Warm Comfort Foods

This past week has been challenging since being diagnosed with the Flu on Sunday morning. My body is SO fatigued and I feel worn smack out. Thankfully, I was able to jump on my symptoms as soon as the first signs started showing themselves which I think has helped in the long run. On Tuesday evening, I couldn't walk around my house without having to sit after just a few minutes on my feet, so I knew I needed at least one additional day off of work. Sitting around doing nothing all day is NOT my cup of tea but I honestly haven't been able to do anything else, physically. I went back to work yesterday which was ok - I was definitely fatigued and had to sit a lot but I somehow made it through the day.

I'm pretty sure I've never had the flu in the past - and since I can't remember, that probably means no...because I know I'll never forget this! My lower back ached like crazy and my legs felt like I'd just run Dopey Challenge all over again. I also had sinus congestion and extreme fatigue. Oh yes, and I somehow managed to lose 5 pounds over all of it! Thankfully, I was pretty much over the flu itself in about 4 days, although the sinus congestion and fatigue are still lingering.

Something I learned from all of this is that comfort food is definitely a necessity and warm, nourishing soup seemed to hit the spot every time. My mom was so generous to make a big pot of homemade vegetable soup for me, which was delicious! 

Another staple over the past several days has been chicken noodle soup.

I definitely survived off of chicken noodle soup and Gatorade the first few days...

...and had I been closer to a McAlisters, I would have requested a bowl of their broccoli cheese soup!

Another two favorites are taco soup and potato soup, both of which I might have to make before winter is over!

I hope you are all staying well and sickness free this winter season!

What's your favorite warm, comfort food when you're sick or feeling under the weather?

It's FRIDAY!

Link up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup!

Fitness Friday - Dopey Challenge Training Week 2

Happy Friday once again! Almost two full weeks of Dopey Training have passed and it's hard to believe that in just six short months, I'll be running the most magical 26.2 miles on the planet! If you're training for Dopey, Goofy, the Disney Marathon, or any Half/Full Marathon for that matter, I hope your training is going well so far!

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA

Sunday - 5 mile run
Monday - 3 mile run/walk with a friend
Tuesday - 3 mile walk with friends
Wednesday - Rest Day
Thursday - Cross Training with the Tone It Up Girls
Friday - Squats/Lunges/PT routine

As I mentioned on Monday, this weekend was an eventful one that consisted of a long run on a Sunday (which I NEVER do)!

Despite continued rain throughout the week (almost every day), I feel as if training went well and I was able to slip in a few miles between rain showers.

On Monday, I honestly wasn't feeling it. I needed to run but it was raining and I had Brayden with me (otherwise, I would have just gone for it). After waiting a while for the rain to clear up, I texted a friend to ask if she wanted to join us. She said yes and off we went!

In total, we completed three miles (it was sort of a run/walk for me as I ran about half a mile before she joined us).

After the rain stopped, a beautiful sunset came into view! Love it!

Brayden and I also sported purple and gold that evening for LSU Tigers Baseball. They were playing in the finals of the College World Series and although they didn't win, I'm happy for Florida as they've never won a College World Championship! I'm pretty sure I wasn't supposed to say that out loud, but that's how I feel anyway! :)

On Tuesday afternoon, my friend Melissa asked if we wanted to go for a walk all together. Of course we said yes and we had a great time!

Having company along sure does make the miles fly by!

On Wednesday, I sent this picture to Jason via text with a bunch of sad crying emoji's. If you've read my blog long enough, you know my obsession with McAlisters and their tea. Well, our local McAlisters shut down last year around this time which means that Free Tea Day and I had to break up. Jason knew my sadness and had a surprise up his sleeve!

As I arrived home on Thursday from work, he told me to be fully dressed and ready to go in 30 minutes but wouldn't tell me where we were going.

Imagine my surprise as we kept going and going and going....until we reached McAlisters! (It's seriously like a 45 min-1 hour drive from our house!) Y'all. It was so worth every minute!!

This is the face of a girl who's been away from her favorite sweet tea for far too long.

I ordered all of my favorites - the patriot, broccoli cheddar soup, and sweet tea! Yes sir!

My husband...gotta love him!!

After returning home, we put Brayden to sleep then I completed a cross training workout from the Tone It Up girls. Today, I plan to do my PT routine followed by a long run on Saturday. After Saturday's run, week 2 of Dopey Training (for me) will officially be in the books!

I hope you've had a great week and have a great weekend!!

Weekend Fun!

This past weekend brought around a lot of fun times with friends!

It all began with our local university's homecoming parade. It's a tradition of my friend Jane and I to attend, so we always mark our calendars ahead of time for the parade! We are all alumni of the university as well, so it's fun to see the homecoming parade year after year!

First, Jason and I had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. We always split the Mexican nachos which are delicious!

We also like to stake out a spot for the parade near the University President's home because that's where the judges sit and there aren't a ton of people around. Those in the parade make sure to put on their best showing for the judges, too! 

We also get a ton of candy here but shhhh...don' tell our secret!

This year, a little excitement was thrown into the mix. One of the bigger floats threw a bunch of confetti off their float towards the judges area. All of a sudden, we saw a streak of green fire coming out of one of the transformer boxes followed by a loud sound of electricity buzzing. The lights around us went out and lots of people in the judges stands jumped up and began running away. It all happened so fast, it took a second to put two and two together!  

A few minutes later, I saw an empty confetti cannon tube on the ground. Apparently the float people popped the cannon right into/near a generator and made it short out. No one was hurt, thankfully...it just scared the mess out of a bunch of people! The lights also came back on within minutes which surprised me!

My love and I at the parade! 

Jane and I! Her gender reveal party is the one I blogged about yesterday! :)

I wasn't able to go for a run on Saturday because I took the week off from running. My knee (IT Band) bothered me a bit during/after the Gulf Coast Half, so I decided to give it a week of rest. Actually, it was kind of nice to sleep in on Saturday morning! :)

Someone else enjoyed sleeping in on Saturday morning...and napping later!

On Saturday night, my friend Kim and I met up for dinner and the McNeese Homecoming game. My crunch lettuce with ranch dressing craving returned, so I ordered a salad from McAlisters and it was really good!

We had awesome seats for the game because my dad was out of town and let us have his season tickets!

It was a little rainy but we were prepared with our ponchos!  Best part? McNeese won the game! YAY!

On Sunday morning, I went to church then attended my friend's gender reveal, then went back to church to work the coffee shop! Despite the rainy weather ALL day long, it was a fun day! :)

I caught someone else enjoying my Snoogle for an afternoon nap on Sunday! These dogs are so funny!

I hope you had a great weekend, too!

What was the best thing that happened to you this past weekend?

Week In Review–3/28

Happy Friday, friends! The weekend is already here – this week seemed to fly by so fast (I’m definitely not complaining)!

This week has been a whirlwind of meetings, dinners, and event planning. I absolutely cannot wait until Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m. – that means my life can officially return to normal!

You ever have to take it day by day until you “get there”? That’s how I’m feeling right now.

This week, I spent several after work afternoons and lots of hours in our front flower beds. The weeds basically took over and it’s time to replant new things now that the temps are warming up. I will never understand how a freeze will kill flowers and plants but not weeds. SMH.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t get any workouts in this week. The flower beds became my priority this week, so I devised a way to still feel a burn while working in the yard – something worked because after three days, I’m feeling it!

On Monday night, I had an after work dinner meeting at a local restaurant. When the head of our committee wasn’t on time, I began wondering what was going on. After half an hour, I got in touch with someone who told me that our committee head was no longer with the organization. Whaaa? SO, we had to conduct the meeting on our own – it was a productive meeting, but still. Craziness!

On Wednesday, I woke up at 7:30 a.m. (WAY LATE) and couldn’t believe I turned off my alarm. We were shooting a commercial for our work department and I had to flat iron my hair. Needless to say, I made it out of the house in record time but it was stressful getting there! Thankfully my crazy hair cooperated with me!

After the shoot, several of us went to McAlisters for lunch (our local favorite)!

Tomorrow (Saturday) is our area’s 2nd Annual Bark for Life with the American Cancer Society. I’m the event chair, which is a big part of the reason things have been stressful around here this week. I also have a work project due by Monday and I’m almost completely finished. Too many irons in the fire, as my grandmother used to say!

By Saturday at 2  p.m., I’ll hopefully be home free. Can’t wait!!

Last but not least, here’s my Tutu’s for Monika contribution. First off, I think Monika is a rock star and anyone who says otherwise is dumb.

My tutu story is from the Princess Half of 2012 – we ran the race, then decided to wear our tutu’s to dinner that night. In the meantime, we ran into Jeff Galloway! What a FUN night – I wouldn’t trade it for anything!!

I hope you have a great weekend! I’m looking forward to things returning to normal and getting back on the workout routine next week.

What are your weekend plans? If you’re racing, best of luck, hope you have a great race!!