seperation anxiety

So I sent out my wedding invitations last Wednesday.

Why does putting 140 envelopes in the mail make me nervous? It is such a simple thing and one would think it was a huge stress off my shoulders but no it wasn't, at least not for me at that time it wasn't...

It was kind of silly that I was so nervous But I slaved over those things all the cutting and gluing and stressing and averting minor crises. I finished them all and then I had them weighed and bought stamps and then I was worrying that maybe they were heavier than that post office worker told me. I have heard you should go to several different post offices to get them weighed but I didn't have time for that so I just bought the stamps the lady told me to buy.

Then I was worried that all the glue would come apart and people would open the envelope to a mash of random papers since I did not have them hand cancelled like you hear you should. But I figure ok, so I spend an hour hand canceling them myself and then the post office lady puts them in a bin and at the next point on their journey they are thrown in with all the other envelopes and go through the machines like all the other envelopes. So I didn't have them hand cancelled and I was worried that now Im a bad bride and allllll the time and energy and stress I put in to them was for nothing and people will receive a crumpled and smashed envelope

Well apparently at least some of them arrived in one peoples hands in one piece. But now I am nervous because I made them and the invitation is the first impression of what this wedding is going to be and OMG IT SHOULD NOT BE THIS BIG OF A DEAL!!!

But alas they are out and now I just have to wait for the responses and non-responses and the time that will come to hunt people down to see if they are coming or not.

None the less a weight is lifted that now every waking moment is not spent working on my precious babies and I am now an Empty Nester...tear. Call me crazy but there was a twinge of separation anxiety... and I did hang on to a few just so I can look at them.

13.1

I did it!! I ran my first half marathon.

When this whole thing began a few months ago I had the notion that I would complete the half marathon with no intentions of running the whole thing, just completing it. Well I guess I am too competitive for that. I started out with all my training on the treadmill. I still remember the day when I ran 5 miles and thinking what an accomplishment it was. I was just thinking holy cow I ran for an hour straight and I actually ran 5 miles! Then I moved to the medical center, an area more conducive to outside running. With the move, about half of my excuses for not running very much went out the window. I still continued to run completely on the treadmill and I remember the day I did 8 miles it was such a great feeling, I got in my zone, I was focused and I actually enjoyed it! After that I realized this half marathon is real and I liked how running made me feel, it was an escape I could clear my mind and I prayed alot.

My mom told me about and then everything changed, I started to run outside and OHHH EEEEM GEEE running outside is so much harder than running on the treadmill. I mapped out my course and took off. I set out the first day to do my 10 mile run. Being new to the area I made a wrong turn and ended up running about 11 miles on accident, The next week I did 11 on purpose and that was the longest I ran....Until Sunday...Race Day

I was so psyched, My uncle who I would consider an expert gave my mom and me a pep-talk the friday before and I couldn't wait till sunday. On saturday we went to the Expo to pick up our race packets and tons of free goodies, tasted several samples of milks, protein drinks, goos and bars of all sorts. It was so fun almost a whole new world I never knew existed, or I did but didn't care because it never pertained to me but now that "I AM A RUNNER" it was enthralling.

Sunday morning although I woke at 4AM I was pumped not tired in the slightest. We got to the parking lot and had to walk what seemed to be about a mile to the gear check where I had to part with all my belongings, including my jacket...it was a teensy bit chilly. We got into our corral and waited to get to the start line after about 38 minutes or so we started.

Two hours and twenty seven minutes and a potty break later (So mad that I had to stop and pee at mile 0.1) I finished. It was so exhilirating!! People cheering you on passing up people and at about mile 7 thinking oh seriously I have a long way to go still!! At mile 11 it got real tough I could see the alamodome but new I was still 2.1 miles away!! I kept telling myself I had already come this far whats two more miles!! Before I knew it I was crossing the finish line and being handed my shiny new medal!!


I did it and I kind of still cant believe it, I enjoyed myself and had fun. I am most certainly doing more and I must have got the crazy bug or something because I want to do a full marathon next year. I hope to stay inspired and not let the novelty of it wear off. Once the wedding is over and I can stop working so much I can start to train more seriously, and I should probably buy some "real" running shoes not my $30 New Balance from the discount store.

I saw in March there is a Disney Princess Half Marathon I thought would be cute and in Sept I want to do the Virginia Beach Rock aand Roll with my Family but those are just a few beacons I look to for the future. I will be doing some more close to home and if Im really really lucky I will get picked for the Nike Womens Marathon in San Francisco but its by lottery only so like I said only if Im really really lucky but who knows.

Helloooooo are you in thereeeee???

Oh Hi yeah I have been a horrible blogger lately but I have been kinda busy.

For one planning a wedding... but I think I have all the big things taken care of... except the honeymoon but that will be dealt with next time I am in San Antonio. As soon as we move I will be taking on the invitation suite a huge task but one I am sooo excited to get started on and also fine tuning all the little wedding details. I am still having fun with it all and I am can't wait for the big day, although I was talking with M the other day and I am not sure what I will do once the wedding is over as most of my free time is dedicated to wedding stuff...maybe I can pick up my hobby of scrapbooking again who knows.

Also we are moving so for a while there my free time was taken up with finding a new place to live... We found a fabulous new midrise aptartment without carpet(has woodlike floors) in the main living area and an amazing kitchen...not to mention I am only 2 miles from work so that means I only have to drive about 5 minutes if at all, the complex has a courtesy shuttle that will take me to work!! Also its right by a huge beautiful park so I can run outside and take the dog for long walks and whip his fat hiney into shape!!

I went on a cruise with my best friend Erin I promise I will give a full update on that very soom but it was just too fabulous to only dedicate one sentence of my blog to.

We also revamped our wedding registry we discovered that one of my favorite stores (the one with a bullseye) has a horrendous return policy for gifts so we decided to scrap that and go to Bed Bath and Beyond.

And last but not least I am running a half marathon with my awesome mother. I hadn't run in about two weeks and she told me she did 5 miles the other day as she is religously following her training schedule. So, not to be outdone I went and made myself do 5 today and I must say I am a rockstar because I ran 5 and still had energy afterwards, as of yet I am not too sore. You see I come from a family of runners my one uncle has done more marathons and the like than I can count on one hand and my grandmother was a racewalker (her walking is my jogging) shoot she did the new orleans marathon at 75!!! So I have the genes I just need to utulize them and I am finding I AM A RUNNER!! I can do it and I am so excited. When I run it clears my mind and energizes me and So I really look foreward to Nov when we do this thang!!

On top of all that I work overtime as much as possible so yeah I think I have an ok excuse but I promise I will show my face around here more, really, I promise...cruise blog tommorrow!!

Whip it up week 4

For this weeks theme of Healthy Options i decided to let M decide since there was nothing I was dying to make. I gave him the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook and told him to choose something.

He chose Pizza Burgers

I like hamburgers but for whatever reason I never make them at home probably because we dont own a grill and they are never the same on the stove.

But Alas here we go

Here's the cast:


You'll need
1 lb. 96% lean ground beef
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 to 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
1/4 tsp. salt
3 oz. low fat mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 cup low fat, lower sodium, low sugar Marinara Sauce
4 Whole grain hamburger buns

1. Preheat the grill
2. In a large bowl, mix the beef, oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes and salt until well combined, Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and shape into balls, packing them tightly as you do. Press each into a patty that is about 1/2" larger than the diameter of the bun



3. Grill the burgers for about 2 mins per side for medium rare, or until desired doneness (Do not smash the burgers with a spatula) About minute before the burgers are done top each with the cheese
4. Meanwhile put some marinara sauce in a small bowl and heat up in the microwave about 30-60 seconds. PLace the bun halves cut side down on the upper rach of the grill away from the flame for about 20 seconds or until toasted.
5. Place each bun bottom on a serving plate toasted side upand then place the pattied cheese side up on the bun bottoms. Spread the bun tops with your marinara sauce and place on top of the burger



Since this week is healthy options I thought I would add the nutrition facts

Per Serving 304 Calories, 32g Protein, 27g Carbs, 9g fat (3g saturated), 68 mg cholesterol, 5g fiber, 605mg sodium

1. was this good? Yes, it was good, not my favorite as Im not a big fan of meatball subs and that is basically what this is, but M loved it!

2. would is the recipe easy to follow? YES This recipe was so easy to follow and so easy to make and was done in no time, we didnt make ours on the gril and we used ground turkey instead of beef so ours took a little longer

3. would you make this again? I would make it again if M requested it but not on my own accord only because Im not a huge fan of the meatball sub type dish

Update

If you remember when I wrote about the little girl who was wandering around by herself

Well, M and I were at HEB grocery shopping yesterday and we saw one of the officers who came to the house that day. SO we asked him whatever happened to the little girl.

He said they found the apartment the little girl lives in and the dad was sleeping and the little girl let herself out. The dad had put his mattress in front of the door so the little girl wouldnt get out as he works night shift and was going to sleep and put Barney on TV so the little girl would watch. Apparently she is a little more advanced than Barney because the officer said he asked the girl to show him how she opened the door and lock and she did. Apparently the parents are divorced and this was the dad's weekend to have the little girl but he had to work the night before.

The officer told the dad he needs to get a top lock for the door with a latch that would be out of reach for the child even if she were to put a chair in front of the door.

SO at least its good to know he wasn't passed out, or on drugs or whatever else could have happened. That dad and little girl are very lucky that God was on duty that day!!

Whip it up week 3

Regional favorites was the name of the game and being from south texas i didnt really feel like making southwestern/mexican type food so I hit up my Gram who lives in Slidell which is outside New Orleans and asked for a recipe from her region mainly because many of my memories from childhood come from being at their house and the meals they would prepare... SOOOO GOOD

So I decided to go with Shrimp Creole one of my favorites which I had never made before but brought back memories from my childhood vacations and the few months of 4th grade that we lived there while my mom moved from California to Ohio

Shrimp Creole

1/4 cup butter or margarine
2 Tbs instant minced onion (I actually used about 1/2 cup of chopped sweet onion)
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2Tbs flour
1Tbs Season-all
1 bay leaf
1/8 tsp cayenne or red pepper
2tsp parsley flakes
3 1/2 cups diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 lb cooked, cleaned shrimp (cook shrimp in boil for spicier taste)



Melt butter in large (10-inch) skillet.
Saute onion, celery, and green peppers in butter until is lightly browned


Blend in flour
Add remaining ingredients except shrimp; mix well
Cover and simmer 30 minutes
Stir in pre-cooked shrimp and continue simmering just until shrimp is heated through


Serve over hot steamed rice



This recipe was so good and very easy to make I would defanitly make it again and it made a good amount of left overs which is always a plus in my book!!

Finally

I finally received a working cd from my photographer with our engagement pics. He had us a dvd promptly 5 days after our pics were taken but for some reason my computer wouldnt read it soooo it then took a while to get the other one for whatever reason but here we are and here are some of my favorite faves.

I must say we chose an awesome photograher and he is really good at photoshop because it was about 112 degrees that day and we were sweating like little piggies!!! But based on the pictures you would never know!

We had planned on wearing several different outfits and yadd yadda but ended up using just the two mainly because we just walked around and stopped to snap pics in different locations so changing often wasnt possible and Im really glad with how the pictures turned out anyway!!