Sporadically Sandra

Joseph and I went to Florida for the weekend to visit some family. My cousin had graduated high school and my aunt and uncle were throwing him a party. My mother had used some of my father's hotel points to get us a Hotel room at the Comfort Suites in Tampa.
We arrived at the Comfort Suites around midnight on Friday night. Walking into the lobby, my first thought was, "Gee, our fore fathers puked up patriotism all over the place."


After checking in, I practically fell into bed already asleep without taking in any more of my environment… Girl was tired! The next morning I got up to take a shower and was startled by the ugliest sight I had ever seen: Me, under the worst fluorescent lights in the world. They managed to not only turn my ridiculously pale skin even more pale, but also slightly blue and green and every single blemish stood out in sharp detail. I don't even want to discuss what that awful light did to my wonderfully highlighted hair.

Ignoring the mirror as much as possible, I climbed in the shower to try and scrub off the ugly only to emerge and notice that the lights still sucked all the pretty off my face.

Not even applying make up appeared to help with the horrible lighting so I woke Joseph up as I turned on every light in the hotel and opened the curtains in the hopes to get enough normal light to use the mirror in the room. If I sat on the dresser and tilted my head just right, I got enough light to discover the pretty.

I returned to the bathroom to dry my hair, and not even fluorescent lighting could combat freshly applied makeup. I snickered at the tag for the hair dryer.


I know that this is a common warning but apparently today I'm easily amused. Keep away from water? Well, I can keep it away from pools of water but I'm afraid if I keep it away from water then I won't be able to actually dry the water out of my hair. I'll just use my tagless dryer that doesn't deter me from putting it near water.

There were two good things about that room though. The first: the full length mirror was made to make me look skinny. And second: a/c that I could crank up and not have to worry about paying for.

See this lady?
This is one of the coolest ladies I know, otherwise known as my Grandmother.

She lives in this house


The same house she has lived in my entire life. The house is surrounded by trees with big fields behind it.




 
It was a great memorial weekend and I can only hope to go see her again soon.

The sign says it all!

We just started, we look so clean and energetic!

Finisher Medals!!

I think these photos do a nice job of summing it up. Sadly I couldn't get all my pictures to upload correctly so I couldn't include the one of me and Jazzy OR my finishing picture when I have my medal but I am still covered in mud and muck. I will reiterate that this was such a fun and awesome day.

Wow where has the time gone? It has been almost two weeks since I last updated. I guess that goes to show how sometimes, life just gets hectic.

But, I'm back with a doozie of an entry. Today at 2:30 I participated in the Georgia Warrior Dash in Mountain City, Georgia. Oh man was it hard! Besides the fact that it was a 5K, which is really hard enough on it's own, it had obstacles.

It is weird that the obstacles I thought I would hate, I loved the most. Wading through water, climbing the cargo net and jumping over fire were so much fun. I really disliked walking all the hills, and the mud. I had one obstacle I couldn't do, but I did the rest so I'm still super proud.

It was a really fun time. I did the race with my husband Joseph, his some of his family (Stephen, Jasmine, Bobby and Michael) as well as another couple he knows that he coaches wrestling with.

The absolute best part might just have been the awesome water slide, where I went super fast. I have to say that as crazy as I was for doing it, I am super proud of myself as well as surprised by how much I was able to do. I only hope that next year it is easier for me because I will hopefully be in better shape.
So, now that I've completed a 5k, What now?

Well, I've realized that even if it is only for the t-shirt and finisher medal, I want to participate in more races. Ideally, I would like to get to the point where I can run a 5K, then maybe run a 10K, but I honestly, really enjoyed this race. I see many more in my futures

Pics to follow when I'm on a real computer.

So, some highlights (and pictures) of the weekend:

Besides having dessert every night, eating at Cow Licks a few times, having fried cajun shark at Aunt Catfish's and eating at Bubba Gumps, we did actually have time to visit the beach.

As well as visit the beach, Joseph and I climbed the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. This lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Florida. We climbed it just over a year ago and it was hard. I thought I would die, I wanted to drop dead from exhaustion *and* I was sore for days. This time around, I felt like I could have climbed it more than once, I had plenty of energy to walk around and explore the historical buildings and nature trail *and* I was barely even sore the next day. It is amazing how much I've changed physically to where climbing the tallest lighthouse in Florida was a peace of cake.


Joseph and I also jogged on the beach together. So much more fun then jogging on the streets of Georgia. I mean, I ran in the water, testing out the Vibrams. It was nice and breezy and beautiful. Besides that, my grand plans to work out while on vacation didn't quite come to frutition, but, I did exercise twice. I also did a lot of walking on the beach, crab hunting and sitting on the beach covered in sun screen.

Yesterday, Joseph and I woke up early enough to see the sun rise over the water before making a Krispy Kreme run (hot sign, what!). Then, later that day, he did something truly crazy.

"We have some free time, want to go buy yourself an iPhone?"
What kind of question is that? Why, yes, I do want an iPhone!

This morning, before leaving, I made sure to snap a picture of the sun rising. So, this was my last vision of the gorgeous beach:

Sadly, that is the only beach picture I have since taking my camera to the beach didn't seem like a great idea. But, I think my brother in law got some pics. So, I migth have to steal some of his pictures.

Now, I'm back home. Meals for the week planned, groceries bought. I'm about to throw a load in the wash as I avoid life going back to normal.

But, I got a ton of reading done, some additional writing. My whole mindset has been refreshed and in a whole new good place.

And, as sad as I was to leave, I'm a little happy to be home.

As I write this, I can hear waves as the roll onto shore, I can see pristine sand and blue ocean, and my skin is sticky from salty air and sand. Up until a few years ago, I didn't think I cared about the beach. Then, we got invited to a beach wedding and for the first time in a number of years, I visited the beach. This is my third time back since that wedding. I love the beach.

Joseph and I, along with his brother's family have ventured down to Daytona Beach for the week. (Saturday to next Sunday to be exact) My porcelain pale skin is already freckling up and trying to take on a pink hue, which is why I'm up in the condo, taking a break from the sun and the beach.

There is something instantly calming about coming to the beach. I'm not sure if it is just the vacation itself or if the endless blue ocean rolling in and out has something to do with it, but I do know, I could be perfectly happy "toes in the water, ass in the sand". Zac Brown may not be my favorite band, but they got that part right.

For the most part our vacation is totally unplanned, but there are a few things we must do while we are here. One day for lunch this week we will be eating at Aunt Catfish on the River with their great lemonade and awesome cinnamon rolls. A trip to Crabby Joes is necessary so we can eat a delicious meal on the pier while we watch the tide roll in. Then it is a short drive from the condo to the lighthouse to climb it. That will be fun. And, I know Joe really wants to visit the Daytona Beach pier, so if it is open (It was closed for rennovations last time), we will be going for a visit.

When you workout in a gym, on a treadmill, there are no worries that you will go so far that won't make it back to the start. When that gym is taken away from you and you have to go into the real world to work out, there is no guarantee.

Joseph today wanted to walk from work to Walmart and back again. That is 1 1/2 miles *one* way, 3 total. I told him I would only walk for peanut butter cups but in reality I was wondering what I was going to do if I couldn't make it. I mean, since working on being fit and getting healthy, the farthest I have gone is 2 miles. I know without a doubt that 20 pounds and two months of not working out ago, I probably wouldn't have done it, and especially not how well I did it. There were some hills, changes in terrain and a mixture of super cold wind and hot sun. Not only did I walk all 3 miles, and get my peanut butter cups, but I did it like it was nothing.

I wouldn't have known I could do that until I got rid of the safety net. Slowly and surely, I'm having to remove these safety nets I've placed around myself to keep stuff from being too hard, too challenging or too intimidating.

I went and Zumba'd with my best friend Sarah on Monday night. It was a huge group class with women of all shapes, sizes and skill levels. Normally I would be so concerned with how I look to everyone else to have fun; but that wasn't the case. I just worried about having fun and getting my burn on and I did have fun. I removed the safety net of worrying what other people thought of me and had a great experience.

At the end of May, I'm removing a huge safety net. I like to call it my "Crazy" safety net. Because it is what keeps me from doing stupid crazy stuff. Well, end of May, I'm participating in the Warrior Dash. That is a 5K (3.1 miles) with obstacles, including: running through fire, climing a cargo net, running through tires and wading through water. There are parts of this race that really worry me. Am I strong enough? Will I fall face first into the fire? Will I fall and die at the cargo net? But, I'm removing the safety net because it will only make me a better, well rounded person and I will be so amazed with myself when I finish it.

It helps that my sis-in-law has promised to stay by my side.