Hit it hard every yard for ISU!!!!

Oh hey. Remember me? The girl who's been traveling non stop for the last couple of weeks, yeah thats me. 'Bout time for a GD update. So here it is. I survived camping. AND I actually had fun! Tettegouche State Park was absolutely beautiful and the weather could not have been more perfect nor could my company be any better :)

(Camping essentials...I still don't know what half of it is)

We pitched a tent, made a fire and I called upon my gathering skills and collected twigs for the fire while Drew was in charge of the food. Also I think it goes without saying that we gorged ourselves on S'mores. I forgot how awesome they are.

(Campsite view of Lake Superior)

In the morning we got to watch the sunrise over the lake while eating oatmeal and drinking our coffee. Then something happened that made my entire camping trip. While eating breakfast I looked down over the bluff to see not one but FOUR river otters playing about in the lake. For an animal lover like myself it was the best morning ever.

So moral of the story being if you can get yourself to Tettegouche in the fall because it's absolutely amazing even if you're not the biggest camper.....yet.

So what the heck is with the post title. My Iowa friends know...some may be cheering along...some may be crying in their beers still. This past weekend was the BIGGEST weekend in football in Iowa. The Iowa vs Iowa State game. Iowa is considered the powerhouse football team in the state. Big Ten blah blah blah. However the game was held in Ames this year and of course we were up there at 6:30am cracking open a cold one and cheering on our alma mater. It was an INTENSE game with not one but THREE overtimes with the Cyclones coming out victorious. Seriously I never enjoyed seeing so many faces in so much misery as I did at the bar when Iowa State scored the winning touchdown. The Iowa fans were being particularly rude and well typical Iowa douchebags so it made it all the more amazing. I also may have gotten angry and threw an empty beer can into the crowd at one point. Whatever they were jerks. Anyways, from what I can recall it was a great day and all I need to remember is that the Cyclones won and Iowa City can suck it.

How about everyone else? Any other football victories this weekend? Anyone else throw some beer cans at douchebags?

Cyclone Cheers!

Marisa

A Series Of Crappy Events

Okay that might be a bit dramatic. But hi, I have a blog. Sometimes I post shit and sometimes I hide under blankets when sad things happen and I ignore the interwebs. This was one of those instances. Saturday June 4 ( I can't even say last week because I've been MIA that long) was the Dam to Dam, and guess what? I did it! Yes I actually ran the entire 12.4 miles which is the longest I've ever run in my entire life. I was pretty proud of myself, until Monday rolled around and I was hobbling around like a peg legged pirate because my foot felt broken. As it turns out...it kind of is.

Yes my friends that is my right foot...in a boot. Because I have a stress fracture in my foot. How did this happen you ask? Less a series of crappy events and more like a series of stupid choices on my part. Here is how you wind up with a stress fracture. Please take notes.

1.) You wait until the last second to buy new running shoes even knowing you can't run the race in them because you will kill yourself. So you wear your old super worn out running shoes. Which isnt...really...any better.

2.) You don't train properly. Like oh I have this distance race coming up. Haven't really ran in over 2 weeks and the longest I've ever run was 8.5 miles...2 months ago. I should be fine. Wrong. You will not be fine. Because you are old. And dumb.

3.) During said race you get a super mega blister but instead of taking advantage of the plethora of ambulances and EMT's around you just keep going and run on the outside of your foot to avoid said blister. For 5.4 miles.

And that friends is how you wind up in a world of hurt and a stupid boot on your foot for weeks. WEEKS!!! The soonest I will be able to run again is mid July and even then only a mile or two. It sucks big time, and I've been having a pity party ever since. When I see people running I take it as a personal attack and want to hit them with my car. In the end though, I know I could've prevented this and I just have to suck it up. However since I can't do fun things like run and play sports, I guess that gives me more time to blog. Trying to stay positive here.

So in conclusion, don't be dumb like me. Be safe and make smart choices. Also get crutches. I don't have any and I'm pretty sure if I did, I'd get more sympathy and free shit.

Broken Cheers,

Marisa

WTF?!?!?!

So I'm sorry guys. I totally had a post for yesterday but due to bloggers ridiculous shenannigans, I couldn't post it. And now it's totally irrelevant, because it was about me going to play volleyball. Which I did and let's just say, I'm out of practice ;)

(Okay so it wasn't thaaattt bad)

In other news I leave for Colorado one week from tomorrow! I'm so excited...and not prepared. I've been working on a packing list but I got through my wardrobe and was overwhelemed because it didn't include the wardrobe I'd need for my hike. I'm doomed. Please bear with me as I will most likely be a complete basket case the next couple of weeks. Colorado, maybe a law school graduation back home, Dam to Dam June 4th.....Ughhhhhh I need a beer now after just typing it all. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I look forward to catching up with everyone. I tried yesterday but well....we all know how that went.

Cheers!

Marisa

The Hangover-Part 1

Okay so here it is. Part 1 of The Hangover Weekend. Where to even begin? 

So first of all you must know that I was going to Waterloo. Lets just say....well Raygun made a shirt for Waterloo that went a little something like this:

Waterloo: You may recognize us from COPS

It got pulled though. Apparently the mayor of Waterloo thought it gave an inaccurate depiction of Waterloo. I disagree.

So, I get to Waterloo way ahead of Will and was like thats cool I'll venture out and find some dinner I'm starving. So I drop my stuff off in our room and head down and about a block away from our hotel I find this

(please note this is not the strip club we went to. We were told it was...ummm...well a little too rough)

So I immediately text the bestie and am like "I.....am in Waterloo....." Haha. Anyway I decided to hightail it out of there and head across the river. It looked nice, and I found a nice little Irish pub called Jamesons Public House and had some amazzzing mac and cheese with a refreshing Blue Moon. Drink number 1. The night goes downhill from here. 

(Soooooo good)

After my dinner I decided I should stop and get some booze for the hotel, however there is not a gas station, Walgreens to be found. The only place I could find was a seedy little "convenience" store, but after my beer I was feeling a little braver so I went for it and then hurried back to the safety of my hotel. By that time Will had shown up and we got the party started with a few drinks in the hotel, then went down to the hotel bar where we had some more drinks and played pool. Will's friend Joe and his girlfriend Heather showed up while we were playing pool so we went back up and got ready to head to the casino. Then we almost got murdered by our shuttle driver. This is how it all went down.

So as I mentioned Waterloo is....well it's Waterloo. We get in the shuttle and the conversation between Will and Joe goes something like this:

Will: Wow so Waterloo huh?

Joe: I know I'm just waiting for someone to call so I can be like....I'm in Waterloo....yeah. I know.

Will: I know this place could be nice but I mean...it's Waterloo

At this point, the boys realize that just mayyyybe this driver is from Waterloo. The conversation continued as such:

Will: So...have you lived in Waterloo long?

Driver: *Crickets*

We all look at eachother and the driver turns on the radio and turns it up. LOUD. The boys can't stop laughing and I'm beyond embarrassed that I can't even look at anyone. The casino was supposed to be only 10 minutes away but before we know it we're in the middle of nowhere cornfields, with the highway in sight right next to us. I look up at Heather and I can tell she's thinking the same thing: We are being taken out to be killed. Joe tries unsuccessfully to talk to the driver by asking if the song on the radio is Bowie. Nothing. We're all beginning to feel a little edgy as we are literally IN A CORN FIELD late at night....in Waterloo. Luckily we see the casino, scramble out of that shuttle and thank our lucky stars we're alive. 

 (Why didn't anyone tell me this shirt makes me look like I weigh 200lbs? Ugh old reliable no more)

The rest of the night is spent drinking, reliving our near death experience, oh yeah and then taking a cab to the grooms house for post party drinks and guess what? It's the cab drivers FIRST NIGHT and she has no idea where we want to go. We all busted out our phones and used our GPS to guide her there.

It was an adventurous night and I'm pretty sure I was the winner of most drunk as illustrated below:

(Joe and Heather still keeping it together looking cute)

(Aaaannnnnndddd myself looking a total hot mess.)

In conclusion, I'm awesome and this night doesn't even compare to the next night. Please stay tuned for Part 2-The Wedding and Part 3-The Post Wedding Party.

Cheers!

Marisa

Why Bars Have Low Lighting or: To The Paramedic From Nebraska

It's been a while since I've posted a good story for you about a night of bad choices and debauchery  and after all this blog is called Des Moines and the Single Girl, so friends I've got a good Single Girl story for you. 

I started the night off with the best of intentions. I was just going to work on a little art project I'd planned, have a pizza, drink some wine and call it a night. I should not be allowed to drink wine alone; it always leads to wanting to go out. However on this particular Saturday all my friends had prior engagements so that got me thinking, tonight's the night I'm going to go to the bar solo! I did, it wasn't so bad and I will write up a full report on it at a later date. This post is dedicated solely to my poor decision making skills. So while having my martini I decided to see if any friends were downtown. Didn't hear anything so I grabbed a coffee and headed home. Get home, text from my friend saying he was downtown, and another from my old roomie saying she was downtown. Stuff my face with as much of the giant rice crispy treat I bought with my coffee as I can and head back out to Hessen Haus. (Amaaazzzzing German beer hall. If you're in Des Moines you HAVE to go there.) This is how the night started going downhill:

(Image via google)

Two of these bad boys + 4 girls = drunk bad choices. It was seriously everyone's birthday in Des Moines or everyone's last night of freedom (aka bachelor/bachelorette party). Enter the paramedic from Nebraska. I can't remember why he came up and talked to us, although I'm pretty sure he threw out a terrible pick up line and my drunken self laughed in his face about it and then he went back to the bachelor party. His feelings must not have been too hurt cause he came back and I gave him my number (bad choice #1) and then they headed off to another bar and I kissed him (bad choice #2). We met up at another bar, and the list of bad choices goes on, I won't bore you with the details. Although please note the ultimate bad choice did not happen. More like a scratch on the bedpost as opposed to a notch. 

Now we're up to why bars have low lighting. Being alone at the bar allowed me to observe more closely the dynamics of a bar. I started dating D when I was 20 so I never really got to experience the single bar scene in college. It is however the perfect setting for random hook ups. The low lighting + alcohol = everyone's a hottie and you are the king/queen of the dance floor. And by dance I mean Shakira inspired seduction moves. Or the reenactment of a dying trout on land. Add to that mix the inability to hear due to bass so heavy the entire bar is turned into a vibrator, and you've got a total hottie (low lighting) who you seduced with your dance skills (alcohol) who is now whispering sweet nothings in your ear (cannot hear due to loud music; actually generic awful pickup lines). I'd like to tell you since I've got it all figured out I'm immune to it. Sadly even the toughest of us fall victim to it. However, I'm also one to laugh about it the next day and share it with the blogging world, while eating the rest of my gigantic rice crispy treat. Guys, girls, please tell me I'm not alone in this and that everyone makes these unfortunate (although hilarious in hindsight) bad choices once or twice in their lives. I'm saying once or twice just in case this happens again....wait.....this time actually is the twice. I forgot about the guy from AK's. Shit. I give up. At least I have cats right?

Cheers,

Marisa