Dreaming of the Sea, Salt and Sand

Last year, Summer of 2015, we vacationed in Miramar Beach, FL.  Miramar is just a few miles from Destin. It is located in South Walton.  My family loves this area.  The beaches are private and they are not near as crowded.  Also in this area the condos are mostly low rises consisting only of 4-5 floors, therefore not as many people as a 15-20 floor condo.  We stayed at the Crescent Condo.  Our friends went with us who is also a family of four.  They have a daughter the same age as Maddie and a son who is a couple years older than Carter.  So they played great together. 

Our condo was a 3 bedroom 3 bath!! It was wonderful!! The third bedroom was twin beds which was perfect for the boys.  And every bedroom had their own bathroom, which made getting ready at night to go to eat very easy.  And the living room had a pull out couch which was perfect for the girls!!  It was a fully equipped with all kitchen utensils.  We ate breakfast and lunch in the condo everyday, but went out at night.  It was had a full size washer and drier.

The Condo had a very nice pool.  It was very large in size so you didn't feel like you were on top of each other.  There was several lounge chairs around the pool.  The condo also included free beach service!! This was a major amenity for me, I'm a beach bum!!  The Crescent is also a gated condo.  Meaning that  you had to have a code to enter the parking lot and then a code to enter the pool area from the beach.  This made me feel very safe.  Carter and his friend would go back and forth from pool to beach and knowing that only residents of this condo was allowed in was very comforting.

This year we are not travelling to the beach..:( However I am very sad about this, but it will just make the next trip that much more enjoyable with the anticipation!!

The Crescent is located right across from the Silver Sand Outlet Mall.  Any store you can think of is located in the mall.  Also for added convenience is a Wynn Dixie, right beside the condo as well.  This made grocery shopping very easy.

This post is my own opinions and I was not compensated for the review, I just love this area that much!

Not In This LifeTime

This weekend we headed South to Nashville.  I love Nashville, TN.  It is just large enough to have that big city feel but yet easy to get around in.  We usually visit the city about 6 times throughout the year.  And usually it does not disappoint.  This weekend was no exception......We went to the Guns N Roses concert!!!! Can I get a AMEN!!! I have loved this band for Y.E.A.R.S!!!! When I was in 8th grade at our local skating rink I skated to the tunes of Sweet Child of Mine (which is my favorite), Patience, Knock Knock on Heaven's Door.  And you always knew when it was 9:00 because the night closed with Paradise City!!!

MY BFF Jessica (Slash :) ) and her husband JT

The concert was held in Nissan Stadium where the Tennessee Titans play NFL.

I was a little worried that since they have not toured or performed together in several years it would not be the same as it was in the early 90s.  But let me tell you they did not disappoint!!!! I was always star struck on Axl!!! I loved his long, stringy, greasy, blonde hair, you know that touch of skankiness!!!  But add a few years, a few grams of heroin, some hard living, he has about 50lbs on and short, fuzzy red hair!!! BUT, he was awesome!!! He worked the stage from beginning to end!!! Slash.... that is all is needed, he was beyond awesome, the talent he has on a guitar is unbelievable.  Duff, the bass guitarist, he still has it as well!!! He is hotttt as well!!!!!

Time to Get With It

I have always had to be mindful of what I eat.  I was never one of these that could just eat and eat and never gain a pound.  Chris can eat whatever he wants and not gain an ounce.  He probably weighs the same as he did on our wedding day. Not me!!

The end of 2015 was the heaviest I had ever been minus the two times I was pregnant.  I had not been doing any exercise and I was eating pretty much what I wanted.  When I stepped on that scale mid December I was devastated.  I follow several other blogs that promote healthy lifestyles.  One of which you may follow (if you don't I highly suggest) Mama Laughlin.  She is also a distributer for Advocare.

I began researching about the products.  My main venom so to speak is caffeine....Mello Yello!!! I lived off of it!! I have tried to quit it before and could never with stand the headaches.  This is where Spark comes in!!! I'm telling you it is a miracle.  I contacted Brandi and just like that I became a Distributor! I ordered my first set.  I love grape koolaid so I thought I would give it a shot!! And it is the bomb!! LOVE IT!!!! I drink it first thing around 8:30 when I get to work.  I was really expecting a  headache around noon time. Nothing.  4:00 came and Nothing!! No caffeine headache at all!!!!

I am proud to say that since 01/04/2016 I have not had a full can or bottle of MY!! I have had the occasional drink of Chris's or one of the kids, but as far as sitting down and popping the top I have not. 

Some other products that I love from Advocare is MNS C, Crave Check SR and the Herbal Cleanse System.  The Herbal Cleanse is a 10 day cleanse and I lost 4lbs with it. If I can help or talk with you on any of the products please let me know!!!

So from cutting sugary drinks, watching what I eat, and the months of January, February and March I exercised on a regular basis (you know the New Years Resolutions! LOL)   I am proud to say I have lost 16 lbs!!!! I can tell it my clothes.  I really couldn't tell by just looking at me until this past weekend.  I took a comparison picture.  I really wished I had on the same clothes.  I will make that happen soon!!

I can really tell a difference in my legs, thighs and calf area. My face and arms.  I took one of my tummy area and I can see a really big difference there too.  Now it isn't a 6 pack or washboard but its a work in progress, so no pictures of that will be shared :)

26.2

On April 19, 2014, I completed my very first marathon!!! It was held in Louisville, KY at the KY Derby Festival.  This race is always the weekend before the KY Derby which is the first Saturday in May.  But for some reason this year it was 2 weekends earlier.

Lets back up a bit.  I pulled my IT band three weeks before the race.  I was running my last long run.  20 miles.  I was at mile 8 and started feeling some pain in my right knee, on the side of my right knee.  Then by mile 9 I was DONE!  It hurt to run, it hurt to walk, it hurt to look at it!!! You get my point, it just really hurt.  I was devastated.  The longest I had ran was my 16 miles.  And all I could think about was the marathon that was 3 weeks away.  This was on a Friday and the following Monday I went to see my chiropractor.  I visited her 3 times a week.  She stretched, massaged, did therapy, and taped me for 3 solid weeks.  At home I stretched and iced off and on all day.   Three days before the race I ran 3 miles and it was okay, so I said I am doing it.

My taped up knee. Kinesio tape is the bomb!

One of our many night runs!

The day before I went back to the doctor and she taped me up good and gave me some extra tape.  Jessica, our hubs and I headed to the Ville.  We stayed at the Hyatt on Fourth Street.  The rest of our running crew was coming up later.  We waited for them before we headed to the expo to pick up our bibs.

Chris and I on 4th Street

After doing so I was kind of freaking out....like this shit just got real! I am running 26.2 miles tomorrow and the farthest I have ever ran is 16.  My mind was going in 10 different directions!  I was terrified that I couldn't finish.  I was terrified that I would let Jessica down, all my running buddies, my husband and all my friends and family.  Chris was proud of me.  I had heard him tell his friends that his wife was training to run a marathon and he said it was a sense of pride.  My Mom and her best friend was coming up to watch me cross.  I couldn't let them down either.

Mom and her best friend came up to cheer me at the finish line!!! I was so happy to see them!

Chris at the finishline to see me cross!

That night we hung out on Fourth Street Live for a while and ate at Hard Rock Café.  We headed back to the room and I laid out all my gear: clothes, shocks, shirt, shorts, fuel, tunes, etc.

There was a group of us running.  Some the Half and some the Full.  We decided to dress as SuperHeroes.  And our shirts landed us a 30 second spot on the Louisville News!!!! We were interviewed and shown on the night news!!!

Before the race at 4th street

I was feeling good until mile 10. Which is a very crucial part of the course. Mile 10 is where the race splits...the Full goes to the right and the Half goes to the left. 3 miles to go or 16 miles to go.  I was hurting, lots of pain in my right knee.  I was by myself, as in all my friends were running their own race.  I text Chris.  He didn't respond which was probably a good thing.  So I made the right hand turn.  Headed for 16.2 more miles!!! I was very slow, but continued to run/jog.  The hilliest part of the race is in a park.  It is awful.  I walked up the hills, that was a huge relief and I saw several others walking as well. After getting to the top it was all down hill from there.

I met a girl from Chicago, and we still stay in contact to this day.  She was my saving grace! And I hope to think I was her's as well.  We were battling the same problem!

At mile 20 my PIC from my work sent me this text.  I was in tears at this point. She has no idea how much I needed it at that particular moment!!! I just put my head down and pushed on from that point on!!!!

Finally I saw the mile marker for 26 and it was almost over!!!!! I did it!!! I ran 26.2 freaking miles!!!!!!

When I got home I took an ice bath and believe it or not it felt really good.  We live about 2 hours from Louisville so the ride home was rough with my legs cramped up.  I needed to stretch them out so bad!!

***I started this post almost a year ago and I am so glad that I finally finished it!!!