Rollercoasters and Races.

*Edit* Two weeks after this was posted I just noticed that I misspelled the title of the post. Now it's corrected. I know you were worried. *End Edit*

Quick pictures from my trip to Cedar Point with my mom and sister, as well as a few pictures from The Color Run!

Cedar Point is in Sandusky, Ohio and it located on a tiny peninsula that juts into Lake Erie. It's often called one of the best rollercoaster parks in the world, and I think my sister and I agree. It's become a bit of a tradition that the three of us doing something exhilarating for a weekend during the summer, and typically the men come too. The men = Husband and Melissa's fiance Lu.

Last year we all went to Six Flags in Atlanta and then white water rafting.

Anyways, since the boys don't particularly care for rollercoasters, the girls decided to go alone. Granted my mom doesn't like coasters either, so she prefers to go to the parks, and use the time to sit and tan. Seriously.

Pictures:

Then we went to the lake to dip our toes in (the water was colder than we anticipated considering it was August)-

Then at the airport, I got bored and mom because my canvas for art-

Then we had go home and resume normal life.

But then this past Saturday, Husband and I ran (Walked? Jogged?) The Color Run! Keeping with traditions, it stormed for the entire drive down to Leeds, AL. Then it rained the entire time through the run (OK, that's a lie. There was about 5 minutes when it did not rain. But then it rained again).

Last dry picture!

People were so excited that they were already throwing their color

pouches.. which were supposed to be saved until the end of the race

at the Color Party. So this was taken before we even crossed the

Starting Line.. and he (and I, below) are already colored.

Husband was so easy-going. He's not exactly the type of person who

enjoys going for a run in the rain, to get soaked and have colored

powder thrown at you every kilometer, but he did it for me, knowing

how much I love being exactly that type of person. And he let me take 

his picture after each color zone :)

Notice the skin-colored stripe across his forehead where

his headband was during the race.

The change from uncovered and colored to fully

covered and uncolored skin is astonishing.

In addition to all the pictures and explanations of the pictures, please notice the fanny pack has reappeared. I'm bringing it back, one event at a time. You'll see.

Total Wednesday Win.

Two days after my last post something amazing happened.

Though my first astronaut-meeting experience will always hold a special place in my heart, I'm pretty sure this impromptu luncheon will be remembered more familiarly.

It was Wednesday, August 28. Just another Wednesday, as far as I knew.

Around 845am, my boss sent an email practically begging people to attend this luncheon, stating, "Jack Fischer and Jeff Williams will be in attendance." I googled them, as anyone living in the 21st century would do.

ASTRONAUTS.

Two of them! At once!

I replied immediately to my boss saying I'd be there, and asking if he knew of any posters/who I could talk to for posters. For autographs, obviously. None were to be found. So I planned ahead and printed off the JSC official photos for each.

I got to the lunch location early, as is my nature.

Then it was about 11, and only 10-12 people had arrived, so the people in charge were like, "Hey everyone come sit at the table, but make sure you leave room for the astronauts." (Well, duh). So I went up to the table and sat next to a normal guy that I didn't know.

Then they arrived. And Jack (as he instructed me to call him) was like, "Hey, why don't I sit down at that end, and Jeff can sit down here? It can be like a blue-suit sandwich."

Well, Jack ended up sitting next to me. For over an hour. We (and 3-4 others, naturally) had normal human conversations (some about space, but also about other things). For an hour. Then he noticed my camera (the freeze/shock/water-proof one I bought for Hawaii) and he said he'd bought one too (OMG AN ASTRONAUT HAS MY CAMERA?!), and he was asking me how I liked it.

So, you know, I start reviewing my camera for an astronaut, giving him examples of why I liked it, and showing him some cool features (the color selection is pretty neat!) . No big real. Right? Wrong. Huge deal in Brown's World.

We got some pictures, and I was truly surprised to see that I was the only person (of about 13 total non-astronauts) who brought a camera. Or something to get autographed. Or something to get an autograph with. Like, the people here are so unfazed by astronauts.

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I hope to never be that way. I hope I never take for granted the opportunity that has been laid before me, and I hope I never lose the way I have felt during my first two encounters with astronauts. I hope I'm able to let my excitement show and fill others with the same excitement I feel. And I hope one day in the (distant) future, when Hubs and I are ready to bring a Baby Brownie into the world, that I can plant the desire to know and learn and crave space into the child, and thus prolonging the life of the space program.
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Then after the lunch I went on a scavenger hunt to find someone (anyone!) with a laminating machine so my autographed head-shots would last forever, and in my mission to do so, found myself acquiring a ton of NASA patched and pins. Total Wednesday win.

Then Hubtastic and I went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and Wednesday, August 28 was pretty much the best day ever (of course, except for the day I married Ol' Blue Eyes himself, and all).

NASA Swag. Most of the items on the board are new,

the items on the desk were mine previously.

Macaroni Grill swag. I love their caprese salad.

Astronauts and Autographs.

A few weeks ago (August 8, to be exact) I had an opportunity to meet my very first astronaut. His name is Kevin Ford. He was on Space Station for Increments 33 and 34, and was the commander of Increment 34.

I totally fan-girl'd.

So the situation was that Commander Ford was visiting the HOSC as a part of his post- increment tour of the Stations Operations Centers. Earlier in the day, he'd made a speech to a general Arsenal audience. Unfortunately I couldn't go to that because I had just gotten off a night shift.

Either way.

I got off work at 7am. I went home and slept until 10am, when I then got up, got out the Puppy, showered, and got dressed for lunch. As excited as I was, I was the first person in the room, which was laid out like this:

For some reason, I had expected, at this lunch that Commander Ford was going to be speaking. Not eating. So I sat in a chair that, to me, seemed close enough to the podium, but not so close as to be creepy.

But then people started filing in and other people were setting up at the podium. I was a little confused. But then it happened.

He sat in front of me.

Now, when I say that I was freaking out, I mean it. Like. I was looking around the room, amazed at all the people somehow maintaining composure while I was near a catastrophic meltdown. How was no one else in awe? Surely they didn't realize they were sitting in a room with an astronaut.

I snapped some phone pictures in the heat of the moment.

I told you I was fan-girling.

Then he answered questions, and there were some Lessons Learned and Best Practices and work-related things that happened. Then it was time for autographs, and I was second in line.

I introduced myself, and told him a bad joke (as I've been known to do), and we shared a laugh. I asked him for a final favor (the first was asking him to sign a second poster, for my mom's coworker's son)- to take a picture with me:

After the autograph-and-picture moment ended (which felt like hours, and only lasted mere minutes), I had to go to my car to calm myself.

It was a big day for me.

Then I went back home and went back to sleep, since I was working another 11p-7a shift that night.

"To Nicole!" With an exclamation point!

Like he knew how big this was for me!

Weekend Warriors

I rarely start a post with a big picture, but how could I resist displaying one of Hubs and I at Grant Park in front of the Buckingham Memorial Fountain in downtown Chicago? But we'll get to this. Now let's start at the beginning.

Friday night, the Hubs and I drove down to Birmingham to see Matchbox 20 and Goo Goo Dolls at the Oak Mountain Amphitheater. It was roughly one billion degrees out, but our seats were in the shade, so it made it OK.

I said "I wonder how many chins we can have if we tried" and this is what happened.

We're a special breed.

I love Matchbox 20. I've been an avid fan since sometime in middle school. I have all their albums and I know every single one of the their songs. Word for word. I had tickets to see them a few years ago, but life's SNAFU occurred and I didn't get to go. So when I saw they were going to be in Birmingham with another one of my favorite bands, I knew I had no choice. I've been looking forward to this particular concert for months. I've been looking forward to a chance to see MB20 perform live for years.

The concert was amazing. The Goo's performed first and they were fantastic! Sounded perfect. They sounded like I was in my car listening to my CDs/iPod with 3000 or so of my closest sweaty friends. (Tight squeeze into the car, right? Right.)

The Goo Goo Dolls

Then MB20 came on and pretty much blew my socks off. Words can't describe how great they were, and I loved hearing them play hits from their older albums- the songs that made me love them- and hits from their newest album. (They do have that one album, Exile on Mainstream, that I can't stand. I call it their Dark Days. And of course they played a song or two from that.) Every song sounded perfect. The singing, the music, the stage were all just right for the show.

(Unfortunately, none of my photos from the MB20 show turned out well. Probably due my singing and dancing.)

That night we drove back home, arriving between 130 and 2am.

Saturday morning, we got up and started the 10-or-so hours drive to Chicago. I think the longest part of the drive was through Indiana. We felt so close, but we were so far. The trip was made longer thanks to lots of rain, lots of detours, and lots of I-65 construction along the way. Some pictures:

There was a huge wind farm in Indiana. It was probably the most exciting

thing to see in the entire state. Except for the building in Indianapolis

that had a lighthouse on the top.

Then we arrived. We stayed Saturday and Sunday night with Cynthia and her boyfriend Todd, in their apartment in the city. They've got a great view!

I could get used to a view like this.

After we unloaded our few belongings, Cynthia rode with Hubs and I to find free parking in the city, while Todd went to get a table at Gino's East so we could have some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza. Some pictures along the way:

During the infamous Chicago Fire, this building- the water

building- is the only thing that didn't burn.

This is the view from the 96th floor of the Hancock Building.

The four of us got drinks at the Signature Lounge.

The view on the walk back to their place was really nice too, if a bit blurry.

The next day, Cynthia and Todd made a delicious breakfast complete with eggs, sausage (which I swear was good!), french toast, hash browns and orange juice. We all played Frisbee for a little while before Hubs and I headed to Lollapalooza.

He was definitely the only person in Chicago wearing a Knicks hat.

(And yes, I wore a MB20 shirt and he wore a Hanson shirt to see The Cure)

(I had already worn my Hanson shirt to see MB20 and the GGDs)

He's using my umbrella to shade his pasty legs from the sun.

Me, reppin' my new MB20 shirt!

Our plan was to camp out at the stage where Dave's band was playing later that night, so we got to enjoy (and kind of endure) the two bands prior to it that we were there for. First was Tegan and Sarah. They were good! I'd not heard any of their music before. After them, we endured Grizzly Bear. A creepy/awkward excuse for a garage band that got lucky. I didn't care for them.

After the Grizzly Bears finally finished, I needed to pee. I knew it would be hard to get back up to the front where we were, so I told Hubs that I'd call him or text him if I couldn't get back. Unfortunately there was no cell service (apparently only for mine and Hubs' phones though, which was frustrating), so I couldn't call him.

Since I'm so short, I couldn't even see over the wall of people in front of me, so I went up to the tallest guy I could find and said, "Hey, do you see a guy up there in a blue Knicks hat?"

He said, (I'm paraphrasing here to keep this PG): "Oh heck no you're not getting in front of me!"

And literally pushed me over. To the ground. Onto my back. In a crowd full of people.

Two other guys who were clearly not OK with what they saw and came over and started yelling at the guy. Since I just wanted to find Hubs, I told them not to worry about it, and to let it go. I moved farther away from Mr. Tall Jerk and kept trying to text and call Husband some more. Finally, he texted me from another number, so I called it, talked to him, told him to find me to the left of the "Panda on a stick." A few minutes later he arrived and we prepared to watch the main event. The top banana. The reason we were OK with driving 24 hours this weekend (2 hours each way to/from Birmingham, and 10ish each way to and from Chicago). The Cure.

Robert Smith is not an attractive dude.

They played well. Husband was really pleased and he had a good time. He was singing and dancing along with the rest of the crowd (I personally wish they'd all stop jumping so I could see something though!). 

Then we had to do that thing you do at the end of trips... drive back. And got stuck in this:

But the night ended with dinner at Mellow Mushroom with Hubs' family, and a birthday party, only two weeks late, at their house afterward.

Wonderful weekend.

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The view from the Signature Lounge.

The daytime view from Cynthia and Todd's apartment.

Construction Paper and Glue: A 25th Birthday Card.

I've done my best to not brag about my husband, and how amazing he is.

But after everything he did for me for my birthday, I think he deserves at least a short post, if nothing else.

My birthday was on a Monday this year- not a good day for parties and planning. It also fell in the middle of a couple of weekends that his family would be driving to and from West Virginia.

Originally I was thinking it would be fun to get a few people together to go ice skating. But the ice plex only had a few hours selected for open skating on my birthday, and none would really be possible.. because people work.

So he decided that he would take me out for dinner on Saturday night. We got all dressed up and went down to Cotton Row. The food was amazing and Hubs was SO handsome :)

OK, so that's not the best picture of him ever.

After we ate, we got a random passerby to take a picture of us to prove that we did, indeed, get dressed up.

I had to make this picture larger than all others to really show off

the subject matter. And the wind blew and made my dress poofy.

When we got home after dinner, Hubs set up the VCR (yes, the VCR), while I started making our pillow fort. I still can't believe I didn't get any pictures of the pillow fort! That's so unlike me. Once the fort was up and running, Hubs gave me the first birthday present: Don't Break the Ice! Of course we played a few rounds in the fort, before we watched Hercules.

Sunday was a day of rest.

Then Monday after work, the Corleys and the Harveys came over for dinner! Hubsandwich had crafted a homemade red sauce to go with some spaghetti and delish garlic knots. But the real creme of the crop was the birthday cake he made me.

I'll you what. The creativity that lives inside my husband's brain is astounding. Not only is he a creative thinker, but he can actually follow through with his ideas!

Ladies and gentlemen, the cake:

Why, yes, that IS the Space Shuttle flying over the earth. 

*Note: Earth and Shuttle not to scale

The cake was red velvet. When I asked Sir Hubsalot if the red cake was supposed to symbolize the innards of the Earth (mantle, etc), I was met with a "...of course!" Which told me he had not previously thought of that, but that it worked out, so why not?!

The six of us played Don't Break the Ice while we ate our delicious spaghetti-with-homemade-red-sauce and garlic knots. Then the real games began: Cranium! Except the Corleys destroyed everyone. I told her, jokingly, that she ruined my birthday. We all laughed. (I cried a little on the inside.) (Just kidding.)

Now this was a pretty big birthday. In fact, one might even call it A Birthday of Quarter-Century Proportions. I turned 25.

I had spent a few days trying to figure out what sort of quarter-century crisis to have (Motorcycle? Emotional breakdown?), then I finally figured it out! I would try to convince Hubs to let me go skydiving again! I use the word "convince" because, for some reason, he's not particularly fond of watching his wife plummet to her death strapped to a person who is suddenly responsible for her life.. that we met merely minutes before. I guess he has a point.

Anyways. So then what did Hubs get me for my birthday?

SKYDIVING. He got me a skydiving voucher! Yay me! And since the actual gift card hadn't come in the mail yet, he crafted a special construction-paper-and-glue card to tell me:

Let's not go into the logistics of why the parachute is attached

to my head. The important part is that I get to jump out of a

perfectly good airplane for the fourth time!

That being said, I love my husband. He's so thoughtful and creative. He spends a large amount of time making sure that I am happy and am loved- and that I know I am loved.

I got lucky.

A much better picture of him.