Where's the Beach?

Happy Hour on the Deck After work, we met my cousin and his family at a place called Cajun's Wharf to listen to a band that he used to jam with. Cajun's is notorious for their awesome deck overlooking the Arkansas River. Even though it was incredibly hot out, there was a nice breeze that kept us cool. We had such a nice time catching up with my cousin and his wife (and 2 kiddos). My cousin and I are only 7 months apart in age and are really more like brother and sister. We actually lived together for a while in the early college years. I am really rallying for them to move here ;-)           Pizza Friday & Pool Party Prep We got home around 7:30 and got to work on pizza for Pizza Friday. In other words, a pretty typical Friday evening for the most part. However, we did spend some extra time in the kitchen prepping for today (friends over for pool time). We put together my Black Bean & Corn Salsa for starters. Black Bean & Corn Salsa Ingredie...

Housewarming Recap Well, to say the Artichoke Hummus was a hit is an understatement. But, I had to remake it unfortunately. The original batch got left at the house. We got to my sister's house and started unloading everything only to realize that container had not made it into the cooler. Oops. Thankfully Sarah had the ingredients on hand to whip up a new batch. Along with that, I made a Black Bean and Corn Salsa . She had some pico de gallo, Jason made a balsamic chicken salad. We had lots of dippers from corn chips to veggies. I didn't get pictures of all of the food, but did want to highlight some things.       My sister is getting the house all set up the way she wants and it's looking so cute. We did help her rearrange a few pieces just before the party (nothing like last-minute furniture arranging). I really opened up the space more. Everyone seemed to have a great time. We got to hang out with a few long-time friends (as in known whole lives basically). Our ...

Felt Like a Spring Run Today was an absolutely, unbelievably gorgeous day. Seventy-three degrees in January??? I'll gladly take it. Jason had some errands to run and he wanted to bike rather than run, so I headed to the river trails solo. Of course, it was packed down there so I was anything but alone. In fact, when Jason got home he asked if everyone in the city was down there when I was as well. Yep. I got in a really good 9.5 miles today. No IT band pain at all, but my piriformis on my left side did start to hurt around 5 miles into the run, but nothing sidelining. The only big fail was that I ran out of water and tried to stop at two different water fountains that were shut off. Not cool at all when it's warm out, you really need to take in a shot blok, and you have no water and are more than a mile from your car. I may have to get a larger water bottle or see if I can stand running with a water belt.  This could have been a fail...I was running in new shoes today to...

Why I'm Not a Runner Happy Friday. I know that not everyone gets a long weekend, but I hope that most of you do. Today is a rest day for me. I will admit that I almost got up and ran this morning because it was so nice out again. I feel like I must take advantage of the sudden cool-down while I can. Plus, I was wide awake when Jason got up to go swim at 5 am. But, my legs are feeling a bit heavy after yesterday's compound circuit workout, and they deserve a break. Speaking of running...Jessica and Jolene sort of called me out when I said I wasn't a runner. They protested loudly that I was indeed a runner. I have probably touched on this before, but I think I have the real answer as to why I say, "I'm not a runner." Yes, I run. But, I am not passionate about running. I think that's the difference for me. I run because it's great exercise. I run because I enjoy spending the time with Jason. I run because it makes me feel strong and accomplished. In som...