The other fun thing from the weekend

Baby shower, good friends, and dumplings!

Running Career Back on Track

You can't imagine how good it feels to run a half marathon in your hometown on a beautiful, sunny Sunday morning in October after you haven't done a race in over year, especially after you only ran 8.8 miles for your longest training run.

It feels pretty great.

This was such a spectacular race. I might even say best half marathon ever. Not only was it fun and lovely and all that, but it was extremely well organized. I'd definitely do it again. Maybe I'll even make it an annual thing.

Lucky Number 1108

About to cross the finish line with Lena

Clock time 2:24:21, Chip Time 2:21:03

We did it!

Yay! I'm back!

Next up, an old favorite: The Gallop N' Gorge 8k for Thanksgiving!

Just passing through

I love having visitors! It gives me the opportunity to utilize our guest room, lay out clean towels, and go out on a school night showing the things to show.

Last weekend, I got the opportunity to host these lil' ladies who were passing through NC on their cross country road trip from Oregon.  They are 24 and shiny...just wee babes trying to figure out what to do with their lives. Hearing about their trip reminds me of the Trinity road trip that Bekah and Carrie and I took all so long ago...

These lil' sunflowers

And speaking of Bekah...Thursday I get to host her and her manfriend as they make their way to Bekah's bro's wedding.

Cheers, guys! Cant wait to see you!

Yay for passing through and crashing on our guest bed!

Back Home

I've been back home in NC for a week now. Despite the facts that I'm not actually settled in our house yet, I've  been extremely busy, I'm starting a new job at a new school, and I've hardly had time to tell up from down it still feels 100% g-r-e-a-t to be home.

Here's the sunset from the Durham Bulls game on Friday night to prove it:

Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Carolina on my Mind

Our most recent NC trip was totally awesome. A wedding, family, friends, coffee, beer, sun, warmth, the best food, Carolina Beach, Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Raleigh, Lexington, the lake, disc golf, so many serendipitous run-ins, and just the fullest heart that I ever did have.

I realized it was a great trip and that we're supposed to be there when I didn't even feel the need to touch my phone for a majority of the trip. I didn't want to Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat, obsessively check my email, or any of the other addictive phone behaviors that I've cultivated. 

Here's a few key shots from our adventures (though I didn't even take that many pictures while I was there because I was just that present most of the time):

Me and Mama downtown Durham style

Jason and his Dad, lake style (ps- unfortunately, I did not get a picture with Jason's mom...sorry, Cathy!)

Driving the boat with Doodle, the not dog

Lil' sister, me, beer, sun

My hottie hubby rocking the NC short shorts!

Making good burgers runs in the Roberts family

A new addition since our last visit: Kegerator!
Complete with one of my favorite beers of all time, Yuengling!

Relaxing on a porch by water, my "happy place"

Best Donuts of All Time: Britt's Donuts, Carolina Beach, NC

Wedding swag

Pre-wedding beer where we serendipitously got to watch the heartfelt first dance from another wedding

Siblings all grown up and friends now

Kat and Adam's first dance...love these two

And a special fox napkin gift.
Thanks, Peggy!
I love foxes.

Sometimes I get sad that I left this place, but then I remember that it took leaving it to realize just how special it is. The lifeblood and soul here are palpable. Now that we have left it for a bit, it will making coming back that much sweeter.

A workshop.

Last week, Leilani, Kat and I road tripped to Camel City Yoga in Winston Salem for a workshop with Lisa Ingle. 

I had completely forgotten that we had gone down there; oh ya know, with my life being turned upside down lately and all...but then Josh from Camel City posted these photos and I remembered! 

It was a really great workshop. Lisa is a very passionate and charismatic instructor, and she has the knowledge to back it up. She gave us all sorts of little tricks and tips mostly having to do with strength, breath, and alignment. 

Of particular note, there was a great deal of usage of quarters. Quarters for the grip in Half Moon pose, quarters for the hands in Awkward pose, and quarters for under the chin in Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee pose. 

The knowledge filled our brains and the sweat left our bodies. Fun was had by all!

Year in Review Part 2

April, May, and June are also hard months in Eugene especially if you're from NC where springs begins promptly in April or sometimes even as early as March. On the contrary, you're lucky if spring begins in Eugene by June 1.
Lucky for us, we had lots of trips planned for these tricky months: London in April, NC in June, and once things did finally warm up here in late June we were prepared to fully enjoy Oregon in all it's sunny, summertime glory. If I've never said this before Oregon in the summer is something that cannot be rivaled.
Big decisions were also being made during spring. I decided to attend Bikram yoga teacher training in the fall. After much rumination and deliberation, I just said to myself "do it!" And I did. I applied, got in, and then proceeded to enjoy the rest of my summer.

NC to OR Road Trip Part I, Day 1

Our first trip across the country has commenced. The trip is dedicated to 1) find a place to live out there 2) drop off the little blue Yaris and 3) don't go crazy in the car.

This trip has lots of little parts and we are trying to experience and enjoy each one. We started off yesterday by driving down to the lake for a little Roberts family fun. Mac and cheese, several MGD 64s, "Happy Birthday Pop", a couple of pontoon boat rides and some sunburned legs later we were on our way to
Morgonton for Wendi and Aaron's wedding. It was a beautiful affair! Great spot, great weather, great people, great food, and alcohol in a canoe! After a very modest amount of wedding celebrating, we were on the road again. This time with the goal of making it halfway across Tennessee before we bed for the night. I blog to you now as Jason drives us, about an hour an a half away from achieving our goal. Crusty hotel sleep, here we come.

Our route:



Wakey, Wakey...long day ahead



Beautiful Wendi



Move kid, I'm trying to grab a beer



Alcohol canoe




Tomorrow, Missouri!

The Last Supper

I couldn't believe it when I awoke early one morning to news that Magnolia Grill would be closing it's doors on May 31, 2012.  Interestingly enough, Jason and I had been planning an outing to the grill for a send off/we haven't had a fancy dinner in a while date.  I picked up the phone in hopes of making our reservation, and got nothing but a busy signal for hours and hours and hours that day.  Jason and I decided that we must go in person.  We did, and we got the last reservation for a 2-top in Magnolia Grill's history.  I think that makes us famous.

Last night we dined on (literally!) the best food ever.  Mag Grill has always been our favorite restaurant in the triangle area for its big bold flavors and overall awesome dining experience.  I can also remember going to the grill as a small child with my mom (sometimes, we would pretend to be famous and eat out for fancy dinners).  As a child, an elaborate dinner menu can seem not far from disgusting so our waitress offered to have the chef make me fried chicken and mashed potatoes.  You don't even need to ask me if it was the best fried chicken and mashed potatoes I've ever had.  I'll never forget that.  Mag Grill, you will always have a spot in my heart.


Pre-dinner exictey...



That illustrious sign (with an obnoxious beemer SUV in front blocking the driveway...boo!!!)




The Menu




I decide with wine flushed cheeks








Spring Salad with candied pecans

                                                  
Wild Alaskan Halibut with cauliflower chowder sauce and yummy little potatoes





Chocolate Chip Poundcake with Roasted Bananas and Banana Ice Cream







Pear Crisp (epically delicious)







 So yummy!!!

Not a Competition

Yesterday was the demonstration at Bikram Yoga Durham.  There was about 14 of us who got up in front of our yoga peers and demonstrated the progress of our practice.  Though it wasn't a competition exactly, it held the format of a typical Bikram competition sans scoring and judging.  Basically, this means that we had to include the 5 basic postures designated for competition and 2 postures from the advanced Bikram series.  We had to bow before and after our routine, and announce the names of each posture before we did it.  There are also weird rules about which direction you have to face when doing whatever posture.  That was hard to remember.  I went last which was extremely nerve inducing as I had to watch each of the others demonstrating, finishing, and plopping down on the floor in relief.  I had no idea how nervous I would be once I got up on the podium.  I was shaking, folks.  It's one thing getting up in front of people and speaking, or singing, or whatever.  But getting up in front of people in tiny little shorts and trying to balance?  Scary.

My Routine:

Standing Head to Knee Pose (not the full expression, I guess the camera-man missed that)




Standing Bow Pulling Pose



Bow Pulling Pose




Rabbit Pose





Stretching Pose



Bound Lotus Pose





Headstand with Lotus Pose (Again, my camera man missed the full expression of this one, but got me "gracefully" moving into it)




The group who demonstrated. This was an awesome group of people with whom to do this.  Representing a variety of levels and ages, each and every one of us have such unique practices and are on such different yogic paths.  It was very inspiring to share this experience with each of them.





What a learning experience!  My postures are not perfect, in fact I could probably go through and pick apart each one, but that is not the point.  The point was to share my progress, and demonstrate my experiences and love for the yoga.  I feel honored to have been asked to participate and I would do it again in an instant!