Back in Buf

After 9 fun-filled days of sun and sand, I am now back in Buffalo. Wish I could say I'm glad to be home but I'm not. Rian isn't officially home from training camp until next Wed, so I could've easily stayed in Grand Cayman another week!! Oh well, I'm back now and can't do anything about it...so I should just quit complaining.

Preseason game #2 was last night in Toronto. We won (yay) and Rian had a nice 43 yd field goal. It's hard to get excited about preseason since it's difficult to get a good idea of how the team is really going to be. The starters are in for such a short time. The rest of the game is more for players to show why they should be on the team and also a chance for the coaches to see what they have. As a fan, it's difficult to get into it with players constantly coming in and going out, half of whom I have no idea who they are. I don't mean to sound insensitive as it's great these guys are getting their chance to show what they've got. I guess I'm trying to say, let's get the players set and the season going so we can see what this team is capable of!!

Rian got home late last night and has today and tomorrow off. It's great having him home for at least a couple of days. He will have to drive back to camp tomorrow evening but will be home for good next Wed. I can't believe we're only a couple weeks away from the home opener...

Another Day in Paradise...

My friend Amber and I arrived in Grand Cayman on Mon afternoon. We're here to spend a week lounging on the beach. Oh, and also to squeeze in some "accessory" shopping to finish my condo remodel project. After Rian and I left here last April, we had the entire place painted and ordered new furniture. Until Mon, I hadn't seen the final project. It's beautiful! The colors we chose are really beautiful and the new furniture looks great.

We spent all day yesterday on the beach getting some sun and catching up on the latest celebrity gossip. Today, however, is furniture day. I'm hoping to get a new area rug for the living room and a couple more things to add some pizazz to the place. Since this was the major reason we took the trip, we figured we'd better get that done so our husbands (who are working hard at Training Camp) will know we actually were serious about wanting to do that on this trip :-)

I'm planning on getting a couple dives in as well but have yet to schedule myself on the boat. Hopefully either tomorrow or Fri afternoon...we'll see.

Weight loss and training camp...

After almost 1 year of Jenny Craig, I've lost just over 20 lbs. All of that was lost over the first 5 months and I've spent most of the remainder of the year maintaining. I say "most" because I've lowered my goal weight another 5 lbs and have had a couple struggles along the way. One being the 3 lbs I gained (and then re-lost) after 5 weeks in Grand Cayman and the other being the 4 lbs I gained on my recent month-long trip to visit family. I can honestly say our summer trip home is always the hardest for me to behave. The trip consists of many a night out with friends and an alcoholic beverage in hand almost every night of the week. Not so conducive to the Jenny Craig program! I tried to counteract most of it with workouts but even that is hard away from my home equipment and twice weekly Pilates class. I am happy to say that after a week back on track, I've lost 2.4 of those unsightly 4 I gained.

Things should be smooth sailing now because Rian took off for training camp today so our lives now have structure. Well, for the next 5 months or so. Another NFL season is upon us! This will be Rian's 9th year...unbelievable! It feels like just yesterday we were hoping he'd make it through his first season. As an "NFL wife" without children, training camp is always fun for me. Of course I miss my husband but I also love the freedom of a month to myself. Quiet days, no cooking (well, I don't cook that often to begin with, but at least I don't have to feel guilty about it), and the only things I have to put away are those that I, myself took out. I'm heading out to dinner with my friend tonight to celebrate the beginning of training camp...shhhh, don't tell the guys!!

World's prettiest road trip???

Here are a few pictures we took while driving from Vancouver, WA to Ephrata, WA. It takes about 5 hours but the scenery can make you forget that part...

Start off with Mt Hood



Past Multinomah Falls...



Past Mt Rainier (near Goldendale, WA)...



Up through the Columbia River at Vantage, WA...



The "wild horses" statues above Vantage (the sagebrush means you're definitely in Eastern WA now!)...



And, arriving at beautiful Blue Lake, WA to my folks' lake house...





Since we moved to Buffalo 5 years ago, I've really grown to appreciate where we grew up. I miss it so much and can't wait to move back closer to home...

The beautiful Pacific NW

We had a really nice time on our trip back "home" to the NW. We had 3 weeks of family time and 1 week of play time.

A very close friend of mine from high school got married on July 5th at Lake Pend Oreille (near Sandpoint, ID) so we drove there on the 4th for a weekend of camping and wedding fun. We had 3 boats full of people out on the water to watch the Hope, ID fireworks. The weather was perfect...not a whisper of wind. Here is Rian's picture of the "world's best 4th of July plate". He told me he'd already eaten the burger and baked beans on the first trip through the line...



They had a small ceremony in a little church in the woods and then back to their lakefront cabin for an outdoor reception. It was so fun and the weather was beautiful all weekend. And, I got to see other close friends from high school that I never get to spend time with.





We spent our last few days in Seattle playing "tourists". We stayed at the Edgewater Inn, right on the waterfront. We ended up getting the exact same room as last year, which was perfect. There are worse places to be than sitting on the balcony watching the ferries and sailboats go by, with Mt Rainier on the horizon. The Alaska cruise ships were literally right outside our room!





We took a 2 hour Argosy Lakes Cruise one day and finally did the Underground Tour of Seattle. It's fun spending time doing the things you never do when you live there.



The weather was absolutely beautiful all 4 days we were there. I can honestly say there might not be a more beautiful place than Seattle on a sunny day.





Now we're back home and Rian is counting down the days before he has to report for training camp (7 left!). This time of year is always feels like summer is over. It may as well be fall for us since football season is right around the corner. This is about the time that I start getting excited for football games. After 7 1/2 months of travel and leisure, it's always nice to be grounded for awhile...

Wasting time

I'm sitting in Detroit waiting to head to Seattle. Rian and I have recently gotten "Priority Passes" that enable us to utilize the club lounges in the airports. So, I'm hob-nobbing with the business elite. I look so official sitting here with my laptop and Starbucks coffee. Although, the jeans and sweatshirt don't quite fit in and god forbid anyone looks over my shoulder and realizes I'm perusing perezhilton.com. ha ha

I will admit, these lounges are pretty nice. Free internet, coffee and food that you can enjoy in a comfortable chair! I will definitely be back, now that our passes are finally in with our passports instead of sitting somewhere at home...

Well, better go so I don't miss my plane.

Triathlon

Rian competed in his first triathlon last Sunday. Our friend Brian asked him a few months ago if he would be interested in participating to help raise money for his PUNT Foundation. If you know my husband, he's always up for a challenge! This was the 5th annual Pittsford Triathlon and consisted of a 300m swim, 15 mile bike ride and 3.1 mile run. Rian was excited about it at first and then as the day arrived, he kept saying "what did I get myself into?"

We all drove up to Rochester on Sat and had a nice dinner at Black and Blue before settling in for a good night's sleep. Got up around 5:45 and headed to the local high school to get everyone's things set up in the transition area. Our "group" of competitors consisted of Rian, Brian, Ryan Neill (long snapper), Tiffany Neill (who was teaming up with her husband and doing the run portion) and Bobby April, the Special Teams coach. Everyone did very well and it was impressive to see them take this challenge head on. Of course, after reading the "official triathlon rules", almost everyone would've been disqualified for things such as mounting their bike in the transition area. Ok, ok, so maybe we didn't listen that well during the debriefing at the beginning...oops!



I enjoyed being a "support person" for Rian and took picture after picture to document this event for these guys. Who knows, maybe next year I can get involved. I say "involved" because I'm more apt to team up with another person and share the experience! ha ha I think I could train to run 3 miles but training to run AND bike AND swim is another story. But, never say never. Maybe that will be something I'll be ready for next year. After all, we did just buy bikes and yesterday, I rode 5 miles. I know it's only 5 miles but it's a start!

Here are a few more photos from the big day. I laughed when I saw the huge smile on Rian's face as he pulled in from his biking leg. I said "you looked so happy to be out there!" and his response in true-Rian fashion, was "I kept laughing and thinking what am I doing out here?"




He finished with a total time of 1:31:17. Not too shabby! His goal was 1:30:00 and he said if he'd had his stopwatch, he would've pushed himself to meet his goal. Oh well, something to shoot for next year. I'm so proud of him!