Cerberus Brewing Company
Posted on July 2, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Cerberus was hands down our favorite brewery and food spot in Colorado Springs. We ate there on our first night and Brian wanted to go back everyday.
It’s not very spacious inside but they had nice outdoor seating. I think it would have been better had the weather not been as damp and rainy but we made the best of it.
Kimberly, Eric, Brian and I had to sit outside because there was no room inside.
Brian had to take a work phone call so he didn’t have time to look at the menu. I took charge and ordered food for us. I told him he would like it.
We got the cheddar ale soup.
And the truffle parmesan fries.
And the pork belly spring rolls. The funny thing is Brian didn’t realize there were portobello mushrooms in his cheddar ale soup. He thought he was eating pork belly probably because he heard me say pork belly when ordering the spring rolls. He ate them without question and, I think, he kind of even enjoyed the taste even though he “says” hates mushrooms.
Eric got the bison burger and fries, while Kimberly got the reuben rolls.
I didn’t get pictures of our drinks but Brian and Kimberly both got the maibock (it was the closest thing they had to an amber) and Eric got the porter. I don’t like beer so I had a seltzer.
I’m a sweet tooth so I always have to have dessert. They had a delicious bread pudding served with ice cream. It was the perfect finale for our delicious dinner.
Two days later we were back at Cerberus again because Michael and Ryan hadn’t been there yet and we wanted them to try it.
Everyone was drinking beer but I opted for craft cider.
We asked for a table inside this time because it was once again cold and wet outside. Brian actually went back to our hotel to grab me some sweatpants.
Here are some pictures of food from our second visit.
Ryan got the bison burger. Michael got a regular burger with truffle fries upgrade.
Brian really liked the cheddar ale soup so he got it again.
Eric got the French onion soup.
Brian really wanted to try the Colorado poutine so we got it. It looks like soupy fries. LOL. It was great but had a spicy kick from the chorizo.
Eric and Kimberly shared the brisket grilled cheese, which I think is the best thing they serve at Cerberus. I was hoping to get it on our third visit but we cut our trip short and didn’t end up going again before we left.
Brian also got the pretzels.
And I got reuben rolls. I thought I would like them better than the pork belly spring rolls because those were kind of spicy but the reuben rolls were spicy too.
Anyway, that place is so good. If we find ourselves back in Colorado Springs again, we are definitely going back. We totally tried to eat there everyday of our trip.
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Picklemania MMXXI
Posted on July 1, 2021 by Ching under Community, Events, Hobbies.
My Rotary club held our first pickleball fundraising tournament a couple of weeks ago at Terradyne Country Club and it was a huge success. We had a goal of 64 players (32 teams) and we actually had 70 players sign up.
Here are some pictures from the tournament.
We had eight courts for the tournament so we had two brackets going in the morning and also two brackets in the afternoon. In the morning, we had a competitive bracket and also an all women’s bracket.
I loved how some of the ladies wore matching outfits like Michelle Pease and Lesli Toubassi (aka Tou Pease in a Pod).
Karen Fox and Jody Vinson (aka Drop It Like It’s Hot) won the women’s bracket.
As you can tell, we love our Electrum paddles.
After a long championship battle against Kim Knotts and Chris Heck (aka FSU) that ran all the way past lunch, Lori and Dave Belew (aka Notorious D.I.N.K.) won the competitive bracket in the morning.
My friend Erica and I won our bracket in the afternoon, which felt a little silly to me. I think I won’t play in the future. Mostly I signed up because I wasn’t sure if we could get enough players.
Erica and I wore our matching BIA shoes for Steve. LOL.
Mike Ellison and Adam Korfhage (aka Mike and Adam) won the all men’s doubles bracket in the afternoon.
I am so grateful to everyone who played, volunteered, and came out to support our event. I’m look forward to making this an annual fundraising event for our club.
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Birthday Celebrations
Posted on June 25, 2021 by Ching under Events, Family.
We had a lovely dinner with the Dills last Thursday. Jay and Becca wanted to get together to celebrate Brian’s birthday since they couldn’t make the birthday celebration happy hour at the Belmont. Brian’s mom and dad arrived that day to spend Father’s Day weekend and to celebrate grandma’s birthday so they joined us for dinner. I had no idea Jay was buying. It was very nice and generous gesture.
It was great to catch up. I feel like we never really get to see them any more. BTW, check all the short hairstyles. Seems like Mama Dill, Becca, and I all have the same idea for the summer.
Saturday night was grandma’s night. We celebrated her 99th birthday at Carrabba’s. It’s a huge deal because it her last double-digit one. Their relatives Jill and Cinda joined us for dinner.
Here are some pictures of grandma reading her birthday cards and opening presents from everyone.
Our friend Joe photo-bombed one of the pics when grandma was reading one of her cards. She and Brian had no idea that he was behind them.
Here’s a video of grandma opening her presents from Dave, Donna, and the cats.
One final video from dinner on Saturday night.
We are so blessed that grandma has her health (for the most part) and that her mind is completely sound. At my Rotary club meeting last week, we learned that one in three people over the age of 85 have some form of dementia. Granda’s eyesight may be failing and her body is as frail as that of any almost centenarian but her mind still as sharp as it ever was. I hope that, if Brian and I ever live to be her age, that we are as blessed with a strong mind as she is. Until then. GNG.
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Rotary Luncheons are Back
Posted on June 23, 2021 by Ching under Community.
It’s so great to have our in-person Rotary meetings again. The past year has been a real challenge. It was difficult to engage club members without meeting on a regular basis. I hope with regular programming, everyone will start coming back.
Last week we had a great presentation from Jenny Shipman with the Alzheimer’s Association. She shared information about the diseases and helpful tips on how we can reduce our risk. While no one is immune from aging, there are several things we can do now like exercising, eating well, being social, and stimulating our minds by learning new things and doing brain puzzles.
We have several great speakers visiting our club over the next couple of months. I’m hoping that we will start to see our members at the meetings again. Here’s to a great Rotary year.
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ICT Classic Pickleball Tournament
Posted on June 22, 2021 by Ching under Events, Hobbies.
The ICT Pickleball Tournament is our big pickeball tournament in Wichita every year. Last year the tournament got pushed to September because of the pandemic but it was as huge success so this year they decided to have it twice, calling the June tournament the ICT Classic and the September tournament the ICT Fall-out.
Here are some fun pictures from the tournament.
Me with Tiffany and Karen
MariAnn and Jody
With Fong and Chef Jen
Brandon and Tommy
Michelle and Krista
Erica and Traci
Kimberly and Brooke
Ramon and Karen
Matt and Sammi
The tournament was a two-day event with men’s and women’s doubles on Saturday, June 12, and mixed doubles on Sunday, June 13. I really only had a mixed partner lined up because Mason asked me to play with him but it was only $5 more to play a second event so I decided to play women’s doubles on Saturday also (knowing it would be crazy with Symphony in the Flint Hills that same night). I originally asked Karen to play 3.5 19+ women’s doubles with me but then she decided she would prefer to play 4.0 50+ with Tiffany so I was left without a partner. I knew that Amy wanted to play in women’s and since I didn’t have a partner, the two of us teamed up last minute.
Amy and I have played a handful of times together but I haven’t played with her quite as much as the other ladies so I figured we would do decent but didn’t expect us to do quite as well as we did. Brian and I had plans to drive an hour and half (almost 2 hours) to Symphony in the Flint Hills that same day and so, when he asked what time I would be home, I told him I would be back by noon — which is reasonable considering we started at 8:30 AM that morning and there were only 7 teams in our bracket. Well, 2:30 PM rolled around and I was still at Riverside Tennis Center.
Amy and I somehow found ourselves in the the championship match against Krista and Michelle. We defeated them earlier in the winner bracket final but they came back with a vengeance and decisively won the best 2 out of 3 games to 11 and also the game to 15, earning the gold medal. They were fierce competitors and truly earned their win!
I didn’t really have the greatest expectations that day. I was just grateful to have a partner and be able to participate. Making the podium was just icing on the cake.
Me and my mixed partner Mason. You can tell the players that teamed up because their outfits coordinated for the most part.
I met Mason during the pickleball event of the 2019 Wichita Corporate Challenge. He was representing his employer and I was representing mine. We were competitors who were united in our common desire to beat the Koch Industries team. Little did we know that Genesis Health Clubs would bring in ringers to win the whole pickleball tournament. Fast forward to two years later when he asked me to play with him in ICT Classic. I’m not sure how many other female players he asked before he got to me but I was flattered to be invited to play.
I don’t get to play with Mason much because our schedules don’t typically align but I have always enjoyed playing with him because he gives me room to play on the court treats me like a true partner and not just a body to take up space. He allows me to play but is there to cover for me when I get myself in a bind. He is super solid and reliable and and encouraging. He did not yell at me one time for making errors, which I was grateful for.
I felt like we played pretty well together, considering we’ve only played together a few times. We didn’t stack and strategize too much but with stacking, practice, and more strategy, I think we would be a really strong contender in this division.
I was super proud of our 0-8 comeback in the first game against Deana and Michael (#TeamOklahoma). We managed to dig deep and win that game 14-12. We didn’t get as far as I hoped we would but our first loss was to the team that won bronze and our second loss was to to the team that won silver (#TeamKC — Williams/Gleason).
I was happy with how we played. It was just unfortunate that we ran into these two teams so soon in the bracket before we could build more momentum behind us. I look forward to battling against these teams again in future tournaments. We didn’t make the podium but I had a lot of fun competing with Mason.
Pickleball peeps are so much fun!
Here’s a link to the full results of the ICT Classic Pickleball Tournament. Last weekend was super hectic with two days of tournaments, Symphony in the Flint Hills, and the happy hour joint birthday celebration at the Belmont but so totally worth it. I live for crazy busy weekend. Until the next one. GNG.
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