On Friendships

 

As a females, I think it's so important to have girlfriends in your life. Over the years, I have been incredibly blessed by many women who are still around to this day. We have shared many memories, many laughs and been through some big milestones. I think it's so important to support each other, encourage each other and to love each other. Because at the end of the day, we are all in this together. I am thankful to have a family of some great friends here in Houston. It just so happens my "little (from our sorority days- we were Zetas)," Kate, is in Houston. (Fun fact about Kate- she is the nanny for the Little Couple.) And she and her fiance, Trey- make me laugh. So last night, they invited Aaron and I to a mid-week Astros game. After a long day at work for both of us (some non-professional time was most definitely needed), I rushed home, took Sawyer for a quick walk and we were out the door. We ran over to Irma's Southwest Kitchen for a quick adult beverage... and some snacks. And yes, that does mean that I missed my Tuesday evening yoga class. Which also means, because I did not partake in my Tuesday evening workout, that I will be training on Friday (I give myself one day off from training a week to give my body a rest, and that day is usually Friday).

The Astros were playing the Twins last night. Two things about the Astros. They have a player on their team with the last name "Hoes," which I find to be rather funny. Thanks to Cody and Andy, Aaron now wears his "Hoes" shirt that he received as a birthday gift. I'll return the favor one of these days, Andy. And the second thing about the Astros, is that their mascot, Orbit, is kind of a creeper- and I love it. I could watch him for hours. It's mine and Kate's new goal to get our photo taken with him.   

via

And of course, the evening would not be complete without a group selfie. Kate, Trey, Aaron and I have quite the group selfie history- as in- some major group selfie fails. So, we always try to get a good one. 

Attempt #1

Attempt #2

The third, and final attempt

 So today, I'm thankful for these friendships, old and new, and thankful for the memories that we have all shared and the ones to come!

Happy Wednesday!

A Recipe + Date Bars

So, I'm a big fan of dates. They are a great snack, packed with fiber, potassium and magnesium. They are also a great way to satisfy my sweet tooth. I hadn't baked anything in quite sometime, so I decided this weekend it was time. I wanted to bake a dessert that was naturally sweet, with not a ton of added sugar. I had some dates on hand, so date bars it was.

Photo Courtesy

 Recipe: 

Filling

1 1/2 cups chopped, pitted dates (I used the medjool dates- delish)
3/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. sugar

Bars

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter/margarine
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup quick cook oats
1/4 tsp baking soda
Sprinkle of salt

Directions:

• Put all of the "filling" ingredients in a small saucepan. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly, over low heat. The filling will thicken. Cool for about 5 minutes- the filling will continue to thicken.
• In a bowl, mix all of the "bars" ingredients
• Spread half of your crumb mixture in the bottom of an 8x8 greased pan. Pour the filling on top, then press the remaining crumb mixture on top of the filling.
• Put in a 400 degree oven and bake for about 25 - 30 minutes.

See? Quick and easy. I enjoy eating these while they're warm, or enjoying with a nice cup of coffee. I have been starving by the time I get home from work, and I don't like to eat a full meal before a run. So, eating one of these will hold me over until after my run when I can eat my dinner.

Weekend Wrap-up

Lately it seems as if every weekend has been jam-packed - leaving little time for some quality R&R. But, I'm not complaining. I certainly enjoy making memories, there will be a season for rest later. Speaking of seasons, before I jump into my weekend, Bath and Body Works has their fall 2014 inventory online already! Can we please talk about how glorious the Pumpkin Cupcake is? Inventory is not in the stores yet, but you can definitely stock up on some of these online (it looks like they are doing $1 shipping if you spend $25 today):

Get these HERE

Enough about fall, and more about how I spent all day Friday in the same outfit (faux pas for sure). Work: because I work in the Education component of our department, we really run our year much like they would do in the schools. Our busiest time of year happens to be now through about May. What I love most about my job is the creativity I am allowed. I do our newsletter, which enables me to have creative freedom in developing content. I also get to have some fun with our events! But, enough about that. I like to treat myself every now and then. I knew I had a busy day on Friday, so I started the morning off with one of these:

My Friday treat.

Thursday night was a pretty intense bootcamp- involving too many of these. 

Photo courtesy   

 Yeah- it's not really a cute look when you've been sweating so much (an hour to be exact) that it gets all over the floor, and a fellow participant notices your sweat pile and throws you a new towel after you've already gone through two of your own. Oh well, I think a lot about those last .2 miles of my marathon (if those last .2 miles of a marathon, are anything like the last .1 mile of a half- I'm in for some trouble :) ). If a star jump will get me through, then I'll do however many it takes.  After all those jumps, I thought my Friday morning deserved both a latte and a Starbucks carrot cake muffin with pecans. One of my all time faves. Delish. If you haven't tried it- do it- thank me later. Sidenote: everything about La Boulange speaks to me - the pink bags, the display, the taste..... love it and love the partnership.

After work, I was dying to go meet baby Jackson. So, Krob, Aaron and I rushed over to the hospital to meet him. He was pretty presh. Slept the whole time - my kind of baby. I even held him, but am not in ownership of the photo evidence :) He will be such a lucky guy, with some pretty cool parents.

Right after that, we had reservations for John's birthday, so Aaron and I had to rush to dinner- thus, my same outfit ALL day. We did some hibachi, which is always a good time. I thought I would have time to run home and change after dinner, but nope. It ended up taking a bit longer, so we headed straight out to additional celebrations after dinner. It was a great evening to celebrate John's 1st year in Texas, as well as his birthday!!!! (again, no photo evidence, I was slacking).

Saturday was a long (HOT) run, and a pedicure. Now- I'm actually not a huge fan of manis/pedis (I don't like waiting, sometimes they hurt me and many times I leave thinking I could do a better job myself). That being said, I have been dealing with a lingering blister on the bottom of my foot from all the hills during the Austin half-marathon back in February. I do have a picture of that, but will spare you the visual. It was about time to get that thing taken care of, so this pedicure was more of a necessity. Krob, Katlin, Aaron (he decided he needed to clean up his feet a little) and I all went. We actually got in pretty quickly. I looked over to this- and it made me giggle a bit:

Now, running has left me with some pretty janky (for lack of a better term) feet. I have blisters, scars from blisters and two missing toenails, which have since grown back rather awkwardly. The things we do.... and I felt like my lady, Trish, really helped me out. Thanks to Trish, I have some beautiful toes..... for now. I did enjoy a natural watermelon snow-cone following our manicure/pedicure session. Thank you, Texas Blizzard. 

Sunday brought it's new set of "experiences." John's birthday celebration continued, and Aaron and I agreed to go kayaking with him Sunday morning. Now, I love me a good kayak session. I enjoy being out on the water, getting a different kind of exercise in- and just having a good time. I was told we would be kayaking through the Armand Bayou. What everyone FAILED to tell me, was what would be in the water once we got there. I saw Aaron pack his knife- and decided I should probably give this place a Google. Sure enough- the bayou happens to be home to GATORS, SNAKES and other REPTILES... Oh lord. I don't do snakes. And especially not gators if I'm going to be in their territory. It was too late- they already had me in the car. So, I decided to just go with it.

Now, my big win for the day: when we got to the kayak place, they told us the Armand Bayou tour would be closed for a bit because of some water issue. I was thrilled disappointed. Instead, they told us we could kayak in Clear Lake, which would eventually lead into the back end of the bayou. I was fine with that. If the lake allows people to water ski, wakeboard, paddle board - I assumed it was safe. So, Aaron and I hopped into a tandem and John and Jessica were in singles and we were off. The weather was beautiful:

Please note my very cool water shoes.

 And we were having a great time.... Until we got to the bayou portion of our trip. Here is a photo of us before we entered the Bayou:

Look how happy we are. Please also note Aaron's hat- which I did make fun of him for, however, will now be purchasing one of my own because I see the practicality of that purchase. Yeah, I get it- I'm cool. We were going along our merry way, until we hit the bayou. It was SO quiet. Much less choppy and more wild-lifey. There were birds and fish jumping out of the water. I was in the process of looking at the faces the jumping fish make- when I heard it. There was an enormous splash about four feet to my right. The splash only one thing could make. I tried to ask if maybe it was a large fish. But, John confirmed my suspicions- it was an alligator. And I was in a small kayak. O.M.G. So, I did the thing you aren't supposed to do, and I panicked. It's a good thing Aaron and I got the tandem- otherwise, I'm pretty sure he would have had to tow me back in- or something along those lines. Until we left the bayou portion of our excursion, I did the logical, grown-up thing- and shut my eyes. Yep- mature. Now I enjoy and respect the outdoors. I am fine with seeing gators from a distance (such as my bike), but certainly not in their own territory. They have the advantage in the water for sure- and it's just not something I care to mess with. Now, the bayou was beautiful and calm. They apparently have some bald eagles, as well as some otters. And I would like to go back- but probably in something a bit larger and not as exposed. More on that to come.

For now, happy Monday!!!!

Seasons

As summer closes out (can you tell I'm ready for fall?), I'm mentally gearing up for fall. To me, summer is a time to relish our moments outside. To spend time with friends at the pool, which we've done a lot of this summer. To get a really good bike ride in. Summer is about sweating when you get a good workout in. Summer in Texas is about  sno-cones and having sweat dripping down your back, when you go outside. It's about being active and enjoying the outside.  Oh yeah, and an annual girl's trip (which I still need to share with you).

To me, fall is such a nice complement to summer. It's about being cozy and maybe spending a bit more time inside. It's about remembering to take those quiet moments when you need them and staying a bit longer in bed because it's a bit chilly outside. It's a warm cup of coffee, a good book and a pumpkin buttercream candle. And if we're being honest with ourselves, it's also about those pumpkin spice lattes. 

 

To me, it's also come to be about football (what? Did I just say that?) I never thought I'd say that really. Football was never a huge deal to me growing up in California. But Texans do football- and they do it big. And it's become one of my favorite fall traditions.

Typically, fall has been about slowing down, but this fall will be a bit different. I'm ramping up on a pretty big project at work, combined with a busy events season on my work schedule as well- it's shaping up to be fairly hectic. Not to mention that little marathon I'm training for, as well as the Dallas Metro PCS half marathon in December. So while I do hope to enjoy those football games, a good book and some pumpkin spice lattes- I'm going to have to reconfigure that restfulness portion of it. But you know what? I'm totally okay with that. I think my good friend, Oscar says it best:

Some of my fave summer pics:

Happy Weekending!

Football and Wine

There is the cutest winery on the way back to Houston from Belton. It's called Dancing Bee Winery, and we always talk about stopping, but never can, because we have the dogs with us. This time, we decided that I should run in to see what types of wine they have, and Aaron would wait in the car with the dogs.

Courtesy dancingbeewinery.com

 

Here's the deal, it's located in Rogers, Texas and they produce honey wine - or mead. It started (and still remains today) as a small, family farm that produced honey. They constantly work to expand their offerings to unique products made with their honey. That's how they came up with the honey wine.

I walked away with two types:

1. The Texas Two-Step (which is their version of a dry red- aka not sweet)

2. and the Raspberry Melomel (which is a semi-dry red- aka not too sweet)




She wanted me to do a quick tasting, but I felt bad leaving my driver high and dry. We still have yet to open either of the bottles, but hope to taste them this weekend! My parents checked- and they don't ship to California :( Sad days.

On another note, I was able to fight it out online this morning and snag my football tickets to Baylor Homecoming this year! I  had some serious concerns they were going to sell out! The new McLane stadium is going to be amazing. Get excited about this:

Hydroflying

Remember this? It most definitely happened this weekend. And boy was this weekend eventful. Before I get into my hydroflying experience, let's chat about my long marathon training run. Because I don't want to overtrain, I'm working on maintaining fitness currently, without fatiguing any muscles. I'll begin to add some more distance on as we move into fall. For now, my long runs are still at 5-6 miles at race pace.

Thursday Night:

We went to Boheme to celebrate Andy finishing the bar. It was fantastic. And if you haven't been, and you live in Houston, their Sangria and frozen mojitos are way delish. Look for yourself. We spent some good, quality time out on the patio, talking with old friends and meeting new ones. I used the valet because there was no parking- and we all know how fantastic I am at parallel parking (sarcasm- if you don't know, I'm not all that fantastic at parallel parking). When the valet returned my vehicle, it was raining. My hazards were on, along with my parking brake (which I never use- Houston is flat) and my lights weren't how I typically leave them. In addition, one other light was flashing. Okay. Not too big of a deal. I rolled down my window and had Aaron show me how to fix all of the above. Good to go. I was juuuust about to get on the highway, and that little light that was flashing- started flashing faster and making some noises. My hood was open! They had somehow opened my hood when they pushed my parking brake in. Great. It was raining and late. I had to pull off before I got on the highway. Long story short, I am now officially schooled on how to open and close my hood, as well as any other random light or button on my vehicle. These things are important- you can't have your hood flying up when you are trying to drive on the highway.

Friday

Because I had Friday off. I got Sawyer packed, I got myself packed, did some laundry, got my eyebrows done (priorities, people) and went to the grocery store. Then, I met up with Andy, Cody, Kiana and Tatum for a quick lunch at Punk's. Now, I was highly anticipating this meal. I looked up the brunch menu and it looked pretty fab. The food was on point, but the service wasn't as great. The waiter was slow and he forgot to bring a few things to the table. I'd be willing to give them another chance because they are relatively new.

Right after lunch, I started to feel pretty weak. My throat was hurting, my head was hurting and I felt super tired. Great- I was getting sick. I was so excited!!! I was so worried about hydroflying, I thought I'd have a legitimate way out. Just kidding. Kind of. Regardless, I went home, took a nap and still didn't feel much better.

Saturday

Friday night was pretty bad. I kept feeling like I had a fever, and I started wondering if I had possibly jinxed myself. All this worry about hydroflying, and now I might not even be able to go. I knew I had to power through it. Aaron's time off is important. He works so hard each and every day, that I just knew I couldn't be sick for this occasion. So, I got up Saturday morning at 7, had my coffee, ate a banana, and took some meds. Also lots of water. The weather felt amazing. Seriously- it was in the 70s, which never happens. Aaron and I started off for our long run. It felt pretty miserable during the first half, but the cooler weather certainly made it manageable. I went to a good mental place in my head, and told myself I was just going to finish no matter what and got through. The second half felt a bit better, but I was sweating SO much (weird, because I don't ever really sweat thaaat much). We finished the run, a little over race pace. After my run, I actually felt a ton better. There must be something to that whole "sweating out your sickness thing." I took a shower and we were on the road.

We were set to Hydrofly at 5 p.m. The car ride was literally anticipation at its finest. Aaron and I always have fun talking and looking at different things on the way there, so that helped take my mind off of what was to come. We got to Belton, let the dogs play. Sawyer had a standoff with the sheep and we at a bit. Then, it was onto the lake.

Let's talk outfit. As mentioned before, I didn't need to be flashing all of Lake Belton, so I decided it would be best to go with my Texas shorts (:)) and a dry-fit tank. Aaron went with sliders under his swimming shorts (nice move) and goggles (?!?!?). He busted these goggles out of his bag when we got there, and I felt way way underprepared. Aaron's sister sported the same type of outfit as mine. His sister and I were the most nervous, so we made Aaron go first. We had a short instruction, got outfitted with lifejackets and wetsuit (so "items of clothing don't come flying off"- the instructor's words, not mine) and headed to the boat. Since Aaron went first, he had to leave with the instructor on the jetski. The jetski is what propels the "flyer" into the air. The rest of us headed to the boat.

Us getting our instruction

Anticipation at its finest

 Aaron got strapped into the contraption, which is like a pair of boots, attached to a wakeboard-like contraption and a hose. The hose is attached the jetski, which is what ultimately propels you into the air. The instructor was driving the jetski, so he pulled Aaron to the middle of the lake, where we were waiting in the boat. Now, you start face-down in the water, in a "super-man" position. The "key" to this whole thing, is to keep your "knees straight and your toes straight and your back straight." Easier said than done. Since Aaron was our guinea pig, we got to watch his technique. He actually got into the air pretty quickly. It's hard to see what you are supposed to be doing until you actually get into the water and do it yourself. Regardless, after a couple of minutes, Aaron was off on Lake Belton doing this:

 Later, he got 22 feet into the air, doing this:

Look at the concentration!

 He made it look easy, but also had a couple of pretty scary looking falls from the air. The instructor lets you navigate and he follows you around on his jet-ski. You aren't ever in any danger of crashing into him or anyone else out there on the water.

Next up was Adrienne, Aaron's sister. She is pretty tiny, like me, so I figured her turn would be a more accurate representation of my turn. Here is Adrienne:

So yes, harder than Aaron made it look, but she still managed to get up in the air. Next up, was me. You have to put on the lifejacket, jump into the water and meet the instructor at his jetski. I was pretty nervous, but looking forward to getting it over with giving it a try. He strapped me in, rolled me over and told me to put the board under me. Hold up. Put the board under me? In the water? And everything floats? Yeah- easier said than done. Once I finally figured out how to put the board under me- thank you, yoga (at this point, you are literally standing straight up in the water- balancing), you straighten everything up, and he shoots you up. Or so they say. You really have to focus on balancing. If you don't come up straight, you aren't getting into the air. So, I channeled some yoga poses and running postures. And next thing I knew, I was up:

But once you're up, you have to come down. Someway, somehow. And it hurts. Luckily, Aaron says I at least fell gracefully, but I sure am sore today. It was so much fun, I couldn't stop laughing the entire time. I even did a trick:

Ha- it's actually me falling, but Aaron thinks it looks like I'm trying out a trick. To each his own. 

All in all, we had a great time and would totally do it again. Sunday, we got to do this:

The weather was gorgeous, and the water felt amazing!!!! Then, we headed back to Houston- more on our eventful drive back tomorrow! For now, happy Monday!!!

Boat Snacks

From  here on out, I will be referring to my time doing this, as "boating." It makes me less anxious than referring to it as what it really is, which is flying above the water strapped into some contraption. I thought since we would be "on a boat," I should probably make some snacks. Aaron's mom asked me to come up with some suggestions, so I turned to my good ol' pal, Pinterest, and came up with this:

1. My mom's Bruschetta and Lentil Dip courtesy of Trader Joe's. Delish.

Ingredients:

• 1 package Trader Joe's cooked lentils
• 1 package of feta
• 1 container of Trader Joe's bruschetta sauce
• Several sprigs of fresh basil
• 1 package of pita chips

You literally mix all of these together- and done. If I can do it- you can do it!

2.

Recipe HERE. Photo property Linda Lyell

3.

Recipe HERE. Photo courtesy: fitsugar.com

Enjoy!!!!!