In Case You Were Wondering.

If it's around 7:30pm and still 98 degrees outside, it's not a good idea to go running no matter how guilty you feel for skipping your morning run.

It's also not a good idea to try and use grapefruit juice as a sports drink. 

Grapefruit juice + hot weather + running = everything fine one minute + feeling like you are going to hurl the next. 

Seriously, don't do it. 

The Streak is OVER.

Sometimes I forget that my friends on Facebook live in different areas of the country and that just because they are experiencing some type of weather does not mean that I will be experiencing that same type of weather.

For instance, people on the east coast often talk about this thing called "autumn". Not really sure what that is.

I'm sure you were all of the edge of your seats about whether or not we would break the consecutive days over 100 record here in the DFW area... I have some sad news. We did not break the record. On day 40, two days shy of tying and three days shy of breaking the record, we only made it to 98 degrees.

I had a bad feeling when I woke up that morning. I looked outside and there was actually... cloud cover. Yes, there were clouds in the sky. This is unusual. There are very rarely ever clouds in the sky and definitely not enough to call it "cloud cover".

Then I had to run an errand and made it from my car to the store and back without breaking a sweat. Also highly unusual.

Then I let the dogs out at lunchtime and was outside for a little while before realizing that I didn't feel as though my skin was going to fry off. I think it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, that this was unusual.

I contemplated reading outside but then decided against it because, let's be honest, 98 does not feel THAT much different than 100.

When I talked to Brandon that day I said, "I don't think we're going to make it babe. I think its over."

And Brandon was like, "WHAT????? LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS!!!"

And then I clarified that I was talking about the heat streak. I think that calmed him down because it wasn't quite as earth-shattering as what he thought I was talking about.

So, we didn't quite make it and I was quite upset.

The streak broke over a week ago and its been over 100 everyday since. We would have been on day 48 had it not ended. The only other record to break is the total number of days over 100. That record is 69, set in the summer of 1980. If you're wondering, which I'm sure you are, we've had 52 days over 100 this summer. I have no desire to break that second record. MAKE IT END, PLEASE.

The summer of 1980 is really legendary around here. If you say something about the heat someone else will say, "Well, do you remember the summer of 1980?" No, I don't remember it, I wasn't born yet and neither were you since you're five.

Anyway that's just a little update on our streaking. Or rather, lack of streaking.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:
- Turning down a hallway the same time someone else turns down the same hallway so you end up walking side by side... even though you don't know each other. Hmmm... what's that super interesting display on the wall?
- Being unable to understand what your waiter is saying to you (and asking "what? several times) and having to have your husband translate and answer for you (at a sushi place).
- Let's be honest, back sweat. it's gross. today after i dried my hair I had to wipe off before i could put my clothes on.
- Having the target lady apparently think i look like a shoplifter. Yes... I really am only taking four items into the dressing room, no need to take them from me and count. And it's target. The combined value of said items is probably $17.
- Overhearing a conversation in the target fitting room between friends? sisters? about sweating a lot. One girl said, "I wish I could just hold it all in me but then I would probably burst like a fire hydrant." Lovely.
- Trying to use your kroger card at albertsons and the checker trying to polite explain to you that you couldn't use it. me: "why not?" checker: "because this is albertsons ma'am." me: "oh."
- My bangs. On the days I don't have to see anyone or do anything they look awesome and fall perfectly. on days i need them to cooperate they decide to mutiny.

Awesome:
- Finally seeing the fruits of the construction labor that has been going on for the past several years. I made it through an exit without having to stop today and it was pretty awesome.
- My citizens of humanity jeans. i bought them at plato's closet and they are just fantastic. i used to think it was stupid to spend so much money on jeans but i'm probably going to become a jean snob now because i cannot imagine putting another pair of pants on my body.
- Its way to hot for white chicken chili but i found a recipe for white chicken enchiladas that has pretty much the same ingredients. score!
- Seeing a man with a prosthetic leg running today. hello inspiration.
- Listening to music while i ran after several weeks of not listening to music. it goes by so much faster.
- Substitute teaching. The best parts of teaching without any of the preparation.

A Peach, or Things You Probably Shouldn't Say Even if it's True.

(To set the scene: We're watching TV from the couch and I'm lying with my head at one end and my feet are in Brandon's lap at the other end. )

Brandon: (pointing to something on my leg) Is that a bruise? 

Me: Probably. 

Brandon: How'd you get it?

Me: I have no idea. I bruise easily. 

Brandon: I know, you're my little Georgia peach. 

Me: Aw, you're so sweet. 

Brandon (rubbing my (stubbly) leg): Yep. you bruise easily and you're a little fuzzy, just like a peach.

I pretended to be offended and then I laughed. Because it's true. 

Picnik!

Hello. My name is Krista and I spent way too much time playing around with Picnik for this post.

Picnik is the poor man's photoshop. It's completely free to use to do basic photo editing stuff and the premium membership is only $2 a month if you buy it for a year. There are some really neat things that you can do with it and then there are just some... strange things. Allow me to show you some examples. Here's the original picture that I used: 

Here's some pretty normal stuff you can do with it:

Black and white.

Lomo.

Sepia and soften.

Here's some pretty random stuff you can do with it: 

Neon.

 Puzzle anyone?

Pretend like you took a bunch of pictures?  

Pretend like someone drew it?














Here's what it would look like if Brandon and I went on a cruise right before we took this picture:

Here we are supporting Breast Cancer Awareness.

Here's what would happen if I let Brandon grow his beard out and if I didn't tweeze my mustache (just kidding):

Here we are being patriotic:

Here's my ode to Twilight:

Here's what my facebook profile picture will be for Valentine's Day!

And here's my favorite. I'm pretty sure this will be our Christmas card!

As a bonus and a prize for making it through this whole post, here's a picture of Chloe-deer!

Yes, I do have too much free time.

Pinned!

Hot. Hot. Hot.

It is freaking hot here. Every time I think of the heat expletives come to mind so I try not to think of it that often. I can pretty much hear my AC groaning to keep my tiny, poorly insulated apartment at a barely tolerable 80 degrees. It's hot here in Texas (duh) and it's just going to stay hot. Here's the ten day forecast:

Basically we're not in for relief any time soon. That 102 day is looking good though. I might have to break out a parka. We're at day number 34 for consecutive days over 100. Only 9 more days and we will break the record for the longest stretch of days over 100 in the DFW area. I'm pretty pumped about it, I hope we make it. There's not much I love more than setting records... if we make it all the way to day 42 and don't get day 43 I'm going to be ticked. Anyway, since I'm trying out this whole "positive-spin" thing on the heat, I thought I'd write a few things about it that I am thankful for.

1. I don't have a job that requires me to work outside. I might actually cry if I did.
2. My house has air conditioning, even if it barely works.
3. I can walk the dogs early in the morning and imagine what it would be like to live in an area where 85 was the average summer temperature instead of 105.
4. I don't have to worry about having enough hot water. There is PLENTY to go around.
5. "It's too hot to cook" is actually a valid excuse.
6. The dogs hate going outside for long periods of time so they have become much more efficient in the whole bathroom process.
7. I have actually lived in another country without air conditioning so anytime someone tries to be all humanitarian and says "Just be thankful you aren't in another country without air conditioning" I can respond with a terse "I have lived in another country without air conditioning. It's still miserable here."

I think seven is plenty. I wouldn't want anyone to actually think I like the heat.

Saturated.

I'm reading the book "Sacred Marriage" right now. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It is convicting and will challenge the way you think about yourself, your relationship with your spouse and your relationship with God.

In one of the earlier parts of the book it talks about the Muir Woods Forest, aka the redwood trees. Aren't these things beautiful? I really hope that one day we will be able to visit and drive our car through one of the trunks. The author talks about why these trees have been able to live so long- the air surrounding them is so humid that lightning strikes do not cause the kind of damage that they do in other forests. The trees are so saturated that the heat of the lightning does not cause them to catch on fire and thus die. Lightning strikes still happen but their effect is not as great because the trees have a natural defense against them.

This idea of saturation was related to marriage. Lightning strikes happen. Bad things happen, sometimes things that are in our control and sometimes things that are not. In order to have a long, successful and strong marriage we must have a natural defense against these lightning strikes. We must be able to endure them without catching on fire and burning up. We must be so saturated that when we go through times of trials and struggles our relationship is not split. This saturation comes from being filled by our relationship with the Lord.

I'm going to be honest. It's been a very dry summer. I feel like every little thing has caused me to, metaphorically, catch on fire. It has not been good for me and it has not been good for my marriage. Poor Brandon has had to endure this period of my life and he has done so honorably. I have taken everything out on him and he has put up with me and has loved me in spite of my attitude and in spite of my selfishness.

That's not the kind of marriage that I want. I don't want us to put up with each other. I want us to delight in one another. Our pastor had an awesome, honest sermon on Sunday that really made me look at myself and see what needed to change. You know what? My relationship with Brandon is often so reflective of my relationship with the Lord. When things aren't right between us, when we aren't on the same page, it's because one or both of us is not seeking after the Lord.

Our pastor challenged us to seek to KNOW God, to seek to understand Him. When I read the story of the redwoods I thought back to his sermon- to the idea of being saturated in the knowledge and the love of the Father. It is my prayer that Brandon and I are so saturated in our love for each other and our love for the Father that we withstand any lightning strikes that may come our way. It is also my prayer that I am so saturated that I can withstand the personal lightning strikes that I must endure and the struggles that I must go through. Because I can tell you, from experience, that it is during those times of struggle and times of trial that we come to understand God just a little bit more.

I decided to start from the beginning. In all my years as a Christian I have never read the Bible all the way through, from beginning to end. I really struggle with my quiet times, I'm not going to lie. But you know what God pretty much told me? If I can have the physical discipline to get up and run and to train for a marathon, then I can sure have the discipline to read my Bible everyday. So from time to time I'm going to share some of the things that the Lord has been teaching me. I hope that it can be an encouragement to you and you, in turn, will be an encouragement to others.

The Pinterest Challenge: Oven Baked Zucchini Chips

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know what Pinterest is. If not, click on that little link and go waste spend hours of your life looking through it. Pinterest is a place where you can "pin" any picture on the internet that you like and it will save the picture and link to the original site for you. Pretty cool, except that you end up with pictures of homes you'll never really own, clothes you'll never really wear, stuff you'll never really make and food you'll never really eat.

Enter... the Pinterest challenge.

This was a challenge first described on Young House Love as a way to actually do something with all of those pins. The whole challenge is described better here.

Most of the people doing the challenge are doing DIY crafty stuff. I wasn't feeling the craftiness so I went with something I'm more comfortable with... FOOD. Here's the inspiration picture:

Source: cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com via Krista on Pinterest

Yum. Don't those look delicious? Last night I had everything I needed on hand, so I decided to go for it. The recipe can be found here and aside from a few little modifications (I used milk and eggs to dip the zucchini in and we used Ranch dressing instead of a basil dipping sauce because we're classy like that) I pretty much followed it exactly. It's not rocket science. Here's my set up:

The zucchini is dipped into the milk and egg mixture (some people do egg whites only but I used the whole egg... love me some yolk) and then coated with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. You are supposed to use Panko breadcrumbs but I didn't have any of those so regular breadcrumbs worked just fine. Once you get the breadcrumbs coated put them on a wire rack and then set on top of a baking sheet. The over should be preheated to 400 and then bake for 30-35 minutes. If you don't have a wire rack just put them on a greased baking sheet and flip half way though. Here's what they look like when they come out of the oven: 

They were delicious. Crispy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. We dipped them in ranch and they reminded me of a healthier fried pickle. I got Brandon's seal of approval so I will most definitely be making these again!

Side note: see that fruity thing in the background of the last picture? That's fruit cobbler that I was making for dessert (it's not done yet, just waiting to go in the oven. When it came out it had a beautiful golden brown buttery crust). I should have realized that Brandon would be resistant to something called "cobbler" since he is a Yankee. It took a fight to get him to actually TRY it, but in the end I think I won him over. I wouldn't say it's his favorite thing ever, but I don't think he'll turn his nose up at it again.

Let me tell you something embarrassing.

This was my friend Rachel's status today on facebook: 

Well, I started to reply and say "I only work through the night when I'm procrastinating." However, I got distracted during the middle of the word procrastinating and set my phone down. Somehow, someway my phone turned on me and changed "procrastinating" into "procreating" AND posted it as a reply. So it read "I only work all night when I'm procreating."

I didn't know that this had posted until a couple hours later when I get a text from Rachel asking if I was okay and if I had left my facebook open. I checked out what she was talking about and saw the reply and I just about died. Other people had commented on her status which meant that other people had seen what I wrote! I immediately deleted it but now I wish I had saved it so you too could enjoy my faux pas.

Embarrassing.

Summer Sizzler 5K Race Recap

There are many times I realize how bad of a blogger I am... one of those times it right now as I remember that I took absolutely no pictures of the Summer Sizzler 5K to share with you. So I searched high and low on the internet (not really) to find this picture that depicts the overall feeling of the event:

The race lived up to it's name and was, in fact, very hot. I really wish summer races started at 7am, but oh well. 

I ran this race with my friend Jessica and her friend Lori. We had a bit of an issue actually finding the race (don't trust the active.com directions!) but we eventually found it and then waited in a very long, very disorganized, very understaffed line to register and pick up our bibs. The race wasn't chip timed (which turned out to be an issue) so after we got our bibs we made a quick stop by the port-o-potties (only one that actually had toilet paper) and then headed to the starting line. The race actually ended up starting about 15 minutes late but after some instructions the horn sounded and we were off! 

So, there's two schools of thought on how to run a 5k. The first is to start off fast and try to hang on and the second is to start out slow and controlled and build your speed as you go. Normally I go for the second I was feeling pretty go and going pretty fast so I decided to just see how long I could go. Uh... about one mile, that's how long. 

Mile 1- 7:57 (fastest mile in a REALLY long time!) 

There was a water stop at the first mile marker so I walked through it. I am not coordinated enough to run and inhale liquids at the same time (trying to do so has led to many coughing/spitting/choking episodes that I'd rather not relive) so I've learned to just take 5 seconds and walk in order to get some water in. 

During the second mile I kind of got stuck in a pack of an old man that was breathing like he was dying, a younger teenaged kid and an middle aged man who appeared to be in decent shape. We were passing and being passed by each other for the rest of the race. I'll keep you in suspense for now as to who won out of our little misfit pack :). 

Mile 2- 8:48 

It was an out and back course so I saw the leaders of the race at some point in here. They were FAST. At this point I was just trying to hang on and not completely fizzle out. Most of the course was shaded which was awesome, but there were a couple spots of direct blazing sunlight. Loved those. 

There was also a water stop at the second mile but I took a sip of the water and almost puked because it tasted like hot bath water. I just dumped the water on my head (yeah, not that refreshing but I'm sure I looked just like this girl when I did it...).

Mile 3- 8:56

I know you've just been dying to know who the eventual winner of the mini-race we had going on was, so I'll tell you. By about 2.5 miles the middle aged man and I had broken away from the kid and the breath-like-he-was-dying older gentleman. He (the middle aged man) started to pull away from me a little bit, but I knew if I could keep him in my sight and keep going at a fairly consistent pace I could eventually beat him. When I knew we were close to the finish line I started sprinting and caught up to him! He fought for a while but eventually just couldn't keep up with my break-neck speed and I beat him! Take that, you got beat by a girl! 

Mile 3.1- 0:35 

Oh yeah, I sprinted that last 0.1 mile, finishing with a time of 26:14. 

We stayed for the race results because I figured that since I was a small race I stood a decent chance of placing within my age group. We waited... and waited... and waited... did I mention the race was disorganized? They finally called my age group and someone ran 22 minutes, someone 26:12 and... then someone 27:34? Um... I know that the garmin can be off but not by over a minute. We waited a little while to ask what had happened, but it was just taking forever so we left.

The next morning I checked the results online and saw it had me finishing with a time of 35:38. Um... what?? Definitely not. I didn't know what to do about it... on one hand it's only one race and I knew that I had run well but on the other hand I didn't like the official results not reflecting the correct time. I decided to just email the person in charge and let them know that there had somehow been a mixup. I wasn't really expecting anything but this morning I got an email saying that they had looked into and found out that my tag had been placed in the wrong pile. My real race finish time was 26:17 and I came in third place!

I really appreciated the fact that they looked into the results for me. I feel like I've worked pretty hard this summer to get back into shape and was really disappointed that the results didn't show that. And I have a lot of respect for the results group for admitting the mistake and looking into it for me! I was totally expecting a "sorry about that... mistakes happen" email response.

So, overall, it was a good race. It was disorganized, definitely, but the people were nice and helpful. There are several other races run by the same group this summer and I am looking forward to running them!

**************

Quickly, here's my weekly workout report from last week. I know that I said I wanted to do a 6 miler, but the morning I woke up for it I just wasn't feeling it. I was exhausted and just happy to get the miles in that I did.

I only got in three runs:

7/26: 3mi/28:33/9:29 mi/min

7/29: 4mi/38:38/9:40 mi/min

7:30: 3mi/26:14/8:26 mi/min

And for the week: 10mi/1:33:56/9:16 mi/min

This week starts marathon training... I'll have a whole post about it tomorrow!