Go Go Gadget LISA!!!

Alright everyone...send good thoughts to my sister, Lisa. She has her last final of law school today, and then she is DONE with it all! She graduates this Saturday (which is coincidentally when Wandering Bront makes their big debut to an audience).

Congratulations, Lisa!!! Well done!
Thank God for no more law school :)

-SKH

Complete success at the MS Walk!!

So the MS Walk was today, and it was awesome! First of all, the weather turned out great - 60 degrees and sunny, with a light breeze. Really good walking weather. I cannot believe all the people that were at the walk this year! I think that the way they changed the route to having only one start/finish area made it seem like there were more people at all parts of the trail.

I documented our day in photos, and they are shown for your enjoyment. :)

Lisa and Jessie as we were waiting in a ridiculously long line to get a backpack in which to carry our tshirts and assorted loot.

Lisa and I in the same aforementioned line. I am rocking an assortment of ND gear.

Oh boy, the line was awesome. At least we eventually got the backpack deal, it was worth it. Who wants to carry shirts for 6.5 miles?

Now all three of us are in line. This is the last picture of us in line, I'm sure you are sad already.

Here's Dad, Lisa, Jessie and I at the starting line! We got to have a special photo up there because Dad is a VIP at the event...note the orange VIP necktag on Dad there. Sweet! I also learned that team AmandaJCR was ranked 17th of ALL teams at the walk because we were able to raise so much money ($5,900 at last count!) Not too shabby for a four person team, I bet there aren't too many small teams like us with the big donations!!!

Lisa, me and Dad at the first rest stop where Great River Energy was a sponsor.

Lisa, me and Jessie at that same GRE sign at rest stop #1.

Anchor Bank was the presenting sponsor at the walk, and their team had these great blue shirts that said "Stomp out MS."

We found my name on one of the Golden Soles Club cards - to be in the Golden Soles Club, you need to raise at least $1,000 the previous year. Last year, right after we saw my name, Lisa was nearly killed by a flying tent. We were definitely on the lookout after this point.

Such a good thing, we took two pictures. Unfortunately, we never saw Lisa's name on the Golden Soles Club cards, but we all know that Lisa is a rockstar fundraising genius, and she was probably listed on the other (shorter) route. Maybe I should photoshop the second image and add her name in there. :)

Lisa reenacting the Great Tent Debacle of 2007 - she doesn't really look scared. This is not a true reenactment.

Lisa again, I think she is smiling even bigger in this one. Trust me, when it actually happened, it was very scary, and Lisa was lucky to escape with only a bruise. Check out her blog for the whole story: http://lisamschmid.blogspot.com/2008/05/goal-for-2008-ms-walk-survival.html

Party at the end of the walk - there were so many people there, cheering, eating lunch and enjoying a fabulous spring morning. The cheering at the finish line really makes you feel like a rockstar, it's impossible not to smile.

More of the party after the walk.

A little more food, fun and chilling after the walk. The MS Society does a really great job on the whole day. All of the rest stops and the opening and closing events are really a class act.

The walk ends at Minnehaha Park, home of the famous Minnehaha Falls. This is Lisa in front of the falls - aren't both of them just beautiful?

All in all, the MS Walk was a huge success. We all hit our fundraising goals (both personal and team goals - Lisa, where did that extra $200 come from?? AWESOME!), the walk went swimmingly, as evidenced above, and I think we are all set for another successful year next year. We're planning on building a team AmandaJCR web page for the event next year - so stay tuned (OK, tune back in for that in approximately February)

I hope you've been entertained by this blog posting...until next time, Gadget. Never fear, there will be continued blog posts about assorted fun things moving forward, I'm really trying to be good about blogging.

-SKH

Wandering Bront

In case you weren't aware, I recently procured the game Rock Band, which is a video game that allows you and your friends to form a rock band and rock out to a bunch of mostly well-known songs. It comes with a drum kit, a wireless guitar and a microphone, and you can apparently hook up another guitar to the game and have a four-person band. (My basement is littered with plastic video game musical instruments, it's awesome, I need to take a photo for posterity.)

Simply put, this game is awesome. I got it on Tuesday, and set it up that night. Travis and I played a few songs (the drums are fun!), but I spent even more time playing it last night with Lisa and Beth. Beth and I had been racking our brains for good band names, and thought we had some original ones with things like "U2", the "Rolling Stones", and the "Wallflowers". Turns out those are already in use - who knew?! Enter the best band name ever: The Wandering Brontosaurus. Due to a glitch with naming length restrictions, this has turned into Wandering Bront, which in my opinion is a freaking sweet band name.

Currently the band members are me (vocals and cowbell/tambourine), Beth (lead guitar/bass guitar, depending on the song) and Lisa (drums). We have a few applicants for the fourth band member, and will be holding auditions soon. Please contact me if you would like to be considered for auditions; if you live out of town, we can arrange an audition for your next trip to Minnesota. We also accept some honorary band members, depending on where you live and just how dedicated you are to the band.

Wandering Bront will have its public debut on May 17, which coincidentally when our drummer graduates from law school. We're in the process of designing t-shirts (check out some of our concepts, we're still in design mode and open to suggestions). We can order a few extra if we have anyone who wants to be a groupie of a confused and lost dinosaur (and really, who wouldn't?)

We've made it through about half of the songs, and boy, they get harder as you go along (isn't that right, Lisa?)

I'm glad to have found a new obsession to get me through the beginning of spring, when it is cold, wet and rainy, and I don't want to spend it outside. Rock Band is pretty dang sweet because everyone can get involved!

Viva la Rock Band and long live Wandering Bront!!!!

-SKH