Texas Lou

Archive for the ‘Outdoors’ Category

As a blogger, I am always wanting to subscribe to other people’s blogs and support my fellow bloggers out there on the interwebz!

I’ve been meaning to write about my friend Dana and her blog for a while, but I kept forgetting.  Well Dana just posted a new entry on her blog, Dana’s Garden, and with it being the first day of summer and all, I thought it might be the perfect time to share with yall!

Dana’s blogs combines two of my favorites things: blogging and gardening!  She has rented out a space in a community garden here in Charlottesville and built it from a pile of dirt and weeds into a beautiful and productive garden!  I wish I could do what Dana is doing, but I don’t have much of a green thumb and I think my self-determination is lacking too.  On top of working a full time job, being involved in softball and kickball leagues, and working part time as a Pampered Chef consultant (click here if you’re in need of some AMAZING kitchen utensils), Dana has managed to bring her garden to life with broccoli, peas, green beans, cilantro, bell peppers, jalapenos, zucchini, and much more!  Dana is the inspiration that I might just need to take a stab at my own garden next year!

You should definitely check out Dana’s blog, especially if you are in to gardening!  She’s also a photographer so she’s got some spectacular pictures of her progress in the garden!

Summer makes me feel young.  The sun makes me feel happy, and today, the first official day of summer, is the day with the most hours of sunlight.

I’m celebrating by going to an outdoor concert to see Sheryl Crow and Colbie Caillat this evening with some awesome ladies!

In honor of the true beginning of summer, I wanted to post one of my favorite summer pictures.

This was taken by one of my best friends and partners in crime, Sarah Travis, a couple of summers ago while camping at Spy Rock in Nelson County, Virginia.  From left to right sit Ben, Me, Ian (Ben’s younger brother and Sarah’s fiance), and Sarah.  We had a great time that involved hiking, climbing, watching the sunset, building a bonfire, roasting weenies, and watching the stars.  This will always hold a special place in my heart as one of my favorite camping trips and summer days!

Here are a couple of other pictures from that evening (also taken by Sarah).

I hope everyone kicks off their summer right and enjoys some fresh air and sunshine today!

These are from Ben’s mom’s garden. I absolutely love hydrangeas and the many colors they come in.

All of the different shades of pinks, purples, and blues just make me so happy!

If I ever get married, there will be lots of hydrangeas for sure!

YAY for the weekend…it’s the first one in a month that I won’t be traveling!

Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling, and I had a ton of fun in Washington D.C. at the zoo, in Warrenton for the wine festival, in Texas for Megan’s wedding, and in OBX for the girls’ weekend, but man was I EXHAUSTED from all of that flying, driving, and getting up early so as not to miss a single thing (my motto when on vacation is I’ll sleep when I’m dead)!

Tonight we are having dinner with good friends at Outback and getting to meet little miss Erin (technically I met her at the hospital when she was born, but only through the glass).  Tomorrow is my company’s picnic which I helped plan as a member of the Events Committee.  I love company events like the picnic and holiday party because its so nice to get to talk to people outside of work in a very relaxed setting and meet their families.  On Sunday, we are heading to Ben’s parents’ place to celebrate his mom’s birthday!  I found her the most beautiful, unique gift in OBX last weekend and can’t wait to give it to her!

Besides all that fun stuff, I plan to do some more unpacking and clean up around our tiny little apartment, spend some time with my kitties, get some quality outdoor time, including a 6 mile run, which is part of my half marathon training, and maybe even lay by the pool.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

I love this sign!

It’s almost as good as “We don’t swim in your toilet, so don’t pee in our pool!”

I’m laying on the beach AND I got to sleep till noon today! I haven’t done that since college!

As you can see from the picture, the weather is perfect and the beach is beautiful!

Well it’s time to forget about technology and enjoy the beach!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

There’s no place I love more than the beach.  I want to retire there one day so that I can hear the sound of the ocean when I wake up every morning and when I go to sleep every night.  I love to feel the sand between my toes, the sun on my skin, the wind in my hair, and the salt water all around me.

I truly believe the beach can make anything better.

I’m so excited to be spending a 3 day weekend at the beach with my girls.

Outer Banks, here I come!

P.S.  I still have lots to tell about my Memorial Day trip to Texas and my cousin’s wedding, but it’s been a short and busy week and it will have to wait until next time.

Last night, I attended my weekly softball game with my work team, the VGT Lucky 7′s.  When you put a bunch of software engineers, quality assurance engineers, and software project managers together with a bunch of softballs and bats, the outcome is not always so great.  As a matter of fact, the VGT Lucky 7′s have a history of being one of the worst teams in the league.

But not yesterday!  Yesterday, we played an AMAZING game.  We were down by two, and came back in the final inning to take the lead by 5 points.  I made 2 runs!  It was the first time I’d ever made it all around the bases and back to home in the 2 seasons I have been playing softball!  What an awesome feeling it was to score a run AND win a game!  I guess this is why they say sports are good for one’s self esteem!

Back in November, a good friend convinced me to run the Yuengling Shamrock Half Marathon.  At first, I didn’t even give it a thought as I had no desire or faith in my ability to run 13 miles.  I can’t remember why, but I did give it a second thought.  I’m not sure what made me change my mind…maybe the realization that all runners were greeted at the finish line with free beer.  I decided to go for it and that began the 5 months of training and injuries I endured to get to where I am now.  It was also the start of my new love for outdoor running.

Before beginning to train for the half marathon, I preferred running inside on the treadmill where air conditioning and television were my good friends.  The farthest I had ever run outside had been the Charlottesville Women’s 4 Miler, which both times I had to walk a great deal of .   But now I find running inside pretty boring without the constantly changing scenery, and I can run 4 miles without stopping or walking pretty easily.

Yesterday, I ran my first half marathon and am so proud of myself today!  The day couldn’t have been more perfect!  The race was in beautiful Virginia beach.  It was a glorious, sunny day with temperatures in the 60s to 70s.  I ran most of the 13.1 miles with my friend Dana, but had to slow down a bit during the last 4 miles of the race due to an increasing need to go to the bathroom.  The race ended on the Virgina Beach Boardwalk where I crossed the finish line as they called out my name.  As I slowly wandered past the crowds of people, volunteers showered me with gifts:  a medal, a t-shirt, a hat, water, and snacks.  The rest of the day was filled with friends, FREE BEER, food, fun, and the sun on the beach.  I met old friends and new friends and had a blast!  Yuengling sure does know how to put on an after-party!

Even though everything about the day was wonderful, the best thing was knowing that I had accomplished my goal!

Here are my stats:

I definitely plan on running it again next year!

Friday, February 12th, I drove to Virginia Beach with three friends from work to compete in the Virginia is for Lovers 14K.

We were all a bit worried as the weather forecast was calling for a 90% chance of snow.  However, I consider us to be lucky that the race wasn’t canceled and the snow didn’t begin until halfway through the 8.68 mile run.

This race was part of our training for the Yuengling Shamrock Half Marathon that we are running in March.  All in all, the race went well.  Aside from the sideways snow and the 20 mph wind that started around the 5th mile, it was a fun race!

My stats were as follows:

After the race, we got to enjoy free Yuengling and burritos at the after party.  Despite the cold weather and snow, it was a pretty awesome experience and I can’t wait to do it again next year!