The Hat-Trick of Help.

So YEAH, I was pretty miserable all day yesterday.  Miserable, but comfy!

I promised myself this

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand nailed it.

P.S. Thank you, honey, for breaking our "No taking pictures of me while I'm sick" rule.

The rest was really nice, but what really brought it home was ordering some Pho.  It's one of my most favorite things to consume when I'm feeling all sinus-y sick.

And just in case you've never said it before...

I also love how I get to assemble it myself.  I always get extra veggies (mint, bean sprouts, jalapeno), and this place always gives me extra broth. <3

I dug in with gusto.  My olfactory senses kicked back in about halfway through the bowl, and the rush of tastes and smells came bursting in.  That REALLY made me feel better!

After dinner, I decided to take a steam shower before going back to bed.  This was the third-best decision I made throughout the day.  All three together = a hat-trick of *FEEL BETTER*.  I'm VERY lucky that I got sick on a three-day weekend, that it was on the second day, and that I had already planned on being in bed anyway.;)

I'm SO thankful to be able to ask y'all to cross your fingers for a couple of things:

I am heading to the Pod Doc at The Running Institute here in a little while.  I'll let y'all know what's up tomorrow!

We'll soon find out if this is will be our lives for a long time
(the puppy, not Sophs -- she's in for the long haul, haha)

Fingers and even TOES crossed, please!
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I'm also very thankful for these words, from this human.<3

Happy MLK day, y'all.  Remember what today is all about.

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Do you get sick often?
-Surprisingly, I do not.  I get the sniffles that might take me out of the game for an afternoon, but I rarely get SICK.


How are you celebrating today?



Tell me something fun on your agenda for this week!

My face matches my headband, NYD tradition, and more BFF time

I wasn't about to brave the hurricane that was a ton of people at the gym on the first day of the year yesterday.  Instead, after taking Harry to his NYD 5K (usually a tradition for both of us), I chose to do a Nike Training Club workout at my parents' house.  My sweet Momma walked around the block with me, ~.7 mile, then I grabbed my water bottle and phone and head into the garage (with the door open).

20 minutes into my workout, I thought I was going to hurl.  It was 70*F (nope, not kidding) and 90% humidity (still not kidding), and that kind of combination, on top of performing some plyometric moves, will make one's HR go up up up.  My face went full-on tomato shade.

Here's how some of it went.  Not shabby, like at all.  It was probably the weather that had me feeling so grody.  Reason why there are no pictures of me doing this workout = it was so muggy, the camera lens got fogged up.  So here's some of what happened...

After getting ready in record-breaking time, we head over to my cousin's house for New Year's Day tradition eats.  They served:  My Memaw's (that's Texan for "Grandmother") cornbread and potato salad, my cousin's husband's smoked brisket and venison sausage,

and of course, black-eyed peas.  They're edible luck to us!  I cannot remember the last year where I didn't start it off with BEP.

After lunch, I got more time with my BFF.

We really like selfies and Snapchat.

We got home and Harry and I realized that we should probably prepare for our trip home (today).  Apparently, on our way up, my bottle of Vitamin D capsules exploded everywhere in my bag.  Up until today, I had just ignored it.  I could do that no longer, and had to finally clean out my bag.  There was probably a good 1/4 of the bottle in there and in my clothes.

I was officially done adulting for the day.  Mom and I plopped onto the couch and watched some HP.

Mom ended up making spaghetti with our favorite sauce with beef and tomatoes for dinner.

Pro tip:  pour an awesome amount of olive oil with seasoning onto a plate, then dump a clump of finely shredded parm cheese on top of it.  Mix it together, and you've got the greatest bread sopping mix ever.

Cred:  Momma G.

We're taking off pretty soon, so I'll catch up with y'all later!  I hope you're off to a good start in 2017!

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Do you like to travel during the holidays, or do you like to hold off until later to see fam and friends?


RANDOM:  What's your favorite board game?




Did you run in the New Year?  How did it go?

Our Big D Thanksgiving Visit -- *WARNING -- SO MUCH FOOD*

Last Tuesday, I left you for several days to visit my kinfolk in Texas.  I'm seriously incapable of blogging while on the road -- I gotta work on that.:)

Something that I've adopted from Harry is the airport beer before getting on a flight.  We do this traditionally, and I'm convinced that it's why our plane stays in the air until we've reached our destination.

(Not really, though.  It's just nice to blow off steam after the lines, the people, the baggage, and other stressors of traveling.)

For the first time in my life, I was on a 787.  I cannot explain to you the amount of surprise mixed with fear and a dash of intimidation I felt while boarding.  When I sat down, I realized there was a TV with a whole bunch of things for me to watch on it.

I can't tell if the look on my face helps or hinders my description, but here it is, for all the world to see.

"The Simpsons".  Yes.:)

We got in relatively late, and we pretty much hit the sack.  We slept in the next day (GLORY!), and head off to lunch after a while --------> BBQ.  My parents took us to Hutchins BBQ  an awesome little joint in McKinney.  If you're ever in the area, I STRONGLY suggest that you hit it up!

Oh and free ice cream, DELICIOUS peach cobbler, and banana pudding?  Yes.  Double-triple yes.

My Momma always loves doing new Christmas-y things each year (some years we go look at Christmas lights in some of the richest parts of Dallas in horse and carriage, or go to the Gaylord Texan for an ice show).  We were lucky to find the 12 Days of Christmas at the Dallas Arboretum, right near my happy place, White Rock Lake.  The lights were GORGEOUS and I was a little jealous that someone gets paid to put them all up.  It's sort of one of my fave things to do around Christmastime.:)

My Mom just got her very first iPhone, and is seriously impressed with the picture quality she's getting.  Henceforth, she took pictures of everything.  And sometimes got a little artsy-fartsy.

There were 12 of these Victorian gazebos displaying each day from the tune.  They were absolutely stunning.

Also, the moon followed us wherever we went.  It was a pretty sight.

Turkey Trot'd the next day before eating a crapton of food.  It was SUPER humid, around 65*F, and windy....like really windy....like 'running into the wind for about two miles and hating life' windy.  I didn't expect my parents to be near the finish line (they really haven't seen me race!), but THERE THEY WERE.  I didn't know what to do, what with in my wind-blown state, so I struck a pose.

Medals are overrated, right?:)  10K in 53:39 --- not a PR, and I wasn't really shooting for one, definitely not in this weather.  I just wanted to eat.  Also, my Daddio had grabbed a couple of Nutella &GO!s for Harry and myself.  Forget the fact that he's raised me with all of the love in the world -- this is how I know he cares.:P

We got washed up and went right over to my Aunt's house, where my cousin and her husband's family were finishing up Thanksgiving Day lunch (we have lunch, not dinner).  Brynn, my cousin's baby, is my real life BFF.  Left picture shows this year, right picture shows us two years ago.

And apparently, she really liked my boots.  When your BFF asks to wear your boots, you can't say no.  At least, not to a three year-old.

Before we knew it...

THANKSGIVING LUNCH WAS SERVED.

I'll take some of that.

And that.

And that, and that.



And some of that.

My plate.  I'm really sad looking at this photo.  I want to go back in time to when I took it.

And a little later...

Some other must-have noms from the trip, because Harry and I were much more worried about getting these things into our face rather than running.

BREAKFAST TACOS.  A MUST.

SALT GRASS CHICKEN-FRIED STEAK AND SHINER BOCK BREAD.  must.

Some of the frou-frou foodies my Momma purchases. 

Although not a Texas foodie, fried-green tomatoes were a must

And more delicious BBQ for Harry's birthday (Saturday).  

And we took off with an airport beer...because yeah.  Shiner Bock was my very first beer (circa age 17), and has forever been my favorite.  As we say in Texas, "ain't nothin' finer than a Shiner".:)

I'm not one to take pictures out the plane window, but leaving without taking a picture of my big Texas Sky was out of the question.

Here's where I'll leave you today, friends.  I have some really fun posts coming up this week, and this one by far had the most pictures.  I hope you enjoyed looking at/scrolling through them!  Have a WONDERFUL MONDAY!


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Does your family eat Thanksgiving lunch or dinner?


When you visit home, what are your MUST HAVE foods?


Are your Christmas decorations and/or tree up yet?
-We're putting ours up with Sophs this weekend!


Who's running a fun race this month?
-Rudolph Ramble 8K here!  It's AWESOME fun!