A Weekend Away

This past weekend included Valentine's Day and President's Day. To us, it meant a long weekend, so we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. We started by driving to San Antonio late Friday evening. We stayed at my favorite Texas resort, The Hill-Country Hyatt. If you have never been, I highly recommend this fun and beautiful Texas getaway. 

Saturday morning, we woke up early and enjoyed what I think is the very best hotel breakfast I have ever had. I am not exaggerating--it is the best. Then, we walked around the grounds a little bit and just enjoyed the morning weather. The weather was perfect while we were there--started off cool in the morning and then warmed up as the day went on. Since we had a spa treatment later that day, we were able to use the spa all day, so we decided to do just that. Once it warmed up, we laid out by the pool and read and relaxed. 

That night, Matt had made a reservation at one of the restaurants at the hotel, Antler's Lodge for a little Valentine's Dinner Date. Check out that chandelier! Our dinner was delicious, and instead of ordering dessert there at the restaurant, we decided to head out to the fire pit where they were cooking s'mores. While we were out there, three raccoons came right up to us (which apparently happens all the time, but I completely freaked out at first). We Matt was brave enough to feed them. They took the food right out of his hands.

The whole weekend, I was suffering from a middle-school-teacher-cold and all that comes with- sore throat, coughing, sneezing, etc. Sunday morning, my whole face was swollen, but that wasn't going to stop us from having our favorite breakfast, of course. 

Since we were already in the hill-country, we decided to make a day trip to Austin while we were in that area. Road trip!!

Neither of us had ever been on UT's campus, and as Aggies, it was no easy feat. There was a whole lot of orange, but I will say… it was a good experience. We ate lunch across from campus at Mellow Mushroom. And then started exploring the campus, even walking into a few buildings and almost getting lost. Then, we made it over to the football stadium, and we just had to take a couple of gig 'em pictures to commemorate the moment.

                         

Right across from the campus are some of the sorority houses, and I just had to see the Pi Phi house. So, Matt obliged, and we drove by it. I didn't go inside, but I still was able to revel in its beauty from the outside.

Later that evening, we made our way to South Congress, where there are some of our favorite little shops and just a fun place to walk around. We were going to have dinner down there, but we decided to go to Hula Hut on the water instead, one of Matt's favorite places.

Matt had a few meetings Monday morning, and then we were on the road back to Houston Monday afternoon. We had to stop at the famous Tiff's Treats for a Tiff-wich before leaving. #worthit

In true Texas-fashion, we had to make a pit-stop at Buc-ee's on our way home. Can't take a Texas road trip without it.

Overall, it was a great holiday weekend. 

Happy Valentine's Day and Happy President's Day to all! 

…especially to my very favorite president, John Adams, and his first lady, Abigail!

Why do we Love?

"We love because He first loved us." 

1 John 4:19

Happy Valentine's Day to my main man!

Fitness Challenge || Closing Ceremonies

I know you have all been waiting for this moment for a little more than five weeks now. Well, it's finally here, and I am going to give you all of the answers you are looking for...

Did the challenge end?

Yes! Thank goodness! (just kidding) The challenge was only five weeks long, and I say "only," but it did not seem like a short amount of time. In fact, it was the perfect amount of time. So many people say that they dislike New Year's resolutions, but this was not a resolution. It was a challenge that offered guidelines to kick-starting the year off right. Setting weekly goals rather than year-long, ongoing goals, definitely the way to go.

How was it?
Saying that you want to "be healthier in 2014" is hard to do if you don't have a plan. So, we made a plan, and it was great! I cannot speak for all participants, but I do know that for me, it was the perfect start to 2014. I am a very competitive person--always have been and probably always will be. (Bless my sweet husband's heart.) My competitive nature kicked in, and I was determined to finish the challenge and do it well.

Was it worth it?
100% yes! I think I could speak for any human--that accomplishing something like this, you would never regret. I felt great throughout the entirety of the challenge, probably because I was eating clean and getting at least 7 hours of sleep (both requirements of the challenge.)

Best Part?
Hands down, the absolute best part of the challenge was getting back into the daily habit of being in the Word. It had become so easy for me to let this small (but huge) part of my day slip past me, because I was _________. <--Insert any excuse here. To name a few: exhausted, coaching, lazy, cooking, cleaning, busy, etc. The best part was having no excuses. Yes, it was a requirement, but very soon became the best part of my day again.

Also, I ran the half marathon during the challenge. It felt great, and I loved getting to do it with my mom.

Worst Part?
I don't know that there was a "worst part" for me. The hardest part was having the chance to work out every day. But, that was only because of my teaching/coaching/tutoring schedule, but I made it work! Because there were a total of 37 possible points, and a maximum of 33 per week, there was a little wiggle-room for missing points.

Was there a winner?
Drum roll please... yes! There was a three-way tie. Now, let me just start by saying that we were all winners, and I don't mean that in the cheesy way that it sounds, but come on, we challenged ourselves to being the best we could be in all areas of our lives for five weeks. If you complete that, my thought is, you win--no matter how many points you end up with. However, yes, there were three of us that ended the challenge with the full 180 points. And yes, I did say "us!" I was one of the three. My mom and brother also ended with full points.

Overall, the whole thing was a success. I would and absolutely will do it again. Maybe just not too soon :)

My dad hosted "Closing Ceremonies" for all participants, and he took all of us to Brennan's of Houston and had made a reservation for us to sit back in the kitchen. It was one of the coolest things I have ever gotten to do, and the cooks were all so nice and excited. We were served six courses of delicious cuisine! For the last course, dessert, they brought out nine desserts for us to pass around the table. It was the perfect ending to our challenge.

4CY

This morning, my high school softball coach, Tina Young, went to be with the Lord. She fought a seven year battle with cancer after being given no more than nine months to live. An absolute miracle.

If you are reading this and either haven't met me or did not meet me until after high school, you do not know about the thing that consumed the majority of my time for thirteen years of my life--softball. It is crazy to think that I have not been playing for almost six years now. Regardless, when I think back to my four years in high school, I think about softball.

I have been at a loss for words most of the day, and I think that was mostly because I thought that if I really sat down to think about the loss of this inspirational person, I'd probably just lose it. Much to my surprise, however, here I am, sitting down and taking it all in, and all I can think about is her joy. Pure joy. If you never had the opportunity to meet this woman, you missed out. Luckily for you, she touched so many lives, that you will see her joy lived out in the lives of all of her students and athletes. Coach Young was truly an inspiration.  As a teacher, I would love to say that the biggest impact made on my life in my high school career was in the classroom, but that would be a lie. The biggest impact made on my life in my high school career was on the softball field. Tina had a lot to do with that.

She coached me.

She helped me.

She taught me.

She lead me.

She inspired me.

She encouraged me.

She laughed with me.

She cried with me.

She fought for me.

She believed in me.

She challenged me.

That last one has been on my heart for a while now. She challenged me. A lot. She pushed me out of my comfort zone on the field, and she helped form me into the best player I could be. She was talented at doing that. I know this list does not only apply to me. I have spent today looking at all of the social media posts from so many previous players of Tina's, and I have been in awe of the number of people she touched. Before my senior season, I was told I could not pitch anymore without risking a more serious back injury, and she believed that I had more to give than softball. She was so much more than a coach.

She was a helper,

a teacher, 

a leader,

an inspirer,

an encourager,

an empathizer,

a fighter,

a believer,

and a challenger. 

She meant so much to so many, and my prayer is that she is always remembered for the impact she made and her joyous spirit.

4CY

[Baked] Zucchini Chips

The Family Fitness Challenge officially ended Tuesday night. I have not posted about my final thoughts, yet, because "Closing Ceremonies" (as my mom is calling them) are on Sunday night. So, more to come on the challenge in a couple of days.

For now, a recipe. If you are in desperate need of amping up your side dishes, try making these zucchini chips. My mom made them a couple of weeks ago, and they were so easy and delicious, I had to make them, too. If you ask me, zucchini can be a little non-exciting. I'm more of a squash-girl, and as I type that, I wonder why it seems that zucchini and squash are almost always paired together. Maybe its their shape? Or maybe it isn't true at all, and I have just always paired them together? But if we are being honest here, whenever I cook both together, I always tend to pick out the squash. Regardless, here is a recipe that makes zucchini so much better. Also, the smell of them cooking is delightful! Here is the recipe:

[Baked] Zucchini Chips:
Ingredients:
- 2 medium-sized zucchini, sliced
- 2 T olive oil (or grape seed oil--that's what I had)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan, shredded
- 1/4 cup dry, plain bread crumbs
- Salt and pepper to taste (it doesn't need much)

Instructions:
- Place zucchini slices in a sealable bag, and then pour in the oil. Shake the bag until slices are covered. Then, mix in all other ingredients and shake until all zucchini slices are covered with "the goods". Then place in a single layer on a cookie sheet (with cooking spray). Bake at 450 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Furniture Makeover

We lived in a small, one-bedroom apartment for the first year and a half of marriage, and we are now in a bigger place, with more places for furniture. We had been saving furniture that had been given to us, but it was sitting in our storage unit because there was just not space, and to honest, a couple pieces just did not go with our decor.

One of them was a small, bookshelf-type piece from Ikea that looked black, but Matt swore was "espresso," which still wasn't much better. We hid this piece in our room, and had bought baskets to go inside to try to make it look more like our style. When we knew we were moving, we knew we needed a media center, but everything we liked was so expensive. We have continued to be cautious whenever buying new furniture, because we know that everything we buy, we want to be able to use for a long time in our future homes. Matt had the idea to use the Ikea bookshelf as our media center, and I was less than enthusiastic about the idea, but I obliged because I knew we were trying to save money. I did end up talking him into letting me try to paint it, and he even wanted to help. Here is the bookshelf turned media center piece before the makeover (and during Christmas-time):

The other piece that we decided to makeover at the same time was a beautiful table that was given to us by family. It really was beautiful; it had been refurbished before, however, it was just not our style. It didn't have a place in our home as-is, so it stayed hidden away in our storage unit for over a year. Here it is before the makeover:

My mom has re-done about five pieces of furniture from the bay house she and my dad bought two years ago that was furnished with furniture that "was not their style," so they made it their style. She was the one who told me about Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Matt and I did some research about the different colors and ways to paint with this type of paint. We decided on the color "French Linen," and went to buy all the goods. Here is everything we used/you need:

Pictured above is the chalk paint that we chose, French Linen, the soft clear wax, and the soft dark wax. In order to get the antiqued look we wanted, you will need all three cans. Then, you'll need paintbrushes and small towels/rags (for the dark wax).

The BEST thing about this painting technique is that you do NOT have to strip the finish! No sanding, no stripping, nothing- it's awesome! The first step is to paint the entire piece of furniture using a paint brush with the color of chalk paint that you choose. Depending on how much texture you want on your piece, you can be either lax or more precise with your brush strokes. My motto is "the more imperfect, the better," so we painted more careless on purpose with more imperfect strokes. After painting, here is what the furniture looks like… almost good enough to leave it just painted!

But then the magic happens! It does not take long for the paint to dry, but once it does, it is time for wax. The best thing to do is work on small sections at a time. We used a paintbrush to brush the clear wax onto a small section. After that, we took a round brush to dab on the dark wax over the section where the clear wax was brushed on. You cannot mess this up. It looks really freaky that you are adding such a dark color, but once it is on there, you take a rag and just wipe it off! It leaves the section darkened a little and distressed/"antiqued" looking. Here is what it looks like after the waxes have literally been "waxed on and waxed off."

You are probably wondering why we did all of this inside… well, it was too cold to be outside. AKA- we were being divas. Sorry, not sorry. We had no spills, no worries! Once everything was dry, we were in love with how they turned out! Below are pictures of the finished products.

The small table ended up in our bathroom and is home to bathroom essentials. We have a long and narrow bathroom, so the shape of the table is perfect. I was very excited that the media center now fit our decor. It brings our living room together perfectly.