2013 Cleveland Marathon: VIP Brunch Tickets Giveaway!

Posted by Joe

May 12

The 2013 Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon is a week away!

I’m so excited! I’ve got one more “long” training run left to go and then a shorter run or two before a few “rest” days which will undoubtedly be spent taking every step with great caution so I don’t injure myself before the big day.

The race organizers have a great weekend of festivities lined up for us. I am looking forward to meeting some of the other Official Bloggers. Additionally, I’m excited for my very first Expo!

On that note, I’m excited to announce my first-ever blog giveaway!

I have two tickets for the VIP Brunch that will take place at the finish line. The VIP Brunch takes place inside Cleveland Browns Stadium, and you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a spread of delicious food and celebrate a race well run. One lucky winner will receive both tickets!

Here’s how to enter:

1.) Leave a comment telling me which race you’re running during the Cleveland Marathon weekend! If you’re not running a race, please share a fun Cleveland-related memory.

2.) Tweet “I want to win two tickets to the VIP Brunch at the 2013 Cleveland Marathon from @ClevelandJoe! http://thefrolickingfells.com/2013/05/2013-cleveland-marathon-vip-brunch-ticket-giveaway.html” (Make sure to leave me a comment letting me know that you did too. You can tweet once per day!)

3.) Follow @ClevelandJoe on Twitter (and leave a comment letting me know that you did that too!)

The deadline for submitting entries is 11:59P.M. on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. I’ll choose a winner Wednesday morning using random.org and get the tickets in the mail to you by Wednesday afternoon so you’ll have them by Sunday. (The ticket says that you have to RSVP by May 1, 2013, but since I didn’t get these tickets until last Monday I don’t think it’ll be a problem.)

Good luck!

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I’m An Official Blogger For The Cleveland Marathon!

Posted by Joe

Dec 12

For those of you who found my blog through the Cleveland Marathon site, welcome! Here’s a little bit of background of my history as a blogger. There’s much more about me and the rest of my family on the “About Us” page though!

I’ve blogged off and on since 1999. When I arrived on campus at Case and was constantly in wonderment at the marvels of high-speed Internet in one’s dorm room, I noticed that many of my friends had web pages on which they wrote their thoughts for the world to see. As one who always has much to say, I figured that I should join in too. Using an FTP program and a Microsoft Word document saved in .html format, I took the plunge and became a blogger.

As time has gone on, my interest in blogging has fluctuated as the blogging world has changed. Back in the old days, I would write paragraphs upon paragraphs of angst-filled text about being single and all sorts of other topics. The vast majority of my entries were written in this horribly pretentious style in which I didn’t capitalize anything because I wanted to be artistic or something. Pictures were as rare as four-leaf clovers, and I had to rig up my own comment system together using a HaloScan platform and a lot of digital duct tape.

Obviously, anyone who blogs or reads blogs knows that the blogging world has changed dramatically since the old days. As I’ve attempted to successfully rejoin the blogging world, I’ve often felt like an old retread struggling to change with the times. I’ve spent hours stumbling around WordPress trying to learn how to insert pictures and writing concise yet engaging text in a manner that still incorporates the genuine-sounding “blogging voice” that I developed in my dorm room way back in the 20^th century. I spend far too much time on well-known blogs in amazement of their seemingly effortless ability to receive dozens of comments on just about everything they post and to add all sorts of bells and whistles to their sites without encountering the slightest technical issues.

Evidently somebody somewhere thinks this blog is worthwhile, though, because I have been selected to be an Official Blogger for the 2013 Cleveland Marathon!At the risk of incurring yet another running-related injury as I pat myself on the back, I have always thought that my story had the potential to be pretty inspiring to those who may struggle with weight and fitness issues. Throughout the past year, I’ve lost a sizable amount of weight through a dramatic shift in attitude about healthy living and transformed from a person who hated running and scoffed at runners into a person who dreams of marathons. However, I figured that stories like mine were pretty common and assumed that there were plenty of others out there with fancier blogs who would have been selected. When I frantically submitted my entry approximately 16 minutes before it was due, I thought I might have a decent chance of being picked…but only if those selecting the winners had the patience to wade through my chapter-like blog entries!

I tried not to get my hopes up, and when I didn’t get an email about this for most of the day on December 11^th, I figured I hadn’t been chosen and decided to give up the ghost around 3:30PM. My disappointment was tempered by the fact that I suddenly realized that I lost my keys right before I needed to lead a big event at work. As I was in the midst of frantically attempting to find these keys and figuring out how I’d explain to my parents that I had the right to lose their keys during my thirties because I never lost my house keys when I was a teenager, I received an email that notified me that I had been selected! In case you’re wondering, I found my keys shortly thereafter.

I hope you’ll come back often and join me as I train for and prepare to conquer the half marathon on the streets of what I believe is the best city in America. Except for a few parking-ticket filled years in Cleveland Heights, I’ve lived in Cleveland for my entire life, and I love everything about this city. I don’t know if I will stride proudly or crawl doggedly across the finish line on May 19^th, but I do know that there isn’t anywhere else in the world that I’d rather be as I’m taking the biggest step yet on my journey to health and fitness!

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Filed under: Fitness, Fun in Cleveland!, Running | Tagged as: Cleveland Marathon

Hurrah For No Homework, and Go Browns!

Posted by Joe

Aug 22

For the first time in years, I’m not preparing myself for the first day of school.

I was in college for a bit longer than four years, which turned out to be a great thing because I met Sheila towards the end of my college career.

After a break of two years, I went back to school when I started working at Case–yay for tuition benefits.

Then, I went to law school for three years.

I loved school…yes, I even loved law school. Am I a nerd? Perhaps. I learned so many interesting things that I can use to help improve Cleveland and help improve the lives of those around me. I had many amazing professors and had opportunities to do a variety of interesting things.

However, I must admit that it’s been nice not to have the proverbial albatross of homework hanging over my head every night. This past year was especially rough–I had a myriad potpourri of school newspaper and law review commitments hanging over my head every day, and it was no fun switching off the Browns game and dashing off immediately to good ole’ Cleveland-Marshall.

I have really enjoyed getting back to blogging regularly, and it’s been nice to be able to pull my share of the housework. It’s also been fun to have the time to enjoy random moments like being invited to enjoy a cup of coffee on the porch with my neighbors and actually having the time to do so, y’know, like people used to do before everyone decided that life was better if we didn’t know our neighbors.

(In case anyone thinks I’m “living the dream” and not working…don’t get it twisted! I’m looking hard for other jobs to supplement what we’re already doing with the law office. Praise God for the fact that I have a few opportunities that are shaping up to be something substantial!)

I don’t need to post a link to all of the blogging I’ve been doing on here because…you’re here already!

But I would like to post a link to my blog on Football News Now! Earlier in the summer, I was selected to be the Official Browns Blogger on footballnewsnow.com. As soon as the bar ended, I got to work on posting quality content on From the Shores of Lake Erie. I love the Browns, and I really sharing my thoughts about the team and the progress that we’re making here in Cleveland.

While I’m a bit sad knowing that I won’t get to feel the rush of the first day of school ever again (unless I get a Ph.D in History…), I am grateful and happy for all of the free time that I now have to pursue the many other hobbies and interests that were placed on the back burner over the past several years!

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A Few Updates

Posted by Sheila

May 9

Phew. A whole lot has happened since we last posted! Some points of note…

I (Sheila) have officially completed my J.D./C.N.M.!! I haven’t really been able to process the fact that I’m done, simply because life has just been so busy! With loan counseling, fellowship applications, meetings, major cleaning and housework, celebrations, parties, etc., I feel like I haven’t had a minute to breathe! Although I always get guilty before a vacation, I’m so glad we’re going away. It forces me to take some time to breathe and recoop before starting bar exam prep.
Joe is still working away. Anyone who knows Joe well knows that he never does work halfway, especially when it comes to school! Studying tires him out, but I think he enjoys learning, which is one of the things I love most about him. He inspires me to thirst for knowledge!
We’ve finished a series of unintended projects at home! The bed thing ended up being a lot more work than we expected, including reorganizing our whole bedroom, getting new sheets, makeshift nightstands, etc… Then we found two very gross but fairly sturdy bookcases on the street! Once we brought them in, I had to paint them asap just to get them out of the way. A few “improvements” are below Being at the same apartment for awhile has made little changes and improvements feel special!Bookcase #1

Bookcase #2

New Bed …+ Sheets that fit!

The Cavs! Watching the finals is exciting – we really hope we can go all the way, win the whole thing, and bring Cleveland some joy and some positive publicity! I just hope that graduation and vacation don’t make us miss out on any really crucial games… Then again, it’s no fun to watch painful season-ending games… Not that there will be any
We’re moving this site over to wordpress soon, courtesy of my bro! I’m looking forward to having a more unique design and an easier formatting process! We’ll keep you posted.

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