13.1

 I think I have found my new fitness addiction...After a couple years of a love/hate relationship with marathons {26.2 miles} I think I found a balance. My mom and I ran the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon this morning, and it went better than expected {for the both of us}!  I would much rather push my body with speed than distance.  This is the before the race picture, and it was super dark {gotta love 6:30 start times}.

Everyone waiting for the start!

It is always funny to me when people cheer for you by name, and I forget I have a "name tag"...

I finished before it started to rain.  Mom got soaked but that didn't stop her from RUNNING the ENTIRE race!  She is awesome!

Our feet hurt...

Ans our stomachs were grumbling!!! This is my feast from Cafe Plaid. My absolute favorite lunch place in the beloved Norman, Oklahoma. {sigh...}  Will I ever stop missing college?

The marathon is run in remembrance for the 168 that died in the Oklahoma City bombing.  Such a great experience to see these lives being remember with this race.  

{Leslie}

Our Journey Part 2 {Philly}

The city of brotherly love {too sappy?!?!}...

Our road trip was pretty wonderful {as wonderful as 24 hours in a car can be}.  If you really want to know how the driving part went you can click {here}!  The drive really did not feel like 24 hours, because we spread it out over so many days.  When we got to Philly we headed straight to the Liberty Bell.  

Did you notice that I am wearing red, white, and blue?  I'm so patriotic :)  Constitution Hall...

Is it weird to take pictures with Ben Franklin's grave?

Can I just brag really quick? Is it weird that I talk to myself when I am writing a post... During my 12 {got a little too into a song and might of forgot to turn} 13 mile run, Tall Tan Man had put posters to keep me going.  I'm a lucky girl.  

My run went well, but I did get distracted by the pretty trees.  We don't have these in Texas...

I love the pink...

On Sunday we headed to the Italian Market.  

I wish Dallas had something as cool as this.  There was a ton of fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and cheeses.  

For lunch we had a Philly Cheese-steak face off.  I went to Pat's, and TTM went to Geno's.  This was so we could try both not because we were sick of each other {I think}.  Geno's and Pat's are the famous {maybe I'm just a tourist} cheese steak restaurants that we decided to try.  

VS

If I am being honest, I was just a little nervous about ordering.  Here were the directions on how to order at Pat's:

Did notice at the bottom it says "If you make a mistake. Don't Panic. Just go to the back of the line and start over"?  So yeah, I hate getting  in trouble, and I just knew I had a good chance of getting yelled at.  Thankfully, I was a able to order correctly, but I did feel like I deserved a gold star or something {the guy just gave me a crazy look for smiling at him}.  My order was one-provolone-with.  This meant: one sandwich, provolone cheese, and with onions. 

Geno's was much better than Pat's by a long shot.  The bread tasted like it was made fresh, and the steak flavor was better.  We spotted this bar when we were walking to our car.  

When I come back I am making TTM take me to Ray's.  It has to be wonderful because of the name {my last name}, and it is birthday bar {whatever that means}.  Next was going to Rocky's statue.

   
I can't wait to go back and see Tall Tan Man do his thing {aka pitching}.  

{sigh}


{Leslie}

Strawberry Swirl Dessert

 I love strawberries...

If you are looking for a healthy & oh so fabulous spring/summer dessert this one is perfect.  This is a Skinny Taste recipe {again}, and my contribution to the BBQ my friend Kelli had.  You can find the Skinny Taste directions {here}.  This makes 6 servings and each servings has 182 calories.  Mine probably had 10 or so more calories, because I used Lite Cool Whip instead of Free Cool Whip. 

Ingredients: 

• 1.5 lbs strawberries, hulled and cut in half
• 1/3 cup agave nectar {you could use sugar as a substitute}
• Salt {just a pinch}
• Lemon Zest {1/2 tsp}
• Lemon Juice {1 1/2 tsp lemon juice}
• 16 oz Lite Cool Whip
• 12 oz Vanilla Greek Yogurt {I used Chobani}

Place your sliced strawberries in a medium size bowl.

 Add the agave...

Using a potato masher to mash up half of the strawberries.

Bring strawberries, and agave to a boil.  Bubbles will form on the outer edges.  Scrape foam from the top of the strawberries.

Add lemon zest and lemon juice to the strawberries.  Allow to boil for 5 minutes.

Scrape off all the foam you can.  Pour the strawberries into another bowl, and allow to cool to room temperature.  Refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Grab the remaining ingredients:

Fold the cool whip & yogurt together.

This part I found semi-challenging.  Gently fold the strawberry mixture into the cool whip.  You are wanting for the strawberries to look swirled in.  Mine looked just mixed in, but it still tasted yummy!  :) Place in super cute dessert cups {mine are from Ross}.  The direction did not say to refrigerate or freeze.  I thought the texture was prefect after I froze the dessert, and then let them sit out for 15 minutes before serving.  

The BBQ was wonderful :)  We had a super cute grill master {miss him}.

He did a good job...

We had a ton of food!

Hope ya'll had a great weekend! 

{Leslie}

Our Journey Part 1

uhhh...I am sitting at the airport, and I just told Tall Tan Man bye.  You would think after our 24 hour road trip I would be sick of him {or maybe vice versa :) }, but I miss him {and he misses me too}. Most people that I talked to said we were going to kill each other.  I know he was regretting his choice to drive with me when, I burst into tears within the first 30 minutes of the drive due to a work thing I found out.  I regained my sanity, and no more tears were shed :).  I warned a couple friends that if they did not hear from me after a while to look for my body on the side of the road...haha totally kidding.  Our trip was really relaxing, and just the break I needed to recharge for the last 7 weeks of school.  I will warn you that most of my trip pictures involve food...Good thing I am training for a half marathon, or I would of gained 5 lbs.  Our trip started Wednesday night, and our goal was to make it to Memphis.  My favorite road trip food {and something I eat at least one day a week} is the Chick Fil A southwest salad. 

This salad is super yummy, and with the light Italian dressing it is only 270 calories {this does not include the sunflower seeds or tortilla chips or the PEANUT BUTTER M&Ms I inhaled...}.  I think that salad might of been the only healthy thing I ate all trip.  I had just three activities planned for our Thursday in Memphis.  Breakfast. Elvis. Lunch.  For breakfast we went to Brother Junipers.

The atmosphere was great, a little hippie, and the biscuits for fabulous.  We shared an open faced "Off the Border" omelet.

It looked delicious.  Key word being looked.  Sadly, the Chorizo tasted more like taco meat.  I realized we were too far from Mexico to expect them to do Chorizo correctly.  After breakfast we headed to Graceland.  This is something I definitely recommend.  It was around $30, but totally worth it.  Elvis' house was beautiful...

Tall Tan Man and I worked on our Elvis faces a lot.  He was way better than me, but my Elvis dance moves were better than his...

Next was Memphis BBQ.  After much research we decided to try Jim Neeley's Interstate BBQ {2265 S. Third St. Memphis, TN 38109}.  You might recognize the name from the Food Network show Down Home with the Neeley's.  This restaurant was not fancy, a lot of the pictures were hung crooked, and I absolutely loved it.  

BBQ is not supposed to be fancy.  Tall Tan Man chose the ribs...

If that doesn't make your mouth water we are very different people.  I had some major food envy.  Good thing is knows how to share :)  I had the chopped BBQ pork sandwich.  

YUMMY.  We both got drinks, and our bill was only $21!  Holla!  Next stop was Nashville where we got to stay with one of Sean's good friends, and his awesome wife {they are about to be parents!}.  I had not been able to see this sweet couple since their wedding so I was excited to spend a little time with them.  This picture was in one of their wedding albums, and it is one of my favorites of TTM and I {our favorite past time is to dance at weddings}. 

We had breakfast {have you figured out what our favorite meal is yet?} at J. Christopher's in Franklin, TN.  I had a wonderful goat cheese, spinach, and bacon omelet.  I also had to get one lemon ricotta pancake to make sure I didn't miss out on anything...  

All the food was wonderful.  Made me want to start buying goat cheese.  We continued our journey to NJ, and to be honest I was ready to be out of the state of Tennessee.  This was our longest driving day {my only day to drive ;) }, and we made it to Harrisonburg, Virginia.  Sean got to see his college summer ball coach that he had not seen since 2005.  

This wonderful couple lives and breathes Turks Baseball.  It was cool seeing a part of Tall Tan Man's life that was before me.  The next morning I woke up ready to finish the trip.  Tall Tan Man and I did not have one fight, I only cried once, and only had one ridiculous bathroom break {stupid iced coffee}.  

We were almost there...

Stay tuned for part 2 of our trip, and soon after that will be my May fitness goals...haha  I am not joking.  Have a good week ya'll!

{Leslie}

Our "24 hour" Journey to Jersey

Well Tall Tan Man and I are going on an adventure!  I am pretty pumped about it.  :)  I am pretty sure his excitement is not quite as great as mine...We are going to be heading out very shortly to drive to New Jersey.  I keep telling my students it is for Snooki's baby shower, and they have not quite figured out if I am joking or not {they are Juniors and Seniors}.  On our first day we are only trying to make it to Memphis, TN...

We are planning on going to Graceland, and getting some really good BBQ.  Then we are going to Nashville!  We have already been there once, but we have some friends there we want to see.

Then the longest drive will come on the last day...

Don't you worry though, we will not be starving...

The Good...

 The Bad {and ugly}...

 
Tall Tan Man does not think that Who Nu's should be filed under the "bad."  I have no self control when it comes to desserts, so they are filed under bad, because I try to eat half the package...I blame my Mother.     

The only thing I am a tad bit worried about is getting my 12 mile run in on Sunday.  We will be in Philly, and I am sure I could get lost if I am not careful.   I also plan on eating a ridiculous Philly Cheese Steak the day before...Well, I better go pack.  I am trying to only bring one suitcase...Be on the watch out for trip photos! 

{Leslie}