Cookout, Games, Kayaks & Food

Hey there fellow bloggers! I'm actually really excited about today's weekend recap, because of two reasons: 1. I used an actual camera this weekend, not just my phone, and 2. it was an awesome weekend, so there's good things to share today! I mean sure, there is always something good to share from the weekend, but this one was particularly good, so let's get to it, shall we?

FRIDAY

Some friends came over and we grilled hamburgers and corn for dinner. We sat out on the deck until after dark just having fun and talking, then finally moved inside once we couldn't see anymore. (We don't have a light out there...) Then we played some games for a while, and eventually they had to head home early, because she works the 7am-7pm shift at the hospital, so she needed some sleep! It was a great night though, and lots of fun for sure.

SATURDAY

Saturday we used our Groupon for Rum 138, and went kayaking down the Santa Fe River! It was gorgeous and sunny and we loved it so much. The current is pretty strong, so we hardly even had to paddle that much, so we basically just floated a lot of the time, and that was nice and relaxing. We packed a cooler full of lunch, waters, and some fancy giant cans of Arizona tea, and had lunch at the picnic tables at Poe Springs Park, about an hour down the river. It was so awesome! The trip was about four hours total, and it was gorgeous. We definitely loved it, and were glad we were able to go on this little adventure together! (And now I get to cross this off of our summer bucket list!)

On the way home, we took the back country roads instead of the interstate, and we came upon this super cute and absolutely delicious BBQ place in the tiny town of Mayo, Florida. The portions were huge, and everything is super fresh and homemade. She also makes her own desserts, so we enjoyed some peanut butter pie before heading back on the road.

SUNDAY
Sunday I accidentally slept in till after 10am, so we missed church yesterday. I was exhausted though after our big day on the river, so it felt good to get some extra rest. We lazed around for a bit, then decided to treat ourselves for lunch out somewhere, and I chose this new place I've really been wanting to try - Merv's Melt Shop. And y'all it was so good! I had a clubhouse sandwich, and absolutely loved it, with sweet potato tots. Jeff got a breakfast sammie of fried eggs and cheese, and his was really good too. We will definitely be back here many more times to come! (And this is new restaurant 1 of 3 for my summer bucket list!)

These next two pictures are just some random ones from before lunch.... These cute little dandelions are growing all over our yard right now, and I'm loving them! Unfortunately they're only growing because the yard is overgrown and needs to be mowed, but that's okay, I'll enjoy them while they're here! And then the second one is just because my little Primrose is the cutest girl in the world!

After lunch, we didn't do too much except check out a townhouse for rent (we didn't love it...), and went to Winn Dixie. Jeff is dealing with a serious cough and severe allergy issues, so he pretty much slept the afternoon away, while I watched Parenthood on Netflix. I cooked us dinner, and played super-wife doing all the laundry, dishes, taking out the trash, and straightening up. Normally Jeff would have been helping with all that, but since he was sleeping, I just handled all of it, and I felt super accomplished!

It was definitely a good weekend, and I loved just about every second of it. (Except for the fact my pitiful little husband was feeling so awful yesterday.) Thankful for all these great things and blessings and people in my life! Hope y'all had a great weekend too. What did y'all do? And Happy Monday :)

Summer Bucket List 2014

I've been meaning to post my Summer Bucket List since May 1st yall, but obviously I didn't quite make it for that... But it's still fine, because they're is of course still of ton of summer-time left. I mean technically summer hasn't even officially begun yet, but us Floridian's don't pay attention to actual season, and just base it on the scorching temperatures.

So it's unofficially summer down here now, and so I'm sharing my short little list of summer goals and plans. Can't wait get going on these, and share all the updates along the way!

1. Go kayaking (with our Groupon for a trip down the Santa Fe River!) wrote about it HERE
2. Start running in the mornings again, two days a week
3. Find a new house, maybe even one with a fenced-in yard for Primrose
4. Host a family BBQ out on our deck before we have to move
5. Visit a new beach in Florida, to collect another jar of sand and shells
6. Read 3 books (other than GoT, once I finish that series)
7. Get the second bedroom completely clean and ready for the boys to be here in June
8. Go to an FSU baseball game (since we didn't make it to one in time for my "spring" list...)
9. Go camping again (since we didn't make it in time for my "spring" list...)
10. Figure out the favorite books link-up idea I have swirling in my head, and do it!
11. Try three new restaurants around town (1. Merv's Melt Shop...)
12. Explore a new city nearby
13. Roast weenies & s'mores with the boys in our fire pit on the deck
14. Get snow cones from Big Easy Snowballs and eat them outside at Lake Ella
15. Set up a blate for a few Tally bloggers I haven't met yet

We are already planning to go on our kayaking trip this Saturday, and I'm super pumped about that. It's going to be so much fun! Did any of y'all make a list of summer goals and plans? If so, let me know so I can go check it out! Or if you haven't made one yet, you should! Because it's fun :)

Paint-Splattered 5K Finisher

YOU GUYS!!! I ran my first 5K last weekend!! I've been training for this for the past nine weeks of the summer, by running "longer" distances three times a week, and just one mile two times a week, meaning I ran at least five days a week. I got up at 6 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday in order to follow Hal Higdon's 5K novice training plan, and ran before work three times a week. It was not always fun, and sometimes I hated it - but obviously I'm so glad I did it, and completed a huge accomplishment for me!!

For my 25th birthday, I created a 30 Before 30 list, and I had included "Complete a 5K." I had every intention of doing that, I just didn't know that it would get done before my next birthday! So now I get to cross that off my list! Oh, and for my summer bucket list, I get to cross off "train for a 5K," now that I completed my training plan and the actual race itself!

I had only run the actual 5K distance about two or maybe three times before the race, but I knew all along that I wanted my goal to be under 40 minutes for the race. My couple of training runs had come in under that time, so I was pretty sure I could do it on race day as well...

My wonderful fiance, amazing parents, and sweet Granddaddy all came to support me in my first race. And then my awesome aunt and uncle surprised me and showed up too! I had such a fantastic cheering section! They were at the starting line, then they walked up to one of the color stations, and then found a new spot at the finish line, so I saw all of them three times on my run. It was such a great feeling running past them, while they screamed and cheered and clapped, and of course took pictures. It was like my own little fan club and paparazzi! 

What I didn't take into consideration in my training though, was that it was going to much hotter from 9-10 a.m. during the race, as opposed to 6-7 a.m. when I usually ran. And it. was. super. hot. So hot in fact, that at one point, I had pretty much given up on thinking I could finish in under 40 minutes. My goal changed to "Just finish, Halez - just finish." 

The other tricky thing was that I didn't have my phone with me, mapping my distance. I was afraid it might get messed up, so I didn't keep it on me like usual. So I had no idea how far I had gone, since there were no mile-markers on the course. (At least none that I saw...) I did however wear my Polar heart rate monitor and watch though, so I could time myself. So I was burning up, and had no idea how much was left, but I kept on trucking. And when I hit that last color station around 35 or 36 minutes, I kicked it up a notch, and ran the rest of the way, just hoping it wasn't too much further.

Once I realized how close I actually was, I picked up my speed just a little bit more, and as I crossed under the finish banner, I stopped the timer on my watch as fast as I could. And to my astonishment, I then looked down, and saw I had made it in 38:45!!!!

I finished the race with a fair amount of color on me. Not really much at all. But then I went over to the stage for one of the celebratory color parties, and that's when things got crazy. We all counted down, then we each threw a color packet up in the air, and danced and jumped around in a colorful powdered haze for a few minutes. And it was so much freaking fun! When I returned back to where my family was waiting for me, my Mama kinda shrieked and laughed a little, and immediately got the camera back out. Because after this awesomeness below, I came back looking like this.....

Check out the sweat-concentrated areas around my lips. That's just lovely, right?!

Then I had Jeff follow me around for a little bit, being my personal race-day-photographer, snapping all kinds of pictures here and there. What a great future husband I have :) He got an awesome one of me jumping up in the air with the color party happening behind me, but some large woman decided to get all up in my way, so she ruined it. Jeff's going to Photoshop her right on outta there though, and then I'll share that awesomeness with y'all. 

This was something that even just a year ago I wouldn't have thought I would even try, nonetheless actually finish. And hello - not only did I finish, but I actually had fun too! I am honestly just so stinking proud of myself. I've always hated running, but crazy something happened in February, and I just gave it a try one day. Now, just a little over six months later, I ran my first 5K, and I would actually call myself a bit of a runner. What kind of craziness is this?!

This was a great first race for me to do, because it's kind of given me a little bit of a taste to try out more now. I think if I do find other races to run, they'll need to be sometime fun or different or unique - not just a boring, serious race. I've heard rumors that The Color Run will be back in Tally in March, and if that's true, I'm signing up faster than you can imagine. It was a blast, and I would love to do it again!

Much Colorful Love,
Halie

Oh, and P.S. - I also painted my nails kinda cool for The Color Run. I tried out a new tutorial for paint-splatter nails, and it turned out pretty decent. It's not my favorite mani I've ever done, but I didn't hate it. And it started growing on me even more as I wore it. I think I might try it again, but just with only two colors, instead of six. But for this super colorful event, six colors was absolutely necessary.

P.P.S. - I'm linking up with Glitter & Gloss for Mani Monday, and Sami's Shenanigans for Weekend Shenanigans!

Putt-Putt On A Friday Night

This Monday morning is kinda off to a rough start (I mean, I just misspelled/mistyped 'Monday' about 5 times...). I was just so dang sleepy this morning! I overslept my early alarms, and by the time I woke up, it was too late for my early morning 5k training run. I felt bad I skipped it, but it might be good I got an extra hour of sleep today. I wish I could have gotten another hour actually! But I think it's all just due to a great weekend spent with my fiance, the twins and some great friends!

FRIDAY
Took the boys to Fun Station for some arcade games, pizza and putt-putt! We found a good deal, used some coupons and found some leftover arcade money from a couple of months ago, and so the four of us had a great little family night out, and did it pretty inexpensively. Score! Afterwards, we even treated ourselves to some delicious frozen yogurt, with coupons of course ;) After some cuddling and snuggling before the boys went to sleep, I then went home and stayed up watching a movie until 2:30 am! I was living on the edge that night...

SATURDAY
Did a bit of cleaning and laundry around the house (cleaned out under my sink, so I get to cross that off from my summer bucket list), then went over to Jeff's house. We all cuddled up together and watched 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' and the boys were just being so sweet and loving, and it was just nice to cuddle and rest a bit more. Then once the sun had come out, we went to the pool for a few hours with some friends. Later that afternoon, we went to a belated wedding shower in honor of Jeff's younger brother, who got married in Texas in the beginning of June. Back at home that night, we had a late dinner and then all cuddled up to watch a movie before the boys went to sleep. Then I stayed up kinda late again at my house watching a movie!

SUNDAY
After church, we had lunch with Jeff's family, then quickly got read to head back to the pool again. But first, we made a pit stop to look at a little house we're interested in renting. It's currently getting some work done (painting the guest bathroom, put new laminate wood floors in the bedrooms, new faucets & outlets...), but overall, we really liked it a lot! We're still thinking about it, but it's got some potential. Then we went to the pool to meet friends again, and we enjoyed a great afternoon of sunshine - finally!! We then went over to Josh and Lacey's house, and the boys grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and pork loin, while Lacey and I made the rest of dinner in the kitchen!

We're looking at the left side of this little duplex/townhouse, the purple one! :)

This was Jeff's plate - I tried to eat a little less than this as to not ruin all my hard work. 

We seriously had a great weekend over the past few days. I just felt so lucky and in love and my heart was so very full getting to spend so much quality time with Jeff and the boys. I am so in love with this man, and with his precious children, and I can't wait to get married (in less than 70 days now!), and become a little family. I'm so thankful for this blessing in my life!

I'm already looking forward to another fun weekend, and I can't wait to spend more time with these sweet little boys, and of course Jeff too! Just have to get through five days of work first, unfortunately... So let's just get to it and get it over with!

And here's my weekly mani, that I created to be sunny and summery, in order to add some sun in my life last week while the rains were just steady pouring down. And I think it worked, because we had a beautiful weekend finally of blue skies and bright sunshine!

Hope y'all's Monday mornings are off to a better start than mine. And hopefully I can pull myself together and get this Monday on the right track! Tonight my Mama and I are going to our wedding site to have a meeting with the florist, so I'm pretty excited for that. I'm still not entirely sure what I want, flower-wise, so I'm really hoping she can give lots of good advice and ideas, and help steer me in a more specific direction. Can't wait to see what she might come up with!

Much Love,
Halie

*Linking up with Glitter & Gloss, Sami's Shenanigans and Synfully Delicious*

Pleasant & Patriotic 4-Day Weekend

Well, I've been out of work and out of the blogging routine for the past four days, and it's been great. I mean seriously - super long holiday weekends are amazing, and definitely necessary for your sanity, and I enjoyed every single bit of it. What about y'all? And since I had such a long amazing weekend, there's a ton to catch up on, so today's post will once again be very picture heavy, and kinda light on the writing.

Let's back it up all the way to Thursday, for the 4th of July!

Actually first of all, let me just show off our dinner from Wednesday night that we made ourselves. Super yummy Turkey Santa Fe Stuffed Peppers. Sooo good. I'll be sharing the recipe tomorrow!

THURSDAY
I was house/dog-sitting all last week for my friend Lacey, and for some strange reason I woke up before 8 a.m. without an alarm. What is wrong with that picture? So I took the dog out and fed her, then I was quite productive for a few hours. I did some dishes, loaded and started the dishwasher, started a load of laundry, swept the house, uploaded and edited some pictures, bought new music on iTunes, made a new running playlist, and finally made my new playlist for the summer (another check from my summer bucket list!). And I did all that before 10 a.m. Impressive right?

Jeff came over around lunch time, and we made turkey taco lettuce wraps with the leftovers from our stuffed peppers the night before, then just lounged around for a bit watching National Treasure 2 on TV. We then went out and attempted to find cute matching shirts to wear, but no such luck. So we came back to the house and made our mac and cheese to take to family dinner.

My Granddaddy - the Birthday Boy!

My Mama made these super cute eagles as her surprise dessert treat!

My sister made these patriotic themed cupcakes, which were delicious.

We played a giant game of 12-person Farkle, and my Granddaddy-the-birthday-boy won!

And of course my sister and I had to take an unnecessary amount of goofy pictures, just like we always do...

The problem was however, that Florida couldn't get it's crap together to stop raining long enough to do any fireworks. Thanks a lot. So I didn't get to see any this year. What a sad 4th of July with no fireworks, right?! Oh well, Jeff and I already decided that next year, we're definitely heading back to St. George Island beach for July 4th festivities, and that will be awesome.

FRIDAY
I am honestly having a hard time remembering what we did on Friday...I know it was still raining, so I think we ran errands and stuff around town. Oh yeah - we went to Hobby Lobby and priced some silk floral stems for wedding purposes, bought a few cute glass jars, raided an awesome new thrift store of all their vintage books and a giant empty wooden picture frame, and a couple of other random things. And I got a wonderful little package in the mail from one of my friends from college. She lives in Tennessee now, and it's been a looong time since I've seen her. But she sent me the cutest little things! Later, we got Tropical Smoothie for dinner, and then went to Jeff's church to help decorate for Vacation Bible School, which is this week.

Set of fold-out, vintage Florida postcards, a wrap bracelet, hand-painted (by her!) cards, & a super sweet note.

SATURDAY
It was still raining (for about the billionth day in a row now...), so we did some more running around and found another cool new thrift store, where we scored this really cool wicker-basket-trunk-thing for only $15. The top of it is messed up, so we are going to try to figure out a way to redo it to make it look nice. We also shopped around town for what we want Jeff and his groomsmen to wear for the wedding.  The rest of the afternoon was low-key and boring, but then we went out for date night on a budget. We used coupons at Black Bean (local Cuban place Jeff hadn't ever been to before), then finally saw 'Fast 6' at the cheap theater here in town. And that movie was awesome!

We needed a pick-me-up after so much shopping. He got a Mocha, I got a Peach Green Tea Lemonade. Yum.

SUNDAY
Church and lunch with my parents, then Jeff and I spent the afternoon driving around town looking for 'For Rent' signs for our future place! We drove around for like three hours, took down about 30 addresses and numbers, and then started calling almost all of them last night. We're so excited about finding a place to live now, and hopefully the process won't be too obnoxious and difficult.

OK, so I think that about wraps everything up now, finally! Hopefully I didn't bore you all to death, and you're still interested in reading my blog again after all this... But even more than that, I hope each one of y'all had a great weekend too! I wish we could have had less rain and more sunshine, but hey, not every day can be perfect, so we just live with it and move on. And in the meantime, we just hope for sunny days and better weather in the future! The weekend was still good, despite the crazy amount of rainfall, and I had a great four days off of work.

Oooh, and one more thing - this morning I officially started using Hal Higdon's novice 5K training plan, to get ready to run my first 5K race this coming September! So follow along with me as I get ready for that! I'll be sharing my usual collages on Instagram, and logging it all with RunKeeper.

Happy Monday, y'all! And I almost forgot - here's the nails I did for my 4th of July festivities! (I did them like 2 days before I took the picture though, so that's why they're a little chipped already...)

Much love,

Halie