Earthquaaaaaaake!!

Y’allllllll… There was an earthquake by my house! And I totally felt it! The house shook under my feet. Whoaaaa!

We don’t really get too many earthquakes in these parts so it’s kind of exciting! There were actually two but I only felt one of them. The other was a bit too far away from me to feel it. The one by me was a 3.4 and the one farther away was a 3.1. Not big but still!

This one was closer to me. I’d say about 10 miles? Maybe a little less.

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Errr sorry about the picture quality. I’m posting this from my iPad!

Anyway that’s the super exciting news from around here! I haven’t really had much time for blogging and honestly my posts are probably going to be super random this semester. I unfortunately don’t really have time to write recipes right now, which I love doing. But I have to focus on this overwhelming semester. I’m going to try my hardest to post at least once a week from now on.

See ya later!!!
Sarah

They say it’s your birthday

I’ve been MIA for much much too long!! We haven’t been able to get Internet service since we’ve moved and we’ll most likely be waiting a while on it anyway because we’re making two house payments right now and things are pretty tight! Who knows how long it will be until we have actual Internet at the house.

I’m about to head to work so I’m using the Internet at Starbucks right now and I’m posting on my iPad since I’ve yet to find my laptop in my unpacking. And also it might be awkward lugging my desktop in here!!

Anyhow it’s my birthday. It’s a tough one- 32! But I’m trying to start out the 32nd year of my life on a healthy note. Though I’d much rather wallow in misery and lay in bed and watch sappy movies all day!

I started out with a trip to the gym and hit up the elliptical! (I’m really hoping these pictures show up- I’ve never blogged from the wordpress app before)

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And then finally got around to having my morning cup of coffee while I blog!

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Now I’m headed to work! Have we talked about where I work?? My job is so much fun! I’m working for Good Karma Kitchen. It’s a vegetarian gluten free food truck and it has been hard work but such a blast! I’m getting some really great food service experience(and i DON’T have to work with meat!!!) and meeting some absolutely amazing people. And my two bosses are just the best. I feel so blessed to have found this job.

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And those are my wild and crazy birthday plans! Wow I’m a party animal right? 😉

Have a great day y’all.

Springtime in Texas

Howdy!  Spring is my favorite season!  And it’s gorgeous in Texas this time of year!!!

The wildflowers are the best part of spring.  Our roadsides are absolutely covered  in them!  Seas of absolutely gorgeous bluebonnets!!  I’m in heaven during bluebonnet season!

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Also walking/jogging/biking on the Trinity Trails is absolutely amazing right now! 

 

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Yes we have trails for our horses, however we don’t have pooper scooper laws for them unfortunately!!

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So pretty!!!

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One day when I took a new trail head I came across a gorgeous waterfall area!  Turns out it is the only natural waterfall in Fort Worth!!  It’s breathtaking!  I’ve been back twice since then and just sat and stared at it and had some prayer and reflection time.  It’s so serene and you really put a lot of things in perspective when you’re staring at the natural beauty God created!  Also I don’t think many people know about this area- there’s never anyone else there!

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I couldn’t decide which pics I liked best so you’re going to have to look at all of them! (click on them if you want to see them full size)

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Gorgeous!

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What to do (and what NOT to do) when your blog breaks

My blog totally crapped out early this week.  First it was a virus.  Then there was something crazy going on and it wouldn’t let me post anything. So of course I completely freaked out.  I thought a lot about just shutting the whole thing down.  I mean it’s been weeks since I’ve actually posted anything.  But then I thought about all the recipes I have on here and about how long it has taken me to create them all and how much work I have put into it.  So I decided to get it fixed up instead of shutting it down. 

First I had contacted someone who had helped me with my blog previously but they were charging $260 just to take a look at it.  Sorry, can’t afford that!  The next person wanted to charge me $300 to look at it.  Wow.  (And the thing that the first two people were saying was wrong with my blog wasn’t even what was wrong with it!  Glad I didn’t pay them the money and decided to keep looking!!!!)  The next person I found did wordpress troubleshooting for $50.  And if he couldn’t fix it he wouldn’t charge me.  SOLD!  Turns out something wonky happened when I had upgraded wordpress to the latest version.  He found a lot of weird files in places that they shouldn’t have been in. (Thanks for that by the way wordpress.  Lame.)  So he cleaned it all up for me and reinstalled wordpress on the bloggy and I was back in business.

P.S.  I’ve heard people are having TONS of issues with this new wordpress upgrade!  So think about it very carefully if you decide to upgrade.  And be prepared in case there are any issues!

So here’s what you do (and what not to do) when your blog breaks!

If you have a virus on your blog:

  • Unless you know what your doing and how to look for the virus and how to fix it, just leave it alone and find someone to fix it for you!
  • First run your antivirus to make sure it’s not your computer that is causing the problems.
  • Then go to We Watch Your Website.  Get a years subscription (it’s only $39.95- you will not be able to find a site that will do it for free. Trust me.).  Not only will they get rid of the virus for you they will continue to watch your site for threats.  They check it every 4 hours and if they find something they take care of it immediately.  The subscription is for an entire year. 
  • Even if you don’t have a virus on your blog it’s a good idea to get this kind of a service for your blog.  Do it for your readers.  Do you want to unknowingly give them a virus?
  • That’s it.  They’ll do all the work for you.  Your job is done!

 

If your blog is broken:  (The virus thing was easy to get fixed.  This is where I realllllly freaked out)

  • First of all do NOT freak out!  Don’t cry.  Do not take down your site or start deleting anything.  Do NOT try to fix anything if you don’t know what you’re doing! You will likely make it worse!
  • Find someone who you can keep in your corner in the future in case anything goes wrong with your blog.  I’m not so good with all the code and all that business so I need someone to help me.  It took me a few days to find someone. but I ended up finding Blog Crafted and he’s now my go-to blog guy!  He charges $50 for wordpress troubleshooting and if he can’t fix the problem he doesn’t charge you!  He had my blog fixed within an hour.  Seriously.
  • Sit back and let them fix it and know that you won’t spend the next few days freaking out trying to figure out what’s wrong with your blog.  TOTALLY worth the money.  And your sanity!

 

Well now that I’m back in business I’ve got a few recipes and a half marathon recap that I should be able to get posted this week.  Hooray!!!

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White Rock Marathon Recap

I really should have posted this last week but since we’re in the midst of finals at school I decided to wait on it a bit. I still have one more final which I should be studying for right now but I’m feeling kind of unmotivated to study right now honestly.

 

So I started training for the Half Marathon portion of the White Rock Marathon in September.  Before that the longest I had ever run was a 10K.  Training for this pretty much took over my life because I wasn’t honestly sure that I could do it.  So I made training for this a huge priority.  Absolutely no regrets- this was kind of the most awesome thing that I’ve ever done!!!!

My brother is a pretty accomplished athlete- he’s done just about everything: half and full marathons, triathlons, etc…  He’s also been a personal trainer and he and my sister-in-law also happen to be my Chiropractors!  So when I decided I wanted to do this he was the first person I talked to about a training plan.  Between the two of us we made a plan work with my schedule and I got busy running.

My only regret from training was that I didn’t go in for regular adjustments. My knee started giving me major problems about a month before the race and I iced, rested and kinesio taped it.  What I should have done was go in for an adjustment- I went right after the race and my knee pain was immediately gone and hasn’t hurt since.  Something to keep in mind for the next go round!

I followed my training plan and I was pretty much good to go for the race- just really really nervous!  Plus the forecast looked horrible- rain, rain, and more rain.

I headed to the expo the day before to pick up my race packet.  I’ve only done one other race with an expo so it was really cool to get to walk around and check things out.  And hellooooo… free stuff!!

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Ideas for future races…

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Bought a few things…

 

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Just a note- I had never tried that brand of kinesio tape before so I thought I’d give it a try cause it’s pink and all.  Don’t waste your money- it sucks. It started peeling off before I even got to the race!  The Kinesio Tex Gold is the best brand- go for this one if you need some kinesio tape!

And I absolutely love this headband. How can you possibly go wrong with a sparkly headband?!  It’s a sweaty band.  I  have three others in varying widths and they are the ONLY headbands that do not slide right off of my head when working out. I highly recommend them!!

Then I headed home to relax for the rest of the day! 

Race Day…

I tried to pack my bag the night before and get my stuff ready for the next day but I was so nervous that I forgot a major item that I needed.  Fuel.  And I didn’t notice that I didn’t have anything until I got to the race.  I found a larabar in my glove box so that’s all I had for fuel the whole race.  Major fail.

Race day there was a torrential downpour.  I don’t mean sprinkling.  Or drizzling.  Or even raining.  I mean serious gully washing going on here.  But I’m cheap and I paid a $100 entry fee for this race so I was going to run it rain or shine.

And rain it did. 

It was actually clear when I lined up in my corral and when the race started. Then around mile 2 it started pouring.  And it poured the whole rest of the race. 

I had a rain jacket so it wasn’t too bad until mile 5 then I just kind of was over the rain and just wanted to be done with the race at that point.  Did I also mention that the temperature was falling the entire race?  We started out somewhere in the upper 40’s and it was barely hanging out at 40 by the end of the race.  No joke my lips and toes were blue by the end of the race!

It.  Was.  Miserable.

I just focused on the finish line the whole time.  Finishing was my goal and I was going to finish.  I was slow finishing with 3:04:28 but I finished!  And I also ran the whole thing! (I only walked through water stations since I’m not coordinated enough to run and sip at the same time!)

The course was awesome.  I will definitely be running it again next year- hopefully it will be dry!  There were just a few slight inclines- not really anything I would consider a hill.  We started at Fair Park and went through Dallas and some really pretty residential areas in Highland Park.  There weren’t many people out because of the weather.  But there were lots and lots of water stations.  I didn’t need all of them, but I tried to alternate water with some Gatorade hoping the Gatorade would at least give me some carbs since I had forgotten my fuel.  

My brother and sister-in-law were at mile 6 but I didn’t see them unfortunately.  Around mile 8 I started getting bored and I was tired of my music.  Around mile 10 I was feeling cranky and cold and wet and I was just really really really ready to be finished.

At mile 12 our course met up with the Marathon course so I found a new surge of energy and at 13 we rounded a corner and I could hear the crowd and was starting to see the finish line.  As soon as I saw it I could NOT stop smiling!  And as soon as I crossed it I totally started crying!  I had dreamed of that moment for months and it was finally there.  I ran a half marathon y’all!!!!!!

 

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And Laura was there to meet me after I finished!  She brought me snacks and took a few pics for me! (see my blue lips?!) Thanks for coming Laura!!!!

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After that I headed to see my brother for an adjustment and he got my knees all fixed up and I went home and CRASHED.  I was exhausted y’all!  And p.s. calf sleeves totally rock- my calves were not a bit sore the next day!

Sorry that this turned into a monster post, hopefully you made it all the way through!!!

 

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