Total Blur

I'M BACK!! This past weekend was completely nuts and I've been trying to catch up this week and get through school before Easter Break...hence the title of this post. Let's just talk about my weekend. Every year the seniors in the S3 (Sports Sponsorships and Sales) program go on a trip. It's partially for fun to bond and celebrate almost being graduated, but mostly to network with teams we are involved with and interview for jobs. I wasn't interviewing with any of the teams we visited since we were in Houston and New Orleans and I will be living in Dallas. I did interview with the New Orleans Hornets in October and I really really like them. Go Hornets!! Anyway--here is a quick recap of the whirlwind trip. It was pretty exhausting.

We left Baylor on Thursday afternoon in two 15-passenger vans driven by our professors. It felt like high school youth group all over again. We thought about putting up "Honk if you love Jesus" signs, but decided against it. We got to Houston around 4:45 and received a nice surprise...DUKE was staying in our hotel! Coach K walked right past me while we were waiting to get our rooms. I know they beat us, but he is still soo GREAT! We had a quick 30 minutes to change and then headed over to the Toyota Center for a meeting with their Sales Manager, get a tour and watch the ROCKETS v CLIPPERS game. We ended up getting to sit courtside while the team practiced...it was pretty legit!

It would have been cooler if I was a Rockets fan, but it was still pretty awesome to see NBA players up close and personal. I won't lie, one of my favorite parts was getting to see their tats.

After our tour we went up to our suite and got to eat some food. Let me just go ahead and say that food was not well planned on this trip and it killed me, but oh well, that's what we get for not having any women involved in the planning. The suite food consisted of nacho meat and cheese, chicken fingers, veggie quesadillas (that were kind of a mystery) and chips and salsa. My dinner consisted of chips and salsa. We had some visitors in the suite and I also roamed around and compared my feet and hands to Yao Ming's...pretty pathetic. 

Not sure why I was chosen to hold the shoe but it's HUMONGOUS! 

This is how I match up to Yao...like I said, pretty pathetic!

I wasn't really in the mood at first, but decided to go out with everyone after the game. We went to Pete's Piano Bar and I had a blast. Any place with music is my kind of place! I was dancing and singing all night and didn't care what anyone else thought! :)

I decided to get up early on Friday and work out in the Hilton work out room. It was pretty fun since it was on the top floor and looked out over the whole city. Plus, there were some Duke assistant coaches working out at the same time. There was no lunch planned for us, so we all walked over to the mall and I ended up being in heaven. THEY HAD A SALATA!! I love Salata and it totally hit the spot after the chips and salsa dinner the night before. After lunch we headed over to Minute Maid Park and talked to some Astros' sales reps and got a nice tour. I loved the sponsorship activations that the Astros have (I'm a nerd) and loved getting to step out onto the field and hang out in the dugout. 

After the Astros we were off to the Baylor game!! Yep, we got there 3 hours early and were starving, but it ended up all being worth it. Once they let us into Reliant Stadium, Joy, Lindsay and I were on a mission to find some food. I ended up finding a baked potato. It didn't really satisfy since I ate it completely plain, but it was food and I was happy to have something in my belly. We were all soo nervous about the game, but Baylor ended up totally DOMINATING St. Mary's!! SIC EM!! 

Lindsay, me, Eric and Joy all enjoying the victory!

All 16 (14 students and 2 professors) of us loaded up the vans after the game and headed to New Orleans. I don't think anyone was too excited about making the drive, but it ended up going by really fast. We finally got to NOLA around 3 am and checked into the hotel. I was soo ready to hit my comfy hotel bed! Don't you love hotel beds? Well nice hotel beds that is...not the lumpy gross ones. Thankfully our's was very nice and extremely comfy! I was asleep right when my head hit the pillow and had a whole lot of trouble getting up the next morning. 

When everyone finally emerged Saturday it was about 12:30. I was up at 9, but didn't really feel like walking around downtown by myself. Once the majority of us got up, our tummies were begging for some lunch. We stopped in at Cafe Fleur de Leis. It was close to Bourbon St. and had a very appealing brunch and lunch menu. I opted for lunch. It wasn't anything to write home about, but I was just satisfied to have sat down for a meal. Afterwards, we walked down Bourbon St. (definitely not for me) and down the river. Aside from Bourbon St., I loved NOLA. I love that so much of life is geared towards being outside. It's so nice to be able to walk everywhere and enjoy the energy of all the people that live there. 

The afternoon and evening consisted of a visit to the Hornets. We had another tour and meeting and then enjoyed our 3rd basketball game of the weekend in another great suite. The food was about the same, so I enjoyed another dinner consisting of chips and salsa. This time some diced chicken was added to make impromptu nachos. Before the game we had another amazing courtside experience. This time filled with the half-time performers. 

 By the end of the game I was exhausted and ready for bed. Of course, I let everyone talk me into going to see Harrah's. I gave in mainly just to say that I went, but didn't stay long. I let the boys lose their money while I enjoyed a hot tea from Starbucks. I needed to get my sleep so I could have energy for the Baylor game on Sunday. 

Despite my exhaustion, I decided to wake up early and get a quick work out in. I headed to the work out room at 6:30...it didn't open til 7. This kind of ruined my plans since I needed to shower and be ready by 8:15, but I pressed on. I read on the lobby couch til 6:55 and booked it to the elliptical, got in 35 minutes of good cardio and was showered, packed and ready to go by 8:15. IT WAS A RECORD!! We hit the road by 8:30 to head back to Houston for the Baylor v Duke game. This trip did not go by as fast as the other, but the excitement of the game and seeing Ben and Katie helped it go by quick enough. Plus, this alleviated the stress the boys were causing me. Let me just say that I am an expert, efficient traveler and boys are very different. For example, when a "quick" gas station stop is announced, why would you think it is ok to walk to Waffle House for some food? 

I was soo excited to enjoy the game with Katie, Ben and tons of friends. We were even surprised to run into Grant and he sat with us during the game. I miss always enjoying Baylor games with my closest friends. It was hard to get to the games this year with all that's been going on. I'll definitely have to visit next year for some bball. 

I hate to be sappy, but I have soo much fun with Ben. It was so good to get to see him even if it was just for a couple hours. I'll take what I can get and enjoy every second! 

So ready to be married!!

It was a close game, but Baylor ending up losing to Duke in the end. Kind of disappointing, but it was really cool to see Baylor go that far. Maybe next year football will be good too! (miracles happen)

I got to ride home with Ben and Katie and was soo excited to stop on the way at Freebirds. REAL FOOD!! I was soo excited about a tasty burrito but my mood dropped when they told me they were out of black beans...my favorite part. I subbed whole beans and added some extra veggies and it ended up being rather delicious. I think pigs feet would have been delicious to me at this point. (eh-i don't know) They dropped me off at Baylor around 10 and although I was sad to have to leave, it was soo nice to know I'd see them again in about 4 days. Thank you Easter Break! 

I've decided to skip all my classes tomorrow and go home early. I convinced myself since I'm usually a nerd and never skip class that it was okay. I'm soo excited to be home for almost 5 days! Lots of family time! I'm gonna try and post everyday over the break and maybe it will start a trend. I usually get too busy at school, but I'm sure I can find time. 

How do you deal with meals and exercise while out of town? Do you always put yourself in the mindset of vacation or do you stick to your usual habits?

Weekend Recap

I apologize for my absence but things have been EXTREMELY busy. Lets just say I'm pretty ready for graduation when I no longer have anymore tests. They're overwhelming my life right now! All school activities are consuming me. Look at this schedule:

Tues, 3/23- CRM Midterm (killer)

Wedn, 3/24- Bear Faire (get cap and gown and all graduation things)

Thurs, 3/24- Mass Comm Test, leave on S3 trip

Weekend 3/26-28- S3 trip, travel b/w Waco, Houston and New Orleans 

Tues, 3/30- Negotiations Test, Strategic Management Presentation

EASTER WEEKEND!!!! 

Holy Moly! I'll try and squeeze in a couple posts between now and Easter Weekend, but it might be a little difficult so forgive me if I fail. Anyway, this past weekend was A-MAZING, so I'd like to give you a little recap. 

Friday-- I left after my 11:15 class and headed for Denton to see my fabulous fiance. I seriously could not get there fast enough. We've gone longer without seeing each other, but these 2 weeks seemed like FOREVER. 108 days til the wedding!! After some good hang out time and running an errand, we went grocery shopping for the big dinner we were cooking for my sister, her husband and our two married best friends Brenda and Landon. It wasn't long after we got back to the house that Christie and Taylor (my sister and brother-in-law) arrived. Taylor is our photographer for the wedding and had Save-the-Date ideas to show us! He is an incredible photographer! I loved them and I cannot wait to get them in the mail! Here's a sample of one of our engagement photos...

Sorry if you don't like PDA. 

Ben and Taylor have gotten really close and I'm soo excited for that since they'll be family very soon. They talked photography and cameras while Christie and I got in some good sister time chatting. Then, I got down to business on my broccoli salad. Have you ever made this? Wow--it's addicting! Raw broccoli, craisins, sunflower seeds, halved grapes, celery and a delicious dressing made with light mayo, yogurt and white vinegar. I love this stuff and you even feel healthy eating it! Ben grilled venison steaks for all of us. These are my absolute new favorite things ever!! We also had harvest potatoes and bread...it was a delicious dinner for 6! I think we sat at the table and talked for almost an hour after we had all finished. It's soo nice that Ben and I already have married friends. I can't wait to invite them all over to our place when we get married. I love playing hostess!! We met up with Katie, Ben's sister, after dinner for some good ole' Beth Marie's...yummm. As usual I had a flavor I've never tried before and don't worry that after I paid, I looked at everyone else's cone and saw that they had more, so I asked for an extra scoop and paid again. :) After everyone embarrassed me (talking about marriage stuff) while we ate our ice cream, we went home and played Apples to Apples. I'm usually not very good at this game, but I improved and even won the second round. TAKE THAT BEN!! (him and Landon always win) Christie and Taylor had a long drive home, so they had to leave, but Brenda and Landon stayed and we all watched "Law Abiding Citizen." If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. It's so intense and a bit bloody, but it is legit! 

Saturday-- I slept in til 9 and it felt great. I can never sleep in anymore. I think the rain had something to do with it. I decided I'd go out for a morning run while everyone else was still sleeping. Little did I know that the weather had switched from a fabulous 70 degrees the day before to a windy, cold freezing. Make up your mind Texas!! I toughed it out and went on a quick 3 mile run. I guess the wind and cold inspired me because I finished in my fastest time in a while...24 minutes. 

Ben and I had a big day in Dallas planned, so after waking him up and both eating a quick breakfast, we got some quick shower details taken care of and were on our way to the other big D. We were both pumped for a lunch at our favorite spot...

Any guesses?!?! EATZI'S!!! Sweet Deliciousness...this place is amazing!! It's a market and bakery where you can buy groceries and such, but they also have a big salad and sandwich area where you can build a lunch. Ben always gets a sandwich on their special "bone bread" and I always get a spinach salad with their incredible salmon. MMMM! We had a great lunch and then headed to Northpark for a very exciting purpose...buying his wedding band! I definitely learned how different boys and girls are. We didn't have to shop around much before he decided on the one he wanted and I purchased it. Ben was a little upset when I got the grand total. Apparently there's a big difference in engagement ring and wedding band prices...whoops. I told him I'm worth it.

We spent the rest of the afternoon running errands. Ben was even kind enough to stomach a trip to Super Target so I could get a new nailpolish color and ingredients to make the fam some Oatmeal Scotchies. Of course, we were sure to be parked in front of the television by 4:50 when the Baylor Bears were representin. I started baking after half-time and when the game was over and we were deciding on dinner options, Ben scarfed down 2 cookies. I was a total mom and told him not to ruin his dinner. He didn't listen. We were both feeling pizza so I took him to Fireside Pies. I love the feel of this place. I got the Peta Pie with no mozzarella (I know I know, I'm weird). 

It has Sonoma Goat Cheese, Balsamic Mustard Portobellas, Arugula, Roasted Red Peppers, Roasted Pinon Nuts, Arugula, and Charred Tomato Vinaigrette. 

It was an alright pizza but I'm sure it would have been better with the mozzarella. Next time I'm gonna try the Balsamic Roasted Chicken pizza. Christie and Taylor split it and it looked delicious. When we walked outside after dinner it was seriously snowing. What the heck Texas!! Christie and I drove to the airport to pick up the fam. They were getting in from their trip to Steamboat. Taylor and Ben decided to go on a photography expedition. I wasn't really paying attention to how hard it was snowing on the drive because I was pretty focused on the road, but when we got to the airport the ground was white. The snowfall just kept picking up throughout the night. We were all pretty amazed. Oh and the fam loved the Oatmeal Scotchies when they got home. They were pretty starved from their long day of travel. 

Sunday-- This is what I woke up to...

WHAT?!?! Don't worry that the only shoes I brought home besides tennis shoes were flip-flops. I had to scrounge up a fleece and some closed-toe shoes for church. After staring out the kitchen window at this sight in amazement, I whipped up some blueberry muffins for Ben and my little sister. We all bundled up (me in a short-sleeve shirt and fleece) and headed out the door for church. I made sure we got there a little early so I could play with my niece, Annie, for a little bit before the service. She is soo stinkin cute!! 

This is her at Christmas. I mean how could you NOT love her?!?!

The debate for a lunch place was minimal this week. Ben's always pretty helpful when he's there. He's not into all of the back-and-forth debate so he settles it pretty quickly. We decided on the new Pot Belly's that opened on Greenville. I love Pot Belly's! I usually get a skinny turkey, but decided to venture back to my favorite tuna. I usually don't like tuna at restaurants because it's too mayonnaisey and heavy, but they use albacore tuna and minimal mayo plus you can get it on skinny bread. They also have my favorite mustard, so needless to say I enjoyed lunch. I even ran into my high school Young Life leader with her husband and 2 kids. I love surprises like that!! 

We had a date with the florist at 3, so we went home and worked on some guest list stuff before we had to leave. Guest lists are by far the hardest part of planning a wedding. We finally got the final draft finished and all is well. I was super excited for Ben to meet the florist. I love them!! We had a great meeting at Starbucks (I got some fab Vanilla Rooibos tea) and headed home to be bums and enjoy March Madness. 

I've told you before that Sunday's are breakfast for dinner and since Ben was there I decided to make a big dinner for him and my dad. I always enjoy cereal, but he made it clear he did not want cereal for dinner. While they finished watching bball, I made pancakes, sausage and scrambled eggs. They loved it! We then had a family game session before Ben had to head home. Weekends when I'm in town are usually split between Denton and Dallas and Ben and I have to part ways for a day or two. This weekend we spent the entire time side-by-side. It was wonderful and I'll admit I cried a little when he left. All in all it was a FABULOUS weekend!!! Can't wait for Easter! 

End with a Bang

Thursday, March 11th
Last day in Destin :( Chelsi and I were up and adam way before everyone, so we decided to test out the weather with a 4 mile walk to Starbucks and back. This is just what I needed to get my legs stretched out after that long run. We went out with fleeces on and had to shed them on the way back. What we thought was gonna be a pretty dreary day looked like it would turn out to be a sunshiney day! Of course, right when we hit the beach the sun went behind the clouds. Boo! We stayed out for about an hour reading and I kept taking my jacket off and then putting it back on. I just wanted to enjoy the beach on the last day whether or not I got a tan or not. The last day means I HAVE to be on the beach!

Well, that didn't last for too long. We all got a bit ansy so we tried The Track. A few of us thought it might be fun to do some go carting. It looked pretty deserted, but we got out and asked if they were open and were when they were, we were then surprised by the high prices. No one thought one ride was worth $10. Does that make us cheap? Oh well...we're college kids! Back home I grabbed a bite to eat and laid on the balcony reading. After about an hour a couple of us decided that we just could NOT waste the last day not on the beach. VOLLEYBALL TIME!!

Who needs the sun to play volleyball?! Julianne, Chelsi and I ended up playing about a dozen games of volleyball. We spent pretty much the whole afternoon out there. Best part---WE BEAT THE REIGNING CHAMPS!! Oh the sweet smell of success! (I'm a bit competitive if I haven't mentioned it yet) The guys on our team were super fun too. We knew all of them and it was good to get to hang out with them before we headed back to school. I did take one out when we were going up for a kill. It ended up being ok and he just had a little battle scar on his nose from his sunglasses...whoops.

The evening plans were a trip to Fudpuckers, O'Guigley's to watch the Baylor/TX bball game and McGuire's for ladies night...sounds like a fabulous night to me!! I was kind of apprehensive about going to Fudpuckers. I guess just from trips to the beach with my family we usually find that these sort of tourist attraction places generally don't have the greatest food and aren't all they're cracked up to be. It was actually a fabulous dinner! I ended up getting the fruit and nut salad accompanied by my big indulgence of the week....a pina colada!

I waited all week for this baby!

The fabulous group!

After Fudpuckers we headed over to O'Guigley's to join all the other Baylor Spring Breakers in Destin for the Baylor v. Texas basketball game. There were soo many people there to support the Baylor Bears! We had soo much fun cheering on our team and chatting it up with all of our friends. The atmosphere was perfect for the last night. 

A team volleybal!!

OK-- so I have to admit something...I am NOT a beer drinker, but have been kind of interested in trying out some fun ones lately. It's really stemmed from my blog reading and seeing so many out there that I never even knew existed. There seem to be some very interesting flavors that I never knew about. Anyway, I decided that in honor of the occasion...watching basketball at a pub, and in honor of Ben..he is a beer drinker, I would get a beer. 

Whoa..this was a beer if I've ever seen one! I got a recommendation for a Blue Moon and was even more interested when I found out it had orange slices in it. Not bad, but I don't think I'll have another. 

My favorite part of Spring Break last year was this pub we found called McGuire's. It was soo much fun and had lots of fun themed nights. We found out that Thursday night was Ladies Night, so we headed over after Baylor beat Texas (saw 'em off!). We were all pretty exhausted and knew we had to get up at 5 the next morning, so we only stayed for half an hour...long enough to consume a very large chocolate brownie with ice cream on top. I didn't partake in this treat because I was stuff from my Blue Moon, but it looked delish. 

Both sides of the booth at McGuire's...what a WONDERFUL trip! I miss living with these girlies! 

Last Spring Break = SUCCESS!!

DOUBLE WHAMMY!!

Did anyone ever watch that show? I used to LOVE the Game Show Network and this was definitely one of my faves! Anywho....I'm back to tell you about Wednesday.

Wednesday, March 10th
Today was another overcast day, but felt more like a day at the beach than Tuesday. After a good breakfast for some running fuel, Jenni and I went on a long run. I haven't done a long run like this in a while, but like I said...there's just something about the beach. We ran a warm 8 miles and after grabbing some water at Starbucks walked an additional 2 miles. It felt good to get 10 miles in! It did confirm that I don't need to be running the Bearathon because my knee was a bit sore afterwards, but a rare run like this felt wonderful.

The sun was out off and on throughout the day, so we were able to spend the majority of the day on the balcony reading. The balcony was a lot warmer than the beach because the wind didn't reach that high. Surprisingly, I still got a lot of sun on my face. I was also able to take my computer out and talk to Ben for a lot of the day. What a fabulous surprise!!

After the long run I was pretty tired so I got about a 30 minute nap in before I started getting ready for dinner. There were a couple of other Tri Delt groups that went to Destin, so we decided to all meet up in Sandestin at Hammerheads for dinner. It was quite the group....

And this isn't even everybody.

It was actually a pretty quiet night at Hammerheads when we got there, but like I said we tended to create our own fun this trip. We were definitely the loudest group there and the first on the dance floor. There was a band on the deck and we requested lots of songs. Most importantly, we requested Texas Country!! We had a TON of fun dancing off dinner and ended up bringing pretty much the whole restaurant out on the dance floor!

Good food, Good fun w/ Good people!

After Hammerheads we ventured over to Fat Tuesdays, but it was a whole lot different than we thought it would be. The internet made it sound like it was some big, fun place, but it was definitely not big and there were about 5 other people there. It didn't take long before we left and headed to the kareoke bar. It ended up being $5 a piece, but after some whining and begging, they let us in. Woo hoo!! We immediately signed Julianne up to sing Baracuda. We went through a number of fun songs and also a number of pretty terrible ones. After 2 or so hours we started getting a little irritated that Julianne STILL had not gotten called. As we were walking out the door they called her name and we SPRINTED back in! 

We all decided to help her out a bit! I also found out this trip that I tend to close one eye a WHOLE lot! 

We went out with a bang and after this performance all headed home. I would say the day was a great success! 

Today

Could today have been any more beautiful?!?! I do NOT think so! I have aerobic running on MWF, so I started the day off with a high intensity interval run. I was dripping sweat when I got off the treadmill. Holy Moly this was a great workout. Start off with a warm up and then switch from hard to moderate for 20 minutes. I did one minute at each and then ended with a nice cool down before I moved on to strength training. I've actually been stretching too after my workouts and it feels great. I never used to stretch and I was getting pretty annoyed at how inflexible I had become. 

Today, between my run and my next class I tried my first green monster and it was delicious. A handful of spinach, half a banana, a few ice cubes, and chocolate protein powder is unexpectedly delicious! I've been absolutely exhausted lately, so after class I came home and took a 30 minute power nap. I am not a nap taker at all, but this felt amazing. I woke up and had totally drooled. Guess I needed the rest. 

After getting a whole lot of work done and being interviewed (weird) at Common Grounds, I stopped by the house for a quick Kashi bar before a conference call. I am newly obsessed with the chocolate pretzel Kashi bars. There are a perfect blend of sweet and salty. Then, I enjoyed more of the outdoors by taking about an hour walk with Chelsi. We decided to continue our Spring Break walks in Waco! After that walk, I just couldn't get enough of the sunshine, so I walked to the grocery store down the street to grab a couple extras I needed for dinner. I've seen a lot of blogs posting dinners of cottage cheese, black beans and salsa so I decided I'd give it a try. Verdict....DELICIOUS!! 

OK, so enough beating around the bush...I have made a very important discovery today. Gum is officially the cause of my stomach issues. I had stopped chewing it for about 3 weeks with only the occasional piece. Over the past 2 days I have been studying a whole lot and have used gum to help me focus. NOT a good idea...my stomach has been feeling weird all day. Tomorrow will begin NO GUM NATALIE for good. I'll keep you updated on how I'm doing...

I'm Late, I'm Late, I'm Late

So sorry! I know I promised to make a post everyday, but I got a little sidetracked at the library last night and was just too exhausted when I got home. So even though this post is on Wednesday it will go with the Tuesday of Spring Break. Confusing?

Tuesday, March 9
Since I went to bed early and got a good amount of rest, I woke up bright and early for a good run. I don't know what it is about the beach, but I could run for forever. I'm not even running on the beach (not good for the knee), but it just feels so much better than running in Waco. I ran every morning last year too because I was preparing for the Bearathon, so I followed my same route. Being a little bit further down the beach than last year, it ended up being a 6 mile run. FELT FABULOUS!! The morning was pretty foggy and overcast so I finished the run by walking on the beach. The waves were enormous and the sky was beautiful! The other girls had gone for a walk to Starbucks, so I rinsed off, ate breakfast, and did a quiet time before everyone got back. Oh the productivity!! After everyone got back to the condo we attempted going out on the beach....we shivered for about 10 minutes before we decided no matter how much we wanted a tan, we just couldn't do it!

The day ended up being a rest day with some good movie watching. It was a good day for me to catch up on blog reading! I don't know about you, but I just cannot sit around for very long. I get ansy and feel like there are just so many other things I could be doing. I suggested the outlet mall. My group wasn't really into shopping, but it was probably a good thing because it prevented me from buying out JCREW. Now if I had been with my mom and sisters we would have shopped til we dropped! Believe it or not, I only made one purchase the whole time we were there! My credit card loved me! I did have to stop by Starbucks before we headed back to the condo. The temperature dropped a good 10 degrees and started raining as we were leaving, so I needed a little comfort. The rest of the day was filled with another movie and some sleep.

FINALLY--- dinner time!! We all got ready and headed to the Crab Shack. YUMMM!! Anything seafood is just so wonderful for me!

We were kind of sad because they put us in the corner ("Nobody puts baby in the corner!"). We were the social crowd on the trip, but we still had a lot of fun! 

After dinner we went back to the house to hang out before we headed over to a friend's party. Why is it that girls have soo much fun when we are doing absolutely nothing at all?!?! We had the best times just hanging out at the house together!!

After playing at home for a while we went over to a HUGE house that the Fiji guys from Baylor were staying in. I ended up talking to Ben in the bathroom for most of the time we were there but I had to take advantage of the opportunity. We hadn't talked in forever!! We really didn't know that many people there, so a few of us left and went home to enjoy each other's company again. I seriously can't express how thankful I am for these ladies and how much fun we have together! :) 

The Sun'll Come Out...

Monday, March 8th
The sun came out again for our second day on the beach and Monday turned out even better than Sunday...

As you can see we purchased a volleyball for this fabulous day! 

After a good walk with Chelsi and Jenni to Starbucks and back we were quickly on our way to soak in the rays. We were all pretty sure that this would be our last full day of sun (yea I know only day 2 on the beach), so we were determined to get as much vitamin D as possible! I'm pretty sure laying out lasted a whole 10 minutes before we realized that the guys had set up a volleyball net and we wanted to play. Let me just make this clear real quick...I LOVE VOLLEYBALL!! If only I had some action pics. 

We spent the better majority of the afternoon playing/dominating volleyball before we gave the court up to the actual owners. We thought it was the right thing to do...such good samaritans. No big deal--there were still plenty of activities for us to participate in...throwing the football, playing in the water and of course when nothing else....

BURY NATALIE!!

they were not exactly gentle with me...

Finished!! And then I had to get out...

Kinda hard...

Chelsi decided to help by pulling me, but all it really did was give me an Indian sunburn...worth the picture!

After a good long hard day of playing on the beach we all rested for a bit and decided we would take it easy for dinner. Anyone ever heard of Dewey Destin?!?! AMAZING!! We all stayed pretty gross and headed to this local seafood place for a quick bite to eat. It's tucked back into some trees and on a dirt road so you almost think you're in the wrong part of town, but it is delicious. I wish I would have taken a picture of my food. One of my favorite things to get when I'm at the beach is crab legs. I got a basket of Alaskan Crab and enjoyed every bite and all the work it took to get the meat out of the legs was well worth it. The best part about seafood is you never feel too full when you're done. We were all pretty happy with this meal--

Best part about the beach...NO MAKE-UP!!

Since we still had a little room left we hit up none other than....DIP N DOTS! Where have they gone?!?! Well there's an actual store in Destin and it was yummy! I got a mixture of the sugar-free vanilla and strawberry and loved every spoonful. I wish we had stores in Dallas or Waco instead of having to go to Six Flags or somewhere like that. Actually, sometimes they are in vending machines...weird! They're much better out of a cup from the actual store, but maybe I'm just a snob. Oh well! 

I won't lie, I was completely exhausted after our dinner and ice cream. The sun and volleyball and climbing out of that hole wore me out. Some of our group went out and some of us opted for a night in. I kind of felt like a mom because all I wanted to do when most everyone was gone was clean up the mess. Girls can leave such a mess when they stay together. GROSS!! Plus, being on the beach where you drag sand everywhere doesn't help. After finally talking to my mom and Ben, I popped in The Proposal and cleaned condo. It didn't stay this way for long, but oh well...it made me feel better! 

TODAY

Speaking of feeling much better--I woke up this morning to a splendid e-mail from one of my professors saying that my test for Thursday was moved back to the next Tuesday....HALLELUJAH!!! This is going to be a killer test and the extra time will definitely help. Plus, I've been in total wedding mode for the past 2 days and being able to get some more done before I break into study mode was great. When I do start studying I will be able to give it my total attention. 

Many great things happened today such as an amazing run....I did the 3-mile challenge from CNC ....beautiful weather...putting money back in the bank (we got our deposit back thank goodness)...and wedding planning, but the best part of today was Vertical. 

Vertical is a Monday night worship service that we just started at Baylor and it is such a blessing. I hadn't been able to make it in the past couple of weeks and oh have I missed it. The Jeff Johnson Band led worship and Afshin Ziafat spoke. Both were incredible tonight. I feel so renewed and like I have just been completely filled up to live a life of joy this week. I can tell it's gonna be a GREAT WEEK!!! 

Beach Bum

 Is what I was made to be! I am fully convinced that the good Lord created me to be on the beach. I mean, I just FIT there!!

We look like we belong there, right?!?!

Jenni and I woke up bright and early on Sunday morning to make sure we had plenty of beach time after our run. The Starbucks was only 2 miles down the road so we ran there and grabbed a water while we chatted it up and caught up on life. Then, we ran back to our place, ate a little breakfast and hit the beach.  We played on the beach pretty much all day long. There was lots of walking up and down the waterline and scoping out all the fellow spring breakers. 

This is us taking a short break from playing. I am actually in my 2nd bathing suit of the day... the other wasn't very condusive to sports so I changed at lunch. 

After a great day on the beach Jenni, Haley, Alyssa and I did another run to the grocery store and walked back. How wonderful is it that you get to be outside all the time?! That is the one thing I for sure want in the place where I spend the rest of my life...I want it to allow me to be outside as much as possible. 

Our guy friends in Destin (from Baylor) were throwing a fellow fraternity brother a birthday party, so our plan was to end up over there. Everyone told me they felt like Mexican food and although I warned them that Mexican food in beach towns is not exactly Tex Mex, they still wanted to go. I found a local Mexican restaurant that was a bit of a hole-in-the-wall. You know it's gonna be interesting when you get lost and call for directions and they say "it's behind the Golden Corral and next to the Burger King." OH MY! It actually ended up being a very very very fun dinner. The food wasn't incredible or anything, but since we were just about the only ones in the place the waiters loved us! 

We convinced them to turn up the music and let us dance!

After a very eventful dinner we went home to play some games. We couldn't be the first ones to the birthday party! We finally made it over to the party (of course we walked) and had a blast! There was lots of singing and dancing and you can never forget...TONS OF LAUGHS!! 

Exhausted from all the dancing

We were the 2 engaged people on the trip...not to each other though. 

The dancing...

and the singing! My Celine Dion performance...I think Hollywood might need me! 

conclusion: The first full day was a TOTAL success!!

Question: What is you favorite Celine Dion song?

Back and Better Than Ever

OK-- so I've decided that in order to catch you up with my Spring Break I am going to change things up a bit. Instead of having one really really really long post, I'm going to make a post everyday this week that goes with the days I was on Spring Break. For example, my post today will go with last Saturday (the traveling day). Not to confuse you, I'm also going to post a little at the end about my actual day today. Anyway, I will be making a post everyday this week to catch you up on my life. GET EXCITED!! I also made a change on the layout. Feedback? I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. I might go back to the original or keep trying out new ones, but I wanted to try the white center where it doesn't look so busy. Let me know what you think. Here we go....

Saturday, March 6th

Our journey began at 5:30 am leaving Houston. Eight girls on the road to Destin, FL. Of course, we had to stop at Starbucks which put us at about a 6:15 departure time. Wow...mornings go by sooo slow in the car. I ate some fruit for breakfast and by about 9 am I thought it was lunch time. Holy moly! I held off until about 10 and then I just had to break out a protein bar. I curbed my hunger with an Atkins Peanut Butter Crisp bar. DELIGHTFUL! I love the texture of these bars. The consumption of this bar occurred during some Shania belting! I had to strategically place my bites between songs. Who knows which one is best--"Man I Feel Like a Woman," "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?," "Any Man of Mine," "Honey I'm Home," and the list goes on. What's your favorite Shania song? 

We missed the Louisiana sign, but after grabbing lunch at Subway we decided that we HAD to get pictures with every state sign. Isn't it weird how long it takes to get through Texas and Louisiana and then how quickly you pass through Mississippi and Alabama? I think so. The stops were pretty interesting, but we did it. It may have taken some sprinting down the highway to get back to the sign, but we made sure we took good pics. 

After about 11 hours of some very fun traveling, we finally arrived in Destin. There was lots of dancing, singing and laughing on the road, but absolutely NO sleep...FUN EXPRESS!! 

Jenni and I in the backseat of our car...typical. 

We decided to lay low on Saturday. We were all pretty exhausted from traveling, so we unpacked and headed to the grocery store. We just ate groceries that we had already gotten. This meant some good ole' Kashi cereal for me. MMMMM!! After eating and handing over the security deposit (I thought I might throw up), we just hung out in our Bali Bungalow and made sure we were well rested to soak up the sun on Sunday. 

TODAY--

Unfortunately I got sick around the 3rd or 4th day in Destin, which made for a pretty miserable trip home yesterday, so I decided to get as much rest as possible before school starts back up. I went to bed last night around 10:45 and woke up this morning about 9:30. WONDERFUL!! I do not know the last time I got this much sleep and I still didn't feel all that well rested. After popping a Sudafed  and curling up on the couch with a mug of cream of wheat w/ blueberries I started to feel a little better. I wish I had a screen door because I feel like once I opened my door to check the temperature I felt a thousand times better. Waco was sunny and beautiful today!! After getting my to do list organized, I headed out the door to do a little grocery shopping...

BEST GROCERY TRIP EVER!!! Maybe it was the unhealthy lifestyle one lives on Spring Break with 8 other girls, but I was in full health mode when I was there. I fueled up with a mini Lara bar while I was shopping. 

Check out this loot!! 

First Time Purchases -- Greek yogurt, Chocolate Cheerios, Almond Milk, Morningstar Black Bean Patties, Protein Powder, Flax Seed and Quinoa....soo excited to try all of these!!

Fruit...my absolute favorite food!! Is the basket of grapes not adorable?! I just couldn't pass up the chance to buy grapes in such a cute container! 

  The good HEB has an organic section that I LOVE LOVE LOVE!! I have read soo much about flax seed for a long time and with these little sample bags I finally bit the bullet and bought some. The same goes for quinoa. I've wanted to try both for a really long time but couldn't bring myself to buy an expensive bag/box when I didn't know if I liked it. I also bought some raw walnuts and almonds. I tried an almond when I got home and these things are incredible!! I will definitely be going back to get some more. 

I also purchased a blender but forgot to take a picture. I am an avid blog reader and I'm always reading about all of these protein shakes or just delicious concoctions that you need a blender for, so I decided I was just gonna stop waiting to be married and go ahead and get a cheap one. Woo hoo!! 

When I got home I unpacked all of my groceries before settling down for a delicious salad and apple. While I was making my lunch I realized that the feta cheese I wanted in my salad was missing...I had gotten all the way home and the grocer forgot to put my wheat bagels and pitas and my feta cheese in my cart. UGH!! Such a buzz kill! After eating and before going for a good workout, I had to go back to the grocery store with my receipt and claim my purchases. 

The rest of the day was composed of a wonderful workout (elliptical, arms, and squats), cleaning, a beautiful walk to catch up with my roomie, dinner and wedding planning. After dinner I went to Common Grounds to look at jobs and wedding details. There are still a few things for the wedding that I need to make sure I have under control and I feel like I got a good hold on things tonight. I feel much better. Plus, I ended up applying for a job. I came home to try out the blender when my tummy started rumbling. I made a sort of ice cream replacement. It included a frozen banana, almond milk, vanilla, hot cocoa mix, and cool whip. It didn't look pretty, but it was delicious! All in all...A PRODUCTIVE DAY!! 

I better hit the hay since it's Daylight Saving and I lose an hour of sleep...yikes!