Christkindlmarket, Tampa, Christmas

Damn, haven't posted in a long time!  I'm going to riffle through some updates (with pictures) quick...

Story #1 - Christkindlmarket

        Pictured below you'll see a German Christmas Market in downtown Chicago that I decided to walk through after my last final on December 12.  I had heard about this place, and being the good German that I am, couldn't resist the urge to go find some kick ass German beer.  My hopes of finding a tasty German brew were dashed when I realized all they served was Spaten.  I decided at that point that I had made the trip down, so I may as well enjoy an Optimator (which isn't horrible).  The lady poured my $7 beer, took my money (along with a piece of soul- $7 for a Spaten?!), and I threw a dollar in her tip jar.  The lady started ringing this cowbell, ecstatic that I had put a dollar in her tip jar.  Apparently, a small child had observed this lady going nuts over $1, and ran up with a dollar her mother had given her to put in the jar so the child could observe this outrageous display of dancing, hooting and hollering by the German beer woman.  In the midst of putting my change back into my wallet, I didn't notice the child standing right next to me.  I grabbed my beer to start walking, turned, and stopped dead to avoid running over this child, spilling approximately 1/4 of my beer all over this child's head (she had her hood up thank goodness!).  

"HEY!!!!!"  I heard the mother, and turned to see this stout woman waddling towards the beer stand with a look of fury in her eyes.  "YOU SPILLED BEER ALL OVER MY DAUGHTER!!"  

Shiiiiitttt....

"Listen, I'm really sorrry.  It was an accident, I was just trying to not run your daughter ov..."

"SHE'S ALL COVERED IN BEER!!!"

Damn, this lady was making a scene.  In the meantime, one of Santa's Helpers (security guard) came over to see what was going on.

"THIS MAN SPILLED BEER ALL OVER MY DAUGHTER!!!! BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH"

I said "listen, I'm really sorry, it was an accident.  If it's going to be this big of an issue, I'll just go."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," the security man said.

I was shocked.  I had just paid $7 for a beer I hadn't even taken a sip of before being attacked by mama pig.  I put my beer down and left.  

Lessons learned:  First and foremost, don't pay $7 for a Spaten Optimator.  Second, pay attention to small children.  Lastly, if this ever happens again, I will pound my beer before I leave.

*Side note:  If you are ever in Chicago for Christmas, this is a VERY cool place to walk through!

Story #2 - Tampa

I had the pleasure of flying down to Tampa to visit my best friends, Reese and Trent.  I have to say, three days on the beach and in the sun couldn't have come at a better time.  We had perfect weather.  High was about 80 each day and rarely saw a cloud in the sky.  We pretty much just sat on the beach all day, drank Corona and Red Stripe, swam, and played volleyball.  At night we would go out and enjoy a few drinks.  We also became fixed to a show on Animal Planet called "Call of the Wildman."  My trip to Tampa made me realize that the friendships I have with these guys are unbreakable.  It will never matter how far apart we are or how long we go without seeing one another.  I feel so lucky to have friends like that, truly invaluable.  I can't wait until the next time we get together!

Siesta Key Beach - Rated #1 beach in the country

Story #3 - Christmas in Verona

I arrived home on the 19th, and should be hanging around until about the 29th.  This will be the longest period of time I've been home since . . . I don't even know when.  It has been really nice to be home and see my mother, father, and especially my sister.  The amount of times we are all together has grown slim over the last few years, and I have learned to cherish this time rather than avoid it.  Maybe it's part of growing up, maybe it's me missing home, but from what I know now, it's great that we're all here (happy and healthy) for Christmas.  Below is my Mom.  Looks like she's reading right?  Nope, sound asleep!  We've been eating, sleeping and playing games since I got home.  I've managed to get a couple good runs in on the trail and am looking forward to continuing the schedule we've had so far!  Hope you all travel safe, find happiness and joy during the holidays.

My best wishes to you and your families!  Happy Christmas Eve!

Cheers, love,
Adam

Everything that Shines Ain't Always Gonna Be Gold

Last night I had the pleasure of heading to a beer tasting with five of my closest friends from school.  It was really nice to get out with a group of guys and have a good time, a few drinks, and put school on the back-burner for one night.  It's not often that we all get the opportunity to hang out, mostly because we all live in different places and finding a location and time that is convenient for all is often near impossible.

Big Ten Beer Tasting was the name of the event, and it all happened at the oldest Irish pub in Lincoln Park, a place called the Hidden Shamrock.  At the event, there was about 10 different stands (each from a "Big Ten" city/state) that each had a few beers to try, and I found one that I especially liked.  Half Acres Brewery was well represented with six different beers, my favorite of which was called Chub Step (Porter).  It had a great full body flavor, just a hint of coffee flavor (I'm not much for full-fledged coffee stouts).

At the end of the event there was a raffle, and Bro won a matching set of pint glasses.  Pretty stoked about that pick up.  I think fun was had by all, and hopefully it's something that we can all do again in the near future.

Last night got me thinking about something else that has been on my mind lately too.  It mostly has to do with happiness...

I've discovered that I perform better in school when I'm happy with things outside of school.  Sometimes it's not always easy to see the good in things, it's not easy to do what's best, it's not easy to let go and move on from the past.  Life is a long blackboard that you continually get to keep writing on and creating your story.  So even though what's written behind you is permanent, what goes down in front of you is entirely your choice.

I've made a commitment to myself moving forward onto subsequent semesters.  That is, a list of "goals" that I'm going to focus on.  The list looks something like this, not in any specific order...

Cooking: I want to cook much more than I do now.  I really enjoy cooking, but it sometimes becomes hard with school, commuting and trying to get a workout in.  My goal is to find easy, fast, one pan/pot recipes that I can rely on during stressful times.  If you have any recipes like this, send them my way!!

Workout:  Run at least 30 miles/week through winter.  I also want to do yoga at least once per week and also swim at least 5 miles per week.  I'm committing myself to running a marathon next year at some point, whether that be Chicago or the Twin Cities, or even Madison in the spring.  My goal for my first marathon is a Boston-qualifying time (sub 3:10).  I'm setting my sights on Ironman Wisconsin 2013 if I can talk my buddy T-pain into it... I'll work on that :)  No goal yet for IM WI, I'll hash that out as it gets closer...

Reading: I want to have a leisure reading book going at all times.  The first one on my list, Born to Run which I will start when I leave for Florida.

Church:  I just joined a church in Chicago, and am actually going to brew beer with the pastor tomorrow!  I want to commit to going every week and see where it takes me.  I don't want to be an "in your face" person about religion, so don't expect to hear much more on this front :)

Volunteering:  After the new year, I would like to find an animal shelter or at risk youth program to volunteer at once per week.  I've been so damn fortunate with my life, I think the least I can do is give a few hours per week back for a good cause.

Traveling:  Each year, I am going to go somewhere I've never been before.  This year's goal:  Portland/Seattle/British Columbia.

Relationships:  I need to do a better job nurturing the friendships that I've built both in Chicago and from the past.  I'm going to call my friends once per month at least to catch up and see how they're doing.

I'm sure the list will grow, I'll keep adding to this for sure.  I'm pretty excited for this year's Best Of List, which will be coming out in just a couple weeks!  Got some cool new stuff I found from the last 4 months in Chicago.  On that note...

Cheers!