Did you know you can get free food the week of your birthday? My favorite website for finding which restaurants send out birthday deals is RIGHT HERE.  We sign up for a bunch and then its always fun to see them flood my email inbox as my birthday gets closer!  We turned them into quick little date nights. 

Free scoop at Baskin Robbins! I got Chocolate Mousse ice cream. 

Jersey Mikes. A very filling sub.  We got the Original Italian with ‘the works’. It was so filling. Joe dove in face first.

And probably my fave, a free Rooty Tooty Fresh n Fruity at IHOP. Joe colored a picture for me.

Yay for free birthday happiness! 

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These pictures are from two separate weekends, but we’re wearing the exact same outfits so I lumped them together, haha. We love these tshirts… a lot.  

Meeting mom for lunch at Cracker Barrel.

 

Joe was “rockin’ while rocking” in the chairs outside the restaurant. 

Another weekend, we went to the park for free ice cream, watermelon, and fireworks!  My hair has faded to a lovely patriotic blue!

A lovely, beautiful night.

Headed to the ranch again this weekend. Here’s some shots from last time:

Coffee with a crazy haired man.

No really. Look at this Saturday morning hair!

Joe diligently taking notes about new shelf dimensions while mom uses dad has a 6 foot marker and her broom as a pointer. hahaha

Joey workin in his swim trunks. 

Rain!!  I’ve noticed that rain is celebrated more often in Oklahoma. In Florida, some treated it as an inconvenience because it happened so often.

A gorgeous sunset.

Being sent home with mountains of produce from mom’s garden.

Enjoy your weekend!!

When I get back from a run, I almost always plop onto the cushioned bench on our porch and listen to music until it gets dark. The kitties know when I’m out there, so they will paw at the blinds until Joe raises them.  I know this is a horrible grainy picture, but it makes me happy peeking in the window to my messy living room, both cats in the window sill, and Joe working on something for etsy. 

Father’s Day took place while our church was having a series called “Take It Like A Man” (hence Joe’s awesome tshirt). They passed out fake mustaches in the lobby.  Joe’s so manly he has THREE mustaches at once! 

John, Joe, and Jeremiah. None of us could stop laughing the whole time I was taking this picture.  It took me several tries because we all kept cracking up. haha

Me and my silly brothers. We took all of these pictures while waiting for my dad to arrive. 

After church, we went out to eat. Nothing says “Father’s Day Celebration” like a chinese restaurant with flickering letters on the sign! It was delicious. 

I did it!! The race was scheduled to begin at 9:00am and we got there at 7:20am! I had plenty of time to walk around and scope things out. I got lots of last minute support from friends and family, and it was exactly what I needed!! When we had picked up my packet a couple days before, I felt really self conscious and out of place. Packet pick-up was in a really nice area of town and everyone was extremely fit and wearing trendy neon work out clothes. I think I was the only one in “normal” clothes. I felt awkward. BUT when I arrived at the race on Saturday, there was such a wide array of people that I didn’t feel out of place at all. My nerves were still crazy though!! When it came time to line up at the starting line, some people were already throwing color packs in the air. Some landed on me, which was cool. What was NOT cool was being packed in like sardines and having random people pulling at my shirt and wiping their hands across me so they could “steal” some of my color. I was being grabbed at from all directions and I felt like punching everyone in my immediate circle. On top of that, my music was skipping over the 3G. Sweat started trickling down my back and I was starting to feel like this might suck, a lot.

Once my wave of runners finally got going I breathed a huge sigh of relief that no one was touching me. Then my music started streaming loud and clear. Everyone was cheering from excitement, and I got the doofiest smile on my face. I couldn’t hide it at all. I was having a freaking blast! I kept looking around and realizing that every level of fitness was represented here. Then a few minutes later, after those representing the higher level of fitness had left us in their colorful dust, I couldn’t help but smile at “my people”. 

Somehow when preparing for this race, I had been worried that I would be so slow and embarrass myself in front of the fast runners. Um, hello. The fast runners are long gone and aren’t looking back.  All that was left was a crowd of people in my fitness range. And even more surprising was the amount of people I left in MY colorful dust. Yeah!  I got a text from Joe that said “I’m at purple. Green is first” so the first half of the race I just kept trying to look ahead and see if I could see the purple cloud yet. When I finally neared the purple color station, I tried to text him while I was running. But I ended up accidentally sending “Purple soon!” to his aunt instead, because she was the last person to send me encouragement right before the race. I ran through the station and heard Joe yelling “Hello Lady!!” which was awesome. I was bummed that I didn’t get ONE speck of purple on me (my favorite color, if you’re new here). Joe helped me out later by dumping an entire purple packet in my face.  

I started to get chills the last half mile. I didn’t know it at the time, but later Joe told me it was 101 degrees while I was out there. I’m so glad i didn’t know. I could feel the heat, and I definitely took fast walking breaks. When I saw the finish line and could hear people cheering, I picked up my pace and ran straight for it. Then I came to a dead stop because the crowd of people crossing the finish line was so large. The sudden stop, mixed with the heat, mixed with the cloud of pink powder was breathing in (it was so thick, i couldn’t see) made my vision go black for a split second. I got a head rush and felt my knees start to buckle so I said out loud to myself “No, no, no. Not right here.” Thankfully, i didn’t pass out, and once I found some shade and water I was fine.

Then Joe found his way back to me and we took more pictures!  

He didn’t even run (NEXT TIME HE WILL!) but he still got color bombed a little bit.

It was a blast and I am SO doing it again! #bekah and Andrew did this in VA Beach. We’re already trying to figure out when the 4 of us can do it together—maybe even in tutus and funky knee socks? hahaha

Here’s 3 minutes and 14 seconds of radness:

A few months ago I signed up for my very first 5k. I had started going for walks on a regular basis last year. I slowly have been working my way through a c25k program. I can now run for 5-8 minutes at a time, with fast walking in between. I have noticed a huge difference in my energy levels.  One of my biggest problems in staying healthy is that I typically forget to take time to eat enough.  I put off meals and then I find myself wanting to ravenously inhale a bunch of food at the end of the day.  But now that I’ve started running, its another reminder that my body needs constant water and consistent fuel. I can NOT forget to eat or skimp on water because I’ll get side cramps or run out of steam while I’m out for a run.

I’ve been running SO much that my old school headphones (pictured on the left) finally went completely dead. They’d been going for a while, but they finally died. Joe tried to fix them with no success. So for a few weeks I used his giant duct taped gaming headphones (pictured on the right). I felt so ridiculous but I was dedicated!  After dog-sitting for my mom, I used some of the money I earned to buy a new pair of headphones– Yurbuds. I have always hated earbuds because they hurt my ears and immediately fall out if I breathe in too deeply, ha. But a friend (hi Stephanie!) told me about Yurbuds and they are so comfortable and you can tug on them and they don’t fall out!  They have been a dream to wear, especially after carting around Joe’s dumbo ear headphones, hahaha.

So I’ve been working my way up to this 5k. When I did the very first interval training podcast, I couldn’t even run for 30 seconds at a time. I was so winded and shocked at how out of breath I was. To know that I started there and worked up to running 5-8 minutes is an awesome feeling. I’m not a fast runner AT ALL.  I am what they call a “slogger” (slow jogger) but I know I will improve over time.  For now, I’ve been working on improving my distance!  Here are stats from some of my more recent runs.

The neighbors bloodhound at my parents’ place joined me for my run one morning. Also, a farmer on a tractor waved good morning to me and slowed way down so his dust cloud wouldn’t hit me. Gotta love the country. It’s a friendly place.

We meet again, hill. :/

This hasn’t been only a physical journey.  Here’s part of an email I sent to a close friend. (Hi Tatiana!) 

“Running is still scary and unknown to me. I am on the verge of signing up for my first 5k but it is terrifying. Forget about making good time, what if I can’t even go that distance? I’ve had a couple of people tell me that I will probably surprise myself with how ready I am. I think they’re probably right, but at the same time I feel like I am in my own little category (don’t we always think we are special?). 

I feel like there are real runners and then people who hate exercising. So I ask the “real runners” for advice but they use big terminology and I feel like they don’t get where I am coming from. On the flip side, the “non-runners” I talk to kind of discourage me with their “why waste the energy” attitude. 

So what am I? Am I couch potato or a runner? Is there somewhere in between or do I just have to choose one? Why do I think I need to fit in with other people to try something new? Maybe its okay to be my own category. Maybe once I get out there I will realize there ARE others in the same category as me. 

That’s been my discovery when working my way through my 43things list. I want to do it. It doesn’t matter if anyone else does it. But once I do it, I find people that I click with. I’ve always feared being friendless or offending people. I’m learning that friendships fade and some people will even dislike me for reasons I can’t control. Why let it drain my life away? It’s so much more fulfilling to go towards what I want and then discover new friends along the way. It isn’t easy, but it is fulfilling.”

I am surprised at the amount of support I have received from friends and family in this.  I’ve been posting regular updates to facebook and instagram and I have seriously cried happy tears at the comments I’ve been receiving. It makes a huge difference to know that people are proud of you. This week I finally hit my distance goal.  That elusive 3.1 miles!  That’s the distance of the 5k I’m running in this Saturday. Yesterday was my birthday (thank you for all of the birthday greetings and wishes!) and I think its so fitting that this race falls on my birthday weekend.  Tomorrow. Tomorrow? The race is tomorrow! 

You can read all about this awesome race here: Color Me Rad

I picked up my packet yesterday and tried on all of my “rad swag” haha. I wore the neon pink sunglasses while riding in the car on the way home and Joe was like “Are you serious?”  hahaha. 

My nerves are kicking in so think happy thoughts for me on Saturday morning!

These first two pictures are from the first time I did some dog sitting for my mom. I was covered in dog slobber and my “fashionably ripped” jeans turned into a gaping hole, but it was a lot of fun (most of the time, haha).

Jack was glued to me at all times. 

The rest of these pictures are from when I spent a week with my mom, and then ranch-sat over the weekend while her and dad went on a little trip. 

In case you didn’t know–this is called a “three-chihuahua” nap. It’s my favorite kind of nap.

I needed something out of the creepy wasp-ridden shed. I felt like I was in the opening of a horror flim.

It was my cousin-in-law (and in awesomeness)’s birthday so I walked around the ranch and found a way to wish her a happy birthday via Instagram.

I walked out to the pasture in my flip flops and pajamas to watch the sunset with the horses. 

Chocolate for dinner.

Sanding and staining doors. 

Crunching on Sonic ice. 

Six of the eight dogs. 

Playing tag at sunset. 

Annie and Calamity dropped a bone in the water bucket and were trying to get it out. #problemsolvingskills

My ridiculous topknot hairdo fit right in with these crazies.

Jones soda.

Awesome clouds and pretty windchimes.

Sadie and Josie….butt to butt. 

Attempting to weed mom’s garden. Found this fat caterpillar. 

Those puppies are rowdy and I love them so much! Although, after over a week of being jumped on, snuggled with, and barked at (times 6 or 8) I was very happy to come home to my quiet apartment with my cozy bed and my spot….right between Joey and Newly (and Khloe too! She sleeps on the other side of Joe, at the foot of the bed).

All of these pictures are from my Instagram feed. My user name is “macydan” if you want to follow me!

Walking around barefoot in the rain.

Sharing a giant Route44 Sonic drink with Joe (orange fanta with a shot of vanilla)

My dad bringing me a Sonic strawberry cream slush. (Sonic=summer, apparently)

Joe’s perfect tower of curls…and big puffy clouds.

Drives home in golden sunshine.

Walking to the bank and seeing lots of yellow.

Making funny faces with veggies from mom’s garden.