The Weekend Report

I successfully finished my first week of Summer Day Tx, and it was totally exhausting. All I could envision doing this weekend was sleeping, but I really didn't do much sleeping whatsoever. I kept pretty busy. 

Saturday, I woke up bright and early and decided to go ahead and knock out my workout. I wanted to run outside since I've been doing more treadmill work outs lately, due to the heat. My weather app said it was 73 outside, but it did not feel 73! I was sweating buckets! #humiditykills. After I ran my 2 miles (so happy I'm a little under the pace I need for Disney), I had to lay down on the grass in the shade to cool off before I could walk the half mile home!

After my workout, Adam and I went house hunting. We are still not out of the running for our "dream house" but because the process continues to drag on (my own personal version of Chinese Water Torture), we know it is best to keep looking.  We found some duds and some hits. But it did make me hopeful that there are other wonderful houses out there for us. 

My mom and I had made a movie/dinner date for Saturday night. I was almost to tired to go but I really wanted to see Maleficent, so I decided to suck it up. As we were walking up to the theater,  my mom mentioned there was a tornado warning to the north of us, but I just figured it would all be "OK."

Halfway through the movie, someone stood up in the theater and told us there was a tornado pretty near by. So we walked out to check out the situation, and we were smack dab in a severe thunderstorm, it was nuts! There was no tornado, but it was storming so hard it would have been impossible to drive in.  We had to get a refund and wait it out. I thought we were going to be trapped in the theater all night long! Luckily, it slowed up about a half hour later, and we were able to sneak home before the next big storm came.

Later on today, my mom and I plan on catching the 2nd half of the movie. I can't wait, it is really, really good! Angelina Jolie as Maleficent is just perfect. I also plan on doing laundry and grocery shopping, and just getting ready for week 2 of summer day Tx and my teenage group!

I hope y'all have a great week my little chickens!

Kayla's Graduation

We returned Sunday afternoon from a whirlwind trip to Texas. It seemed likes every trip we have taken to Texas in the last year has been a whirlwind. Like leave Thursday after work, drive until Midnight, stay in a hotel, get up early the next day, and do more driving. Just to do it all over again. 

The trip was for our youngest niece Kayla's graduation, so it was a million times worth it.

Can I just take a minute or two as an uber proud Aunt to say how happy I am for her? Because I am so stinkin' proud of this girl.  This girl has been through so much that I'm not willing to share because this blog is not the place to air all the dirty family laundry.  But instead of letting it take her down, she rose above it, managing to graduate from high school a WHOLE year early. That is dedication. 

We also got to spend time with our other niece, Cassie. She is just as amazing. She just wrapped up her freshmen year at Texas A&M, is a Dorm R.A., and a manager at Chick-fil-A. She is a beautiful, smart, hardworking, amazing young woman.

Their future is so bright, the whole wide world should have to wear shades.  How did we get so incredibly lucky to have them in our lives?

Congratulations to my little K-Bear!

The Cotton Row 2014

This weekend I did the Cotton Row Run for the 2nd year in a row with Adam and my friend, Jana (read last year's race recap here). Monday morning was a hot, hot, hot day! It was 90 degrees and humid before the race even began! Jana and I had already decided the day before we just wanted to hang out and walk together, so that is exactly what we did.

We had a good time at the race, and it was a great way to celebrate Memorial Day. We met some awesome people at the race. Two of the ladies were completing their first 5k, and we even met someone going to the Disney Half marathon!

My time was a little slower than last year (about 56 minutes), but I finished further from last than I did previously, and I wasn't swept to the sidewalk! So I was super pleased. I can tell I'm getting into better shape lately. I get less winded during races, and my soreness does not last as long. The biggest issue I had post race was blisters (I really need some new running shoes)!

After the race, we were sweaty and gross, so we all went home to take some showers, and then met our other friends for breakfast at IHop before everyone headed back home.

Other fun activites from the weekend? We went bowling and had a girl's vs. guy's competetion, they blew us out of the water. Which was good for them, because otherwise we  had made a bet that they were going to have to watch Frozen with us. There was lots of going out to eat, and we had non-stop Mario Kart tournaments.

I was sad to see them go. It was so lovely having my friends here, I just wished everyone lived closer.  But I'm sure our next get together will be just as fun. My hope is our weekend trips will never end.

A Day in Lynchburg

This weekend was definitely fantastic! Having friends come visit was just what we needed to forgot about all the anxiety we are having due to waiting to hear about the house at the end of this week! I mean ugh, Friday seems so far away, like I can't even breathe.  Patience is a virtue, but it is for sure not mine.

For our first day of vacation, we took the whole gang up for a day in Lynchburg, Tennessee.  I have been up there a handful of times, and it is always fun to spend the day in that little town and to tour the Jack Daniel's Distillery.

We started our day trip by having lunch at Miss. Mary Bobo's Boarding house, which really is some of the best Southern cooking around. I didn't eat much of course, but I think my friends enjoyed it enough, that it made up for my lack of an appetite. Anna even bought their cookbooks!

After lunch, we headed over to the Distillery to do our tour, they were booked till later on in the afternoon, so we decided to do a little shopping at the town square in the meantime.  When we were walking out of the distillery, there was a man with a horse and a buggy offering carriage rides to town. We decided that sounded like fun, so we took a horse ride!

The horse was beautiful and named, Belle, and the guide was kind and funny. Our friend Anna even got to drive the carriage for a while.

The town square is absolutely charming! They have several little mom and pop shops, as well as their Jack Daniel's souvenir stores. My personal favorite is the Moon Pie General Store, full of novelty items and you guessed it, moon pies.

Soon it was time for our tour, I enjoyed the tour even though it was my 3rd time. I tend to forgot a lot of what I learned in between tours. But I will say the time and effort they put into their product is really impressive. It makes me appreciate Whiskey a whole heck of a lot more.

Currently: May 2014

Excited About:  My W girls and their guys coming in to stay the weekend with us for Memorial Day. We have so many fun things planned, but not only that we laugh so hard and so much when we are all together. That is what we need most of all.

Watching: I am actually watching the classic 101 Dalmatians Disney Film. I guess doing the Disney Run has revived my love for all things Disney. I've been collecting all the classics, and I have been enjoying watching them. I'm at that touching scene where the puppy almost dies (spoiler alert: he survives). I can't wait to share these movies with my future children. 

Listening To: I have not been listening to a lot of music lately, but I am listening to a lot of audiobooks. I do admit to liking Talk Dirty to Me by Jason Derule (I can't help it, that beat is infections) and also Team by Lorde.

Reading: I am currently reading Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen for book club, which I am really enjoying so far. Which is a surprise to me because I don't read a whole lot of fiction! I've also been thumbing through a Walt Disney Travel Guide, just so I can plan the perfect trip.

Working On: I keep making wish list boards on Etsy for how I want to decorate our eventual home. I have a guest room board with all things nautical, and I have an office board with all things yellow & grey. I just can't wait till we are home owners so we can decorate.

Loving: That in just two weeks I get to start spending Friday afternoons hanging out at Point Mallard, lazing about the Lazy River.  Doing my daily devotional every morning. Watching Fargo with Adam and laughing about all the funny accents.

Recent Buys:  The 101 Dalmatians Movie and also Aladdin. This race metal holder to display my race ribbons. This beautiful print for my office. Broccoli and Cheese soup from Quiznos. Yum.

Thankful For: Oversized sweat pants to laze around in. Springtime scents from scentsy.  Vanilla Cake Batter Protein Powder. Having a clean home.

Happy Memorial Weekend, everyone! 

My Summer Bucket List

 (picture via)

I love the changing of the seasons, no matter what the season, and right now I have caught the summer bug. Even though summer is historically somewhat stressful for me work wise, I know I am still going to squeeze in a whole heck of a lot of fun. 

These are just a few things I hope to do this summer (14 for Summer 2014!):

1.  See The Fault in Our Stars in Theaters

2.  Spend Fridays Floating on The Lazy River at Point Mallard

3. Tubing on the Cahaba River

4. Do The Huntsville Trolly Tour

5. Running with the Goats 10k in Elkmont, Alabama

6. Glow in the Park 5k in Memphis, Tennessee

7. See Mary Poppins Play in Montgomery

8. Para Sailing

9. Deep Sea Fishing

10. Book the Disney Princess Half Marathon (once it is booked, there is no backing out).

11. Buy a Home

12. 10 Year Class Reunion

13. Garden of Wonders at Huntsville Botanical Gardens

14. Huntsville Lucky Duck Scavenger Hunt

Foam Fest 5k & 28th Birthday

Yesterday was my 28th (what the what?!?) birthday, and we celebrated by doing the Foam Fest 5k in Nashville. Which is basically a race with obstacles, a side of foam, and a whole heck of a lot of mud. 

I can't believe Adam agreed to do this, and he actually wanted to do this! He kind of freaked out on me last year when he realized the Neon Vibe was a color run.  Then he complained about getting color on his clothes! The horrors! He is not as big of a fan of mess as I am. 

When we woke up Saturday, it was a whole heck of a lot colder and grey then you would like it to be when you are going to be spending time getting foamy and muddy. But what can you do?

I didn't really plan on running this race, I figured the obstacles would be enough of a challenge! I would say the obstacles weren't the hardest part. Nope, that distinction is reserved for walking uphill for half the race in all the mud. The course was uber muddy due to all the rain we had had the night before. Many times I would get stuck in the mud, lose my shoe, and then have to have Adam pull me out!

I completed almost all of the obstacles (minus climbing walls, which I was going to do, but Adam was convinced I'd hurt myself). I did not complete them gracefully or spectacularly though. There was a lot of head first flipping off innertubes (into ice cold water), falling in mudpits, and maybe one big slip-n-slide, where I didn't slip or slide the whole way, stopping embarrassingly in the middle, and having to army crawl the rest of the way through the foam.  But we had a blast, and I felt so proud of all I was willing to try.

It took us 2 hours to finish the race. 

It is funny to me, because in the past my birthdays have centered around food and sweet treats. I thought I might be sad today, thinking about how I couldn't stuff myself with my favorite foods. But honestly, it never even crossed my mind  that I was missing out on anything. I love that feeling.

I'm always a little sad when my birthday ends, there is something so nice about having a day when people take the time to say, "I'm happy you were born." But I guess I have 364 days to celebrate my unbirthday.

P.S-Adam met a Blue's Brother today at the race. This guy raced in this get up the entire time! I kept calling him a Doobie Brother, much to Adam's amusement, apparently they are not the same thing.