Sarah Rousey: Break is Over! and Trivia

I left you all hanging because I needed a little break. Too bad it wasn't much of a break but more of a jam packed couple of weeks. I worked and practiced and cooked and organized and who knows what else in my "break" time. Where to start...how about Valentine's Day weekend...

I went out to lunch with my Mom, sister Brandi, and niece Alexia to the Tea Room in Mackinaw, IL. It was awesome food and a fun time...a couple pics for you..

After a nice lunch and shopping with the girls I had a date...woohoo. Jason and I went to Jim's Steakhouse here in Bloomington for a nice dinner. Sorry I didn't take any pictures of that. Overall it was a pretty full day, literally!

I also decided to try my hand at cooking. It isn't my specialty and I have been known to burn water. Usually I just stick to things like pop tarts, toast, you see the point. Thanks to the Klatt family at Christmas, I fell in love with eggs benedict. And thanks to Germany, I fell in love with crepes. I had to try to make both of course. I didn't take pictures of the crepes because one, I forgot and two, the weren't all that beautiful to look at. That one is a work in progress. I am pretty proud of the eggs benedict though. Forgive the lack of makeup!

I also decided to go arts and crafts for a bit too. I had a request for a baby Heartbacker t-shirt. So I decided to try that out. I think it turned out great! So if you have a little one that would like a t-shirt, just let me know. I can do pretty much any color you like since it is on a white shirt.

I also made a bet with my buddy Chris Bartram that I would practice a lot before the Amway Cup in Taiwan. So I decided to put in at least an hour everyday. It has been strange actually putting in a little work but with my coach around to keep me focused, it was a little easier. Now I am on my own to keep it up. Only a few days left until I leave!

Last weekend I went to Olathe, Kansas for the Midwest 9-ball Tour tournament. It was held at Shooter's Billiards which is one of the most awesome places for pool in all of the United States. It is home to some of the biggest action, biggest tournaments and best players. I would be willing to bet that it is hard to find a top player that hasn't made a trip through Shooter's at least once in their life. The tournament was held on bar tables, thank god it was 9-ball not 8-ball! I played decent, not great, but decent. I had some rough matches and some good matches. Overall though, I played just well enough to win! The men's turn out was also great, 100 players with quite a few top names. Jesse Bowman won, James Baraks got second and the one and only Jason Klatt got third. I have to say it was a great weekend for us! Even Frank got to go along this time.

The other great part about visiting the Kansas City area is the food. For those of you that don't know, Kansas City is famous for Barbecue! Last year when I went I tried a place called Arthur Bryants. This year I decided to try a different place, Gates Barbecue. My buddies Kyle Odell and girlfriend Connie and Chris Jeffers went along for the adventure again this year. Thanks guys! After two Presidential Platters, we were all stuffed!!

One of my favorite shows is Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel. Not too long ago they did a show in Springfield, IL. Luckily, I just happen to go right through Springfield on my way back to Bloomington! We had a plan to stop at both places, Cozy Dog for the corndogs and Joe Rodger's Chili for the chili, but of course, the chili place closes at 4pm and I got there at 4:30. Geez, don't they know who I am?? Just kidding. I did get pictures though!

Now it has just been back to work for the last week. My other half went back to Canada so that was pretty sad, as always. Good thing I have my little buddy at work with me to keep me company...introducing Leo the dog. Yes, that is my messy desk.

I also need a little help from my readers. I am an avid reader and since I have the big long trip to Taiwan coming up, I need some suggestions on good books to read. I'm open to reading a little bit of everything but mystery, horror, crime, etc are my favorite. Please help!

Also, a big thanks to everyone that has become a Heartbacker this year so far! I really appreciate all of your help!! I am very excited for the trip to Taiwan and I will do daily updates to keep everyone in the loop. I will also try to find the link to the live stream.

And last but not least, PoolDawg trivia!!!!!!! I am going to change it up this week and do a photo caption contest instead of the usual trivia question. I am going to announce a winner on Sunday night. Please be sure to include your email address along with your answer in the comments. Here is the picture. Thanks to Markus Hoffstaetter for taking the funny pic and sorry Oscar, this was way too good to pass up!

The winner will receive a $10 PoolDawg gift code! Remember, you can always save 5% at PoolDawg by using the discount code ROUSEY.