Weekend Rewind

I know, i know...it's Thursday!

But let's backtrack a little bit anyways.....

Saturday morning I met up with long-time friend, Jen. We've actually known each other for over 10 years-we were in the same small group at Welcome Week in college. but we didn't really hang out much during college and thought the other person was a snob.

2004-we end up working together and become instant friends!!!!

I was in her wedding, she was in mine...you get the picture...we're close :)

We met up at our all time fave place... Chick fil a.

here's Jen:

One thing i love about our friendship, is that it doesn't matter if it's been months or years or days since we've seen each other.....we instantly pick right back up...no awkwardness, no weirdness, i love it! We stayed and talked for a few hours, and i knew it was really just the tip of the iceburg, bc we could've shut the place down really. But sadly life calls.......

and so does cake!

Grant "made" me a cake to help me feel better. We all know the devastation of my wedding cake, so i think my mom let him do this one to make it extra special. And yes, that M cake topper is a fridge magnet.

and because i was surrounded by cuteness the whole weekend, i just can't not share these pics!!!

Daniel & Grant

Ethan (not sure if he's trying to be scary?)

We all played lego's with Grant......yes, Sarah is wearing my shirt. not shocking....actually Daniel and Sarah are both wearing my shirts!!!!! good thing i'm so naturally selfless.....

Me holding Daniel's robot....minutes before the big robot fight of 2010.

Daniel, Mike, Grant (i was impressed!)

I made this....after following step by step instructions that came with the legos. i'm not creative on my own...i need steps....

Me and Ethan (forgive the no make up, i had just ran 13.1 miles peeps!!!)

Weekend plans??

We're having a couple of our intn'l students over for games tomorrow night. Saturday i'm sleeping in....no long run planned!!!!! (but i secretly want to run 10 while Daniel gets my oil changed)

Then we're going to the OU game this weekend-it's my first home game, i'm pretty excited!!! Not excited that the game doesn't START until 8:15PM....but what're you gonna do right??

And Sunday of course, i'm taking my sabbath and resting!

what are ya'lls plans???

oh yeah, it's halloween....anyone???

love

laura

 

My first half marathon

Wow, just typing the title gets me all giddy again!!!

okay, so we all know i was sick right before the race. Saturday, i was coughing a lot and had completely lost my voice. so i wasn't sure how the race would go on Sunday.

I woke up feeling pretty good, and thought i could at least do a few miles and walk the rest if i had do. i really just wanted to finish no matter what.

The race was in Ft. Worth along the Trinity Trails.

 

Here we are on our way (notice the darkness)......

Ok i already apologize for this next pic. Daniel took it without me knowing, and when i looked at it, i was like oh my gosh i have a waste indention!!!!!! I actually go in at my waste!!!!!!! i'm sorry but i was really proud of this. I've always wanted to have the V shape....and you can actually see it!!!!! i know it's not the best, but i had no idea it was even there!!!! oh running, this is why i heart you!

 

I love this pic of me and Sarah. we had just practiced running a bit to make sure our shoes fit well...ok, i'm OCD about the tightness of my shoes so I was practicing, ha! it was a sweet moment captured my Daniel....love it!

BIL-Mike, Sarah, Me, and Dad!!!!!!

And we're off!!!!

Sarah and Dad ran together almost the whole time...

 

I'm not sure what mile this is, but i'm letting Daniel know that i'm not dying.

Okay, let's get to the details.......

It was VERY humid!!! The temperature wasn't that high, but my last several long runs have been in 50 and 60 degree cool weather. I was drenched with sweat within the first mile.

The first 5 miles, i felt great. I was like, Wow, i've totally got this...... Even though my miles were much slower than i usually run, i still felt pretty good.  One thing i learned (and this is why i like races, cos you learn a lot), is to NOT skip the water stations. I was planning on eating and drinking at mile 6. Well i got confused and ended up doing it at mile 8. And i needed more food/nutrition than a bite of orange. so lesson learned-bring my own food.

 

I rocked mile 7. Mostly bc i realized that i wasn't last, ha!! i knew i was towards the back but when i saw people behind me it gave me extra motivation to go faster. I loved mile 7.

I DID NOT love mile 8 and 9. This was by far my "wall." it was a huge struggle. I was SO thirsty!! And the next water station had run out of water!!! it was pretty hard.

I had to start walking/running about mile 9ish. When i got to mile 11 i started getting pretty excited that i was going to finish!!!!!

Mike KILLED that half marathon!! he was super fast!!!! i don't have pics, cos Daniel was cheering me on at mile 8 when Mike finished.

Sarah finishing!

DAD!!

ME!!!

I was SO proud of my medal!!!!!!!!!!

get it?? 13.1 miles :)

my mini cheerleader!

Gotta stretch!!

my BEST cheerleader!!

I feel amazing!!! While my time wasn't anywhere i wanted it to be, i finished!!!!! Remember after the 15K, i was disappointed and had a problem getting back into running afterwards. Not now baby!!! I can't wait to run another half and improve my time (it won't take much, ha!).

There is a half in Dallas the end of January, that i'm thinking about. YAY runners high!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a great weekend in Texas, and will post soon with all the pics of the cute little nephews.

love

laura

  

 

YES!!!!

I just finished my first half-marathon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pictures and details coming soon!!!

love
laura

diagnosis

Well i went to the dr this morning.....because i didn't see this getting any better without some good meds.

They gave me 3. An antibiotic, a narcotic cough medicine, and eye drops cos my eye drainage. fun times....... But the cough medicine is rocking  my world right now. i am soooo looopy!!!

The dr said he isn't going to medically restrict me from running on Sunday, but just to make a good decision. I'm really hoping that i'll be feeling better but also that if i run it won't be torture either.

Seriously, it's a good thing this cough medicine is regulated. wow!!!

and i'm at work bc i have to be.

oh and i  have an upper respiratory/sinus infection.

Stay tuned for weekend details, i'm sure it will be interesting to say the least!!!  And please keep asking that if i do run that i won't die.

love

laura

weight loss problems

Weird topic, i know.

But i left work early this afternoon. I'm still not feeling well and if anything, worse. Rather than bore you with the details of my day and how many times i've blown my nose......we'll talk about how it can annoy me to lose weight sometimes.

Here's why.....

I bought all my work dress clothes around the same time....did i mention, it was also at my absoloute heaviest weight-wise. But i never liked buying clothes that were too tight, in hopes that i would lose weight and then they woudl fit. i'd rather just buy clothes that fit me.

Fast forward a good 6 months or so, and i've lose 20 lbs. whhooooo me! however, i'm also insanely cheap (remember Dave Ramsey) to just go out and buy new clothes. especially because i clearly remember how much i paid for my dress clothes just a few months earlier. and i'm a firm believer in you get what you pay for. I didn't mind shelling out the extra money for nicer clothes, because i knew they were quality and would last a long time.

They would last a long time if they fit me.

So i took them to have the waste taken in. Last week I took a pair of dress pants in for the THIRD time and the alteration lady told me she couldn't really do too much more bc the pockets were practically touching.

awkward.

and then i think about how much it costs to have pants altered 3 times, and in retrospect, i probably should've just gone out and bought some cheap dress pants. Another reason i'm afraid to do this though, is bc what if the weight comes back? what if i get hurt and can't run anymore? what if i start getting comfortable and gain 5 pounds back? which in the big picture isn't the end of the world, but it's a constant mind game i play.

i've never been a huge weight fluctuator to begin with, so my closet isn't really filled with several sizes. though that would be nice right now, ha!

I have been going back and forth between being annoyed that i am wearing frumpy clothes to work and excited about the weight loss. I hate working all day in clothes that are too big all over and feeling frumpy all day long. Which leads me to getting annoyed.

I read a blog recently and she mentioned more specifics about Dave Ramsey and their cash envelopes. I emailed her to get more details and i think we're going to start actually putting cash away every month into a clothing envelope, and that way i won't feel bad spending money on clothes.

We already budget every month for clothes, but rarely buy anything, so it has just stayed in the bank.

Those are my random thoughts for tonight......

Daniel bought me a milkshake to help me feel better, and as we all know...calrories don't count when you're sick :) And HGTV makes everything better!

but seriously, keep praying that i feel better. i'm starting to get freaked out about the half marathon on Sunday. i haven't run all week.

love

laura

Weekend Rewind

Ya'll already know who came to town this weekend!!!!!

CAROLINE!!!!

(Christmas 2006)

While we were eating dinner (lasagna) on Friday night Daniel's parents stopped by to say hi. Which was so great, because while Daniel sees his dad almost every day at work, i don't get to see them all that often.

We all went to bed by 10 because we had all had a week!!!!

Saturday morning i was up early and got my last long run out of the way. Then we had sweet rolls and healthy breakfast sausage. and we literally just hung out. it was so nice to just talk and cry and laugh and eat without having to be somewhere or do something.

Caroline and i spent most of our day other than a Chick-fil-a run and Academy stop at the house. Looking through magazines, talking, "detoxing" as i like to call it, and sharing what is on our heart.

We didn't take a single pic on Saturday.

Sunday, we went to church and snapped a lot of pics to make up for it......

heading out to church (i love Caroline's sweater wrap!!!)

we didn't love the lighting indoors, so we tried more outside

I LOVE going to church with Caroline and Amy. I have so many memories of the 3 of us sitting next to each other, singing, praising, and learning in church together. Having Caroline next to me on Sunday was such a great moment.

I kind of felt bad that we didn't do anything amazing while Caroline was here....but i'd take great conversation over an activity any day. I love that we can be honest with one another and encourage and admonish one another. Her friendship is truly a gift.

After devouring taco soup for lunch Caroline headed back to Texas. Thank you for driving to see us Caroline......i love you!!!!!!

Sunday night Daniel and I had a date and went to Outback.

(ignore the white spot...no idea)

My hot date:

Random:

- the Half Marathon is this Sunday...PLEASE pray that it won't rain (there's a 30% chance). i've never run in the rain and i don't know what i would do.

- i'm also not feeling well. PLEASE pray that i'll be feeling better quickly....i think it's sinuses....with a mixture of being worn out. (i had a really bad dream last night so sleep wasn't easy). I want to be feeling my best for the run on Sunday.

-My 2 year old nephew Ethan just called me to sing 'Happy Birthday," it's just precious!!

-I'm watching TBL right now.....how did Anna lose all the weight if she's still having trouble walking?? i'm uber interested to see how this goes down tonight.

-Dave Ramsey rocks my world. We paid off my car 3 years early and hope to be completely debt free by March-ish. while i hate debt, i LOVE paying it off. i get a thrill seeing the numbers go down :)

love

laura

 

2 years

2 Years Ago Today.....


Daniel said "I like you," bought me a Starbucks, and that day was the start of something wonderful!!!

I love you Daniel!!

love

laura

 

P.S.

random.....

I've had all the songs from "Walk the Line" in my head recently. just added a few songs to my running playlist...
anyways...i love the version of "time's a wastin" in the movie and can't find it anywhere to download it. so i go around the house making Daniel sing with me.....it looks a little like this:

Daniel: I've got arms
Me: And i've got arms
Me: let's get together and use those arms....... Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Daniel: time's a wastin.....

oh the things this man does for me, hahahahahahahaha!

(scroll down for the last post)

100th POST!!!

Woo hoo..................................ME!

j/k

but seriously 100 posts. Sadly there won't be a great theme to this post, so i'll hit the high notes.

Yesterday, we had an earthquake in Oklahoma and we evacuated our building at work when it happened.

Walk with me down memory lane a few years....I was in a very traumatic earthquake and witnessed entire villages and homes completely flattened, mountains that had fallen, and almost 100,000 people who had died from the EQ. I went thru hundreds of aftershocks for months.
I self diagnosed myself with post-traumatic stress disorder. I have/had all the symptoms.

so even though yesterday was a small EQ, i almost fell apart. I couldn't stop shaking or reliving what i had already been thru a few years earlier. I tried to keep it together, but just ended up going in the bathroom and bawling.

The people at work don't know/understand what i've been thru, so i was afraid they would think i was losing my grip if they saw me fall apart over the small EQ yesterday. Thus the bathroom trip.....And I have to hold myself back when i hear people talking about how something fell off their counter and act like it's a huge inconvenience...perpsective people.

(i know i can't expect people to understand something they've never experienced, i really try to remember that.....honest, i just need to vent a little)

Anyways.....

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO TOWN?!?!?!?!?

yay Caroline!!!!!!!!!! there is really nothing like spending time with a best friend. and since i don't really have any friends here ( i think i've mentioned that?) it makes these times even MORE special!!!!!

Caroline is driving up tomorrow and we're going to talk and hang out and eat and laugh and then eat again!!! I can't wait!! I haven't had some good quality time with her in a couple of months, and i love seeing friends in person!

We've both had crazy weeks and i love that we get to detox and unpack our emotions together this weekend. can. not. wait!

random:

- i ran 6 miles on Tuesday and hoping for 3 tonight, before the 10 on Saturday...then TAPER week!

- today is Daniel and I's 11 months married!! i emailed him today and told me we could have a 2 month old right now....hahahaahaha!!!!

- TBL.....how much do i not like the 3 pack of guys alliance?? ohhh the drama! i don't know if i've ever seen game play this early on before. who are your faves so far??

hope everyone is having a good week!!

love

laura

weekend rewind

Well you already know how my Friday morning went.....i ran.

After the run, I came home cleaned and got ready for mom and dad!

Daniel came home from work and we went to eat at one of our fave's!!! It was Mom's birthday so she chose......RUDY'S!!!! I grew up some in San Antonio, so we went to the original Rudy's all the time. It is amazing BBQ and the best creamed corn you've ever had. i promise. best ever.

 I ate my weight in BBQ.

Mom-i told her to "look really happy you're here"

Daniel making his cool guy face...

For mom's birthday, I surprised her with my 'famous' (ha!) White Almond Wedding Cake. ( i made it for superbowl this year)

this is me yelling at dad because he wasn't singing....

isn't she cute? some people say we look alike, ha! (as in complete twins)

sadly this is the only pic of my dad this weekend...idk why

We stayed up talking and catching up, then hit the hay because let's face it we're old and we always go to bed early.

Saturday...ohhhh Saturday!!! I had this amazing plan to make the pioneer woman's chocolate chunk cinnamon rolls. Note that i said cinnamon. So in my mind i'm making cinnamon rolls with chocolate chunks. welll......my mom and i started making them and ran out of vanilla....trip to the store #1. Then almost 3 hours later (it was supposed to take less than 2), we ran out of powdered sugar for the icing. trip to the store #2.

And then i got cranky and snappy bc i was STARVING and my icing looked nothing like the picture on her website.

anyways.....we finally eat. and they don't taste like cinnamon rolls at all. and it hits me......the title of the recipe is Sweet Rolls. what the heck is a sweet roll??? is that a southern term??

so it should've hit me earlier that since i never added cinnamon that i wasn't making cinnamon rolls. sometimes i'm a little slow. well i don't know if i've ever had sweet rolls before, so it was a weird experience. i might have also been slightly annoyed that i spent 3 hours of my life making non-cinnamon rolls. i don't blame TPW, but i try my best never to blame myself, sooooo........ hhaahhaah!!

anyways.........this is what they looked like left over the next day. they actually tasted better as leftovers.

We spent the rest of the day literally laying around and just hanging out. fun times. I needed the down time.

For lunch, i made a version of Kelly's Enchilada Ring. i say a version bc i double the sour cream and roll the crescent rolls in crushed tortilla chips before putting them on the pan. it's one of my new faves. and everyone i make it for begs me for the recipe. i wish i could take credit, ha!

At one point sarah called and i told her we couldn't talk bc we were eating, and she was like "again?" yes....i ate the whole weekend and enjoyed every bite of it!

My parents had to hit the road bc dad is a pastor and needed to get back that night.

On Sunday we took 2 of our students to a party in the park our church was having.

Do you notice anything about this picture??

They are the colors of a stop light! i didn't notice till our student pointed it out. very clever!!

After hanging out for a bit, we settled in and watched The Amazing Race. I'm so glad it was a non-elimination!! i really like the father/son team and the dr team-they're both really nice and i want them to stay in as long as possible.

Work was insane in the membrane (as caroline says). i mean, crazy. so glad to be home.

that's my weekend!!! what did ya'll do??

p.s. poor Grant has bronchitis on his birthday!!!! he keeps going around saying "i'm four i can do this on my own now" how cute!!!

love

laura

Look who's 4!!!!

Happy Birthday Grant!!!!!!!

Grant, my oldest nephew is turning 4 today. wow. where did the time go???

let's walk down memory lane shall we??

Grant came into the world on October 11th, 2006. I had just started a new job, so i couldn't take time off from work. I listened to him cooo and cry over the phone. I HATED that i missed it. but seriously, aunt Laura had to pay rent.

Here I am holding him when he is 1 day old.

here are some of my fave pics:

how do you resist this face?!?!

i think we have some things in common :)

(sometimes Sarah cuts his hair.....poor child)

adorable!!

Happy Birthday Grant!!!!!! We love you!!!!