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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

You Can Call Me Queen Bee...

"I crave a different kind of buzz..." (Royals by Lorde - my new fav song)

I'm talkin' Runner's High baby! I get it on occasion, but not nearly as often as I'd like. But I got to experience this euphoric bliss this morning on my 4.5 mile run! The weather was great this morning, cloudy, cool, still a little humid, but for August in Texas, it was Ah-maze-ing! So, the greatest hubs in the world let me take advantage and watched the kiddos while I hit the pavement. Love that man! 

Naturally, my Garmin was dead, despite being "plugged in" and "charging" overnight. Does anyone else have issues with their Garmin not connecting properly? Or am I the only lucky one with a lemon?! So frustrating! Anyhoo, I rolled with the run keeper app today, which is generally off about .2 miles, so keep that in mind if you are using that or any other smart phone app as your time/distance keeper. 

It was pretty liberating not feeling the need to look down at my watch every 2 minutes to see my pace. I had no clue if I was dragging ass or hauling it! I knew my route was 4.5 miles, so I didn't need to check my phone (which was shoved in a Ziploc in my bra!) and as I pulled it out to stop the time as I entered my driveway, I was floored to see an avg pace of 9:06! Literally. I collapsed on my living room floor. Sweet! I really needed this today, I was feeling a little down about my paces lately, but now I know it really was just the heat slowing me down. Now I can conquer the rest of week 8 with a new found confidence!
That's me. On the floor. Saying "Whoa"

As I lay there on the floor, my sweet Emma rubs my sweaty cheek and says, "mommy are you ok? Maybe rolling your leg will make you feel better. Yeah. I go get it." And off she went to get the roller. Ahh I love this girl! 
Emma sporting her finally finished game day Aggie dress! 

In other running news, I got in my 9 mile run on Saturday. 
Ran to the Y and met the fam for some pool time action!

Not gonna lie, I did have to stop and walk a few times, it started warming up quite a bit after the first 4 miles, and it took everything in me to NOT run through the splash pad that was next to the trail! But I made it! I came in at a 10:38 min/mile pace. Not awful. But not great either. But I do take some relief in knowing that I have an extra month of training now that I switch from the Jazz Half to the San Antonio Rock n Roll Half. Plenty of time to get that pace down and where it needs to be! 


Let's see, what else has been going on??? Oh, I got Pinspired again and decided make a new wreath for our front door in preparation for fall. Until yesterday, we had a Valentine's wreath up there that I made at MOPS in February, no lie! Unfortunately, they didn't have the maroon chevron burlap I was looking for at Michaels, so I'll have to check hobby lobby today, but here it is so far...
 

I hope to add the chevron around it and make a bow at the bottom to finish it off. The idea is to have it be Aggie theme without all the logo hoopla - more subtle, you know what I mean? Anyway, it was super easy and only took about 30 min! Seriously! Here's the tutorial I used. Plus, you can go to Michael's or Jo-Ann's this wknd and get 15% off your total purchase (including sale items, with coupon)! Score! I know I'll be there! Here's a really cute dress I'm thinking about making:

Oh, and I am totes in LOVE with the ruffle shirt underneath!

Anyway, I'll leave you with some funny things my kids have said lately...
Emma at the dinner table: "mommy, I just put my strawberry in mouth jail!"
Max at bedtime: "daddy, you forgot to pray silly goose!"
Emma after church eating lunch: "I just don't know what Jesus is doing in Heaven, I guess when I get there I can ask him what he doing"
Emma in the backseat while daddy was dropping off dry cleaning yesterday: "daddy, why he a boy daddy?! (Really loud, over and over) ahem, the employee was a very masculine female. Where does she get this stuff?! 
Out of the mouths of babes! Good times! 

I hope you all have a fabulous week and holiday weekend! 
 
-Candice


Thursday, August 22, 2013

Do you ever wonder...

Why we're all here?

What is my purpose in life?

Is God real?

And if so, how could a God that is good, allow pain and suffering?

I know I do. We all have questions. We all wonder.

"I think I know what I believe, but I still have questions..." - yup, that's me right there!

Please watch this short video, and if you feel like you have questions... and wonder... like me, please visit the website and check it out. It's just real people, have real, honest conversations. What could it hurt???

 
 
If you live in the Austin area, I would love to invite you to visit any of the 330+ churches getting involved with the explore God movement. In fact, I would personally like to invite you to join me, at Hill Country Bible Church Lakeline, September 8th. And if you feel like you would like to further the discussion, I can get you hooked up with a great group of people, with the same wonders and questions as you, in a completely non-judgmental, non-bible thumping, non-pretentious, non-hypocritical setting to let your voice be heard and your questions answered.
 
So yeah. That's my little PSA for the night. Hope you all check it out!
 
-Candice
 


Wednesday, August 21, 2013

The Ebbs & Flows

So... after my awesome 8 miles run last weekend, I hit up some BodyPump Monday morning, and then... I didn't do a damn thing... for the rest of the week. Yeah. Not real proud of myself, and I could feed you all kind of excuses about the whirlwind of symptoms flaring up from my Hashimoto's (depression, moodiness, headaches, stomach aches, etc), but truth be told, I should have just powered through. I will never understand this stupid, stupid disease!
Uggg - I hate it I tell ya! I have to wonder if the flare ups showed up because my eating hasn't exactly been stellar?? WAYYY too much gluten, and that sh!t does NOT like me! Sigh. It is what it is. And it's done, so no use dwelling on it, right?! Right.
So, after a 4 day hiatus, I rejoined the running community for my scheduled 10K Saturday morning. I went in the morning-ish, but it was already warming up, but I knew I had to just...
 
I powered through and did my 6.2 miles at 10:30 mile/min pace. Not gonna cut it! I know it was hot and humid and that def adds to your pace, but I need to be pullin' out a full minute faster on these runs if I'm going to reach that sub 2 half goal! You know what I'm sayin?! So, the moral of the story... don't take a 4 day hiatus when training.

Truth

So, a few things have changed... I have decided to switch my half from the Jazz Half (not real happy about it, but with airfare as high as it is, it's just not a good financial decision for us right now, major womp womp!) and instead, I am going to run the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Half on November 17th. At least it will still have music, right?! Unfortunately, there is no Central Grocery or Cafe Du Monde or Cameillia Grill (can we just take a moment of silence to mourn?)... but there is the Riverwalk, so I guess we'll have to make do. Who knows, maybe Southwest will run some kind of crazy sale between now and October 12th and I'll run both, but for now, The Jazz Half is out :(  I have also decided to run the Austin Marathon in exactly 178 - whoa - on February 16th.

This week, I have managed to stay on track so far, so that's good. I did BodyPump on Monday, and ran 4.5 miles outside yesterday while the kids napped. It was hot as balls, and my pace sucked, but I need to force myself to run outside. Doing my runs on the treadmill aren't doing me any favors, even at a 1 incline. Like my dad would always say, "Do it right, or don't do it all" - of course, right always meant his way. #daddyissuesmuch? Ha!
 
In other news... My baby girl got her first haircut over the weekend. It was very emotional. If it were up to me, she would have just gotten a trim and I would never (ok maybe not never) cut her hair. But alas, she has been bothering me for WEEKS to cut her hair, so that it can be short like mommy's (so sweet), so how could I tell her no?!
I have to admit, it looks pretty darn cute! And this is how cheap I am... they asked if I wanted the "Deluxe First Haircut Package": read $10 for a baggie of hair and a certificate (which we did do for Max) and I said no, and when it was finished, I totally picked up all her hair off the floor and shoved it in a little paper cup until we got home.
Now that it's in a little baggie, it sure doesn't look like much :(

Once again #momoftheyear Whatevs.

I am 100% on to planning their 3rd birthday. Which, by the way, can we just stop for a second.. 3! When the hell did that happen?! This, this right here...
so ridiculously true

Anyhoo... they will be having a Choo Choo's and TuTu's party, and I am by far WAY more excited about it than they are! You can check out my Pinterest board for all of the awesome ideas that I have found that I intend to bring to life. So pumped! In the meantime, the countdown to their 1st day of MDO is ON. T minus 13 days. Just Breath. If I can get through these next 2 weeks, I KNOW I can get through anything, including a marathon.

Happy Hump Day y'all!

Yup - still cracks me up!

-Candice
 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

One step closer...

to my goal of a sub 2 half! I did my 8 mile run Saturday morning and had a personal best - holla! I was pretty stinkin' pumped about it too! I decided to run on the dreadmill, since I almost melted just walking outside Saturday morning and really didn't want a repeat of last weekend's 7 mile run! So off to the gym I went. I set the 'mill to a 1 incline to try and simulate the kind of resistance you get from running outside (even though I know it's still not the same). I was an idiot and just pushed the quick start, not thinking that the stupid treadmill would stop after an hour - my bad. so I ran the first 6.39 miles in 63 minutes, then had to fiddle around with the buttons and make it start again - so frustrating to have to stop suddenly right in the middle of a good groove! Anyhoo - I finished out the last 1.61 miles in 15:28 minutes. I had to wait 'til I got home to plug it into the daily mile site to figure out what my avg pace was - and was soooooo excited to see this...


Woot Woot! PR Baby! If I can keep this up, I may just be able to reach my goal of a sub 2 hour half in October! We shall see :)  I will tell you though, I sure miss running outside. There's just something so cathartic about it that you just don't get running on a treadmill.

Dear God,

Can summer please be over now?

Thanks,!

You Daughter,

Candice

Anyway, in other news... I totally made Emma a new dress up storage thingamajig. Here was the Pinspiration...

Click here to take you to original post

Here is the before and after...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 I wanted to do wallpaper or contact paper on the inside, but quickly realized how expensive both of those options were, so I opted to just buy a $3 stencil from Hobby Lobby with my 40% of coupon (yeah, yeah, I'm cheap) and bam, there ya go, the same look, but a lot less! Here's the deets:

-Cheap wooden dresser found on craigslist for $15
-Sandpaper (we already had) and an awesome hubs to sand it down for you ;)
-Piece of wood for a shelf above the bottom drawer (J bought it for like $6)
-primer (this was a little expensive at close to $9 for a quart)
-paint (we cashed in on a free quart of paint from Ace a few weeks ago - score!)
-second paint color (we bought a sample/quart of paint from Sherwin Williams on sale 40% off)
-Stencil from Hobby Lobby $1.60 with 40% off coupon
-paint brushes/rollers (we already had these)

So yeah, it was really cheap and really easy to do! We just took out the first 3 drawers and their hardware, sanded it down, reinforced it a little more with additional screws to make it sturdier, primered it, pained it, stenciled it, and put the drawer pull back on. Pretty simple. Oh, I  also had some gold glittery spray paint and decided to spray the inside of the drawer. You can't really tell in the pic, but it is all kinds of glittery! I still need to accessorize the top it, add some jewelry hooks on the side and her mirror, but whatevs, it's done. And the best part... Emma loves it :) Of course now Max wants to know where his "dress up" is... #storyofmylife

Oh yeah, one more thing... I received yet another sign... I called to wish my mom a happy birthday the other day, and wouldn't you know that she informed me that she had just found out that "someone we both know" is about 2 months pregnant and about to start her senior year of high school. Hmmm. Interesting turn of events. I'll keep ya posted.

Hope you all have a fabulous Hump Day!

-Candice

Thursday, August 8, 2013

I Saw the Sign...


(if you are reading from a cell phone, just imagine the scene in Pitch Perfect
where they sing "I Saw the Sign" by Ace of Base)

Yes God, I have seen all the signs you have so cleverly weaved all through my life in these past two weeks. If you recall, I have been very conflicted for the past several month about the possible extension to our little family. With the news of my BFF being unable to follow through on plans to be our gestational carrier, it left me feeling a bit lost and confused on what our next step should be, and if we should even do anything at all. Either way, I think I would be happy. But, there is something inside me that feels like we're not finished, I can't really even put it into words, it's a strange emptiness, but even that doesn't sound like the right word to describe it. I knew that what I needed to do was to just pray about it, and sit, and wait. I knew that God would reveal to us what we should do, we just had to be patient. And wait. And listen.

Sign #1 - I randomly came across a fitness blog and began reading her posts and found out that she too had fertility issues, and after several failed attempts and miscarriages, decided to adopt.

Sign #2 - My BFF informed me that she would have to undergo a uterine ablation which would leave her relatively unable to carry any future children, much less a child for someone else (me).

Sign #3 - This popped up in a blog I read everyday - talking about a friend of a friend and their journey in trying to adopt their first child and looking for support.

Sign #4 - I heard a commercial (two or three times) while listening to 1310 The Ticket (best radio station eva BTW) on my phone one day (something I rarely get to do these days, mostly because I forget about since I have to stream it - one of the things I miss most about Dallas). The commercial was about domestic adoptions. I can't remember the agency, but I do remember that I heard it several times. I guess God wanted to make sure I was listening and didn't miss it?!

Sign #5 - My sister-in-law and her husband had adopted a little baby boy back in November after several failed pregnancies (very strange series of events there, they actually were on the wait list for an international adoption from Uganda, but then this sweet boy just kinda fell in their lap). And for whatever reason, she decided to write all about their experience... yesterday... and post it for all her friends and family to see. On a random Wednesday. Nothing special about the day. Not a birthday or big meaningful milestone. Just another sign.

I have joked for years that I wanted to take one of those "safe place" signs

 
and put it in our front yard so someone could drop a baby off at our doorstop, ring the bell, and run away. I'd be cool with that! I know this is a God thing, because nothing else can explain it. This is not what I was hoping would happen. I'd be lying if I wasn't completely praying and hoping that someone would decide to come to us and graciously offer to carrier our baby for us. But that's just me being selfish. Adoption has always scared me. The thought of being matched with a birth mother, becoming attached and falling in love with a baby that is "supposed" to be your child, just to be left broken hearted because she changed her mind. I really don't think I could handle that. The disappointment of a negative pregnancy test is light years away from that kind of crushing news. And don't get me started on foster care. I've witnessed that first hand from some friends at our old church. They had to give 3 babies back before they were blessed with a Moses baby. I'm tellin' you right now that there is a special place in Heaven for them!

So, here we are. I'm not sure where this leaves us right now, but I figured it couldn't hurt to put it out there. Financially, we don't have the $20 grand to shell out to adopt through an agency, and honestly, I think I would prefer it to happen more organically anyway. So, if you know of anyone looking for a loving Christian home for their baby... :) I think God prefers this plan over my other idea to find a nice lesbian couple that wanted a baby - you know, one of them could carry our baby, and in return we could give them some sperm (well, J could anyway) or some embryos. I'm tellin' you, baby fever makes your mind wander into some interesting places!

I'll leave you with this one... (apparently it's Ace of Base day here at the 'ol blog!)

"All that she wants, is another bay-be" - Boy ain't that the truth!


 Thanks for reading!

-Candice

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

The Worst.Run.Ever & other fun stuff

Before we get to Sunday's glorious run, let me start by giving you the body % stats. So, while at the gym on Thursday, I built up the courage to test my body fat %, something I have been scared to do, seriously, does anyone really want to know how much of their body is made up of FAT, not I, but in order to keep my goal of 21% in check, I had to know. And the verdict... 22.7%. Not quite 21, but heck I'll take it, uhthankyouverymuch! Seeing that number gives me hope that I can make it to 21 - and dare I say... even lower?!?! Eek! Maybe I shouldn't even go there yet! Now that I'm writing this, I'm wishing I would have taken a pic of it, but then I remembered that my phone was too full and I couldn't take a pic even if I wanted to - womp womp #firstworldproblems!

Now, let me continue on through the weekend, shall we? Can I just tell you that Friday was THE.BEST.DAY.EVA! My sweet hubs surprised me and told me not to make any plans on Friday but wouldn't tell me what was in store. My mind was spinning with thought of what he had cooked up... pretty sure I went to bed Thursday night dreaming of my surely impending day of pampering. Friday morning comes, and J tells me that we are taking the kids to this drop in day care down the street (that we've used a few times and the kids LOVE) and we are going to have an all day date. Not quite a relaxing massage or day of beauty, but that would most def be the next best thing (or vice versa)!

First stop... Gourdough's Donuts!

 
 
Can I just say, OMG! That S was gooooooood! We indulged in a little flying pig (donut with bacon and maple syrup icing) and funky monkey (basically a bananas fosters donut... yeah) action. DELISH!

Next up, was a stroll down memory lane...

Photo: Back to where it all began
 
 
Uh, sure glad this wasn't posted when we got married!
 
The spot where we stopped to watch the fireworks - I'm tellin' you,
I wish I could have been a guest at our wedding!
 
 
 
 
They recently closed down - but at least we will forever hold the record for most alcohol consumed by a wedding party there - ahh so proud! Word to wise, you need to explicitly tell the bartenders NOT to serve shots. Actually, scratch that, just don't have an open bar!
 
Photo: Took a stroll down memory lane yesterday :)
BTW - that river sludge was not there six years ago!
 
Then, a little paddle boarding :) Super easy BTW! And so much fun! We felt like the cool kids for minute!
This is just a stock photo I found, we didn't actually take a camera with us, but this was our view!
 
Didn't think we had it in us after the donuts, but some how we found our appetites again and hit up Umami Mia's for some lunch...

 
I LOVE that they use organic, farm to table ingredients at soooo many Austin eateries!
 
not exactly Home Slice, but it was alright
 
Just havin' a little fun in the crazy mirror outside - the pic doesn't do it justice, but I'm pretty sure this is what we would look like as "little people"!

And what better way to top off a day of gluttony then with some ice cream, am I right?!


 
Ah, I love this dork!
 

This place was simply AMAZING, seriously y'all best freakin' ice cream I have ever had (except for some homemade peach ice cream we made by hand when I was a kid). Can anyone say dark chocolate with olive oil and sea salt & coconut peanut butter chocolate swirl?? All in a homemade waffle cone! Um yeah!

After we left Lick, we took the scenic route home, through downtown and the UT campus (The Drag), it was so fun and nostalgic! Passed about a million and one places we want to eat. Seriously, Austin is like a food paradise! My friend Lisa keeps asking me if we're eating our way through Austin, um yeah! Is there any other way?! In case you're wondering, I am fully aware of how incredibly amazing and thoughtful my hubs is - I am truly blessed!

Anyhoo, we got home, relaxed, "took a nap", and went to get the kiddos, who I totally missed at that point - is that weird? We took the kids swimming and ended the night with some delish Mighty Fine burgers - mmmm! and finished off season 2 of Mad Men. Ahhh, it really was a perfect day (even if there was no massage, womp womp)!

Unfortunately, the feeling of euphoria did not follow me into my run on Sunday. Shesh! Now, I will tell you that this 100% could have been prevented had I made an attempt to get my butt out of bed at 6 am - or gone to the gym to get my run in on the dreadmill, but I really hate doing long runs on the 'mill, you know?! So yes, I suited up and honestly thought I was badass enough to handle a 7 mile run at 1pm in 100* heat. Yeah... soooo not a badass!

 
I made it about 3 miles before I thought I might die (good thing I decided to wear my camelback on this run, otherwise I may have seriously died!). I had to stop and walk or light jog (which is basically walking with a little bounce) SEVERAL times! Had to refill the camelback half way through, but I kept going (mainly because I knew I didn't have a choice, if the kids weren't napping, I totes would have called J to come pick my butt up!). I guess it's a good thing my Garmin died half way thru the run, cause I don't even wanna know what my pace/time was! Ugh, that was THE.WORST.RUN.EVER!!!!! My bad. I shall make a better choice next weekend! But hey, week 4 is in the books - holla!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend!

-Candice