Future Author I Am (Probably) Not and Other Confessions

Confession:  I like a clean kitchen.  If my kitchen is clean and my sink is empty, I feel like I really have it all together.

Confession:  I sometimes empty the dishwasher of clean dishes just enough to be able to fit the dirty dishes from the sink.

Confession:  I have two pair of the exact same kind of jeans.  (American Eagle, skinny, if you're wondering!)

Confession:  I wear these jeans WAY too many times in between washings.

Confession:  I would LOVE to be an author, but I probably won't be.  I am a great lover of words, but not a good writer of words.  I enjoy nothing more than getting lost in a story.  You might think this would be complimentary to writing a good story, but I've found that it doesn't work that way.

I can dream up all sorts of scenes and story lines and fill several pages with the tellings, but that's as far as it goes.  And as hard as I try, I cannot string those scenes together to make a complete story.

Thankfully, I had the smarts to make my 30 Before 30 Bucket List item say "Write a book.  Or part of a book."  Technically, I can cross this one out because I have written more than my fair share of "parts of a book".  I hope one day I can knit these parts together into a story that begs to be read.

Confession: I throw important things in the trash ALL.THE.TIME.  I have thrown away the new credit cards that came in the mail, too many need-to-be-paid bills to count, a brand new pair of shoes, and so, so much more.  This is probably my #1 flaw, if you ask my husband.

Confession:  I have not ran in more than a month.  That is the longest stretch without running since I revived my love affair with running post-high school.

Seriously, how many 'wears' do your jeans get in between washings?

Callaway Gardens Weekend Getaway

This weekend, we traveled to Pine Mountain, Georgia.  It was about a 4 hour trip and we didn't leave until after school.  With the time change, we arrived at the Mountain Creek Inn around 10pm, Eastern Time.  We checked in, went to our rooms, and fell straight into bed.

The room was pretty standard, with a king size bed and a small bathroom.  The Mountain Creek Inn does have a nice lounge area with two restaurants.  The girls and Justin tried out one of them--The Plants--the morning of the race.  They gave it 4 stars.

Saturday morning we woke up pretty early and went to the Country Kitchen for breakfast.  We enjoyed pancakes, omelets, and biscuits and gravy with this view:

The southerner in me loved that they served my milk in a mason jar:

Following breakfast, we drove about 15 minutes to the Pine Mountain Animal Safari.  We have been to a drive-through safari before, but this was by far the best.  So much so that it deserves it's own post, which I'll try to get to tomorrow.  But I'll leave you with this teaser:

Yes, that's a zebra trying to eat my hair!

When we FINALLY left the safari, it was time to go the race expo and pick up my packet.  I'm going to save all race information for another post as well, so you'll get the race recap soon!

Before leaving the gardens, the girls wanted to go to the Butterfly Center at Callaway.  This was an epic fail--because it's been so cold, we ended up seeing more dead butterflies than we did live ones.  We did get a picture of one, very pretty blue monarch:

We left the gardens with no clue what to do.  I had picked up a 'Pine Mountain Experience Guide' from the safari, so we leafed through it.  When I saw the ad for Warm Springs Winery, I knew that was it.  Visiting a winery is on my 30 Before 30 list and it's something I've wanted to do for a long time.  I called ahead to make sure it was ok to bring the girls.  When we arrived, the vitner gave the girls grape juice (from their own vines), pretzels, and wine crackers.  (Wine crackers are now K's favorite snack..oops!)

We were all educated on the wine-making process and the nerd in me loved it!  Justin and the girls enjoyed it too and even asked questions.  I was very pleased with the way the staff included the girls.  Justin and I sampled a few of the wines and the girls sampled grape juice, chips and muscadine salsa, and pretzels.  (Libby even picked apart the tortilla chips.  She said "I taste a little sugar... and a lot of salt."  So funny!)

After the tastings, the girls made wreaths from the dried out grape vines.  They had so much fun!

We left the winery with a bottle of grape juice, a jar of Muscadine salsa, a box of wine crackers, and an un-named and thus, un-labeled bottle of white wine.

Dinner was at Aspen's Mountain Grill.  It was a very quaint, homey restaurant with a mountain vibe.  There are animals on the walls--a bear skin, a hog's head, an elk head--and it's nicknamed "the Hunter's Hangout."

After eating, we stopped in at Lulubelle's Ice Cream parlor and enjoyed some Baskin Robbins ice cream.  With our belly's stuffed, we headed back to the Inn and were asleep by 8.  It was a very fun, very BUSY day, and we were all exhausted!

Sunday morning, the race began at 7am (our time), which meant we were up and getting ready at 5:30. That's early!  The race happened (more on that later) and while I ran, Justin and the girls had breakfast. After the race, we stopped in at Cracker Barrel for breakfast (where I properly refueled) and then a potty break at the Bass Pro Shop.  While there, the girls posed in front of the fish tank:

They are getting much better at actually wanting to take pictures for me.  They requested I take this one "for the blog".  Isn't that funny?

Our getaway was SO much fun and I would recommend that anyone within driving distance make the trip.  It was such an enjoyable, beautiful, laid-back place.  Perfect for a weekend trip!

An Attempt at Hunting, Girl-Style

Sunday afternoon/evening, we took the girls hunting.  I love hunting and went a lot before the girls were born, but never saw anything big enough to kill.  (This IS on my 30 Before 30 list, though!)  Kyndall has been a few times with Justin before, but this was Libby's first time.  We all clothed ourselves in layers and layers of camouflage and headed out.

Mistake #1:  All going in the same shooting house.  It was super crowded (and noisy!), but the girls wanted us to all be together.

Mistake #2:  Going in the middle of the afternoon, on a Sunday.  This happened:

Mistake #3:  Taking Libby hunting.  The girl can't be quiet to save her life.

Result:  We saw a rabbit.  As in, a singular rabbit.  No squirrels, bird, and CERTAINLY, no deer.
We did get a few good snapshots though....

Me and K gearing up for hunting.

The girls and Stone, warming up AFTER hunting.  

Note to self:  If I want to kill that deer for my 30 Before 30, I'll need to go alone :)

Nascar at Atlanta Motor Speedway

This weekend I checked another item off my 30 before 30 list.  We made the trip to the Atlanta Motor Speedway to watch the Advocare 500.  I like racing, so I knew that I would enjoy the trip.  I was shocked at how much MORE I liked it than I had expected.  When the race started, I got this big silly grin on my face that wouldn't go away.  The rumble of the cars flying by at speeds of 175+ miles per hour--the sounds, the vibration, the wind (and dirt and rubber).... I can't even put it into words.  I am hooked.

I am AMAZED at the skill of these drivers.

My favorite drivers didn't have the best races overall.  Kasey Kahne had a busted radiator early on in the race, but was able to come back out and finish with a 36th place spot.  Since he is definitely my top driver, this did put a slight damper on my first race experience.  Danika Patrick pulled out a 21st place finish and Junior placed 8th.

And before you think this post is ALL about me, here's what the girls did while we were race spectators:

I met Jerrod Neimann!!! #FanBash2013 (EEEK!)

I'm a BIG lover of music, especially country music, and I've been a long-time fan of Jerrod Niemann.  Number 15 on my 30 Before 30 list was to see him in concert.  Well, I one-upped myself.  I purchased tickets to a Fan Club party with Jerrod and Lee Brice, another amazing country artist.

Justin, Mallory, Trey and I headed toward Nashville around 7:30 yesterday morning.  The party started at 11:00 and we didn't want to be late :).  When we walked in, tables were set up with Whitt's BBQ, so we all fixed heaping plates.  I tweeted:  "I'm so excited to see @leebrice and @jrodfromoz that I can't even eat....Just kidding, I can always eat!"  I WAS super excited though!

Once we had our plates and found seats, it wasn't long until Jerrod and Lee came out on stage.  They treated the 500 fans there to an a capella concert for about an hour-- just their voices and their guitars.  It was amazing.  I SO need them to make an a capella CD, because those men sound amazing!!

A new band, American Young, followed them and played while everyone was getting ready for the meet and greet.  I was very impressed--they were an amazing duo!  Their new album comes out in August, and I've already pre-ordered it.  The girl half of the duo is Kristy Osmunson, formally from the band Bomshel.  Bomshell's biggest hit was the song "Fight Like A Girl."  During the Fan Club Party, a 10 year old visually-impaired girl got on stage to sing that song with the new duo, American Young.  There wasn't a dry eye in the place!

After the concert, we got in line for our meet and greet.  I got so tickled watching them meet other fans before me-- they greeted each and every person like long lost friends! It was neat!  When it was my turn, I didn't act crazy or anything.  I did get a hug from both of them, an individual picture, and then made Justin jump in for one.

I'm really glad that I put this on my list.  If it wasn't on there, I think it would have wound up being one of those things I always wanted to do, but never got around too.  Definitely worth the drive and the money spent.  And to top it all off, it was an entire day spent with my hubby and my sis that we will always remember!

For the Love of Yoga (A 30 Before 30 Update)

If you've read my 30 Before 30 post, you know that taking a yoga class is on that list.  So yesterday morning I woke up early and went to a yoga class near our house.  I talked my mom and a friend into going with me.  I have to say, I was a bit cocky about the whole yoga thing.  I thought, "I'm a runner.  I'm going to go in here and stretch my muscles out, yada, yada."  I was a little embarrassed.  The class was an hour long Yoga/ Pilates class and it worked muscles I didn't even know I had.  About halfway through my muscles were shaking so bad I didn't know if I would even be able to walk out of the gym.

The next day I was sore, but it was that pleasant soreness that comes from a really good workout.  I am definitely in love with yoga now.  Well, yoga and pilates.  It is such a great strength-training workout and the stretches help me feel long and lean.  I'll be going back to the class again, probably each time it's offered over the summer.  I also want to buy a DVD so that I can work out at home.  Any of you yog-inis out there have any recommendations on a good DVD?

30 Before 30: Number 7, SUCCESS!

I haven't posted about my 30 Before 30 list lately, but I haven't forgotten about it either.  I had planned to run the Country Music Half Marathon on April 27, but Kyndall had a ballgame.  I'm not a mom who can miss games (it's a little bit of an obsession), so I wasn't able to run.  I'm ready for a half marathon though, so is it cheating if I run a different half marathon and not the Country Music Half?

Lucky for me, my parents church is hosting a Color Run in June--that makes #1 on my list SUPER easy! I've also purchased tickets for not only a Jerrod Neimann concert, but LUNCH with him!!! Woohoo and away with #15.  

I'm also rounding out the end of #7:  Give up caffeine for 30 days.  In 3 days, I will have completed this task.  It was not nearly as difficult as I expected it to be.  I am (or was) VERY much addicted to caffeine--coffee every morning and several Mt. Dews or Dr. Pepper during the day.  I was proactive and took Tylenol religiously the first few days, so I bypassed any headaches.  After 30 days, I do think I will reintroduce caffienated beverages into my diet, just not a lot.  I plan to allow myself one cup of coffee and one soda per day.  

Personally, I saw no benefits to quitting caffeine.  My energy levels plummeted, but I didn't sleep any better at night.  The kidney issues I've been having for the past several years didn't improve.  And in case you didn't know, caffeine aids in certain bodily functions.  I don't know about you, but I can only eat so many Fiber One bars :)  

30 Before 30.... #3, FAIL

As I was pulling into the Target parking lot today, there was a lady standing on the outskirts with a cardboard sign reading "I have no home, no money, and 2 young children.  Please help."  She was dressed very sparsely and had an infant in her arms.  She looked like she hadn't bathed in days.  Normally, I ignore this kind of thing.  I mean, she only had one child with her, so obviously, she was either lying or she had help of some kind.  But who am I to judge.

I had no cash on me, so my plan was to get change from my Target purchases and give her money (even more than the $30, but that is beside the point).  I was only in the store about 20 minutes, but when I came out, the lady and her child were gone.  I'm not sure if someone asked her to leave, or if she got into her Range Rover and drove away (haha!), but either way I was unable to give her the money.  And I can only hope she and her children are actually in a nice, warm bed tonight.

SO my first attempt at #3 on my list was a complete fail.  I'm on the lookout for someone else in need, though!

And as far as the rest of the list, if you are interested, the Country Music Half isn't looking to promising right now either.  I just haven't had time to train like I need too.  It's not a complete failure yet, I just wanted to prepare you in case it is.  :)

See my entire 30 Before 30 list here.