Birthday Boil

So this past Monday Mitch celebrated his 27th birthday and I'm sure by my pics on Facebook and Instagram you have figured out by now that I threw him a crawfish boil. I had been planning this for about 2 months and kept it all a secret for as long as I could. I had everything planned and people invited but about 2 weeks ago I ended up having to tell him and here's why. 1- I knew I was going to need help the day of and trying to keep him from asking so many questions that day of was going to be impossible. 2- I knew he would LOVE to help plan it all. He has always wanted to throw a boil and I knew if I had someone else over here doing it all he wouldn't have been mad, but he wouldn't really wanted to help with it. So I told him with enough time so that I already had everything planned and paid for, but he was able to get excited about it and it was something he could look forward to.

Since we were in Nashville all weekend, I had to have some friends help and they got the privilege of picking up the 25lbs of live crawfish and keeping them for us while we were out of town. When we got back into town after the race, we had to get everything together and I think it turned out just perfect! We had some of our closest friends from Mitch's class over and one couple has three kids and it was so fun to have them all over.

We have been working on getting our backyard in order without spending any money on it. We don't want to put anything into this house since its just a rental, but we also want it to feel like home and be able to enjoy ourselves since we are here for 3 years. So we did some little very inexpensive things and I think it really helped. Mitch and I both love grilling out and spending time in our backyard in the spring and summer and it just wasn't appealing at all to be out there. And it was very frustrating because we have a nice big backyard but it was just really run down and we had no where to sit. So we cleaned up the yard, bought a picnic table and added pretty purple flowers on our shepards hook and those small things have made it become an enjoyable backyard! The picnic table was the most expensive purchase and it wasn't even that much, we got a great deal. So now we can enjoy our backyard and it is starting to feel a little more like home.

So back to the boil. We spent all day Sunday setting up and getting everything ready. Everyone came over around 3 and it was such a fun afternoon. We made the crawfish in several batches so it was fun that we cooked some, ate, played games, cooked some more and ate some more. It lasted all afternoon and people didn't leave until around 9:30 that night. We had dips, coleslaw, hushpuppies and then of course the corn, potatoes, sausage and onions that were in with the crawfish. Mitch just loved it and had the best time. He is already talking about how he wants to do another one soon. Our only problem is we don't have a large boil pot so he wants to invest in one. They are super expensive, so we'll have to save up over time, but it is something that we would really use! Here are some pics from party! Unfortunately I stopped taking pics around when it got dark- so I didn't get any of him with his cake, AND we had red lights up in the back that turned out so good!

We had the best time and since we never got to rest from our race we spent his actual birthday, Monday, relaxing and watching movies in bed! We also had a little bit of left over crawfish and sausage so we made gumbo for dinner last night and it was so good!! 

This week is very low key for me and Mitch has started studying for finals. I still can't believe it's already that time. I think with his spring break being in April makes for a very short semester. At first I didn't like it being so late, but now I do. I mean in March he really didn't need a break yet- he was still refreshed from christmas break, so we April came it was the perfect time! And its warmer in April :)

On a different note, I mentioned in my last post I had hurt my knee while training for the half, well it had only gotten worse and I have been resting and icing it all week. It's still super swollen and every time I move it it makes a loud pop and feel like something is grinding in my knee cap.  So I am headed to Nashville to see a knee specialist to try and figure out what's going on. Please pray it's nothing big because I am planning on doing another half towards the end of the summer/fall and I want to be able to run this one healthy at my normal pace and get a decent time. I also wanted to just keep up my training and not have to take too long of a rest break. 

Nashville Country Music Half Marathon

As most of y'all know this weekend was our half marathon. We spend the weekend in Nashville and had the best time, as usual. I know I say it a lot but I LOVE that city and I love that for this season of our lives we live so close. So while its all fresh in my mind here is how our weekend went.

We got to Nashville early Friday morning. We wanted to be able to spend the whole day there before the race. We shopped, had lunch, picked up our packets (the expo took us several hours to go through, it was the biggest one I've ever been to), shopped some more, checked into our hotel and had dinner. We went a famous pizza place called DeSano and it was so good! We called it a night pretty early since our race was in the morning. 

Now let me tell you a little back story before I get too much into race day. My training was pretty much non-exsitent. Well okay I did train a little but only for about 1 month before the race. I ran some short runs, and 8 mile, 11mile and thats it. And any of you who run know that wasn't the smartest decision and even though I knew I would finish and be fine- my body (legs) were going to suffer. Well about 2 weeks ago I started having knee pain and it just got continually worse, so that played a part in my last few weeks of training not going so well too. I kept just shrugging it off and knew it was because I wasn't training properly and was putting too much stress on my knee. So Thursday before the race I went to run one last little short run. I ran 4.5 miles and it was absolutely awful. I was limping the whole way and when I was done I was almost in tears it was hurting so bad.

So going into the race I was slightly panicked I wasn't even going to be able to race. My biggest fear was I would start and make it few miles and have to drop out- thats how bad my pain was. Well I was able to get some cream for it and get it all taped up at the expo (I am a firm believer in kinesiology tape now) and to my surprise it helped a ton. Now yes I still had pain the whole race and had to run a lot slower than my normal pace, but it wasn't as sharp and I give all credit to that tape. It was a life-saver. 

Our race started at 7am- I loved that it wasn't so early like others I've done. But since we went off in corrals I actually didn't go off until a few minutes before 8. It was pure torture waiting in line for an hour by myself watching everyone else start (when I was already super nervous about my knee). Since I didn't really train and I was hurt I did not have a goal time I wanted to finish in- I was just praying I did finish, but I really really really wanted to be no longer than 3 hours. My other races I've done are well under that, but I knew with my situation I was going to be lucky to finish in 3. Well I have a watch that keeps track and from when I stared to when I crossed the finish like it was right under 3 hours, but when I looked at my time on the website it says 3:03! I wasn't happy when I saw that bc I knew I was right under 3 and that was my goal. Now with as many races as I've done I know your time gets messed up a little so I am going by my watch because I know it is correct and we'll say I finished right at 3 hours. I felt funny when I was telling Mitch I was so happy to finish at 3, because usually I would think that is a bad time for me. I usually finish well under 2 when I'm healthy, but for my situation I was thrilled to make it! Also, I need to mention this was the HILLIEST course ever!!! Oh my gosh- it wasn't one or two steep hills like I'm use to- it was literally a constant hill the whole time. When I got done and saw Mitch our first words were "THOSE HILLS!!!" And on top of it just being a crazy hard course, when you add an injured knee the hills were double hard for me. 

Mitch finished at like 1:50 (I can't remember his exact time) but he always does awesome! I just felt bad he had to sit and wait an hour for me to get done. Another highlight is we saw Gunner and Zoey from the show Nashville. Its a long story but so funny and it was my first official celebrity sighting in Nashville! I always say I'm going to see someone every time we're there but this time I actually did! 

So we made it- Mitch rocked it and well, I finished it! This was my "dream" race to run and so now I can mark it off my bucket list. And it was by far the BEST one I've ever done (best as in fun, not best time ha!) It was so well organized- they had breakfast for you before, water, gatorade and GU for you on the course and so much food at the after party! We try and do one a year and it will be hard not to do this one again (especially for me since I would like to conquer it healthy). But we love to run different ones each year. Experiencing different races is so fun and we are thinking of what we want to do next year.  

Tomorrow is Mitch's birthday and I am throwing him a little birthday celebration this afternoon!!! Check back soon for how it all went! :)

Birthdays, Florida and jobs!

Sorry once again for my lack of blogging- I'll get there one day. Since I last blogged I have celebrated my golden birthday, went to florida and continue to settled into a routine of working. He is a little look into what we've been up too.

After starting a new job (me) and lots and lots and lots of studying and test (mitch) to say we were ready for a little getaway is an understatement. We love Destin- Mitch has been several times with his family and that is where my family would go every summer growing up. So we are very familiar with the area and just love it there. Last year we were lucky to be able to spend 2 weeks there, but it made us fall in love with it even more. We went with my parents, it was kind of like a gift to us. They know we love to travel and we aren't able to much anymore, so it was nice of them to take us to Florida for our last official break while Mitch is in school. We left from our house in TN and it was only, at most, a 7 hour drive with stops. It was awesome! We had the best time and it was so so so nice to not worry about anything and just get up and lay on the beach all day every day!  I always joke-well I'm actually not joking, about how I want to live at the beach. I mean I know people say that and stuff, but I truly think I could and that I would love it! Here are a few pics from our trip.

We also celebrated my golden birthday- I turned 27 on the 27th this year and it was the perfect weekend. We spent that weekend in Bentonville and got to do lunch with my SIL at our favorite little tea room, got my nails done, celebrated with friends and family at Chuy's and ended with a fun night at the trampoline park.

Since we've been back, I have been working and Mitch hit it hard with his classes. He only has less than month until he is done with this semester! Crazy!! This program he is in is front loaded so majority of his classes are in the first year, with the hardest being this summer round. But when he is done with summer semester in August he should be smooth sailing! He will still have tough classes, but just a few a semester not like now where he has no room to breathe he is so busy. He is super excited about getting to start working in the hospital this August, but we are both anticipating where he will be placed for residency. There are several options and he could be put in one place the whole 2 years or move around to different rotations for two years. We find out in June and we are praying we get to stay here! 

So since I have started working- thats still weird to say because this doesn't feel like a real job ha! But anyways since I have been working at the cupcake shop I haven't really had time to blog about it. I told y'all last post about how it all came together and its absolutely perfect for me right now, but here is a little about what I do each day. I am only working part time, which is nice, and I basically get to stand behind the counter and help customers pick out which cupcakes they want! The shop is super cute and its so fun to go to work everyday! I have met several girls through it and it has ben a bigger blessing than I thought. It is also keeping me busy but not too busy where I am exhausted all the time from working and I still get to spend time with Mitch when he has days off. I love that I can take days off whenever I need and its no big deal- its so flexible! Here is a pic of where I work- how could you not be happy working here?!

Also, in the midst of starting a new job and dealing with nasty weather we have managed to semi keep up with our half marathon training.

I would say we have trained about 50% and normally I wouldn't be too worried- I ran the OKC two years ago and didn't train at all ha! I am not going to say that was my best idea and my legs regretted it later, but I did it. BUT we have head horror stories about the Nashville course- hills hills and more hills. So this next weekend could be very interesting! I am super excited about it and it is my "dream" half to run so I can cross this off my bucket list, but I am not as prepared as I should be so we'll see how it goes! I am super pumped about spending the weekend in Nashville though!


Thats about all the fun and exciting things we have bee up to around here. We are celebrating Mitch being done with his test by going to a Jackson Generals game tonight! Have a great week and enjoy this beautiful weather!