Run, Baby, Run

So remember when I told you all about my 5k? And then never really spoke of it again? Oh, you do? It’s not because I quit, far from it, it’s more like I only have time to blog on the weekends, because I’m so tired after work that I just want to zone out in front of Teen Mom or Honey Boo Child or Dance Moms and then jump into bed. Or crawl into it, to be more exact, because I am still sleeping on the floor until I can move into our new apartment next week.

But the one thing you can be sure of, is that I’m still running. I’m shaking my money maker, and jogging at what might be described as a camel’s pace, around the neighbor every other day come rain or come shine. And I love it, I really love it. I am now jogging 25 minutes without breaks! 25 minutes, I can’t even believe it. Just the other day I jogged a whole mile! Not jogged and walked a mile, but jogged a whole freakin’ mile! Just a few months ago, I couldn’t walk 1.7 miles without a break, and now I’m jogging it WITHOUT ONE BREAK. It truly makes me feel strong and powerful.

There are other fabulous benefits of running. I’ve lost 15lbs and three inches off my waist. And my muscles on my legs are actually tightening up and starting to define, and I love looking at myself in the mirror.

The 5k is a week from Saturday. No, I don't think I’ll be able to jog the entire thing, but if I cross that finish line at all, that is an accomplishment. I’m doing another 5k in October for breast cancer. My goal is to be able to jog the entire 5k by then. And then I signed up for a 10k in November, just got to keep pushing myself.

Sometimes I don’t give myself enough credit for becoming a jogger because I feel like I jog too slow. I want to go faster. I’m so hard on myself, so overly critical of everything I do. But what I have to remember is as long as my feet are moving, I’m still lapping everyone on the couch.

I Left My Heart in San Antonio

I went all out on the hotel for our night in San Antonio, because San Antonio was the place I was most looking forward to seeing! We stayed in a two room suite with a balcony right on the San Antonio River Walk. Of course, when we got to San Antonio in the early afternoon, we were beyond excited. After checking into the just as stunning as promised hotel, we put on our walking shoes and headed down to The Alamo.

As big as a history buff as I am, it is surprising I don’t know much about the Alamo. But honestly the Mexican American war has never been one of my main interests. But never the less, I was thrilled to see something that is such a big part of American History. I mean who hasn’t heard the phrase, “Remember the Alamo?” I was surprise how out in the open the Alamo is, unlike other historical sites, it really is in the middle of all the hub bub of San Antonio. From the outside, the Alamo looks pretty small, but is surprisingly big and cool when you step inside (which was a relief, do you know how hot it is in San Antonio?).

It was interesting to see where the battle took place, and where famous men like Davey Crockett and David Bowie walked (and died). I also learned something I didn’t know, that all the women and children were huddle into the church portion of the Alamo, and their lives were spared. Also at the gift shop, we got to try on some coon skinned caps, which was pretty awesome. When we finished with our tour, we did some fun/silly things. We hit up the Ripley’s Haunted Mansion, The Tomb Raider Adventure Ride, and The Guinness World Record Museum.

I was terrified to do the haunted house but I'm always up to challenging myself. And I guess I survived by the skin of my teeth, I just hate when things jump out at me! And even when I knew something was about to happen, it would still scare me! Next, we went to the Tomb Raider game, and it was like a Disneyland game, where you ride through and shoot at targets. I was really bad at that, but I've always had bad aim. And of course, we enjoyed the Guinness World Records Museum. Because where else can you found out how many pins someone can stick in their face or pose with a statue of the world's fattest man?

Once we got back the hotel, we grabbed dinner at the hotel's nightly kickback. The kick back is just a free buffet filled with comfort foods like wings, nachos, and hot dogs. You also get three free alcoholic drinks.  Some reason when we were taking one of the drinks back to to our room and putting lids on them, I told Jana that I felt like singing, "If you liked it, then you should have put a lid on it."  Which somehow turned into us writing a whole song parody to Beyonce's Single Ladies. The song was all about a girl who knocked some chick's drink over in a club, and of course she would sing, "If she liked it then she should have put a lid on it." It is genius. We should really video it.

After an evening filled with swimming in a pool and lounging in a jacuzzi tub (one big enough for three fat people I swear, I want one), we went to bed with th San Antonion skyline lit up outside our balcony. The next morning we slept in a bit, and then headed down to the river walk to take a river cruise. The tour guide took us down the whole river and told us some of the history of the river. From the boat we spotted a gelato and fudge shop, and we had some as soon as we disembarked. It was the perfect way to end our San Antonio trip.

Sadly, it was time to head out after the cruise. But we had an amazing time in San Antonio, and honestly I think it was the best part of our trip.

Boothill Graveyard-Tombstone Arizona

Before we left Tombstone in the dust, we had one more stop to make. We wanted to check out the Boothill Graveyard. The Boothill Graveyard was used in Tombstone till the 1880's and it just had these little wooden planks for headstones. But on their grave stones, it listed the way they died, which was super interesting as you can see. My favorite one stated, "he was right, we was wrong, but we strung him up, and now he's gone." The graveyard also had the famous graves of the gunfighters killed in the shootout at the O.K. Corral.

Our destination after Tombstone was Fort Stockton, Texas, there was nothing to do or see in Fort Stockton, it was just a good stopping point before we headed off to San Antonio. But after I booked our hotel in Fort Stockton, I did find out that was where my grandfather's family lived, which I thought was pretty neat. I also had the best Subway sandwich of my life in that little Texas town. What made it the best subway sandwich of my life? Not having eaten since breakfast! If you had offered me a million dollars to give up that sandwich, I don't think I could have done it. Honestly.

Over those next two days of driving before we got to San Antonio, we got so close to Mexico, that we could see Mexico on our left and the United States on our right. We even got stopped by border patrol twice! We were so nervous, and they were so nosey. They did ask us questions about where we were going, why we had so much luggage, why I was leaving California, and if we were related. Luckily, they deemed us safe to drive on, and we arrived safe in San Antonio, which would end up to be the most fun part of the trip yet!

The Town Too Tough to Die

The morning my friend Jana and I left for our epic road trip, I was ecstatic. I decided not to get all mopey about telling Adam goodbye for two months. Instead, I just decided to concentrate on the adventure that a cross country road trip would surely bring! About ten minutes in, we were blasting the great American Road trip play list I had made, and I swear we sang for 8 hours straight, and rarely was it on key.

It only took us a couple of hours to leave California in the dust and cross into Arizona. Right before we crossed the state line, we stopped at a gas station to stock up on goods, most importantly Arizona Tea, because I really wanted to be drinking an Arizona in Arizona! Yes, I'm a dweeb. We stopped right at the border to take a picture with the state sign. Although I don't know if that was such a bright idea, because about the time we were snapping the pictures, we heard some rattling noises coming from the bushes. I'm not saying it was a rattlesnake, but I'm not saying it wasn't a rattlesnake. We definitely hurried our butts back into the car. But it is not like we learned our lesson because we continued to stop at every state sign for the rest of the trip.

After weaving our way through Phoenix and Tuscon, we finally arrived at our first destination Tombstone, Arizona! I have wanted to go to The Town too Tough to Die forever. We stayed in these cute, little log cabins a few blocks from all the action. The cabin was fun because periodically a stage couch driven by people dressed in Western time period style clothing would drive right by our cabin! Plus, it had a tiny kitchen, a tiny downstairs bedroom, and an upstairs loft. I slept in the loft and managed not to kill myself, although I haven't slept walk in years, I was having nightmares about sleepwalking to my death!

After settling in, we walked to the main part of town, which looks just like what you would imagine an old, Western town would look like. Historic Tombstone has little squat buildings which have a dusty, worn feel to them. We moseyed (yes, moseyed because that is what you do in Tombstone) past the famous landmarks like the O.K. Corral, Big Nose Kate's Saloon, and The Birdcage Theatre.

It is important to note at this point of this post that when we were on our way to Tombstone, we sent up a little prayer to the big man upstairs. We prayed that he would send a good looking cowboy to us to occupy our time in Tombstone. Not that we would do anything bad with him, we are both taken by amazing men. But a little dancing sounded like it could be fun. So when we wandered into Big Nose Katie's Saloon, a cowboy immediately approached me. He said, "Are you that beautiful girl, I've seen around here singing that has a voice like an angel?" This comment sounds innocent enough. But it was obvious from his demeanor that he was just flirting with me. Which would have been the answer to our prayer, if this cowboy hadn't been 80. I did my best to pass him off onto Jana, but he was adamant that he only liked blondes. And I even tried to tell him that I certainly didn't have the voice of an angel, but nothing worked. We just ended up escaping out the side door. But you have to admit that God obviously has a sense of humor, we got our cowboy, but we didn't specify his age.

After our run in with the Geriatric cowboy, we took a little guided tour of Tombstone. We learned about all the gunfights and murders, and we even learned that the gunfight at the O.K. Corral didn't actually happened at the O.K. Corral. It happen in the street, about a half a block from the Corral. But when Hollywood wanted to film a movie about Tombstone, it sounded less glamorous to say, "The Gunfight that Happened in the Street a half a block from the O.K. Corral." And changed it to what we all know it as today. Also on our tour, the tour guide pointed out all the haunted locations in town. After the tour, we snapped some pictures in hopes of catching a ghost on film. I don't think we got anything, and truth be told I'm rather glad. I could go my whole life having not seen a ghost,

The last thing we did in Tombstone before heading back to our cozy cabin, was to eat disgustingly, delicious chili cheese burgers at the Longhorn Saloon. They were soooo good, but we really were waddling instead of walking on our way back to the house.

We really had a fun first day on our road trip, but we had so much fun stuff still to come. 

Sweet Home Alabama

Yes, I made it to Alabama! I survived the week long road trip, and it was amazing! And I can't wait to share all about that trip in upcoming posts. Not only did I survive the road trip, I even managed to survive my first week of work! And while I will never ever talk about the nitty gritty of work on my blog, I will share a few things. Having my own office (which is painted a very cherry red by the way), makes me feel like I'm such a grown up. Yesterday I even spent all day carefully picking out items to make it more homey and comfortable.

Yet, having to navigate my first post-master's degree job has me feeling more like a kid on her first day of kindergarden. I want to understand everything I'm supposed to be doing every second of the day from day one. But it just doesn't work like that. So some days I feel totally on my game and others I feel like I'm about to have a panic attack, but that is the story of my life.

And to top it all off, I went for a routine pre-employment tuberculosis (tb) test. And I got a positive test! I've never gotten a positive test before, that totally freaked me out. So I had to get my lungs x-rayed to rule out the possibility of me having TB, and they found a nodule on my lungs, and now I have to get a CT scan for diagnosis. But this is all scaring me a little, although the worst case scenario probably is that I have a non-contagious, latent form of tuberculous. But still, this is not cool. Not cool at all.

Besides having new digs and a new job, I'm also, wait for it, wait for it, training for a 5k in September! Yes, this chubby girl, who typically only runs when being chased, has been dragging my butt out of bed 3-4 days a week to do the couch to 5k training regimen. And man it's hard for me, I struggle when I start jogging, and then I think I'm going to die every moment until it is over. But so far I haven't failed myself yet. I don't know if I will actually be able to run the whole 3 miles come September, but as long as I cross that finish line somehow, I will be proud of myself.

Of course, I have to mention that I'm missing Adam all the time. But we are both just trying to keep busy and remember that everyday we are without each other just means we are one day closer to starting the next phase of our lives in Alabama...together.

An Online Link Love Book Vol. V

I think Cake Balls are delicious, but I always thought they looked really complicated to make. But this video breaks it down and makes it look super easy.

I wish I had invested in one of these uber cute iPhone cases before I dropped my phone and shattered the glass into pieces *sad face.*

I really love reading travel guides, but I never thought about what tourist guides would say about traveling to America. (Some gems: Be Punctual! Don't Talk Politics! Inner Cities are Unsafe!).

I am so psyched for the summer Olympics, and I have been watching the trials, but everyone knows I could never make it in the Olympics. But I could excel in the Olympics if these sports for athletically challenged people actually existed.

A few years ago I was taking a nap with my dog Sarah, and all of a sudden she made a sound like she was choking. So I hopped out of bed and started giving her the Heimlich maneuver, or at least what was my closest approximation. Although it turns out she wasn't choking, and she just thought I was nuts. But when I came across this information on dog CPR, I thought it was good knowledge to pass along anyway.

Coloring is no longer just for children and these Adult Coloring Book pages look like an amazing way to relax.

I don't have children, and I don't really have a reason to throw these kind of parties, but I thought these party themes based on Children's books were smashing.

When I settle into our new place in Alabama, I really want to make this magnetic make-up board. So cute.

I don't know whether I love these cheeseburgers made from eye shadow or am just disgusted by it. All I know is I would love to see a step by step process for this.

The history buff in me loves this article on the seven people who missed the titanic.

Friends & Cupcakes Always Go Together

I have made no secret that the hardest part of this whole move is leaving our California friends behind. I feel like this week has been me doing a friend farewell tour. Going to dinner with friends, meeting friends for drinks, and having lots and lots of games of Wii tennis. And every time I'm with my friends, my heart hurts just a little more (even though I know we are making the right choice). And then when I think about leaving Adam for two months, I could just about cry. No joke. But in a way these goodbyes have felt good, because I realize how blessed we are to have such great friends. 

Last week, we had dinner with a couple friend of ours. I meet the husband in therapy school, and we all quickly found out we had a lot in common. I wanted to bring something nice to their house, so I picked up a half dozen cupcakes from the frosted cupcakery here in Long Beach. Of course, when I got home I managed to drop the cupcakes, mangling them beyond all recognition, and then had to go back and buy 6 more (ugh, my clumsiness).

When I was buying my second round of cupcakes, I bought those two toppers pictured above. Only because my friend and I are both therapists, and we know that thinking someone is "rad" one second and "sucky" the next, is a classic symptom of borderline personality disorder. This made my therapy loving heart go pitter patter, and I think they liked it a lot too. Plus, they were delicious.

And I don't think there is any better way to say goodbye than with a round of cupcakes.