brick house :)

As most of you know, we finally started on our house this week. Which means that I had to go ahead and make a few decisions on things for the house.. so that the items could be ordered. One of the things I had to decide on this week was brick. A neighbor close to where our house is being built has a brick that Hank & I both like... a lot! Since it was a brick that we BOTH agreed on... we had pretty much decided for sure.. that it would be the brick that we would use also. After making a trip to Boral Bricks in Laurel & a phone call to Columbia Block & Brick... I felt like I needed to use a different brick than the "Weracoba 2" that we had originally decided on. Apparently the Weracoba 2 is a little overrated. Now... at least I know that it is a pretty brick.. because tons and tons of people have used this color brick since the 80's.

Anyways. Hank & I went to Columbia Block & Brick today just to look around. We had previously found a house in Kingsmill Subdivision in Oak Grove... that we both liked the brick on. After just 5 minutes in their store... we pretty much knew it was the brick for us. We both liked it tons, the price wasn't too high, and it hasn't been around as long as the Weracoba brick.. which means it isn't as repeated. CB&B gave us directions to a house near their store that also had the brick... and we immediately fell in love. I'm so excited,... and I can't wait to see it on OUR house! I just wanted to share it with you guys! :)

Check out Bayou Blend!!:

 

tuesday business

its tuesday. you know what that means. if i am blogging.. then that means i REMEMBERED to do triple tangent tuesday,... on the correct day! hahahah! so here it goes!!!

1. I logged 30 miles last week. Yep 30. The most miles I have done in one week... EVER! I was pretty proud.. but a little disappointed when I got on the scales at weight watchers yesterday and was up 2.2 lbs. Ugh! Its okay though. It will all work out eventually! lol.


2. We FINALLY started on our house yesterday! FINALLY! Yesterday they dug footings,.. and today our concrete was poured into those footings. Hopefully we will have a full slab by next Tuesday! I will include some pictures.. even though its kinda hard to tell what is what!

This is what it looks like once the concrete is poured in! :)

3. A few weeks ago.. I bleached a streak on the side of my head.. and colored it a bright purple! I've had purple in my hair before.. but I really liked it this time.. because it was a really pretty color.. and it peeked out a little when my hair was done. Now.. a few weeks later.. most of the purple has washed out.. leaving me with a half blonde/half purple streak. Although I don't think its the cutest thing in the world anymore.. I've gotten tons of comments on my "cool hair." hahaha. So I don't guess I will worry about it fading out... its been a real hit! Who would've thought! lol.

Smiles & Miles :D

First things first. We have now settled everything with our easement problem.. and... we are starting on our house in the morning! IN THE MORNING! I can't believe that I am actually getting to say that! We've waited quite some time... and now that "its time" it seems so surreal. I am sure that it won't actually "kick in" that we are starting until tomorrow afternoon when I see their work for the day! Hank & I are both so excited,.. and can't wait to see some progress!!! Hopefully by this Friday we will have our foundation finished,... that is IF the rain will hold off long enough for the carpenters to get some work in! So I will keep my fingers crossed for a few days. I swear.. I don't think it has rained this much in July since.. I've been born!

Ginny & I ran 9 miles this morning. I don't think the weather has been this nice for an AM run.. all summer long. It was cloudy & the temperature was somewhat nice. The sun stayed hidden until about the last mile of the run.. and of course that made it feel a little humid. Either that.. or I am becoming more acclimated to this summer weather. 

I wont lie though... once we finished running and I got back home.. I showered and then passed out as soon as I got in the bed. Nine miles really isn't that bad while running it,.. but it takes a litte toll on you once you get still. I slept until close to noon... and by slept.. I mean.. I was in a semi-coma. hahaha. My legs felt good all day though. They didnt feel tired or sore.. so this afternoon... Hank, Karly and I went out for a late run. We only put in 3.1 miles... but it felt awesome! Hank & Karly are both new to running, but they both were able to hang in there and finish with a decent time!

So I am finishing up this week with 30 total miles ran. :) I'll defnitely take that.. and I hope to at least get in 20 this coming week! But we will see!

A day late, a dollar short

Sooo... here I am again. Doing "triple tangent tuesday" on wednesday. ohhh well.. such is life! ahhaha

1. After hanging out with my "Johnson girls" yesterday [Lindsay & Chelsa] and their sweet babies,.. Jett, Kannon & Makayla.. I somewhat have a smidge of baby fever. And I think the word "smidge" is too much. Its just so sweet to see them when they are so little {Jett is five, but quite adorable even though he is no longer a baby.} Whenever I hang out with them.. I have that feeling of "ohhhh yes I definitely want a baby,.." but I know that feeling will subside within the next day or two. I do believe Hank & I will have children ONE day,.. just don't see that "DAY" being anytime soon. In the meantime,.. I will continue to "oooh & ahhhh" over my friend's children. :)

2. Only 128 days until my first half marathon and I couldn't be more excited. [P.S. I'd love for my legs to look like the girl in the middle]

3. I think its weird how much me and my older sister are alike. With her re-doing a damaged house and me building a new one.. we are both having to pick out things/colors/tile/flooring etc for our houses. You wouldn't believe it.. but without the knowledge of the other... we both picked out several paint colors that were the same... two colors being the exact same COLOR & BRAND,... picked out similar small chandeliers for our bathrooms, very similar flooring,.. and the almost exact same back splash for our kitchens. WEIRD,... I KNOW! 

Britney - Femme Fatale!

Last night my two sisters and I went to see Britney Spears & Nicki Minaj in New Orleans at the New Orleans Arena! We didn't arrive at the arena until about 25 minutes before the show started, so I was a little worried about parking! Thank goodness it wasn't a problem like I thought it was going to be! We lucked up and parked in a garage right across from the gate to the arena! When the attendant scanned our tickets.. she informed us to go through the "glassed in area" to our right! Yep thats right... we were in the "club level seating" which was kind of like VIP, I guess. Feeling quite snazzy,.. we entered through the glass tunnel, a small escalator delivered us to a large dimly lit luxurious room full of leather couches & fabulous decor. PIMP.

As we made our way to our seats, I realized we were about 25 feet away from the side/front of the stage! EVEN BETTER! Now I will say.. that I did pay a lot of money for this ticket,.. but with the highest tickets being around a $1000 a piece, I guess I didn't think my $155 ticket would place me in any close proximity to the pop princess. I am please to say, that I was wrong!

Wow is all I can say! The show started at 7:30 with Jessie & The Toyboys which is a group consisting of a girl singer & two male dancers. I've never heard of them before, but they were quite interesting. She had several catchy songs and they were entertaining to watch.

Nicki Minaj performed around 8:15 or so! And was awesome! Now,.. since she was not the MAIN act she didn't do THAT long of a set,.. but I enjoyed every minute of it! She threw in "Bottoms Up' & Ludacris's "My Chick Bad," which made the crowd go wild! Nicki performed for probably 35 minutes and had 3 or 4 outfit changes... I didn't get many pictures of her different outfits,.. so you'll just have to take my word that they were definitely interesting! :) I mean,.. its Nicki Minaj.. of COURSE her outfits are interesting!

After Nicki finished,.. we had to wait 45 minutes for Britney to start. Luckily the 45 minutes didn't seem that long.. and Britney was out on stage before we knew it! 

 

Britney performed from 9:15 to about 10:55. It was AWESOME! She did an amazing job! The stage was huge,.. the sets & costumes were phenomenal.. and she gave it everything she had! She did do some of her older songs like "Baby, One More Time," "Toxic," "I'm a Slave for You," and several others. A few of her songs they changed up the music a little & the choreography was different from her videos.. which I really liked a lot! Glad to know she doesn't do the SAME dances after all of these years!

I'm just going to throw in a few more pictures from the show! I wish had more pictures of the ENTIRE stage & set but... oh well! :) ohhhh AND she flew over the crowd two different times which I thought was pretty cool!

 

oh the places you will go

Several of my friends have recently taken an interest in running, and I couldn't be happier. I'm no guru on the topic, all I know is the things that I have read and what I have learned from just getting out there and doing it. Every one is different and what works for me probably won't work for everyone else. A few of you have had questions about "how to get started" so I thought maybe I would write a blog about it. Hey,.. why not? hahah. Hopefully those of you who are interested will find some of this information to be helpful. 

I am not a doctor. This is my own findings from my own experience. I can't promise anything, just thought these would be some helpful tips for beginners.

•  Eat something small about an hour before you plan to run. To me this helps with cramps. Also definitely have water available while you are running,.. especially at the beginning. Most articles say that you need to drink 8 ounces of water for every 15 minutes of exercise that you do.
• START SLOW - A lot of people think when they first begin that they can put out 3 miles at their top speed and call it a day. Welllllll. I wouldn't do that. Number one,.. you aren't going to make it 3 miles most likely. Your lungs are going to freak out and they will probably feel like they are collapsing in on you. Start off with small goals and a steady pace but nothing near "pushing it." If you haven't previously ran.. it is going to take some time to get your WHOLE body used to it. Maybe do a half mile or mile the first day,... alternating jogging and walking. Maybe jog for a minute and then walk for a minute. And work up speed and mileage from there.
• Every time you run.. if possible, try to add a little more running into the mix. Like I said before don't "push it" the first couple of weeks. Just let your body get used to what you are making it do.
• When starting out... don't run every day. Give your legs time to rest in between. Maybe start out running 2 or 3 days a week and go from there. Find what is comfortable for you and what you can handle.
• In the beginning, I couldn't run without an ipod. Music helps distract from what you are doing. This is GREAT for running on a treadmill.. since your view isn't changing. Now that I run outside more than anything else... I almost prefer NOT to have any music blaring in my ears. And just enjoy the sights and sounds of being outside. 
• Chewing gum helps prevent "cotton mouth." Which seems to me to occur more when running outside in humid weather. 
• If you are planning on running a lot outside, I would recommend downloading a running application onto your phone. They keep up with your pace, mileage, time, etc. They are quite helpful and there are tons that are free. I have a blackberry and use endomondo. Its okay. I hear there are tons more for android phones. CHECK INTO IT!
• Invest in some good running shoes. Just your average tennis shoe probably isn't the best thing for your feet to run in. So if you are really serious about running and you think you will do it for a while.. I highly suggest getting running shoes,.. and ONLY running in them.
• Sometimes running 4+ miles at a time.. you are more susceptible to shin splints or calf muscle cramps after running. Investing in a pair or two of "compression calf sleeves" can help with that. You can buy them in sock form or sleeve form & they are worth every penny. I have the Zensah brand & love them.

•  Find a running partner. Having someone to run with makes all the difference in the world. Find someone who is interested in starting running as well, and you've hit the jackpot. Together you can figure out what works and doesn't work.. and can set goals to reach together. It definitely helps to have someone to help keep you accountable.
• I like to use www.dailymile.com keep up with my miles. It gives you an overview for each week and you can look back and know how many miles you are doing each month.
• I also suggest "liking" active.com or "we run this' (<----- running page for women) on facebook. They constantly post articles about running that are very interesting and helpful. 
• One last thing. Every DAY is different. Just depending on how your body feels. There are some days I can run 5 miles and not miss a beat. Other days I am struggling to finish 2 miles. You'll learn which days you need to call it quits earlier in the run and when to push through. 

 I hope that these are helpful. It always helps to have someone that you can ask questions to. A friend of mine, Jeremy, has been a huge help to me and answered a TON of my questions! So if you have any questions please, please, please feel free to ask. If I don't know the answer, maybe I can find it for you. 

I believe that a lot of running is about trial & error and just finding what works for you. Someone may go by all of my tips and it not work for them. You just have to find what you are comfortable with. I can't stress enough how different someone's running experience could be from mine.

Once again. I hope this helped. Good luck to all you beginners out there. Just stick with it. Give it time. Don't run once and call it quits. If I can do it,.. then anyone CAN!

its tuesday!

Yep. Its that time again. Triple Tangent Tuesday. Lets see what we have in store for today. hahah.

1.  Hank and I have a miniature schnauzer named Cash. He is pretty much like our child. This November he will be 3 years old.. and I don't think we'd know how to act without him. He acts like he believes he is a little boy.. and is smart as a whip... (however smart that is.) :)

 He is sporting his mohawk in this one! :)

2. We finally got the "word" on our easement. {insert back flip here}. FINALLY,.. after waiting 4 months we are now going to be able to START. It almost seems surreal after all of the mess. Now we are just waiting on a few last minute adjustments and as of right now we are SET to start on Monday, July 25th. What a glorious day it shall be!

3. I had a small brush with death this past Sunday. Or at least I thought so anyway. Hank & I were going to go swimming in my parent's pool.. and I had opened up a plastic bucket full of chlorine tablets to put into the pool. Since the bucket had been sitting in the sun, the chlorine tablets were sizzling. Me, being the smart person that I am, leaned my head down to listen and inhaled the largest breath I've ever taken. BAD IDEA! Inhaling chlorine is very dangerous and it sent me into a 30 minute coughing spell. Which involved each breath feeling like my lungs were on fire. My chest didn't fully recover until early Monday morning,.. and my throat still feels somewhat scratchy. But Hank has assured me that I will live. And that we didn't need to call Poison Control.

Running on Sunshine

"One pair of shoes can change your life." -Cinderella

After running this past Thursday & Friday and having 3.. yes 3 blisters on my left foot.. I felt like it was time for new tennis shoes. I limped all day at work on Friday and decided that I would DEFINITELY buy new tennis shoes this weekend.

I already had a pair of shoes in mind that I wanted to buy.. but wanted to give some of the other brands and styles a chance, just to make sure that I got what I thought was best for me. After dragging Hank to 4 or 5 shoe stores and trying on several countless shoes, I finally went with my original plan and bought the Adidas Marathon 10s.

These are them! Obviously, hahah. They are modeled after the "marathon 80s" which were released in 1980 as a marathon shoe. So I'm pretty pumped. I wore them this morning.. and was able to do 9 miles. Nine miles was our original goal for the day,.. and my marathon 10s did NOT let me down. It was my first time to go this distance.. and couldn't of been happier with the result. Its nice to get finished with a run.. and be like "yep,.. I JUST RAN 9 MILES" hahahah! I finished in 1 hr and 50 min flat. Not bad for a first time. And I feel like the more and more I run, the faster I will be able to run the distance.

It also makes me feel better to know that I can handle 9 miles.. with only 4.1 miles to add to match the distance of a half marathon. I have about 4 and a half months left to accomplish those extra 4 miles. And with every mile added it seems more & more obtainable.

My running partner, Ginny, and I can do it. And we will.

triple tangent wednesday? :)

SO! yesterday I forgot to do the triple tangent... so I've decided to do it TODAY! :)

1. I'm a very impatient person. I've always known this since I was young. If things don't go how I want, then I try to find other ways to make it happen. Or "bargain" shall I say. God bless my parents and now Hank for having to deal with this trait of mine. But its something I can not help.

2. I am a Christian. (smile) Although I do not currently attend church.. (which that is something that I've been convicted about) I am a child of God. And like all other humans, am not perfect, but every single day I try to work on that and be the person that I know God wants me to be. God has always been very good to me and has blessed me in ways that I do not deserve. His LOVE is strong and HE is almighty. :)

 3. I believe that Coke Zero & Diet Dr. Pepper are as good as the originals and that makes me happy. I consume one or the other at least once daily... and the fact that they are 0 calories makes them ohhhh so enjoyable.

dreaming in blueprints

When I was in the fourth grade my parents decided to build a house. Well I am sure they had decided before then to build.. but that's when their plan actually WENT into action. Of course, being a child, I don't remember EACH step of their building process,.. but there are several things that I remember. Things such as: the slab being poured, the framing (going into my room and seeing it have walls was pretty cool) the painting, and the carpet going in. (i think the only reason i remember the carpet going in, was because thats the day that WE moved in as well.) Anyways,.. my point is.. I remember how much I enjoyed it all. How fun it seemed to pick out EVERYTHING (i got to pick out my bedroom wall color and carpet color -- and thought it was the neatest).

Now roughly 16 years later,... its my turn. Well almost! 

Hank and I married in 2006. We lived in an apartment for the first few months of our marriage and in July of that year, we bought a house. An older house of course, because Hank was still in nursing school and we were no where near being financially ready to buy land and build a house. So we decided to buy an older home (the BEST decision we could have made) and live there for a few years as our "starter" home. Now even though this house was built in the 1960's (we think) it had already had several updates. It had tile through out the house,.. which I am sure is a huge change from the probable shag carpet that it most likely had in the beginning, it had a new roof after Katrina, and even though it had wood paneling on the walls, all of the paneling had been painted except for in the closets. We lived in this house for a little over 4 years,.. and we sold it this past February.

Now let me back up a little bit. In October 2009, Hank and I bought 1.29 acres in Hickory Ridge Estates subdivision in Ellisville on Blueberry Lane. Our original plan was to pay off our land.. and once that was done we would begin building. That,.. of course,.. is easier said than done. I won't get into all of the boring details and hold-ups that we went through. But hopefully *fingers crossed* we will have everything settled this week and begin building our new home next week. 

 this is what our house will ONE day look like!

Since February we have been living with my parents. Yep. They have been super good to us and have helped us tremendously. We are very fortunate to have them take us in like they have and not expect anything in return. 

So. Hopefully (there's that word again) we will be able to start next week. In February, when we sold our house, we went ahead and did the dirt work for our house,.. but that has been sitting there for the past 4 months. As soon as we get all of the paperwork straightened out, we can get back on track with picking out everything for our house. I'm really excited about it,.. just ready to see some progress on our dream home! And just as my parents did those 16 years ago... I can slowly watch our dream become a reality. 

I will be sure to keep you all posted through my blog! And I should be able to provide some pictures along the way! :)