Tag Archives: Texas

Austin Runs for Boston

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Thursday evening over 1,000 Austinites met at Austin High School to embark on a run in honor of the Boston Marathon Explosions victims; with love and grief in our hearts.

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The night started off with Amazing Grace being played on bagpipes while so many runners, both friends and strangers alike, held hands. The moment was so overwhelming it moved me to tears.

A sea of blue and yellow set off down the trail to honor those killed and injured in the explosions, and celebrate the safe return of the hundreds of Austinites who ran Monday’s 117th Boston Marathon. The quick response to Monday’s tragedies was beautiful. A run that typically has no more than 100 runners quickly became a mass of over 1,000 compassionate souls. It was the perfect reminder that no matter how much evil is out there, the good will always trump the bad. We will always stand together and stand tall.

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Running with a group in silence, I heard things that I don’t normally notice.  I heard my own breathing, for example, and the breathing of the people next to me.  I heard each and every step clearly as well as the steps of those around.  Paying attention to these easily ignored sounds around me, I couldn’t help but embrace the connection.  You start breathing with the people around you.  You start keeping pace with them if they’re not that much faster than you.  Suddenly, the group is in a very real sense running together as one.

Runners run together.

That’s why I know that we will move forward and continue to run high profile marathons, and that the Boston Marathon will be sought after like never before.

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“Good or bad, we’re all in this together — just taking one step at a time” 

All Roads Lead To (Foam) Barfing

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On Saturday I decided to do something a little crazy. For me at least. I’m sure there are people out there who do this and it’s no big deal. For me, it was nuts-o and even though I have figured out what the issue was and it wasn’t my crazy stunt… I still may never do it again. ;)

You see, I decided to run two races in one day.
The day after my longest run since April….

Brilliant? Or idiotic? You can be the judge of that…

Last month I won a giveaway held by A Runner’s Heart to run the 5k Foam Fest here in Texas. I was pretty pumped. I love some obstacle/adventure runs, and this one had WATER SLIDES THAT HAD BUBBLES INVOLVED. What’s not to love about that? Then, Friday night I’m out to dinner with my folks and my step mom mentions a 10k she was running in the morning. Well oh, okay… However, this post is entirely about the Foam Fest. We’ll get to what happened with the 10k later. ;)

Like most adventure races, the Foam Fest had various wave starts. A new wave was sent off every 20 minutes. I was scheduled for noon. Perfect timing to decompress from the morning and get my booty over there to pick up my bib.

courtesy of 5kFoamFest

I came prepared, because after Warrior Dash I was a sopping muddy mess and Zack didn’t even want to let me back into his car.. Even after I was hosed off and changed. He was still doubtful. So this time I decided to bring 3 towels, a jug of water to dose myself with incase any after-race clean up missed some spots, and of course a change of clothes/shoes.

The start line was incredibly entertaining. There were so many costumes, volunteers squirting people randomly with squirt guns and silly little contests to keep people motivated. I immediately decided if I ever put together a race, I’m going to do something along this lines to keep people from getting stir crazy at the start waiting for the gun to go off! ;)

Then we were off finally!

As soon as we cross the start line we were attacked (okay not attacked.. that might be a bit dramatic) by squirt guns. Which, let me tell you felt awesome in the rising Texas temperatures at 12 in the afternoon. Had this been almost any other part of the country in November and I would have cried probably.

Then we were off on a 3.1 mile, very windy hilly and muddy course that was full of obstacles, mud pits, giant hills, WATER SLIDES, inflatable slip n slides, cargo nets, walls. You name it, it was there pretty much.

One of the very first obstacles is a chamber of foam. Yes, the name pretty much says it all. This big inflatable chamber you go through filled with foamy delightfulness. Someone got a little carried away and went diving into the thing and swallowed a pretty hefty (and nasty tasting) gulp of foam. I could not get the taste out of my mouth for the life of me. At the first water station, I seriously stood there for like 5 minutes chugging cup after cup of water trying to get the taste out of my mouth. At one point I just said screw it and started moving again. A little foam wouldn’t kill me, right?

Wrong.

About a mile and a half into the race I started feeling light headed and nauseous. Like, I was seeing stars. Literally. I was half-way through though and the really fun (and more difficult…) obstacles were still up ahead. There was no way I was calling it quits…

So I kept moving.. I slowed down to a near walk by the time I was 2 miles in and was miserable. I literally felt like I was going to hurl and faint and the exact same time. Then came the evil dirt hill climb, cargo climb, and the 8 foot wall. Normally these would not be difficult for me. No one likes running up a giant hill… But, I mean… Normally I could do it just fine. I was literally turtle walking up that thing. I wanted to crawl I was so dizzy.

I didn’t get it. Why was I so dizzy? (Mind you at this point I had forgotten the gulp of foam I had for lunch and honestly I still couldn’t tell you 100% if that’s what it was.)

I was shaking the whole dang cargo net when I went over it, but I made it over it and then just stood in line staring at the 8 foot wall in front of me. Great. There was a huge line which was good. Maybe this will pass if I just sit tight for a minute. No? Okay that isnt working. Maybe if I can just get to the finish line and eat something. I hadn’t ate in between races because I didn’t want to cramp up. Maybe my body was telling me YO BIZNATCH FEED ME. The volunteer took one look at me when I approached the wall and said ” there is an option to tuck and crawl under the wall” Shoot, don’t tell me twice right now sir!

Stop. Drop. And Roll I sure did! I hopped back up and for a split second thought I was going to be alright after all. Silly body.

Then came the electric crawl… Where you crawl under electrical wires in a big SMELLY pit of mud. My stomach started turning as soon as my chin hit the mud. The smell wafted up and I just wanted to die. I swam through that mud like it was a freaking swimming pool and got out as quick as I could.

I thought I was going to literally pass out so I skipped the 30 foot slip n slide and the death drop and came to a dead hult at the ridiiiiiiiculously long line for the 50 foot slip n slide. I figured that sitting down (literally. on my butt. sitting) in line for a few minutes might help. I had absolutely no idea how much of the course was left and if I was going to be stuck in this gosh darn course for too much longer I may as well give my stomach some time to settle. (while in my head I was cussing it out for ruining what could have easily been a fantastic and fun day)

Finally after waiting what felt like forever I was at the front of the line and dove in the slip n slide.. Where I literally started gagging. All I could think was

“omg charlotte don’t throw up in this slip n slide. Do not ruin this race for every single person that is behind you. Do not even think about it”

I popped out and OMG THANK YOU SWEET 6LBS 8OZ BABY JESUS ITS THE FINISH LINE.

Where I grabbed my medal and shirt and just threw them on the ground and let it all. out. For a good 10 minutes straight.

Yeah, sorry about that mental image. But it wouldn’t be a recap if I left out the nitty-gritty now would it?

After what felt like a century I was dragged over to the med tent where they laid me down and gave me water to drink and after that kept coming back up they gave me some ice to suck on. Finally I felt good enough to sit up and they asked me a bunch of questions. I was in such a haze. What just happened? I wasn’t even pushing myself. I didn’t eat anything unusual. Yeah I had 2 glasses of wine the night before but that’s not going to make me sick. I’ve drank a half a bottle then run 8 miles the next morning and felt super… haha. What was going on?

Finally they decided I wasn’t dying and sent me on my way. Medal and t-shirt in hand.

I went back to my faja’s and tried to drink water and take a nap but that wasn’t happening. I decided that the foam was made out of poison. Is that true? Absolutely not. I have no idea what actually made me so sick on Saturday, all I do know is that it took 4 hours of drink water — oh hi again water — repeat, before I could finally lay down long enough to fall asleep for a few hours.

When I woke up it was like it was all a dream. I felt fine. It was so absolutely bizarre.

All in all, if I hadn’t gotten violently ill… This race would have been a freaking blast. Squirt guns, water slides, cargo nets, mud pits, hills, trail running, noodles that slap you in the face with foam. Etc.

Don’t let my horrible experience scare you off! This was honestly a fun race despite my getting so ill. I honestly don’t know if it was the foam or what was up… But, if 5k Foam Fest comes to a city near you, I really recommend looking into it. Running for a PR is what we’re all after it seems like, but we have to remember to have fun with it too!

:)

Would you ever run Foam Fest? Are you an Adventure/Mud Run type of person?
Have you ever gotten sick at a race?

The Fiery Tale of a Long Run

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I had a very serious post all ready to go for today.. However, that post will have to wait. Who wants a post about the plan of attack for PRing my half-marathon in two weeks when I can tell you a tale that is sure to leave you giggling your butt off instead?

That’s what I thought…

This tale starts off like most other weekend mornings. I got up and dressed for my long run, only to discover Texas was going to pretend to be WNY for the day and drop to almost freezing temperatures. Okay, so more like 40 degrees… But it really is astonishing how quickly you can get used to 80+ degree weather… Naturally I went back inside and ruffled through my piles of unorganized clothing to find my Oakley Running Pants… My most favoritest pants in the world… & back out the door I was to pound out 9 miles.

I’m running along a trail in the hill country and suddenly I feel a sting on my knee. I didn’t think much of it.. Kept chugging along.

Oh hello there hill country. I love you, you’re my new best friend. That is all.

Okay so back to the story. I keep running thinking nothing of the sting. It went away and figured maybe some shrub pricked me on the trail. lalala listening to my tunes and then BAM. sting again in the same spot. What the heck?! I pull up my pant leg. There’s a stinkin little fire ant. Ahh, yes.. I’m really in Texas now. I pick the little jerk off and keep truckin’ along. A little bite by a pesky fire ant isn’t going to stop me.

I keep on running and a few miles later I am further into the trail and suddenly I feel a sting on my ankle, immediately followed by a sting on my ASS!

All bets are off at this point. Thank goodness I was in the middle of a trail in the hill country, but to be honest it wouldn’t have mattered if I was in Time Square. I YANKED my pants off and pull the ants off my butt cheek. Shake out my pants, inspect them to make sure there aren’t any more little jerks roaming around in there…. Start to pull them back on…..

and then hear giggling in the distance.

Seriously?! I look up and there are two boys who can’t be a day over 12 laughing and having a good ole time at my expense. At this point I yank my pants on horrified and dart off into the trail. As I’m running along I realize just how ridiculous this all was and start cracking up. To the point where I’m in tears, and my sides hurt and I had to come to a complete stop, and all I can do is shake my head and laugh. Yeah, those boys got a good look at me in my undies. Big whoop. I was a gymnast and dancer growing up, I was still wearing more than I did at my gymnastics meets.

You just can’t make this stuff up!

Yeah, that is my toosh. I’m sure I’m begging for creepers by posting that, but honestly.. I had to share it. This story is so ridiculous I feel it needed proof. LOL however, although the ant biting my butt is hilarious and all, the bite on my knee is way worse…

So, you’re welcome!! I hope I made your Monday full of giggles. Anytime you get a case of the Monday’s just think of me frantically yanking my pants on while immature boys are giggling in the distance.

THIS IS MY LIFE GUYS!! :P

What’s the funniest story from one of your runs? Come on.. we all have at least ONE.

How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard

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Today is my last day in New York… Tomorrow I close this chapter of my life, I seal it off and lock it up. Only to be re-opened as a memory to look back on fondly, at just how strong I really am. Tonight I am going to sit around with cocktails and just smile while watching these amazing human beings in my life. I have grown so much in the last 2 months spent here. Jamestown isn’t home. Jamestown isn’t for me, but it has produced some world-class individuals. BUT……..

“You’ve got to keep it moving while healing.“

Tomorrow I am moving to Austin, Texas. I’ve daydreamed of living in ATX since the first time I visited at age 6. Most little kids aren’t dreaming of moving away that early. I was. I guess I’ve always been a gypsy at heart.

I think when I left Dallas two years ago, there was a part of me that always knew I would be back in Texas soon. Not Dallas or the surrounding areas, but Texas. It was and always will be home. I certainly haven’t spent the most time of my life in Texas, but when I did, and every single visit a calm sense of belonging washes over me… I just never really realized what that meant until about 6 months ago. When my perspective entirely changed, and I realized that what matters really does matter.

Our society loves a legendary good-bye. Hollywood, in particular, romanticizes that last moment before anyone is able to walk away from anything. The heart-melting conversation when E.T. goes home between him and Elliot. “Go.” “Stay.” then he lights up his finger and says “I’ll be right here!“. The most heart-wrenching good-bye in Cinema history, of course, Forrest Gump standing at Jenny’s grave saying his good-byes. Roy Batty saying “All those moments will be lost in time. Like, tears in the rain. Time to die.” in Blade Runner. (A magnificent scene, btw)  My oh My there are plenty of big and sad goodbyes in Hollywood; and they always involve one thing. Drama.

For now I choose to enjoy the excitement of moving, and to do it without the legendary goodbye.

Rather, I am going to follow the principles of the finale of one of the most popular Television shows ever aired in the States: Seinfeld. After their last episode, the cast just walks away as Elaine says “see ya.”  That’s how I’ve always left Jamestown. Nothing too complicated, no tears. Just a simple “see ya“

PLAYLIST THURSDAY: Songs That Will Be Stuck In Your Head Forever

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Happy Thursday y’all! So, it’s a two-a-day kind of Thursday… No, not running… I’ll be lucky if I have time to squeeze in a 3 miler on Town Lake later! (I WILL make this happen one way or another) But a two POST kind of day. I totally spaced that today is Thursday, and I can’t be blogging on a Thursday without doing a PLAYLIST THURSDAY post.

New to Playlist Thursdays?? Here’s how it works: Every week Pavement Runner sets up a theme for the week. For example, this week is about songs that we play most often. You post 3 songs. Something old (at least 5 years old) Something Current (Songs Released within the last year) and Something Current (basically a wild card! Have fun with this one!)

& we’re off…

This week’s theme was a freebie. & since I recently discovered the most obnoxious song that will forever be engraved in my brain I decided to go with the theme “songs that will be stuck in your head forever”

SOMETHING OLD:

TITLE: Barbie Girl

ARTIST: Aqua

SIDE NOTE: This song really brings me back… Where I grew up there was this skating rink that was THEEEEEE place to be for middle schoolers (yea we were awesome) and this song was played all the time there! ohhh I feel old now

QUOTE: Life In Plastic, It’s Fantastic. You Can Brush My Hair, Undress Me Everywhere. Imagination, Life Is Your Creation

SOMETHING CURRENT:

TITLE: Gangnam Style

ARTIST: Psy

SIDE NOTE: I had never heard of this song until last week when Pavement Runner had it on his list.. Then I come down here to Texas and I’m driving around all day and it was literally played at least once every 30 minutes. I’m not even joking! It is permanently engraved in my brain now! I’ve decided I’m going to go to the clubs and dance like him. I’ll get so many dudes numbers! ;) hahahaha

QUOTE: A girl who looks quiet but plays when she plays. A girl who puts her hair down when the right time comes. A girl who covers herself but is more sexy than a girl who bares it all. A sensable girl like that

SOMETHING TO CONSIDER:

TITLE: Painkiller

ARTIST: Freestylers Ft. Pendulum

SIDE NOTE: I can’t NOT dance when I hear this song. Or at least bob my head. I’m bobbing the heck out of my head right now.

QUOTE: now we live fast die young, wish i never tried none. saturated chemical but i don’t wanna die mum… maybe you could try some… Cause I’m reachin in my cupboard for a pain killa-killa-killa

 

What songs gets stuck in YOUR head every time you hear it?

Life Lately: Blog Abandonment

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I’ve been slacking horribly with my blog recently. I truly apologize. I know I’m breaking a cardinal blogger rule (never apologize for not posting) but I really AM sorry. I keep getting emails, texts, tweets… Readers and friends who are genuinely concerned for my happiness.

First, let me just say I love you guys! I love that there are so many people cheering me on. Wanting to ensure I am doing well. I never in a million years thought I would become a blogger, and when I DID start my blog, I never thought I would become a writer in which people actually started caring about not only my blog, but ME.

Second, I truly am happy. I am doing quite great, considering how August went for me! I haven’t been avoiding my blog because I don’t want to talk about how miserable things are in my neck of the woods. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Honestly, I’ve just been very busy LIVING! I have done more living in the last month than I did in the entire year and a half prior.

I have laughed more, danced more, stayed out later than I ‘should’ more, spent more time with friends… It truly has been a blessing in disguise coming back home for a month. I have some incredible people in my life. This town will eat you alive, but it also has some of the most hilarious and genuine human beings I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. With that being said I am eagerly counting down the SECONDS to the 25th. That is when I’m flying down to Texas to find an apartment in Austin!!!

Let’s get down to brass tax though, right?! How has Rock n Roll San Antonio training been going?! Training was better than it ever has been when I first moved home. I was hitting my mileage at a pace I have NEVER been able to pull off, and it was starting to feel almost effortless to stay at that pace. But then last week I came down with what I thought was a cold. I couldn’t breathe without coughing my lungs up. I literally couldn’t breathe through my nose and everything in my body ached. A week+ later of my chest feeling like someone filled it with quick sand and I marched down to see a Dr….. Turns out I have Bronchitis. Great. It wasn’t as bad of news as it immediately sounded… I feel 100% better other than this lingering cough. It will be fine all day, until I go outside for too long, or walk fast, and yes of course… RUN. Then I get a fit. I can’t stop coughing until I literally fear I’m going to die from not being able to come up for air.

I’m not worrying about it too much. I know now that I’ve already got one half marathon under my belt, I will be able to complete the distance. So long as I focus on getting healthy, I’ll be able to crush 2:30. If I miss even another week of training I can still make up for it, so long as my lungs are healthy. That’s my main priority right now… I’m still running, just not able to hit any speed or significant distance. I don’t use an inhaler so when my fits start up, all I can do is bring it to a jog or even walk… I’m not trying to do more damage to my already pissed off respiratory system.

 

so tell me, whats new with all of YOU?!
I miss y’all!

Movin’ On Up…..

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I’ve thought long and hard about where I want to take my life next. I fully anticipated having to wait until after the wedding next July, but with the recent turn of events I’ve started to realize that perhaps this is the path for me. Perhaps, I’ve finally found my calling and this is life’s way of saying “JUMP ON IT BEFORE ITS TOO LATE”

(It sometimes scares me how much power we have over our own destinies)

So, it may come as no surprise to some of you, that I have decided to move to Austin and get my career plans under way…. In September!

Austin has been on my radar since I was… 6 years old?! haha. Seriously, the first time my dad ever took me to Austin I knew that someday, I was going to live there… Even then, I knew that the live music scene in Austin, the culture, the easy going and laid back environment, friendly people, exciting downtown life.. I knew it was all for me.

The best part was when I grew up and realized that Austin really was the best of all worlds. Food, affordable. Beer, cheap. Apartments, totally reasonable. State income tax, pfffft what is THAT nonsense? JOBS — EVERYWHERE.. Especially for my bar/restaurant management degree. Uh, 6th street, I hear you calling my name! Gas is OVER 50 cents cheaper than it is here in New York (or Maryland for that matter) People are so dang friendly, the weather is gorgeous (HI i hate snow unless I’m skiing) there are trails GALORE. I’ve basically decided I’m going to be spending 94.3% of my time running town lake. It’s just meant to be. ;)

It comes to no surprise to any of my family and friends that I’m moving there! None. As soon as I told my friends I got “ohhh you are going to EAT UP that music scene” Austin hands down, has one of, if not THE biggest live music scene in the entire world!

I am truly and honestly STOKED about this next chapter of my life. I have so many friends in Texas that have migrated down from Dallas to ATX… I have so much family all over the state. Mostly in San Antonio which is less than an hour south! :D

I am truly over joyed.. Which, lets face it… I needed something to bring this year to a happy end! The only thing I’m super nervous about is finding a decent apartment. If you are in Austin, or know anything about Austin and can point me in the right direction to find a place in Downtown/central austin (close to UT, close to 6th street… but not necessarily on top of either) I will owe you my life! ;)

:D :D :D

So, tell me darlings… Whats the most exciting thing thats happened to you recently?! 

Baltimore Women’s Classic Race Recap

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Baltimore Women’s Classic is a huge deal in the Baltimore running community. It is a 5k race dedicated to promoting women’s health & fitness while increasing awareness of women’s health issues. A cause that is near and dear to my heart with my history with ovarian cysts & tumors.

Last year, Zack & I were visiting & apartment hunting the weekend before BWC, and moved about a month after it. I was bummed to miss it (yea I was researching races prior to our move… Most runners do that, right?! :P ) So I was super stoked to get to run the race this year.

True to form, I couldn’t sleep for the life of me on Saturday night. Pre-race jitters will forever haunt me. I have never raced without some sort of way of keeping my time. Even if that meant just iSmoothRun app running on my phone. However, coach J took my watch and made my promise not to cheat with an app… UFFF. He’s trying to train me to listen to my body…. I’m certain this added to the pre-race jitters… I fell asleep finally around 3:30.. Just in time to catch 2.5 hours of sleep before my alarm starting honking at me. (Seriously, I need to change that.)

We were out the door by 7 to head to the Rash Field. It was around 7:40 when I met up with Dianne on the steps and it was already over 80 degrees. It was going to be a scorcher…. Before we knew it we saw everyone making their way over to the starting line… We tried to move as close to the “front of the middle” as we could…. Ended up in between the 9 minute mile and 10 minute mile pace groups. The start was a lot more spread out than any other race I’ve run. I was able to start really movin’ right off the bat.

The course was gorgeous….The first mile went along the inner harbor. The harbor takes my breath away every time. Zack & I don’t get down there often enough. Typically only for races or baseball games…. heh. It’s unfortunate, because when we were first planning on moving down here, I fell madly in love with the inner harbor area.

The beauty of the course was quickly lost on me… IT WAS HOT Y’ALL.. I hit the first mile marker and still recognized most of the people around me so I knew I was keeping on pace more or less… I felt like crap, pretty much the entire race from that point. I wanted to stop moving for just a second. Just slow down for one minute… But I wouldn’t allow myself to. I knew that any chances of PRing were over if I slowed down for even 30 seconds. I kept repeating in my mind “I lived in Texas and Florida… I can handle some heat. This is nowhere near as bad as some of the temperatures I’ve dealt with hiking in the hill country“

The first water stop came up during the 2nd mile. I grabbed one & just kept moving. I ended up wearing more than I consumed, but I wasn’t upset about that. It felt amazing…. By the end of mile 2 the sun was in FULL FORCE and pretty much baking us alive. It was getting harder to breathe but I kept pushing through, breathing deep into my stomach. Basically doing yoga breath counts to keep it under control.

It was a bittersweet moment when I hit the 2 mile mark. I was so glad we only had a little over a mile left to go.. But at the exact same time all I could think was “oh my god that was only 2 miles?!” That third mile was cruel. It was the longest mile of my life! I was so thankful for the last water stop. I grabbed two cups.. Yeah, I was selfish. ;) I pulled back a bit and slowed my pace ever so slightly so I could down the first cup. The second cup, went directly over my head and down my neck. Ohhhhh sweet relief. I refused to walk or slow down any more than I had so I held that pace until we made our way into the finishing chute. Then, out of nowhere my legs just started SPRINTING. That last .1 I was passing girls left & right. I looked up as I was about to cross the finish line and saw my clock time. 31:05!!!!!!!!!!! My arms went straight up and I had a huge grin on my face. Even with just clock time it was a 4 second PR…

30:50.4!!!!!!!!!!! PR BABY!!!

The finish line swag was the coolest I’ve experienced. (maybe I just haven’t been racing the right ones…) But, for a 5k I was immmmmpressed. We were immediately handed ice cold towels that were soaking in barrels of ice water. Then we were handed a rose!

I was certainly smiling & happy… But I sort of wanted to just lay down and die. I was so miserably hot, and my left calf muscle felt like it had been put through a meat shredder.

After laying in the grass, chugging a bottle of water and munching on a piece of watermelon the size of my face — I was more or less feeling good as new. I got up and wandered over to meet up with Dianne, Renee and Megan. Let me just take a moment to say — Dianne is a rockstar!!! Truly. Truly. Truly. She just had her appendix removed 2 weeks ago and still raced & did awesome today.

After chatting it up for quite some time Zack looked like he was about to die of a heat stroke, so we parted ways and headed home. I came home, stripped off my sweaty sports bra, collapsed into bed was out like a LIGHT. 4 hours later I woke up so discombobulated. Did I sleep through the race??!?!! I was in such a half-awake state I panicked that it was a dream and I missed the race. haha. oh exhaustion ;)

All in all, it was an awesome race. It was HOT. It was TOUGH. but I fought my mental demons and PRed. I’m actually really super disappointed that I won’t be here for it next year. We’ll be in the last few weeks before our wedding so we’ll be back home for the summer… It was my favorite 5k so far, even if it was probably the most brutal 5k I’ve ever run.

Texas Weekend Getaway; I BOUGHT MY WEDDING DRESS

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This weekend was exactly what I needed. 2012 has been rough, and although I have some pretty thick skin, I was at my tipping point. The getaway could not have been more perfect timing! Truly.

Bright & early, Friday morning Zack & I were off to visit my dad’s new home in New Braunfels, Texas. They’ve been building the house for awhile so I was really excited to see the finished product. I had simply no idea what it was going to look like.

The flight from Tampa to San Antonio was smelly. Luckily I passed out pretty early into the 2 hour flight ;)

Even though I have seen the property multiple times… To see the new house sitting on top of what was before just land, and to stand in the back yard and loook out over the hills of Canyon Lake. Unreal. So beautiful. I can not begin to describe the jealousy I feel that they get to have that view every single day for the rest of their lives. Ufff. Seriously gives me “OMG LETS MOVE BACK TO TEXAS” pangs. Austin or San Antonio… I’d move there in a heart beat.

Oh, the beautiful Hill Country of Texas <;3

That night, before my sister and niece’s flight got in we went to one of my favorite spots!!! GRUENE HALL!! The oldest dance hall in Texas. You simply can not pay justice to the place. It has old wooden floors, live country music every day, strings of lights outside, rustic Texas charm like no other. It is the greatest. I’m not even a country fan, but this place brings the Texas out of me EVERY time. All of the country greats have played there.

Wear your cowboy boots and get ready to Texas 2 step.

Gruene, Texas Y’all.

After we returned home little baby girl (my niece) Haylie Lynne arrived. I know I’m biased but I also truly believe I have the cutest niece in the entire universe. Seriously.

Little princess

Excuse me while I overdose you in cute baby

Can you BELIEVE she just had a baby 7 weeks ago? DANG!

Anyways – Onward to Saturday… We decided almost immediately we were going to tube the Guadalupe River. Something I hadn’t done in YEARS but has always been a favorite childhood past time. I was excited to do it the “right” way with booze this time ;) It was truly the perfect weather. We had an absolute blast. Drinking sangria and mikes hard lemonade, which eventually became a mixture of Sangria and Mike’s hard that was absolutely TO DIE FOR in that hot Texas sun. Delicious. The time flew by with the rapids.

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This sign was in the shuttle bus that took you from where the river lets you off, back to the Rock n R Parking lot. Basically the best sign ever, right? (it was a weekend for good signs) we also saw someone with car window paint that said “honk if you love pooping” us all being slightly immature when it comes to our humor laughed and honked. Too bad I couldn’t snag a picture of it

Texas brings out my natural spirals. LOVE my TX hair. (probably the only person who says that)

As you can see I am white as a ghost. I glowed, I was so pasty… I burnt up like a lobster, despite the sunblock I used.

ouch.

Saturday evening consisted of many adult beverages, Texas Rangers, grilling out, and loving on the sweetest baby girl.

Be still my Heart. He is going to make the best father (SOMEDAY)

The sun completely drained all of us, and we were all in bed by 9 o’clock. For the first time in MONTHS, I completely slept through the night. I didn’t wake up one single time until Haylie started crying around 6am. Even she was exhausted. (Rough life, being loved by 6 different adults 24/7 ;) )

The next morning, was a morning I have been looking forward to for AGES. As a lot of you know, I found my wedding dress a month or two ago. But, I was waiting to purchase it until this trip. I wanted opinions and since my dad was so generously paying for it, I wanted him to see it.

Well, I found the dress I was considering getting for a bit cheaper at Nordstrom. So we went there. My consultant also decided to pull a few others she was dying to see me in after I sent her a picture of myself.

SPOILER ALERT: I ditched my original dress. Almost immediately. The woman is a genius. Randi of Nordstrom La Cantara, is great at her job – THAT is for sure. Which is amazing since when she was asking me what I was looking for I was all “um well, uhhh” I knew I wanted a drop waist or a sheath. Nothing poofy or as she says “cupcakey”

This is the dress I was previously planning on purchasing; from when I tried it on at DB in Bowie.

The dress was simple. But had a little bit of flare to it on the one shoulder thing goin on. I really liked it. I should have known that it wasn’t the one though. Like, is not the feeling you want for your wedding gown.

Then I tried this dress on…. This is the dress that made me realize I was NOT getting that other dress. I had fallen in love. It was my number 1 choice until I did find THE one.

is this not breath taking?! — NOT MY DRESS THOUGH ;)

I might be hiding something behind those flowers ;) ;) I mean I can’t SHOW you my dress.

Note to all bride to be’s… Do not go dress shopping with hideous sun burn lines. Multiple of them. Please note the bikini line. The tank top line. and the T shirt line. (Runner Probz?)

I really couldn’t imagine finding a more beautiful or perfect dress. I was dead set on this. But then I locked eyes on THE one. I saw it, and knew it was going to be it. I tried it on and NEVER wanted to take it off. We bought it!!! When I go down in November for RnR San Antonio, I’ll have my first fitting!!!!! I can not believe it. I truly truly can not believe I bought my wedding dress. The dress I will be getting married in. :D :D :D Now if the next 12 months could just zoom by, thank you. (Which, I’m sure they will)

After dress shopping we were all famished. We wandered on down to the Yardhouse for cocktails and lunch. DELICIOUS. They have something like 90 beers on tap. Then we spent our last night in town by the pool, grilling steaks, and having MANY many adult beverages. ;)

It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend.

I could easily call this home

I am so thankful. Thankful for everything. I am 100% refreshed today, and can not describe my gratitude. So much about the weekend was just what I needed. Time with family, playing with my baby niece, buying the dress that will mark the next chapter in our lives…

I nearly cried when we pulled up to SAT this morning. I just did not want to come home. Back to reality.. With a whole new attitude :)

How was your Memorial Day weekend?
Did you make sure to thank those who have and are serving to protect our freedom?

THE Most Frustrating Doctor Experience (aka Such A Clever title)

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As you’re probably well aware of at this point, I have been having issues with my right hip. While the shooting pulsing pains have calmed down, it aches around the clock now. Especially when I sit/lay which will make a 4 hour flight to TX super fun this morning… But I digress.

I finally went to see a Dr yesterday. Oh, this is probably where I should mention I don’t have insurance right now. With having just accepted my management position about a month and a half ago, I still have equally as long before my 90 day probation period is over… So, we went to St. Joseph medical center – it gets great reviews in the area, and we figured they’d just send us to a larger medical center for Xrays if I went to a smaller physician in town. Might as well just kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

St Joseph‘s was gorgeous. Yes, a hospital was gorgeous. It seemed so, relaxed.. There didn’t appear to be any real medical emergencies happening in this Urgent Care center…The waiting room was clean and people were moving along efficiently (excuse me while I momentarily marvel over a functioning hospital. WCA back home is notoriously nicknamed “Worst Care Available”)

I was impressed and hopeful. Then the nurse who checked me in sent me back into the “urgent care” section of the hospital. She said that the ER was getting full and it should get me through to X-rays faster that way. Sounded good to me. & It was fast. The website claimed you’d be seen by a doctor within 14 minutes. This didn’t hold true but I was in the waiting room for under a half an hour, so I was still impressed. This – is where it all fell apart though.

Once they stuck me in the room I was greeted by 5, yes FIVE different nurses who all asked the exact same questions to the T, and checked my vitals over the course of the next 30 minutes. Obviously they weren’t putting this information in my chart. No one touched me. The doctor came in and asked me when the pain started, where, yadda yadda, all the typical stuff. Then popped off his gloves & said he recommended X rays.. Well no crap! He never touched me. Never touched my leg, my hip, not even a hand shake. The man never touched me… I was in and out of X rays quickly. I didn’t get to see them, which I wasn’t entirely surprised about but wish I could have… The doctor came in, didn’t tell me ANYTHING other than they looked “fine” and that he was referring me to an orthopedist, writing me a script for muscle relaxers and a little note saying NO SPORTS until the orthopedist gives me the clear.

Great.
Thank you so much.
I am so glad that I spent my time as well as my money on a trip to get Xrays from a man who wasn’t going to take my case very seriously what so ever.

I don’t understand how you can try to diagnose a hip INJURY, what was so very clearly a SPORTS INJURY without touching the area. without looking at it. Without taking ANY factors into consideration other than the fact that “I run”… SERIOUSLY??????

SERIOUSLY?!

I am so frustrated. I literally laughed at him when he gave me my prescription. Not the friendly kind of laugh. A very condescending laugh, eye roll included. Oh, let me back track.. After he asked me all 2 questions about my “injury” he then asked me if I needed anything for pain. I said NO. This is when he stopped taking me seriously. I could see it in his face. What, because I don’t want you to pump me up full of drugs that means I’m not in pain and not wanting an answer??? SORRY I don’t want to be loopy and drugged up.

I am livid. If it wasn’t for this morning’s flight I wouldn’t even be filling my prescription, but I know I will be dying by the end of a flight without one.

But, for now I am off to Texas. The land of family, Shiner Bock, Sunshine and Southern Twang. :) Home sweet Home for a few days! (TX has always felt more like home than NY ever did. Sorry mom. <3 )

I am going to enjoy unplugging this weekend. I am going to make poor eating choices, drink a few too many beers, laugh until I cry, and hopefully catch a tan. I could really use it after this week. I’m excited to come back fresh for you all. These last few posts have been whiny, annoying, and poorly put together. A defrag and restart of the engines should do the trick!!

I hope you all have a safe, beautiful, and fun Memorial Day Weekend!