Shamu, Sea World and facing swim suits

We spent our vacation at Sea World San Antonio this past weekend. Actually, we are on the way back as I write this. I am not much of an amusement park sort of woman but Sea World won me over. Killer Whales, dolphins, sting rays, and all the other amazing sea animals and birds are worth the trip alone.

And then there is the water park....
You know, the water park where you get to parade around in a bathing suit in public in front of perfect strangers and play on water slides and get inter tube wedgies and spend half the day thinking 'my cottage cheese thighs are so disgusting, why couldn't women's bathing suits still go to the ankles?' Or 'does that woman know she shouldn't really be wearing a bikini? I can't believe I am actually kind of jealous that she doesn't care.' Then there is always that thought when you see the perfect life guards 'Oh. My. God. I don't think my body has ever looked like that a day in my life! Everything is so firm and tight.'

Eventually, I realized something, I don't care. I was in San Antonio, Texas where I know absolutely nobody. So I did what any good red headed stubborn fool would do in San Antonio Spurs country, I put my Dallas Mavericks T-Shirt on over my bathing suit mostly because my shoulders were burning and because I am a rebel like that...


And said to heck with the cottage cheese and went out and had fun and tried not to worry about how my fat looked when I was riding the rides because seriously, when you are worried about dying, who cares if you look good doing it, right? :-)

If you get a chance, I really suggest Sea World! I want to take a whale and a dolphin home.















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Life, Mountain Biking, and a guy I did not know

Sometimes things just hit too close to home. Such is the story of Wesley Hixson .

I didn't know Wesley Hixson. From everything I have read he was a lot more experienced mountain biker than I am. He was a young man of 30 who left too soon and the story is tragic not only because he leaves behind a family and friends who love him but because it was an accident that shouldn't have happened. That's why it's an accident.

The mountain bike community is something I am pretty new to but I have always found them to be amazingly friendly and helpful. I have had my share of near misses and I have always had someone there to help fix a flat, give direction, or walk or ride me off a trail. A stranger even stayed with me when I needed medical attention until the EMS came. They are always the first people to pass me by on the trail and make sure I am okay. They don't leave riders behind. That's just who mountain bikers are.

People are looking for answers in this tragedy and there really aren't any. There are no fingers to point and nobody is to blame. My instincts tell me as a rider that we all tend to feel we are okay after a fall, even if we may not be okay. Things happen. We fall. We fall a lot. That is just part of the ride. There is kind of a saying in biking that if you don't fall you aren't doing it right. When I come in after a particularly hard ride, my friends look at my bruises and scrapes and think I got beat up. I laugh and say 'No but I had a great ride! I face planted once and hit a tree!' They think I'm nuts. Maybe I am. Remember that I am new to this sport and I don't get a chance to ride near enough right now but God, I love it.

What makes this so hard, I think, so real, for anyone who mountain bikes, is that we know, no matter how experienced a rider we may or may not be, this could be us. There is nothing special or different about this situation that any rider who has been on a mountain bike more than 20 minutes hasn't experienced. Quite simply if you love biking, this is part of the sport, part of the adventure.

So will any of us quit? I doubt it. What will happen, I am guessing is that the community will find a way, when the time is right to honor Wesley. In the meantime individuals will donate to his family fund as he left behind a wife and young kids. As for personal safety, we will all check our helmets and make sure we have our cellphones with us if we didn't already. (I did). Me personally, I doubt I will ever not think of Wesley when I am at Northshore now. I am betting he has found the ultimate ride in Heaven. May God grant peace to those he loved.

Note: I didn't change this from Mountain Bike Monday because they found Wesley yesterday.


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Enjoy the Ride!

Simply,
Laura

Weekend Round-Up with Blake Shelton!

This weekend was a blur of home projects interrupted by a Blake Shelton concert.


I decided it was time to repaint basically my whole house...you know because I am tired of it. This happens about once every few years. I painted the living room, dining, and kitchen this weekend. The real transformation was the kitchen.


The real fun was Blake and my friend Julie and I got to spend some quality girl time hanging, talking about our lives, our silly guys, and home improvement projects which were the topic of the day for me.








Blake was amazing and everyone was happy when his wife, Miranda Lambert, came out to sing too.














I can't say enough about how good this concert was from Neal McCoy MC-ing the show to Dan and Shay, the Band Perry and Blake and Miranda it was funny, entertaining and worth the 3 years I have waited to see him play. I have a lot of concerts this summer but Blake was the one I was looking forward to the most. He did not disappoint!



Oh, and I totally love the kitchen.


Ignore the mess, we haven't had a chance to totally straighten it back up yet but it looks fresh and lovely. Gone is my country look and it is modern and open feeling.

So, how was your weekend?



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Morning Protein Shakes: How I learned to love mine

I have made a commitment to improve my health and lose weight which began last December, exactly 6 months ago today. One of the decisions I made recently was to add a protein shake to make sure I get between 60 and 90 grams a day of protein. I am incredibly successful in losing weight, staying full and just being healthy when I stick to this plan.

I know everyone loves smoothies, everyone but me. Because I was forced to live off of them for several weeks due to a surgery I had to have, I burned out quick. With that in mind I have had to find a way to love my morning protein, and I did.



This is my drink. I managed to trick myself into loving it by combining my protein shake with my love for coffee. I know, I know, I am cheating but it works for me! Instead of water I add the ice and the the coffee to the ice. Note, don't try to add the protein powder to hot liquid because it turns the protein nasty and gross! Now, for me, I go a step further and add some instant coffee to give me more coffee flavor and more caffeine, naturally. This has drastically cut down on my coffee intake. One morning I didn't drink any! As for protein powder I have used vanilla, chocolate and cookies and cream and they all worked well. The key for me is to use one that has at least 30g of protein. It takes me at least 2 hours to drink this so I am not downing it. It's a process.


I have been eating this way consistently for about 2 weeks and I am not tired of the drink yet. That's huge for me! Sometimes I even make a second one for lunch instead of grilled chicken.

Oh, and yes I am losing weight...but that is another blog and it is coming. I promise!


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