Looking Back {on 2012} Part I

For me 2012 was a year of personal growth. As the year began I found myself searching for meaning and purpose in my life. It was a year of challenges, but those challenges eventually turned into triumphs, and as the year came to a close I felt at peace. I had learned to seek happiness for myself, instead of waiting for it to find me. 

January

We celebrated the new year in Texarkana for Britt and Dustin's wedding weekend. It was such a memorable weekend and a wonderful start to 2012. 

At some point in January it became a reality that Brandon actually had to leave for three months, starting at the end of March. I began worrying about what this meant for me. I didn't have anything holding me back in Corpus, but I started to wonder if having a job would make the coming months easier. I looked into possibilities outside of child life, and I considered going into teaching. After weighing all my options I decided against it. I didn't want to jump into something just because I was scared of the challenge ahead. 

February 

I spent the month of February taking advantage of my time with Brandon, since I knew he would be leaving in a matter of weeks. Although we squeezed in as many date nights and fun outings as we could, it still felt like there was cloud of sadness hanging over us. Even though we tried not to think about it, we knew that we were quickly approaching the biggest challenge we had ever faced as a married couple. 

Towards the end of the month I made my first Austin trip of 2012. Shell and I experienced the Campus Candy Store for the first time and attended a Texas Country benefit concert that was close to my heart.

March

I realized I had spent so much time trying to figure out the next step in God's plan that I hadn't even noticed His presence in the present moment. I began to see Him working in my life in ways that I hadn't even considered. I learned to accept the stage I was in, and life seemed fun again. 

We spent a weekend in Yoakum before Brandon started his rig training, and at the end of the month we began our Dallas adventures. 

April

I did a lot of traveling in April. I was either in Yoakum with my parents, in Austin with Michelle, or in Dallas with Brandon. I had a lot of time to myself, which I spent running, reading, and just thinking about life. 

We also celebrated my PaPaw's 90th birthday, and we felt so blessed to have him in our lives. 

April was also the beginning of Courtney and Kyle's wedding festivities. My maid of honor duties included a day in College Station for Courtney's bridal portraits, a day I will never forget.

Stay tuned for parts two and three...

Color Me Rad: So much fun, words cannot describe it!

Life Update

- Have you noticed anything different? I'll give you a hint: it starts at the top of this page. It's my new design! I've been playing around with it for a while {I have a secret 'practice blog' that I've been using to try out new designs}, and I finally created one that I'm happy with. It would be a lot easier if I had Photoshop or InDesign like we used for the yearbook in high school, but I don't, so Microsoft Publisher it is! If I keep blogging long enough I may give in and pay someone to do it, but I don't think I'm there yet. I will do my best to get the new tabs at the top up and running soon!

- I need to apologize for the lengthiness of this post. I should know by now that if a post takes me that long to write and edit, it's probably too long. It really should have been three different posts. Bear with me. I'm still learning. And if you did start to read it and either lost interest or ran out of time, I encourage you to go back and pick up where you left off. At least read the piano bar part. That's the best part! And if you make it all the way to the end there may or may not be a fried s'more waiting for you. Yum!

- Next up, the garden! Oh, the garden. I think it may have died at one point? I'm not really sure. For about a month or so it completely stopped growing. I was watering and fertilizing, and it just wasn't growing. At all. And some parts were starting to turn brown. Then out of no where it started growing again! And one of the plants even has blooms now! So we will see. By the way... My dad's tomato plants are taller than I am, and my PaPaw has them randomly growing out from underneath his porch. He calls them 'volunteers'. I call it not fair. I think just his presence makes tomato plants grow. *Thanks to our sweet neighbors and their boys for watering while we were gone. If we ever actually get tomatoes we'll bring some over!*


{Notice the ones on the right are a lot smaller than the ones on the left.}

- I haven't updated you all on my running progress in a while. I'm still running, just not as often as I did before the 5k. When we got back to Corpus {after Brandon working in Dallas for three months} I was so ready to jump back into yoga. Finding a good balance between running and yoga was tough at first {I was trying to add yoga without cutting back on running, and I wasn't doing either one successfully}, but I've now fallen into a routine that works for me. And even though I haven't ran in another actual race, it just feels good to know that I could if I wanted to.

- I haven't done a fantasy football update for two reasons: 1. I don't want to bore you. 2. I have actually lost interest, myself. The first few weeks were exciting, but after that it's been the same routine every week, and I just really don't care anymore. I'm still the owner, but I've hired Brandon as my manager {he sets my line-up each week, with my input of course} and my dad as the head coach {he keeps up with how my team is doing and gives me updates}. It's a system that works for everyone. Oh, and I beat Brandon this week.

- Lastly, if you haven't seen Pitch Perfect GO SEE IT!! I've seen it twice. And I'm trying to think of who else I can take, so I can see it again. It's that funny!



I hope you're having a great week!!

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend was full of friends, food, music, and fun! On Friday we went to Taste of Addison with a few of our friends from B's work.



{Taste of Addison}



When we first found out about this festival {which included lots of food, drinks, and great music} B told his friends that we may not go since I was running the next morning. Yes, he was about to turn down live Texas Country music, for me. I told him that we could definitely go, and we agreed to not stay too late. 



{Our view from the Dos Equis tent}



We got there and walked around a while. There were carnival rides, arts and crafts vendors, several concert stages, and lots and lots of yummy food. Once we decided which of the sixty-something restaurant tents we wanted to eat at, we got in line to place our order. I had seen people carrying margaritas that looked so good. Boot cups, pinapples, coconuts, glo-in-the-dark cups... You name it, they served margaritas in it! But, B reminded me that I had a race in the morning, and since I am a major lightweight when it comes to alcohol, I decided against the margarita in the oh-so-cool cup. Oh the sacrifices of being a runner..ha!



{Dinner from Taco Diner}



We ate, visited with friends, sat in the special guest Dos Equis tent. That's right, we were special guests...



{Inside the special guest tent..Sarah and I were matching!}



And after listening to a little Wade Bowen we called it a night. It was a fun, relaxing evening. And did I mention it was all free??

The next morning we got up and went to my first 5k...

{Read more about the 5k here}

We then headed to Mansfield for a softball tournament that B played in with our friend, Hunter. Hunter and B were roommates in college, and it was so good to see him and his wife, Lindsey! The tournament was at the Field of Dreams complex, which was really nice.



{Each field is designed after one of the historic major league fields.}



B loves playing softball, and he hasn't had the chance to play in almost a year because of his work schedule. So it was fun to get to watch him play again :)



{That's B... He did great!}



After our long day Saturday, we spent Sunday relaxing and hanging out at the hotel. It was a great weekend :)

First 5k: Completed!

We have had such a fun weekend! The best part, for me, was running my first 5k. Here's how it went...

I had been looking forward to this all week. It was the day of my first 5k. The day I would accomplish my goal. For some people, people who have been running for years or people who are natural born runners, this wouldn't seem like much of an accomplishment. But for me? It was huge. It was something I set out to do months ago. Something I worked hard to accomplish. Something I am proud of.

Let me start by saying that B has been my #1 fan. From day one. And this hasn't changed.

On Friday night he handed me two 12oz. bottles of water and told me to finish them both before we went to bed {in preparation for my run}. Does he know how small my bladder is? Even though there was no way I was going to drink all that water right before bed, it made me smile to know he was just as excited about my run as I was :)

We got ready for bed, I laid out my running clothes, and we set our alarms for 6:30a.m.

As soon as my alarm went off my first thought was "Why do people schedule these things so early in the morning??" I am not a morning person.

We got dressed quickly, I grabbed a water and a granola bar, and we were on our way.

We got there with plenty of time to check in and warm up. I got my race-timer-thingy {the strap that goes on your ankle and tells you your time at the end}, pinned on my number, did a quick warm-up run, and it was time.

Everyone's advice to me was to remember to run at my pace. They said to stay in the back and told me not to worry about keeping up with the other runners. So my plan was to start off in the back of the group from the starting line. But it all happened so quickly that I just had to jump in and go.

When the horn blew I was standing in the middle of the group, closer to the front than I wanted to be. But I had my music playing {Pandora pop and hip-hop power mix}, and I was ready to go.

{That's me in the pink shorts.}

So was everyone else. For the next few minutes I watched out of the corners of my eyes as the other runners flew past me. I stayed positive and reminded my self that this was my run, and that no one else even mattered. But by the time I rounded the first corner I just knew that everyone had passed me.

"Don't look behind you," I told myself. "Who cares if you're last?"
{If I was actually the last runner, I did not want to know.}

I kept running. At my pace. And as I rounded the second corner I noticed that I was no longer getting passed. Everyone was starting to spread out, and I felt like this was my run. I could do this.

As my confidence started to build, I decided to glance back. Just to see if I was last.

To my surprise there was a whole group of people behind me! I laughed to myself. How silly of me to have even worried about it!

At this point I was feeling great! This was just another run, on another trail, in another city. The weather was perfect, slightly windy with the sun peeking through the clouds. As I ran I tried to soak everything in. The crowd, the runners, the great organization that this run would benefit. I was loving it.

As I ran I noticed the diversity in all the runners. There were people of every age and every race. There were doctors, nurses, and receptionists. There were married people, single people, moms and dads. There were even runners who were not people...

{Princess will begin the C25k program as soon as I get home ;)}

I finished the first half of the race and felt confident I could finish the second. I always compare new runs to places I have run in the past. I told myself "I just have to run around our neighborhood in Corpus one more time."

Before I knew it, I was getting close to the end. As I rounded the last corner I could see it. That was such a good feeling. I couldn't help but smile as I crossed the finish line.

{Mission Accomplished}

My first thought: When can I do it again?!

{Sweaty, tired, and hungry.}

My second thought: Where are we going to eat?? {Haha..}

{Post-race migas and queso..yum!}

We went to Cafe Brazil, my favorite breakfast place in Addison. It was the perfect brunch after my run.

I loved my first 5k! I am already thinking about when to sign up for another one, and today I looked into the 'Bridge to 10k' app for my phone. I do want to get a few more 5ks under my belt before training for a 10k, but it's good to be prepared, right??

**Thanks for the "Good Luck" calls and texts...You know who you are ;)

First 5k coming up!

I am running my first 5k on Saturday, and I can't wait! I have been preparing for months, and I know I'm ready. I did a short run early in the week, my outfit is picked out, and I pick up my race packet tomorrow. The only thing left to do is decide which Pandora station to listen to ;) I'll let you know how it goes!

{Pre-race run earlier this week at Zilker Park in Austin.. LOVE the trails there!}

**I will be running in the Prosperity Place 5th Annual Fun Run and Family Festival in Frisco, TX. To find out more about Prosperity Place click here. 

Running Update

I haven't blogged about my running progress in a while, so I thought I'd update you...

I'm still running! After finishing the C25K training, I just kept going. I try to run at least three times a week, or not go more than two days in a row without running. So far, this has worked well for me.

Another thing that works for me is to run for time. I was really extremely slow when I started, so I ran for time instead of distance. So far, this has worked. And at this point if I get to the end of my time goal for a run, but I'm also close to a new distance then I'll keep going until I reach that new distance.

I also listen to music. Most of the time. Every now and then it feels good to just run, with a clear head and no distractions. But when I do listen to music it's either the Spice Girls, Black Eyed Peas, or Pop and Hip Hop Power Mix stations on Pandora.

Something that I love: I can run anywhere. Sure Town Lake and Addison Circle are my favorites, and the hills in Oak Ridge kill me, but I know that no matter where I am I can make it happen. As long as I have my Asics.

Another thing I love: When I travel, which I have been doing a lot of lately, I pack just as many running outfits as a do regular ones. BTW-- B will make so much fun of me for using the word 'outfits', ha!

My next goal: To run in an actual 5K race. I've been running this distance for a while now, and I've run in several different locations, so I feel like I'm ready. I'll probably register for one tonight :)

So that's my update. I'll keep you posted on my first race. I will definitely need your encouragement!


-- I also want to congratulate my little sis' who is SO close to finishing C25K. Way to go, Shell!! You're almost there! I can see us a few years from now, traveling to different cities together to run in big races. I can't wait!

C25K Complete!

Yesterday I finished my last run in the C25K! I'm feeling pretty proud of myself :) Like I said before, I love this workout plan. I highly recommend it! Here are a few tips that helped me get started and kept me going...

1. Run for you.

Don't run for anyone else. Do it for yourself.

2. Run for your health.

Instead of running to change your physical appearance, run to improve your health. Run to keep your heart healthy. Run so you have the energy to keep up with your kids or grandkids.

3. Be yourself.

Find what works for you, and don't try to be someone else. Run in the morning, afternoon, or evening. Run for distance or run for time. Run fast or run slow. All that matters is that you are running.

4. Don't think. Just run.

When you run, let your mind wander.

5. Be proud of yourself.

When you accomplish your goal, feel proud. It's important to be proud of yourself, instead of seeking praise from others.

6. Keep going.

I found this on Pinterest, and it really helped me get through the last few weeks.

When I was struggling to finish a run, I would tell myself,
"I'm not going to puke, I'm not going to faint, and I'm not going to die, so I can keep going."

Happy running!!

Reaching MILEstones

I just finished an almost 3 mile run, and if you anything about my running history, you know this is an accomplishment! In August I began the Couch-to-5k running program. It's a nine-week program that takes you from sitting on the couch to running your first 5k (get it?). Anyway, This program is designed to help you slowly build strength and stamina, and it works.

Thanks to my Spice Girls station on Pandora and my supportive hubby, I am only FOUR workouts away from the final C25K workout! I'll let you know how it goes :)

My new running shoes from B!

Happy Monday!