Inciting Inspiration

So the year is almost up... but I've been reminded that although I've abstained from "new" things... I have found quite a few "old" things... maybe a few too many. But I think the thrift store has incited inspiration. 

I fell in love with that table I sanded down and eventually just sealed. It's beautiful and it made me really appreciate good craftsmanship and old pieces that just need a little love to bring them back to life. 

I have a friend who is expecting a baby. Ok, I have a few friends expecting babies, so I've been on high alert for cute baby things. Of course, buying "old" things for babies isn't typically "welcomed". Germs, and stuff I guess :) So I've stayed clear, for the most part of the baby section at thrift stores, but what about furniture? I saw this absolutely, ridiculously cute, high chair and got downright giddy at the thought of busting out that sander again, working some TLC into it and and gifting this cute chair to a very deserving, yet-to-be-born little person. 

But maybe not everyone loves "old" things like I do...

I walked away... only to find this...

If only it had been a few months earlier... Joey McIntyre could have really felt my dedication...

And if that wasn't enough...

If my puzzle hobby gets old... and I take up golfing... These sparkly little gems would definitely go well with my striped socks...

Just kidding! 

I know all you serious golfers are dying a quiet death imagining me showing up to play a few holes in that outfit... don't worry - I'd stay on the chipping green :)

But you can see my dilemma! When the thrift stores offer you so many possibilities - it's hard to walk away. Especially when you realize that for just $10 that high chair could end up amazing or an utter disaster... but I'm only out 10 bucks! I mean that's less than one woodworking lesson - 

ok

that's an assumption - i'm not sure how much woodworking lessons cost.

But... I should tell you about a new friend I met. I was in Costco a few weeks ago and saw a woman who looked very familiar. My first guess was that she was from Iowa. She looked at me funny and assured me she was not from Iowa. I couldn't place her, but I knew her. Finally she said she was on a home improvement type show. 

When I moved to Canada in 2002 I only got a few channels in my dorm room, and it was winter. I watched marathons of a home improvement show that was on one of the 4 channels I got. It really inspired me to take more risks, be more creative (big picture stuff) and instantly I placed her. 

She was Amy Wynn from TRADING SPACES

It's like it was meant to be. That table was all sanded down just waiting for my next move, and who walks into my life...  It's amazing how when you just "let go and let life happen" how it can work out better than  you planned. 

Anyway. I managed to walk away from all three of those fantastic finds... but it's amazing how much more inspiration I can conjure up at a thrift store than I can flipping through a catalogue... why is that?

Because out of desperation comes inspiration!

Rock the Globe with me!

"What would you say you do here?" 

~ Office Space

Well, if you ask my dad he'd probably just roll his eyes, my mom would smile and start telling you about all the tomatoes she's going to plant this summer and if you ask the spectators standing around the finish line at Rock n Roll Marathons... they'd probably tell you, I dance... a lot :)

According to the Meyers Briggs test I'm an ENFP - which in terms of a career path says I need to be with a lot of people doing different things all the time. 

Hmmm... I do have a pretty poor memory but I don't recall seeing my job on the list when I was in high school... So I did what I thought my father wanted me to... I majored in Political Science and as a junior in college I took the LSAT and prepared for my life as an attorney. Seeking Justice...Right? :)

The score came back as expected and the search for a law school began...but things changed, drastically, in my life that year and I shifted gears to avoid total catastrophe. My college counselor and I spent a few hours trying to figure out how to make my credits count towards a degree... even though I wanted to change my major... a little late in the game.  The next thing I knew I was writing stories and ready to tell the world of important current events on air... and really make a difference!

Unfortunately the allure of local news wasn't so alluring once I was in it...

Now what? I headed to California to visit my best friend and decided it was now or never to try my hand in television, of a different kind. I showed up at every office I'd sent a resume to, and after two days of defeat, desperation sunk in. The next receptionist wasn't going to watch this little midwestern girl go quietly when the usual "we'll call you" slipped from her mouth. This poor receptionist was in for it. ha! 

Luckily... it worked. Two weeks later I was sitting down to my Apple computer (never used one of those before) and told to "produce" a show... on boating etiquette... ?????

Sink or Swim Ann.
 I'd joined the high school swim team as a freshman who didn't know how to do most of the strokes or how far one length of the pool was... and I managed to figure that out. So, I shut my mouth, watched the other producers carefully and produced my first show. 3 years later I got an email asking me to audition for a new show about triathlons... A few weeks later we were in the warehouse creating something that had never been done before - TriCenter was born. 

My day job as a producer took me to Fashion Week in New York, then to Charlotte North Carolina for NASCAR, even Honduras for an in depth look into cigar production... and now - I was interviewing some of the most amazing athletes in the world on the weekends and 7am... before my other job. 

Talk about being around a lot of people with a continually changing routine...

Then... 3 years ago this weekend, I was asked to pick up the microphone and join the announcers at 

Rock 'n' Roll New Orleans. 

I got up early, curled my hair and sat in awe as the announcers managed to greet, congratulate and celebrate the thousands of runners completing the 26.2 or 13.1 miles that day. I was nervous and excited and after a few hours I couldn't help myself. I wandered down off the "stage" with my microphone and started high-fiving the endless stream of runners who had so valiantly set out to complete this race. The looks on their faces and sometimes the tears and fist pumps that I saw... made me so proud... of them.
My hair was flat... but my spirits were soaring as two men in full firefighter gear and Oxygen tanks... came around the corner carrying their American Flag high...26.2 miles later.
I could barely congratulate them through the tears. 

Thankfully, they asked me to come to another race... if I had some free time :) 

The next race I got as much sleep as possible - decided to forgo curling my hair - just put it in braids... ha and spent most of my time down on the finish line partying with the runners - energized by their determination to make it to this point. 

Pretty soon I was carving out as many weekends as I could to be at as many races as possible. I'm not quite sure where or when the striped socks came about... :) But my view on life had changed. Expensive cars, and designer dresses, were interesting for sure, but the people I saw,  that I touched on those finish lines, they gave me an entirely different high.

This year the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon series will come to 27 different cities around the world... and our Triathlon series TriRock will roll out in 6 different cities. I wish I could be at them all...  It won't be physically possible... but I'm getting in as many as I possibly can. 

I've found a dream job of sorts for an ENFP, ADD, Virgo like myself :)

You're probably wondering what this has to do with nothingnewforayear... well not much, except that I did get a sweet new pair of kicks... courtesy of Brooks (photo above)... thanks to my job... and if you want to see how traveling around the globe works while not buying anything new... you can... And I'll be in costume... if that's any incentive! ha.

I'm new to all this but if you'd "like" it... then maybe they'll let me do it again next year :)

Rock the Globe with Ann Wessling

P.S. if you're in New Orleans this weekend... We're giving away a free trip to Lisbon Portugal in September to come do Rock n Roll Lisbon... now who doesn't like free trips! Of course you'll have to listen to me first on the Expo stage - but you can suffer through that for a chance to win a free trip. I know you can :)

Paying it forward: Transaction Complete!

I've told you a lot about Iowa in previous posts so I won't get into it much more...but the short and sweet is that Iowa is a very hospitable place where people work.

They work for a living, they work at building communities, they work at family and church and just about everything they put their minds to.

But the midwest is also struggling with a few issues like we all do. Not quite as bad as parts of the south, but not great like the state of Colorado, Iowa is dealing with health problems linked to obesity. But the kids don't start out that way. Most kids are energetic and they burn calories easily with their energy so the key to keeping them at that state is to help them maintain a level of movement and more importantly the enjoyment that an active lifestyle provides!

I suppose it should come as no surprise, that Iowa is also part of a HUGE health initiative to make it the healthiest state in the country. They may have slipped in recent years... but their work ethic has them yearning to make it better. And so I was headed to Iowa, to do my very small part in instilling excitement in the younger generation to reach that goal, and keep it there.

As I wandered around the halls of my old high school (with a classmate who now works for the school) I was amazed at how much had changed... He told me how now they download notes online - no more frantically copying notes from a day you missed in your notebook... We laughed at how the football players can't load up on "power" slices of pizza in the lunch line anymore, even the library shrunk because all the information is available on computers instead of in books. It was a walk down memory lane for both of us. And an eye opener for sure.

But some things, can't really be improved upon.

As I made my way down the hallway where I spent so many early mornings, dreading that cold water, making my way past the kids I could relate to so well, and into the room where I went from an average kid with an above average amount of energy into an average kid with a focused amount of energy. It was a welcomed sight to see... it was just as I left it.  

I didn't even know how to swim when my mom recommended I stick to individual sports :)

I had to ask how far a length of the pool was, and... IM? No clue. ha

And although every year I was sick of eau de chlorine, and couldn't wait to sleep in... every fall I found myself back in that pool eager to give it another whirl, see if I could finally qualify for state.

I never did... :) I got over it.

After some reminiscing with my old coach, a tall and slightly shy, young lady with blonde hair and blue eyes (a lot of scandinavian heritages in Iowa) meekly approached us.

I was told she was a wonderful representation of what the future of Iowa's active generation looks like. To help encourage her continued involvement not only in triathlon, but any active endeavors she pursues we gifted her with a triathlon "outfit" known as a "kit".

Thank you SOAS and GOTRIbal

Because triathlon isn't a sport supported by most high schools, this young lady had to find a group outside of school to pursue her passion. She also runs on her high school cross country team, and this year, as a freshman, qualified to run at the State Cross Country meet.

We'll have to keep our eyes open... Maybe one day I'll be talking about her on TriCenter... but at the very least, I hope I'll be seeing her as fit and active as she is right now, throughout her entire life :)

Kona bound...

It may sound glamorous. Hawaii for work. But it is the Big Island... not quite the tropical tranquility that most people think of. Think... black lava fields and black top. It's beautiful in it's own way... and I can't complain about the athletes that show up ripped and rearing to race. It's not a surprise why they call the beach where everyone swims the first leg of the Ironman World Championships, "Digme" beach. The people who don swimwear the week leading up to the big race... are specimens...

The downfall is of course the packing. For me, packing is like pulling teeth. Not just because I don't have anything "new" to pack this year, but because I just hate packing. I don't know what it is. Why is it so painful for me to pick out clothes. It's a daily grind for me...

Well, the good news is that last year we found and fell in love with a little "hut" in Kona that sells the most amazing acai bowls we've ever had (it's called Basik Acai).  And... conveniently enough we also scored rooms at the hotel next door which is also next door to where we shoot TriCenter all week!

                              And we all know the deal with food this year... it's totally legal.

I mean really... if you HAD to... wouldn't you eat one of these everyday??

Now we won't be feeling our shoes melt on the blacktop during the marathon, or fighting the winds on the bike... but we need good nourishment too... :)

And don't forget Ponchoman! He's our Hawaiian native Ukelele player. Here's a preview... things get kinda crazy around ponchoman...

and i suppose it won't totally suck to wake up to this everyday...

But just so we're all clear, no new bathing suits, no new dresses, no souvenirs... just good food, great company and a race that I guarantee won't disappoint. 

I guess packing for this trip means... I get to go on a trip... not so bad :)

And dad... don't worry I'm packing a bunch of your shampoo/conditioner packets. I use half the shampoo on my hair, the other half as body wash, and all the conditioner! You done good :)

Rinny's custom K-Swiss shoes

Mirinda has custom K-Swiss shoes, and she has the record for fastest marathon record in an Ironman... a coincidence?

She's also my tri-crush...

You can click on the picture to watch the video.