5 for Friday

It is FINALLY Friday and I could not be more excited!!  I am hooking up again for a 5 on Friday.

{one}

I got in 12 miles this week and I still have my long run this weekend. I am so surprised with myself. I usually don't do every run during the week, because I am lazy. This week I decided I needed to really commit to the week runs because my long runs on the weekends are starting to get longer and longer. This week is 6. I have ran 6 twice in my life. Nothing over 6. So I am nervous. Wish me luck!!

{two} 

I have Texas and their "Snow" days. Do not take that as I hate snow. I just think closing school for ice isn't very necessary. I understand in Houston because there are high rise bridges that ice over easily, but not out here in North Houston. We had 2 snow days and they completely threw me thru a loop and ruined my personal life schedule.

{three} 

I am currently taking 2 classes towards my HR certificate. One is Human Relations and the other is International Management. I can tell you, I am NOT a fan of the International Management class. The material does not really interest me, and I am having a hard time getting thru the chapters. But somehow I made an 87 on my first test. Of course the professor emailed the class and said the grades for the first test grades were not great and he is going to change the way he tests. GREAT! (sarcasm) I really liked the way he tested. Hopefully he wont change it too much. I am not a great test taker.

{four}

My wedding shoes get delivered today! I got them from Dirty Dillards at the beginning of the week.  I planned to wait till today to buy them, but my mom had a 30% off permanently reduced items plus a shopping pass for the day. So I bought a 9 and a 9.5 because I wasn't sure which size would fit. Overall I paid $87.00 including shipping for two pair of shoes that originally would have cost me OVER $250 for a both. YAY for Dirty Dillards.

{five}

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!!! Who is excited? what is everyone doing? We will have some friends over, cook some ribs and hang out in the garage and watch the game. I am excited to just hang out. Its been a while

Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and Weekend

-Me!

P.S - Look for a change in the blog layout sometime soon. I have a wonderful friend who is working on it for me!! She is awesome. More details to come.

Monday Question

I saw a pin on Pinterest yesterday that I have seen 100 times prior. But for some reason, it made me think this time. So I will pose the same question to you. 

I have several things that I think I would do

1. Run a Marathon- I know that sounds weird. But the thought of 26 miles is scary as crap. I am training for a half right now and the fact that my long run is 6 miles this week scares me. 

2. Sky Dive. I don't want to die. Plain and Simple. 

3. Go back to school and do it all over again. I am changing careers now, but If I couldn't fail, I would go re-do it all. Give it more effort. 

4. Become a photographer. 

I struggled with coming up with anything past 4.   

What would YOU do? 

Spinach Dip Stuffed Chicken + Wedding

I have been trying to find new recipes. I found this one on Pinterest the other day. It looked delicious, and tasted just as great.  I found the recipe on here .  I am a fan of recipies that have pictures. Which means that you would think I would have taken picture as I was making this, but I didn't.  But here is the recipe.

1 lb boneless chicken breast (make sure to flatten the chicken breast. This was hard for me haha)
1 cup pepperjack cheese
1 cup cooked spinach- I used Frozen Spinach. Will probably try fresh next time
1/2 cup cream cheese ( I have found a new obsession with cream cheese) 
2 Tbsp whole grain breadcrumbs (I used Flaxseed instead. Next time I wont use as much though)
4 tbsp Cajun seasoning

1) Pre-Heat the oven to 350
2) Mix together spinach, pepper jack cheese & cream cheese. If needed you can heat them in microwave until melted together. (I had to) 
3) Combine Cajun seasoning & bread crumbs/Flax Seed & sprinkle both sides of your chicken breast
4) Place in oven at 350 for 18-25 mins until chicken is cooked thoroughly. A tip is you can also cover the pan with foil to help hold moisture in.

Here is a picture of how mine turned out. 

I obviously need to learn to stuff the chicken better. Hope everyone had a great Saturday!! 
I sadly had to work, and it wasn't a great day at work. :(  A and I ended up going out to run some errands afterwards. 
We went to Jared's so that we could find a wedding ring for A. We found one that he liked, the sales lady went to see how long it would take to be ordered and delivered because he happens to wear a size 15 ring. When she came back, this was the conversation that happened. 

Me: I didn't see the price on the ring very well, it said $349.00 correct? (I saw the 3 and the 9.. just wasn't sure of the middle number)
Lady: Oh no. The price on this ring is $1,399.00 

I think I almost had a heart attack. A and I just looked at each other and said we would discuss it and come back. HAHA NOT HAPPENING!!! There wasn't even a diamond in the ring.  I swear, this wedding thing is costing me money. But luckily the fun stuff gets to start happening, bridal showers!!! We registered for a Kitchen-Aid Mixer and I am beyond excited for it. I sincerely hope that we get it. I want to start making bread, cinnamon rolls, and all sorts of fun stuff.  Does anyone have one and just love it? Let me know!! 

Well its off to bed for me. I have a 5 mile run tomorrow that I am nervous for.

-Me!

5 on Friday

This is my 2nd time to link up to the 5 for Friday. Lets see how it goes this time!

{one}
two words..... snow day. It is super rare for us to have a snow day here in Texas. I was so excited for it. I was up at 5 am looking out the window at the snow/ice. Then at 7, I was out walking around in it. We got such a small amount, that I am sure anyone up north thinks I am crazy for being so excited. But I love the cold and the snow. I really need to move north!

{two}
Does anyone watch Pretty Little Liars? I started watching it over Christmas Break on Netflix and Amazon Prime. I am addicted to the show. It is sad that I watched it the other night so that I could talk to my students about it the next day. LOL  If you have seen it, can you believe Ezra is A?? He is so creepy now.

{three} 
Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Ice Cream is probably the best ice cream in the world. My mother and I both love it. Blue Bell only puts it into rotation twice a year. It happens to be in rotation right now. I allow myself one thing of it during a rotation. Sadly, I could it ALL in less than a day if no-one is home. It is THAT good. But since I am trying really hard to eat better. I only had a bowl today.

{four} 
Since I assumed we would have school cancelled this morning, A and I went to see Wolf on Wall Street. I am not a nighttime movie person. If you want to watch a movie past 6PM at home, I promise you that I will fall asleep. If you want to go to the  movies around the same time, I get super antsy and don't like sitting there that long. Actually that is how I am every time I go to movies. I am not a big go to the movies person. Well we went to the 7 PM showing of the movie. That movie is 2 hours and 59 minutes long. That is probably 1 1/2 hours too long to be honest for that movie. There were some scenes that were just totally random. I could have done with out them. Overall, I give the money a B. I don't think I have honestly seen a movie with Leonardo DiCaprio since Titanic. He is a good actor though. I suggest renting the movie.

{five} 

Wedding invitations are ordered!!  I feel like that was the hardest decision of everything. I spent DAYS and HOURS looking at different invitations. I finally found some that both my mom and I liked. They should be in next week. I will start slowly addressing them and then put them in the mail in March.

Thug by Twitter

**This is my personal opinion**

 Seahawks vs. 49ers. Great game, great last play of the game, horrible post game interview from Richard Sherman, even worse were the peoples reactions to him. We had recorded the game, and was watching the end of it within 5-6 minutes of the game ending. I was keeping up on twitter to what was happening during the game. So I saw the reactions to Sherman's post game interview before I saw it. I was set up to hear a "Thug" yell and scream and talk mess. Yes, he was angry in the interview, and excited. He had just made the game winning play to go to the greatest football game of all time. The Super Bowl.

At first, I will admit. I judged him. I thought the same things that other people thought. I thought he was a thug for his words, but I am glad that I took the time the next several days to learn about him a little more. I am even happier that he took the time to explain himself. Even though, honestly, he didn't have to.

I read that he graduated from Stanford with his Bachelors and his Masters. I also read that when he was at Standford, he talked mess on the field.

but he made a statement that we shouldn't judge a man's character by what he does between the lines. But rather what he does for his family and community.

So my thought was, okay, the man got caught up in the moment. There is a little history between him and Crabtree. Then I saw the Mic'd up video of him at the game. After that play, Sherman went over to Crabtree, stuck his hand out to shake it and said "good game man" and Crabtree shoved Sherman in the face.

I think, I would be JUST as in the moment as Sherman was. He didn't go to his teammates first, he went to an opposing player that he already didn't get along with, and offered a peaceful gesture. Makes me totally view both people different. Crabtree is now in the negative light, while Sherman, I get it.

It also taught me that social media maybe the demise of humanity and having faith in people. I am guilty, I read something, I believed it, I judged.  Next time, I won't judge so quickly and will take the time to see what actually happened, rather than believe everything on Twitter or Facebook.

Has anyone else judged someone based on part of the story on Twitter or Facebook? What are your thoughts on Sherman? Even your thoughts of Twitter?

-Me!

Losing a Bridezilla

 This post is something I have been wanting to write for a while. It is quite long. So feel free to skim it. I just feel that I need to get it off my chest. 

 I knew this girl in college. We were both in the same program at school, and didn't really hit it off at first. We got put in a class together (a class of like 5 people) and so we bonded and became what I would like to refer to as, pretty great friends. We called each other our PIC's. Partners in Crime from our favorite movie, Role Models. We graduated college and remained close. I know her family, she knows mine. 

When she got engaged a little over a year and a half ago, I was so excited for her. I couldn't wait to hear all about her wedding plans etc. She waited a year to pick a date. She was considerate of everyone when she picked a date. She mentioned that she had trouble trying to find a date that worked well with everyone. She picked May 30th 2014, and asked me to be a bridesmaid. I was beyond excited and happy for the event. She asked me in July of 2013. 

Fast forward to August 23rd 2013, A proposed to me!! I called all my friends and told them the good news. Of course, the first thing on the agenda was to pick a venue. We all know a venue comes before the date. We spent a couple a week looking at different venues. We fell in love with a place called The Overlook. So, I went thru the same trouble of trying to find a date that would work out well for everyone. I also had several stipulations of my own. I didn't want summer, I wanted something in April or May, something on a Saturday or Sunday blah blah.  After going thru several dates with our parents, we chose May 18th 2014. A Sunday. 

Now this friend was not going to be in my bridal party. We decided on 4 parties on each side, and I had 4 other people I wanted. But I knew that having a date so close to hers, that maybe she would be worried about me not making it to some of her events etc. But I knew I was going to make sure to make it to EVERYTHING of hers. Because I WANTED to!!! A and I also planned our honeymoon for June (because of her wedding and because I work for a school district and get summers off). 

I told this friend about my date, knowing she would be a little upset, but not knowing she would react the way she did. Over the next couple days, she continued to ignore me. I would send her messages about what I needed to be doing for her wedding, sent her my measurements from my fitting of the bridesmaids dress, even asking for her MOH information because I wanted to be helping out. 

Then I got an e-mail from her that said this

"I wanted to write this to you to try and explain exactly why I feel the way I do about this whole situation.  You wanted me to be honest with you, so here it is.

First of all, through all of this I just want you to know that I'm beyond happy for you and A and I wish you both nothing but the best in your marriage.

To be completely honest with you the reason that I am so upset is because it feels like you don't really care about me or my wedding at all.  And yes, in your words, you are stealing my thunder, and it kind of feels like it's on purpose.  I just don't feel like planning a wedding for less than 2 weeks before mine is something someone that is supposed to be a good friend of mine would do.  I would understand if there was some reason that you absolutely had to do it as quickly as possible, but it didn't seem like that was the case.  Like I said in our previous conversation, if the situation were reversed you know that someone doing this to you would upset you too.  The weeks and days leading up to your wedding are usually the most stressful and I would like to have to ability to put all my extra energy into my own wedding not someone else's and I want you to have the same ability.

All of this being said, I want you to have the ability to enjoy the planning of and your wedding itself without other worries so I think it would be better for both of us if you attend my wedding as a guest instead of my bridesmaid. I don't want my wedding taking the excitement out of yours for you.  Thank you for wanting to be a part of everything, but I just think it would be better this way."

I emailed her back several days later explaining myself and said that the friendship was in her hands. I have never heard back from her. That was in October. I can't help but think about it sometimes when I am thinking about wedding things. She was one of my best friends. I truly miss her friendship, and extremely hurt by her. I wonder if that feeling will ever subside. Sometimes, I think it does and sometimes I don't think does.  

Has anyone else ever had a friend do something like this? Do you think I was in the wrong? I am curious to know peoples response. 

If you are still reading, I applaud you. I lost interesting in writing it about half way thru. No lie!! :) So Thank  You. 

Huntsville State Forest

We had the most perfect weather for our trip to the Huntsville State Park this weekend. The only problem was that we were only one of a TON of people there. We ended up going on a different trail than we normally go. Jude loved it. We went a little off the trail and Jude went straight for the water. 

Enjoy the pictures!! 

1. Just a random picture of the trails. It was so pretty 

2. A and I. Aren't we cute?

3. The water were JuJu decided to go off trail and jump in the water. 

4. Just the water. It was too pretty to not take a picture 

5. There was this dock that we on. To get on the dock you had to cross a metal bridge, JuJu did NOT like that bridge. She tucked her tail and cowarded across the bridge. She is so funny. 

-Me!

Five on Friday

I am going to try a new link up today. Five on Friday. I have been reading a ton of these link up posts. I love the randomness of it all. So lets see how it goes.

{one}Bridal

Yesterday was a Bridal Tasting event at our venue. My mom, future mother in law and A went with me. We got to try 4 meat dishes and 2 sides. They had chicken, pork loin, roast beef and a tilapia. The sides were seasoned veggies and potatoes. My mother took 1/2 the potatoes off my plate because she liked them so much. She cracks me up. This was her review of the food

Mom: Okay, so I liked the chicken and the pork loin. That is what we are having for the dinner at your wedding right?

Yes mom, that is NOW what we will be having. :)  All in all it was a great evening. I  just love the venue and it makes me SO excited that the big day is coming up. 121 days!! But really? who is counting? --- me! That is who.

{two}Bridal again!

My wedding dress came in yesterday. It wasn't expected to be in until February 14 (Perfect date in my opinion). I got the wonderful email yesterday that said that my dress has been delivered.  EEEKKK

{three}Outdoor adventure

Sam Houston State Park. Every year that A and I have been together, we have gone to the park to do a little "hiking". I say hiking that way because there are NO mountains and there is very little elevation. We usually take the JuJu (our dog), pack a lunch and spend some great time outdoors. I am hoping that the weather cooperates and it stays as sunny and awesome as it has been lately.

{four}Health

Migraines have been coming back.  It hasn't been fun at all. I think I know the reason though. Sugar. I have been trying to eat really well. No wheat, no gluten, no crap. So when I do splurge and eat something that I really shouldn't, I end up with a headache.  The worst one was last Sunday. I didn't really have a breakfast or a lunch. On the way home from Austin, my mom and I stopped at Sonic. We split a Sonic Blast, IMMEDIATE migraine happened. I was miserable. You know what fixed it though? McDonald's french fries. Not normal. But it worked.

{five}Health

Anxiety has officially set in. Not for the wedding. But for this career change that I am trying to attempt. I have been involved in Athletic Training since I was 14. Now I am trying to do something totally different. So if you feel the need, pray for me!!

Thankfully though, it is Friday and a three day weekend. Hope ya'll have a great weekend!
-Me!

Save the Dates

My save the dates are in!!! They came in last night and I have almost 90% of them addressed already.

As long as I get the rest of the address today, I will be putting them in the mail tonight after work.

Also, I got some great news on the career changing front. Will discuss more at a later date.

Sorry for the short post. Got lots to do today.

-Me!!

Brag on myself

Do you ever just feel so good about something you have done, that you want to shout it out for all to hear?
No? Well start doing more things. :)
Yes? Well yay!!
I am having one of those moments.
I have never been great at school. I love to learn but I have a really hard time taking test, and paying attention in classes (Yes, I admit it. At one point in college our adviser made me turn my cell phone in to him before class and then I could get it back after classes. This was before cell phones were as addictive as they are now)
Since I have been exploring the option of changing careers, I have decided to take a couple classes to obtain an Human Resource Certificate. My goal in this, is for my resume to not have ONLY Athletic Training specific education, but something that has some business, computer, interpersonal, and management education.

I took my first class. a 4-week mini-mester at the local college. It was a Business Computer course. All online, and I made an A. A freaking A!! (that sentence seems weird) But I am just so proud of myself.

Here is to the next 2 classes going just as well. Wish me luck!

Also, I have been killing the wedding planning. I accomplished a TON this weekend, and even more this morning. Hope everyone has a great day.

-Me!

Friday Friday

I just love Fridays now a days. Football season is done (and obviously has been done for a couple months) but I really enjoy my Friday nights off. Last Friday, we were on Christmas Break, yet I still ended up having to work 13 hours that day because of games scheduled 

Boys soccer- 9/11

Girls soccer- 1/3

Boys basketball- 430/430/6/730

Needless to say, I wasn't a happy camper about that. But that is okay. Basketball played the school I used to work for, so I got to see some old athletes and parents. That always makes boys basketball a little easier to work.

This weekend was supposed to be a lazy weekend and it has turned into a packed weekend already. We have lots of wedding stuff to do, and lots of laundry and general house cleaning. 

We have friends that will be coming to town next weekend. They are coming because Jordanna will be running the Houston Half Marathon. Go Her!!! :) So, of course we will be hitting up Chuys on Sunday afternoon for some lunch. I just LOVE me some Chuys. Since I have been cutting wheat out of my diet, Chuys has not been an option for going out to eat lately and I have been craving some creamy jalapeno/queso and tortillas!!  But since they are coming to town, I have to majorly clean and fix the guest bathroom. It is a combination of painted walls, and no other decorations. LOL it looks pretty bad. But that is what this weekend will be for as well. See, already a busy weekend. 

I will leave you with some of my favorite humor pictures from Pintrest. I swear, I love that site. 

Have a wonderful weekend!! 

-Me!

Design Meeting

Today is a day that I have been looking towards for quite sometime now.  Let me start by giving some background. The venue that A and I are getting married at is called The Overlook.

 It is an old country club that was remolded to be a banquet venue. I absolutely LOVE it. It was the only place that while I was there, I could actually envision A and I having our wedding. My favorite part is the bricks on the columns as well as the chandeliers in the reception area. Aren't they just gorgeous?

There are some other things that made me pick this place

• Obviously the decor that is already there (chandelier, bricks, walk up, pond out back)
• The simplicity of it all 
• They do EVERYTHING for me on the day of. My bridal party, parents, or friends do not have to do a thing. My coordinator literally coordinates arrival times of my vendors and makes sure if my cake doesn't show up, she has a back up so I'll never know. 
• A and I will have 20 minutes after pictures and before the reception to be alone. We can eat our dinner, we can just sit, or we can decide to go celebrate with our guest. But they have it built in their plan for the day. That is something that I really was hoping to incorporate. 
• The decor (linens, table cloths, chair covers, centerpieces, photo booth) are all INCLUDED in my price AND decorated for me on my day of. 

Which leads us to why I am so excited for today. Today is my design meeting day. I get to meet with my coordinator and design lady to figure out what I want for chargers, table cloths, for the aisle, centerpieces etc. 

I am so excited. I have knocked off so much of the bigger stuff, that I feel like this is what I am missing in my wedding planning. My mom and I are going at 2, and I think she is just as excited as I am. Here is some of inspiration of what I want. 

Pinterest

Pinterest

Pinterest 

 I must say, I am excited that Pinterest is around. HAHA. I know that majority of my inspiration is from the Wedding Boards on Pinterest.

Well back to work I go. Everyone have a great day!!
-Me!

New Year

I had planned on doing a 2013 review post. It has been in the works, and I will post it at some point. Just need to add some more pictures and events.

These past couple days have been awesome, since I have been off work.  I was able to spend Christmas day with both my parents as well as A's family. We are blessed that both sets of parents live less than an hour apart. Christmas for us was pretty slim. With our wedding coming up this year (yayy!!) we decided to not spend a ton of money. But sadly, we both ended up spending more money than planned. So January will be a very budgeted month.

My best friend decided that she was going to get married before she turned 30. So a bunch of us flew to Las Vegas for the weekend and married her off... the day before she turned 30!!!  It was a good time. I am just not a Las Vegas girl. I can go party one night, but that is it. I just don't enjoy the drinking, loud music and dancing. Is there something wrong with me?!?!

Yes, yes I did meet Robin Thicke :) I also got to see Pauly D while he was at a Club. I wasn't impressed with him at all to be honest. But Robin... Oh yay!!!

A and I brought in the New Year with the Murphy's. Just friends, giant jenga, and the count down. Nothing to special. No drinking, no loud music. We played some games, watched the count down, ate some Velveeta mac and cheese (yumm) and brisket. All and all a perfect way to bring in the new year.

This year is a big year for me. I am getting married, and I am hopefully changing careers (A post for another day). I have tried very hard to not be the bride that talks about her wedding all the time. So, I think I am going to start doing some posts about it. Sorry to those that don't care. I just am really excited about it all happening!!

Well its off to watch some more soccer for the day, then to go inside for 5 hours of basketball games.. yay... not really. But that is okay!!

Have a great day!!