Nashville Birthday Bash: Honky Tonks, Brunch, and Bourbon Steak!

On Our Way to Nashville

Here we are in the middle of July and it is hard to believe that a month ago we were in Nashville, TN for the 50 birthday celebration for Corrie. We had a great time. I meant to write this following the trip, but we were busy following the trip and did not get it done. We had a wonderful time in Nashville and plan to go back in the future. We went to so many great spots to listen to great music, drink, and of course we ate at some great spots too. This will be a few of the places we went but not an inclusive list.

Drinks at Assembly Food Hall

We were in Nashville from June 13 - 17. We packed in a lot during our time there. We would sometimes sleep late to about 9:30 or 10, but we were out the door and doing things in Nashville everyday we were there. We would not head back to take naps or breaks, but it was nonstop and a great time. Picture to the left was a spot we ended up a few different times called Assembly Food Hall. A variety of places to eat or get drink. Fun spot!

Group at Brunch

There were ten of us total on the trip although all ten were together I believe only two days together. Picture to the right was brunch at Adele's where we went Saturday morning on June 15. We all came away stuffed and happy. I want to go back there in the future for dinner. We spent that day going between drinking spots while the ladies went shopping. 

I am jumping around a bit, but on Thursday we spent the day on Broadway going around to the various bars. It was so fun with great bands at each and every stop. Some places would have multiple bands playing at the same time, but the way the bars were set up, you could only hear one when in the vicinity of that band. Most bands would take donations with a bucket or with a QR code to send money. We did both methods while we were going around Broadway listening where we would drop cash into a bands bucket or send Venmo through their QR code.

Dinner at Bourbon Steak

The highlight of the trip was the birthday dinner for Corrie at Bourbon Steak. We had reservations for ten and we had talked about doing a private dining room but ended up leaving it in the main dining room. When we arrived, we were surprised they took us to the private dining. It was incredible with the views, the food, and the company. The picture to the left, or the others in Flickr album, do not give it justice. We had our own wait staff that took good care of us. Javier was in charge of the wine and we had three bottles of wine through the night. It was a fantastic evening! 

To see all photos from our trip, you can browse them using the images below.

Fun memories to celebrate the birthday for Corrie. It was fun hanging out with everyone to celebrate big birthday weekend for Corrie. Carrie and I hope to go back to Nashville sometime soon.

Happy New Year 2024 and a Look Back at Past Haverty NYE Celebrations

Carrie and I in NYE 2001

As we look toward 2024, I think back to past New Years Eve celebrations. The picture to the right is from 2001 with Shayne and Autumn. Carrie and I were dating at the time and went to celebrate the end of 2001 and the start of 2002 with Shayne and Autumn. I recall that Carrie was sick that night with a fever and not feeling well at all. She went to bed early leaving Autumn, Shayne, and I to ring in the New Year. Carrie reminds me that I kept going into the room we were staying and letting her know we were having fun, could smell some type of spirit on my breath, and then finally I went into let her know that the upstairs toilet would no longer work. I will leave it at that and note that Shayne and I had to go out and get a plunger to start the New Year of 2002. Good times!

While we lived in Lawrence, we had some epic New Years Eve celebrations where we had people sleeping on the floor in various rooms where ever they could find a spot to sleep. Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of pictures, if any, from those celebrations. A lot of good memories though from various parties one including Brenda taking around "shots" that was beer and laughing while she offered "shots" to the party goers. So much fun and good memories of those parties.

New Years Eve 2007

On New Years Eve 2007, I have good memories of spending the end of 2007 with my family in Lawrence. We grilled steaks, drank a lot of wine, and even made Irish Coffee at some point during the evening. The picture to the left is Dad, Jerry, and I outside cooking, telling stories, and drinking wine while we cooked. 

Our game of choice was Rook which I had introduced Carrie to playing when we were dating. The whole family played and we have many good memories of staying late on work nights to finish up a game before heading home. 

Dad Trying CPAP NYE 2007

Carrie and I had recently moved to Topeka, so we made a trip into Lawrence to spend with Mom, Dad, and family to ring in the new year. I had recently been fitted with a CPAP machine and for some reason, we broke it out on New Years Eve 2007 for my Dad and Mom to try out. I recall my Dad was still questioning how it worked and how I would sleep with it on my head. Eventually, Dad would get one himself but never liked it and I am not sure really ever gave it a chance. Still, we all tried it on before we started playing games and drinking wine through the evening.

The next morning, as we do almost every year on New Years Day, we would have Hoppin' John that my Mom had told me about when I was little. We have had Hoppin' John just about every year Carrie and I have been together on New Years Day. The short of the meaning behind Hoppin' John is that it brings luck for the next year and then greens along with Hoppin' John can bring wealth for the upcoming year. A little hot sauce and it was excellent to eat on New Years Day and a few days after as it is always suggested to make a lot so you have leftovers.

NYE 2011

In 2011, we had a small party at our home with friends. Scott, Robin, Brenda, Carrie and I celebrated the end of 2011 and the new year of 2012. We watched movies in the living room, played games, and a few drinks to end the year and celebrate the new year of 2012.

Some of our New Years Eve celebrations have been Carrie and I spending a quiet evening at home, grilling, drinking wine, and hanging out with Oliver. We have had NYE celebrations where we are with small groups and large groups. I do not believe we have ever been out on the town for a big New Years Eve celebration with large groups of people. I prefer to be home or at a home to bring in the New Year. I am not sure why, but prefer to bring with a large group at some event space.

NYE 2019

New Years Eve 2019 we threw a big party at our home with family and friends. Little did we know it would be the last time we could all be together as COVID 2020 hit early in 2020. We had a good time celebrating the end of 2019 and 2020 starting the next day. It seems like so long ago as I look back and reflect on our fun that night. Games were played, drinks were had, and a lot of fun by all.

Last year, Carrie and I were in Houston, TX to ring in the New Year. We stayed a few days with Corrie and rang in the New Year at her home. I recall all the fireworks that went off in her neighborhood. It was impressive as I recall walking outside after midnight to smell gun powder in the air.

We look to 2023 coming to an end on Sunday, December 31, 2023. For 2024, I look forward to doing a whole lot more camping this year. I did a fair amount of traveling in 2023 which was good and I hope we can keep the traveling in 2024 at a high level too.

Happy New Year to you and your family.

Where Did the Summer Go?

What a busy summer. Classes have already started for the fall semester. Seems like the summer just started. Seems to be what I hear everyone saying about where the summer went. It was a busy summer which made it fly by fast!

I had actually planned on posting a update over the summer and making it plans for the summer. Well, that did not happen and here we are almost to the end of August. Wow! So, to provide some updates from the summer months here we go.

The spring semester ended and I passed my class. Second class in the Communication and Leadership master program. Doing weekly postings and various papers for eight weeks kept me plenty busy.

Target Field for the Twins vs. Royals game on Friday, May 19, 2017

About two weeks after the semester was over, I went on a road trip to Minneapolis, MN for a bachelor party weekend. Erin and Greg wedding date set for June 10. We did a road trip in a van to Minneapolis on Friday, May 19 and we planning to be there for two Royals games through Sunday. As it turned out, we were only able to attend one game on Friday night. We had a blast... even though the Royals lost. Sunday we spent the day eating, drinking, and having a great time.

We had a lot of great beers and a  lot of fun that weekend. I will remember it forever. I was honored that Greg asked me to be his best man. I will admit, I was a bit nervous about giving a speech in the upcoming weeks. I had plans to have it all written before the bachelor party weekend. That did not happen though and ended up writing it the week of the wedding. More on this later though.

One of my favorite spots we went to that weekend was a Town Hall Lanes. A brewery with bowling lanes. We had  blast! I would not mind another trip to Minnesota to see a Royals game and go to that bowling alley. Fun time! We spent the afternoon at the boiling alley Saturday as it was pouring down rain. They ended up doing a double header on Sunday which of course we had to miss as we were driving back to Topeka. Still, we had a lot of fun and it was great to get to know the future in-laws and close friends of Greg. Great group!

A week later we did another road trip to Dallas, Texas and then on down to Houston, Texas for a big party. We were gone for ten days and had a blast! We were going down for a combined birthday celebration and wedding anniversary for Carrie and Tommy Galloway. A live band, dancing, and a whole lot of fun was had by all. We were in Houston for the Memorial Day weekend and spent the day at the pool. More fun before we finally drove back and spent a few more days in Dallas with my friend Javier. We hit up a lot of places to drink good beer and ate a lot of great food. Carrie and Corrie drove back to Dallas a day later and we continued to have fun going on wine tours and eating very well.

Carrie and I were back in Topeka the week of the wedding for a few days anyway. I had a conference to attend in Hays, KS for work. I was out there Wednesday and Thursday that week. It was a great conference before the rehearsal dinner scheduled for Friday, June 9, 2017. This is the week that I worked on my speech for the wedding day.

Rehearsal Dinner June 9, 2017

What a wonderful evening we had on Friday, June 9, 2017. Rehearsal dinner for Erin and Greg. The dinner was held at Arterra Event Gallery in Lawrence, KS. A beautiful location and wonderful setup for any event. The food was wonderful and the drinks were delicious too! We heard speeches from the father of the groom (Eddie), brothers of Erin (Cole and Drew), Tommy Galloway (family friend referred to as Uncle Tommy and best friend of Eddie), and Robert (Uncle to Greg). With the weather perfect that weekend, we were able to sit outside and enjoy the outdoors while people visited before dinner.

I was able to record all the speeches that evening, although I have not had a chance to export or do anything with them yet. I hope to have those available in a future post to share. It was a fantastic evening and prepared us well for the wedding day.

The day of the wedding, Greg and I went to get our first straight edge shave. Nice and close shave although we both had to admit that when the aftershave went on it burned a bit more than we expected. It was a great way to start off the day.

During the day, the guys stayed in the hotel while the ladies had their hair done and makeup in the afternoon. We had to be over at Macelis for pictures and prepare for the wedding by 3 pm that day. The guests were scheduled to start arriving about 5:30 and the wedding set for 6 pm. Beautiful wedding and everyone looked great!

The reception began at 7 and time was getting close for Carrie and I to give our speeches. Food and drinks were so good! I am not sure why I did not eat more. I think it was nerves from having to give a speech. Of course by this time both Carrie and I had our speeches written and had gone through them a few times.

For my speech, I had done research and tried to make it unique and light. I also wanted to have a lot of toasts in my speech. The one thing I forgot to do was make sure everyone had a full glass of something to drink. Other than that, I thought it went well. Carrie did a great job with her speech too.

Fun in Lawrence... Guys Table

Here is my speech in full (Best Man Speech June, 10, 2017 for Greg and Erin Wedding) which I wrote up and had on my phone. It was better that way rather than me trying to read off of notes or remember what I had planned to say. I know everyone wanted to get through what I had to say so we could get to the partying, so I did my part and kept it less than five minutes.

Fun in Lawrence... Girls Table

Following the reception, the wedding party, friends, and family went out on the Lawrence town. Great fun was had in Lawrence following the wedding. We were out late having fun and the plans were to be up early to do gifts. I think Carrie and I were a little late getting to the gift opening party the next morning. I think I was just a little hung over, but not too bad. Fun night!

Two weeks after the wedding, we had Tap That Topeka to attend which is a beer tasting event in Topeka. This was the forth annual event and again, we had a wonderful time. We went with the newly married bride and groom and many of our friends. Another great evening! There was dancing and more drinking that evening following the beer festival.

July 4 feel on a Tuesday this year, so it was very low key for Carrie and I. We did not fire off or watch any fireworks this year. It was kind of nice and we were able to comfort Oliver who was a little freaked out over the loud booms in our neighborhood. We stayed indoors and watched movies most of the day into the evening.

A few more weeks pass and suddenly we are into the middle of August. About a week ago I purchased a Big Green Egg. So excited to finally have a grill that can really cook and more import smoke meat. I have only cooked twice on it so far, but plan to do a lot more and try a lot of different cooking techniques. More on this in the upcoming months as I plan to post updates on what is cooked along with pictures.

Note, I only made it to one Royals game this year and it was up in Minnesota. With classes having started this past week and my assignments all due on Friday (including papers), I am not sure I will make it to a game at Kauffman Stadium this season. I hope so, but it will depend on how disciplined I am in reading and writing for class. The Royals have struggled a few times this season and also had some good winning streaks. We are still a few games out of first where we have been most of the season. Still within striking distance and just barely out of the wild card hunt.

I hope you have had a wonderful summer. Watch for more posts regarding cooking and my experiences with the Big Green Egg.

Thank you!

John

Rock Chalk Jayhawk! What a Run....

The Kansas Jayhawks topped off a incredible season with a win Monday night against the Memphis Tigers. What a run and it still feels like a dream that I had last night... But then every channel I watch, every sports web site I visit, and they are talking about the Kansas Jayhawks. Wow!

I watched Saturdays game at Henry T's here in Topeka, so of course we had to go back Monday night to watch the championship game. We went right after work and we were afraid that we would not get a table. The place was already crowded and people were vying for open tables. We had heard on the news starting Sunday that Lawrence bars were charging $20 just to have a table. One place, Jeffersons, had everyone leave at 3 and then they re-opened at 4 pm so they could charge the $20 fee. Wow! Talk about crazy!

So, there we were at Henry T's in Topeka trying to get enough people to hold a table. There were only three of us initially and they would not let us sit at a table for six because we cannot hold spots. OK, so we got on our cell phones and told the group of people that were to meet us to hurry up. The (smaller) table next to us had a group who also wanted the large table. However, because there was only three of them they could not sit there either. Our group finally showed up and we were able to move to the big table (right in front of the big screen). Perfect seats!

We ordered food and our first of many beers for the evening. The scene was set with a full house at Hentry T's and everyone was ready for the game to start. Oh, but we still had three hours to go before tip-off. OK, not a problem! The WIBW 13 news crew was there and while we watched "Wheel of Fortune" they kept cutting to the fans at Henry T's. Everyone would go crazy and simply try to make the time pass so we could get to tip-off.

Finally after eating some food, drinking a few beers, and it was time for tip-off. The Jayhawks looked great! There are many blogs and web sites that discuss the game, but I have to add that it was one of the best NCAA Championship games I have ever seen. It was Mario (I had to include the picture of his three pointer...) time and he helped to push us into a overtime with the momentum to win the game. Talk about a crazy environment! Jumping up and down screaming at the top of my lungs and hugging people I do not even know. What a night!

Now the talk is about whether Bill Self will go to Oklahoma State as they try to draw him away from Kansas with a HUGE check. If Self decides to go, well, can you blame him? I do not think so. The amount of money that it has been discussed Self could earn, no other college coach is making that type of cash. Crazy! It is hard to believe that OSU would decide to do all of this during this time of year when Self should be focusing on being the National Champion.

I should also mention that Roy Williams (North Carolina coach) was at the game wearing a Kansas Jayhawk sticker. That was pretty cool! I would like to see North Carolina and Kansas meeting up in the Final Four (or the championship) game each year like we use to always meet up with Duke back in the 80s and 90s. I thought that showed real class by Williams to not only be at the game, but to be wearing a Kansas sticker.

We will have to wait and see what happens with Self. Is there a right decision for him to make? Probably in the long term there is a right decision for him to make. It just seems that OSU could have waited to do this afterwards.

It has been a season non of us will ever forget. Not only in football, but of course in basketball. It feels like a dream, but oh it feels so much better than previous years and the day after losing a nail bitter. I can definitely relate to Memphis and their fans. In the last two minutes of regulation they thought they had the game won; Kansas turned it around and pushed it into overtime and eventually won the game. Wow!

Rock Chalk Jayhawk! Go KU!

Birthday Celebration for Juanca

A group of us went to Dave and Busters to celebrate Juanca 18th birthday. We had a great time playing games, drinking, and generally enjoying ourselves. We got into Legends a little after 3 pm. This game us enough time to play games before 8 when the Kansas State vs. Kansas game was scheduled to start.

Five of us went into have fun. Juanca had been to Dave and Buster's once before when he visited Javi. Javier, Brenda, Carrie, and I had all been in 2007 when we came up to spend the night and have a night in and around Legends Mall. If you have not been up there, I highly recommend that you take the time to visit the area. Not only are there all kinds of shops, but there are great places to eat.

We were a little disappointed in Dave and Busters this time because it seemed there were so many little kids. Dave and Busters promotes themselves as being a playground for adults. Well, there were so many kids that they often would butt us out of a game so they could play. Overall, we had a great time!

Monday Thinking Back to the Past Weekend

Another weekend down and we move into the first week of February. Wow! Hard to believe that it is already February. Carrie and I are trying to decide on an additional vacation possibility, but it would mean not doing some other things. Decisions need to be made so we can let our friends know our plans.

Our vacation plans are not what this post is all about. No, this post is about the weekend, sports, and having fun. Friday night was After Hours at Washburn University which is a great even that our Alumni Association puts on here at Washburn. To attend, you do not have to have gone to Washburn or work there. It is open to anyone and it is a lot of fun events. The first Friday of each month (usually) is After Hours. Free food, beverages, and fun with people from all over Topeka takes place here.

This Friday I had lunch with a longtime friend Shayne. I told him that in the evening we were going to After Hours. He and his wife, Autumn, decided to attend. They might just join to be paid members after the fun we had Friday night. Susie kicked us out shortly after 7 when the event ended. Carrie and I invited people to our house for snacks and drinks. We ended up playing games and had a great time. Some of us drank a little too much and we were hurting Saturday morning.

Saturday morning I had plans to go into work and do some serious work. Well, I did make it into work, but my serious work did not materialize until Sunday around 11. I went into work and checked e-mail, browsed web sites, and then went to lunch. I took a three hour nap in the afternoon so I could be ready for Brenda's b-day party that night.

Carrie and I got over to Brenda's a little later than we had expected. We were sitting having a good time when our good friends that we do not see often enough knocked on the door. Brian and Kim came to Brenda's party. It was great to see everyone! We played Guitar Hero II which is becoming a common event for us at gatherings. Some of the people at the party did not seem to like that we were playing Guitar Hero, but it was the birthday girls wish to play the game at her party. We had to grant her wish!

Great time at Brenda Beans! We ended the night after playing some tennis on PlayStation. Fun night and Brenda was another day older. Poor Brenda!

Sunday I finally made it into work and got a lot completed. I worked from 11 - 1:30 and was ready for the week. With work behind me I went home to watch the Jayhawks barely squeak by the Colorado Buffalos. Wow! KU almost lost that game and talk about not being in sync throughout the game, they did not look good at all. Now, I admit that I feel asleep during the first half and part of the second, but I did wake up in time to see the last minute of the game. I then quickly fell asleep again. As I write this I believe the game was actually on Saturday when I am saying Sunday. As you can clearly see, I am mixing up my days from the weekend. It was a relaxing weekend, but also stressful knowing that I had to finish up evaluations for a deadline.

Sunday was a great night for NFL football. It was the best Super Bowl I have ever seen. I was not really pulling for either team, but come the end of the game I was cheering loudly for the Giants. They pulled out a huge game and made Tom Brady eat his words from a previous interview that week. Making a comment joking that someone said he would not score over 17 points in the game. He laughed and told the reporter that was crazy and it should have been something more like 40+ points that he would score. Well, the joke was on him and the Patriots. Still, it was a great game and a fun one to watch.

So, it was a fun weekend and also a stressful one. I am already looking forward to next weekend! Have a great one yourself and until next time...

Friday Night Party, Hockey, and Dancing

For a week that started off with a fire at work the second day of classes (Wednesday), a system not working correctly on Friday, the week ended great Friday night. It was a hectic week and extremely busy at work. However, Friday night definitely helped to relax and meld away the problems of the week.

Yes, we had a fire which was caused by a fuse blowing in our mechanical room. This happened sometime around 7 am Wednesday morning. This was the second day of classes and not a good start to the day or the semester. Our entire machine room (i.e. the campus) was off of the network for about three hours. Finally around 11 am we had partial systems back and before long our network administrators had most everything back on-line before early afternoon. Meanwhile, we were handling the calls and complaints coming in from the campus. Keep in mind that no one had Internet access on the campus. So, everyone was relying on the use of the phone or personal visits. Fun stuff! For the problems that were caused by the fire, the department handled everything in stride and got things going smoothly again. We received a number of thank yous from the campus the following day. Very nice!

Friday morning was not much better with another system that was not working correctly. The system just so happens to be the one that allows employees to do their time sheets, students to register/drop/etc. classes, and a variety of other functions. This caused a lot of phone calls until about shortly after the noon hour Friday. For the day, we took a total of just shy of 100 calls. Now, that might not sound like a lot, but for a call center that averages around 30 a day, that is a lot for us.

My plan for this past week was to work on a lot of projects including writing up performance evaluations. All of that was put on hold until this next week. I did end up working late Thursday night so I could finish up some projects that were due Friday. Good thing I did work late Thursday night because I would not have been able to worked on those items Friday.

So my Friday night started with me requesting the students to leave the lab so I could close down the lab. Carrie and I were to meet our friends at the Expo Center for a Republican party... we were mainly going to drink free alcohol. I was very stressed out from the week, but who can pass up alcohol. We were only able to enjoy the party for about an hour. We were then ready to head to the Topeka RoadRunners hockey game. We had a blast!

The game was exciting enough with the Roadrunners winning 5 - 2 (or something around there). There of course was a fight with some blood, but that's not what this blog is about. This blog is about me dancing between quarters at 60s disco night.

I volunteered under the understanding that I had heard someone shout that it was couples dancing. I thought Carrie and I were going to dance together and then get voted on... No! It was individual dancing to 60s music. As you can imagine, I was hesitant at going through without, but by that time I had already signed the waiver. In case you were wondering, the waiver is so that if I fall on the ice and break a limb, I do not hold the Expo Center accountable. After signing my life away, I got up to follow the event staff to my dancing endeavor. While walking in front of my friends, I told them I thought it was couples dancing and they just laughed. I continued following the event staff to the location down by the ice. While standing waiting for our time to go on the ice two little girls and a little boy with a 60s outfit came down to be included in the dancing. Another contestant and I looked at each other and said it was all over, we already know who is going to win. Sure enough the little kid with the 60s outfit won the event. No, I did not give up right there and go back to my seat, instead I did my dancing and strutted my best 60s moves on the ice.

My moves included the moon walk, lawn mower, and do not forget the sprinkler. I did in fact get a good applause at my dancing. We only had to dance for thirty seconds and with the spotlight it was difficult to see the audience. My friends got a good video of the dancing which I will hopefully get a copy of from them to post on here. It was a lot of fun, but the kicker of it was that our price for performing was a ice cream from a local store. Gee, thanks! I am not sure what the little kid won for winning the whole evening, but hopefully it was a banana split or something a little bigger than a ice cream.

I had a lot of fun and it did definitely help to improve my mood going into Saturday. Afterwards, we went to a new spot here in Topeka called Henry T's. If the name sounds familiar to those of you from Lawrence, it should. It is owned by the same people that own Henry T's in Lawrence. Great food and a great time there too.

Have a great weekend and try to have as much fun as me!

We may be too old for this

Late night. Loud music, smoky bar, inappropriate dancing with friends. An uncontrollable urge for pancakes at 3am. We were saved from feeding our faces by sleepy Javier.
So, yeah, we've pretty much done nothing all day today.