Being Home

Coming home from vacation is always kind of a slap in the face.  I have to come back to real life and do real work and get back into a routine.  As I am a routine person, I secretly was kind of glad to be back at work and the gym.  The gym especially.  Since the exercise thing was sort of lacking down south (I did manage to embarrass the boyfriend when I pulled out my kettlebells and did a few sets at each gas station we stopped at on Monday...), I was feeling extra good during my 4 mile run and my back routine on Tuesday.

I immediately went to my dad's house afterward to hang out with the sister and her brand new husband who had driven up for their honeymoon on Saturday.  It's always so fantastic having them home.  They were here looking for houses!  I seriously cannot wait until she's here all of the time.  We might have gone on a date to froyo with my other best friend making it the third day in a row I had froyo.  My life is hard.

Wednesday I decided just to head to my dad's house to do a long run because I didn't get to on Sunday.  It has been raining and yucky outside, so I chose the treadmill.  I said to myself that I only had to do 7 miles.  Well, I ended up doing 9.  It felt so good.  It's amazing what taking a few days off does to your body.

Then I went inside and did some ab work and stretched before laying on the couch with the sister and her husband while my brother watched soccer and we waited for my dad to make dinner.  It was gluten free spaghetti followed up with fruit and 10 lbs of whipped cream, of course.  Perfect refuel food.

The most exciting part about being home is that my anniversary present was waiting for me!  I am so, so excited about it and I cannot wait to get outside and use it.  Are you ready?!

That's right!  I am now the proud owner of a Garmin!  Now I don't have to lug my large phone in my hand to check my pace/distance/anything.  I'm still going to have to carry it with me since that's how I listen to music, but I don't have to hold it in my hand.  My boyfriend is the best ever.

Today I knocked out another 4 miles (not outside, unfortunately) before doing deadlifts and my shoulder routine.  My days are all off because of vacation, but I like switching it up.  I am looking for a new weightlifting routine to begin following soon.  I am scared that with school starting, I will have a hard time fitting exercise into my schedule.  I am thinking I will probably have to become familiar with the morning exercisers.  Exercising is my drug, my passion, my therapy.  I simply cannot go more than one or two days without it because I turn into a complete grump, being super mean to everyone who gets in my way.

Another great thing about being home; cuddling with this guy.

I missed him greatly.

The Last Days of Vacation

Saturday I was dying for a run. I had brought my Kettlebells with me, but I found absolutely no spare time for exercise. I even got into workout clothes on Thursday and got side tracked making appetizers for 4 hours. So, after the newly weds left for their honeymoon Saturday morning, I forced the boyfriend on a short run with me. I ran at my comfortable pace for 3.1 miles which ended up being about 7:45 average. I was so excited that my comfortable pace is now sub 8. But the boyfriend had another story. He fell behind somewhere around mile 2. When I went back to find him, he was walking, so I just kept going back to the house. When I finished, I walked back to find him and he told me he had puked. On the side of the road. I guess I was just too speedy for him.

Saturday was also my older sister's birthday. She decided (more like my dad decided) that she wanted to go mini golfing before going to eat at the most delicious restaurant that exists.

We ended up going to get coffee after the rousing game of mini golf. Side note- I'm the least competitive person on the face of the earth, so my version of mini golf is swinging the club and hoping it hits the ball. I ended up getting a hole-in-one. It was pretty awesome. I might have screamed a little bit. The boyfriend and I left coffee early because I realized I hadn't taken a shower in an amount of time I will not say. The other half of our group went to do some touristy things, so the boyfriend and I ended up hanging out with my sister's adorable dog while we waited for them to return home to go to dinner.

My sister ended up going home to San Diego after the best dinner I've ever had, so the boyfriend and I went to his sister's house in Long Beach a night early. His sister and brother live together, so we got to see both of them. They are the nicest family I've ever met in my whole life. 

Sunday morning, she made us breakfast to fuel up before spending the day laying on the beach.

After awhile (like 2 hours) we decided to get up and go for a walk down the beach. I even got a bit of a barefoot run in.

When we got back to the towels. The group decided to go to froyo, which is always a good idea after 3 hours in the sun.

When we got back to the apartment, the four of us laced up our running shoes and went for a quick 4 mile run down along the beach and back. My pace was a lot faster than everyone else's, so I kept running back to them and then ahead to add to my mileage. The run was lovely.

We had delicious taco salad for dinner and played Balderdash. Then went to bed to wake up for our 12 hour drive home. It's the most boring drive ever because this is what you see for approximately 6 hours.

We also got stuck in traffic for 45 minutes, full on stopped on the highway. I also made the boyfriend go 10 minutes out of the way because I was craving Whole Foods something fierce. It was well worth it though.

It's really good to be home and back in the gym. I subbed in my old classroom today, so that was fantastic. It still feels like home.

Happily Ever After

Wedding day started at 5:45am again. We still had last minute decorations to attend to and had to run to CVS for a few things. Lots and lots of coffee was involved. Sister also gave us our bridesmaid gifts which are absolutely beautiful and I haven't taken it off since.

Our hair appointment was at 9, so we left the house around 8:30. Everything in LA is so far away from everything else. We had a relaxing time getting our hair nice and pretty, but it took a lot longer than we had planned for, so we left at 11:30 and the wedding was supposed to start at 1 in Newport Beach. 

Since we still had to go back to the house in Anaheim to get dressed and do make up, we rushed as fast as we could. We got back to the house in time for her to get in her wedding dress and for me to finish my make up.

I ended up having to do my other step sister's make up in the car on the way to the ceremony, but I'd say it turned out okay.

We made it to the beach where the ceremony was going to happen just in the nick of time. Unfortunately, her dad had gotten lost and was late, so we stood around for about 40 minutes waiting. She was so not stressed at all, t was amazing! She was the best bride ever.

I had given my phone to my dad to give to the boyfriend to take a few pictures of the ceremony since I would be busy. Sometime between me giving him the phone and him giving the phone to boyfriend, dad had gotten the idea that I said to take as many pictures as possible, so when I got my phone back, the memory was completely full because boyfriend took him seriously. Luckily I got a few good shots of the boys waiting for the ladies.

Finally, the ladies made their way to the overlook where the boys were waiting. It was the most gorgeous day for a wedding in one of the prettiest places I've ever seen.

The ceremony was short and sweet and absolutely perfect. They wrote their own vows and my step aunt married them. 

Because the boyfriend took 9 bazillion pictures and filled up my memory, he missed the part where they kiss for the first time as a married couple. You know, one of the more important parts... But finally, they were man and wifey.

The guests made their way back to the house where the reception was being held while the wedding party stayed back to take pictures. I am super excited to see the pictures. They are going to be amazing. It was around this time that I realized in the hustle of the day, I hadn't eaten anything except black coffee. I was so happy when we finally got back to the car to celebrate and eat. And eat I did. The groom's mother made fresh Mexican food for dinner, complete with freshly made corn tortillas. It was probably the best meal I've ever eaten. I also FINALLY got to spend some time with this guy, who I had hardly seen all weekend (he went to Disneyland while I did the Girly stuff the day before).

The reception was small and lovely. The couple only decided to invite family and maybe some day they will have a bigger reception with all of their friends. It was very laid back. They had beautiful cupcakes and a carrot cake for dessert, which I can't eat, but you better believe I hit up the s'mores bar complete with gluten free graham crackers.

The night ended with fireworks. We were such nice wedding guests to pay Disney to do a fireworks show for the newly married couple. So nice that we didn't even go to the park to watch, but instead stood in the street bugging the neighbors with our snarky comments.

The best/worst part of the night was the bouquet toss. I caught it, fair and square. I was so excited until my hopes and dreams were dashed in a split second when the girl behind me ripped them out of my hands. My step sister was laughing so hard. Luckily, the moment was captured.

Maid of Honor Duties

I love the word duty, but that's probably because I'm really a 4-year-old. My step-sister made her real sister and me her co-maids of honor, so as soon as we got to LA, it was immediately into help mode. She did the entire wedding herself, so there was a lot to be done.

Thursday started at 5:45am, where we drank approximately 5 cups of coffee and headed to the LA flower mart right in the heart of downtown LA. This place was so awesome. So many flowers everywhere. I was overwhelmed. Luckily, she had already been to figure out where to get what flowers. We got all of the sunflowers we needed for only $18! 

Then we had to fuel up.

A carne asada omelette with rice and beans is pretty much one of the best fueling meals ever. Thursday was the day that she was also supposed to walk in the CSU Long Beach graduation ceremony (it was a BIG weekend for her), but something happened with the paperwork and she wasn't able to walk. Which was a blessing in disguise because that allowed us to go home and make the appetizers.

Those took several hours. By the time we were done, we had to start getting ready to go to her graduation dinner. We went to a brewery in Long Beach where I had the most delicious steak.

We got back to the house around 10, where we immediately started putting bouquets together. Well, the other ladies started putting bouquets together. I am artistically challenged, so mine would have looked terrible.

We didn't end up getting to bed until around midnight. The next day was wedding day, so it was going to be an early morning again.