. I'm glad my sister and I could give my Dad a reason to smile for that short time having dinner with him.

 

For those of you wondering: here are the goals that I have left.  I'm doing pretty darn well, if I must say so myself. It's at the end of the first quarter, and I'm more than halfway there!

1. Volunteer at least 40 hours to a Children's Organization
2. Go Skydiving 
3. Learn how to shoot a gun at a shooting range - (This is in the works; tickets are bought, I just need to schedule it!)
4. Ask one guy out that I would totally be scared to approach.
5. Write one Children's story
6. Participate in the Warrior Dash - coming up in three short weeks!

Goal #6: Eat Atomic Wings at Quaker, Steak, and Lube -- Check!

 

I know it may be hard to believe, but I think this was the goal I was most afraid that I wouldn't be able to accomplish. Jump out of a plane someday - piece of cake. Run in a 3 mile mud-infused Warrior Dash - got that in the bag. But eat a half of dozen atomic wings at just around 200,000 Scoville Units - no way! I was petrified; I saw man vs. food where Adam tried the challenge and he was sweating bullets. I thought if he barely scraped by, how am I going to accomplish this?  I love food and I was raised on hot peppers canned by my mom, but wings made with the ghost pepper was a scary thought!

The atomic wings are the signature wing at Quaker, Steak, and Lube, a restaurant located in the heart of Pittsburgh, PA. It was nice to have that location because my two adorable nephews are in Pittsburgh, so it was so good to be able to see them and accomplish my goal at the same time. For those of you who are unfamiliar with QS&L, the restaurant is known for its chicken wing hot sauce flavors; the Atomic flavor is sold individually in a dropper bottle sealed in a childproof container.  Even the chefs have to wear gloves when preparing the wings, because the burn on your fingers can be extensive. I know, I'm crazy. Why would I put myself through this torture?! Customers must sign a liability waiver before ordering the Atomic wings, freeing Quaker Steak from any liability. I repeat, I'm crazy! :)

My sister, brother-in-law, and two nephews all sat down for wings this past Friday night.  We started off with a bucket of the Arizona Ranch wings.  On the level of "hotness" they're at the middle tier. I wanted to at least enjoy my wings before signing my life over to the world of the ghost peppers.  I had about 10 Arizona Ranch, and then it was time for the doom and gloom.  One order of Atomic wings please!  

Our waiter brought out a half of dozen wings, all coated in 200,000 Scoville Units of way too hot peppers. I was a bit nervous, but knew I had to dig right in. Accomplishing this challenge required a strategy. We all know, as consultants, we excel in strategy. I had to have my hair pulled book. I had to eat the wings without stopping; I barely wanted to take time to sip water in between, because that would just make it worse.

I started with the first wing, pretty much ate that wing in one bite - piece of cake! I went onto the second one and kept my momentum in the fast-paced eating. By the third one, the sweat beads started to form and the heat started hitting my throat.  I took about 4 sips of water throughout the entire challenge.  My sister broke out her paparazzi camera and was all about this. She was snapping pictures left and right....of course, how sexy can one be while consuming wings made with ghost peppers?!?

Needless to say, I could have easily gone on the Travel Channel's, Man VS. Food, and challenged the head honcho.  I ate all 6 Atomic wings within 7 minutes, and received my name on the "Wall of Fame" and a super cool bumper sticker!

...It turns out that Quaker, Steak, and Lube has now obtained a Triple Atomic wing, made at close to 500,000 Scoville Units. That will be on my list for 2012! Have to go one step at a time! :)

Celebrating My Quarter-Life Triumph!

Many of you know I recently celebrated my 25th birthday on this past April Fool's Day. It was a blast turning 25 and unlike most, I'm actually excited about my year of being 25!  Everyone calls your 25th year the "Quarter-Life Crisis."  I don't see the point in that, honestly.  I'm a big proponent of positive thinking and that your thoughts and words dictate your life. Why would I want to label a year of my life as a crisis? Instead, I'm calling it the quarter-life triumph. I don't know if there's something I necessarily want to "triumph" over, but I do know it's going to be an excellent year and I have little goals to accomplish along the way. One thing I wish everyone could experience everyday is the amount of love and happiness they experience on their actual day of birth.  People come out of the wood-work to wish you a happy birthday. I think I heard from people that I haven't talked to since the second grade, folks that I didn't even knew remembered my name.  But, nonetheless, between the phone calls/emails/tweets/facebook messages and posts/emails, I received a lot of birthday lovin'.

My birthday celebrations were simple, yet crazy...just how I like it!  My most favorite part was having dinner with 8 of my closest girlfriends at a charming restaurant called Tonic in downtown DC. Being surrounded by my friends meant a lot to me, and it made me realize how grateful I am to have such amazing, encouraging friends in my life. I think it's safe to say that it is hard meeting women that you want to be friends with - us girls can get so caddy and competitive. But being at dinner with all of my friends, both from Dickinson and people I've met here in DC just meant a lot to me.  After dinner, we went to my most favorite place in Dupont - Lucky Bar!  I love Lucky Bar, it's my favorite place. It's just so much fun there and everyone has a good time dancing there.  Not to mention the eye candy can be plentiful :). All in all, I felt like my birthday was a ton of fun. We danced till 2 am and had a crazy good time!

So thanks to all of my friends and family that made my birthday so special! Cheers to an amazing year ahead of us!