On A Personal Note

V is for.....

2008-08-05T08:37:00.003-04:00

....Velvet?
....Victory?
....Vegan??? wtf??

By now, all 5 readers of my blog should be aware of the fact that I have changed my eating lifestyle rather dramatically over the last couple of months. Yes, the rumors are in fact true. I have converted to the rare form of vegetarianism. Most of you are wondering how this could happen, which leads me to the other rumor. Yes, it was because I read a book.

I picked up the book at my favorite bookstore, while I was picking up the latest book by one of my favorite authors. The title of the book itself was enough for me to pick up the book. Then I read the first couple of pages. I found myself laughing out loud while perusing the first chapter. On a whim I decided to actually buy the book.

The 'in your face' humor continued for about the first couple of chapters, and then things went downhill....rather quickly. I knew where the book was headed, I could see the warning signs here and there. But nothing could brace me for the few chapters on animal cruelty. I had no idea the book was going to talk about animal rights and I would not have purchased it if I did. I am not an animal rights kinda girl, but the animal torturing was just gross. (Excuse me while I run to the bathroom to puke.)

More importantly, the book helped me realize that my life was lacking in the fruits, vegetables and wholesome grains. So, what a better way to encourage myself to eat those things, when it's the only thing vegans eat! Extreme, I know, but it's been great. I have had more things in the veggie and grain world that I have never heard of, much less have tried to cook myself and actually eat.

The other benefit, cooking at home. Over the past couple of months I have cooked more meals at home than the first 5 months of the year combined. It is time consuming, but also very rewarding. And lately, the kids love to watch and sometimes help. It's nice to have a little bonding time with them. (Translation - a time during the day when they are not crying or screaming for something.)

I am not sure how much longer this phase will last, but I don't see myself changing any time soon.

PS - In case you are wondering, no I am not giving up my leather shoes, purses or belts. I only care about avoiding animal products in my body, not on it. ;-)

7 Years of Marital Bliss

2008-05-19T10:57:00.005-04:00

Happy Anniversary Kevin!

Bench Press Champion

2008-05-13T15:47:00.002-04:00

In case you were wondering how Kevin did in the Flying Pig Pump 'n Run 5k, here are the results:

He received a 30 second deduction in his 5k run time for every rep of bench press. Only catch, he had to bench press his body weight. Somehow, he weighed in at 160 pounds on Friday before the run. He was able to hit 12 reps at his body weight. That's pretty cool, if you ask me. He received a medal for exceeding 10 reps. As for his 5k time, his run time was 32 minutes, but with the 6 minute deduction for the bench presses, his official time was 26 minutes. It's a pretty neat race that incorporates your body strength as well as your overall aerobic fitness.

Rumor has it that he will appear on a box of Wheaties! (Thanks for the inside scoop, G!)

Just go with vanilla

2008-05-08T22:38:00.003-04:00

Note to self: any flavor, besides vanilla, is just a bad idea and should be avoided at all costs.

Flatline

2008-03-27T21:16:00.002-04:00

One aspect of my job as revenue operations manager at Mailtrust is managing our custom built billing system. Although I was not with the company when version one was built, I now oversee every piece of it. It's so amazing to me to see the transformation over the years, especially the few years I have managed the product.

I can go on for hours about the processes that were in place to get an invoice created for our customers. To sum it up in one word - manual. Unfortunately, manual processes are not scalable without increases in cost. In an effort to scale our billing system, we had to revamp a lot of our code to automate processes. The best part - the number of billing team members required in the first version was about 2 employees. Eight years and several versions later we still only need 2. Can you think of any other department that can sustain that headcount with assumed normal company growth?? I can't.

To highlight my most recent improvement to the billing system I was invited to blog about my cancellation project - Flatline, on the Mailtrust company blog. This project has been the most exciting release (recently) for me because of how much more we are cutting out the manual process. I will admit, writing the functional specifications for the project was challenging. I had to debate processes, steps that the customer would have to do, calculations, interface, logging, reporting, etc. Eventually, things fell into place and the technical specs were created. Add a little more debating, tweaking and debugging and finally, there you have it. Something that started out as an inconvenience is now automated.

Now that this project has been released, it's time to go back to the drawing board for the next biggest thing for our billing system. Hmmmm....where to start???

Mindless Entertainment

2008-03-20T22:55:00.002-04:00

Somehow I have succumbed to the world of mindless entertainment of reality television and HGTV. I guess it can happen to the best of us.

These are my favorites:

Gene Simmons Family Jewels, A&E – this is probably the funniest reality show I have seen in a long time. Well, I am not sure I have actually seen too many reality shows of this genre. At any rate, I think it is quite hilarious. Thanks to Jilian who introduced this addiction.

Rock of Love 2 with Bret Michaels, VH1 – Apparently the first season Bret did not find true love. So he's trying it again. My fave girl is Ambre, mostly because she’s the only one with a brain. The hottest one left is Megan. I like her because she’s mean in a quiet non-verbal way. For example one of the girls left a note on Bret’s door and Megan took the note down…..twice. Or, the time when she and Kristy Jo were on a date with Bret and she got up, straddled his lap and started making out with him, without notice, at the dinner table. Kristy Jo politely excused herself. Bret's pretty good on the show too, like the parts where he's talking with the camera. He's open and honest, to say the least. But fun to watch none the less.

HGTV addictions:

Hidden Potential– this show amazes me every time I watch it. I can’t get over how they can take a complete DUMP and make it fabulous. They usually tape in large cities or nearby suburbs and the cost of the house is completely ridiculous for the square footage.

Find Your Style

If Walls Could Talk…

What’s With That House? Or the special addition: What’s With That (Really Expensive) House? Come on, who really needs a $40,000,000 house???? And to even get an appointment to see it, you have to have a background check AND have a net worth of $50 million. Damn, looks like I am only a few million off....

Thankfully, I only ‘try’ to watch two of the all the above shows. If the others happen to be on tv when I am flipping through the channels before going to bed, I will watch them. So I guess it's a good thing that Kev keeps vetoing my decision for a DVR. :-)

Phone Spam

2008-03-18T14:08:00.003-04:00

I just received my first phone spam message. I don't know whether I am happy or upset about it. At first, I was upset. But then, I realized that I use my cell phone for everything now, even as my home phone. So it's not really a surprise that more businesses (and their marketing teams) have my number.

When Kev and I moved to Blacksburg, we decided that a home phone wasn't really necessary. The only reason we had it in Christiansburg is because we used DSL. Now we use a cable modem, which means we don't need the land line. Even our super-nifty security system does not require a land line. My mom didn't know what to say when I told her that I wasn't getting a Blacksburg number, she couldn't fathom it. Not surprising, as she can't get cell phone service at her house.

So I guess I will have to add my cell phone number to the do not call lists. This means I would miss out on the $3.99 pizza deal at the Blacksburg Domino's that is happening tomorrow!! Man, the decisions!

(Please, no sarcastic remarks about last post being on Jan 20th....yikes!! )

House Update - Stuff for Sale!

2008-01-20T20:13:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday we submitted a counter-offer on our house and the potential buyer accepted! We will close on both this house and our new house by Feb 15th.....right around the corner. The good news is that we will be able to move into our new house on Feb 1st! I am super excited about moving in and decorating with my 'new' style. I am really not sure what that style is yet. Still working on some ideas.

With that said, we are selling some select items of our existing house. Be sure to check out the items pictured here for what we are giving up. Be sure to read the captions for prices. Please note, these are pickup only. However the smaller items I would be willing to work on a pick up at another location. ;-)

All offers will be considered for items with a price.

Don't miss out on some great opportunities!

Happy Birthday Little Miss J

2008-01-16T14:07:00.000-05:00

6 years old and in charge....happy birthday baby girl!

House For Sale

2007-11-08T15:24:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that Kev and I are selling our house. We've had a lot of great memories at 840 College Street, that's for sure.

The Realtor.com listing is here and you can also view the house on the Long & Foster website. (Pictures will be updated on these sites soon.)

In the meantime, you can check out my personal collection here.

Please pass this information on to anyone you might know that is looking for a great place to live in Christiansburg!

If interested, please contact Rhonda Brewer - rhondabrewer@hotmail.com (540) 250-1353

Happy Birthday To Me!!

2007-10-09T08:39:00.001-04:00

I know, I know, it's not really my birthday....but! Kev decided to surprise me with my present a little early.

Here are some hints:
1. It didn't fall far from the tree.
2. Part of the needle in the haystack.
3. ET did it.

What's your guess?

Can the LG Voyager compete with the iPhone?

2007-10-04T10:29:00.000-04:00

Probably not.

But it's good to know that there will be other alternatives to those of us who actually like the Verizon Wireless service. (Please note: by service I am referring to the network - as in NOT their Customer Service...we all know they lack in that area.)

LG will be releasing to VZW the iPhone competition called the Voyager. It's scheduled to be released around Thanksgiving. It should be interesting to see how it stacks up against the iPhone.

Personally, I was kind of excited to hear about this. I have been wanting to switch over to the iPhone, but somehow cannot seem to justify the cost. But my excitement quickly faded after I got Kev's opinion over IM:

Kev: weak dude
Kev: "I don't have an iPhone but I do have this POS."
Velvet: haha
Kev: iPOS
Kev: lol
Velvet: damn you


Man....I don't know if I want to be one of *those* people....thank YOU Apple, for making me love a product I don't even own!  urgh.....

Over Time

2007-10-02T08:33:00.001-04:00

The benefits of not blogging for a while is that over time, new features get added and it's like starting all over again. Apparently during my hiatus of blogging, blogger.com has added the functionality of video.

Let's see if it actually works....

Happy 2nd Birthday Andrew!!

2007-09-28T20:59:00.001-04:00

Free Waffle Fridays

2007-09-28T13:33:00.000-04:00

Just another reason why I love working at Webmail.us....Free Waffle Fridays.

Ok, it's not really because I can eat free waffles at work, we all know that this girl could use some time away from waffles. (At least I skipped out on the butter!!)

I love working here because Webmail encourages leadership of all different forms. Something as simple as creating a fun activity for coworkers (to get them in to work earlier!) is well worth it. To be honest, the idea for 'Free Waffle Fridays' came on a whim while purchasing food for our office last week. Usually it's during the implementation process that great ideas get lost. So I charged ahead with it and got it going. Hopefully this new tradition will continue and inspire other workers to be creative and step up to the challenge. Leadership, after all, is always up for grabs.

And my coworkers don't know it yet, but, they will be paired with other people in the office that they might not normally work with to cook the waffles. We are all like family anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem! :-)

Just When I Thought Quiznos Was Expensive

2007-09-24T13:43:00.000-04:00

BTW - I haven't blogged in 2 months, so this story would make more sense if I posted the blog "K is for Kindergarten!"... oops! :-)

So I had lunch with Jordan today and thought it would be a great idea to buy a school lunch. You know, set the example, prove that school food is good, blah blah blah.

Ok, not only was it horrible, it was expensive. I had breaded fish sticks, fries, peas, a roll and a milk. The fish sticks were the worst things ever. Honestly, I don't think there was any fish in the bread. The fries - cold and rubbery. I guess they are still baking those things for a 'healthier' alternative. The peas and the roll were actually pretty good.

I go through the line and expect that with the amount of money I knew I had to pay I would receive almost double of everything. Wrong. My tray of food, which was the exact same in quantity as Jordan's, was $1.40 more. Can you believe that? Had I known that my serving size was going to be no different that Jordan's, I would have made her go through the line to get another tray of food and I would have saved $1.40!

At least Quiznos is a little bit more satisfying.

1-year Triathlon Anniversary

2007-07-22T16:02:00.002-04:00

Sunday marked my one year anniversary for the love-hate relationship for triathlons. As I promised in this post, I am happy to report that I am actually getting better at doing them. :-)

This race consists of a 300m pool swim, a 20k bike ride (about 12.4 mi) and a 5k run (3.1 mi).

2006 Recap:
Swim - 7:47
T1 - 3:03
Bike - 39:38
T2 - 0:55
Run - 27:25
Total Time - 1:18:26
Age Group Finish - 10th out of 25
Overall Finish - 57th out of 143 (females)

2007 Results:
Swim - 6:33
T1 - 1:53
Bike - 37:14
T2 - 1:16
Run - 24:25
Total Time - 1:11:20
Age Group Finish - 5th out of 26
Overall Finish - 27th out of 196 (females)

I think this race will be on my list of 'annual' races. It's run very well and in a convenient location.

Next race up - the Draper Mile. One mile of sprinting pain. Last year I was able to complete it in 6:09. I wonder if I have it in me to get sub-6??? Kev is on target to complete it in less than 7. I hope he pulls through on race day! :-)

Patiently Waiting

2007-07-18T08:57:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of weeks I have been waiting for my odometer in my car to read 100,000 miles. It’s one of those things you just want to be able to witness. It seems like every time I am in my car I forget about it. I will just happen to look down at my speed or something and notice the odometer. Every time I think to myself, man I have to remember to look at this thing every time I get in the car so I don’t miss it!

Today was a normal rushed morning for the Minnick household. Even more so this time since Kev had to take his jeep into the shop last night, so I was doing the driving this morning. We also woke up late, which I am sure had nothing to do with a late night episode of Deadwood and an excellent bottle of chardonnay by Veritas.

As usual, I get in my car and start driving, not even noticing the odometer. It wasn’t until we drove all the way to Blacksburg to drop the kids off at school that I even thought about looking down at it.

It’s a good thing I did.

The Matchmaker

2007-06-29T15:45:00.001-04:00

I never thought I would be the one to introduce a couple who would eventually marry. But sure enough, I did. A couple of years ago a bunch of us went to Roanoke to a co-worker's annual Oktober Fest. At the last minute Kev and I suggested that our friend meet up with us and go. To our surprise, he said yes.

Afterwards we all headed downtown to Cornerstone to dance the night away. I was trying to hook up one of my friends with some random girl at the bar. Not sure if he followed through with everything, but the girl was there with her friend April. As soon as my co-worker left with Girl #1, my friend J-Mack was like, grab her friend there. So, as any good friend would do, I said, "Hey my friend Jason would like to buy you a drink." haha, and the rest was history. :-)

I am happy to have helped this couple find each other, fall in love, and make that life-long commitment to each other. It's crazy that it all started with me.

Kevin and I attended their wedding this past January. I would post a picture of the lovely couple, however, they have not sent us any pictures yet. (hint, hint!!) I did receive this picture below from J-Mack the other day, with the subject line "ohhhh aren't they cute".

I agree.

Great Expectations

2007-06-23T20:13:00.000-04:00

Before every race I set some personal goals on how I expect to do in that race. Lately, I have not been very good at setting these goals. The end results have been good, but I can’t seem to find a happy medium on how I think I should perform, and how it actually turns out.

This morning was my second triathlon event of the season. Located in Bath County, it was definitely a beautiful race venue. It’s about 30 minutes away from The Homestead, a very historic (and expensive) resort. After driving on a dirt road for about 20 minutes on the final stretch, the view of the lake proved to be as far away from civilization as expected. Since warm springs feed into the lake, the lake was a very comfortable temperature. The wet suit might have helped with that though!

Since I have been working hard in the pool lately, I set the expectation for my swim to be around 15 minutes. I guess that’s the difference from training in a pool then swimming in a lake. There are no lane lines, you can’t see in the water where you are going, you don’t have the walls to propel you through the water every 25 meters, people are constantly swimming into and over you….a lot of uncontrollable variables. The result – 18:15. Oh well. Better luck next time!

As for the bike, I don’t think I really had any expectations for that part. I just didn’t think it would be as hard as it was. It was basically uphill until the turn around. But once I started heading back, I was flying. I definitely think I made up some time, especially by hitting speeds of 40 mph. The result – (20km ~ 12.5 miles) 45:00.

The run….ugh…this part of the race I *always* set high expectations. It’s obviously my strongest discipline of the three. I have been doing speed workouts of paces from 7 min/mi to 6 min/mi. So, doing a 5k in 24 minutes or less, is definitely an easy expectation to have. Only one problem, this has to be done AFTER swimming and biking. Haha. Completely do-able though. The result – (5km ~ 3.1 miles) 26:25.

Another problem with these types of expectations is that I go to a new race venue and I have no idea what the course is going to be like. Running a fast 5k is easy on a flat surface! Add a few hills, the weather situation (sunny or shady run route) and you have factors out of your control. I think that’s what distinguishes a ‘great’ triathlete from a ‘good’ one. They are able to do well, regardless of the conditions. I am sure their experience level is also a factor in their success too. This is only my 4th one. ;-)

With these expectations I set for myself, and don’t achieve, it’s harder to appreciate the bigger picture. I did place 2^nd today in my age group. This is actually an awesome feat. But in my (competitive) mind, I feel that I didn’t do as well as I could have done. But that is no surprise!

Next up, Richmond in about 30 days. This is where I got started. Stay tuned for a comparison.

Something New

2007-05-31T21:46:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, I keep my photos up on Flickr. I really like the look and feel of Flickr, but I do not like their printing quality. You can pay for an archiving service, that stores full sized images, but I haven't figured out to get those full-sized images printed.

Along came SmugMug. It's been around a while, I think I may have heard of it before, but it's relatively new to me. Now, I can upload my full-sized images and order superior quality photos. I have ordered my first set of pictures, Jilian's bridal shots, and they are fantastic. So now I am hooked.

I have 3 albums up so far, but more will be uploaded soon. It does take a while to upload, but well worth the wait.

Check them out here.

Gallop 4 Greenways

2007-05-31T21:25:00.000-04:00

In a last minute effort to make Webmail After Work something different, Pat got a few of us here at Webmail.us to sign up for a local 5k. I thought it was a great idea. Getting co-workers together outside of the work environment and doing something different. I can't wait for the next one!

The real challenge of this race was to not be the last Webmailer. There was no way in hell I was going to let Pat beat me. ;-) And secretly (cat's out of the bag) Marisa was not going to let him beat her either. haha.

I say the next event should be the Marine Mud Run. That way, we have to come across the finish line as a team. And who doesn't want to see their boss covered in mud??

Catch 22 - continued

2007-05-31T21:18:00.001-04:00

By running the CMM race I had to miss out on the wedding of the person to whom I owe all of my renewed distance running love. It was Jilian who got me back to my roots of running. She helped me train for my first ½ marathon, the CMM last year. I wanted to be there, sharing in joy as she and Todd made life-long promises to each other. Her ability to plan a wedding in 4 months is beyond me. I am grateful that she did include me in several aspects of the planning. I guess I didn’t do a good job of convincing her to move the date! haha.

Congratulations Jilian and Todd!

Catch 22

2007-05-31T21:13:00.000-04:00

Just like last April, a bunch of us traveled down to Nashville to run the Country Music ½ Marathon. And just like last year, it was a blast.

This year my Dad joined us for the fun. He actually had to overcome a couple of obstacles during his training, including knee surgery within 4 months of the run. I think my Dad and I have a lot in common when it comes to physical and mental challenges. I wanted him to be able to finish the race without stopping to walk. I had it in my mind that it was at least probable. I kept convincing him that it was do-able. I think I actually brain-washed him a little and told him that it doesn’t really ‘feel’ like 13.1 miles. Haha.

Right before we started I told him (more brain-washing) that we could do it in 2.5 hours. He just laughed at me. He was like, ‘the last time I ran 10 miles it took me 2.75 hours, and you want me to run 13.1 in less than that, you are crazy!’. But with the help of Marisa, we were able to pace him through the entire race and finish it in 2 hours and 27 minutes. We had 3 minutes to spare! The look on my Dad’s face, as he finished what he thought was the impossible, was priceless. I am so proud of him and his ability to fight the odds of his injuries. Oh yea, this was his first, and probably last long run. The doctor says that his knees are not going to hold up to the impact of running.

But that’s only the first part of the Catch 22

My Baby Graduated!

2007-05-31T20:36:00.000-04:00

Ok, so it’s just pre-school, but it’s one of those milestones in life. She’s a big girl now since she’s going to kindergarten in fall. At least that's what she tells me.

One of my vivid memories of graduation, both at Giles High School and Virginia Tech is of the girls who would wear their cap on the back of their heads. This was mainly because of the poof of hair in the front that they didn’t want to mess up. Come on, a mortar board goes on your head so that it’s parallel to the ground. I think diplomas should be revoked if people wear their hats in such a manner. But that’s just my personal opinion.

I am glad to see that Jordan isn’t ‘one of those girls’. Oh wait, maybe she didn’t have a choice. haha