Wedding and Honeymoon

Where to begin? 

After almost 5 years of dating and 1.5 years of wedding planning Brent and I finally tied the knot in Dallas, TX. 

I am anxiously awaiting the rest of my pictures from our wedding day, but to see the preview, you can visit our photographer's blog.

All of that planning and preparation - and the stress! - it was all worth it. I could not be happier.

For our honeymoon, Brent and I went to Costa Rica. Just to give you a short synopsis of our honeymoon, we stayed in Tamarindo for the first three days, then ventured into the rain forest by the Arenal Volcano. 

The things we did:

kayaked in a river
zip lined through the canopy
rode horses to a waterfall
toured the hanging bridges 
played in the Pacific
took a catamaran tour 
ate tons and tons of seafood, plantains, fresh fruits, and casado
drank tons and tons of Costa Rican coffee....and also Cacique

While we tried our best to do a bit of running during the trip, I took full advantage of our vacation to relax. I slept about 10+ hours every night, much needed after the lack of sleep I had from the commotion leading up to the wedding, and ate to my heart's desire. I also signed us both up for a deep tissue couples massage and I still think I can feel the pain from that elbow digging into my back. 

Now that we're back in Dallas as Mr. and Mrs. its been hard to get back into the rhythm of my routine workout schedule. Luckily I met with my running group on Tuesday night to put in a solid 6 miles and had my mom met me at my house this morning to run 5. I missed spin class yesterday morning after hitting the snooze button and falling back to sleep.  

Yoga in the A.M.

5:00AM rolled around way too early this morning. After hitting the snooze button twice, I finally rolled myself outta bed, got dressed in the dark, carefully trying not to wake B. Then I stumbled through the dark house trying to locate my keys, phone, water bottle, yoga mat and yoga towel. 

In the light from the kitchen I did a quick double check. Got everything on correctly. Nothing inside out. Good to go. 

I blasted my spotify to wake myself up while driving to pick up my sister about 10 min away. Coffee sounded so good. I passed by a Starbucks looking longingly, imagining a nice hot cup of brewed coffee and cream. Luckily, my willpower held out. A rare occurrence.

I got to my sister's, picked her up and we made our way to my favorite yoga studio. 

This was my first try at vinyasa yoga in the AM. I usually go in the evening because it puts me right to sleep. I should have known it would do the same thing in the morning.

The room was so cozy and warm. While waiting for class to start, I laid on my mat, closed my eyes and thought of snoozing through the next hour. Hard wood floors had never felt so comfortable.

I kept trying to make myself be "present", at least that's what the instructor kept saying, "be present in your practice". Translation for me: don't doze off. My poses were wobbly, my body was extremely tight, but I still got that warm fuzzy feeling after I was finished. 

Running or even Bikram Yoga is great for getting me up and going in the morning. It could have been the beer from the night before or staying up 30 minutes later than normal to catch the end of on of my Real Housewives episodes that kept me so groggy. Eh, I'll give it another try. It was nice to get it over with in the morning, but I do enjoy those evening yoga classes. 

No running for me today. I was on call at my second job and they're making me work tonight. I took up a second job on top of my full-time job to help with wedding $$$. I'd much rather enjoy this beautiful weather we're having here in Dallas, TX. Its 83 degrees and sunny! 

This was a short post, but I'm getting back in the groove of things. 

I failed to mention that I have 16 days until I become a married lady. 

Tulsa Route 66 Marathon - Boston Qualifier

It's been almost 6 months since I ran my Boston qualifying race, but I thought, if not for my own benefit, it would be fun to do a nice race recap. Ya know, to help me remember. 

To start off, the race was in November. November weather in Tulsa can be kinda iffy and I had been checking the forecast everyday for the week leading up to the race. Sure enough the weather prediction said 26 degrees with the opportunity to get up to 28 degrees. 

Running in 26 degree weather is cold. And icy.

Luckily, with my legs frozen numb, I couldn't feel all the knee pain that I usually get after I cross that mile 13 barrier.

John (the older brother of one of my closest friends from middle school) is an amazing athlete and runner. He, himself, qualified for Boston at this very same marathon the year before and volunteered to pace me. 

I told myself I would stay at an 8 minute pace or faster for the duration of the race. The first 13 miles went by fast and I was feeling pretty good. Around mile 16 I started to hurt. Around mile 17 John dropped off (he had given me a good start!) and I kept at it, checking my garmin often to make sure I wouldn't slip.

Mile 18 I started to drop to about an 8:05-8:15 pace. When I hit mile 20 I saw my friends and wonderful fiance cheering me on and couldn't help myself from getting a little emotional. I must have looked a mess with my face bright red and swollen from the cold with tears streaming. 

6 miles to go. I heard my fiance yell, "you got this, baby!" So, I kept on trucking. 

Mile 24 and 25 I thought I was gonna lose it. I knew I had gone out fast so I had some cushion time, but I hit the point where my legs were starting to give away. I just couldn't get them going. I think my last mile I was at a 10 minute pace. I went under a bridge and something with the light change made me start to feel as though I was going to faint. 

I thought about me having to do this all over again if I did not qualify at this race and decided that I better keep my butt moving! 

At the last stretch before the finish line I literally gave it my all. Oh boy, when I saw my time flash I KNEW I had it in the bag. Literally one of the best feelings. 

Finished 26.2 in 3 hours and 32 minutes. I qualified for Boston.

My fiance met me through the fence at the finisher corral and I, again, had tears coming down my face. But so did he. He was so excited :) 

New beginning

Still cannot believe I waited so long to keep up the ol' blog.

So much can happen in a year.

I moved to Dallas and started all over, completely from scratch. I didn't have many friends and was always getting lost. And the traffic - don't even get me started.

But I survived and Dallas has become my home.


B has and continues to be my rock. My first couple of months in Dallas were a little rough. B had to finish working up in Oklahoma and wasn't able to move down with me. So, I moved down alone in an unfamiliar house with little to no furniture and had to get acclimated to my 45-50 minute commute. OHH that commute - that was torture.

Slowly we fixed up the house, acquired new furniture and B finally moved down. He accepted a job at a nearby university and for the first time, we both had full-time salaries with real, adult benefits. LOVE BENEFITS. I made a point to get checkups for everything: Dentist, Allergy Specialist, Gyno, Chiropractor, Dermatologist, ENT, you name it. It can now be documented that I'm a super healthy girl...I really did have a great benefit package.

Over Thanksgiving B did something remarkable. He completely threw me for a surprise when he proposed to me. I HAD NO IDEA. He, apparently, had secretly planned it out for months. After 3.5 years of dating he was actually able to sneak something by me. It was one of the most amazing moments of my life. 

Springtime brought some more changes. We got a new puppy, I transitioned into a new job (that I love), and we finally agreed on our wedding date. :)

Can't wait for May 31, 2014.

One Year Later

It has been more than a year since I last posted.

OMG.

Here's a year in pictures:


Brent and I moved to Dallas in June 2012 (actually, I moved down in June and Brent moved down in August - he had to finish up his Graduate Research position).

I learned how to drive in traffic.

 

Started a job at the North Texas Food Bank - June 2012



Brent popped the question - November 2012



We lost our beloved puppy on New Years Eve 2012 to a genetic condition.
 

Brent and I adopted this guy - March 2013 (Sampson needed a friend)

 

Accepted a new position - April 2013

 

 

Engagement photos - Check! - May 2013



OKC Memorial Marathon

Above is a picture taken with my sister and mom at about 5:30am Sunday morning, right before the OKC Memorial Marathon.

Annnnnnd.... with my official training that lasted one month I finished in 4 hours and 13 minutes. As soon and I get around to purchasing the mid-run pictures, I'll post those, too.

What could have been better mother daughter bonding than running a marathon?

My mom and I ran together up until mile 14 and then I decided I needed to pick up the pace a bit. My mom finished in about 4 hours and 26 minutes, placing third in her age group. She's pretty much a bad motha...

My sister ran the half marathon so unfortunately I didn't get to see her until the very end, but it was pretty amazing to see her as I was running the last stretch to the finish line cheering me on. Her husband and B were true supporters and came out to watch, too.

Above is a pic of my mom and step-dad. Even my step-dad was out running the half. Next time we'll have to throw in my two brothers and it'll be an entire family affair. Aren't my parents adorable?

I'm officially signed up for the OKC Memorial Marathon that is taking place April 29.

I have 25 days to prepare.

With that in mind I started with a 6 mile run on Monday at an 8:45 min pace. Yesterday, I cross-trained with a P90X dvd (core synergisitcs, I believe?) and finished the night drinking Pacifico's and eating a veggie burger at the Garage with friends.

The plan for my workout today is to complete a 6 mile tempo run. (1mile warm-up, 4 miles @ 8:07-8:15, and 1mile cool-down). I'm probably going to head to the track for this one.

I've also decided to challenge myself even more by refraining from eating sugar. Not so easy with bags of Easter candy sitting at home! Luckily, I have volunteers that like free stuff and they gladly accepted my candy during Monday and Tuesday's tutoring sessions. Most of it is gone, but since I'm not the only one living at the house, I didn't think my bf and his brother would be happy with me if I got rid of all of it.

In other exciting news, I will be an aunt on Monday! My little brother is going to be such a great dad and I'm so excited! The soon-to-be momma is scheduled to be induced in 5 days. The photo below was taken after the baby shower. Notice my bro's face is a little scratched up? He had a long-boarding accident...

24 hours in San Francisco

Last week was spring break for OU. Because B is a grad student, he got the whole week off from work AND school. Most of the break he was busy studying for his tests that he has to take to graduate but by Wednesday I had convinced him that it would be a great idea to fly somewhere for 24 hours....

I ended up taking off Wed-Fri because there wasn't much going on that week. The high schools that I work with was closed and, let's face it, most people that I work with were gone on vacation anyways.

Because I had a doctor's appointment Wednesday to get screened for skin cancer (which I'm happy to say that after a biopsy was taken I'm in the clear for any of that cancer business), we decided to wake up at 4am Thursday morning and head to the airport with the idea that we would be flying into Seattle....

Well, I forgot to mention, to keep costs down, we decided to fly standby (my dad flys for Delta airlines so we got B a buddy pass). We got on the plane from OKC to SLC just fine. From SLC we encounter a problem: all planes to Seattle are completely jam-packed full and there isn't a likely chance that we'd be able to get there today, let alone come back the next day.

B and I decided to get creative. We wandered around the terminals looking at the flights that would be leaving in the next hour and see one for San Fran and one for Portland. We decide that San Fran would probably be easier to get around via public transporation and have more to see in such a short amount of time. We check the loads - they look good - and off we go to San Francisco.

By noon, San Fran time, we arrive and have no idea what we're doing. Luckily, the train (aka the Bart) wasn't too complicated and we somehow managed to get to the downtown area from the airport pretty seamlessly. B had an Iphone app that let us locate and reserve a hotel room at a lower rate and our next stop was dropping off our small roller bag full of one days worth of clothes to change into and travel sized soaps and lotions. The people at the front desk gave us some direction as to how to get to the Fisherman's Wharf because we thought, being from Oklahoma and all, we're by the coast so there must be some seafood! And off we went via cable car. Yes, we were total tourists.

Little did we know the cable car would cost $6 to travel maybe one mile and we'd be smushed like sardines next to a woman with a very southern accent shouting out landmarks and several out-of-towners with small children. We were relieved to finally make it to Fisherman's Wharf and eat a crab salad sandwich (pictured below). 

The rest of the day we spent walking...and walking...and walking. We went up hill and then downhill and uphill some more. I soaked in as much of the view as I could because the ability to just see the ocean was pretty amazing. And having HILLS - we don't have any hills in the great state of OK!

After exploring China Town and all the fun shops, we finally got tired from all the walking and settled down for a beer at a pub. B had a friend from high school that now lives in the SF area come meet us and we drank and laughed and enjoyed ourselves until the late hours of 9pm.... (really in central time it was 11pm and we were up since 4am that morning!)

The next day we got up early (again the 2 hour time change helped us out with this one) and had a fantastic breakfast at a local diner and then headed back to the airport.

This is where the fun begins....

The day before, when we had decided on San Fran, the loads on the plane looked fairly good - meaning there was a high chance we wouldn't have a problem getting on a plane home. When we showed up to the airport it showed that there were only 2 available seats on the plane and.... wait for it....25 people listed on standby! B and I were nowhere near the top on that list. We started to panic a bit. We thought, maybe we should try flying to Minneapolis and then try OKC the next day? Should we stay another night in San Fran and hope to get on a plane tomorrow morning? Every plane home for the rest of the weekend looked bad. We even began making plans of flying into Dallas and having family drive us home if getting into the OKC airport wasn't going to happen. Sure, it would have been nice to just stay another night or two and play around in SF, but we're not exactly in the right place to be spending money on hotel rooms and more restaurant tabs. Plus, B was freaking out because he needed to be home to study.

But, there was still a small, small chance we could get on the plane back to SLC - at least. So, we sat and watched as all the ticketed passengers got on bored and then waited to see if our name would be called for the standby seats. My stomach was literally in knots.

Then, something amazing happened.

OUR NAMES WERE CALLED! I couldn't believe it. B's name was called first and then mine. My hands were shaking when the lady at the counter handed me my ticket. Apparently because of the daunting number of people on the standby list, a lot of people didn't show up or decided it wasn't worth the hassle. So we got on the plane, found our seats and then sat on the runway for an hour before takeoff. Typical plane travel....

Once in SLC, we had a 2 hour layover and of course the first thing we did was down a beer in celebration for making it as far as we had. Then we had to go through the whole mess of waiting to get on the plane to OKC because, as it turns out, that plane was full, too! Our only saving grace that time was that we were the only two people on the standby list. But we made it. After every passenger boarded we were finally cleared my endorphines were pumping. You know when you finish a marathon and it finally hits you that you're done? The relief is just amazing and that is what I felt when I finally realized that we would not be stuck for an undetermined number of days in a city far, far away with little to no money to spend and nobody we knew. We were back in our home by midnight that night and the trip finally over. It was definitely an adventure. I would have tried to document the day better had I not been suffering from extreme stress.

New shoes!

I did it.

That's right.

I bought some shoes.

I just broke down and dug into my wee-bit of savings to purchase some new Asics GT-2170s. Oh what a beaut! The color is even called Tahiti which makes my purchase substantiated since, hey, if I can't go to Tahiti for spring break, I'll do the next best thing and buy running shoes in spring break colors....

I just couldn't deal with my shin-splint-causing, over-a-year-and-a-half-old shoes anymore. Unfortunately, I ordered them online so that I could find the best price, which means the old ones will have to be used again for tonight's run because we're having 80 degree weather! I just can't resist letting this beautiful weather pass without making the most of it. Remember the last post when I said I'd boycott until Oklahoma's weather improved? Well, luckily for me Oklahoma weather changes every day. Literally.

I got a 4-miler in last night at an extremely slow pace, but the OKC Memorial Marathon is in the back of my mind and I'm hoping I can at least run the half. Maybe once my new kicks arrive I can get in some really good workouts.

Lately it has been so hard to get out and run. My first problem is that my shoes are almost a year old - ancient in running shoe years - and thus the root of my shin splints that I'm currently suffering from. I really need some new ones, but we all know those don't come cheap and I haven't exactly been able to factor it out of my AmeriCorps salary. I keep thinking just a little bit longer and I'll have an actual paying job which means I can update the ol' wardrobe. And I keep waiting and waiting some more. You know I haven't bought a new sports bran in over 3 years? Unfortunately, car maintenance (my breaks are just about shot), rent and food remain higher on the priority list.

My second problem is the fact that the wind is terrible! Whoever came up with the lyrics, "OOOOOOklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains" candy-coated what Oklahoma really experiences. It's rarely ever a nice soft breeze; it's the kind of wind that'll knock your own wind out of your chest. It'll kick up all the dirt on the ground and throw into your eyes while, at the same time, your hair gets blown out in all directions. And, if you naively decided to wear a dress? You poor, poor thing.

To make matters worse, it spurs the onset of a relentless bout of allergies. I've been taking zyrtec, allegra, and even local honey, but my eyes still hurt and my whole face feels congested.

Running in this kind of wind is just plain miserable. I decided to boycott until Oklahoma decides to have better weather.

Mustache March

Has anyone out there really heard of "mustache March"?

Didn't think so.

I'm not sure where B got the idea, but now he's growing a mustcache because its March. OHHHH MAKE IT STOP! I tried to tell him that he missed the boat for "no shave November" but he won't listen to me. Mustaches really are a terrible thing. Also, I didn't want to make this known to the public but B has even gone so far as to join an internet mustache club!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'm going to tell you about some cool things that I've been able to do. I've also had quite a few revelations about myself that I'm pretty excited about.

Since January, I have been a volunteer intern at OU's Office of Development. I'm doing this while keeping up with my AmeriCorps job, which has made my free time almost non-existent, but I really am loving it. This has been a wonderful opportunity for a number of reasons:

1. I get to go to a bunch of cool events put on by OU and the Development Office (particulary the two programs that I work under which are the President's Associates and the Women's Philanthropy Network). One such event included the OU "Teach-In" that brought in 7 well-known scholars/historians/professors to lecture about America's Founding.

2. I've had the opportunity to do PR work for these events including two articles that you can view here and here. In the near future I'm going to be interviewing a WPN member who runs a non-profit in NYC for kids with cancer (its a really good story) and posting that, as well as an OU men's basketball game that I'm going to tomorrow.

3. Because of all these experiences I think I'm no longer "Erica Undecided." Well - at least not completely undecided. All of these things has changed my outlook on what I want to do career-wise, just when I thought I would never figure myself out. Funny how things simply fall into place.

In other news, last weekend my mom, sister and I traveled to stillwater for my brother's baby shower. I could not be a more excited soon-to-be aunt! Below is a picture of the adorable cake and cake balls (that I absolutely could not stop eating!!!!) and me with all of the balloons. The baby is going to be a boy if you haven't been able to tell from all of the blue.

My (semi) new workout routine

A few weekends ago I was sitting on the couch, bored and surfing through the channels on tv. when I ended up coming across an Insanity infomercial. The Insanity program looks - well, insane - so I wasn't about to buy it, but it did give me the idea to purchase P90X. I generally don't buy into infomercial workout videos but I'd heard great reviews from friends about it in the past and this was something that B and I could do together. He won't run with me because he says I'm too intimidating (which I can see since he is not a runner and has no intention of becoming one) and with his full time student and full time job schedule he's always too tired to come to the gym with me.

It's been one full week into the P90X program and I'm happy to say that it's making me do something I truly hate doing - weights. In high school I used to skip out on any kind of weight training because I believed it would make me bulky. I also just hate doing it. I'd rather run extra than do any kind of weight training. So, nonetheless, I've been fairly sore. all. week. long. The women on this program are intense. They are like straight up muscle and can do 20 pull ups. I can't do one. And pushups? OHHHHHGEEEEZ I should video tape B and I trying to master one of these videos, I'm sure it would be pretty comical to watch. I mean, I get a kick out of watching B try some of the fun yoga positions - one of the few things I'm at least sorta-okay at.

Yesterday was our stretch day and I ran for 50 minutes outside in the beautiful weather (Oklahoma has ADD weather, ya'll, now its stormy and cold) and completed the hour long stretching DVD with B. Good stuff.

Also, I've been using the Iphone app called My Fitness Pal and would love to have some friends join me. Unfortunately, I discovered that when I went home for lunch today I ate almost half my days worth of calories. The good part is  that at least this information has become known to me so that I can watch myself this evening, right? Although... I rediscovered ice cream in the freezer last night and have been meaning to eat it before anyone else gets to it - this is the sort of mentality you get when you grow up as one out of four kids.

Hello there. Remember me? No? Has it been that long?

Yes, I suppose it has been a long time. The weather is actually cold and I'm pretty sure in one of the last posts I was complaining about the heat.

Well, to update you on my life... I'm beginning to round out the end to my AmeriCorps VISTA year of service. Funny that when I started this, I was just beginning - actually, hadn't even started. It has definitely proved to be a challenging year. My main project was to create a tutoring project pilot program for some of the high-poverty, low-income high schools in Oklahoma. Sounds easy enough, right? WRONG.

It has taken 10 months to get this thing going and it hasn't been smooth sailing. You see, we are not just providing your old run-of-the-mill tutoring program. We connect college students (the majority being education majors) to tutor a student online. We do it online so that we can provide tutors to the very rural areas. When I say rural, I mean rural. The school to which we are trying to provide tutoring is in no man's land. Deep in the panhandle, Oklahoma. Here, the principal is also the counselor (seriously) and probably the bus driver, gym teacher, and coach, too. So, challenges that I've hit have included students not knowing how to work a computer, computers not working, not having anyone available to talk to to organize the tutoring process, and  teachers forgetting that the students are supposed to be online to get tutored (yes, this one happened today, actually). The school has the technological capability because this is just a small piece to a big grant where we have provided computers for them to use, but we are currently having to teach the kids how to work a simple program from afar and this has been rough.

There have been various other things that I will not get into, but what I'm trying to say is that there has not been anything easy about getting this going. But, the kids in this town NEED this. Most of them have never had a parent/sibling/ friend go to college and just meeting a college student and having them as a tutor has the potential to open their minds to the possibility for them continuing their education after high school. This is why I want it to work and - had I not thought this could help someone - I would have given up a looooooong time ago.

Add all of the stress of getting this up and running with my unsuccessful job search so that I will be employed once my AmeriCorps year has ended in April, and you'll find me with the emotional mood swings of a hormonal pregnant woman. My poor, poor boyfriend!  Happy Valentine's Day to him. :)

about me:

1. I won't eat Chiquita bananas because of their monetary support for the FARC. Actually, I prefer not to eat any bananas from any of the major producers because most do not have a positive history in Latin America, so basically, I don't eat them.

2. I like to drink wine (I'm drinking a glass now) but I couldn't tell ya the difference between a $10 and a $50 bottle. Never had anything more expensive than $50, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to tell the difference then either. I also enjoy a good brew, too.

3. I have a very "vivid imagination." At least that is what a certified high school counselor has diagnosed my inability to get through horror movies and random spurts of paranoia that erupts from being alone at night.

4. I eat an apple a day- really, I do. My favorite season is thus, fall. In my fridge are Fuji apples, but only because the Honeycrisp ones were all gone.

5. Guilty pleasure: Real Housewives of Anywhere

Where have I been?

I've missed my blogging, not gonna lie. I've also missed running but my motivation was gone. Literally it went kapoof! That seems to be a recurring theme with me. But who ever said running was easy?

Until the weekend. 

A while ago my mom got me a Nike attachment for my ipod shuffle and I finally decided to use it. On Saturday, I decided to just ease back into the whole running and ran for 3 miles at an easy pace. Then Sunday came and I thought, hey maybe I should go to the university track and see if I can bust out some 800s. Since, ya know, I'm all out of shape and all that turned out to be not so fun. 

Warm up: easy 400m

For my first 800, I was going at my casual, easy running pace until I remembered that this was supposed to be a fast workout and it was supposed to hurt. By the second 800, I was hurting. Third 800 I wanted to quit and go home. Fourth 800 I thought my lungs were giving out... 

Then I did an easy 400m cool down.

Oh yeah, I did 10 burpees in between each set. 

(total: 3 miles) 

Now to the other exciting part of my weekend. 

B went out of town to go to the Rangers game in Arlington, TX with his family. So, I invited two of my friends over and we drank wine (lots of it) and carved pumpkins for Halloween. 

And here is our final product (after emptying about 3.5 bottles of vino) 

Mine is the witch on the far right. I accidentally cut parts that I wasn't supposed to so it turned out to look like it is either playing the guitar or holding a ninja sword. 

Family Slideshow

It is my parents 15 wedding anniversary! Since my sister's wedding, my mom and step-dad have gotten into a slideshow making kick and made this video to celebrate and show how much our family has grown physically, mentally, emotionally, etc.

Featured is my mom, step-dad, sister, and two brothers - oh, and me of course! 

So, here it is, for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
Oh, and that would be a picture of me trying to do tricks in beer pong- behind the back! Obviously I missed.

Last night I was super bored. B had a night class from 7 to 10 and the Jersey Shore wasn't going to be on for another three hours! So what did I do?

1. Internet shopped - really, I browsed since I'm always too broke to buy anything. (new fav. store is Asos.com and Topshop.com)

Who wants to buy me a pair of these boots  size 9.5? I know, I know, I've got some big feet.

2. Began my new book, "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson (who is getting a bunch of backlash for allegedly providing a bunch of inaccuracies in his books - I found this out after I bought it)

3. And lastly, decided enough was enough and laced up my running shoes and went for a run

My run consisted of an easy 50 minutes. Since it was getting dark I decided to keep my run around the campus area because they have much better lighting and also SPRINKLERS!!! I just love to run through some sprinklers, especially when they are humongous football field sized ones that drench you after one hit. It was pretty fun, not gonna lie, and it pretty much made my night. Its the little things, ya know?

I'm also pretty proud of myself because I cooked a fabulous dinner last night. It consisted of rice, vegetarian "meat" crumbles, and chickpeas stuffed bell peppers and oven "fried" okra.

It was all pretty simple to make. For the stuffed bell peppers, I cut them in half and then in a separate pan sauteed up some chopped garlic, threw in the morningstar "meat" crumbles, pre-made wild rice and a rinsed and drained can of chickpeas. I added salt, pepper, and a little cumin and then stuffed the pepper, topped it with shredded cheese and put in all in the oven at 400 degrees until I decided it was done enough. Easy.

As for the okra, I had no idea what to do with it all after B decided to buy a whole bag of it from the farmers market last Saturday. The only kind of okra I've ever eaten (and enjoyed) is fried okra and I wasn't about to make that!

So what I did was cut the okra into bite sized pieces, dip them in egg beaters and cover with gluten free bread crumbs. Then I salt and peppered them and throw those babies into the oven with the bell peppers until they looked crispy.

Dessert happened to be half of a vegan nut and chocolate chip cookie and some spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream that was stashed in the fridge from when B's parents came to visit. It was bliss.

Hump Day

I have no idea how it's Wednesday already. I literally had to check the calendar on my computer to make sure it really wasn't Tuesday. Oh wait, of course it's not Tuesday - I remembered I watched the new episode of Pretty Little Liars last night.

My alarm clock went off at 6:30 this morning. I didn't get out of bed until 7. I did, however, get in a short run this morning: 27 minutes at an easy pace.

Last night for the first time in a long loooong time, I went to yoga. The class was jam packed and I (lucky me) got stuck right by the door and all the windows. At first, I parked my mat nudged in between the corner of the room and some other lady until I was directed to move because the lady informed me, in her good ol' okie accent that, "honey, I'm gonna be hittin' ya with my arms if your gonna be so close to me".

There really was a lot of space but since I was already having kind of a rough day I moved for her... next to the door and windows where little kids and their parents walked by as I awkwardly attempted the cow pose without feeling violated and telling myself "no, they are not staring at your butt even though it is sticking into the air". That's one thing that I do hate about yoga, why have windows where passersby can watch and enjoy as you are attempting undoubtedly compromising positions? My favorite yoga class was through the university, which I can no longer attend now since I graduated, because the instructor would dim the lights enough to where you could see what was going on but still feel comfortable.

For breakfast this morning, I had veggie juice (cucumber, spinach, carrots, kohlrabi, and tomato) with an apple thrown in and a handful of blueberries for sweetness. Then, I added a scoop full of Superfood  for that extra boost. Superfood definitely makes the juice a little less appetizing but its not too bad once you get used to it.

The good and bad about having a mom who runs

My mom began running in her mid-thirties. Now, over twenty years later, she's still a running maniac.

What's nice about having a mom who runs? 
I can call her up any day and say "hey mom, what do you think I should run today?" and she'll know the exact workout that will kick my sorry butt into gear.

The bad? 
The fact that my mom kills me in workouts. I suppose this could be seen as both good and bad. Good because I get a good workout, bad because my mom is showing me up.

Example: I told her one day I was going on my long run, 13 miles. Afterwards, I texted her to let her know how I did and her response was that she did 14...

She's so funny. I love my mom. 

My mom on the left, sister in the middle, me on the right. We are wearing our Pakistani tunics for my sister's wedding rehearsal.

Don't be fooled, my sister is wearing heels and I'm in flip flops. I'm usually the tallest!

Anyways, the point of this is that my mom and I decided we would begin training for the Tulsa marathon this year and to start, we should run for one hour at a slow pace. Now, it's been awhile for me (like 3-4 months) since I've ran longer than 35 minutes - the heat here doesn't help, people! So, this morning I got up early to beat the heat and get this hour long run over with. Unfortunately, I only made it to 50 minutes. I'm clearly in no shape for marathons at the moment. Don't you worry, my mom ran her whole hour and informed me that we need to make it an hour and fifteen minute run next week. Here's to marathon training.

Wedding Weekend and the Juice Disaster

Last weekend my sister just happened to get married!

Yes that's me holding her 15 lb bouquet looking on happily as they share their first kiss as husband as wife! Isn't my sister beautiful???

(I will hopefully be able to add more pictures later on)

Basically it happened to be the best wedding I've ever been to. Not only was the place absolutely gorgeous, with real glass drinkwear (classy!) and highly attentive servers, the dj played some pretty amazing jams! Me and my entire family were dancing fools, especially my older brother who pulled out moves I'd never seen before! We partied until they kicked us out at 12:30 and we sent away my sis and new brother in law away in their limo with bubbles.

Oh yeah, I caught the bouquet as B looked on in shock and disbelief. My defense: I had had one too many shots of tequila, beer, wine, and champagne under my belt and I couldn't stand the thought of one of her not-so-deserving bridesmaids to get it. So there I was standing front in center as I swapped it out of the air. When I realized what I had done I attempted to pass it on to my little brothers girlfriend who refused to take it. So I'm stuck with it and I guess B is stuck with me! Luckily, as my mom said, there isn't a time frame on it :)

On another note, B and I have developed a new habit! We've been juicing up veggies every morning for the past 3 weeks. I've noticed a lot of changes with this. First of all, I no longer need coffee (!). For reals. I NEVER thought I would say this but I have successfully managed to wean myself off of caffeine. Now, it took a few days and I did have a couple of headaches but I have seriously not needed any type of pick me ups since I began drinking fresh veggie juice on a regular basis. Not only that, my appetite has decreased. I find that I no longer crave sweets or fattening foods like I used to. So, despite my mimosa, beer, champagne, and wine binge all weekend, I didn't gain a pound! You should have seen me when I stepped on that scale Monday morning shocked and in disbelief.

As for the taste of veggie juice, I love it. Er, most of it. This morning I decided to venture out and try new veggies. This led me to throw in a daikon radish into the mix which has caused my first veggie juice blunder. After I went through red kale, cucumber, tomato, carrots, celery and an apple I thought that a little radish won't hurt, right? WRONG! I drank the thing just because I didn't want wasted goodness but OMG it upset my stomach and left a horrible funky taste in my mouth for hours. That will be the last time I add radish to juice.