A Little Delayed

Sorry this post is a little late! I have been running lots of errands after work so this is the first chance I've gotten to sit down and write about our weekend. We had a really wonderful weekend- we traveled down to Sugar Land to see my family and see my dad for Father's Day. On the way down on Friday we stopped at Buc ee's, which if you have never heard of it is a really awesome gas station based in Texas. But before you say "eww gas station" it hardly can be called a gas station in the normal sense of the word. It is awesome. They have all kinds of good food, a deli, and really clean bathrooms. We got some really good beef jerky, trail mix, and BBQ and went on our way. Saturday we went out to a family lunch with my parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins at our favorite Tex-Mex restaurant, Molina's. It really is delicious, and I really love their queso, aka "Jose's Dip". I did allow myself to have have a Diet Coke with a lime (I have been off caffeine), which is quite possibly the best soda combination since cherry Diet Dr Pepper. Yum. It was fun being able to catch up with my family. My family has always been really close and I really enjoy spending time with them. After lunch we headed out to Katy to go to the outlet mall for a belated birthday shopping trip, and I found some really great deals. J Crew had 50% off their entire store, and I got some really great non-denim pants (I have been going through another 'I hate jeans' phase) that are super cute and comfortable. Banana Republic and Gap also had some great deals. After the mall, we went to visit my favorite horseback riding instructor. I started riding with Mrs. Adair when I was in the 5th grade, and she's been so much more than just my riding instructor, but a friend and mentor. I miss getting to ride a lot, and it was good getting to catch up with her and everything that's happening around the barn. Sunday we were able to go to church with my parents and got to hear my dad teach Sunday school and play his guitar with the worship team. After a great lunch at my favorite Cafe Express, we headed back to San Antonio. I really wish I had taken some pictures. I have this awesome camera that my sweet husband got me for our anniversary to chronicle our adventures, but I sometimes I just don't want to be 'that person' who is always wanting to take pictures.
Last night we drove out the the outlets in San Marcos and walked around a little bit. We really didn't get anything, but I did get an RG3 Redskins shirt which I am pretty excited about. It was pretty funny because people kept asking us why we weren't watching the game. The Spurs are a really big deal here! All my patients have been really tired lately because they keep staying up late and watching the Spurs games.
We are into week 3 of Insanity and still going strong, although we haven't been doing the 6 work outs a week, we have been doing more like 4-5. It's really difficult to be that consistent when you are so busy and especially when you go out of town! It is still challenging, but I can tell that I am able to do more during the work out before taking a break, especially during push up type stuff. It's especially difficult when I am trying to do push ups and Macie keeps trying to lick my face!
I am so glad it's Wednesday and we are now more than halfway through the week! On Friday we might go down to the racetrack to watch some Quarter Horse racing which could be really fun!

Hope you're having a great week!

Thanks, Dad

It's Father's Day, and I wanted to give a special shout out to my dad. My dad has been there for me since the very beginning. Whether it was taking me out on "Horse Hunts", where he helped support my love of horses by taking me out driving and would stop and take pictures of all the horses we saw, or taking me on our "Daddy/Daughter Dates" to Denny's, Shari's, or Taco Cabana, Dad always made sure to make time for me and make sure I knew I was important to him. He has always set an amazing godly example of how a man should be, and some of my earliest memories are of Dad sitting in his chair every morning reading his Bible.  I am thankful that Dad has always loved me no matter what and has always been there for me! I love you Dad!

Also, special shout out to my awesome father-in-law Jud for being such an amazing Dad and raising a spectacular son!

Insanity

Well, last Monday Braden and I started the Insanity work outs, and I must say, 7 work outs in it is quite insane. I haven't sweat this much in a work out out in a long time, and we quickly found out that we are not in as good of a shape as we thought! It can get quite interesting trying to do all the moves in our tiny space but we make it work. Macie seems to think that when we do some of the moves that we are fighting each other and will start barking and at us, so she gets to take a nap under the covers which suits her just fine. While the work outs are tough and I feel sore the next day, I also feel really good once it's done. It's also nice because the work out includes the warm up and cool down, and there's a countdown clock so you know how much torture work out you have left. Overall I am really enjoying having a consistent work out routine again! We got out of our routine with all the craziness of moving, and the closest location of the gym we had joined in NWA is about 20+ minutes away or more with rush hour traffic. If Insanity works out well, we are considering doing P90X next. It's nice to be able to work out right where we live and not have to get in our car and go anywhere...first world problems I know! I've also been trying to eat more healthy...eating lots more fruits and veggies, and way less carbs and sugars! My body has been feeling a lot better since these little changes.

Here's to being more active and healthy!

Seaworld!

SeaWorld Recap- It was a wonderful day and the animals were amazing! Special thanks to my alma mater, Baylor University, for throwing a spectacular alumni event with special priced tickets and a free lunch! It made the whole experience that more memorable.

The entrance to SeaWorld

 I really liked this show..It had the most going on and lots of different animals

 Oh my gosh how can you not love Beluga whales?? They are so cute. Brings me back to my 8th grade environmental project with the tagline "Save a Beluga...Don't Pollute-a"

This was an extreme wakeboard/water ski show and it was really entertaining

Me and "Shamu"

 Shamu! These animals are incredible.

 The one closest is Baby Shamu!

 Puffins...just presh. Braden made fun of me because I said "Everyday I'm puffilin"

 Such cute little guys! I love otters

 The seal show was probably the most entertaining because it had a storyline...

...and a Walrus. He did sit ups!

A very fun day! It was nice that it was cloudy most of the day so it wasn't too hot. We topped off the day with take out from Outback Steakhouse (YUM). Next weekend we will be visiting my family in Sugar Land!

Here's to a great week!

To Pack, or Not to Pack?

It's hard to believe that we have been in San Antonio for 3 weeks already! Time flies when you're having fun. After we moved, I mentioned that packing when we were moving was really difficult because we could either throw it away/get rid of it, take it with us, or put it in storage for an indefinite amount of time (see my previous post, Wandering Nomads). Since they didn't teach me how to predict the future in grad school, I had to do my best at guessing the things we would want/need. Now that we've been here for a little bit, I have identified some things that I was pretty smart to bring with us, and some things that leave me scratching my head going "really, I thought I needed [fill in the blank]?!"

Smart:

1) A few kitchen items- I brought with us a 3Q pan, cookie sheets, and some spatulas/spoons. Since I used them all the time, I thought I would want them, and I was right. We use these almost every day. The things they stock you with at a long term hotel just don't completely cut it in this department.

2) Magic Bullet-for those of you who use blenders a lot, this is a really great option because it is really compact and it is AWESOME.

3) Eye mask- Those hotel curtains don't cut out all the light and I'm a light sleeper

4) Our dog- I seriously love having little Mace with us. She is great company! Since she is small, She and her things don't take up much room. I got a small storage container and all her toys and sweaters fit in there

5) Tide PODS- These little beauties are clutch for doing laundry, and there's no chance of spilling. Also, laundry bags have been an awesome help doing laundry, and don't take up a lot of room in a car like a basket or hamper would

6) Things that make it feel like home- One of the things I'm really glad I thought to bring along were a few things that make me feel like I'm home. Obviously Braden was a no brainer, but I also brought along a few pictures to put around the room, and also magnets with a few pictures to go on our refrigerator. I t really does make the room feel less like a hotel and more like a mini-home.

Not-So-Smart:

1) My entire wardrobe- apparently I thought I was going to be going to lots of fancy parties while we were traveling! While I am appreciating having a lot of clothing options on the weekend, I really didn't need to bring every formal dress I own. This goes for shoes too. What was I thinking?

2) Every single bathroom/toiletry item that I have ever owned, ever- This was probably one of the hardest areas to plan to pack for, because I have a lot of extra toiletry items, like those little Clinique samples I get with the free gifts, that I will eventually use, and didn't want to get rid of, but didn't necessary need to take with us, but they wouldn't store....I seriously should have given more away. Our bathroom looks a little like a testing lab.

3) Our entire liquor cabinet- don't get me wrong, it's nice to be able to make our favorite drinks, but we should have trimmed it down a little bit more, three containers worth really takes up a lot of room in the car!

4) Storing the printer- we seriously should have brought the printer. On the bright side, I now have a new printer!


We had a great weekend this weekend. Pictures from SeaWorld coming soon!

Weekend Update

This weekend was really fun, and a much needed re-charge from a less than ideal end of the week. I have officially finished 2 out of the 13 weeks of my assignment here in San Antonio/Kerrville, and have really enjoyed it overall. One of the things I have really enjoyed at the placement are my coworkers, and of course the patients. I am still enjoying the 45 minute commute, although ask me in a month and I might have changed my mind! My new company, Advanced Medical, has been really awesome at supporting me with transitioning into the new position and city, and after a little rough end of the week, it was great to be able to talk with my recruiter, Amy, and know that I always have someone cheering for me in my corner!
On Friday night we were able to go to Olive Garden and have a wonderful dinner thanks to the gift card from my sweet coworkers from Northwest Arkansas (LOVE you guys!). It was nice to be able to dress up in something other than scrubs, get out of the hotel, and not have to cook! As always, I had one, um well probably a few too many breadsticks, and super yummy mushroom ravioli.
On Saturday morning, we went to breakfast at The Guenther House in San Antonio.




















This is where Pioneer Flour was started, and apparently the factory used to be the tallest building in San Antonio. We had to wait for 45 minutes before we were seated, but it is located on beautiful grounds with a museum and lots of benches and seating, and on the Riverwalk so the view is beautiful. I had been here before a long time ago, and it was even better than I remembered and well worth the 45 minute wait.

Cinnamon Roll Heaven!

Their cinnamon rolls are awesome! And tasted just as good reheated the next day.

After we went to breakfast, we came back to the hotel, got Macie, and went to Guadalupe River State Park, about 30 minutes away. It is a beautiful park! It was really hot so we didn't stay too long, but it was fun to hike along the river. Macie had a good time but was definitely tired and ready to nap the rest of the day once we got home.

Guadalupe River

Macie and Me

Macie taking a water break

That night we met up with some of Braden's friends from college at the San Antonio Scorpions game. They are a professional soccer team. This is the team's first season, so the atmosphere was really fun and the stadium really nice. 

Us at the game

These guys were the unofficial cheerleaders. Yes, the guy on the left is wearing a kilt. They led the stands in fun cheers like: "You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas!" "Hey [other team] you suck!" and "I believe that we will win!"

The Scorpians won and it was a really fun environment. All the fans were really into the game, and it was our first time at a professional soccer game. We would definitely go back!
In other areas of note, I finally figured out how to do a fishtail braid, which I have been trying to figure out for forever, and I bought something I always said I never would: my first pair of Chaco's!

After hiking in tennis shoes, and planning on doing more hiking and floating trips this summer, I decided I needed some more versatile outdoorsy shoes. I finally went over to the dark side. Super excited to get to use them on all our outdoorsy adventures!
This weekend was lots of fun, and I can't wait until next weekend when we go to Seaworld!

Here's to a great week!

Date Night!

This week we decided to try something a little different than normal so we decided to go out on a Thursday night instead of the weekend. We went to Alamo Drafthouse to see the new Star Trek movie. If you've never been to an Alamo Drafthouse, it is a really cool idea. It's set up like a normal movie theater, but you have a bar in front of where you sit with menus, you order your food and drinks from a waiter and then get to eat dinner while you watch the movie! I had a mushroom pizza, and Braden had a burger. It was a really fun experience! The food is a little over priced but definitely worth it for the experience. The movie was also really good. All in all a very fun night out during the week!