Who likes to run?

I have always been in awe of people who love to run. You know the type? Well I've always wanted to be one of those people. I want to put on cute running clothes, lace up my new running shoes (Nick would buy these for me), put on some music and just run run run! Well that is not me...right now at least! Some of you (my many readers...HA) may not know but I've been doing Weight Watchers. My boss told me about it...she had done it in the past and wanted to start going again and hey I knew I would have a wedding soon and who doesn't want to lose a little weight before they walk down the aisle. So we joined and it has been really good for me.

Well a couple meetings ago they announced they were starting their walk-a-thon again. The idea is to get everyone out walking again and hopefully on their way to doing a 5k. I'm all about prizes and they give you a little charm when you complete a 5k. I want this charm! So they give you this little book about how to train for a 5k. It's seems to be for people who are totally inactive. Now I'm a couch potato but I have walked two 5ks in the past so I know I can walk a 5k tomorrow if I want to. However, I know I cannot jog a 5k and that is what I want to do.

So I went home a looked online to see if there was any schedule for training for running a 5k. The first thing I found was "From the Couch to a 5k." This is PERFECT! Sounds just like me. And then I remember my Aunt and Uncle did this before and she just finished running a 5k and was 3rd in her age division. That is awesome! I want to be like that.

So I'm almost done with week 2 of training. During week one you had to do the following 3 times: Start with a 5 minute warm-up of brisk walking, and then jog for 60 seconds, walk for 90 seconds, and do this 8 more times. This wasn't too hard. Then during week two you do the following 3 times: Start with a 5 minute warm-up of brisk walking, and then jog for 90 seconds, walk for 2 minutes, and repeat 6 more times. So far so good. One more day of week two training. Now I'm not saying its easy. I'm definitely checking my stop-watch to see when I can walk again but I wasn't dying like I thought I would be. And the best part is I actually feel pretty good afterwards. So maybe this is why people love to go running. I think the key is your breathing. Does anyone have any tips on how you should breathe when you are jogging? I'll keep you posted on how the rest of my training goes and if I become one of THOSE people.

GPS does NOT work in Downtown Houston!

One thing you should probably know about me: I have a horrible sense of direction. I inherited this trait from my mother. The difference between us is she has a lot more patience then I do and if she gets turned around she figures "I've got all the time in the world - I can figure this out." So I should probably work on this. My Dad knows I inherited my mother's sense of direction so they gave me a GPS for Christmas. I was so excited - I no longer had to worry about getting lost....WRONG! Anyways this brings me to my Saturday night -

My friend had a bachelorette party in Houston on Saturday and I was meeting the girls for the dinner portion of the day. When I first started on the road to the restaurant my friend called and said they changed the reservation time and asked if I could come to her friend's house instead. Everything is OK - I have my GPS. I just put in the new address and I'm on my way. And I made it to the location without a hitch! Her friend lived past the restaurant so I thought "I'll just leave from the restaurant so I don't have to come all the way back to her house." MISTAKE!

So we have a great time at the restaurant, get to the parking lot, and my friend says "Hey are you going to be able to find your way out of downtown and get home?" (She knows about my direction skills) I say, "SURE! I have my trusty GPS. I'll just punch in 'Navigate Home' and it will take me right there. And if that doesn't work I'll just call Nick." I was for sure I wouldn't have to resort to option number two because I'm a big girl and I had done so well on the way to her friend's house.

Well trusty GPS failed me. Apparently downtown Houston had some sort of event and all the streets the GPS was telling me to turn on were blocked off! So I kept going hoping surely it would just redirect me another way. Not the case. It kept circling me around downtown Houston. I had even come back around to the restaurant we ate at. Now I was getting annoyed. Let me also say it was 10:00 at night and there were unsavory people about which kinda freaked me out. AND I have a tiny bladder and I had a LOT of water at dinner so I will let you figure out the rest. So needless to say I was starting to panic.

This is another reason I love my Fiance so much. I can call him in a complete PANIC and he will help calm me down (well try to at least) and direct me out of scary downtown. Plus he had come to town to see me even though he knew I would be gone all Saturday night and even watched my dogs for me while I was on this adventure! So he saved the day and I made it home safely.

Some Engagement Pictures

My second Mom, Mrs. Rebecca, kindly agreed to take some engagement shots for us. She just happens to be a GREAT photographer. She was always the one taking all of our homecoming/prom pictures growing up and sometimes she would just say "Let's go take some pictures by my flower bed!" So that's what we would do and it seems I have learned over the years because she didn't have to tell me to lower my chin nearly as much as she used to! We still want to take some pictures around dusk but if we don't get to we have some really nice ones to choose from. We don't have any cheesy Kissy Kissy pictures because I don't know about you but kissing in front of your second Mom is a little weird! I guess I will have to get over that since all of our families will see us kiss on November 27th - GASP! Anyways here are some of our favorites - enjoy!

This is the one we think is going to go in the newspaper. Doesn't my ring look beautiful?!!? The guy with me is pretty adorable too!

Our First Home!!!

Nick and I must have been very good this year because we got a great present in our Easter Basket this year. Friday we spent the morning taking some engagement pictures with my second Mom who happens to be a great photographer. It was really fun and I think we got some great shots (I'll post some pictures on my next post). So afterwards I gave Nick a little Easter Basket with a really cute card. And he said "Oh man I feel horrible I didn't even get you a card!"

So fast forward a couple hours and I get an email from our Realtor telling me to call her because she didn't have any one's number. I called and she said the seller's accepted our offer! I was super excited. I really couldn't believe it. They had already come down a significant amount on the house before we made a VERY low initial offer and was surprised that we came to an agreement so quickly (1 week). Nick had gone home to decompress from the day's activities and so I immediately called him to tell him the good news. And I said "See you didn't have to get me an Easter basket or card because you bought me a house for Easter!"

We still have to have an inspection and close on the house but unless something crazy comes out of the inspection this is going to be our first home together!

It needs a LOT of work on the inside. All the floors need to be replaced, paint, popcorn ceilings scrapped and retextured...the list goes on and on. But those are the main things we want to get done before Nick moves in. I've even met our across the street neighbor already. We are very excited. I'm sure I will be posting our adventure of home remodeling over the next few months. Nick is going to become a handy man I just know it!