New Year’s Day
Posted on January 11, 2023 by Ching under Life, Pickleball.
Last year, I was out of town playing in a pickleball tournament on New Year’s Day. This year I decided to have a purposefully relaxing NYD by not leaving town. I did play in a fun team tournament on NYE but nothing too serious.
Brian and I prepared a hearty breakfast, consisting of bacon, sausage, potatoes, eggs, and biscuits, the next morning for our house guests. We thought we were going to have three (Katie Merrill, Ramon Lozano, and Josh McAllister) but Josh decided to just make an up-and-back trip so we ended up with leftovers.
Ramon, Katie, and several other friends played in the Hangover pickleball tournament at Chicken N Pickle that day. Speaking of Chicken N Pickle, huge shout out to them for hooking Katie up with the blue dri-fit shirt from the last sponsored athletes box so that she could match me, Ramon, and Jared (Smart) for the team event. Lindsey Vermillion actually had to expedite the package so it would arrive in time for her to wear it to the team event.
I didn’t get any pictures at the tournament but I did livestream the championship match between Vi Dang and Mitch Spencer vs Molly Sager and Austin Corley. Interestingly, Molly and Cory Sager were supposed to play together but then Jenny and Austin Corley signed up for the tournament when we were all hanging out during NYE at the Egan’s. They made a game-time decision to swap partners because Austin and Molly and Cory and Jenny are playing together in the iPickle Nation January Jam this weekend. The four of them figured they would use the Hangover tournament for practice.
Despite this being Austin and Molly’s first time playing together, they played really well and had great on-court chemistry. I think the four of them will do really well at the iPN tournament in Kansas City this weekend.
I think the highlight of my day had to be taking Rosie (Katie’s dog) to Chicken N Pickle to watch her mama play pickleball but also to show her off because she is so stinkin’ cute. Anyway, I’ve always dreamed of taking my dog there but our dogs are not fit to be in public. Molly was always too amped and Saki is super jittery and afraid of people. Everyone was asking me about my dog. I wish she was mine because she is so good and well-behaved. And, she is super cuddly.
The weather was absolutely beautiful and the way NYD went was the perfect start to the year. I remember thinking, “If the rest of the year goes like this, it will be an amazing one!” It was just a super relaxing, fun day. Until next time, GNG.
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New Year’s Eve
Posted on January 9, 2023 by Ching under Events, Pickleball.
New Year’s Eve was super fun. We started the day with the One Last Dink team tournament at the Pickle Club. This is my second team event with Ramon Lozano and Katie Merrill (the first one was the DUPR Teams event at Northland Racquet Club last month) and my first one with Jared Smart. Last month our fourth team member was Kyle Rinck.
When we first talked about playing in team events, Tanner Rice was going to our fourth team member but he missed the DUPR Teams event last month due to a hamstring injury and then couldn’t play One Last Dink because he was spending the holidays in Las Vegas with his family. Kyle and Jared were both amazing teammates and definitely complemented our team well.
Here are some highlights from One Last Dink:
Brian was such a trooper. He spent the entire day with us to help me run the event so I could also play in it. He even went to grab lunch for a few of us so we didn’t have to leave the venue. Brian proves time and time again why he deserves the title of “Best Husband Ever.”
We rang in the New Year at Egan’s. Since Molly and Cory Sager were staying with them, Cindy decided to host a small gather for NYE. We had a ton of fun playing games with everyone. Coincidentally, Levi Hobart (one of Brian’s former employees at T-Mobile) and his wife stopped by to return a suitcase to Cindy. They happen to be neighbors. What a small world!
This New Year’s Eve was absolutely perfect from start to finish. I’m hoping that this sets the tone for me for 2023. Happy New Year!
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New Year’s Eve Eve with My Pickleball Besties
Posted on January 6, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Pickleball.
My friend Ramon Lozano from Hays, Kansas was in town last weekend. You might remember me talking about him a few weeks ago in this post. Anyway, this past visit was the longest he had ever stayed with us. He usually only stays overnight. This time he stayed from Thursday all the way through Sunday.
I actually wasn’t expecting to see Ramon until Friday but he drove up a day early because he had a play date with Matt Nola and Jay Devilliers at Chicken N Pickle on Friday morning that he didn’t want to miss. I just happened to be off the entire week so I set up play for us on Thursday afternoon. Afterwards, I called Brian to see if he wanted to meet us for dinner on the way home from our pickleball session at the Pickle Club. Brian said he made dinner (porkchops and rice) that he had enough food for Ramon also. We decided to head home. We taught Ramon how to eat Filipino-style (with a fork and spoon) that night.
After dinner the three of us went to the basement to watch the Invitation on Netflix. I joked that the movie would be really romantic had I not already watched the movie trailer and know it was a horror flick. LOL.
The next day was cleaning day. I usually don’t like being home when the cleaners are cleaning because it makes me feel like such a lazy bum. Anyway, Brian left for work in the morning. Ramon and I had to make ourselves scarce. We decided to eat breakfast at HomeGrown before his 11 AM play date at CNP.
Even at 8:30 AM on a Friday morning they had a 30-minute wait for a table. Crazy, right? We decided to eat at the bar rather than wait.
I always like to try their seasonal drinks so I had the hot White Russian. I’ve only ever had this drink cold so this was different. It was so good!
Here are some pictures of our food:
Ramon remembered to order his toast with his meal this time. Unlike that time at Succotash when he forgot and he ordered his toast after and they brought it out when he was nearly finished eating.
I got the biscuits and gravy, which is what Brian normally gets and then I also asked for a full order of bacon on the side. You can never go wrong with bacon but they have Yoder bacon at HomeGrown and it’s really good.
Ramon ordered a Bloody Mary while we were killing time before we had to head to CNP. It was the most photogenic Bloody Mary I had ever laid my eyes on.
These next to plates were not ours. They were the meals of the ladies sitting next to us at the bar. One of them was Junetta Everett so not a total stranger. LOL.
After breakfast we headed to CNP where we hung out for almost the entire day. We got there around 10:30 AM and didn’t leave until 4-ish. Ramon played with his group from 11 AM to 1 PM. Brian and I got our cars washed next door at Tommy’s Express and then came back to have lunch while we watched them play.
Brian went home after lunch but I stayed because I was playing with a group (different group than Ramon) from 1 to 3 PM. Ramon hung around, drank some beers, and ate tostadas (his favorite thing to eat at CNP) while we played. We actually drove separate cars that morning because I didn’t think he would stick around. We could have totally carpooled!
Before heading home to pick up our friend Katie Merrill from our house so the three of us could carpool to the Pickle Club, Ramon and I stopped by Mochinut (Matt Nola’s place) so he could try mochi donuts, milk tea, and Korean corndog.
I think he had the half and half coated in hot Cheetos.
We worked up a pretty good appetite after our team practice session at the Pickle Club so then we hit Bubba’s 33 on the way home. Here are pictures of dinner…
I told Ramon I feel like all we did was eat all day. LOL.
The next day was New Year’s Eve and we played in the One Last Dink team tournament at the Pickle Club (it’s what we were practicing for on Friday night), which was so much fun. It really warrants its own entry.
I had such a great time with Ramon and Katie. I feel like we got some extra #teambonding time this past weekend. It was the most perfect Friday (and weekend, which I will tell you more about next time) ever. Until next time, GNG.
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Mo’ Bettahs
Posted on January 3, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.
When Brian and I went to visit David and Donna last week to bring Christmas presents, we got to try some delicious Hawaiian-style food from Mo’ Bettahs. I think Hawaiian food is all the rage these days because when I was in Kansas City a few weeks ago, I learned about Hawaiian Bros, which is everywhere over there.
Anyway, I really like the Hawaiian macaroni salad because the flavor reminds me of Filipino chicken macaroni salad which my mom used to always make for Christmas eve (or any other events where food is involved).
Since it was my first time experiencing Mo’ Bettahs, I made sure to take a bunch of pics. This one is located in Midwest City, not too far from David and Donna’s house.
The food was actually pretty good. I would totally eat there again.
But, even though the food was good and I liked the Chipotle-model where you go through the line and tell them what you want, I still like Hawaiian Bros better. For one, they did not have Spam musubi. They didn’t have any Dole whip either, which I could give or take. But it’s really the Spam musubi that I missed. I loved the Spam musubi so much that I am almost tempted to play in a tournament in Kansas City just so I could eat Hawaiian Bros again. LOL.
Until next time. Happy eating and happy new year. GNG!
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The Best of 2022
Posted on December 23, 2022 by Ching under Life, Pickleball.
Each year I take time to reflect on the best parts of the year and recall all of my favorite moments. This year it seems all of my best memories revolve around pickleball, which is not surprising considering I spent New Year’s Day playing pickleball. We always believed that whatever you are doing on New Year’s Day is what you will be doing all year long and so I ended up playing in a ton of tournaments this year, starting with the Vetta Dink in the New Year tournament.
I guess we can just start this recap with my most favorite tournaments this year (listed somewhat chronologically).
- Dink in the New Year – I played 3.5/4.0 singles, 4.0 mixed doubles with Devon Fuller, and 3.5 women’s doubles with Tiffany Lesperance. We traveled with Tiffany and Donnie to that tournament and had such a great time spending the weekend with them.
- Oak Tree – I played 3.5 singles, 4.0 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 4.0 women’s with Jen Reifshneider. Even though this tournament was a complete shit show, it was a ton of fun. Not only did a learn so much, but I also met some people at that tournament that are really good friends now. I played against Katie Merrill and now we are thick as thieves. Also, I was going through some old tournament footage and found a Tanner Rice cameo. It’s so wild that he was in one of my YouTube videos before we actually knew each other.
- US Open – I played women’s doubles with my friend Erica Case and we won our first US Open gold medal. I only got to play in one event but Brian and I stayed the entire week and it was amazing. I can’t wait to try again next year!
- WPT Kansas City Classic – I played 3.5 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ryan Kellenbarger and 3.5 women’s with Kimberly Howe. This was a money tournament so I was hoping (and had a real shot at getting gold medals at both events). Kimberly and I finished in 3rd place and Ryan and I won gold and actually made money. One of best memories is getting stuck with some people during the rain delay who are good friends of mine now.
- ICT Classic – I played 3.5 singles, 5.0 mixed with Matt Nola, and 4.0 women’s with Jenny Corley. This is worth a mention because it was my first time playing 5.0 level and, even though we went 0-2, I actually didn’t suck and I didn’t feel out of place. Looking back, I feel like I was actually a lot better than some of the other players, as crazy as that sounds. This is the beginning of me realizing I can absolutely play any level I want to play.
- Middle States – I played 3.0 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 3.0 women’s with Kendra Wicks. This is only my second time playing in this tournament (the first time I played with my friend Chris Wilson) and my first time winning triple gold. This tournament qualified me for the Diamond Amateur Championships (DAC) earlier this month in Florida.
- USAP Newport Beach – I played 3.0 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 3.0 women’s doubles with Nancy Kaplan (blind date). I agreed to play in this tournament at the beginning of the year thinking I was going to try to qualify for Nationals but then, once I qualified for the DAC, I realized I couldn’t swing both trips so I was completely unmotivated. I couldn’t say no to Ramon, though. Around this time of the year, he was my #1 favorite mixed doubles partner. He could have asked me to play on Jupiter and I probably would’ve figured out a way to make it work. Anyway, it was a fun trip. Brian and I had a great time vacationing in California and it was nice to meet Ramon’s family.
- Tulsa Pickleball Classic – I played Intermediate 50/50 with Robert Mansfield, 4.5 mixed with Tanner Rice, and 4.0 women’s with Huyen Nguyen. This was my first tournament team up with my fake daughter who everyone thinks is my real daughter. Also, I ended up teaming up with Tanner completely by accident when I meant to send a message to Tanner Blaske on Facebook. Tanner and I chatted and, even though we didn’t really know each other in person at the time, we agreed to play a couple of tournaments together. This was our first one. I actually felt pretty special that Robert agreed to play with me because 50/50 was the same day as singles and he normally prefers to play singles over doubles.
- Bartlesville Pickleball Classic – I played Advanced 50/50 with Chris Wilson, 4.0 mixed with Michael Douglas, and 4.0 women’s with Jenny Corley. It felt so good to team up with Chris Wilson again. We actually did really well together. Fourth was not too shabby considering that draw. My other events didn’t go so well but it was my first time playing Bartlesville and I had an amazing time.
- PPA Championships – I played 3.5 mixed with Zach Nguyen and 4.0 women’s with Jen Reifschneider. This was actually not on the list for the year so it was a last minute addition. This format was double elimination with a consolation bracket (not an opportunity bracket) which means once you lose the best you can do is bronze. We lost in the semis in both events. Zach and I came so close to playing for gold and silver too. We were literally up 10-6 in the third game of our semi-final match. We ended up losing 10-12. It was a heart-breaker!
- Shangri-la Pickleball Open – I played 4.5 mixed with Devon Fuller and 3.5 women’s with Molly Sager. This was another tournament that wasn’t on the list but my friend Kumar Krishnan told me about it and offered to host me and Brian at his lake house so I couldn’t pass it up. I’d never been to this part of Oklahoma before so it was a great adventure for me and Brian and I’m actually looking forward to playing in this again next year.
- ICT Fall-out – I played 4.0 singles, 4.5 mixed with Tanner Rice, and 4.0 women’s doubles with Jenny Corley. The funny part of this is, I was originally signed up for 3.5 singles but then moved myself up to 4.0 singles when I only saw two players signed up but then apparently Chanell Nguyen and Fong Witte had the same idea and signed up for 4.0 singles also. Instead of getting a bronze medal handed to me, I actually had to work for it. Also, this is the tournament that Tanner took over as my #1 favorite mixed doubles partner.
- SMASH 5 – I played 4.5 mixed with Isaiah McAllister and 4.0 women’s with Nicole Mathis. I was originally signed up for 4.0 35+ with Jason Doll but then ended up grabbing another partner for mixed so he wouldn’t have to play on both days because he’s still nursing his knees. It worked out great because I ended up moving up to 4.5 19+ with Isaiah who I had such an amazing time playing with. Also, 4.0 35+ might have been too easy for Jason because he is so dang good! I think my most favorite part of this tournament is finally winning a match against Ramon who I always end up playing in the first round whenever we are signed up for the same division.
- Diamond Amateur Championships – I played 3.0 singles, 3.5 mixed with Ramon Lozano, and 3.0 women’s with Kendra Wicks. I qualified, played, and medaled in the first ever DAC. And, I punched my singles and women’s doubles tickets to 2023 USAP National Championships. I actually thought this was going to be my final tournament of the year but I ended up tacking on a couple of last minute team events at the end of the year.
- Mother’s Day Tournament – I played in a Mother’s Day pickleball tournament at Chicken N Pickle with Huyen. It was one of several little tournaments (most of them charity tournaments benefiting local non-profits) that I played this year.
Besides playing in tournaments, I actually organized and helped with several events this year. Here’s a few of them:
- It’s a Big Dill – This was my second time helping with this event and I feel like everything went so perfectly this year. We were right on schedule.
- Dream Team Doubles – We actually did two of them this year. So much fun!
- Picklemania MMXXII – Second tournament for my Rotary club. We made it a team event this time and it made the event so much for fun. I feel like team events are the way to go.
- Picklepalooza – I didn’t have much to do for this tournament actually other than help spread the board but I did join the Senior Services of Wichita board this year so I will probably have a lot more to do this next year.
- One Last Dink – This one isn’t until next weekend. I pitched the idea to the Pickle Club owners and they came up with the name for the event. I’m super excited for this team tournament, not just because it will my final event for the year, but because I’m part of a super awesome team. Also, it means that I’ve basically started and ended the entire year with pickleball.
This was also the year of the DUPRs. I started a digital club on DUPR so that I could help our local rec players (those who don’t normally play in tournaments) get official ratings. I hosted a bunch of DUPR match sessions over the summer and entered scores so everyone could get ratings.
Besides organizing DUPR play, I also participated in DUPR events myself — a couple in Oklahoma during my DUPR double dip weekend and a couple in Kansas City hosted by iPickleNation. I also brought back the Queen of Courts but beefed up because now they are DUPR QoCs.
Other notable things that happened this year… Nahola sold and then re-opened a few months later. It is now the Pickle Club. Other than being limited to two courts, it’s still hands down the best place to play in town. Except when the weather is nice, then my favorite spot is Wichita State where they have four lighted courts that you can use free of charge. The county also converted two of the tennis courts at Sedgwick County Park into pickleball courts this fall and it’s been quite popular with the players. We even had a couple of cookouts there already.
In terms of travel, we didn’t get to do much but we did go to Mexico in August to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary slash crash Erica’s wedding. LOL. It was fun. I always enjoy and appreciate any time I can spend with my girlfriends. Brian and I stayed in our first Airbnb during Middle States Regional and now he’s not anti Airbnbs anymore.
And, finally, in non-pickleball news, grandma turned 100 this year. That pretty much sums up 2022 in a nutshell (or long post). Can’t wait to see what the new year will bring. Until then, GNG.
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