Random Catch Up!

It's time for a random catch up post where I tell you about all the things that have gone on that weren't important enough for their own post.  :)

After the Boston Marathon trajedy, I got together with some runners at my favorite running store for a run/fundraiser for a charity in Boston, and to show our support.  They had some shirts made, and I got one.



I babysat my grandmother's puppy (Charlie) for a weekend.  I was thinking about getting a dog, and have started some necessary renovations to my house (easier back door and fixing the fence, etc)- but after a weekend with a puppy I am not sure that I am quite ready!  I definitely did not realize that dogs came with so much stuff!!



Charlie was not exceptionally well behaved, and so he had to wear a doggie diaper most of the time he was here because I had to clean the floor one too many times!  I was thinking that I wanted a puppy, but now I am thinking I may need an older dog without so much energy!!

I got hit with a major case of seasonal allergies.  It was terrible.  I am usually lucky and don't have too much allergy trouble, but unfortunately not this year.  I had to give a presentation in a town about half an hour away, and to make this sickly girl even more unhappy, it was after hours.  Working 12.5 hours (as opposed to my normal 9) was not what the doctor ordered.  I tried really hard to have a fever so I didn't have to do it.  Ha!  This was when I was trying hard to convince my boss that I was too sick to go.  As a side note, I am loving all the neon colored clothes out lately. 



There was a Turkish Food Festival close to my house, so my mom and I went.  Here's what I ate (minus some delicious chocolate cake and also baklava):


I think they were expecting about half as many people to show up than actually did.  There was not a lot of available seating and the lines for food were long.  But everything was good and I would definitely go back next year.  I also signed up for some Turkish cooking classes and they said that they would send out an email before the next round of classes, so hopefully I can fit the classes in my busy schedule!

My church had a talent show/fundraiser on May 5.  The "celebrity" judges were Miss Arkansas, a local news anchor, and the head basketball coach of UALR.  It was a fun time!  It was like a dessert theater and several people in our church baked items for the dessert time during intermission.  I made luau cupcakes:


I also got my picture taken with Miss Arkansas and Steve Shields (the basketball coach).  Bob Clausen ran away right before the picture so he missed out.  :)



I bought some tulips for myself, and they finally bloomed.  Unfortunately they didn't last long.



I think that's enough randomness for one night.  Ha.  Next up will be an update on the Warrior Dash I ran in Amity (don't feel bad if you don't know where that is, because I have been there and I still don't know where it is haha!) last weekend with my friend Shannon!

Hogeye Marathon

A couple of weeks after the Poker Run, I ran in the Capital City Classic 10k. It was a nice flat course and I beat my previous 10k time by a couple of minutes. It was a great race and I hope to do it again next year.

The following weekend, I went up to Fayetteville and ran in the relay of the Hogeye Marathon with three other girls. I had the last leg, which was supposed to be 6.7 miles and ended up being 7. That little bit normally wouldn't matter that much, except that Fayetteville is so hilly! The worst was at the end, right before the finish line, there was a giant hill that we had to climb. It was hard for me and I can't imagine how hard it was for the people who actually ran the whole marathon!

When I left for the race at 5:45 in the morning, it was dark so I didn't even think about sunscreen. I got so terribly sunburned! Next year, I will have to remember that for sure! I have a really random tan line, and the craziest thing was that i got sunburned around my chip timer! we had to wear a velcro strap around our leg so that we could all four share the chip timer. I learned a lot about how the relay works this time, so we would do much better next year. I had about 3.5 hours before my leg started so I went to Walmart to use the bathroom (better than a porta-potty) and then cheered for some of the 5k and half marathoners.

I ran into quite a few people that I hadn't seen in a long time, so that was fun. I wish I could have run a little faster, but overall I was definitely proud of our team!

Poker Run

Back in March, I ran the Poker Run 5k with Lyndsey. She has her act together a little better, and posted about this a while ago. :)

This was pretty much the worst 5k I have ever run since I have actually been running. I think I was around 35ish minutes but honestly I didn't really care about the time, because I was just so glad to be done! Lyndsey warned me about the course but I thought she was just exaggerating. She wasn't. This was pretty much the most hilly course you can imagine. I am not in terrible shape, and I had to walk the last 2 hills because I couldn't breathe. I was wheezing- and I don't have asthma or anything. It didn't help any that the temperature so freaking cold!

When we got to the race and checked in- we had a while to wait so we ended up in my car to stay a little warm.

The race was neat because at each kilometer, we got a playing card. There were prizes for the best hand and the worst hand, as well as door prizes. Lyndsey won the worst hand and I got a door prize. I am glad that we both won something! She got baseball tickets and I got an insulated bag filled with a bunch of samples.

Lyndsey is super fast at running, at least compared to me. She was finished and waiting at the finish line for me with some of her family who came to cheer her on. So I was lucky to get a few pictures of me crossing the finish line!

After the race, we went to the pizza restaurant/bar that was sponsoring the race. We got pint glasses instead of t-shirts at the race and we could take our glass to the restaurant and get beer (or diet coke like me! Ha!). Lyndsey's mom and son came to eat with us, and we had a fun time!

This race made me so scared for the Hogeye marathon relay that I did this past week (I promise I will try to be more timely with that post...), but even though the Hogeye was more than twice as long, it was no where near as hard as that poker run! I don't think I will sign up for the poker run again, just because it was so hard, although I did have a fun time!

On Sunday, we had to leave a little early because it started snowing huge snowflakes! I was scared to wait any longer because there are so many bridges along I-540. We made it home without incident, thankfully. And funny story- we stopped in Alma, AR at McDonald's for lunch, and I ran into the lady who cuts my hair in Little Rock! What a small world!

I am still not sure how to handle these pictures while posting from my iPad, so if anyone has any tips, please let me know. Otherwise, they will just all be at the end. I am sure you can figure out which picture goes with which part of the story. :)

March Madness

The week after the Little Rock Marathon, I had to travel to Jonesboro for work for four days. I had plenty to do during the day, but the evenings were pretty lonely. The first night I was there, I had a couple of coworkers in town, so we went out for dinner. I can honestly say that was the first time I have ever actually enjoyed Indian food. It was yummy in my tummy! The second night I watched the Razorbacks lose to Missouri in basketball and then caught up on the Bachelor that I missed the night before when I was out with my coworkers. The third night I hit up the mall and then went to the Chris Tomlin and Kari Jobe concert at ASU. The concert was amazing and I am so glad I went. I am not a fan of doing things alone so it was kind of hard for me to go to restaurants and a concert by myself, but I managed.

I got off my two most expensive prescriptions (praise Jesus!!!). I can certainly think of many better ways to spend $95 per month.

I got a much needed haircut! For some reason I was so scared to make an appointment and I put it off for way too long. I got 8ish inches off and it looks so much better! Yay for no more scraggly hair!

After my haircut, I went to Fayetteville to do the Poker Run and hopefully my next post will be about that!

Little Rock Marathon 10k

The first Sunday of March, I ran the 10k of the Little Rock Marathon. This was my first 10k, and I was a little worried because I had not yet ran the full 6.2 miles. It turned out fine and I ran the whole thing, so I was proud. My running partner didn't make it, it was 23 degrees, and the start line was utter chaos. Other than those minor setbacks, it was amazing. I had a fun time- as much fun as you can have running a little over 6 miles. Ha!

My official time was 1:14:34, which is a 12 minute pace, which was my goal and is pretty standard for me. I never claimed to be fast. I am just glad to cross the finish line and not be in last place! Running has been great for my weight loss and overall health, so that is the main reason I run. I sign up for all these races in order to force myself to train and not be lazy. :)

The Little Rock Marathon is kind of a big deal around here. I can't wait until next year's race! I haven't decided which race I will do yet. I am training now for a half marathon and hope to run a half marathon in the fall. So we will see what I decide as it gets a little closer to next March. I have done one other race (the poker run) since the Little Rock Marathon and have two more scheduled for next month, a 10k and a marathon relay in which I have a 7 mile leg. I do find it a little funny that last year I was looking at everyone's pictures from the Little Rock Marathon and I was like oh well that almost makes me want to run! But I didn't think there was any chance I would ever be a runner- and look at me now!

I also saw my sorority sister Sarah at the finish line (she is faster than me!). We are on the same relay team for the Hogeye marathon so I will see her again in a couple of weeks!

Lemon meringue pie

Also known as the shortest blog post ever because your photos won't load right!


We had so much fun with the cherry pie making class that I went back for a lemon meringue pie class with some of my friends. We had a fabulous time, however I decided that I really don't like lemon meringue pie. That is also a pie that doesn't travel very well. Mine had some transportation trouble:

Everything from the Super Bowl to Roller Derby

Playing catch up again...

Of course I went to a Super Bowl party- and of course it was a couple of weeks ago.  :)  I may or may not have only watched the last 5 minutes of the game...

I am not really all that interested in NFL football.  The Razorbacks, yes.  But NFL, no.  I only watch NFL games when I have a fantasy football team.  I never really have gotten a favorite team in the NFL, so for me, the Super Bowl is about eating lots of bad-for-you food and hanging out with my friends.

My contribution to the waist lines of my friends was cotton candy bars.

The recipe called for a cup of sprinkles, which I thought wouldn't be a problem since I bake all the time and have gathered up quite the collection of different kinds of sprinkles.  Y'all.  1 cup of sprinkles is a lot.  Like a whole lot.  Here's a picture of everything before I mixed it up:

 

It is pretty though!  I had to use some Halloween black sprinkles too, so instead of being blue, the bars were black so it was a little tricky as they looked like chocolate but they weren't.

 

Here's the finished product.  They were delicious!

 

 

We had a going away party for one of my coworkers.  I was on cupcake duty.  Here's the finished product, minus a few cupcakes that wouldn't fit into the box.

 

 

The cupcakes turned out fine, but it was one disaster after another to get them done.  That is why I could never be a baker for my job- it is too stressful.  I always want them to be perfect, and it rarely turns out like I intended.  I was only planning on having two variations of cupcakes.... and I turned out to have 6.  At the end of the evening, I had dropped an egg on the kitchen floor, sprinkles all over the cabinet, and icing all down the side of the refrigerator.  However, I got many compliments on the cupcakes, so I guess it was all ok in the end.

 

Each Saturday in February, Eggshells has held a free pie making class.  I went last Saturday for the cherry pie making class, and it was so much fun- not to mention tasty!  :)  First we learned how to make the pie crust.  Even with all of my baking- I am pretty sure that this was my first time to make a pie.  The pie crust is a great recipe and I definitely learned a lot in that area.  Here is my pie crust in the pan:

 

 

Me and my cousin at the pie making class:

 

 

Next we added the filling- which was just frozen cherries, sugar, and cornstarch.

 

I had no idea that was how you make the filling.  I definitely thought there had to be something juicy in there for the filling- but y'all.  This recipe is fab.  And I don't even really like cherry pie, or so I thought.  I could have eaten a whole pie by myself.  I mean- it's fruit right?  Ha.

Here I am with my pie before vent holes (or a smiley face):

 

And here is the finished product:

I think I will be making a pie the next time I have to bring a dessert somewhere.  This is an award winner!

 

We also went to the Roller Derby.  I have been intending to go to see the roller derby for a long time, but it just never worked out.  We had a great time and I can't wait to go back.  A bunch of my coworkers (both past and present) are in the roller derby, so there are lots of familiar faces.

 

 

Monday, my friend Cherry and I went to Oaklawn, about an hour away.  Luckily the rain mostly stayed away and we were able to stay through the 8th race.  After that, we were wet and cold and wanted to get home in time to watch the Bachelor.  :)

 

It is currently sleeting outside and below freezing.  I'm not excited about getting to work tomorrow.  Maybe it will be cancelled?  {Wishful thinking!}  I also got a text message from Entergy about preparing for power outages, and the weather man said on the news last night that power outages were likely.  I am so sick of the power going out!  I think we have had our fair share plus some of power outages.  Hopefully the power stays on and the roads stay clear!