Way to go Jared!!

As most of you know, Jared has been traveling a lot lately to compete in different competitions across the nation. He is getting his MMBA (and will graduate in MAY!!) and he is also taking an additional course titled New Venture Development. He has been sooooo busy with this since August, but especially busy here lately. He and his 3 teammates developed a business and worked on their business plan for about 6 months before traveling around and competing with other groups. Last weekend he went to Louisville and they didn't make it to the finals, but they won the "elevator pitch" which was basically a quick pitch to the judges, rather than their 20 minute presentation. This won them $1500... not too shabby. BUT, this weekend, they were in Cincinnati and WON FIRST PLACE overall!! They won $10,000!! They were up against 19 other teams... many of them being Ivy League schools. This was the first time that a team from the U of A won first place in a national competition! I am SOO excited for them, they have worked so hard and truly deserve it. I am so proud of him!

Meanwhile in Fayetteville, I basically have been a nomad traveling from one house to the other. I wont stay by myself because I am a big baby, so I have been staying with my sister, Mark and Charlie while Jared has been gone. He will be back today and home for a while and I am so thankful for that. They have about 8 more competitions this year, and I will go to some of them. One is in Vegas and I surely wont miss that :)

I haven't had a lot going on other than work lately. Last night we went to a fish fry at church for the first Friday of Lent. While Dad and Mark waited in line for us, Jess, Mom and I had a beer and waited for them to get to the front of the line. Charlie sat with the girls and looked at all the other kids running around. After they waited in line for about 30 minutes, they announced that they had run out of fish. Bummer. So, feeling in the spirit and craving some fried catfish, we went to the Catfish Hole! I stuffed myself and literally ate until I was sick to my tummy. I then went to Jess and Marks and slept like a baby. I don't think I have ever slept that well in my life, which is unusual when Jared is gone.

This morning I went to get a pedicure with mom and Jess. It was lovely, except for that our feet froze with those flip flops on afterwards!

Jared will hopefully be home soon, they are stuck in bad weather in Missouri right now. The GPS says 5:00 for their arrival time. I am going to the store to get stuff for a big pot of chili for when he gets home. I told him it will be his celebration meal. I think I will get some cookies from Ricks too, since those are his favorite!

I hope that everyone is having a great weekend and staying warm!
slg