Running with the Ward's: November 2010

San Antonio - November 13th - 15th

On Saturday we headed down to San Antonio with my parents. On the way, we ate at Stubbs in Austin for lunch. When we arrived in San Antonio, we drove straight to the marathon expo to pick up our packets. I got a cute new running top and we both got our numbers for the half marathon. We stayed at the Omni La Mansion del Rio on the riverwalk. That evening we had dinner on the riverwalk and watched the Baylor v A&M game. Unfortunately, the Bears lost.

The next morning we got up early and walked to the start line of the race. It was an overcast day with a high of only about 55...so great running weather. I had a good race and finished in 2:22! I can thank my time to the fact that I miscalculated my finish time based on my average pace about half way through the race and decided I needed to speed up to finish in a respectable time. Well, due to the miscalculation...I finished in a pretty good time for me. Justin and I had registered for the full marathon a few months before and so we had full marathon bibs on. When I crossed the finish line, they gave me a full marathon medal. I tried to talk them into letting me switch for a half medal since that is the race I ran but to no avail! I told Justin I tried to switch and he responded, "why on earth would you do that!" He loved having the full marathon medal. I felt guilty for having it and even explained to a couple of people who ask my time why I had the wrong medal!

After the race, we showered quickly and headed to lunch at Chris Madrid's, a famous San Antonio burger joint. We drove about 10 minutes to get there only to discover it was closed on Sundays! So we had to adjust our plans and used the iphone to locate another recommended burger joint (Longhorn). We were starving by the time we finally got there but the chicken fried steak sandwich was delicious!

Then we headed to El Mercado and walked around for a while. My mom could not get enough of the restaurant Mi Tierra all decorated for Christmas and we watched some of the Cowboys game there. That evening we had dinner on the riverwalk again. The next morning we had a fun breakfast at the hotel and then visited the Alamo before packing up for home. We stopped at the outlets in San Marcus for a little while and Mommy and I got to go to the Vera Bradley outlet which was amazing! We topped off the weekend with lunch at Bush's Chicken (one of our college favorites).

On the Riverwalk

The Riverwalk

The Fam in Front of the Alamo

Ignore my father and look at the decorations in Mi Tierra

Walking back to the hotel after the race
Posing Post-Race

The Starting line!

Holiday Cards - November 18th

I absolutely love picking out my Christmas card each year! Last year, I designed my own card and had two versions b/c I couldn't decide on just one! This year, I wanted to design my own card again but I am having technical difficulties with my photo editing software (photoshop elements). So I needed to find an alternative. Well, what could be better than 50 free cards from Shutterfly? Shutterfly is running a promotion for bloggers to receive 50 free Holiday cards just by writing up a post on the Holiday 2010 Collection! I am loving some of these cards and have already looked through all 805 options...but I haven't decided on a design yet! I also have to think about which photo I want to use, what direction it goes, and how it will look with my choice. I guess you will just have to wait to get my card to see what design I choose!

I am really liking designs like these with a "ribbon" type thing over the photo.

But I am also loving designs like these with a fun, festive feel!

And last, I think these are pretty cool with a snowflake or star type overlay.

Cupcakes - November 6th

I saw these cupcakes on the Biggest Loser and all the contestants said they were great. Curtis Stone made them on his guest appearance. So I made them...and nobody liked them :( They were bad! How bad you ask?? So bad that my 5 year old nephew and 3 year old niece took one bite and said they didn't want any more. Yep, that bad. Shame on Biggest Loser for pretending you can make a "healthy" cupcake!

Check out my 2 other new posts I made today and the many more I made yesterday.

Walker's B-day - October 30th

In honor of Walker's 5th birthday, Justin and I took Walker to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. The special exhibit was the animatronic dinosaurs which we were sure he would love. We started out the day at Fuzzy's Tacos and then took the light rail to fair park. Walker loved the dinosaurs although he was cautious not to get too close unless I was holding his hand. The science part of the museum was fun as well with lots of activities for Walker to enjoy. He dug for dinosaur bones, experimented with gravity, bubbles, heat activated cameras and much more! After the museum, we capped off the day with Cold Stone ice cream! We all had a great time! Plus Walker made my day b/c he posed for all the pictures I requested!

Me and Walker

Justin with t-rex...I think he is scared :)

Walker and t-rex

Homecoming Part II - October 23rd

We got up early this morning to head out to the parade. We decided to go downtown and catch the beginning of the parade to avoid the crowds on campus. What we failed to consider was the other people that would be downtown...that's right...the Wacoans. We had to relocate down the street a bit but finally found a spot next to some well behaved future Baylor bears.

Then we headed out to do some tailgating before the game. We ate gut packs at the gut pack shack and enjoyed March of the Bears. The March of the Bears is when everyone lines up and cheers as the players get off the bus and head to the stadium. We got to our seats nice and early and then the game began...and then it stopped! That's right, 1 minute into the game, it got delayed due to lightening. This meant at least a 30 minute delay. We all headed under the stadium at the recommendation of the announcer. We waited under what we thought was an over hang that would shield us from the rain. Well, the over hang didn't really stand a chance next to the giant storm that ensued. Ashley and I tried to cram under the stands with about a million other people! Thank goodness for our ponchos! Justin and Bryan gave up and went back to our seats. They were also nice enough to give a poor little girl one of our extra ponchos.

After an almost 2 hour delay, the game began again. And it was an awesome game! We beat K-state to get 6 wins and the guarantee of going to our first bowl game in 15 years!

The Gut Pack Shack

After the game

After the storm...I loved the sunset behind the clouds

Waiting for the storm

March of the Bears...RGIII

Me and Bruiser

One of my favorite floats

Probably my very favorite float...it had a Ferris wheel and a working roller coaster

This is blurry but I wanted everyone to see what I have to deal with every day!

Justin and Ashley...two proud Baylor Bears

I doubt I will ever catch up so I am just going to post the highlights! So read the highlights below!

Homecoming Part I - October 22nd

We all took half days off from work today and headed down to Waco early for the homecoming weekend. By all, I mean Justin, Ashley, Bryan, and myself. We had dinner at Ninfa's, went to the bonfire, and then watched the Ranger's win! They took forever lighting the bonfire and we really wanted to see the game...so we left before it was lite! But we did get to see history made as the Ranger's made it to the World Series for the first time!

Cute Little Fried Up Turkey - October 16th

We had a little get together today at our house and fried a turkey for the occasion. It was delicious! I also think he looks pretty good. I also thought my table looked nice with my new runner and fall center piece.

Bubba Keg - October 15th

Yea! I got my Bubba Keg today. That means 52 oz of ice cold water all day long for me!

Southwest Airlines - October 13th

I recently got a new client...Southwest Airlines. We went out to the client to work this week. This is a pic of the Southwest headquarters lobby all decorated for Halloween. They have a very interesting culture. You can wear whatever (literally, whatever) you want. My client was wearing jorts and a white pocket tee with running shoes! They have sand volleyball and basketball courts in the parking lot and there were people playing at lunch. They have a bar on the roof and as we were leaving it sounded like a party up there for happy hour! Hmmm, maybe I should see if they need a new tax manager :)

Baylor v TT - October 9th

We went to the fair last night b/c we had tickets to the Baylor v Texas Tech game on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. The tickets got us into the fair on both Friday and Saturday. We knew the fair would be super crowded for the game so we went on Friday to enjoy the fair. On Saturday, we got up early and took the train to the fair. We had time to walk around some before the game at 11. The game was really close but we ended up losing. At half-time, we went down to the front and sat on the 40 yard line about 4 rows up. After the game we enjoyed some more traditional fair food! I had another corn dog and fried queso!

Fried Queso

#10...RGIII

Me at the game

The Cotton Bowl

Justin before the game

The State Fair of Texas - October 8th

After work we jumped on the green line train and headed to the State Fair of Texas. We enjoyed looking at the animals, strolling through the car show, and eating!