May in Texas

 Max and I headed to Texas for the week today. It's not a horrible drive, but it's not just a quick jaunt either. But we made it. On the agenda: Mexican food, North Park, Canton, a Thirty-One party, a wedding, and more Mexican food. Let the fun begin!
 

Getting rid of some energy at a rest stop.

McAlister's stop. That's a healthy lunch right there.





On the patio at Gloria's. That bean dip is good stuff.

Warrior Dash

After the Dash...and a quick wardrobe change!

On Saturday, some friends and I drove down to Jackson to compete (I use that term loosely) in the Warrior Dash. I had talked about doing the one in Nashville in the fall and it didn't happen, so when I got the phone call asking if I was up for this one I knew I had to say yes!

For those of you who may not know, Warrior Dash is basically a 5K with different obstacles. There were cargo nets, rock walls, a vertical climb up a wall with a rope, mud pits, walls to hop, barbed wire to crawl under, logs to hop over in the water (that one was a lot harder than anticipated!), and so on and so forth.

I don't know...apparently this is what happens when you put a camera in my face during a race. This was before things got real messy...

We left early Saturday to make the trek down there, but we did not anticipate the shuttle ride from the parking lot to the site taking so long. We were on a school bus taking us down winding dirt roads in the middle of nowhere for 45 minutes. If we hadn't seen other buses and people coming and going, I think we would have been a little scared. Okay, so we were already a little scared. Some people who had gone in an earlier heat than us were sending back reports that had us kind of scared of the course!

By the time we got registered, checked our bags, and had a porta-potty experience that I hope to one day laugh about, we had missed our start time of 2:00. Luckily it didn't matter at all, and we were able to hop into the 2:30 group. And then we were off!

Warrior Face? Weird...

It was so cold Saturday, but once we got going things definitely heated up. On top of all the "planned" mud, it had rained the day before, so it was a big ol' mess. But that was kind of the point. For the past couple of months, I had told myself that the obstacles had to be a lot easier than they made them out to be, partly to make myself actually do it and part hoping it would make it true. Now, ya'll, it is totally do-able and so fun! But those obstacles were no joke...at least not to me. Now, there were some that were kind of silly. But, when I got to that vertical wall and realized that if I let go of that rope there was a good chance I was going to break something, things got serious real fast. I did it though! I also made it through the water obstacles, although they had not told us there would be swimming involved. We thought it would be waist deep...oh well! And brrr...

Okay...ya'll. I am not one to be dramatic (ha), but this fire was so much bigger in person. Or it least it seemed that way at the time. Maybe it's the camera angle. Or I'm just crazy. Either one. At this point you are soaking wet, so I'm sure the risk for stop-drop-roll action is minimal.

One of the last things you do is jump through fire, and after that I thought I was home free. I forgot about the army crawl through muddy water under barbed wire...not so bad except for all the spectators lined up watching. Ha! By that point I didn't care and just wanted to finish!

Almost there! They just want to make sure you're nice and muddy.

All done!

When it was all said and done, we had a great time! We got changed (um...female communal changing tent...awesome!), and even though we were still caked in mud under our clothes, we were much better. After a shuttle bus ride back, we headed to Five Guys Burgers in our fabulous warrior helmets, and I joked that we probably showed up on a few facebook pages. The teenagers in there definitely thought we were a little strange.

People leave their shoes, then they take them, clean them up, and donate them.

My new look.

Whew! Long post...but I had so much fun, and it was so far outside my "ordinary" that I want to be sure to remember it all!

 

Dessert Time

I am on day 23 of the Advocare 24 day challenge (more on that in a post coming soon). That means I haven't had coffee, sweets, or many processed foods in the past three weeks. It's been great, but I'm not going to lie. I am going to wake up Wednesday morning and have a cup of coffee. Then I'm going to eat something that involves chocolate. I don't plan on going crazy, but Amanda cannot live on lettuce and chicken alone forever.

In an effort to torture myself, apparently, I have been drawn to all things good and dessertish on Pinterest the past couple of days. I'm pretty sure I'll be making one (or all) of these after tomorrow. But if I do I promise to just eat one and give the rest away! Maybe...

(Just for the record, looking at the desserts is like therapy that keeps me from actually eating them. At least that's what I tell myself...ha!)

Source: jaseyscrazydaisy.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Source: sixsistersstuff.com via Worthy of the Prize on Pinterest

Nutella Banana Bread. I'm pretty sure that it's about 10% healthy.

Source: sisterwisdom.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies

Source: blueeyedbakers.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Deep Dish Cookie Pies

And I could go on and on...

My Swagger Wagon

Since I let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, the other day, I thought I would expound a little bit. I drive a minivan. I have since November. And I am a huge fan. See how I just sit inside it and ponder how much I love it?

When I think about my van, I think I feel like I would imagine a man in the middle of a mid-life crisis would feel about his new sports car. It's just the best thing ever. It makes me feel happy inside. I know minivans aren't exactly considered the height of middle class coolness, but ya'll. I really feel like the person who decided minivans weren't cool ruined the world for so many people. Shame on you, ma'am. Or sir. Or whoever. The world is missing out on all this awesomeness!

I mean, have you seen how much they can hold? And don't even get me started on the automatic sliding doors. They hold the key to my heart. And I am only kinda kidding.


PS: I'm pretty sure I am giving a thumbs up in this picture, but it kinda looks like I am thinking about picking up a hitchhiker, which I would probably never do. But if I wanted to pick up 7 of them and still have room for groceries, I could in my van. Just sayin'.

Shower Season

It's shower season around here. This weekend we had a shower at church for our music minister's wife, DeAnna. She is having twin girls soon...so fun! I completely forgot to take pictures during the shower, but I snapped a few before hand. We had a lot of fun decorating, and I got to be a little crafty. I love what you can do with a color printer and a circle punch. I may have issues.

Um...yes, that would be my minivan in the background. Have I mentioned that I drive a minvan? I am pretty much in love with it. Favorite car ever.

Strawberry Pickin'

I'm not sure why I can't seem to get it together enough to stay up on my posting, but I will try to get it together...sheesh! And maybe someday I will start posting more than cute pictures of Max on here again. But let's be honest. That's why you are here. All three of you.

Last week, my friend Misty and I took our boys to the strawberry patch to pick strawberries. Which is good, because it would have been weird if we had taken them there to do anything else. Max was actually more aware of what was going on than I thought he would be, and we had a lot of fun!

Ouchie

Max got his first real injury on Easter. We were eating lunch with friends at their house, and he tripped over a pillow and got his forehead on the corner of a piece of furniture At least we think that's what happened. We just heard the thump and the scream. The pictures don't really do it justice, but it is healing up fast! Whew...life with a toddler is never boring!

Easter 2012

Max wasn't exactly in a photo taking mood on Sunday, but we managed to get a few pictures on Easter. We take what we can get around here...

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.
Matthew 28:5-6

Easter Egg Hunting

Saturday night our church held a flashlight Easter egg hunt, and we all had a fabulous time. Mike was in charge so we were super busy, but we managed to have some fun, too!

I wasn't sure how Max would do with the hunt. I thought he would be more into it this year, but really he was way more interested in everything except putting eggs in his basket! He watched other kids, looked at the eggs, tried to open one or two, tried to give some to his beloved Sadie (more on that another day), and occasionally slipped one in the basket. I decided just to go with it...plenty of time for egg hunts in the future.

What's up people? Coming through with my basket!

What is happening?

Why are all these people running around?

What he ended up with...ha!

Look...an egg!

How does this thing taste?

Outside after the hunt. Still holding on to an egg...