People ask me why I run...

getting ready for a beautiful morning run in Colorado

"...running reduces the rate of heart disease. By pumping oxygen and antioxidants, it combats carcinogenic free radicals, and so reduces the incidence of many forms of cancer. By evacuating body waste promptly, it diminishes lingering toxins. By raising body temperature to fever level on a daily basis, it burns out infection. By stimulating sweating and increasing breath exchange, it eliminates toxins via the skin and expelled air. By releasing adrenaline, it flushes the system with disease fighting white blood cells and immune substances. By reducing body weight, it counters the effects of obesity - stress on the heart, joints, lungs and muscles, and non-insulin dependent diabetes. By stimulating endorphins, it alleviates stress, counters depression, and enhances creativity and problem-solving. By strengthening bones, it radically reduces the incidence of osteoporosis. By maintaining strong blood flow and creating a positive self-image, it improves sexuality. Finally, by leaving the body fulfilled and tired, running helps maintain healthy sleep patterns." (26.2 Marathon Stories, Swithzer & Robinson)

Fashionable Fun with Friends!

This past Friday I went bowling for the first time in FOREVER! I successfully failed! Haha I got last place with 35 points. For people who don’t know bowling, the highest score you can get is 300. I totally OWNED the gutter! It was a blast though, and I had fun seeing some old friends. On top of that we got to wear some really hot bowling shoes! After we bowled, we played a few games in the arcade. That was really fun, too. I played the motorcycle game were you sit on a pretend motorcycle and use your body to steer it. I did much better on that game!

mom's turn: Belated birthday treats for Mao…

Mao turned 18 in the middle of our California vacation. Not a great day to be cooped up in the car and on the road. But we hoped the rest of the vacation made up for that. Teeny said she really liked the shark teeth necklaces when we went to the beach in Alabama, so we found a fossil mako shark tooth in a shop on the Bay in San Francisco. We got that, deciding it would have more sentimental value, and Teeny said that she would make her a kumihimo necklace to hang it on when we returned home. How appropriate and what a sweet smile!!

Happy Birthday Mao!

Once there was a girl...

Once there was a girl named Tally
that lived in a beautiful grand valley.
She had a marvelous smile
that seemed to stretch for a mile.
She was always happy, without any doubts
You could always hear her cheer and shout
As she praised God for the wonderful life
that He had given her, were she always felt so alive.

Mom's turn: Crawfish Season...WAHOO!

Crawfish season!!! Louisiana people count down the days to this fabulous time of year…it gives us something positive to focus on right before hurricane season! We are lucky enough to have a friend, Patrick, that lives in the heart of Cajun land and he agreed to throw a crawfish boil for Mao and Momoko (another exchange student from Japan staying close to us) to introduce them to our enjoyable signature food.

Momoko & Mao

Also, his mother is Japanese so she was able to come and help explain things. She brought some Japanese rice cakes to top with crawfish and crab meat and, of course, some soy sauce for dipping.

The girls leanring the fine art of getting the meat out of the mud-bug: pinch the head off, peal the first ring of shell from the tail, pinch the end of the tail and pull the meat from the other end, don't forget to devein it!! And if you feel adventurous - SUCK THE HEAD! That's where all the juice is!!

making their crawfish rice cakes...too cute

I think that made it much more enjoyable for the girls, but that is DEFINITELY not how the Cajuns eat it!! Like most things in Louisiana, we like it HOT with a whole lot of spice!

Christina, Momoko, & Mao

After eating until we were about to bust the girls then got to see one of his sons catch a catfish out of their pond and clean it for us…they weren’t real impressed by this!

He was kind enough to give us that meat, as well as a ton of left-over’s from the boiling pot, for dinner another night. Thank you so much for treating us to your Japanese-Cajun hospitality!!

GG's Gratitude

For Christmas we gave my great grandma some knitting needles. They were not just ANY knitting needles, though. They were special. My great grandma, who we call GG, loves mice! So we got some needles that had little mice on top sitting on a piece of cheese! She seemed to love them and as a thank you she made me a beautiful peach colored headband that goes perfectly well with my skin and coloring!

Mom's turn: Graduation Glee

WOW – he did it!! That makes me old :-/ Seriously…Trevor graduated with honors and all! We are so proud of him!! And any excuse for a new summer dress and a fabulous pair of shoes is awesome :-D Christina was positively glowing with excitement – or was that just because she got to wear her pink dress!! His ceremony was held at the LSU PMAC and then we went to eat at Las Palmas, his favorite restaurant.

Mom's turn: A Mother's Treat

This was a particularly special Mother’s Day…I was a mom of two beautiful young ladies, Christina and Mao! What a special blessing – if only for a brief time. And they sure know how to pamper and spoil me and make me feel like a queen! Teeny started with an entire weekend of special treatment on Saturday! She gave me a foot rub, neck rub, manicure and pedicure, and cooked me dinner (complete with homemade stuffed mushrooms that she had planned and shopped for!) on a beautifully set table with some fresh magnolia flowers for decoration. Sunday, Travis fixed me breakfast – my favorite “runny eggs on toast,” a long time name of what I didn’t know was poached eggs when I was young, Mao gave me roses, and everyone gave me cards. Then we went to a wonderful Sunday service dedicated to the women in Jesus’ lineage and I received another gift from the ladies at church – a flower pen. Afterwards, we went to one more spot…La Madeline’s where I got my favorite soup in the world, tomato basil. Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel so incredibly blessed to have such a beautiful family!!

Mom's turn: Kentucky Derby Fun

Steve and Ginger had their first annual Kentucky Derby party. It was great to see all of everyone all dressed up

Christina & Brooke

and of course the fabulous hats!

Elen & Janet

Elen & Ginger...the hostest with the MOSTEST

We enjoyed eating, visiting, and watching the race…all two minutes of it :-D

My fabulous HH!! I love that smile

We placed a bet and our horse came in 14/19; as if I needed a reason not to gamble, that was definitely reinforcement. Travis and I are obviously not very good at it. Good thing it only cost us one dollar!! And, surprisingly, I won “fanciest hat” in the contest that was held.

My prize was the authentic 2009 derby cup

I was delighted, however Travis said since my hat was prize-worthy I didn’t need a new one next year! :-/ HEY!

Elen & Connie...she won "most creative" hat

Mom's turn: The Lost Easter Bunny!

Ooops – not sure how this one got away…but Easter was FABULOUS this year and, late or not, it definitely deserves a blog.
Mao wasn’t familiar with our Easter traditions, so Christina wanted to show her all about it. They started with eggs; they boiled about 2 dozen eggs and then dyed them for the Easter bunny to hide the next day.

on the phone EVEN while dying eggs!!!

While they did that, I made a center piece for the dining room table and set it with the China in preparation for tomorrow’s family lunch.

The next morning the girls woke up early to see what the Easter bunny had left for them: a basket full of goodies for each young lady including books, stuffed animals, candy, and toys. Then they searched for the eggs that were hidden by that rascle, the Easter Bunny!

This led to big grins and then we all got dressed in our new fancy dresses for Easter services.

We were joined by friends and family for an outstanding church service that was overflowing from the building! Afterwards, we went home where we were joined by even more family and enjoyed the combined bounty of all the family cooks for a fabulous lunch. Overall, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection!

Teeny's Vacation Thoughts

Over all I enjoyed our vacation very much so! We got to see and experience many cool things. My favorite piece of the vacation was shopping all around San Francisco! We went to Japan town, China town, and Height Ashbury to shop. I got a TON of stuff such as, a necklace, 2 bracelets, a poster, and a paint bored. I also got a presents for my 2 bff’s in the world Brooke, and Brenna, and a t-shirt for my boyfriend Trevor. I missed them all terribly bad on the trip! :-)

I also loved all the scenery! We saw the curviest road in the world, and the biggest tree! It was tons of fun! I also got to know Mao a little more, which was great!

Mom's turn: On our way HOME!

We headed for that long trip home and the temperature started off at 38 degrees this morning. We were going to take a different route back, through Colorado, however plans were changed due to road closures from snow!! Hello – didn’t anyway tell these people it was almost summer? So we headed back through Texas…oh joy.

my RIGHT arm got fried...and my LEFT arm is still pasty white :-/

We got to see the Mojave desert, again, Arizona, again,

our friend, the Giant Roadrunner

and skirted Mexico – holding our breath the entire time to avoid the dreaded swine flu!

Christina got the giggles...over SOMETHING

The return trip was not all that…you’ve seen one cactus, windmill, dust devil, you’ve pretty much seen them all.

Mao slept...again :-D

One new spot we found on the way home, thanks to the iWant app on Travis’ iPhone – cool, was a coffee place called Kinley’s House. They had a drink called a white elephant…and yes, naturally I had to get it! It was the most delicious drink I’ve ever had and it’s a very good thing they are so far away or I would be the size of an elephant having within my grasp! My other favorite buy of the trip, aside from my (4th) elephant purse found on Haight St. of course, was my awesome $3 shoes with sparkles!! Truly a favorite

SPARKLES...I love sparkles!!

Overall, the trip was phenomenal! 15 days, 5 states, 4 people, two dogs, and one truck driven approximately 5,000 miles, with 26.2 miles ran, 16 miles biked, 5 miles hiked, and several more miles walked – we saw the United States in a way most people never get to experience it and we are very grateful for the opportunity.