NSB Wine Walk

Yesterday, Joe and I spent a wonderful afternoon in New Smyrna Beach!  We'd eaten dinner there once but haven't really explored the area.  Yesterday gave us a perfect opportunity to do just that.

We participated in their monthly Wine Walk.  You start at either end of Flagler Ave (their "main strip"), purchase your glass and tasting tickets, then visit the businesses that are Wine Walk Stops for wine tasting.

You have 20 tickets at your disposal.  Some wines are just one ticket, other more expensive wines require more tickets to sample.  I'm usually a big red wine drinker, but I tried to switch it up some (mainly to avoid red wine teeth!).

My wine passport got damaged in the rain before I got a picture!

Some highlights:
-Starting out with my favorite wine: Chianti Riserva

-The adorable patio and the Italian wine at That's Amore

-Frozen Red Wine (basically a slushie--DELICIOUS) and walking around the adorable Gyfts shop

-Tasty White Mango Sangria, the patio, and the steel drum band at Toni and Joe's

As our very enjoyable afternoon came to a close, we walked through a thunderstorm to get to our car.  Thankfully, Joe was carrying around an umbrella the whole day, so we stayed somewhat dry.  The rain certainly didn't damper our spirits, though, as we will probably attend another Wine Walk in the future!

If you're in or around New Smyrna Beach on the last Saturday of each month, I highly recommend the Wine Walk!  Check out more information on the calendar of events on NSB's Visitor's Bureau website.

Question for you:  If you like wine, what's your favorite kind of wine?  If you don't like wine, 

Back from Vacation + Cleaner Choices

Hey, everyone!  Joe and I are back home after a great vacation to Emerald Isle, NC with my family.  I'm extra excited to be home since I've been away since June 14th after heading home to Richmond for a dear friend's wedding and some time catching up with some high school friends and my family.

Here are some highlights of both trips:

Nick and Erin got married!

Dr. Peter's Retirement Party

Meeting my second-cousin-in-law Will

Drinking the most delicious Ginger Ale

Side Note about Northern Neck: I texted that picture to one of my best friends Kristie (the one I went to visit in Seattle) and found out she was in Richmond, too!  What a great surprise to get to see one of my favorite people when I wasn't expecting it!

Food Truck Fun with Franny, one of my Westview friends

Playing Battleship with my brother and dad (I won both games!)

Putt-putt at the beach

Completed my long run, even on vacation!

Sharing our wedding cake topper to celebrate our anniversary early with my family

Gorgeous beach sunset

Playing Farkel with the family!

Dad, Mom, Aunt Melody and Uncle David playing Bocce Ball

Joe and me on the beach

Hope you enjoyed that photo dump :)

Anyone remember that I signed up for the Clean and Lean Challenge hosted by the wonderful Amanda?  Yeah, I almost don't either!

Quite honestly, I haven't really made clean eating and core workouts a focus this month.  Traveling always makes healthy eating and exercise challenging for me, much less eating clean while I'm not in charge of all of my meals!

I'm disappointed that I didn't fully participate in this challenge, and I feel like I missed out on some great support and information provided from the other participants via the Facebook group.

BUT there are a few positives to signing up for the challenge:

1. I learned more about what clean eating actually is.  I've seen "clean eating" posted everywhere, but I never really knew the official definition.  I also learned how I can eat clean without completely breaking the bank.  Don't worry, I'll be sharing all of this information with you soon!
2. Amanda sent some great e-mails with links to resources for meal plans, clean eating ideas, and great core workouts.  One particularly helpful e-mail for me discussed sugar cravings and what to do to curb them.  I easily give in to those cravings, and the information she provided really helped me think about things I can eat instead of something sweet.
3. I have made some steps toward healthy eating.  I really have tried to up my intake of fruits and vegetables.  I've even tried some new-to-me vegetables and side dishes with dinner (especially when eating out at restaurants)! 

One example of a positive step I've taken is breakfast this morning:

We have little to no breakfast food in our house right now, so after running an errand I swung by Dunkin Donuts to get something to eat.  I knew coffee was on the menu, and I really wanted a chocolate glazed doughnut as my breakfast.  Instead, I saw the Veggie Egg White Flatbread on the menu and opted for that.  After checking the nutrition facts,  I'm pretty pleased with my choice:

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Almost 100 fewer calories, 14 fewer grams of fat, less sugar, and much more protein.  It kept me full until lunchtime, which is exactly what I wanted!

After making my grocery list for the week, I think the cleaner food choices will continue!

Question for you:  What's a cleaner eating choice you've made lately?

Now that I'm home, the blog will get back to regular posts!  Thanks for bearing with me while I was gone.  See you tomorrow :)

BBB6 Week 1 Recap

Before I begin, sorry for the terrible picture appearance!  I'm blogging from my phone app, and I can't format the pictures.  I figured an unformatted post was better than no post at all!

Hey, everyone!  Hope your week is off to a good start.  We've had some cloudy days here at the beach, but we are still having a good time!

I wanted to share with you how the first week of Best Body Bootcamp went!  I was nervous how I would do with traveling and maintaining healthy habits.  

Activity

Monday-2.58 mile run around the neighborhood

Tuesday-rest day

Wednesday-20 minute treadmill run + Strength Workout A

Thursday-20 minute incline walk (treadmill) + Strength Workout B

That's me doing one-leg glute bridges!  I was so sore the next day!

Friday-rest day

Saturday-2.6 mile run around the beach house neighborhood, complete with a beautiful sunset!

Sunday-20 minute walk on the beach with the husband :)

For a week away from my usual routine, I did really well with the activity!

Goals

As usual in BBB, I set two healthy-living goals.  Goal #1 is to drink 72 ounces of water.  I usually drink less water when I'm at home, so this was a necessary focus for me!  I met this goal 5/7 days, which helped me prevent dehydration headaches!

Goal #2 is to eat 2 servings of fruit each day.  After a rough start to this goal, I met this goal 5/7 days as well!

Highlight of the Week

I was pleased about my success with activity and goals, even while traveling!  I usually fall off the healthy wagon while at home and on vacation, but this trip has been very successful.

Goal for Next Week

My goal for next week is to continue this trend for the rest of vacation and once I return home. 

Question for you: How do you do with workouts and healthy eating while on vacation?

Vacation Time!

Greetings from North Carolina!  My family and I are at the beach for our annual vacation.  

There is no Internet here, so posts will be few and far between.  I hope y'all have a good week if I don't check in between now and next Friday.

Question for you: Where do you and your family go on vacation?

We are definitely beach goers, and North Carolina beaches are our favorite!

Out-of-Town Exercising + Gideon Week 1

I have to tell y'all: it's been quite a relaxing week here in Richmond.  I've really enjoyed just hanging out with my parents, catching up with some friends, and getting in some much-needed relaxation time.  

I also developed a new addiction: Candy Crush Saga.  Do any of y'all play this game?  I didn't really believe my friends when they told me, but I really can't stop playing!!  I spent a lot of time yesterday working on two challenging levels, but I'm excited to say that I managed to beat both of them before bed.  Kind of sad that's my major accomplishment for the day, huh?

On Monday, I went for a run around my neighborhood.   I planned out a route in my head that I thought would be about 3 miles.  My Garmin wasn't picking up the satellite, so I set the timer and decided I'd do the run by time.

At the point where I thought I'd hit the first mile, I'd only run for 5 minutes.  It's funny how big my neighborhood seemed BEFORE I started running it!  I added a little bit in to my run for a total of 25 minutes.

It wound up being 2.58 miles for an average pace of 9:41 per mile.  It was an enjoyable run, despite my mileage underestimation.

Today, I found out that I could use the YMCA here as an "away guest" since I'm a member in Florida! I went to the Y this afternoon and completed Workout A from Round 6 of Best Body Bootcamp.  This was a full-body workout of supersets of exercises that also worked on balance.  It felt nice to get in some work in the weight room.

I finished the first week of the Bible study Gideon: Your weakness, God's strength today.  This is the study for Living Proof Ministries' virtual summer Bible study I've mentioned before.

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Every other Tuesday, Beth Moore will post a video discussion for the two weeks of study.  Each Tuesday, I want to share with y'all some of the things I learned during the week (even though I'm a day late this week).

This week was a bit of an introduction to Gideon's story and a little bit of history of the Israelites.  One of the biggest take-aways I had from Week 1 regarding Gideon's story was that the Israelites were previously commanded to destroy the Midianites (the same people Gideon's army faught) and didn't.  In Numbers 31:1-15, the Israelites spared the women and children when God instructed them to completely destroy the city and its people.

Some of the things I took away personally were:

• He prepares us for His purpose.  Not fully listening to His instructions and purpose weakens us.
• "Today's difficulties are often a result of yesterday's disobedience." 
• There is a cycle of God's redemption (rejection of God's way, decline of God's people, consequences allowed by God's hand, and restored relationship to God's presence) that appears over and over again in the Bible (and in our lives).
• Heros appear at the low points of their communities as a part of God's restoration, and I can be a part of that.
• Unity means oneness in purpose.
• Empowerment by God's Spirit is necessary for success, and we need to be connected and refueled in order to serve our purpose.

I've learned a lot about the history of Israel and have really enjoyed studying a part of the Bible that I really haven't studied before.  I'm looking forward to the rest of this study, especially once we get in to Gideon's story!

Question for you: What do you do to exercise while out of town?  Any of the things I learned during the first week of Gideon seem to speak to you?

A Special Weekend

Happy Monday!  Hope your day and week are off to a good start.  I'm waiting on my Dad at the periodontist right now to take him home from gum surgery.  Does not sound like fun for him!

I wanted to recap my weekend since I had some fun things going on.  First, I attended the wedding of two of my friends, Erin and Nick!  I've known Erin since elementary school, and Nick and I were in the same Math Ed major in college!  I actually set these two up, so I feel partially responsible for making Saturday's wedding happen :)

Erin escorted down the aisle by her uncle

The service was at the church that Erin and I grew up in.  What a beautiful service!

After the ceremony, we headed to the Richmond Country Club for the reception.  The room was decorated beautifully, and their entrance was perfect for two Virginia Tech grads!

They came in to our football entrance song Enter Sandman, and their parents came in to the Hokie fight song!  So fun!

First dance

We had a delicious dinner after the dances, then it was time to mix, mingle, and dance!

Groom, bride, and myself

VT Math people at the wedding

My friend Krista and me

Their cake!

I missed the "silly picture" memo

Surprisingly, I have no pictures of youth group friends!!  I was too busy dancing with them to snap some photos.  Overall, a very fun wedding!  I wish them all the love and happiness in the world :)

On Sunday, the senior pastor at the church I grew up in preached his last sermon.  After 16 years of ministry at Trinity, he and his wife are retiring.  I'm so glad I was there for his sermon and reception afterward.

The reception was tailgate-themed since John played football in college and is a big sports fan.  

John's truck where everyone got their drinks

Randolph-Macon-themed table (John's undergrad)

Duke-themed table (John's divinity school)

There was also a UVA-themed table (his sons went there) but I couldn't take a picture of it ;) We even got coozies to keep our drinks cold!

Afterward, a few people came up to say a few words about John and Julie.  Our youth director, Forrest, was speaking in this photo:

John was a great preacher and very personable.  He married Joe and me, and I absolutely love this picture of us during our first kiss at the wedding:

Trinity will miss you, John and Julie!  I pray blessings for them in retirement and hope that they will enjoy it. (More on my wedding later...I'm planning a series of posts about my wedding on/around our first anniversary on June 30th.)

The rest of the day was spent at the pool with my mom, watching TV with my dad, and celebrating Father's Day.  We went to Dickey's, a barbeque place, for dinner and watched the NBA Finals game together in the evening.  It was a relaxing day, but it was nice to be with my dad on Father's Day.

There were a lot of special things that happened this weekend, and I'm so happy I was able to be in Richmond to be a part of everything!

Question for you: What did you do for Father's Day?

Happy Father's Day

This is my 200th post y'all!  Since it falls on Father's Day, so I'm dedicating it to all the dads and father figures out there.

It's been really special to be home and hanging out with my dad today.

Dancing with Dad at my wedding last June

My dad is someone that I really admire.  He is hard working, loves sports, enjoys playing board games and telling stories, and is a genuinely caring guy.  He may be a little shy at first, but he's really a lot of fun to be around.  I think that he and I have very similar personalities, and I really hope that I also demonstrate his positive characteristics!

Here's a funny story about my dad: Yesterday, he and my mom went up to Blacksburg to help Eric move his stuff out of his apartment.  Instead of telling me about how much stuff they had to move or how tired he was, he told me about how much fun he and Eric had tossing old furniture in to the dumpster!  They got such a kick out of how high the furniture went and how loud it crashed in to the dumpster that they went walking around the apartment complex look for other things to throw away!  Too funny!

Whole family after Eric's graduation last month

Hope y'all have had a great day with your dads, and I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of my weekend!

Question for you: What's a special trait that you appreciate/admire in your dad?