March Madness Finals, Blog Challenge, and some Baseball...

I have SO much to cover in my post today, I'm not sure where to start. Due to my EXTREMELY busy weekend at The Ballpark in Arlington, I did not have time to update my blog (so I am a few days behind on my challenge). I'm gonna try and play catch up today and tomorrow so by Wednesday I'll be all caught up.

Blog Challenge Update

Day 5: The meaning behind your Twitter/Instagram name.

Thankfully, it's the same name so I only have to explain once. My handle on both is "Averyfan", named after the great Braves pitcher of the 1990s Steve Avery. If you hang out with me enough, you will probably hear me say, "for the love of Steve Avery". If you hang out with me long enough, you will find yourself saying it (true story, just ask my friends!) :)

Day 6:  What are your favorite quotes?

 

 Day 7: Screenshot of your desktop or lock screen.

My lock screen and wallpaper on my iPhone

Like I mentioned before, I spent the weekend at the Ballpark, so three guesses what the majority of my Mobile Monday pictures are going to be!! :)

 

Tailgating with friends before the game!

This is a view from my season ticket holder seat. I sat there on Friday (Saturday and Sunday I had other seats).

The first pitch was thrown out by Robbie Parker. His daughter was one of the victims at Sandy Hook. He's from Texas originally and he and his family are big Rangers fans.

I love the flyover during the National Anthem.

Baseball buddies

The Academy of Country Music Awards held a contest on Instagram/Twitter. If you took a picture with a "Flat Luke Bryan" or "Flat Blake Shelton" and posted it with the hashtag "FlatBluke", you were entered to win a prize package. Winners are announced this week. These were my three submissions (yes, I'm a nerd).

Pictures from Saturday's game

More baseball homies!

Believe it or not, I did more than just watch baseball this weekend. Saturday night my friend Robyn and I went to see Jurassic Park 3D. I remember seeing the movie in the theaters 20 years ago when it was released. I probably hadn't watched it in maybe 15 years. It was still good!! :)

My Sunday view at the Ballpark. I texted my Aggie sister that Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel threw out the first pitch.

Some of my baseball besties...

Always love meeting my Twitter peeps at the game.

I told Chance this was my new favorite picture. I also told him I'm just using him for his son Cam (who is the cutest thing ever). ;) Thanks for letting me share this one on here Chance! :)

I know you've all been waiting for it. My picks for the March Madness Championship Round. I have to admit, I was even a little shocked at my final choices. I filled out my complete bracket before I started posting about this a few weeks ago (so I have enjoyed when people thought they knew who my picks would be and I was surprised some of your picks were the same as mine). So, here you go...

**insert dramatic music here**

I KNOW that my Twitter peeps are going to be in shock that Craig Gentry got eliminated. I myself was a little shocked. It happens though. I will announce my March Madness Champion on Wednesday!

XOXO!!!

It's OK, Blog Challenge and an UPSET in the March Madness Bracket!

It's OK...

...that I have an obsession with buying Rangers purses and handbags. I got this one in the mail yesterday (courtesy of my free Amazon gift card!) :)

 

...that I used the rest of my gift card to buy movies. Is it obvious I like old movies? :)

I bought this one because I had a huge crush on Charlie Schlatter when he was on Diagnosis Murder. :)

...that I might actually watch an awards show. Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton are hosting the ACM Awards this weekend. I love them, I'm gonna have to watch (or in this case, record and watch later, there will be a Rangers game on at the same time. I have my priorities). :)

...that I may or may not be streaming the Elvis Andrus press conference while I am at work on my lunch break.

Blog Challenge Day 4: 10 Likes and 10 Dislikes

Likes: 

1. the Bible

2. baseball

3. country music

4. Italian food

5. thunderstorms

6. old movies

7. museums

8. ice cream

9. bubble baths

10. reading

Dislikes:

1. bugs

2. the dark

3. snakes

4. cigarette smoke

5. seafood

6. traffic

7. dishonest people

8. jelly beans

9. political discussions

10. folding laundry

March Madness- MAJOR UPSET!!

A number one seed has fallen. I'll be honest, when I first started this bracket I was POSITIVE this guy would make the Final Four (possibly win it all). But alas, we have an upset. So, here it is, my Final Four.

I know!! I can't believe that Ryan Gosling was eliminated! After ALL the Ryan Gosling memes and pictures I've posted on Pinterest (and my blog), I was sure he would be safe. But low and behold, Jensen Ackles came in and took it away from him. Maybe it's because I started watching Supernatural again on Netflix? Who knows. I'm sure this will be a bracket buster for a lot of people who thought they knew my final choices. I'll post the two going into the Final Championship round on Monday's blog.

XOXO!!

What I'm Loving and Blog Challenge Day 3

I'm loving...

BASEBALL!! It's back y'all! I've missed watching baseball. I've missed talking baseball with my Twitter peeps. My timeline has been full of baseball talk the past few days, it has been great. I'll be at the Rangers home opener on Friday, I cannot wait to get back to the Ballpark.

I bought nail polish for the home opener! For those asking, I got it at Party City in Dallas. $3.

Victoria's Secret has a MLB line, I bought a few shirts last week! And maybe some other Rangers items, but I'm NOT posting pictures of those on my blog (or anywhere else)! :)

I tried to get a picture of me last night wearing the tank top, but it didn't turn out all that great. This was sans makeup, so I apologize for my appearance.

I'm loving...

Yu. No, not you (well, I do love you), but right now, I love Yu Darvish just a little bit more. He pitched a gem last night. He was one out from a perfect game. One out. ONE OUT. What is it with the Rangers getting within one out of something BIG and it going terribly wrong? Sorry, I'm over it. Oh well, regardless, Yu had 14 strikeouts and the Rangers won 7-0. That means Dallas peeps get half off their order on PapaJohns.com today (just use the code RANGERS7). And I was happy to see the Rangers bats come alive after that embarrassing opening day performance on Sunday.

Yuuuu...

I'm loving...

My friend Chance. He's so sweet. Even when he's home sick, he still sends sweet text messages. He has the flu and texted that all that coughing should give him a six pack. I responded that I wanted to catch something that would tone my legs and flatten my stomach. His response was sweet. 

Gotta love this guy!

I'm loving...

A free trial of Amazon Prime. I finally got one of my gift cards from Amazon (courtesy of my anniversary at work), so I placed an order for a few, okay, five, items (all free to me- weehoo!) I was eligible for a free trial of Amazon Prime. It means I got free two day shipping. My stuff should be waiting for me when I get home today! I have a reminder on my phone calendar to cancel Amazon Prime within 30 days so I'm not charged for it.

I checked this like twenty times to be sure I removed any personal information before posting it! :)

Blog Challenge Day 3: Post a picture of you and your friends

Okay, you know I couldn't just post ONE, right?? ;)

 Have a great day!! XOXO!!

A New Blog Challenge!

Okay, I meant to start this yesterday, but got so wrapped up in my Mobile Monday and Elite Eight picks that I forgot. I went looking online for some Blog Challenge ideas (because honestly there are some days where I WANT to blog, I just don't know WHAT to blog about- yes, even I have times where I don't know what to talk about- go figure). I found a few lists, so I combined some of the questions from all of them to make my own challenge. Feel free to steal this idea if you would like (and leave me a link in the comments below so I can check out your blog!)

Day 1: Post a picture of yourself with 10 facts

I've done these "facts about  me" before, but I know I have new followers, so to some long time readers, you might already know these! And of course, my long-time friends will know ALL of these! :)

1. I don't eat cake or pie. I mean, I CAN eat them, I just usually don't. It's definitely not because I'm a health nut (because I'm not- must we rehash about my Chick Fil-A milkshake and Blue Bell ice cream obsession)? Even when I was little I didn't eat cake or cupcakes at birthday parties. I'm just odd. :)

2. I'm a wannabe amateur tornado chaser. Okay, so I haven't really chased one, yet. But I keep saying I want to. Whenever there is a tornado warning in the area, I have more than one person call or message me telling me NOT to go out chasing it (I guess my little Mazda is not storm chasing appropriate). I watch all the tornado chasing specials on cable. I had a fan girl moment when meteorologist and storm chaser Reed Timmer not only replied to me but started following me on Twitter. I know, I'm a nerd. I keep hoping he'll ask me to join him on a chase one day, so far, I've received no invite. But a girl can dream...

3. I'm a chocolate milk snob. Now, I don't like plain milk, I have to drink chocolate milk. This started when I was a kid (yes, even as an adult I've tried plain milk and I don't like it- ick). BUT, I have to use NesQuik powder chocolate mix. I don't like the syrup (and don't even think about giving me an imitation brand or Ovaltine). I also have to mix my own, I don't like it "pre-made". See, I told you I was weird!

4. I was 11 years old before I learned to ride a bike. No lie. And we won't mention how many years it's been SINCE I've ridden a bike.

5. I want to play a dead body on one of my crime shows (CSI, Criminal Minds, NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, etc). I can't really act, but I figured not much acting is needed to just lie there.

6. I was a pep squad officer in 8th grade (it's kinda like a cheerleader, except we didn't cheer in front of the crowds at the football games, we were in the stands). Long story how I ended up one. I had a friend who wanted to try out and didn't want to go alone, so I went with her. I ended up getting selected (even though I had NEVER been in pep squad before). Go figure!

Don't judge. No really, don't judge. Don't I look "peppy"? Forgive my hair, it hadn't recovered from the 80s.

7. I don't like Starbucks. To be fair, I don't like any form of coffee, but I don't really care for any drinks at Starbucks. If I want hot chocolate, I'm not paying $4 for one.

8. I despise the game of Monopoly. It goes back to when I was a kid and was forced to play it for HOURS on end. To this day, I refuse to play it. Also with my A.D.D. I would only be able to play about 20 minutes before I'd get distracted or something.

9. I hate when people say "you are really tall for a girl". I'm 5'8, I don't think that's REALLY tall. Now, if I was 6'8, then yes, you could say I was really tall.

10. I was a sports editor for two years at a weekly newspaper. I miss writing, I always thought I would eventually go back to it. Maybe one day I will, I'm still young, right?? :)

Day 2: What are your nicknames and how did you get them?

1. Rach: kinda obvious how I got this one, it's just my a shorten version of Rachel.

2. Ray-Ray: my cousin's kids started calling me this when they were little; I have a friend whose kids call me this now too!

3. Angel: my momma calls me her "little angel". Although with the Rangers rival being the evil empire that is now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, I've told her she has to call me her "little Ranger" now. Yes, we take baseball VERY seriously! :)

4. Precious: my sister Martha calls me this (because it's true). :)

5. Dumpling: my daddy calls me this. :) He got it from the Blondie comic strip, they referred to their kid as "Baby Dumpling".

6. Averyfan: Since this is my Twitter handle, a lot of people call me this. And my friend Laura likes to refer to me as Averyfan when she's talking to our friend Chance. BTW, people from Twitter also call me Avery because they think that is my first name.

7. Wonderwoman: I got this when I was working for the newspaper. I not only covered sports, but I covered local town meetings and news beats. One of the city councilmen said I was like Wonderwoman because I did so much (there were many issues of our paper where I wrote the majority of the articles).

8. Sniffles: A friend of mine gave me this nickname in college because the first semester it seemed I was sick so much with allergies or a cold.

9. Boog: My sister Mary has always called me this. For the record, ONLY MY SISTER MARY can call me this. Don't even try! :)

10. Pinky: My friend James calls me this (again, only he can use it). When we worked together, he referred to us as Pinky and The Brain. To this day, we still call each other that! :)

Pinky: "Gee Brain, what do you want to do tonight?" The Brain: "The same thing we do every night Pinky- try and take over the world!"

Have a great day!!

XOXO!

Mobile Monday and My Elite Eight!

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I have a wonderful trip to see my family! It was so good to see them! :) Here is what's on my iPhone this past week.

Okay, I'm against texting/tweeting and driving, and I don't NORMALLY do this, but this stupid truck almost killed me (and a few other cars) as I was driving to my folks on Thursday evening, so I was trying to snap a picture of the name of the company so I could email them and report the truck later. There was conveniently no number or license plate on the back of the vehicle for me to call then. The company is Can-Fer. They will be hearing from me.

My dad puts the Texas flag outside his house every day (he's very proud of being a Texan). :)

E saw that Aunt Rachel was wearing her "superhero shirt" (as he calls it), so he had to change so he could match.

Just so you know, it took a few takes to get the above picture.

It's harder than it looks to get a three year old to cooperate when taking pictures! :)

E giving Aunt Rachel some lovin'.

We celebrated my mom's birthday this past weekend. C and E wanted to be in the picture with their Gigi and her birthday cake. Again, it takes a few shots to get the "perfect" one. :) Why yes, C is wearing his Texas Rangers shirt that Aunt Rachel gave him. :)

My niece's dog Odie. He has a hurt leg from when he got hit by a car a few years ago. He gets around okay and can still chase squirrels/birds with no problem. We noticed when there is a group of people (especially when there is food involved), he "plays up" his injury and starts limping around, looking for sympathy. :)

Enjoyed seeing some of my family this weekend!

E thought it would be funny to put his fake snake around my mom's neck. We showed him a picture from when my folks lived in Thailand and my mom had a REAL snake around her neck (for the record, she's crazy). Recap: Picture on the left, fake snake. Picture on the right, a VERY REAL snake.

My mom found one of my old books recently. Evidently I got this on December 6, 1985. I used to write my name and what day I got the book on the inside cover.

Who says 34 is too old for an Easter basket? Well, the "Easter bunny" couldn't find the basket, so it came in a sack.

Me and my niece Alice

My nephews hunting Easter eggs!

C with Aunt Rachel

Outtakes with C

E being silly. I love his duck lips picture! :)

March Madness Update

My Elite Eight! I know a few people will be surprised that Ian Kinsler beat out Joe Mauer. I've enjoyed hearing your picks, please keep them coming. My Final Four should be up by Thursday or Friday! :)

XOXO!!