AAAAAHHH!! OMFG!! HOLY FREAKIN' MOLY!!

Last week, I received a very suspicious package in the mail from the charity that I applied to run for. All it contained was a t-shirt, training guide, blank thank-you notes and a few goodies. THAT'S IT. No letter, nothing, nada. So, I spent a week wondering what the heck that meant...did I get in? Am I running the NYC marathon in November? Do I need to get off my ass and start running more than a couple of miles a few times a week (might be a good idea in general)? Then last night, I decide to look at the training schedule...you know, just in case. I start putting the weekend long runs in my calendar in my phone, then decided to delete them all, because who freaking knows at this point. I swear, not 2 seconds later, my phone dings and I check my email.

This is what I read:

Dear Veronica Deats,

Girls on the Run is glad to provide you with a guaranteed entry into the ING New York City Marathon 2010..

I almost peed my pants. I'm in, I'm in, I'm in....I'm flipping the heck out!!

So, I run (trip) to my computer, register and get this seconds later:


Congratulations! You have received guaranteed entry to the ING New York City Marathon 2010.

Your entry number is...

It's officially official.

I am committed to a fundraising goal of $2,500, so don't be surprised if you receive mass emails and phone calls from me...just remember how much you love me ;) And, if you see me on the side of the road with a couple of cute kids selling lemonade or cookies, you better stop and buy some!

NYC Marathon Update

Well, the lotto was a bust. Out of six people I know that entered, one got in...which happened to be Andrea! We didn't really think any of the 3 of us that were trying for the 1st time would get in, but sure enough! As of now I've applied to run with a charity, and I'm just waiting to hear if I've been accepted. I had no clue this would be such a process. Lots of work for something I decided to do on a whim. So, for now I'm just in limbo and we'll see.

A bunch of updates all squished into one!

We've had a busy few months around here, and I feel like I haven't really had a second to stop and take it all in! We've had birthdays, birthdays and more birthdays!! We've been remodeling bathrooms, taking some short trips and, trying to remember to breathe every once in a while. Life's good!
Liam turned one at the end of January (cue minor heart attack!) and is just becoming the funniest little guy :) He laughs at everything, including himself. He's starting to really try to talk and says the normal "Mama, Dada, uh-oh, hello, bu-bye" etc. He just started saying "aya" for Ava and putting a few words together like "bu-bye dada". He's still the most laid back kid that I've ever been around, but has such a fun personality. Everyday I see more and more of Jon in him. He really is Jon's little mini-me! Big news too...he FINALLY started walking!! He took his first step a little over a week ago while we were in Houston and now he's taking more and more everyday. He's trying to push himself up to stand from the floor and go from there too, and has managed to do it a few times. So, go Buggy!! 'Bout time little dude.
Ava turned 4 at the beginning of February and while I was hoping she would magically wake up and be done with the terrible 3's (because whoever came up with the terrible 2's clearly never met my daughter), but 4 had been just as challenging so far. She does have some redeeming qualities though, so I'll work with what we've got for now. According to her sweet, wonderful teachers at school, she is polite, helpful and always on her very best behavior. I am convinced that I'm sending a different child to school than the one that I bring home. At least she saves the drama for me...and I'm so thankful that she knows to leave it at home. Right now that kid's social calendar is harder to plan around than any of ours. She's playing soccer, taking ballet and swim lessons and is already pretty much booked up for the summer. I mean, seriously. But, she's happy and active and that's a good thing. She's been asking for a while to go out running with me, so I talked to her Pediatrician about it and he said go for it. So, we bought her 1st pair of running shoes and we've been running around the neighborhood together. I'm running a 5k in a couple of weeks and they have a kids fun run that she's going to do! She's so excited and it makes me so proud that this is something she seems to really like right now. I hope she enjoys the whole race experience so I can continue to encourage her :)
Jon and I both turned the big 3-0 and had a joint "60th" Birthday party last month to celebrate. It was so much fun and so many of our friends and family came. I have to say that I was pretty excited to finally be in my thirties. I was so over being 20-something and feel like and official grown-up now for some reason. Of course I still do completely immature things like buy $10 sunglasses because I can't take care of nice ones, and buy music by girls with $ymbol$ in their names because I like to listen to it when I run....you know, to make me feel young and all ;)
Speaking of running, I ran my SECOND half marathon a couple of weeks ago! I was having some problems with my hip, which looks like it might be IT band issues, and really followed a pretty pathetic training schedule...but even with all of that I managed to take a full 12 minutes off of my time from the 1st one in just 3 months! With the exception of my hip, I also recovered so much faster. I took a couple of weeks off and I'm going to try a short run tomorrow and see how I feel. I am surprised at how much I've missed running lately. Never thought i'd say that ;) It will be nice to run just because I want to for a little while, and not because I'm training for anything. After the half I did something ridiculous (blame it on Andrea again!) and entered the lotto to run the New York Marathon in November. Not sure what I was thinking. I've had it in the back of my head that I'd like to run ONE full marathon, and if I'm going to do it, I need to do it this year. We find out in a little over a week if we got in...so we'll see! I'd say wish me luck...but I'm not sure how much I want ;)
So, that's our story for now!

Phil can SUCK IT....

Because I don't think I can handle six more weeks of winter. I do not live in Texas and endure summers that feel like I've been summoned to the fiery depths of Hell to have to put of with the winter that we've had. Ice, snow...more ice and snow...below freezing temperatures. Um, no freaking thank you. I live here and deal with many, many days of hundred degree plus weather so that I can enjoy nice, mild 60 degree days December through February, and maybe break out the heavy coat once or twice. I am SO OVER THIS. I need sunshine STAT.

Key West Trip

We had been planning this trip for months, so by the time it actually got here, we were SO ready for a vacation! We really needed it, and it was such a fun, relaxing trip. We flew out at the ass crack of dawn Thursday morning (on the 6 am flight, which meant we were up at 3...that was painful). The plus was that we got almost a full day there. When we got there, I thought we were staying at the Doubletree by the airport. I told Jon to find us a cheap hotel because I didn't want to waste money on the hotel, we probably wouldn't be there that much anyway, blah, blah, blah. He surprised me by changing our reservations to the Reach, which was so sweet. I would have been more than fine staying in the Doubletree...but I won't lie, this was so much nicer!! I loved it :) It gets better though. My sweet, wonderful friend Angie had left me a gift certificate to the hotel spa for my birthday and she and her husband had champagne, chocolate covered strawberries, etc. sent to our room. On top of that, we got upgraded to a Suite and they sent us up the biggest piece of chocolate cake you can imagine for our Anniversary. We were a little spoiled!
The weather was a little cool the first day, but warmed up some by Friday. We decided to get some beach time in. I decided that I was going to be brave and rock a bikini since Jon was the only person I knew there and he's already seen everything that there is too see anyway. I figured everyone else could just suck it. Plus, I was pretty sure that I would be no where close to winning the "What the Hell is she thinking putting that on in public" award. Good news is I was correct in my assessment that I would not be the palest, or flabbiest chica in a bikini. Bad news is that having gotten no UV action in almost 5 years, my belly decided to retaliate by turning the brightest shade of lobster red that you can imagine...even though it got the same amount of sun, and was given the exact same amount of sunscreen protection. Maybe that's a sign.
We did a couple of touristy things that we didn't get to do when we were there for the wedding. We went to the Butterfly Exhibit and the Hemingway House. I really enjoyed both of them. I have to say...I'm not sure what they feed those butterflies, but they were on crack. I could barely get pictures of them. We got to see some being released that were only a few hours old. Apparently they only live to be 10-14 days old. Sad little fact. The Hemingway House was just gorgeous...so much history. All of the little 6-toed cats were killing me. They were everywhere!
We pretty much just spent a lot of time walking around, ducking into a few little shops and bars. We hit Mallory Square one night for Sunset....which is a must. Lucky for us it was the only night with a great sunset! The rest of our time was spent eating more food that anyone has any business eating. I plan on fully describing each meal, so get ready!
Our first stop for lunch on Thursday was at the Banana Cafe on Duval. It's a little French cafe and was not too far from our Hotel. Reason #1 why we chose it!! We were starving and it was the first thing that looked good. They had an amazing selection of crepes, salads and sandwiches. Jon had a turkey sandwich and I had the mozzarella sandwich. It was delicious. Fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil with olive oil on whole grain bread. Their twist was that instead of balsamic vinegar, they did a lime vinaigrette. Very refreshing and healthy. I managed to resist the banana and nutella crepes. Good thing, since over the course of the four days that we were there, I became a member of the clean plate club more times that I am willing to admit.
For dinner that night, we stumbled (literally....after a fantastic happy hour at Conch Republic Seafood Co..which is where we had our Rehearsal Dinner!) into Caroline's, also on Duval. I had a skirt steak with black beans and rice, and Jon had blackened mahi-mahi (which they made for him upon request!). They food was excellent, and not very pricey! I'm assuming that we were not overly enthused because of the number of drinks that we had consumed, and that it was, in fact, as tasty as I recall. That make a pretty good mojito too :)
Lunch Friday was at Camille's on Simonton. I loved this place. The food was great. They are famous for their breakfast, which they serve all day. Jon got their chicken salad sandwich with sweet potato fries and I had a breakfast burrito with jalapeno sausage and skillet potatoes. We ate half of each others because they were both delicious. I loved the decor in this place too. Think Granny Floridian Kitch with a kinky sense of humor. Everywhere you look you see something new; like vintage Barbies in bondage hanging from the windows, fuzzy leopard handcuffs at the bar, and wooden pigs getting it on in the front window. All of that is juxtaposed with tropical pastel outdoor furniture that you would find in a snow bird retirement community! Pretty funny stuff...great food!
Dinner that night was at Prime 951 on Caroline St. We had made reservations online, and were surprised with a little private room! Very nice :) I had read that this place had amazing steaks, and was not disappointed. For appetizers, Jon got a wedge salad and I had a tomato and mozzarella stack. Delicious. Their steaks come out on wooden cutting boards and they were cooked perfectly. So good, that I ate every.single.bite! I also ordered the mashed potatoes as a side....and if you know me at all...you know that I adore potatoes. I ate a bite, maybe two. They were fabulous, but that steak was unbelievable! Jon got the mac 'n cheese, and said it was good...but it had truffle oil and he had a severe issue with people putting truffle oil in everything just because it's "fancy and trendy". I have to say that I agree 100%. That was the only complaint...damn truffles. I will also say that the service here was impeccable. There was someone in that room checking on us constantly, but not in an annoying way. They were very on top of things.
For dessert, we headed to this little place called Better than Sex on Petronia. Luckily it was a bit of a walk because we had no room by the time we left the steakhouse. They only serve desserts, with crazy names, and have definitely put and effort into giving the place an "atmosphere". I ordered the Kinky Key Lime Pie, which was pretty good, but more of a mousse than a pie. Jon got the Hot and Bothered which I loved. It was a spicy chocolate ice cream topped with white chocolate...YUM! Our waiter was hilarious and there is definitely no such thing as censorship there! I wouldn't say the desserts are better than sex, but it's a fun place to go.
For lunch Saturday we took the boat out to Sunset Key, where our wedding was, and ate at Latitudes. I was so excited to get to go back out to the island, and it definitely brought back so many wonderful memories! The first thing we noticed though, was how much the shoreline had changed. The waiter told us that with the storms and cold weather they'd had over the past few weeks, the tide had come up about 10-15 feet. It was still so pretty, and I loved being out there, even it it was only for a couple of hours. We each ate a sandwich...I don't even remember what, but they were tasty. I had a total frou-frou drink too. A key lime colada...so unlike me as I do not do sweet, pastel, frothy drinks of any sort, but I was on vacation so what the hell! After lunch we walked around for a bit and looked at all of the cottages. I couldn't remember for the life of me which one we stayed in, just that it had green shutters. We decided that in five years we were coming back again and may just have to stay out there!
Dinner that night was at Nine One Five on Duval. It's a cute little restaurant, and one of Key West's more trendy spots. I don't know how long they've been open, but I don't remember seeing it last time we were there. Luckily they have a tapas style menu, and you can get some smaller portions of really great food. By the time we ate here, we were so stuffed from eating 2 huge meals a day that I didn't know how much more I could handle. I sucked it up though, and we got fried polenta to start with (oh, how I love polenta!!). I had chipotle orange pork tacos and Jon got their signature tuna dome. The food was really great, but the service was so, so we thought. We did end up getting dessert, fresh pear and blueberry cobbler...so glad I did because it was delicious. I think we were in a food coma after we left because we tried to hit a few bars, and ended up taking a petty cab back to the hotel after about an hour. Way to live it up on our last night, huh!?!
For our final meal on Sunday (that sounds morbid), we ate at Ricky's Blue Heaven. It had been raining all morning and hadn't really let up much by the time we got there for brunch. We ended up having to sit inside, which was a bummer because I was looking forward to sitting outside with all of the roosters running around! I had a luncheon there the morning of our wedding and loved it, so I was really looking forward to eating there. They do breakfast, lunch and dinner...but only serve breakfast/brunch until 2 on Sundays. I had been talking about how amazing their banana pancakes are, and Jon ordered those. I forgot how huge they are though. You get three pancakes the size of my rear, and it is impossible to eat all of them. I got the rooster special with eggs, bacon, potatoes and banana bread. I ate some of Jon's pancakes too! We miserably walked around for a while after that, and I actually felt like I was going to die. Although everything was so very good, I am glad to be home and away from all of the temptation of yummy new food that I need to try!!
Now we're back to the real world, but this will hopefully be a regular trip every half decade...it's definitely a special place for us and we get a little more attached with each visit!

Key West

"

That Pesky Zaquito...

...rhymes with taquito.

Ava and I had an interesting little convo on the car ride home from school today.
She noticed me scratching my arm, and it went a little something like this:

Monkey: Mom, do you have an itchy bite?
Me: Yes baby, something bit me.
Monkey: Was it a zaquito?
Me: a WHAT?
Monkey: a zaquito
Me: (holding back tears of laughter) I'm sorry, but I'm going to need you to say that again.
Monkey: (in a most dramatic voice, with hand gestures) MOM, did a zaquito bite your arm?
Me: Are you asking if I have a MOSQUITO bite?
Monkey: (laughing her little booty off) Oh yeah, that's what I was trying to say...where did I get zaquito from?
Me: If only I knew...
Monkey: Well, whatever it was, you should put some spray on it.
Me: Thanks Captain Obvious.
Monkey: HUH?

Unfortunately, I don't think it was a moquito, or even a mysterious little zaquito...I'm pretty sure I have a little spidey bite. GAG.

Catching Up...

I feel like we've had a whirlwind couple of weeks here! Starting with our good friends Travis and Andrea's Wedding, which was an absolute blast. Andrea looked amazing, and it is always so wonderful to see two people you care about starting their lives together. The reception was so much fun that I got home and realized I never even ate any of their gorgeous wedding cake. WHAT?!?!?! I love wedding cake...it's my favorite food group! I guess I was having a REALLY good time! The very next day we had the birthday party of all birthday parties for the kiddos. It was for all of the cousins, and they loved it! There was a bounce house, petting zoo, pony rides...too much fun. Ava, Liam, Hannah, Hunter and Aidan all have birthdays within a couple of months of each other, so we just threw it into one big party! A few days after that we packed up and headed to Houston, dropped the kiddos off with my Dad and Pam, then Jon and I left for our Anniversary trip to Key West. The day after we got back, he left for Charlotte, and threw me back into the real world. WHEW!!! Now here I am trying to catch up on everything from laundry to photos to finally getting all of my Christmas stuff packed away (totally mortified that I'm admitting to it still being up in the middle if Jan....but we've been kind of busy!). It was a fun couple of weeks though :)

Here are a few pics from the kiddos party!



Absolutely adorable cakes that my super talented friend Jennifer made for each of the kids!



Ava coming out of the bounce house for the zillionth time.



Liam on the pony! Ava wouldn't ride it until she saw her brother on it ;)



Kiddos about to dig in to their cakes!



...and a cheesy family pic.

5 Years Ago Today...

I was standing on a tiny little beach in Key West, with 50 of my favorite people, marrying the best man I've ever known. Half a decade, a house and a couple of kids later...life is pretty damn good! Happy Anniversary Babe! Love you and can't wait to be back :)

Wishlist: aka: Things I really, really want, but won't ever buy because I'm too rational and talk myself out of them

Currently, it's these shoes to go with a dress I just bought for a friend's wedding this weekend. They are fun and girly...and more importantly, they are on SALE. But, they go with one, and only one thing in my closet...that dress. Doesn't exactly make them the most sensible purchase, now does it. Damn logic.

Christmas

I have to say we had a really great Christmas :) We were in Dallas Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, which is good because I love getting to see the kids open up their gifts at home. Plus, it was our 1st White Christmas! We got several inches of snow Christmas Eve...it was crazy. Then we got to spend a few days in Houston with Dad, Pam, Tiff and Brad. I even got to see my cousin for a few hours and meet his wife and little girl for the first time! This year, we told Ava that she could ask Santa for 3 gifts, because Baby Jesus got 3 gifts, and it was His Birthday, he was sharing it, etc. So, one day, she comes home from school and tells me that I am wrong, Baby Jesus got 4 gifts. When I asked her what she was talking about, she told me that he got the gift of music from the Little Drummer Boy. I tried to argue, and Jon told me that technically, she was right! I totally got schooled by a 3 year old! After laughing my ass off, I explained that Christmas Carols were our gift of music to each other, and that she absolutely did not get to ask for another present. You have to give her credit though ;) I still haven't taken down my tree...that's my least favorite part. I feel like I just put that sucker up. I love decorating, but really, really don't enjoy de-Christmasing my house. Don't get me wrong, I'm over all of the festiveness, I just wish I could bypass the clean-up!



The kids got a special visit from Santa on Christmas Eve!



First candy cane...not too thrilled when I took it away.


Obligatory family photo.


That's alot of snow for Dallas!




She had to go play in what was left the next morning. PJ's and rainboots are perfectly good snow attire...no?



With their sweet cousins at Nana and Papaw's on Christmas Day.



Roasting marshmallows with Grandpa in Houston.




Testing out the new trampoline...thanks Grandpa and Grandma!!

Half Marathon: I Did It!!

Well, it's all over! I survived, and actually really loved it! I woke up Sunday morning feeling so nervous and super jittery. I was seriously shaking trying to get my breakfast down. I have no clue what was going on...I was just freaking out a little (as in on the verge of tears, not knowing if I was going to be able to do it freaking out). Once I got to Travis and Andrea's and we drove downtown, I was feeling better. There was definitely some anticipation waiting to get up to that start line. So many emotions all mixed in together. I was anxious, excited, doubtful, but also just proud of myself for even being there in the first place. To top it all off, this was a HUGE race. There were 20,000 people this year...and I only knew 2 other people on that course. I was kind of in awe of these people! Let me just say here that I had two real goals that I had set for myself for this half marathon: I wanted to finish the entire thing running, and I wanted to do it in 2 1/2 hours. So...my official time was 2:30:32 and I ran every single step of every freaking mile!!!!
My only big issue physically for the day was that my feet were already hurting even before I started running. Never good. My shoes were pretty much shot, but by the time I really realized this a couple of weeks ago, breaking in a new pair wasn't really an option. So, I chose to run in worn out shoes, knowing my feet were going to kill me. They did, but all in all, everything else felt really good. All of the aches and pains that I'd been icing and nursing all week seemed to just go away when I started running that morning.
I made a decision when I started that I was just going to keep it slow and stay between a 10 to 11 minute pace. I knew that I could run faster than that in the beginning and make up for some time, but of my two goals, the most important for me was to run the whole thing. I didn't want to start out too fast, and end up completely spent at the end. I had only run 10 miles before, and had no clue how I would feel past that point. I felt great the first half. Jon was with my family around mile 6 and I stopped to give Ava a quick hug and kiss...that definitely kept me going :) I was still doing fine up until mile 8 or 9, then had to make a quick pit stop on the curb to yank out one of the insoles that I had bought a few days before to try to remedy the shoe problem. It was all bunched up and driving me insane. I've never gotten a shoe off and on so fast in my life! I stayed under an 11 min mile until I hit mile 10. I was still feeling okay, I just really slowed down after that. I think I ran the last 3 miles in 36 minutes. Had I been a complete wuss, mile 11 is where I would have wanted to stop. I was so tired then, and everything from my waist down was just screaming at me. I kept looking at all these people at this point though who were walking, and I was thinking to myself, "really, you've gone this far, and you only have 2 freaking miles left...and you're going to walk NOW?" There was no way. Those last 2 miles felt like they took a lifetime to finish. When I finally saw the finish line, I almost cried. I managed to find enough energy to finish the last bit at what I at least consider a sprint! When I finished, all I wanted to do was take my damn shoes off! Had I thought about it, I would have stuck flip flops in my bag ;)
So, I am officially a half marathoner. I have the medal and T-shirt to prove it ;) I have to say that it was an absolutely amazing experience. I don't care how it sounds...I am damn proud of myself! It was hard and I never once thought about not following through. There were times when we were training that I questioned whether or not I would be able to finish the whole thing when the day came, but I knew that I was going to try. I don't know where this part of me has been hiding out, because I never would have thought in the past that this was something that I was capable of: physically or mentally.
The reality is that I probably would not have been able to do it without all of the support that I got from my friends and family. I have an awesome husband who constantly told me that I could do it, and made sure that I always had time to get all of my runs in. Plus, all of this would have never happened if I had not drunkenly agreed when Andrea asked me to do it in the first place...so thank you A! I also have an awesome sis who drives up to support me, even when she has other places to be! So...a big fat thank you to everyone who said I could do this, even when I wasn't so sure!!
You know what's crazy...I'm already talking about which one I want to do next ;)


Here are some pics that my sis took...I look like an absolute cheeseball, but whatever!



While we all know I'm not actually "too fast" my sis made me this sweet sign...totally a joke between us! Loved it!

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This is when I saw Ava and ran over to see her...which explains that doofus smile on my face.



Quick hug and kiss from the Monkey...she says they give me super powers to run fast :)



Waiting for me to finally finish!



All done, whew...still standing though :)

Half Marathon Training: Week 12

My last week of training is over!! All I really did was a couple of super short runs and alot of resting! I cannot believe that I am running this half-marathon tomorrow. I feel like it's pretty much all I've thought about for the last few months, and in the morning, it will all here and over before I know it. I'm a little nervous, b/c I've had some aches and pains that don't seem to want to go away, but mostly just excited. I never in a million years thought I'd be doing something like this, or that I had it in me....but here I am. I have no clue how I'm going to sleep tonight. It's like kid at Christmas anticipation, but waiting for miles instead of presents :) Wish me luck!

Meet Ellie...

Ellie the Elf came to live with us last week. Santa sent her to make sure Ava was being a good girl (as in I went to the store, bought the infamous "Elf on the Shelf", and have been using it to bribe the Monkey ever since!) Money well spent so far. So Ellie goes home to the North Pole each night and tells Santa how Ava was that day. Then she comes back and is in a different spot the next morning. Being the totally stellar parents that we are, Jon and I forgot to move her on the 2nd night, nice huh? We had to come up with a good story. I have to say that it's been fun coming up with places to put her, and Ava gets so excited when she finds her. She needed a little help on this one!

Half Marathon Training: Weeks 10 and 11

I'm pretty excited to type this, because it means that all of the hard part of training is officially over! The last two weeks have gone really well. I ran the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving, which was so much fun. That will definitely have to become a yearly tradition! All of my weekly runs were 5 miles, and I had my final long run today...10 miles. It was not to bad, the weather was just killer. It was cold and so windy. I felt like I was running so hard, but going absolutely nowhere! Even with that, it was actually easier than my 9 mile run a couple of weeks ago, and I didn't feel like I was going to die afterward. I was just freezing and wanted the hottest shower ever! So I have a pretty easy week ahead of me, then 13.1 miles and that's it!! I'm definitely a little nervous, but so excited now too :)

Weekend in Asheville (aka: Angie and Nick got Hitched!)

Oh, where to start?!? Last weekend, we spent an amazing few days in a gorgeous town with some of my favorite people ever. Oh, and my best friend got MARRIED!!!! We got into Asheville late Thursday afternoon, and headed out for pizza and beer (more of each than you can imagine!). Then the girls and guys headed off in separate directions. We kicked off our night with key lime pie martinis, complete with graham cracker rimmed glasses! From there we made friends with a pirate mannequin, got creative with an impromptu toilet paper veil and witnessed Angie get an "E for Effort" lap dance from some locals. It was such a fun night, and much thanks to Angie's sweet mom Debbie for making sure we all got home safe and sound!
Friday Jon and I wandered around Downtown for a bit and found a little Latin cafe called Chorizo. So, so good...and not too shabby when you are needing a good hangover cure! Then I met Angie and her sister, Lauren at the salon for a manicure, which was nice. My nails haven't seen that much attention in a while. After our mani/pedi's we headed to the rehearsal, which is when I saw the wedding site for the first time. I have to say that it took my breath away a little. It was so gorgeous, and you would never even know it was there. Let me just take this time to also say that this was the first time I became aware that I was going to have to walk what seemed like half a mile down a steep gravel hill with people watching while wearing heels. Thoughts of tripping, falling and rolling immediately entered my head! After a smooth rehearsal, we left for the rehearsal dinner. It was at this adorable little restaurant and the food was amazing. It was just such a sweet and funny evening complete with a sentimental slide show, heartfelt toasts and a little performance of Chuck Berry's "My Ding-a-Ling" by the Groom himself.
I'm going to try to describe Saturday without being too cheesy or sentimental, but that's going to be hard! The day started off with a brunch honoring Angie and was full of delicious food and treats. Angie, Lauren and I then went over to the salon to get our hair and make-up done. That in itself was so much fun, I want someone to come do it for me everyday! When we were all beautiful, we left to get dressed. When we walked into the bridal suite, Angie's dress was hanging up, and I started to get all choked up. There are no words to describe that dress. I remember when she first tried it on, it literally took everyone's breath away, and Angie said "I don't want to take it off". That was sooooo the dress!! It's funny to hear her talk about it because it's the complete opposite of what she pictured. She thought she'd end up with something simple and this dress is the most elaborate, "fancy" dress that you can picture. In the words of my 3 year old, "She looks like a Princess in it". Once we were all dressed we went out for a few pictures and headed down to the grove to wait for the wedding to start. Oh, I should mention that the weather was amazing...too good to be true!! Before we knew it we were making that long walk down the gravel path and all managed to make it down like pros :) We waited anxiously for Angie to walk down with her Dad, Donnie. At one point I looked over at Nick and his knees were moving back and forth a million miles a minute. He looked so anxious, but in the absolute best way possible. The second I saw Donnie's face, I had to hold back tears...which I apparently didn't do so well. I don't think I cried at my own wedding, but everything about that day got to me. Not only do I love Angie, but I adore her family and absolutely do not think that she could have married a better guy. She and Nick are the sweetest, funniest, most down to earth couple you will ever meet...and it made me so, so happy to be standing there, watching their wedding. Enough with the cheesiness...onto the party!! And what a party it was! I cannot remember having more fun at a wedding reception. There was great food, amazing cake (red velvet, carrot and pumpkin chocolate chip to be exact) and good music. All of this, along with wonderful friends and one huge dance party made for a seriously fun night that I will not soon forget.
Sunday morning Jon and I reluctantly got out of bed, packed our bags and checked out of our hotel. We made a not so quick stop at the Tupelo Honey Cafe for lunch which was so, so good. There is usually a pretty long wait, but it is so worth it! We didn't get to do most of the big tourist-y things (no Biltmore on this trip), but that just means that we have to go back soon!
Thank you Ang and Nick for including us in your amazing wedding weekend. We feel blessed to have been able to share it with you! Love you :)

Click on the top picture to take you to the album...enjoy!

Asheville-Nick and Angie's Wedding

Half Marathon Training: Weeks 8 and 9

Whew...so these last two weeks have been a little crazy. I spent about 6 of the last 14 days out of town or on the road (Angie's amazing wedding in Asheville, then a turn around trip for the Aggie Bonfire Memorial), had part of my toenail cut out (stupid, nasty ingrown was killing me and it took what seemed like forever for it to feel good enough to run on), and I feel like I've just been playing catch-up. Needless to say, training has not been my #1 priority like it should have been, and a few runs were definitely missed. I did what I could though, and I will admit that I felt like I totally paid for these last 2 weeks today. I went out for my 1st run all the way around White Rock Lake (9 miles) and it was HARD. Most definitely the hardest run that I've had. My legs were killing me, I was tired, and just felt the effects of slacking off a bit. I felt that little bit of doubt creeping back up. I did it though, even though it took me what seemed like a lifetime. I think I have a few weeks of serious gym time ahead of me! The good thing is that I'm running the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving (8 miles) so that will give me an extra long run....feeling like I'm going to need that! Just 3 more weeks now, and I'm determined to make them count!

Banana Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

I have not baked anything in what feels like forever, and had a few bananas sitting on the counter getting all mushy and brown. Normally, I would have made my Grandma's Banana Bread, but I was in the mood to try something a little different! I thought cupcakes sounded so good, since I have a tiny bit of an obsession with them. I found several recipes for banana cupcakes, and honestly I chose these because I had all of the ingredients on-hand. They came out so good! Very dense, but definitely cupcake-y and not too muffin-like.

Banana Cupcakes
From: marthastewart.com

Ingredients:

Makes 12

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar*, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix)**. Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
3. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.

*I never have plain white sugar unless I'm buying ingredients to bake, so I used a combination of Sugar in the Raw (1/2 c) and Splenda (1/4 c) and it came out great. I've never baked with the raw sugar before, but I think I will again!

**The key to keeping them light is to stop mixing the second the dry ingredients become wet. Maybe about 30 seconds mixing with a spoon. Do not bust out your fancy-schmancy stand mixer for this recipe...do it all by hand!!



These cupcakes were paired with Honey-Cinnamon frosting, which sounds delicious, but was so not what I wanted at the time. I was trying to think of what would go good with banana, and peanut butter and chocolate came to mind. I found a few recipes, all a little different. Some used real peanut butter, some peanut butter chips. Some used chocolate chips and some melted bakers chocolate. One was true chocolate buttercream with peanut butter chips folded in. So, this is what I came up with, because I had all of this stuff in the house :) It tasted like I melted a Reeces Peanut Butter cup, whipped it back up and piped it on top of the cupcakes. I was pretty happy with myself!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

6 oz. semi-sweet Bakers Chocolate (6 squares)
1/2 c unsalted butter
1/2 smooth peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
up to 1 c powdered sugar

Directions:

In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter (heat on 30 second intervals then stir until melted. Do not over heat). While still hot, stir in peanut butter and vanilla until peanut butter is melted. Cool in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes.

Once cool, add powdered sugar in 1/3 c increments and beat on med-high until you reach desired consistency and thickness.

Frost cupcakes and Enjoy!!

Half Marathon Training : Week Seven

This week I had a weird realization. I always go into my shorter weekday runs thinking that they are going to be easy simply because it's a distance that I've run many times by this point. I go into my long weekend runs with less confidence wondering whether or not I will make it, how slow I will be, how hard it will be, etc. You know what happens? Those shorter runs are always the ones that KILL me and I love my long runs. HUH??? I think it's because I go into them with a completely different mindset, and prepare myself in different ways. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that I do my weekday runs alone, in my neighborhood, and it gets boring. Plus, I have to fit them in to a crazy schedule (not just mine, but Jon's). On Saturdays I get up, drive to Travis and Andrea's and we head out to the lake. It's time each week that's set aside for that specific purpose...no fitting it in or rushing. Anyway...this week was a couple of 4.5 mile runs (one of which turned into 5 b/c I didn't check my schedule...whatever) and a 7 mile run on Saturday. The 7 mile took me 1 hour 16 minutes. Still a turtle, but a turtle who's feeling like that 13.1 that I'll be running in 5 weeks is not so scary after all :)

Wordless Wednesday

All of the Halloween-y Goodness

This year was so much fun! I always say that, but the older Ava gets, the better it is! She was such a pro at trick-or treating this year. She didn't ask me to go to the door with her once. We went with Aidan again, and they would walk up, ring the bell and wait for their candy. We had to remind them to only ring once a few times, and make sure everyone said thank you...but the were great! Wednesday we took the kids up to the school/Church for trunk-or-treating and Ava got to see some of her friends. Thursday was trick-or-treating through the classrooms and a party at school, and then Boo Bash Friday night. Aidan came to that too and they danced their little tushies off all night. It was so cute. Then we hung out at the park for a neighborhood Halloween party with Jon's family before heading out to get waaay to much candy on Saturday night. Needless to say, I got my money's worth out of their costumes :) Ava has already asked how many days until it's Halloween again, and has her costumes picked out for the next 15 years. Seriously...she informed me that she wanted to be a cowgirl when she was 18 after rattling off a huge list of other costumes. Spider Girl, a bunny, a princess and some sort of fruit were in there too. At least she plans ahead, right?