A Beautiful Saturday Afternoon . . .

Always on the go to complete challenges, Mandi and Missi decided to complete a few as they had a couple of free hours to enjoy together on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

First they traveled from park to park enjoying the unique features of each one. They hunted for crawldads and tadpoles with some locals at Mill Race and Mandi enjoyed a few moments with her feet in the sandy beach of the riverside.

Next they went to Noblitt Park and took a few more pictures on the People Trail. Along the way, they discovered the most beautiful gardens. The landscaping was simply breathtaking and it is easy to see that Columbus is truly IN IT TO WIN IT for the upcoming Communites in Bloom International Challenge.

They also went to Donner and took a funny picture by the sign. Missi is still trying to figure out the best way to wear the Amazing Racebuff. While Mandi and Erin have both been tied up, tangled, and practically suffocated while attempting to trial their buffs, they will not be defeated and all are determined to not let that little green piece of material get the best of them!

Feeling the heat . . .

Oh we are feeling stressed. There is so much to do and so little time. We thought we were doing good but we suddenly realized just what all there is to still do. We are trying to get our game plan down. We've got brochures, we've got maps, we've got dates and time, and most of all--we've got SPIRIT!

So, after another quick team pep rally, we decided to head to the international grocery today. We talked with a local, named Padma, who has moved to our beautiful city of Columbus all the way from India. She agreed to guide us through the grocery and educate us on the many unique items available in the store. We got some interesting videos of her explaining what certain things were, their medicinal purposes, and the cultural and religious meaning of pieces of art on the wall. We spent about two hours at the store getting to know her and learning about her culture. It was a really interesting event. In fact, it was an unexpected and memorable experience that we will not soon forget.

Freedom Field

Today we visited Freedom Field which is probably the coolest park ever. We had a great time playing on all the equipment. Also, we hunted and hunted for tic-tac toe boards and did not find any. Actually, we found what could possibly be considered as the game, however there were no Xs or Os! So, we are kind of stumped there. Missi and Erin, being the fierce competitors that they are, could not resist going a few rounds at the game they discovered! Luckily for all involved, they each won a match and both walked away as winners in the end!

And of course, as is common place lately, this task also was not without injury. We were playing on the equipment, feeling 5 years old again when Mandi decided to hang upside down on the monkey bars.

We're not quite sure what happened, but she suddenly cried out in pain, falling to the ground and grabbing her leg! Our team's playtime was over and it was time to get serious again. So Mandi limped all the way to the car and we decided to call it a day, hanging our heads low as we realized we may be Young Professionals, but we are in fact, no longer, young spring chicks at all!

One, Two, Three Strikes, You're Out . . .

Oh Mandi and Erin they are true team players…Today we tried our best at the batting cages. Unfortunately, Missi was there and posed for a photo, but was too much of a wimp to try her skill inside the batting cages. Because all of the slow lanes were taken up by boys and we were pressed for time, we had to try fast speed softball. It was quite a challenge, but Erin was successful at one good hit. Mandi threw up a loose ball and also was able to hit it. I guess that got them to believe they were professionals because the next thing I knew, they were sneaking on the field to join a team singing, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," all the while. It was quite embarrassing, but the team was good enough to say that they might as well play with them as the team only had 5 players and would have to forfeit if they did not play. So they played, achieving what they considered to be their Random Act of Kindness for the day.

Farmer's Market & JCB Neighborfest . . .

Today was quite successful for our team. We got a lot accomplished. Mandi provided some appropriate attire for the challenge. She gave us all a straw hat to visit the Farmer’s Market downtown. We had such a great time chatting with all the people and met a few Chamber of Commerce members along the way. We purchased a beautiful bunch of sunflowers at the market. We couldnt wait to get home to sit beneath them as one person told us "sunflowers are the poor man's tanning bed". After the Market, we traveled over to the JCB neighborfest. We met a lot of interesting people. One slightly intoxicated man asked if he could buy a sunflower from Missi which she kindly just gave to him, achieving her Random Act of Kindness for the day.

We also met a guy near the ColumBus stop that had rode the city bus all over town. He said he did not know why he was riding he just felt like going for a ride. He was worn out so he shared with us some of his story. He was interesting. He said, "life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what your gonna get". After meeting with him and taking photos of the bus, we decided to head home, quite content with our accomplishments of the day.

Shopping For Gumby . . .

Oh, how determined they are to win. They will search high and low for the treasures asked for in the race. Today, our unwavering team gave it there all to search for anything Gumby or some orange Tupperware. While Missi found an old fashioned bowling pin right away, the rest of the day was not as successful! And unfortunately, the day ended in failure and yet another team injury.
Mandi and Erin were walking along in their search at a local rummage sale when Mandi said to Erin, “Oh by the way, CYP posted Columbus’ favorite team on the website and it was NOT us, it was Equilibrium. Erin quickly looked at Mandi in disbelief and said, “NOOOOO!” and a few other choice words that we will NOT print here. She was in such a tizzy that she walked right into a small metal post, banging and slicing up her knee! To top it all off, none of the treasures sought were found. Mandi consoled her bleeding friend, the best that she could. And after a brief motivational and spirited speech, they all brushed themselves off, determined to race on and think of creative ways to cause a little imbalance in that Equilibrium . . .