On August 11th I will be moving back to the DC area! I grew up there but I have been away for almost 9 years! I am very excited for this move. It's a brand new chapter for my hubbie and I! We are in the process of finding a place to live and a job for me. Maybe I will update this more when I move :P

A long weekend in DC

My hubbie and I were invited on a last minute trip to DC by this super cute couple:


Dustin and Caitlin

The metro was our primary source of transportation!


Dusty and Cait have friends who live in that area so we had a free place to stay. We packed more than I have done in a year into 3 days... seriously I have the shin splints/sore calves to prove it! I can't even imagine how many miles we covered. To keep up our energy up, every day was started like this:

I was introduced to the Dirty Chai Latte... ohmygoodness! A chai tea latte with a shot of espresso! I like tea but I am a coffee girl through and through so this is perfect!! Mmmm now I want one.

We visited quite a few museums. I didn't take a lot of pictures because Caitlin took care of that. Her professional camera takes pictures a little bit better than the camera on my phone. Here are the few I did take though:

Fords Theater, this is where he was shot.

I can't remember where I saw this but I liked it a lot. You can barely read it but it was a quote from Abraham Lincoln. People was trying to bow down to him as their liberator and he said , "Don't kneel to me. This is not right. You must kneel to God only and thank Him for the liberty you will heretofore enjoy. I am God's humble instrument". I thought that was so cool. If only it was still like that today....

This was at Mt. Vernon. Chris wouldn't let me have a baby pig :( Perhaps because they turn out like the mama?

These were also taken at Mt. Vernon. I had been here as a kid but I had so much more appreciation for it this time around. Washington was an amazing man and it is so beautiful there. The quote above says, "George Washington was one of the few men in all of human history who was not carried away with power." - Robert Frost. I think that's what made him such an amazing first President.

Apparently this is what I would have looked like as a monkey before we "evolved". Ha, good thing I don't believe in that because that's just scary!

On our last day there we rode bikes from DC to Georgetown.

We were on a cupcake mission! Sprinkles and Georgetown Cupcakes are both really popular places. Some swear by one and others swear by the other. So we decided to make our own decision and visited both.

Sprinkles is owned by the woman judge on Cupcake Wars. It was really hard to decide which one I wanted to try because they all looked so good. I finally decided on the Black and White and my husband got the Coconut. My friend got Banana and her hubbie had the Irish Cream. They were all so good but the Coconut was definitely the show stopper! SO good! My favorite part of my cupcake was the actual cake. It was so chocolaty and moist!

Then it was off to Georgetown Cupcakes.


There a show on TLC called DC Cupcakes filmed here. There was a line when we got there but it was only about a 10 minute wait. Again it was hard to choose but I went with the Toffee Crunch and so did my friend. Her husband got Mint Chocolate and my hubbie had the Chocolate Birthday Cake. The best part of these cupcakes was the frosting. It was so creamy and delicious. So Sprinkles won with the cake and GC's with the frosting. If only they combined the two :)

While I was in Northern VA I got to meet up with my best friend of over 10 years, Erin!!! It was sooo awesome to see her. I miss her so much. She is one of those rare friends that I can go forever without seeing but we always just pick up right where we left off!

We met up with her as well as her boyfriend and mom. I loved seeing them all! We went to Cheesecake Factory and I ate soooo much at that meal OMG. Avocado rolls and Sweet Corn Tamale Cakes.... words cant express the yumminess. Speaking off food below are pictures of other food eaten:

Salmon, wasabi and cucumber on a bagel... delish.

An orange, beet salad at a a really yummy pizza place we ate at. Very tasty!

And of course fro yo! I had never been to a pinkberry so of course I had to see what all the hype was about.... WOW I get it now... so good! Their original tart is to die for.

Well that's all Ive got! The trip was uh-MAZING! Probably one of our best! We had so much fun with some incredible friends :) I wish I was still there!

Next post will be about running... or lack thereof :(

OMG

So it's official, I will be running my first half and full Marathon this year! I never thought those words would come out of my mouth, I mean who is crazy enough to pay that much money to run 13.1 miles/26.2 miles!? Well apparently I am... so expect to see my adventures of training
for these two races :)

I will update this one day soon, I promise ;) I just feel like everyone else's life is so much more interesting so I just read those blogs!

I always see WIAW on other blogs I follow but until now have not actually participated!

I started the day with a smoothie. I can't even remember the last time I had something different for breakfast... what can I say I am addicted to them! Quick, easy and tasty!

1 cup of unsweetened almond milk, a frozen banana, a handful of frozen mixed fruit (pineapple, strawberry, peach and mango), 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder and a couple ice cubes! Delish!

Lunch was Creamy Southwestern Pumpkin Soup and an orange. I am going to a Soup Swap this weekend so I had to test this recipe out before I make 6 quarts of it! I think it's a winner!

Here is the recipe for anyone interested:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-southwestern-pumpkin-soup-1000000048843

My snack was a Clif bar and chia seeds in preparation for my trail run. The Clif bar was not as good as I thought it would be, oh well!

Dinner was another salad monster. Mixed greens, pico de gallo, avocado,white kidney beans, pecans, chicken and balsamic vinegar.

I drank 4 tablespoons of this today (2 before breakfast and 2 before dinner).

Apparently there are some pretty incredible health benefits, my favorite being a flatter tummy!So I said what the heck Ill try it. I honestly like the taste of it so I have nothing to lose!

My workout for the day was the trail run I mentioned. Me, my husband, and some friends are going a 5 mile trail race this Saturday and wanted to check out the course! I think we ended off course a good bit but it was a good run, about 3.5 miles.

Well there you have it =]

Friday, Friday, FRIDAY!

Hmmm so what's new in my life? Not much! That's why I haven't updated in forever! I just don't know how interesting running, trying to eat healthy, work and school are to you guys...

Oh well it's interesting to me so here goes...

This past weekend I did a race called Run 4 Their Lives which is sponsored by a ministry called Freedom 4/24. This is a cause my husband and I really have a heart for. Extreme poverty forces many girls and women to sacrifice their bodies and dignity in order to provide for themselves and their families. The race is $24 to enter. This pays for a girls "fee" freeing the woman or girl for 24 hours and taking her off the streets into a safe haven. At the safe house, the exploited woman or girl will be shown a permanent route out of the sex industry through the provision of education, food, appropriate employment, and physical, emotional, and spiritual health care. Check out the website for more details : http://www.freedom424.org/

So the race was a 5k and I got 28:24 which is a 9:11/mile pace. I wish it was a little better but I am happy with that considering I am fairly new to running. Below is me finishing the race. It's my first intense running picture.. pretty excited!

I ran for a little girl in Guatemala named Eva.

I have recently started eating clean which means sticking to all natural foods... nothing processed. My husband and I are doing it together. We are not going to be ridiculously strict about it but we are going to try to stick to it about 85-90% of the time. The biggest reason I have started doing this is because I really think it will help with running. I want to get more serious about running and up my mileage a bit. I have a 5mile race coming up on the 12th. I am excited for this because I have only done 5k's so far so this is getting me out of my comfort zone!

Since I started eating clean I have had a lot of fun making different salads. Fruit and nuts in salad is pretty much amazing! So are kidney beans! I can always use new idea though so if anyone has any recipes let me know ;)

Mixed greens avocado, pecans, carrots, white kidney beans, onions and balsamic vinegar as the dressing. Mmmm!
So these are some things I am excited about:

Finally being a senior in college... it only took me like 5 years to get here lol! I will be done with my undergraduate in Education in about a year! Wooo!

A new Bible study that started last night called The Truth Project with some pretty amazing girls. I know that God is really going to challenge me through this study and I am stoked about it!

The Holidays!!!!

There are other things too but this post is long enough so I will end it here =]

HAPPY FRIDAY!

One day I will post about my weekend on a Monday... I promise! This past weekend was pretty awesome. Friday night the hubbie and I just had a chill night at home. Saturday I did exactly what I had planned. I met my good friend Erica at 7am and we did a 4.7 mile run and then we did a 3 mile hike on some trails. I was pretty excited because our average pace was 9:34 for the run.... I am usually closer to a 10 minute mile. I thoroughly enjoyed it =] After that I went home showered and went over to Erica's place and we watched the first two twilight movies and ate Indian food. It was great and between the exercise and the heavy food I fell asleep early and slept hard that night! On Sunday I pretty much read all day and cuddled with the doggy I was watching. My dog Sammie is not cuddly at ALL so it was nice to have a dog who wanted to be close to me! I think I will be begging Chris for a lap dog now! I almost finished my book One Day. It's pretty good but I have a feeling the movie will be better which I hardly EVER think. The book is just kind of... drawn out. Still good though. So yeah not a very eventful weekend but I have no complaints =] The past couple days I have had some really good runs, I feel like I am actually getting faster which makes me feel good!!

In other news, I am going home/on vacation on Friday for 10 days! Chris and I wanted to get away and have some time to ourselves before the craziness of law school begins! So not only will we get that time together but I will be able to see my family as well. I am super excited and Friday cannot come fast enough!

Well so long for now! Here's a couple pictures for you 3 people that read my blog...okay I exaggerated.. you 2 people!

My hubbie surprised me with this book that I wanted and I LOVE it!! It had some amazing tips that I really think are going to be very beneficial!




Am I the only one who "squeals like a monkey" (my hubbies words) when their favorite magazine shows up in the mail?!





Just one of the gorgeous views on the hike!

Fridays make me so happy!! Almost as much as Saturdays which is my absolute favorite day of the week! I have plans with a good friend of mine to do a long run first thing in the morning and then watch all the Twilight movies again in anticipation of the new one coming out in November! Somewhere in between watching those and eating fists full of Swedish Fish, we are going to eat Indian Food! Doesn't that sound like an awesome Saturday!? I think so.

Random but can anyone see the little Swedish Fish in the browsing window next to my website name? I can only see it in Firefox...

Well this morning I had planned to do an easy 2-3 mile campus run with my husband but we slept in so I will be doing a couple miles on the treadmill after work. Nothing too crazy since I have the long run in the morning. So speaking of my running, I feel like I am starting to get into a rut. I am averaging about 20 miles a week and my endurance is pretty good but my speed is not. I usually do between a 9:30 and 10:00 mile. I know I should be getting faster. Obviously I need to start doing more speed work, I get so consumed with how many miles I am doing but I need to make speed a priority as well! Any advice?

As I do almost every morning, I had a chia shake for breakfast. It consisted of 1 cup of milk, half a frozen banana, 5 fresh strawberries, half a scoop of vanilla protein powder, 1.5 tablespoons of chia seeds and a couple ice cubes. It was quite delicious and filling! =]

Well that's it for now but I will leave you with a hilarious picture of my pup. We are dog sitting a little chihuahua and I think Sammie got a little confused about the cage situation....


Poor little girl was stuck until we helped her out.

Well enjoy your Friday!

Strawberry Pies & Journals

Wow, I cant believe it is already Wednesday and I am just now posting about my weekend! Well the first half of it was awesome!! Friday night was spent with some awesome friends eating dinner and seeing Harry Potter! Saturday night was spent with other awesome friends eating dinner and watching Unknown.. can you tell that eating and watching movies are two of our favorite things to do? :) Oh and my hubbie and I also went for a long run Saturday morning! 7 miles woop woop! Those two awesome days were followed up with two days of being sick. Some kind of stomach bug or something but I feel much better now! I obviously wasn't able to run while I was sick so I ran yesterday and this morning. 5 miles yesterday and 3 miles today, both done on the treadmill. I used to prefer the treadmill over running outside but after doing long runs on a regular basis I am now hooked! Its nice but it also stinks because I get so bored on the treadmill now!

Well I have to make this short but I will leave you with a few pictures from the weekend!

Mmmm Passion Tea Lemonade makes super hot days a little more bearable!

Journals Chris and I decorated that our church is sending to a school that is being built in India! Can you guess which one is mine!?

Picture taken in the Walmart parking lot to put in the journals. Isn't he handsome!? I call this my proud dog smile... one of those things that only makes sense to me...

Strawberry pies (my mother in laws recipe) that I made for a church event that got cancelled. That's okay though, I got to share them with friends =]

Finally an excuse to take pictures of my food!

So I have always liked to take random pictures of my food...up until now it was a little weird but on Healthy Living Blogs it is completely acceptable! I didn't take a picture of the smoothie I had yesterday for breakfast but it was a mixture of almond milk, PB2, chia seeds, vanilla, ovaltine, frozen banana and oatmeal.... and very delicious I must say! I mix all the ingredients except the banana and keep it in the fridge overnight and in the morning I throw it in the blender with the banana. It makes a very thick delicious smoothie that I actually like to eat in a bowl with a spoon. That was consumed after an early morning run before work with my hubbie on the university campus that we live near and also work at. So for lunch I had a salad that I was looking forward to all day. Have you had Panera's Strawberry Poppy Seed and Chicken Salad? Mmm it is so good but its about 9 bucks so I decided to make my own. I was quite happy with how it turned out!



Dinner was quite delicious as well. I am lucky enough to married to a man who loves to cook and is very good at it. We have been craving Cuban food (he is part Cuban) so he decided to make his own and the result was AMAZING!! The picture doesn't do it justice but trustttttt me it was delish!



So that's it for the food pictures from yesterday, everything else I ate was not nearly as interesting! So on another note I am reading two running books right now and I am loving both!!



Apparently every runner should read these so since I "want 2 b" a runner I figured I should probably read them. I am a total book worm so if anyone reading this (Mom? Chris? lol!) has any recommendations on running books, let me know! I already read Kara Goucher's book btw.
So yesterday I had kind of a reality check. I realized that despite all the running I have been doing I am not getting the results that I want. I try to weight train a couple days a week but I am definitely not as diligent as a I should be. My biggest problem area is my lower body (booty and thighs specifically!) so I am going to start incorporating more lunges and squats. So this morning I woke up early and did the P90X legs workout. I am going to try to do this at least once a week. It's tough so I know it's good! I think doing more runs with hills will also help with my "problem areas"! I also plan to do at least 3 miles on the treadmill after work!

Welp that's all for now!! Have an awesome day!!!

New direction

This is going to be my attempt at a Healthy Living Blog. I am constantly talking about running on Facebook so why not just talk about it on my blog instead!? This is more so for me as a way to keep track of my progress but if you are reading this... Hello and thank you for stopping by! =]

So I have dabbled with the idea of becoming a runner for a long time now but never stuck to it more than a couple months. That changed in January after receiving a gym membership for Christmas from my awesome hubbie (I asked for it in case you are wondering lol!). I made the decision that I was going to become a runner once and for all! I was sick of just talking and dreaming about it. So I downloaded the Couch 2 5k app on my phone and gradually worked my way up to being able to run 3 miles without walking. I haven’t stopped running since then. I am now at 583 miles for the year (thank you RunKeeper). My goal is to do 1,000 miles for 2011. I also have a goal of running a 10 miler in September. I have only done two 5k's so this is a lofty goal for me. Another big reason I decided to start running is because I am so uncoordinated and un-athletic (not sure that’s a word but go with it) so I figured anyone could run right!? Well I have definitely become addicted and am in love with it! I’m pretty stoked to have a place to be open and honest about that love! Hopefully I enjoy it as much as I enjoy reading other people’s Healthy Living Blogs. My absolute favorite ones are http://www.hungryrunnergirl.com/, http://fitnessista.com/, and http://www.pbfingers.com/. Those three women have really inspired me to actually do this!! My other favs can be found under Blogs I Read.

Well that's it for now! I will leave you with a gorgeous picture of my hubbie and I =P. Have a great Monday!!






In the middle of a long (for me) run on Saturday morning we came across a beautiful waterfall! As you can tell I am not the best photographer (and this was after several tries!) but trust me it was pretty! Excuse the lobster face and the sweat, it comes with the territory!

Still here!

One day I am going to be a great blogger...not today though! For now, I will just creep on other's blogs ;)

Broken

And I am here still waiting
Though I still have my doubts
I am damaged at best
Like you've already figured out

I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
In the pain
There is healing
In your name
I find meaning

So I'm holding on
I'm barely holding on to you

I still see your reflection
Inside of my eyes
That are looking for purpose
They're still looking for life

I'm hanging on another day
Just to see what you will throw my way
And I'm hanging on to the words you say
You said that I will
I will be okay

Broken lights on the freeway
Left me here alone
I may have lost my way now
I haven't forgotten my way home

I'm falling apart
I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart
That's still beating
In the pain
There is healing
In your name
I find meaning

These are part of the lyrics to the song Broken by Lifehouse. They never had so much meaning until today when I really listened to the song. Sometimes I feel like the past is going to overwhelm me. I feel like I can't survive it. I feel like it's hopeless and that I don't deserve to be doing "okay". At times I literally feel like I am drowning in the shame/pain of it all. But times like today I am reminded that God is in control. He is always in control. God does not want me to punish myself He just wants me to grow and learn from the past. It's so hard.

I should update this huh?

It has been a very long time since I have updated this thing! A lot has changed. For many reasons, Chris and I moved to Lynchburg Virginia! The biggest reason being to finish school at Liberty University! We both got jobs at the school and one of the benefits is free school! Not too shabby huh? Chris has already started and will graduate May of next year. I will be starting soon and still have a couple years to go. My plan is to finish my Undergrad in Education and I will be doing a double Minor in Christian Counseling and Psychology. After I do get my bachelors degree I plan on getting my Master of Education. I put my dream of being an Elementary school teacher on hold for years but now I am so ready to continue pursuing it! I can't even explain how excited I am! I feel so blessed to have this opportunity!! I know I have a ways to go but its actually attainable now and that's enough for me!!

So we have been here in Lynchburg for almost 3 months and I am absolutely loving it! We have met some fantastic people and have attended some fabulous churches. So fabulous we cant decide on just one! Anyway, I will continue to post my adventures of being a Lynchburger. =]

Puzzles

Deuteronomy 29:29 says "The Lord our God has secrets known to no one. We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions."

This is such a great reminder! God sees the bigger picture of our lives, we don't. A good friend of mine uses the example of a puzzle. We get puzzle pieces through out life and sometimes we can't make sense of them but that's because only God sees the ultimate picture.

So don't worry so much about the bigger picture. Just handle one puzzle piece at a time. Obey Him and be patient - God will show you His beautiful puzzle top in HIS TIMING =]

Its been too long

I was driving to church yesterday and I heard this song. The lyrics touched me so much that I just had to share them somewhere then I remembered I had a blog in which I have severely neglected. So here we go =] If you get a chance find it and listen to it or at least just read the bold lyrics. One can never be reminded too much how great God love for us is.

Always be my baby
Sara Evans

There I was ten years old
Waiting in my room for him to come home
I just knew he'd be so mad
Though I begged my mother not to, she told my dad
There was no denying I‘d let him down
But instead of being angry
He put his arms around me and said

In the sunlight or the rain
Brightest nights or darkest days I'll always feel the same way
Whatever road you may be on know you're never too far gone
My love is there wherever you may be
Just remember that you'll always be my baby

There I was, twenty one
Oh, I was so ashamed
Of what I’d done
On a country road
Parked one night
What started out so innocent, crossed the line
There was no denying, I’d let God down
But instead of being angry
He let His love surround me
And I heard

In the sunlight or the rain
Brightest nights or darkest days
I'll always feel the same way
Whatever road you may be on
Know you’re never too far gone
My love is there, wherever you may be
Just remember that you'll always be my baby

Yeah yeah yeah

There he is, my little man
I’m sure he'll get in trouble every now and then
And I pray to God that when he does
I’ll be just as understanding, as my father was
'Cause the last thing that I wanna do
Is let him down
So instead of being angry I’m gonna
throw my arms around him and I’ll say

In the sunlight or the rain
Brightest nights or darkest days
I'll always feel the same way
Whatever road you may be on
Know your never to far gone
My love is there, wherever you may be
Just remember that you'll always be my baby

Be my baby

Good Friends, Good Food, Good FUN

On the last post I talked about how much I love my Fridays off - well yesterday I actually had to work because I was sick on Monday. It ended up being a great day though - my awesome boss let me off early and I went home and started helping get dinner ready for our guests coming over. We had two couples from church over. I am not allowed to cook so I was put in charge of making the Watermelon drinks - thank goodness I had Rachel helping me!! A simple recipe ended up being quite an adventure! They ended up being very tasty though - even Amanda liked them who doesn't even like Watermelon!! After dinner we played LOSER - and I am happy to say that I was not the LOSER this time, Bill was! Haha =] Then the boys dragged the girls to see "You Don't Mess With The Zohan." We figured we always make them see tons of chick flicks so we should at least go see one of their movies. Well I am ashamed to admit this but I enjoyed it! It was hilarious!! I didn't get to bed until almost 1 and then had to be up at 6:15 this morning - it was well worth it though!!! I am so excited for these new friendships developing and growing!! =]

Tomorrow is Sunday! Wahoo!!

I thank God for such an amazing husband. He was a gift from God that I didn't even ask for. If it wasn't for him I don't even know where I would be today. He came into my life at a time where I was so beyond lost and he introduced me to Jesus. I am not the same person I was before and I have God and Chris to thank for that. Over the past year there have been deaths of people that I used to hang out with in settings that I used to be in all the time - it's really scary to think about. It just makes me so grateful. I never would have imagined that I would be married to someone who cares so deeply about me... that treats me the way Jesus would. Who even when I make stupid decisions - tries to understand the root of the problem rather than just getting mad at me. If the love Chris has for me it just a little taste of the love Christ has for me than all I can say is WOW. I just pray that I am as good a wife to him as he is a husband to me.


I love you Pooks!!!

Can I just say that I love Fridays and I am very sad when they over. See Fridays are now officially me and Chris' day. We both have off work so we get the whole day together to do whatever we please!!! Well yesterday was a pretty lazy one which was just what I wanted and needed. One thing I love about my days off is that I don't have to rush to the gym and back - I can take my time getting there and I can work out as long as I want! So I took advantage of that and did 25 minutes of weights and 60 minutes of cardio!! Go me!! After that I went tanning and then came home and made my new favorite breakfast - cottage cheese oatmeal pancakes (don't knock it 'til you try it!) I have been having a blast finding and making new healthy recipes!! So after that I just laid around and watched tv for a couple hours then I went to visit my mom for a little bit. Chris was very busy preparing for the message on Sunday - so I tried to give him a little time to himself. Then at 7 we went and hung out with an awesome couple from church - Amanda and Ben. We ate chicken and shrimp on the grill! Chris had to take over cooking because Ben had to run out for a bit and Chris was in heaven because he loves to cook - especially grilling!! After a very yummy dessert (Strawberry Shortcake) we went and saw What Happens In Vegas - which was hilarious!!

It was a good day! =]

Im so slack

Yes yes I know I am not succeeding at being a regular blogger but I want to assure you that my form of blogging is usually done through Spark People.....

http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage.asp?id=CHRISTIANGIRL13

Anyway, things are going really well right now. For awhile there I was going through a period of being discontent. Do you ever get to the point where you are like "there has got to be more than this"? You just don't feel like you are where you are supposed to be? Well that is exactly how I have been feeling...and that really is not a good feeling at all. Well after much prayer and talking to my best friends (my husband and my parents) I am starting to realize that I am exactly where I am supposed to be at least for right now. I have given the discontentment to God and asked Him to please make it clear where He wants me and what He wants me to do. And you know what? I trust Him to do just that! I know He has big plans for me and when I start doubting myself that means I am doubting Him... so no more of that!!!

So along with that I have been focusing a lot on taking care of my temple. I have started trying to "eat clean" and I have really stepped up the exercise! Through this I have learned that I am capable of doing so much more than I thought I was!! When I really put my mind to it I can accomplish A LOT! I ran for an hour this morning - 6miles!! I got sick of talking about doing things - now I am doing them!!!! You can't get anywhere without action, commitment, and determination!!

Lastly, I am really trying to invest time in the relationships in my life. It's vital to find who is important to you and then really nurture those relationships. It's especially hard when you are super busy with work but it also really helps you find who your real friends are - the ones who still stick around even when you cant see them as much as you would like! Sadly, theres not too many relationships worth nurturing right now but the ones that are there are amazing! Of course my husband and family! And then there is my best friend Erin who has been by my side through thick and thin for almost 8 years now... you know its a real friend when you can still maintain a friendship living in 2 different states! And then there are a few new friendships that I am super excited about!

I can't help but feel like big things are about to start happening!!! =]