Medal Magnets!

After finishing the San Antonio Rock n Roll half marathon and other races, many times I receive a finisher's medal. They're often very attractive and heavy! For a long time, I didn't know what to do with them, so I stuffed them in a drawer with the intent of displaying them eventually. (You know, when we have that 5-bedroom apartment in a high-rise in the city and we dedicate one room to nothing but race numbers and medals?)

Then, back in May of this year, Ellie and I were sitting on the lawn of the JW Marriott after a triathlon and admiring our cute hibiscus-shaped medals when Ellie mentioned she'd like to put a magnet on the back of her medal so she could display it on the refrigerator. I looked at her with wide eyes and exclaimed, "THAT'S A GREAT IDEA!! CAN I DO IT, TOO!?" Now, Ellie is not one to withhold the rights to particular craft ideas, so she laughed and said "of course!" For the next few weeks that's all I could think about. I already had the supplies since at one point I had wanted to make these marble magnets for my bridesmaids. (Sorry that didn't work out, ladies.)

One day, I found some time and laid out some newspaper and heated up the ol' hot glue gun. I carefully removed each of the ribbons from the medals and laid out each medal face-down. I then applied a dot of hot glue to a small magnet and placed it on the back of the medal. Like I said, these things are HEAVY, so on many I put two or three magnets. Well, I soon found out hot glue does not work. Luckily I had some super glue and that worked really well.


If you'd like to display your medals as magnets, you'll need:
1) Super Glue
2) Small Magnets
3) Medals with ribbons detached (or leave them on if you want!)

These items can be found at any craft or office supply store

To assemble:

1. Place medals face down on newspaper or scratch paper to prevent mess.
2. Dab a small amount of super glue on magnet
3. Place magnet glue-side-down on the back of the medal
4. Add two or three magnets depending on weight of medal

   

   Larger races tend to have larger medals! This one is from the Cowtown half marathon in Ft. Worth, TX

5. Let set for several hours or overnight (check glue package)
6. Once glue is dry, try sticking your new medal magnet on the fridge or other metal surface. If it won't stick or slides down, try adding another magnet or two.
7. Admire your accomplishments! (Crafty and athletic alike!)

I just so happen to have a big medal board from IKEA on the wall in my office so my medals can watch me work!

I'm Not Special: 90 Days of Fitness

Note: This post was written about a month ago and sat in "draft" status until today. I'm not sure exactly why I didn't want to post it right away, but reading it a month later, I know it needs to be shared. 

My name is Veronica and I worked out every day for 90 days.

And I'm not special.

But I am so very, very tired.

Over a year ago, I thought it might be cool to work out every day for 30 days. I even put it on my Vision Board for June of 2011. That didn't happen. After staring at that little post-it note of failure, I wondered if maybe that was too easy. So in May of this year, I decided that my Summer would be quiet enough that I could probably go for 90 days. And so, on June first I very quietly started my journey. I didn't want to tell anyone because I was afraid I wouldn't follow through and then I'd look silly (not that anyone would hold it against me...). After about a week I realized I could do it and started sharing my goals with others.

June

I read somewhere that if you're going to set a goal like this, you should keep a calendar and mark off each successful day with a big red "X" that way it's painfully easy to see missed days. I considered the fact that both July and August had 31 days so I could potentially skip 2 days and still get 90 days within the summer months. I'm far too much of a rule-follower for that, though!

July

I managed to overcome some obstacles like having our niece and nephew here and going out of town a couple times. By working out in the early morning hours I was able to avoid the extreme heat (but not the humidity) and I got it out of the way so I didn't have to think about it. You'll notice one day in July I did "abs and pushups." I had put off my workout until the evening hoping to run/ride bikes with the kids. Well, the atmosphere had other plans and we were stuck indoors. So I just did a small workout at the house.

August

So why am I not special? Because this could just have easily have been you. OK, maybe you're not ready to log 6 mile runs or 1000m swims, but can you take a 30 min walk? Do you have access to a pool where you can walk laps? I'm sure there's a Yoga DVD collecting dust somewhere in your home. Shoot, if you have a Netflix subscription you have access to hundreds, probably thousands, of hours of fitness videos. Here are a few things I noticed were required for this challenge, none of which are "being in shape."

1. Commitment to yourself - Promise yourself that you'll allow 30 min each day for you. Even something like meditating is healthful! 
2. Plan ahead - I was always looking ahead and asking how I would get my workouts in. When we were travelling I made sure I had everything I needed to go for a run. In Wichita, I forgot my toiletry bag at home which contained my hair ties and barrettes, but I made do. Planning is so very key to health. From meal planning to scheduling workouts, it's what keeps me on track. Google Calendar does wonders.
3. It's not about the distance/intensity - The last two weeks of the challenge were particularly rough. It was clear that I was getting burnt out and when I looked at my calendar it wasn't hard to see why. I was starting to think that every workout had to be direct training for a couple upcoming triathlons and a marathon in November. Turns out, rest is also very important!
4. Do it first thing in the morning - I laughed out loud when a friend of mine said how impressed she was that I "got up in the middle of the night" to workout. Ok, so 5:30 am Bodypump classes aren't for everyone, including me, but if you go to bed a little earlier and set the alarm 30 min earlier, you can probably squeeze in a morning walk, yeah? Being summer in South Texas, it's a great way to beat the heat. Also, it's an awesome feeling to get off work and know that I have the whole evening to do whatever I want!

2nd Anniversary Trip: San Francisco!

So, I made a commitment to myself (and Mike) that we would go on a trip every Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Last year we went to New York City. When we were returning from our trip last year, we talked about some possibilities for this year's trip. Neither of us had been to San Fancisco, but we were both interested in going. Well, that was easy!

On Friday, we left early in the morning on a direct flight (and tiny plane)! We got into SFO at about 9:30am and took a taxi to our hotel. We couldn't check in for another 5 hours, so we had the hotel store our luggage and we hit the road.

First stop was Union Square...

Then Chinatown...

After some yummy Thai food for lunch, we headed up to Fisherman's Wharf to see the sea lions at Pier 39...

We visited Ghiradelli Square and each got a free piece of chocolate!

Then we started the long walk back to the hotel. Oh the hills...

On the way back, we did stop at the "crookedest road in the word" aka Lombard St...

By the time we got back to the hotel, we'd seen most of the sights in San Francisco! After a quick nap, we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant and then walked around some more, but stayed closer to home!

On Saturday morning, we rented a couple bikes and hit the road. We had tickets to an Alcatraz tour at 2:50pm so the plan was to ride our bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge and around a couple little towns on the other side and then catch a ferry back to San Francisco in time to get some lunch and go on our tour.

We started with breakfast at the Famer's Market at the Ferry Building.

Then we were off on our cycling adventure!

On our way to cross the bridge

We're halfway across!

We stopped at Sycamore Park in Mill Valley to check out the tallest redwoods (in the world?)

On the way to meet our 12:45 ferry, we realized we were cutting it pretty close. The further we biked, the more we realized we weren't going to make it. We still kept up the pace, just in case the ferry left a bit late. 

Well, it did leave a bit late, but not late enough! We missed the boat and we would be missing our Alcatraz tour, as well. At least we had a good story and logged 26 miles on our bikes!! We had lunch (with ice cream!) and caught the 3pm ferry back to San Francisco. That night we had Chinese food and caught a movie: Men in Black III!

On Sunday, we didn't really have any specific plans, but we made our way to the Fisherman's Wharf area since the Golden Gate Bridge would be celebrating it's 75th anniversary that night and there were plenty of goings on in that area. Mike contacted his friend, Hicham, with whom he was in ROTC at LSU. We had lunch with him at a great seafood restaurant. After lunch, Mike's other friend, Leo, and his wife met up with us. We all made plans to meet up later for the fireworks that night.

From there, Mike and I set off to see Alamo Square (no joke!) and the Golden Gate Park. Alamo Square is a nice park where you can see the Painted Ladies, a group of Victorian style row houses. If you've ever seen the intro to Full House, you're familiar with them.

After literally miles of walking through Golden Gate Park, we made our way to the Cliff House restaurant for dinner. It was quite busy, but we took a table in the bar area and enjoyed a burger and drinks. We got there at sunset and got some gorgeous views!

That night we met back up with Hicham and Leo to watch the fireworks.

On Monday, our last full day in the area, we went on a Winery Tour in Napa. They picked us up at the Ferry Building and we drove about an hour and a half to Napa where we visited 4 wineries. We got to taste several wines at each. 

It was a beautiful day, and much warmer there than in San Francisco. The way home was very quiet...

That night, we met up with Mike's friend Jesus and his wife, Kate, at the Stinking Rose. They moved to Oakland last year and hadn't had a chance to visit the Stinking Rose yet. 

It was great to catch up with them. The food was delicious, even the garlic ice cream!

Our flight didn't leave until the afternoon on Tuesday, so we decided to catch the cable car. Long lines and pricey tickets led us to just take a picture and check out the Urban Outfitters store nearby!

We had an uneventful flight home. It was another direct flight. We even got home in time to go grocery shopping, do laundry and cook dinner! What a wonderful anniversary vacation! Now we need to figure out where to go next year!

Mom's Fiesta Visit

Happy Mother's Day!

Last month, my mom came down to San Antonio for a visit. It was during Fiesta so we took in some of the events while she was here.

When she arrived on Saturday, Mike, Rhonda, and I picked her up at the airport and we all went up to Bulverde, north of San Antonio, to view a new home being built "off the grid." It had it's own solar power and water tank. I guess technically it wasn't off the grid, it was connected and could supply power to the grid, but it generated enough electricity to power the whole house. It was a very modern and luxurious house and it was about twice as big as ours! Very cool stuff people are doing around here!

After that, we came back down to San Antonio and made a stop at Central Market to pick up some stuff to grill out at the house. We got stuff to make burgers along with chips, salsa and guac!

Rhonda and I enjoying the patio!

Mike is in his doman...

On Sunday morning, we made plans for Ellie and I to ride our bikes along the Salado Creek while Mom and Rhonda walked the same path. Mike and Geoff would then meet us at Los Patios and we'd all have some brunch.

We're ready to ride!

Walking off our brunch on the grounds at Los Patios

Mom really enjoyed going to collect the chickens' eggs each day. On Sunday, we got 2!

The chickens have been laying their eggs in a bag of leaves for  about 4 months now...

Later that day, we opted to check out the Andy Warhol "Fame and Misfortune" exhibit at the McNay Art Museum. I had seen many pieces at the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh, but there were some different ones. We also took a guided tour of the exhibit and I learned some new things.

On Monday evening, when Mike and Rhonda got off work, we went down to Market Square to check out Fiesta de los Reyes, basically a block party type event. It was free, with street food and live music. We ate at Mi Tierra on the patio where we could people-watch.

On Tuesday, Mom and I laid out by the pool for a little while. Then we got some picnic fixin's and we all went down to Brackenridge Park for a picnic to celebrate Mom's birthday before checking out the Fiesta display at the Witte Museum.

The perfect evening for a picnic by the river!

The Witte has some amazing Coronation Gowns in their collection.

While we were there, we took in a few of the Witte's permanent exhibits, also.

Me in the Weather Center (of course)!

"Hey! I think I see our house!"

When we got home, we finished celebrating Mom's birthday with some cupcakes and ice cream!

On Wednesday, we took in some more Fiesta at the Lackland Military Parade. A couple years ago, Mike marched in the parade. This year he met us in the stands to watch with us.

The next day, Mom had to go back home. We had a fun visit and we enjoyed getting out to celebrate Fiesta 2012!

Albuquerque Wedding!

A few months ago, Mike and I received a wedding invitation for a friend of his, Jen. Jen and Mike were in ROTC together at LSU. I've met Jen several times, she even stayed with me for a night in Norman as she was passing through, so I definitely consider her a friend of mine as well.

I was so excited to see where the wedding would take place. I knew she lived in Boston and her fiance, Mike, lived in Albuquerque, where they met while she was stationed there. I also knew she was from Louisiana. I was so excited at the prospect of any of these locations that I tore the invite open as soon as I recognized it in the mail.

"We're going to Albuequerque! We're going to Albuquerque" I sang as I danced around the living room! Mike laughed. Really, though, when else would we have an excuse to visit New Mexico? (Despite the fact that I keep begging Mike to go skiing with me and I had a great time in Taos when I went, like, 10 years ago.)

So a couple weeks ago we packed our bags in preparation to catch our free Southwest flights to Albuquerque via El Paso! As we were packing, I had a realization: "THERE'S AN IL VICINO IN ALBUQUERQUE!!!!" I screamed as I ran down the hall. Again, Mike laughed. (For those of you who don't know what an Il Vicino is, it's my ALL TIME favorite restaurant. There are two in Wichita, and they also have locations in understatedly cool towns like Albuquerque and Colorado Springs). So, with that being said, we didn't have to wonder where to go for dinner!

We arrived and picked up our rental car. It sure is deserty out there! We stayed in a boutique hotel on the "main drag" (Central). It was VERY nice! :) We located the Il Vicino (just down the street!) and headed that way. I've been to 3 Il Vicinos in my time and they're sort of notorious for being small and crowded on Friday and Saturday nights. This one was no exception. A woman was there to take our drink order as we stood in line, so that made it easier to wait! I asked her where the original Il Vicino was and she said that we were standing in it! I was at the Motherland!! I had my favorite: pizza and salad! After dinner, Mike and I went to the rooftop bar at our hotel to enjoy some drinks before bed.

On Saturday morning, after an amazing free breakfast at the hotel, Mike and I went to the ABQ Biopark which features a zoo, an aquarium, botanical gardens and a "beach." We started at the Zoo.

Here's a quick rundown of the highlights:

Jelly fish

Train ride between the aquarium and zoo 

Mamma and Baby giraffe

We used Yelp to locate a lunch place. We decided on Marble Brewery. Mike got to taste some of the local brews and we both enjoyed meals featuring the local flavor: GREEN CHILE!

My green chile grilled cheese sandwich!

We took it easy before the wedding that night. Mike took a nap and I laid in bed watching The Weather Channel with the Wichita radar displayed on my iPad. I knew the storms would be bad that day, but it was taking them a long time to get to Wichita.

The wedding was beautiful. It was a very rustic space (the woodworking workshop of a friend of the couple) and there were many personal touches.

Flowers in mason jars sprinkled with pictures of the couple.

Before hand, select friends and family were asked to make silhouette designs in celebration of the couple.

Benches were formed from cinder blocks and 2x6's. An alter was constructed out of wooden stakes.

Jen and Mike filled a wine box with momentos (and wine) to be opened on a distant anniversary so they can reflect on these happy times.

The wedding cake was his and hers "Chucks"

During the reception, I kept a close eye on my phone as I knew the storms would be drawing nearer to Wichita. I contacted my Dad to make sure all of my family up there was watching. From what he told me, they were all more than prepared. As the reception was winding down, this is what I saw on my phone's radar app:

For those of you who don't have radar interpretation training and/or don't know where my dad's house is on the map, this image (and the associated warning issued by the National Weather Service) basically said to me that there was nothing left of Dad's neighborhood and he had better have been in the basement or else he probably isn't alive.

I called my dad after the storm passed (I didn't dare call anyone during the storm and distract them!) and he said he was fine, but didn't have electricity. My mom was keeping me posted as she was watching The Weather Channel as the reports came flooding in. In the end, no one died (miraculous), but there was damage to Spirit and Boeing plants as well as many homes and a trailer park was destroyed. My aunt, uncle, 101-year-old grandmother, dad, best friend, and her dad were all sprinkled on either side of the path of the tornado. It did strike within a mile of my dad's house and a half mile from my school. Amazing.

Once I had confirmed that everyone was ok, I could continue with the fun of the wedding reception! After some drinks, dancing and cake, we all got on our bikes (out-of-towners had rented them ahead of time) and went on a bike parade from the wedding venue to downtown Albuquerque! Mike was more than ready to get the bike parade started!

The bride and groom took a pedi-cab. Jen wore a nice coat during the ride as it was quite chilly!

We finished the evening at a billiard hall. We got to talk to Jen a lot about their upcoming honeymoon (to the Dominican Republic) and their big drive across the country as they move Mike to Boston from Albuquerque. It was a great wedding for a great couple! :)

Coming up next.... the rest of our New Mexico trip!