The life of Mark and Katie

B-I-N-G-O

I've been wanting to go play Bingo at the Kentucky state line for a few months now. Mark was on board, just not as excited as I was. I couldn't find a lot of information about it online but when I called I always got the same recording. They have games Friday and Saturday night as well as Sunday afternoon. We decided to go last Friday night and we invited our neighbors to go with us. We had the BEST time! It's literally AT the state line! We immediately saw the BINGO sign on the left, pulled in and went for it. We walked inside and were directed upstairs. We first went into the room where people were betting on horse races around the world then we found bingo. It was a huge hall, electronic boards and this guy that was calling letters/numbers VERY fast. We went to the window and paid $12 per person for every game they were playing that night and our very own dauber.

At first it was VERY overwhelming! You have 9 cards on a sheet and two sheets, so you're playing 18 cards at a time. You're so busy concentrating on the letters/numbers he's calling it's hard to remember to look and see if you even have a bingo. I was so frustrated when someone would call Bingo. I felt with just another round or so I would have it. None of us won but we did have fun. Thank goodness for the cute little young couple sitting next to us. Yes, the majority of people were older but I'm not sure we were the youngest in the hall.

So when we were leaving we saw another bingo hall across the street. We then realized we were at Kentucky Downs (hence the horse race betting) and the one across the street was Kentucky State Line Bingo, where we had originally planned to go. We by far picked the better hall.

So we are now trying to plan our next visit, we're sure one of us will win. Oh and the prizes, each game it was a prize of at least $200 up to $1,000.

Color Run and Auburn vs. Vandy

We have been trying to get those yahoos from AL up to Nashville and well it finally happened. The gang arrived late Friday night. Saturday night we got up and went to cheer on Auburn as they played Vandy. Well our cheering didn't do much good but we played the part anyway. I kind of like this blue and orange get up.

We continued our day with lounging and watching football but not without a stop at Krispy Kreme.

Sunday morning was what it was all about.....The Color Run! We got up bright and early and was ready to be plastered with color by the 9am. It truly is the Happiest 5K on the Planet. We had a blast, especially at the party afterwards where EVERYONE has packets of color and they slinging them EVERY-WHERE!

All nice and clean......but not for long.

And this is how we cleaned ourselves off.

Thank you guys for making the trip - we had a great time!

We are planning to participate in 2013 but in the ATL, watch out!!

PCB - Rogers Family Vacay

We rented a condo in Panama City with Mark's family during the kids' fall break. It was such a nice time to be at the beach. It wasn't so crowded, it wasn't hot and it was just the right time.

We did your typical beach activities, slept late, layed on the beach, played in the ocean, napped, walked on the beach, went to dinner, played games, looked for grabs and then did. it. all. over. again. We did get to take in the Priate Festival too. I do love a good festival but this one eh, not so much.

There's nothing like sunsets on the beach.

Rogers Family

Last day at the beach

Indy

I was in Indianapolis for a conference the first week of October. Again, this was a city I'd never been to. The only thing I knew about Indy was the Indy 500 and the Colts. And well.......that's still all I know. We stayed at the JW Marriott and it was great, but you know, I do love a Marriott. It's located right in front of this very nice park where I ran every morning along the river. The scheduling is perfect at this conference, fun nights and not-so-early mornings. We didn't really get out into the city much so I wasn't able to really sight see. Oh well, I'm not just dying to go back but maybe my travels will take me back there again someday.

And really that's all I have to say about that........

After Indy I hopped on a plane to meet Mark and his family in Panama City Beach.

Boys II Men

Mark and I had a date night with Boyz II Men and the Nashville Symphony. We had never been to the new Schermerhorn Symphony Center for an event so we were very excited. And Boyz II Men, come on!

We find our seats, which are on the third balcony, right above the stage. We noticed there weren't any microphones on the stage and the program just mentioned the conducted and Boyz II Men music. The first song the orchestra plays is "Mama." They then started into another song, we began to think that maybe the group wasn't actually there but that they were just playing their music. We were disappointed that we had paid all this money just to see the symphony. Which don't get me wrong, it would have been great, it just wasn't what we had planned on.

So they continue to play for about an hour and we have a 15 minute intermission. At this point we are cracking up because we're with a bunch of blue hairs at the symphony. Well we get back to our seats and now there are 3 microphones. Still there are 4 people in the group so I'm thinking they may have a few instrumental soloists or something. Whatever, we decided to stick around. So again, the orchestra starts playing and still no group. Then finally...............mid-way through the second song here they come! Woohoo!

We grew up with Boyz II Men so we loved them because of that but then we have also grown to be a bigger fan of Shawn Stockman who was a celebrity judge on The Sing Off.

They sang all of their greatest hits well.............except for Motown Philly. It was certainly a more mellow concert without all of the production, etc. We kept waiting for them to rock out Motown Philly. It didn't happy but they still put on a great show.

We also got to meet the group backstage! They were awesome and what a fun date night with my love.

Labor Day on Lake Martin

Labor Day Weekend we headed south to Eclectic, AL to send some time at a friends house and some time on Lake Martin. We work wtih a few people who actually work remote out of their home in AL so they invited us to come spend the weekend. It was a MUCH longer drive than we expected, some of which we attribute to all the stops we made along the way but nonetheless we made it.

We spend some time jetskiing, skiing, tubing, floating, riding and oh man how fun and yet relaxing at the same time. I had never tried to ski but I think I needed just one more day and I would have gotten it. Now knee-boarding I'm a pro at that. Honestly, it was a blast!!!

This was pretty much how skiing went for me.....every time!

Mark on the other hand did a better job.

See how fun much fun I was having on the kneeboard!

We had a great time, hopefully we'll get an invite next summer! :)

Arrington Harvest Fest

Arrington Vineyards has become a favorite spot of ours. We have joined their wine club, I've worked with and become friends with one of the owners and we just enjoy the atmosphere and well the wine. They held a Harvest Festival in August so we grabbed some friends, our picinics and made it a night.

The entire event benefitted Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. Kix Brooks performed, they launched several hot air balloons, had special wine tastings and event tshirts. The weather was awesome and we couldn't have gotten a better seat! The night was so much fun!