Spring is Here - Get Outdoors!

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the blog. I know I haven’t posted anything in a while, but I am now! Josh has been busy with Spring Football and the winding down of the school year (yay!), but mostly we’ve been enjoying our lightening schedule. Josh has four more weeks of school left until summer and I’m just looking forward to summer hours at work (come on Memorial Day…ready for half day Fridays). We’ve got a busy, fun-filled summer ahead of us that we are very much looking forward to if we can just get there!

Since the weather has warmed up (finally!), we’ve been going on walks in the evenings after work. Sometimes I go by myself if Josh has late practice, but I’ve just been enjoying getting out and getting some fresh air after the never-ending winter. We have a nice hike and bike trail about half a mile from our house that we’ve been making good use of. We like having it there and having so many options for how long we want our walk to be. There’s a school with several ball fields and playgrounds by the trail too that always has lots of people, so I still feel safe even when I’m by myself.

I’m probably going to start adding a little jogging/running to my walks soon to add a little extra challenge and to prepare myself for some 5K races this fall. I want to make sure I ease into it so I don’t hurt myself. I’m already plagued by shin splints a lot of the time, so I definitely don’t need anything else to hurt. The ice packs on my legs sure help me to cool off when I come in though! :)

In the last month, I’ve also picked up another new hobby – I’ve started playing golf. Josh likes to play golf when we go on vacation, so I thought I’d learn how to play so I can play with him this year instead of just driving the cart. We’ve played a few rounds and he’s been a good coach, not getting too mad at me. :) I did improve from the first round we played to the second round by 5 strokes. I just wish it wasn’t such an expensive hobby!

First time out - nine hole at The Practice Tee

First round of 18 at Keeton Park

Second round of 18 at Sherrill Park

As you can see, Spring has brought a renewal to my “be active” goal. I just don’t do well getting out in the cold. That’s why I live in Texas! Short winters, lots of heat…that’s what I like! Hardly ever will you hear me complaining about the heat, I love it!

Book #4 - Love, Lies, and High Heels

 

A few days ago I finished book #4, Love, Lies, & High Heels by Debby Conrad. This is a cute little romantic book. Here is the synopsis from Amazon:

LUKE GALLOWAY doesn’t lie. Well, not normally. And never about anything as serious as death. But, somehow Luke’s friend and business partner, Sam Paris, convinces Luke that he needs to do just that. Sam believes the only way his daughter will come back to see him is if he were dying. And so the lies begin...

RUSTY PARIS has been alone most of her life. Her parents were divorced when she was very young. Rusty was pushed off to boarding schools, while her mother made a hobby of marrying rich men. She doesn’t remember much about her father, only that he never made an attempt to be a part of her life for the past twenty-one years. But all that is about to change. When she gets word he is dying, she runs home to be by his side, which puts in right in the path of that scoundrel Luke Galloway.

Luke has no room in his life for rich heiresses. Been there. Done that. From the first time Luke and Rusty meet, they clash. She considers him nothing more than a lowly ranch hand who enjoys riling her temper. He considers her arrogant and prissy. But that doesn’t mean he can fight his attraction to her, nor hers to him. 

And when they find out they’ve both been duped by Rusty’s father the sparks really start to fly.

This book was okay. It started slow, then picked up some towards the middle. It was very predictable and the characters got on my nerves some, but overall it was a decent light reading. If you just need an easy read, then go for this one, just don't expect too much.

Camping - Eisenhower State Park

 
This past weekend, Josh and I went camping with our friends, TJ and Allison. We went up to Eisenhower State Park on Lake Texoma. On Friday night, we explored around by the lake a little bit and hung out. On Saturday afternoon, Josh and I rented a pontoon boat and went out on the lake for a few hours. We tried fishing some, but we weren't getting any nibbles (found out later that the game warden said all the fish were in the deep water), so we just enjoyed the wonderful weather on the lake. We decided to cut our trip short by a night since it was super windy (and getting windier) and we didn't sleep good on Friday night due to the wind. We had a great time camping and catching up with Allison and TJ and we'll definitely go back to Eisenhower State Park. It was a great place to camp!

Our campsite

Beautiful Lake Texoma

Allison, TJ, and their dog Penny (she didn't want to smile for the camera)

Book #3 - No Easy Day

 

On Thursday, I finished book #3 of the year, No Easy Day by Mark Owen. It's written by a Navy SEAL that was on the team that killed Osama Bin Laden. It was a really good book that walked through his training of becoming of SEAL and some of his missions. Here's the description from Amazon:

For the first time anywhere, the first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy Seal who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moments.

From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden’s compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group--commonly known as SEAL Team Six-- has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines.

No Easy Day puts readers alongside Owen and the other handpicked members of the twenty-four-man team as they train for the biggest mission of their lives. The blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen’s life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden’s death, is an essential piece of modern history.

In No Easy Day, Owen also takes readers onto the field of battle in America’s ongoing War on Terror and details the selection and training process for one of the most elite units in the military. Owen’s story draws on his youth in Alaska and describes the SEALs’ quest to challenge themselves at the highest levels of physical and mental endurance. With boots-on-the-ground detail, Owen describes numerous previously unreported missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11. In telling the true story of the SEALs whose talents, skills, experiences, and exceptional sacrifices led to one of the greatest victories in the War on Terror, Mark Owen honors the men who risk everything for our country, and he leaves readers with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe.

This was incredibly interesting book, especially after seeing the movie, Zero Dark Thirty. (If you haven't seen it, you need to see it.) The book tells the Navy SEAL team side of the story and his journey leading to the mission to capture/kill Bin Laden and the movie tells the CIA side of the story of tracking and finding Bin Laden leading up to the mission. After seeing the movie and reading the book, it was very interesting to see how they lined up and fit together. I definitely recommend both reading the book and seeing the movie. They give you a renewed pride in and thankfulness for our military and the other people that serve our country to keep us at home safe.

DIY: DVD Shelf

I have to brag on my husband a little bit. You see, our DVD collection outgrew our DVD shelf...

We looked around for a new one, but they were all either not the right size or style, way too expensive, or just plain ugly, so he decided he would build a new one for us.  Look at how awesome he did!! He (along with my mad painting skills) made us a beautiful new DVD shelf. We now have a custom, one-of-kind piece of furniture to house our movies! :) I'm so lucky to have such a talented husband!

Mavs Game

A couple of weeks ago we were given tickets to the Mavs game and took our friends, Russell and Katie, with us. We grabbed a quick dinner before the game and then enjoyed a great game even though the Mavs lost. As always, it was great to spend time with them and we had lots of fun.

Book #2 - The One You Love

 
This past weekend I finished book #2 for the year, The One You Love by Paul Pilkington. It's one of the top downloaded mystery books on Amazon. Here's the synopsis from Amazon:

Emma Holden's nightmare has just begun. Her fiancé vanishes, leaving the battered and bloodied body of his brother in their London apartment. Someone is stalking her, watching her every move. And her family are hiding a horrifying secret; a secret that threatens all those she loves. In a desperate race against time, Emma must uncover the truth if she ever wants to see her fiancé alive again.

I really enjoyed this book. It started off a little slow, but picked up after a few chapters and soon I couldn't put it down. There's several twists and turns in the book and I really didn't know who did it until the end of the book. To me, the author could have tied up the end of the book a little more. He solved the main plot, but left the reader hanging on how everything for the characters turned out. I like things to be tied up in a pretty package at the end. If you have a Kindle, I would recommend downloading and reading this book.