From the Pinboard to the Cutting board

Pinterest is awesome and you know it.  On a sidenote I'm planning on giving up Pinterest for Lent.  I spend unhealthy amounts of time looking through pictures and pictures of things.  But one of the most useful "Pinboards" I've created has been for recipes.  It's the best online cookbook you can imagine.  I've been trying to cook more.  I really do enjoy it, but usually I'm exhausted by the time I get home and making a bowl of cereal sounds easier.  Unfortunately, having work during the day and night classes keeps me from being able to make dinner very often.
I know, I know.  Poor Jason, right?  Ask him and he would say he's happy with his nightly dose of chips and salsa, but I've got to practice before the small fries come along.  And that is precisely what I've been doing at least a little here and there.  I've been trying to take pictures of all of my cooking adventures as well, but I'm not so great at this either.  Most of my pictures are either of the first step or the finished product.  I always forget to take pictures of the whole process.  But I'll give you what I got.  So let's begin!


Pizza rolls
When Superbowl time rolled around Jason and I decided it was our time to step up and bring some goodies to Bryan's annual Superbowl party.  Kimberly and Jason pretty much have desert on lock-down and Bryan is an expert at main course dishes.  We decided to tackle the appetizers.  Now, usually there are lots and lots of appetizers but my goal was to try and put a healthy spin on some of the classics.  So first came the pizza rolls:
Here are the ingredients from Pinterest:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni slices
Marinara sauce for serving
In an attempt to make it healthier I substituted half of the flower with whole wheat flour, chose turkey pepperoni over the usual, and added in some jalapenos because capsaicin is good for you :)  I also used part skim mozzarella rather than the fattier kind 

To save time: on Superbowl Sunday:  Mixed the dry ingredients the night before

In a separate bowl mixed the moist ingredients together the night before

Added in the "toppings" and put the dough into a muffin tin.  Baked on  375 for 30 mintues

Result:  I personally really liked them.  But they had a very distinct "wheaty" taste that took away from the "pizza" taste.  We were also in a rush when we finished making them so I think they may have been a little underdone.  I may or may not make these again.  There's another pizza bite recipe that invloves mushrooms instead of bread for a crust that I'm excited to try first! 


Cauliflower 
Next up I made a spicy cauliflower.  This one was probably the biggest hit of the appetizers I made.  They were simple, had a little kick, and healthy all on their own.  
Recipe from pinterest:

1 large head cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp olive oil
I also added in some scorpion pepper spices that Jason and I bought from Zest Fest.  This added a little extra heat and I think it was a good move. 

Again for time's sake: mixed all the spices the night before

Baked in the oven at 400 for 30 minutes

Result:  I really liked these.  Definitely a good healthy snack.  Unfortunately, I don't think they keep very well for a long time, so it's probably best to just make as much as you'll eat in one sitting.  

Spinach Artichoke Dip
Yum yum yum!  Who doesn't love a good spinach artichoke dip?  Well, I guess skinny jeans don't.  What with the ridiculous amount of cheese and sour cream most recipes call for.  But I found a delicious modified version on pinterest.  Here are the ingredients:

• 13.75 oz artichoke hearts packed in water, drained
• 10 oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup Parmigiano Reggiano
• 4 oz shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• olive oil spray

The biggest substitution here is the greek yogurt instead of sour cream.  Anyone can just choose to pick up the "lighter" sour cream, but this substitution is not only fat free, it's also protein packed, and in my opinion tastier.  Yay non fat greek yogurt!  

Chopped up the ingredients in our AMAZING blender

Add in the spinach

Mix it all together and store in refrigerator over night

Put into one of our lovely pyrex dishes and baked at 375 for 25 minutes in our toaster oven :) 

Result: Deliciousness.  Probably my favorite dish.  I love spinach artichoke dip but always feel guilty for eating it.  Now I have a recipe I can make and enjoy with a little less guilt :)  


Jason's Salsa
The ingredients of this dish are a secret family recipe a la the Garcia's and my wonderful husband.  I also forgot to take a picture.  But believe me, it was a huge hit at the party.  And that wraps up our Superbowl appetizer extravaganza! 


Breaded Shrimp
Originally, these were supposed to be included as an appetizer, but when we got to Bryan's there was so much food we decided to save them for later.
Pinterest Recipe: 

• 16 oz jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (weight after peeling 12.5 oz)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup egg substitute (egg beaters)
• 6 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp panko
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• Cooking spray (I used my Smart Balance)

I made a couple of changes to this recipe.  First, I added in some scorpian spices here too.  I learned very quickly that I can make Jason like anything I cook just by making it spicy.  Pretty nifty :)  Second, instead of using store bought bread crumbs I made my own.  This was a "healthier" move because it cut out the high fructose corn syrup found in most store bought bread crumbs (Jason and I only buy breads without high fructose corn syrup) it also allowed me to make whole wheat bread crumbs.

Jason helped me make the bread crumbs: First step - make toast

Put into (AMAZING) blender

Bread crumbs! 

The line up: Shrimp, Egg beaters, spices, pan

yummm we also had some jumbo shrimp

Ready to bake!  450 for 7 minutes...flip over all the shrimp and bake for 4 more minutes 

Finished product, served on the beautiful serving tray we registered for

Add in some wine and our super fancy table...ok maybe we still need to buy a real table...and dinner is served!

"artsy" shot

Result:  Very tasty!  Definitely one I'll use again

The Others
I also cooked two other meals but forgot to take pictures.  The first was a spicy Greek yogurt chicken and quinoa and the second a spicy curry chicken and brown rice.  Both of these were good.  I don't think the quinoa turned out quite like it's supposed to because I bought it from the bulk bin at our local Kroger.  I'm not totally convinced how fresh it was.  
Both of these were cooked in our crock pot (I love wedding registry gadgets!).  The crock pot is a Master student's best friend.  It is probably the only reason Jason and I get a home cooked meal at least once a week. 


Garden Soup
Every week Jason and I make big pots of soup for us to take for lunch throughout the week.  Jason makes a yummy southwestern inspired chicken soup.  I make a vegetable soup; Jason likes to call it my "If it grows in the ground it's in my soup" soup.  Which might be a little bit true.  But it's so delicious.  Here's the typical list of ingredients:
Vegetable broth
Water
cumin
oregano
parsley
garlic
green onion
Eggplant
cabbage
Red and Orange bell peppers
carrots
zucchini
yellow squash
brown rice (cooked in our saweeet rice cooker) 
sometimes I add in a sweet potato or an additional type of squash (so far I've tried acorn squash and butternut squash) 

Yum!!  This is the soup I credit for helping me lose about 10 pounds before the wedding...hurrah soup diet!

That's all for now!  Hopefully I'll stay on this cooking kick.  This week I have some cod waiting to cook and am going to try Jamaican jerk chicken in the crock pot!  Hopefully I will also remember to take some pictures :) 


Until next time
The Vrly Fries 

How Could It Be That My God Would Welcome Me Into This Mystery

I thought the 1 monthiversary would be a good time for some of my reflections about marriage.  For the short version please see the definitions of wonderful, joyful, and right in the dictionary.  I can't believe how fast this month has gone by.  Like I told Jason in my note to him this morning, it merely takes me closing my eyes (or scrolling through our wedding pictures for the 100,000th time) to bring back the rush of emotions I had when I saw Jason waiting for me at the end of aisle and the unbelievable joy I felt as we danced our first dance.  And it's not just because our wedding day was that awesome, it's because what it has led to.  What we have become in a month.  We're a family now and I am so blessed to be able to call him my husband :-)  


I know that marriage will not always be this rosy.  The multiple marriage prep classes we did reminded us of this.  It is hard and takes real work to get through some of the toughest times.  I do plan to write more about these sometime in the future.  I know I say that a lot, but so much has happened the past few months it's hard getting caught up with everything.  I'll just say I think the Church does it right.  We are well prepared to love and support one another as we go forth in our marriage.  


Okay now my reflections:  Remember when I said I think the Church got it right?  This extends so far beyond the prep classes.  This extends to the history of the Church, to the sacrament of marriage, to the institution of the Eucharist, to our relationship with Christ.  I remember reading a Christopher West book once and he related a story about his father-in-law receiving Communion the first time after his wedding.  He broke into tears and expressed that "for the first time in my life I understood the meaning of Christ's words, 'This is my body given for you.'"  This always struck me as interesting.  What was this change that was made in him so quickly?  How did the Mass suddenly come more to life for him through marriage?


Well, I can say I believe I experienced something very similar to this the Sunday after our wedding.  I became so overcome with emotions during the Liturgy of the Eucharist.  Here I was kneeling before the body of Christ with my husband with whom I was now one.  This Sacramental mystery we had been welcomed into is an image of our union with God in the Eucharist.  Beyond this I was realizing that every time we come to Mass we get to relive an integral part of our wedding day.  Not just see pictures, watch a video or passively reminisce, but relive, actively participate.  How perfect that the Mass is often referred to as the marriage supper of the Lamb. Christ constantly renews his Vows with us by offering Himself to us in the Eucharist.  So too do Jason and I offer ourselves to one another in marriage, living out our vows.  Even still when I go to Mass I feel I am participating in a new way.  I'm reliving our wedding day, being an active part of the wedding supper of the Lamb, and anticipating the day we enter into full communion with Christ.  It's pretty awesome.  I have read about this through Theology of the Body and believed in the mystery and sacrament of marriage, but to actually experience being a part of it is new and exciting.  It's not better or more perfect than it was before (you can't improve on what is already perfect) but for me it is more complete.  I love going to Mass with my husband  :) I hope in the future as we face troubling times we can look to the Mass as something which can always bring us together and remind us of our wedding day.    


On top of all of this, it has brought even more meaning to the words of our second reading from Ephesians 5 
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery,
but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.
In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself,and the wife should respect her husband.


If we are able to live out these words I am confident in our marriage.  If we always remember that marriage is a reflection of Christ's love for the Church and strive to imitate and share this love we cannot go wrong.   


And for good measure because no blog is complete without pictures here's a little sneak peek at one of our unedited wedding pics from the photographer (Susan Gilbert):

Happy 1 monthiversary!


The Vrly-Fries 

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

"Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.  Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

The Return of the Prodigal Son (1773) by Pompeo Batoni

     I made a promise last time to make this post shorter than my previous two.  I'm going to do my best to uphold that promise.  With this in mind, I'm not going to go into one of my dissections of the Bible verse above.  But, I do encourage you to read it a couple of times before you go on.  It's very packed. In case you feel like reading something longer here's a link (this link is for all readings on the 4th Sunday of Lent in cycle C.  I definitely put that picture of the Prodigal Son up before I realized these readings appear together in the Church liturgical year, I guess the Church kinda knows what she's doing).  I'd also like to clarify that the reason my spirituality post will likely be shorter has no bearing on how important it is to Jason and I.  In fact, it's shorter because it's so clear to me how God has moved in us the past couple of months.

    I read somewhere that a key quality of a good blogger is to be completely honest with your audience; no sugar coating your life or only showing your best side.  So the truth is, Jason and I didn't keep up with praying together, becoming involved in our church, etc. quite like I had laid out for us in my first post.  In fact, reading the meditations from the The Ignatian Workout lasted only a couple of weeks at best.  We quickly settled back into our old routines.  This persisted throughout our engagement.

    I have to give a lot of credit to our marriage prep classes for re-inspiring us to delve back into this mission.  Every person we talked to said the number one thing that keeps a marriage together is keeping God in the center and making praying together a habit.  Now, we didn't immediately go home and pick our book back up, but the seed was constantly being planted and watered.  I'll say more about the marriage prep in a later blog.  Yes, I do believe it deserves a whole post!  I 100% recommend couples do some sort of marriage counseling before the wedding day (so does the state of Texas.  Whoop for not having to pay a fee to get our marriage license!)

   The biggest spiritual movement and growth happened only 2 days before the wedding.  Throughout our engagement Jason and I talked about wanting to go to Reconciliation.  It would be Jason's first Reconciliation as when he was Baptized last Easter all of his sins were washed away, "clearing" him to receive the Eucharist.  It would be my first time to go in while...much longer than I like to admit.  I have a weird relationship with this particular Sacrament.  I 100% believe in it's graces.  Every time I go I leave feeling better than I've felt, well, since the last time I went.  It's hard to describe the freedom and sense of calm I feel.  But, for some reason (likely the large periods of time in between) I get so nervous to go.  I expect the priest to gawk at me, shake his head disapprovingly, or lecture me.  This has NEVER happened, see above feelings of freedom and calm.  

   So, the Thursday before the wedding Jason and I both made plans to go to Reconciliation.  I went to All Saints as I was going to my mom's afterwards and Jason went to St. Rita because it's close to where he works.  The confessionals are located inside the Adoration Chapel at All Saints.  What a beautiful way to prepare for Reconciliation!  I got to spend about an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament and did part of the Rosary while waiting for my turn.  This instantly helped to calm my nerves and remind me of the purpose and power of Reconciliation.  

    I'm not going to go into details of my confession, but I would like to expand on the priest's response.  It's possibly one of the most loving responses I've experienced.  He noticed that I was holding myself back in some way and that somewhere there was a block in my willingness to let God be in complete control.  He looked at me and said, "If you don't mind I'd like to come next to you and pray over you."  I consented.  "I want you to let everything go right now.  Allow the Holy Spirit to work and lift you up."  He recited a beautiful prayer and then we sat in silence for a couple of minutes.  Wow.  I don't know how to describe this, but I could feel myself being healed.  It was incredible.  Then he sat back down and continued to talk to me about my penance.  The number one thing he had said throughout the Confession and now was the importance of Jason and I praying together.  He encouraged us to make the Chaplet of Divine Mercy a regular prayer for us to recite as a family.  I left feeling awesome and more ready for marriage than ever!

   Later that night I received a text from Jason saying "I did it!" He then went on to tell me his penance was none other than to pray together!  I don't know why, but this just really moved me.  We went to two different priests from two different churches, but still received the same penance.  We became more committed to this than ever.  When we saw each other later that night we said the Chaplet of Divine Mercy together.  Now, every evening we do a meditation from a book Jason's dad and step-mom gave to us for Christmas.  We also devote at least one day a week to deeper prayer.  I feel so confident in our marriage as long as we are able to keep this up.  We are also more committed to going to Reconciliation on a more regular basis.  Please keep us in your prayers as we begin our life together! 

This was shorter, right?  Maybe?  No?  Ok I'm sorry, but at the very least it was more focused.  Next up Marriage Blog...somewhat of an extension of this blog.  I do plan on blogging about the wedding, but I'm waiting until we have pictures from the photographer.  I also plan on doing a blog about our Honeymoon, but I need to upload pictures before that happens too.

Until next time,  

The Vrly-Fries  (like curly fries?)   

If you give a girl an engagement ring, she'll want a glass of wine

It is so nice to be able to say we are done with planning the wedding.  I don't know what it was: the fact I was also in school, my perfectionist tendencies, or the other pressures I had going on around me last semester, but I can't say I really loved wedding planning.  It started out great.  We knocked so much out the first couple of months I figured I would be able to cruise into January.  Nope.  Mostly, that just gave me a false sense of security and when I realized how much more I needed to get finished with each vendor it about overwhelmed me.
 I think it was sometime in late September or early October when I sat down and filled out my planner with all the appointments I had coming up and potential dates for ones I still needed to make.  Every weekend was full.  Then I had the pleasure of going back in and adding in my school deadlines.  I had a bit of a break down.  One of the many reasons I believe God chose Jason for me is his ability to get me through these break downs.  He never gets angry or annoyed, but is always ready to sit and listen to me and then help me refocus on the important things.
  I also had a little bit of odd luck with vendors.  I think I received at least one email from each of them about some kind of position change or crisis.  By the end of it I was no longer shocked to receive these.  It became a given: "Oh yes of course your store is shutting down.  No big deal."  As you'll find out in a later blog, it all ended up being beautiful and more lovely than I could have imagined.  I'm not saying I didn't like my vendors, they were all excellent at their craft when it came to the big day; I simply wasn't prepared for the number of hiccups we had.
  Then there was the guest list.  Oooo the guest list.  This has to be the most stressful part of wedding planning.  There are so many people you want to invite, but there are also so many people your fiance wants to invite, and your parents want to invite.  And then of course there are those who you have to invite whether or not you want to.  It's the epitome of family politics.  When you start getting replies you start to think horrible things like "oh good you broke up with that guy, so he won't be coming anymore then?...Quick dear send out that other invite we have on hold."  Then there's the not knowing about the group of replies you never get back.  And last minute changes that leave little time to invite someone else on your "gosh I wish I could invite you" list.  Of course there are also the decline RSVPs from people you had really wished would have been able to go.   You always understand why, I mean living in a different state is a pretty good reason to not be able to make it.  But it's hard to let that vision of your wedding surrounded by you oldest and best friends and family go.  But like I said before, in the end, it all works out and all that stressing seems silly at this point.
  Okay enough of that.  Now do you understand the glass of wine reference?  I'm pretty sure my mom and sister could use a bottle of wine at this point as they read this and re-experience all my phone calls.  Speaking of these two...I love them.  I am so very lucky to have such a great support system.  I could easily write a whole post about my sister and how great she was at being a MOH.  I mean really, it made me want to go back and re-do being her MOH just so I could live up to her.  Hindsight is 20/20.  I think wedding preparation is a pay it forward kind of business.  Once you've been there you know what it's like and you're well equipped to help the next person in your life who is having a wedding with anything they need.  You know what they are secretly hoping for but not saying and understand any emotional or difficult moments they may have.  There were times I felt like no one really cared that Jason and I were getting married.  I mean people might ask how things were going, but they didn't seem to want to be invested.  But the second I would start to feel this way Kimberly would send me an email or do something to remind me I have her.  So thank you Kimberly for being my person.  You are excellent.
   Here's a list of wedding happenings with some pictures to go along since the last time I posted:


Jason and I had our engagement session and the lovely Stephanie Burrows came along!  Oh man, it's such a good thing Stephanie came along.  First, she watched Boots for us, but mostly she kept things light and happy and continuously reminded us to just focus on "us" being engaged and how great that is.  For the sake of brevity (hah brevity this post is going to last forever) I will just say we had an interesting experience this day.  It was a total of a three hours and we got some really beautiful pictures.  Also some really cute pictures of our little puppy :)  Here's a few of the unedited images.  Courtesy of Susan Gilbert Photography.

I love dancing with my man 

We practiced dipping the night before.  No joke. 

Had to throw in a little school spirit

This is one of my favorites.  Boots did such a good job turning around at the perfect moment

Omygosh our dog is cute!

My mother in law threw me a shower in Houston and it was so much fun.  She planned a really awesome trivia game and had Jason record his answers so it could be interactive.  Unfortunately, they may have underestimated how competitive I am (insert picture of giant swollen ankle) and how much of a perfectionist I am.  Jason apparently went back through the questions and amped up their difficulty levels; not a nice move.  This resulted in a lot of missed answers.  I felt pretty crappy afterwards actually.  I had this horrible feeling of "wow I don't know you at all apparently."  But to be fair he mostly asked me minute details about his childhood that I was in no way apart of.  For example:  What was the make, model, and color of Jason's first car and who was the last owner of this car?  This is a reasonable question if any of the following were true (hint none of the following are true): A) I knew Jason at any point during which he drove this car  B) I knew the people who last owned the car and they were still in possession of it  C) It was some ridiculously nice car that he definitely would have told me about because it was that awesome  D) He was super into cars and therefore would have told me about this car because it's his favorite thing to talk about  E) Some really important event in his life happened in this car and therefore he certainly told me this story and the car played a integral role.   I got this question wrong.  There were others like this.  Apparently I'm still holding onto this, quick let's move on!
My favorite part of this shower was when Jason's mom gave us a scrapbook she had started making.  It was made to help us document where we started, the engagement, and various wedding events throughout.  She left extra pages in the back for us to add more invitations and keepsakes.  It was so thoughtful!

Said scrapbook which is now on our coffee table

Next on the agenda:  Bachelorette/Lingerie shower.  SO. MUCH. FUN.  I'll let the pictures speak for this one.

Cupcake bra and lingerie! 

Cereal lingerie courtesy of J Wag

And then we went to Vertical Fitness.  Kim had heard me mention in passing one time how much fun it looked and then surprised me by taking me here for the B Party.  Awesome!

We're a pretty talented group of friends 

The oh so graceful and lovely crew

Woot!  It's time to Party!

I had a rather interesting list of to do's that night:  The first one marked off the list?  Rub a bald guys head.

Have someone buy you a shot/meet a guy on his bachelor party 

Get a guy to give you an article of clothing 

Have someone buy the whole group a shot

Oh then I went on stage at Pete's and here's what happened

"Rebecca's party needs to get her another drink.  She's doing too well."  No sir.  I'm just competitive. 

Would I have dove on the floor at one point if I didn't have enough to drink?  I hope not.

I know my alphabet 

Might be my fave 

My Aggie girls! 

Other items marked off list: Get a kiss on cheek.  Rub finger through hair.  Hug a stranger.  And as an extra we also got a free magic show

 Alright.  Next up:  Bridals.  I woke up early that morning and Ms. Stephanie Burrows came over to do my hair.  She did such a great job.  I am forever thankful to her for doing my hair for this and the wedding day.  Having talented friends is so convenient!  A few notes about the pictures: 1) these are unedited  2) This was before my last two dress fittings, so my dress wasn't fitting quite right.    Photos courtesy of Susan Gilbert Photography.

This one is edited.  It was used as my bridal portrait

Next:  Dallas shower given by my Aunt Carol and and Confirmation Sponsor, Mrs. Larson.  It was the loveliest shower I could have imagined.  Mrs. Larson lives in the most quaint house in all of Dallas as far as I'm concerned.  This was the shower the day before the half marathon.  This worked out nice because Mrs. Larson is a nutritionist so she had me set with all the foods I needed to do my best.  I also decided that I should have used Mrs. Larson's garden as the site for my bridals.  It's so beautiful and organic.  If Jason and I ever do our second day shoot, I think this is where we'll go.


Next:  Couple's Shower in Dallas given by my siblings!  So much fun.  I think everyone should have at least one shower where both guys and girls attend and is devoted to the "younger" crowd.  It was date night themed and we received lots of really fun date ideas.  For example:  We have two gift certificates for us to go rock climbing together.  Yes please!  Also, one of my favorites, Ellie gave us "Guesstures" which was the game Jason and I played together the first night we met.  Oh nostalgia :)


Next: Final dress fittings.  I was having trouble getting my dress to fit the way I wanted it to.  Thanks to my now well-known "Soup Diet" it was a little roomy.  Because it's backless and didn't have any kind of corset or lace up top this caused some problems.  I went to my final fittings right before Christmas hoping for a solution.  Mii did a little tugging and a lot of pinning and for the first time when I looked in the mirror I felt like I was actually wearing my dress.  Even with all the pins, it looked better than I had seen it before.  When I got to put it on again after Christmas I was so happy.  I don't think she made it quite as tight as she had pinned it, but it's okay...I guess it allowed me to sit, which is a good thing, especially if you're having a Catholic wedding (sit, stand, sit, kneel, stand, etc).


From here it was just a whirlwind of last minute items and payments.  The two weeks leading up to the wedding went by so fast and yet so slow all at the same time.  I look back now and have some regrets, but that mostly has to do with my attitude toward things.  I've got to learn to relax.  Luck for me I now have a husband I get to live with who is an expert at helping me calm down.


Next up:  Spirituality blog.  This is one of the ones I've been most looking forward to.  Don't worry, it will be considerably shorter  :)


The Fries

Oh Hello Again - Running the Race

Hello again.  It has officially been 98 + 14 days since my last post.  Wedding planning and school did a fine job of taking every last bit of energy I had.  You probably would not have enjoyed my blogs had I attempted to write them.  They would have sounded something like this: Wedding planning - hard; Vendors - pain; Running - not enough; Spirituality - not enough; Becoming a house wife - sparse; School - how much longer again?  

Alright now if you're a fan of brief summaries you can stop there.  However, if you'd like to know a few more details and a retrospective view of these things keep going.  Oh how looking back on everything sure does put it all into perspective.  I'll devote this post to what first inspired me to start blogging: Running. 

I've done it!  I've completed my first half marathon.  Whew.  I guess I should start by thanking my running buddy Jared.  We started out running every Tuesday evening, but as soon as my semester started up realized this was not going to work.  I was tired when I finally got home and not terribly motivated.  We switched it to Saturday/Sunday morning.  This was a great move.  I was available more for these runs and it started to get me acclimated to running in colder weather.  

Okay I guess this is a good time to expand on Jared's patience with me.  I have this terrible tendency of not following through on plans all the time.  There were a couple of late Friday nights or early Saturday mornings where I would send an "ooo I'm tired" or "oops I forgot to tell you I was going to Houston this weekend" or "oh I just had my bachelorette party and am in no condition to run" text.  For a lot of people this would get old immidiately.  I'm not proud of this characteristic of mine.  It's something that having a running buddy has really brought to my attention, and something I'm really trying to work on.  Well, Jared was perfectly nice about it every time.  Instead of just dropping me to run by myself he would just respond with an "okay no problem!  Try and run X amount of miles sometime this week!"  I am so grateful for this.  And then later in the week he would text again asking how my run went.  Still keeping me accountable without making me feel like a complete jerk for cancelling.  

Alright so I'm cruising.  We are right on schedule with my training about to start the longer runs (9-10 miles) and start pushing the pace.  Or not.  Instead I go and injure myself playing basketball.  That's right Jason; I'm gonna put it out there, it was not Jason's fault.  I mean he did steal the basketball away from me in an unnecessarily rough manner, but it was my pride that then led me to chase after him and try to get the ball back.  In the end it resulted in a huge ankle and about a 3 week recovery time.

    So here I was, a month and 14 days out from running my first marathon unable to run.  I was bummed to say the least.  I think Jared sent me a text after he saw the photo saying something along the lines of "soooo you want to cancel our run this weekend?"  Umm yes perhaps.  Oh side note, this was also about two weeks out from my bachelorette party.  My second top concern after "oh no I can't run!" was "oh no what if I can't wear heels!"  It's the important things in life really.  

About two weeks to go before the marathon I start trying to push up my miles again.  I had gotten stuck on a comfortable 4 mile run.  Not good news when that is only 1/3 of the race.  I ran 6 miles while we were in Houston and another 6 miles in Denton.  On Thanksgiving morning, one week and three days before the race I decided that if I was going to do this I had better get in at least one long run.  So I strapped on my shoes and put on my nifty gift Jason had given me for my birthday.  It's a training watch with GPS and heart rate monitor.  It lets me know how far I've gone and my current pace.  I love it!

I had already mapped out my run so I knew exactly where my destination point was before I would allow myself to turn around.  In short, I ran 12 miles at a not so great pace, but I had done it!  I decided to save that extra 1.1 miles for race day.  I knew I was going to at least survive the race and that was all I wanted at this point.

Okay so race day arrives.  The night before I do everything I'm supposed to.  I have a bridal shower (relaxation and lots of gifts is always necessary before a race).  I loaded up on the carbs and water for dinner.  I went to bed at a decent hour and set my alarm with enough time to meet Jared at his apartment the next morning.  I was set.  

I get a text message in the middle of the night.  "Whyyy is someone texting me in the middle of the night!"  I figure I had better check it in case there's an emergency.  Oh wait it's not the middle of the night!  I missed my alarm!  It's Jared asking me where I am.  

Side note:  My first semester in college I slept through my calculus final exam.  It was the worst feeling ever to wake up and realize you've missed something very important.  This approximates how bad I felt texting Jared "Oh I just got up"

Okay so I get ready faster than I thought possible.  Original plan:  Eat half a Cliff bar and a banana; dink some gateorade; bring a water bottle.  Instead, I scarf down a Cliff bar and run outside to meet Jared.  As usual he doesn't even show a hint of being annoyed.  I mean come on!  I'm completely making this a stressful morning, when all a person really wants to do is focus on the race ahead.  Again, I'm so grateful for his patience.  

On top of all of this the weather is a mess.  Cold cold cold, windy and rainy.  Oh also I needed to use the rest room but by the time we got there we didn't have time to stop at one of the long lined port-a-potties.  Which is probably for the best because they are gross...oh except that then I had to run 13.1 miles needing to pee.  That was not so great.  Motivation?

So we're off.  I start out at a good pace, I'm surprisingly happy with how I'm feeling, except for the need to go to the bathroom.  Mile 1 done, 2 done, at about mile 3 I give up on trying to avoid puddles, mile 4 done, mile 5-6 check; mile 7 (ish?) oh look this is where the hills start; mile 8 oh my gosh I do not want to do this anymore, not because i'm tired now but because I know I have 5 more to go.  Mile 9 - thank goodness Jared is here.  I feel like dying and he is high fiving the crown, commenting on the signs, having a great time.  Oh and then one of the people in the crowd gave him a beer.  That was pretty awesome.  

Mile 10 ok I can do this, anytime now I'm going to see Jason.  We agreed that he would be somewhere along mile 10...Mile 11-where the F is Jason? Maybe I missed him, I'm going to feel bad if he was out there an I missed him.  That sucks.  Mile 11.5 - JASON!  Holding a sign for me :)  I give him a high five.  I'm feeling awesome!  2 more miles to go!  This is cake.  

Mile 13.1!  I did it!!  I may have felt like crying a little.  Best feeling ever.  Until you realize it's still cold and rainy and you are no longer running.  Also until you realize you still need to pee and the line is forever long.  I get through the line and find my way to Jason in the car.  It takes me at least the rest of the day before I start to feel warm again.  But it was worth it!

In the end I ran it in 2 hours and 52 seconds.  My orignal goal was 1 hour and 45 mins for my first half.  Following my injury that time was revised to 2 hours.  So I was a little over my revised goal, but considering the weather conditions and the need to go to the bathroom the whole race, I was pretty happy with the final result.  I'm excited to improve with the more races I do.  It's a great feeling to get the first one out of the way! 

Next month I'm doing a 15K with Jared called the Hot Chocolate 15K.  Yay for free Ghirardelli chocolate!  Then in April Jason and the Wagner's and I are all going to do Warrior Dash!  So excited!  

Also glad to get this first post out of the way.  Still to come: update on wedding planning and execution; becoming a house wife; spirituality; and more!