Beautiful community.

I forgot my breakfast at home and I am not going to let it ruin my day.

It will NOT ruin my day.

It will NOT.

You know your life is very sweet when you are convincing yourself the entire commute to work that missed oats will possibly ruin your entire day. 

I went to a funeral service on Saturday and as I sat in the church that I grew up in, in a building that has served a venue to lock ins, weddings, baby dedications, and funerals I saw such a beauty in the church community.  Living life together even though we disagree on so many things, as most people do (let me know when you've discovered the group of people where everyone agrees on everything) and coming together to celebrate a life that was lived and support the family left behind.  To have such a somber event in the same building that has celebrated the marriage of two people, or been the building where I met my husband, or the place where we have a Christmas Even service every year, such joy and such sadness all taking place in the same walls with the same people.  It transitions seamlessly from event to event as life goes on.  I've been thinking a lot about community lately.  What that means in life, how important it is, in your neighborhood, your friendships, your church, your family....For introverts and people with problems of pride, like myself, relying on others is tough to do, but can it be had? 

It might be helping others when they are unable to cook for themselves by bringing them food, mowing their lawn, watching their dog.  It could be picking up garbage left by others in your neighborhood or feeding the homeless man on the corner of Hillsborough and Central every Sunday morning.  It could be watching your favorite TV show with others that share your love for it (I'm looking at you, Breaking Bad), and even growing vegetables for the sole purpose of providing organic food to those that feed their family off of food stamps and don't have access to anything fresh.  While it certainly means helping others, it also means, accepting others help and assistance when you are in need which is where I continually find myself but hardly ever accept assistance. 

Our church's community garden.

So on this note.....can someone bring me my breakfast from home?  It is sitting on my counter all alone and I'm sure my dog would love the extra cuddles if you pass by.  Thanks in advance.  :)

Other than some revelations about living with other people happily, I spent most of the weekend curled up in a ball in front of my TV watching shark documentaries.  Other than some waves of bliss when my stomach wasn't trying to eat it's way out of my body, that is where I was parked for 48 hours.  Perhaps the reason of my stomachs revolt against my body was my convincing myself that my lazy summer has ended, marathon training is starting on Monday and I needed to get in gear. 

I woke up Saturday and mowed the lawn......with this beast of a mower. 

 

I had lunch with a friend, went to the funeral service.........and my resolve to get moving started crumpling away as the day went on.  Oui.  So glad for Netflix and Ginger Ale and a little puppy that knows when I don't feel well.

Surprising to me, I woke up Sunday feeling fresh and ready to get after it for two miles in my running shoes, those dusty sneakers that were meant for actual running and not more weeding my flower beds and leisurely walks through my 'hood.  I felt good.  I felt amazing.  It was hot and I didn't care.  I loved the sweat getting in my eyes and my pup trailing along at my side.  Even if it were only two miles, it felt so good to run. 

Until about a quarter of a mile from my house when I almost had a terrible accident.  Stomach problems are THE WORST and I surprised myself by my speed in getting home. 

bloody socks never felt so good.

I was feeling pretty good about today until I left my breakfast at home.  But that is NOT going to ruin my day.  I have yoga and some strength training on my calender and I will do it.  Jillian Michaels and I have a date this evening. 

Tacos, beer, and chocolate make me so happy.

Slooooooow weekend.  Started out with a trip to Taco Bus.  It was supposed to be date night but we both wanted tacos.  Very romantic.

The romance continued with running some errands before Cigar City Brewery.  I really wanted a chocolate bar but didn't want a whole bar and I didn't want a bar that cost $3.

Sidenote: I would eat a whole bar if I bought a whole bar but guess who hasn't done any exercising since the beginning of July, this girl.

So I grabbed two of the little chocolates at the check out.  Holla. 

Smart?  

Brilliant.

Portion control?

They were so tiny!

  Except those decadent morsels were $1.25 each.  Um, I have no appreciation for good chocolate.  My favorite kind is from Ikea.

I do have appreciation for good beer.

From left to right.... Acai/mango pale ale, Papaya pale ale, Sword Fight IPA, Chocolate raspberry lager

Winner was the Sword Fight.  So good.

Nothing says Saturday like some puppy cuddling under clean sheets.

Saturday also means whipping our yard into shape.  Both Matt and I could too happily live in a house that looks as if it were housing a meth lab.  I cry for my herb garden that although, gets good soil, sunlight, and water, struggles to provide for our insatiable need for fresh cilantro but weeds spring up so abundantly with absolute indifference.  Don't they know about my black thumb? Woof.  And I don't know if anyone can remember Saturday in Tampa, but it was the most perfectly cloudless and hot day we've had.  Two hours latter though, I was practically drowning in pride for how fabulous our yard looked.  And by practically swimming in pride, I was practically exhausted.

Our church had a "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" reading that evening, which was really fun.  When we first got the invite I dreamt of four hours sitting on our churches' wooden pews and that sounded terrible.  But we brought our pillows and it was such a fun time.  Everyone brought something to share and I brought curry because I'm 80% sure CS Lewis is British and that is practically their national food.  It was awesome, I just got lost in Narnia for three and a half hours eating good food and crunching on lollipops.

A call to 911 is answered and it wasn't me complaining about my bug bites.

When your back is hurting life just seems to speed up and expect you to hobble along with it.  I went on two walks yesterday hoping to jump start the healing process and today it feels more nervy so I hope that is good.  I clearly missed my calling as a physician.  Today I going to try some hot yoga to loosen release some of the tension there. 

On the topic of tension...I was walking into a FCA staff meeting yesterday and there was an accident in front of the office.  The damage was minimal but the guy that crashed into the car in front of him went ballistic.  Like "rage" ballistic.  I ended up calling 911 and the guy that answered my call (immediately) couldn't believe how loud this dude was.  I blushed from the language he was using, it was obscene.  He was trying to get into the other car at one point (the owner rolled up the windows and locked the doors but was still inside trapped), I just couldn't believe it.  Lots of police cars pulled up and it seemed like the street was flooded with officers all of a sudden.  Phew.  It was nuts.

Saw this sign over the weekend at a bar in our 'hood.  Love it.

We have a family at church that is struggling through a major life trial right now and I had signed up to bring them a meal.  They requested a low sodium, low fat, high fiber meal to meet their special medical needs.  Bob Harper had prepared me for this very moment in recipe creation. 

I got some tin to-go containers from Publix and cooked up some brown basmati rice <--superior to all other brown rices (rices is a word and this rice cooks up in 20 minutes), I added some minced garlic and onion and cilantro at the very end to mimic Chipotle rice, aka, the gold standard.

To make some Cuban black bean soup to go along side the rice, I started by making a sofrito of one green and one red bell pepper, two onions, and 10 cloves of garlic (holla).  After sauteing that in a little water (no oil) I put it all in a blender to puree for the soup.  I poured one pound of dried and sorted black beans into my crock pot with about 5 cups of water.  I added two bay leaves and a half teaspoon of smoked sea salt for the iodine of course. 

I made a tray of toppings for the rice and black beans with fresh corn, green onions, LOTS of cilantro, avocado, some fresh tomato salsa, and some hot sauce if they were feeling spicy. 

A simple salad of mixed greens accompanied it and I put labels on each dish with the ingredients listed clearly. 

I got a little carried away but it was kind of fun to have a mission to create something good with parameters of what it could include.  Matt and I had it for dinner too which was a bonus that I didn't have to cook.

You should try fresh corn raw, it is one of my favorite parts of summer, I eat it right out of the fridge off the ear like a bumpkin. 

Randomness and inappropriate google searches.

I'm so sorry Web MD for abusing your services.  And I'm sorry you know more about me than my closest friends.  I'm not sorry for cursing you when you told me the solution to my lower back pain brought on by spontaneous dancing can only be cured by surgery.  Maybe I didn't tell it I was a juicer.  And juicers are healthy people with no back problems. 

Yesterday this gem wouldn't load onto the blog but now it has so you are lucky.  My parents FOUND this awesome float on their boat.  Who needs a real jet ski when you have this little guy to balance on.  And they tried.  They tried so hard. 

Also this......my dog loves to hug.  He is the cuddliest pup I've ever seen.

Yesterday NOTHING worked.  My iphone had stopped communicating with GMail and Blogger, my office email passwords expired at some point and our service desk is in St. Louis so I couldn't call until 9:30am, our office phones weren't calling out, and our internet went out around the time some of these things were being resolved.  It was like a Monday amplified with a thousand bugs bites and back pain.  I needed an Arrested Development marathon in the worst way possible.

Last night we ended our Memorial Day weekend extravaganza, non stop partying with a game night with our small group.  They are really smart and really smart people don't title teams, Girls vs Guys.  They use chromosomes.  At least I thought they were chromosomes, hope they are.

Another amazing thing.  The most competitive guy in the world is in this picture.  And he is not holding a dog.  He is wearing a hot dog shirt.  It was hard to take his competitive spirit seriously last night with that beauty on.  Where do you find something that amazing?

Stay-cations are okay too

Matt came home for a radio show in Ft. Myers on Saturday which was great because he got picked up by another tour, officially canceling our cross country road trip plans.  Womp womp. 

My parents have a house on the water a couple hours from Tampa so we decided to take the days we had and pack up our little family. After a week of life being hard, it will be a nice retreat. 

Before leaving I got to run my first race with my dad which was so great. He is a marathoner and a legit runner and was probably a little embarrassed to have be tagging along.  And yes, he beat me. I asked him during the race if it was alright if I yelled "he is turning 60 this month!" when he crossed the finish line but he was not very into that idea. I think he's been bitten by the trail running bug too though, it was so fun.  It is so refreshing to be off the road, jumping over fallen trees, trading the smell of exhaust for wet mosses, and skipping over puddles in the forest.  We traded race stories, mused over family vacations, and talked about my little brother behind his back which is my favorite pastime. A beautiful morning in the woods with my dad.

When the race director starts the race on a mountain bike, you know you are in the right place.

An actual person recording the runner's times at the finish.

The chute!

Matt was so stoked to go to church on Sunday but it was Missions Sunday so there was no message like usual. There was a short pow wow about FCA and I got to show my fellow church goers how much sweat I'm capable of producing when Camille and I had to get on stage for prayer.



After a looooong drive to my parents house (time moves slower when traveling with a labradoodle) we are reflecting on the past couple of days/weeks, talking about the future, drinking good wine and strawberry vodka, eating snacks like a starving person,  teaching Luke how to do a proper push up on your knees and trying to sneak as much green into Matt's diet before leaving again.

Bad habits and March can just retire as the best month ever.

I have a pretty bad habit.

And it's dangerous to my taste buds.

It's called dinner. 

Steam bag of veggies. 

Cover with Sriracha.  Done.  Successfully have lit my mouth on fire.  And become addicted.

Cooking with pots and pans?

Ain't nobody got time for that.

I've got to watch Jack Bauer save the world again.

A big bowl of steamed celery probably sounds weird and it probably is... but it is so good.  It is way better steamed than raw and when you steam it you take out the rest of the nutrients that it had very little of to begin with, so it's kind of like junk food. 

Except you are hungry five minutes later. 

But it's so good.  I got the idea from Yummy House, the most amazing Chinese food in Tampa, where they serve lightly steamed celery with their kung pao dishes and it is so delicious. 

My company recently was acquired by another Real Estate firm and to welcome us into their brand they had a big meeting at the corporate office and gave everyone cookies with their name on it.  I was a little too excited about it and broke mine.  First impressions are way overrated.  I did get to see my most favorite person in the world (besides Matt) and she knows me too well and brought a snack for me because she knew I'd come outrageously hungry and that tiny cookie was outrageously small.

I was signed up to bring snacks to our bible study last night and wanted to have a green theme so I made some hummus with spinach blended in to give it color (please stop buying hummus, I made 6x what comes in the package at the store and it cost around $2, AND I know exactly what is in it, chick peas, spinach, salt, olive oil, & roasted garlic).

I also had the first Pinterest success where what I made turned out exactly how the picture looked.  I made kale pesto for some green flat breads and it rocked.  I used this recipe:  Kale and Walnut Pesto and it was so good.  I used the vegan version for this and instead of walnuts, I subbed almonds.   It came together in about one minute.  Tough stuff.

No filter to make this greener, just my awesome iphone photo skills.

For dessert I made some avocado brownies which were less than stellar. 

March has been an awesome month so far.  One best friend is pregnant, another is killing it in boxing class <---I'm so proud!, and another just got engaged.  I got a text last night during bible study with this picture attached.

I started welling up right there while discussing CS Lewis and The Fall of Man.  Granted, that is pretty sad and tear inducing but I'm sure everyone thought I was pretty lame for crying about it.  But I've known her for 16 years.  I get to cry when she finds the love of her life.  Every guy I meet that is single (sometimes not single, homewrecker reporting for duty), I think of her and how he would match up to this amazing girl.  She found him and not me though and locked it down.  I love love.  I love weddings!  And I love happy friends! 

Yup, I'll just float off on cloud nine now.

The Problem of Pain.

Yesterday was busy....I had a long meeting and there is nothing I hate more than meetings.  Sitting down for more than one hour just zaps the energy right from my body.  I only get through church on Sundays by the grace of God.  I just hate it (sitting not church).  So I left for the evening tired and sluggish.  No amount of kale on the planet could get me out of the funk.  It was almost comical.  Man up, Rachel.

So I took my sweet pup for a spin around the neighborhood breathing in the cooler air that our terrible weather brought in yesterday. 




The Westin on Harbour Island/Roof Damage--picture sourced from www.tbo.com



Roof from Westin on the Riverwalk

The Westin on Harbour Island (where we got married!) had it's roof torn off and thrown onto the Riverwalk.  Too bad I was about a quarter mile from this with an office overlooking the island and missed the entire water spout and storm.  I couldn't believe it. 



image from www.tbo.com

 
Getting outside was incredibly energizing even though it was u-g-l-y outside. 

I've missed my bible study group the past three weeks because of various really great excuses but vowed I would go last night even if my tires were flat and my hood was smoking when I made my way out to the car.  I love that group from head to toe.  They were an answer to prayer when we'd thought God wasn't going to respond. 

Thank you Lord for fellowship, for friends, and people that genuinely love you and want to talk about you even when your Word is confusing.  Even when it's controversial.  Even when it's hard to talk about.  High fives for the Tampa Heights House Church, you are the Brad to my Angelina. 

The book we are studying (or they are studying because I bought it last night) is CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain.  No one can create sentences so overflowing and full of thought provoking wisdom like Mr. Lewis.  Just hearing some of the paragraphs read for discussion last night brought tears to my eyes, he has shed so much light on the Christian life.   Still spinning from our study I got home and read online some of the chapter I'd neglected to prepare for the week before.  It's so good and so terrifying at the same time.  Last night we talked (they talked I listened) about wickedness.  How does someone that does not believe in the Gospel comprehend humans as inherently sinful?  I believe that but why on Earth would someone who doesn't know Christ believe that?  It was tough.  I know so many incredible, wise, generous, and sweet people that I would consider "good".  But the Bible says they are born into sin.  How do I explain that or even believe that?  It is crucial to understanding and fully grasping the incredible nature of Christ on the cross.  The sacrifice.  The weight of something pure dying for something filthy.  Thoughts?

I've started walking my dog early in the morning before work and I usually wear bright clothes so early morning crazies don't run us over (Luke has black hair and a penchant for being a nut that loves the middle of the road) but today I didn't have to!  It was light out and I'm so excited.  My hot pink shorts were getting kind of funky.  My fluorescent yellow hoodie can go back into hibernation.  Good morning sunshine.  And if you are looking to rent a house and want some pretty sweet neighbors let me know, ours moved out last night.  We can stare each other down from our porches all day while drinking Natural Light in our wife beaters yelling things like "get off my lawn!".  Fun!

Super Sunday

I had an amazing weekend, I love football, and my dog is growing up. 

Ever play "two lies and a truth"? 

I had the best Sunday ever.  Super busy and I'm pretty sure I was in bed by 8:59pm and asleep by 9pm but it was worth it.  I went to Terrace Palms Community Church to talk about FCA, how to get involved in the Gasparilla Classic, and raising money for the organization.  I spoke too fast as usual and didn't give enough information sooooooo.... if you were there, the website to sign up is www.teamfcaflorida.com  .  If you don't want to run and still want to donate to FCA you can do that on my run site which is https://grouprev.com/rachelhires.  I have a special place in my heart for this little church and it was amazing to see old friends and chat with everyone.  So many hugs and smiles and I left with a full heart. 

 I did the same chat at Watermark with some other ladies the week before and we had tossed out the idea of a Watermark running group.  Last night was the first group meet up and many of the people that signed up were sick or out of town so I wasn't sure if anyone was going to show up.  After waiting about five minutes alone.....I had a super fun group of three dudes show up ready to run.  They were the awesome-est.  They were all really competitive which made their first run in a long time really fun.  It was fun for me at least because I got to show off all of my Jillian Michaels "encouraging" words along the way.  I'm pretty sure my voice will be the only noise they never want to hear again.  I can't believe I didn't get a group shot of all of us, but I'm so proud of them, they did great.  We ran three miles and kept a steady pace the entire run.  They definitely made it worth running in Tampa's terrible January heat.  Truth.....it was 85 degrees which is equivalent to 1000 degrees when you are running.  Now that I've made this special time with me sound incredible, I want people to come!  This is open to anyone and every level is welcome to join up.  We start at 4pm from Bayshore Blvd.

Also, you get to stay for this.... 

There is a free yoga class in Downtown Tampa at Curtis Hixon Park on Sunday evenings at 5pm.  You only need to bring a mat or a towel and it is the loveliest way to spend an evening outside.  I figured that because I'm a terrible stretcher post runs I'd hit up the class right after running (the dudes split, they laughed when I asked them about joining me but one day they will cave).  Turns out, starting yoga off sweaty and smelly and out of breath is the worst.  Give yourself some time to relax before starting, your fellow yogis will thank you.  Not only is the class the bees knees, you get to look at this while you are practicing.....

Certainly, running in Florida's heat kills the spirit, but being outdoors in a tank top and shorts in January while watching the most beautiful sunset makes it a little bit worth it.  Namaste.