Goodbye to Florida...

Well, our entire life is packed into a bunch of boxes and sitting in our home waiting for tomorrow morning to come.  We are completely ready to officially begin the move to Missouri.

If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen a lot of our "lasts" over the past few days.  And tonight we had our last walk on the beach.  It didn't last long because we're dead tired, but we (I) said goodbye one final time.

So tomorrow brings a moving truck and the first half of a long drive to our new home.  It's going to be a really long day, with trying to get the moving truck loaded as quickly as possible so that we can get our eight hour drive started as early in the day as we can.

I am excited, sad, stressed, nervous... but mostly just tired.  We've worked really hard the past week, and now I'm ready to get this tough part (the drive) over with so everything can calm down again.

See you on the other side (of a bunch of state lines)!

Things I Won't Miss About Florida

Well here's a comical post... Imagine, if you will, that I am sitting at my computer laughing as I type this post, because I am.

There are a lot of things I will miss about Florida (our friends, our church, the beach, some restaurants, the endless summer, the outdoor lifestyle, etc.), but since that would make for a sappy post that no one would want to read, I'm going to list some of the things I won't miss about this lovely state.  And they're pretty ridiculous.

(If you're a Florida native and you've never lived anywhere else, you may not want to read this post.  It just might shatter your bubble because you probably don't notice some of these things.)

These aren't in any real order.  I don't really want to take the time to rank these by how much I dislike them.  That's too much negative thought, and I don't need that in my life.  Lol.

1.  Insects!  I definitely will not miss the plethora of stupid insects that Florida has to offer.  Namely cockroaches, love bugs, crazy-insanely-large grasshoppers, beetles, and so many others I don't even know their names.  Yuck.  I love Florida's endless summer weather, but one freeze a year to kill all those suckers would not be a bad thing.

2.  Huge birds.  Yeah, I'm sort of scared of birds.  Mainly because they can move really fast, and there is always the possibility that they could decide to attack your head and/or poop on you at any moment.  And Florida has a lot of big birds.  In Missouri, they're more like oh-how-pretty, look-at-the-songbird kind of birds.  Here, they're big... and scary.

3.  Stop lights.  Yes, we have stoplights in Missouri also.  However, they are not bane-of-my-existence, are-we-ever-going-to-move-more-than-five-feet-before-we-hit-another-one, worst-timing-in-the-world stoplights.  The stop lights here are absolutely horrid.  That's probably one of my biggest pet peeves because they are EVERYWHERE!  Ugh.  I won't miss those.

4.  The many different kinds of drivers in Florida.  Yeah, crazy 16 year olds driving on the same roads as blind 90 year olds is not fun.  Traffic... it causes a lot of traffic.

So really, there are two main categories of things I won't miss... some of the less appealing wildlife and traffic.  Lol.

What It's All About

I promised yesterday that today's post would be happier.  However, I will keep it short because I know you are all probably getting bored with my enthusiasm about my training program.

I may have mentioned just a few teensy times that I've been doing a new training program since the middle of April.  {Please note the sarcasm; I know I've talked about it quite a lot.}

So now that I am (over) halfway through the program, I am finally ready to share what all the excitement is about!  There are a few reasons why I haven't wanted to share until now:

1. I was super afraid that I would fail and/or chicken out, and I didn't want to have to share that with the world if it did happen.
2. I hadn't told ANYONE what I was planning and training for the first few weeks, so I wanted to give myself time to warm up to the idea and then tell a few people close to me first.
3. I wanted to have a proper goal as motivation to keep me going before I told the world.  Then I'd be less likely to fail right in front of all of you.

So... without further ado... here it is...

I am training for a sprint triathlon in August!!!  Woohoo!  As you can tell from all of the updates, I'm super excited about it.

And the crazy thing is that until about a year ago, I had never run more than a mile in my entire life.  And you practically had to force me at gun point to run the whole thing!  But now I'm really, really enjoying running.

So here's the jist of my program:

• Monday - Run for a set distance (It increases by a half mile each week.), then lift weights (arms only)
• Tuesday - Swim laps and bike for a set distance (Each week the distances increase.)
• Wednesday - Run for a set time (increasing by 5 minutes each week), then lift weights (arms)
• Thursday - Same as Tuesday
• Friday - Run for a set time (5 minutes less than Wednesday), then lift weights (arms)
• Saturdays and Sundays - rest

It's a pretty rigorous program since I'm working out pretty heavily for five days straight each week, but I'm really enjoying it.  I did sort of ease into it because I was working out sporadically before I started this set program.  I also had two goals when I created it: I wanted to be able to run a 10K (just over 6 miles) without walking, and I wanted to be able to complete a sprint triathlon.

Now that Thomas and I have everything planned for the move, I was able to pick out a race and set my goal for certain, so my brother and I (and maybe Thomas) will be participating in a sprint triathlon in August that will require us to swim 1/4 mile, bike 12.5 miles, and then run 2.5 miles!  I'm super excited, and since I won't be doing it alone, I think it will be even more fun!

So, I promise, I will stop there.  If you'd like to know more about my training program, I would be happy to give you more details or a copy of it, but I figure that the average person has no interest in it.

Woohoo!  Happy post!

The Thing I'll Miss the Most

Today has been a bit of a rough day.

Before today, I was mostly really excited about moving.  I'm so excited that God is working so visibly in our lives.  And I'm so excited that we'll be able to see our family more often.

But last night, it just sort of blindsided me.  The grief, the pain of losing Florida.  I know it sounds melodramatic (which is probably partly a product of the super descriptive and emotional book I'm reading right now), but I sort of feel like I'm grieving for Florida.

I've wanted to live here my whole life.  When it finally came true, I couldn't hardly believe it.  It was one of those dreams that seemed so impossible that it would always stay a dream and never a reality.  The beach is one of my heart's homes; it always has been.

And now, I'm leaving it.  How can you be so sad to lose something as vast and changeable as the ocean?  How can you mourn the loss of a dream come true?  Today, the realization that we're actually leaving the beach to live about as far from the ocean as you can get on this continent really hit me.  And I broke.

We went to visit my friend, the beach, today.  If anything, it made things worse.  Knowing that I only have one or two chances left.  Knowing that next week I'll leave a place I feel so relaxed and free, one of the places I feel at home.  The ocean cannot come with me to Missouri.  Oh how I wish it could.

I've known through this whole process what leaving the ocean means to me, but today it just punched me in the gut with emotion. 

But I keep reminding myself, and God keeps reminding me, that our path is set for Missouri.  And I am still excited about it.  But I've finally found the mix of emotions that was strangely absent for the last week as we made the decision and set out on the journey.

So now that I've shared this with you, I'm going to go lay in bed and read my incredibly descriptive and emotional book and let the tears leak out onto my pillow.  And I know that tomorrow when I wake up, these emotions will still be here, but I will know they're coming and I will be ready to appreciate them all.

And tomorrow, I will write a more upbeat post.

The B-I-G Announcement

No, we're not pregnant.  Let's just get that out of the way first.

God has been moving in our hearts and our lives a lot during the past months.  It's not that He's been more present (because He is always with us), He's just been a lot more obvious lately.

We've had a lot of things going on this year, but they all sort of culminated a few weeks ago when God started to give us some hints as to what is to come. 

One of Thomas' grandmothers passed away last month, and he traveled back to St. Louis for the funeral.  (This part of the situation makes a little more sense if you know that Thomas is the only grandchild on that side of the family and one of only two grandchildren on the other side of his family.)  Her husband, Thomas' paternal grandfather, had passed away a few years ago, and Thomas' maternal grandfather has some health problems also.  So, as he traveled to St. Louis and saw his family, God began to place it on his heart that maybe we were needed there to be close to his family.  (Also, my immediate family is in St. Louis too.)

Thomas' job was also coming to an end, and our apartment lease is up soon, so everything seemed to be ending at similar times.

So we began talking about our options as to renewing our lease, new jobs, etc.  And God continued to place it on our hearts that St. Louis is where we're supposed to be.

One of the main factors for me, at least, is the fact that God has prepared my heart for leaving Florida.  If you know me or have read the blog a lot, you'll know that living here in Florida, near the beach, has been a dream of mine for my whole life.  And yet, when I think about moving to St. Louis, I am excited.  A year ago, I would have shuddered and cried at the thought of leaving. 

God has planned things out so perfectly that we could not be more sure that we are on the exact course He has set for us.  And we are excited to see Him work out the rest of the details.

So... as you've guessed, the B-I-G announcement is that we are moving to St. Louis, and we're doing it next weekend.  (Yeah, that soon!)  I will sorely miss many things about Florida, but we are so incredibly excited to see God work in this next chapter of our lives.

Thus, over the next week and a half, you will see several sentimental posts about things I will miss about Florida, things I'll be glad to give up, and things I'm excited for in St. Louis.  And we will continue to see how God leads us into this new setting!

Braids {Little Lovelies}

As I mentioned in this post, I'm slightly addicted to braids right now; they're just so lovely.  I keep seeing them all over Pinterest, and they're absolutely adorable!  So, I've been working on my braiding skills (which are very, very limited) and trying out almost any style that's easy enough for my fingers to understand and replicate!  Here are some of the styles I've attempted.

**Please excuse the quality of the photos.  I am absolutely horrible at taking pictures of my hair with or without the use of a mirror.

This is a style I whipped up for the beach one day.  Yes, the phone/camera is conveniently placed to cover up my face as I was getting ready for the beach and had absolutely no makeup on.  I started out by parting my hair in a U shape and French braiding the U-shaped section all the way around my head and down to the end (I think it accidentally turned into a Dutch braid there for a bit).  Then I used the hair that wasn't French braided and divided it into two sections and did a traditional braid with the end of the French braided section as the third piece for the braid.  I liked the result for the beach because it made sure all of my little flyaways were pulled back.

This style was super simple.  I just parted my hair on the side (where I normally part it) and then took a small section out of the front-center of my head and braided it.  Then I pulled all of my hair into a messy bun.  That's it, but it was a cute way to spice up a traditional messy bun.

This here is my first attempt at a fishtail braid.  Who knew that a two-strand braid could be harder than a three-strand one?!  I need a lot more practice with this one.

This is a crown braid and messy bun combo.  I took the back-bottom of my hair and braided it into two ropes.  I pulled the rest of my hair back into a messy bun and then wrapped the braids up around my head into a crown.  The result was a kind of bohemian-messy-cute-fancy-updo.

And this is just a simple French braid on the side of my head.  Once again, I parted my hair on the side and started braiding on the side with more hair.  This is a cute style that I stole from a movie and it's actually a lot easier that braiding across the back of your head because your hands don't have to switch positions so many times.

And lastly, here is my first attempt at a Dutch braid.  Not bad, right?!  I was pretty happy with it since it's one I haven't really done before.

So there are some of the braided styles I've tried.  I've found most of my inspiration from Pinterest, so if you're interested in learning some new braiding styles, there are tons and tons of great tutorials on there!

"The Amazing Spider-Man 2" Review

Source

The first blockbuster of May is out and making a splash. We saw it last weekend, and after letting it marinate in my mind for a while, here are my thoughts.

You know, sometimes I am very against remakes of recent movies.  How can you really want to remake something that only came out 5-10 years ago?!  It's not like the movie is really that outdated.  Sure technology has changed but enough to warrant spending millions of dollars on making a movie that was just made?!  It's not like the movie needs updating to be relevant to current times or anything.

However, I would not wish away the Spider-Man reboot for anything.  Don't get me wrong, I saw all three of the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movies in theaters, but if I had had those and the Andrew Garfield movies to choose between, I'd choose the newer ones every. single. time.

I absolutely love Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker.  He's hilarious.  I love the snarky-ness and general lack of worry that he brings to the character.  He doesn't take anything seriously, but he's also not a pretentious jerk about it.  He has a great personality to bring to Spider-Man.

And don't get me started on Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy.  Now, I don't know much (and by much, I mean anything) about the Spider-Man comics, but my husband tells me that the Gwen Stacy character isn't really a thing in the comics (or something like that...).  But I don't care.  I love love love Emma Stone.  She and Andrew have a great on screen relationship and their characters are quite perfect for each other.

Now that you know how I feel about the casting of the main characters, let's get down to the movie.

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that there was a heck of a lot going on in this movie.  There were plots and sub-plots galore.  And that makes sense since the flick was 2 hours and 20 minutes long.  It progressed well between the different parts of the sometimes seemingly unrelated events.  But, man!  There was a lot of plot.  A lot.  Don't get me wrong, a lot of plot can really work for a movie, but it also leaves you feeling like you just read a 600 page book in 2 hours.  It's a little overwhelming.

I did not like the introduction of new plot material in the last 10-15 minutes of the movie.  I know that they wanted you to know that a new Spider-Man movie would be in the works, and they like to give you some hints about what villains it will feature, but it was a bit much for me.  I felt like the last 10 minutes of the movie were a little disjointed.

If you're looking for a movie that will keep you entertained and on an emotional roller coaster for over two hours, you will definitely get your money's worth with this movie.  There were parts when I was laughing hysterically, parts when I gasped and held my breath, parts when I thought WHAT?!, action parts, love story parts...  You name it, and this movie probably had it.  However, don't expect to have it all processed right when you walk out of the theater.  There's a lot to digest.  And I can't say that I totally loved everything that the writers did, but overall, this was a solid movie.

If you decide to go see it, I really hope you enjoy!

Current Addictions

So, I haven't been baking very much lately.  I've done the cook-dinner-every-night thing, but my extra curricular baking has been minimal.  I've mostly been sticking to the old favorites when I have been putting anything sweet in the oven.  So, sorry that there haven't been any great recipes, but I'll get back there eventually.  I am trying out a new recipe for breakfast Saturday morning, so if that's any good, I'll let you know!  We've had some other things going on, and I've been going at it pretty hard with the work outs, so I'm trying not to undo them with lots of unhealthy desserts every night.

Speaking of the training, I finished week 4 today and ran a total of 8.1 miles this week!  Woohoo!

So here are a few of the things I've been addicted to lately:

Jif Natural Peanut Butter.  Yep.  Still addicted.  I've eaten this on some type of food just about everyday for the past month and a half.  (Examples: bagels, English muffins, in smoothies, apples, waffles, etc.)  I LOVE it!

Blue Diamond Honey Roasted Almonds.   I had never had these things until Thursday, but I'd been craving some Almonds and these were mega on sale, so I picked 'em up.  And I am so totally hooked now.  They're addicting.  They're one of those "Oh I'll just pop open the can and eat one or two (meaning you'll actually eat 12)" types of foods.  Yummy!

Braids.  I have been trying to amp up my braiding skills, so every time I do something new that involves braids, I snap a few photos; I'm planning a post to show you a few of these.

Cute summery dresses.  It's been pretty hot here lately, so some light, airy dresses have been just the thing to keep cool.  Here's the one that my awesome hubby bought me on my mini shopping spree.  I wore it for our date tonight!  =)

Spider Solitaire.  So I have the app on my phone, and I just cannot stop playing it in my free time.  It is so stinkin' addicting!

Quiz Up.  Another game on my phone.  Thomas introduced me to this game about a week ago, and it's basically trivia on a ton of different subjects.  So if that doesn't scream "Rachel", I don't know what does!

My training program.  You could probably tell that already.  But I'm so ecstatic about how I feel and the sense of accomplishment this program is giving me.  It's awesome (even though I can't walk up the stairs or chase the cat down the hallway without groaning and wanting to fall over because my legs are so tired today).

So there's that.  Like I mentioned, Thomas and I had a great date tonight.  We went to a restaurant called The Mansion (not as hoity-toity as it sounds) and sat on the rooftop with a great view of the river.  Then tomorrow we're going to the beach to hang out and play sand volleyball with some friends!  Yippee!  And hopefully Saturday's muffin recipe turns out well, and I'll be able to blog it next week.

Happy weekend!

***Update:  I forgot one:  Nail polish.  I'm completely addicted to nail polish in general right now!  Lol.

Endorphins Make You Happy

Source: LookHuman.com

Though I wasn't wearing this shirt while working out today, I was definitely pretty high on those endorphins!  (You may recognize this quote from "Legally Blonde".)  Also, I wasn't before nor am I now in danger of shooting my husband (just thought I should clarify that).

Today I started week 4 of my 10 week training program, and I am in love!  Last week I felt pretty good about myself after the workouts.  For the most part I felt like I could keep going, but I want to stick to the schedule so that I don't over do it one day and have to put it on hold.  However, my Friday run (which actually happened on Saturday because my Friday was pretty busy) felt horrible.  And since my Friday runs are supposed to be the easiest, my body was obviously pretty tired from a hard week's workouts.  FYI: I run on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays with other workouts that I'm not quite ready to share about on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Rest days are Saturdays and Sundays.  So it's perfect that my "easy" runs are on Fridays since I don't think my body would be able to handle a hard run at the end of the week.

So, Saturday I was feeling pretty exhausted at the end of my run.  Like can't-run-another-step-without-tripping-and-falling-over exhausted.

But TODAY...

I felt amazing!  This morning was my first 3 mile run in this training program (and only the second in my life), and it felt so awesome that I was (and still am) just stunned.  I was pretty much full on sprinting at the end of it because I felt so great.  I could have kept running for hours (not really, but that's what it felt like when I was high on endorphins).  I'm still baffled that I did the 3 miles in 30:52 which averages out to just over 10 minutes per mile!

So in case you like to run or are thinking about trying it out, here are some specific things I'm loving:

• Proper workout clothes.  I have a few workout shirts (the wicking kind) that I love to wear when I'm working out, but until today I had just been wearing 100% cotton Soffe shorts.  That's all I had so obviously that was my only choice.  But last night, my AMAZING hubby took me on a mini shopping spree, and I got some actual workout shorts.  They're pretty much biking shorts but there's no padding on the butt.  And they made a huge difference today on my run.  You really don't know how much cotton is killing you until you try something better.  But your workout clothes don't have to be expensive.  Stores like Kohl's and Target have no-name-brand pieces for pretty cheap.
• Changing up speeds while running.  I've started doing intervals in my running, meaning that I'll run slow for about 2 minutes and then pick up the pace a bit for about 30 seconds, then just repeat continuously.  This is the basis for a lot of running programs, especially programs like couch to 5k.  I'm not timing myself on my intervals, I just continuously set goals for myself while running, for example: when I get to that tree, I'm going to run faster until I hit that darker spot in the pavement; or I'm going to pick up the pace for the whole chorus of this song; things like that.  And it has made a world of difference in my breathing during a run.  By running a bit faster at times, the slower paces feel like relaxation.  I've also read that this type of system burns more calories and fat.  I'm not sure if that's true or not, but it's worth a try!
• Cross training.  I'm not doing a special program or any crazy new-age exercises, but the more I work out my body in ways other than running, the more my running flourishes.  Like I said earlier, I'm not quite ready to share the specifics of my non-running days yet, but I just have to tell you: do some other things too.  Lift weights, go swimming, do yoga, STRETCH, anything will help!
• The RunKeeper App.  This is the app I use to log my workouts.  The GPS maps my runs if I'm running outside (which is almost always) but also allows you to log your runs manually if you run in the gym.  It gives you approximate calories burned, keeps track of your time and distance records and even has legitimate training programs you can use if you need a little help getting started.  I love that I can just set the app and start my run, and it gives my audio updates on my progress every 5 minutes so I know how long I've been running, how far, and my average pace.  And it doesn't just log runs; there are a whole slew of activities to choose from that you can log: walking, hiking, biking, swimming, and plenty others.  The best part: it's free!  And there are versions for both iPhone and Android.
• Taking my headphones out during my cool down walk.  I've started to do this so that I have a little time to think and pray in the peace and quiet, and I really love it.  I'm usually feeling pretty good after my run, and it's a great time to talk to God about anything that's going on.  My prayers are usually punctuated with a lot of "Oh thank you for that breeze!  It feels amazing!" right in the middle of a sentence, but it's still some great quality time with God out in nature.

 So my Monday is so very lovely so far!  I hope yours is too!

Musings from the past few days

I've been quite boring lately.  It's hard to find things to blog about right now because I'm not really doing too much each day.  I haven't been baking too much (sad face), and since I don't have a working car at my disposal at the moment, I'm not able to do too much either.  But, I have saved up a few things to fill up a post!

I am still going strong on my running program.  I'm halfway through week 3 right now and haven't skipped a day or woos-ed out yet!  Woohoo!  (I don't think I've mentioned yet that its a ten week plan.)  This morning was pretty tough though.  I did a harder non-running workout yesterday than I'm used to, and I ran a little too soon after breakfast time.  But I pushed through and made it!

Thomas has bought me a few small gifts lately.  (I'm thinking it's partly out of guilt for leaving me here when he had to travel back to St. Louis last weekend, but hey, I'll take presents no matter what the reason!)  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before that receiving gifts is one of my strong love languages.  Which I don't really like, I feel like its pretty much the most selfish and shallow of the love languages, but it works for me.  He bought "Frozen" for me upon coming home from St. Louis, and Lolo and I watched it in bed the other night.  (Ok, so Lo didn't watch the entire movie, just parts of it.)

We (I) made milkshakes from Blue Bell's Banana Pudding ice cream on Monday, and they were heavenly!  The ice cream tastes just like banana pudding and even has vanilla wafer pieces in it.  Oh so yum!!!

I finally got around to taking a few photos of my new scarf this morning.  It has been finished and sitting around the house for a while, and I've just never bothered to throw it on to take photos.  You won't see much of me in the photos because I have yet to put on make up or do my hair today.  I'll get there, just not yet.

Anyway, the scarf turned out pretty.  It is very shiny and a little stiff.  But thicker scarves always need a few washes to soften and limber them up a bit.

Yesterday I had quite a bit of human interaction (yay!) which was totally awesome at the time.  But, that also makes the lack of it seem a little more obvious today.  It makes me just want to sit on the couch, watch a movie, and eat everything in sight.  However, I am finding plenty of other productive things to do in order to keep my mind and my hands busy.  I will not let the enemy ruin my thought life today.

Anywho... That's about all I've got.  I'm feeling some more philosophical posts coming on in the near future.  My thought life is pretty deep at the moment.  Also, I like to write poetry, but I'm not sure I'm brave enough to share my poems here for everyone to read.  I'm thinking about it though.

Ruthless Hamsters

I haven't posted any funny Sunday Funday internet content in a while, and I think that should be remedied.

So I saw this video on the internet this week, and I just died laughing.  I didn't know that hamsters in their exercise wheels could be so funny!  I hope this little clip makes you laugh just like it did me.

(FYI: You don't really need to turn on your sound for this video.)

Who knew hamsters could be so ruthless as to run over each other like that!  Lol.  I hope you got a good laugh!

Brownie for One

I have tried several single serving brownie recipes, and most of them have hardly been worth eating.  This one, however, truly blew me away.  It was delicious!  The consistency was perfect, and the melted chocolate chips added just the right touch.  Oh so yum!

This makes a sizable brownie, so you may want to think about sharing it with a friend.  It would go absolutely wonderfully with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top too!

So, before I start drooling all over my keyboard, let me just give you the recipe.  It comes from No. 2 Pencil, and she has got quite a few great single serving recipes that you can view here.

Brownie for One
From: No. 2 Pencil

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter (not margarine)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar, packed
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons chocolate chips

Directions:

1. In a mug or ramekin, melt the butter.
2. Stir in the sugars.
3. Add the egg yolk and stir.
4. Lastly, add in the flour, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips, and stir until completely blended.
5. Microwave for 45-60 seconds.  (Mine took the full minute.)
6. Allow to cool slightly (if you can) before enjoying.

Ooh, this one is so yummy.  I hope you enjoy!  Happy weekend!

My First Julep Box

My very first Julep box arrived in the mail today!  I'm so excited to try out these fabulous new products.

I've been contemplating a Julep subscription for the past few months.  Lately, I've gotten pretty obsessed with nail polish, and I've heard some great things about Julep.  I'll keep you updated as I try the products.

This weekend, I saw a promotion to get your first box free, and that clinched it!  So I took the plunge!  Sure enough, I got my first box for free and even added on two extra nail polishes for a few extra dollars.

Every month I'll receive two nail polishes and a beauty product.  And the best part: I get to choose what I want each month!  Julep has five different options to choose from each month and tons of other products, specials, and rewards.

Interested in joining Julep?  Just click the button below to get your style profile and your first box free!  (And I'll get rewards for my referrals too.  Sweet!)