A New Hobby

Inspired by some of our vacations to the Smoky Mountains, Matt and I decided to start hiking more. After buying some hiking shoes and a small hiking backpack, we hit up our first trail at the Fort Worth Nature Center and Refuge over Easter weekend. It was a great place to start hiking as they had several well-marked trails. They have bison and prairie dogs on property, but we only saw the bison. They had a cool nature center, too, where we were able to see other fun native creatures such as an alligator snapping turtle (dude, their tongues are crazy, look below). We were too distracted to take any pictures but we had a great time. 

Source

We were free this past Saturday and the weather was looking good for the morning, so we decided to try a new park, the Marion Sansom Park, also in Fort Worth. It was actually created for mountain biking, but hikers are allowed on it. While the trails were not as clearly marked (we kind of made our own trek by following a variety of different trails), it was certainly more strenuous! I could see how mountain bikers would love it- constant hills, fun turns, and a good variety of different landscapes. I personally was very happy to be using my own two feet as opposed to biking it because you could pick up a lot of speed on some of those steeper hills! 

The park is literally across the lake from NAS Fort Worth.
Matt enjoyed that aspect immensely.

You can get a sense of the different elevations, too.

We hiked for a few hours at this park before calling it quits for lunch. Our legs were definitely feeling the hills so we went home and crashed for a few hours. But we had a great time and it was so cool to feel like you're in the middle of this forest when you're really just a few minutes outside of downtown Fort Worth. I highly recommend it and we look forward to going back!

PhD Celebration Trip

This past weekend, Matt took me on a trip to celebrate my graduation. He had asked me several months prior if I would rather have a physical gift or an experience as my gift and I'm so glad I chose the latter! He planned this getaway for us and it was absolutely perfect. At first, all I knew going into it was this:

Then a few weeks ago, he let me know the first night was at the Fort Worth Omni, a hotel we had been to a couple of years ago. It was awesome to have one concrete thing to look forward to, given the rest of the trip was a complete surprise. My husband clearly knows me well as he planned the perfect trip for me. It pretty much consisted of amazing food, physical activities (to work off all the food), relaxation, and fun adventures. It is hard to believe it is already over and I'm so grateful to him for the time and effort he spent planning it for us.

The trip began Friday after lunch when we drove to downtown Fort Worth and checked into the Omni.

View from our room

Fort Worth Water Gardens

After checking out our amazing view, we went up to the rooftop pool area to enjoy the view and some tasty snacks. We hung out there for a few hours (got to see 4 F-16's take off), and then left to continue the rest of the evening. Dinner was at a local burger restaurant called Rodeo Goat, known for its deliciously unique burgers. 

At the roof top grill

Such good burgers!

My burger- the Chaca Oaxaca: beef & chorizo, avocado, pico de gallo,
fried egg, queso fresco, & tabasco mayo

Matt's choice, the Cowboy Murrin: applewood smoked bacon, tomato, jalapenos,
fried onion, cheddar, pickle chutney, housemade BBQ sauce

After dinner, we wandered around the downtown area some more, before coming across some fun arcade games. Along with playing the largest version of Jenga I've ever seen, we also played a few rounds of skee ball and air hockey! Made for a fun end to our evening.

It eventually came crashing down...

The next day we worked out at the Omni's fitness center (yes, Matt knows I need some form of physical activity every day), had a quick breakfast, and then went to spend the rest of the morning poolside. The water was a bit too cold to get in, but we were very happy to lay out and read our books. It was so relaxing and peaceful out there so I'm glad we took the time to just be quiet and enjoy the sunshine. 

We eventually had to check out, so after leaving the hotel and grabbing lunch at Sweet Tomatoes (all of the salad!), we hit the road for destination #2! I was driving and Matt was navigating, since he knew where we were going and I still didn't. However, after a little bit on the road my suspicions were confirmed-- we were going to College Station! We had a great drive back to the area we met and then did a driving tour of the area. We checked into our hotel and then got ready for our fine dining experience of the trip. 

That evening, Matt took me to Christopher's, an amazing restaurant that is perfect for celebrating special occasions! We had been a few times before but it was so nice to be back, especially to celebrate me earning my PhD. Texas A&M is where I first learned about criminology so being back in the area carried with it a nice symbolism. Plus, the food is absolutely delicious!! 

Our appetizer: almond baked brie.

Why don't food pictures ever look as good as it does in real life? This
was my dish, the Italian Braised Beef Ribs. The boneless ribs were
melt-in-your-mouth tender and the polenta hiding underneath was
SO good. Easily one of my favorite dishes ever.

Matt's equally awesome dish: South American Marinated Beef.

Our dessert- chocolate & peanut butter cake

The next morning we took a 2-hour walk around campus. Even though it has only been 4 years since we graduated, a decent amount has changed both on and around campus. Yet it was still nice to be back and very much made us feel at home. Until we saw the new Kyle Field! My goodness is that place huge! 

Matt in front of Bright, his AERO building

The Administration Building in the early morning

Only we would take a picture of the library :)

Inside the Flag Room-- figure it's rare to see it with NO ONE ELSE

Kyle Field!

About 6.5 miles later, we eventually wandered our way back to the hotel, got cleaned up, and headed out for lunch. We went to Fuego's, enjoyed some delicious tacos, then headed home. It was very bittersweet leaving, knowing we were headed back to real life after such an amazing trip. Throughout the weekend, Matt made a point to make sure I felt celebrated and that was certainly fulfilled! Guess it makes it really official now, right?

Dallas Marathon Weekend

In what turned out to be a great distraction from waiting on comps results, I ran my first half-marathon this past Sunday! I signed up in July for the Dallas MetroPCS Half-Marathon and started training shortly thereafter. Up to that point, my longest distance was a 10K (6.2 miles) so I definitely had a way to go. Thankfully there are some amazing resources online with different training plans and I have several other runners in my life to offer advice along the way.

Since the start was 8 AM Sunday morning in Downtown Dallas, about 30 minutes away from where we live, we decided to stay at a hotel downtown, the Dallas Omni to be exact, to make the morning of less stressful. They were offering a special discount to marathon runners so we were able to stay there for a reasonable rate. The amazing thing was our hotel was right in front of the start/finish line so we didn't have to worry at all about getting to the race early or waiting in the long lines for a Port-A-Potty!

Hello there, Omni!

We checked in Saturday shortly after lunch, headed up to our room, and was amazed at the view! We decided to upgrade our room for $25 and we were so glad we did! The room was very spacious and just look at the view!

Yes, that is a TV in the bathroom mirror.

Come race day, we didn't have to head down until 7:30 (corrals closed at 7:45) but I woke up before 6 anyway as that's just what my body's used to. Had my normal long-run breakfast of a bagel and banana. Stretched out. Tried not to freak out. Then eventually it was time to head downstairs! Matt walked with me to my corral, we stood around for a bit, then we decided he should leave so he could get to his first spectating point near mile 1. 

On Saturday at packet pick-up

Race day!

I'll spare you an in-depth race report, but I will say it was one of the most physically and mentally difficult things I've done, but also one of the most fun things I've done. The spectators made it. I think I would have hated the experience if it wasn't for the awesome spectators. From their costumes and signs to the things they would shout out at you as you were running by (including "Go, random stranger, go!"), their encouragement was awesome and helped me power through. I also enjoyed running through several parts of Dallas, from Highland Park to Greenville Avenue to Deep Ellum. 
  

Around mile 1

If I hit a wall, it may have been at about 10.5 miles in. At that point it became so mental, trying to convince myself to not stop, keep on putting one foot in front of the other. I was able to see the Omni at a distance, and I knew I only had 2 miles to go, so that helped. From mile 11-12, I was wondering why the heck I signed up this stupid thing. Then I saw Matt at about mile 12, which made me put a big smile on my face. At that point through the end of the race, there was a large crowd of spectators cheering and yelling us on, so that was awesome! Couldn't stop running in front of them, right? 

At mile 12, so close!

Hello there!

As I crossed the finish line, my eyes filled up with tears just from all the emotion I felt-- satisfaction, mental and physical exhaustion, shock, joy. One of the race volunteers asked if I was OK and I just nodded my head and continued on to collect my medal. Here I was, a girl who could barely run a mile a few years ago to running 13.1 miles. It is truly amazing what the human body can do!

Total time: 2:07:48. Average pace/mile of 9:45.

Now 3 days out I am definitely less sore than I was. Monday was pretty painful as I was really feeling it in my quads & hamstrings. I will be getting a foam roller soon because I know I will be doing this again. I'm not going to be doing a marathon next (had too many foot issues with just this distance) but I would love to do another half! The whole experience-- from the spectators to the course to running with 20,000 others-- was addicting and I can't wait to do another one and beat my time!

Comps Success

I will have a post recapping my half-marathon in a couple of days, but Matt has the pictures from that on his cell phone and I want to wait until I can get them to share that story with you. But as you may know, I passed all 3 of my comprehensive exams! 

Story: On Monday morning, I went to the gym to do a light work-out to help warm up my sore, tired muscles. Then I headed to the grocery store to get a few things for the week. After arriving home and setting all the grocery bags down, I glanced at my phone and saw I had an email from UTD. I was able to preview the message and saw it was from my department head titled "Comps results." My heart rate definitely increased as I opened it and saw this:

Jumping up and down, I called Matt on his cell phone. No answer so called his pager. After paging him, I realized I bought cold stuff at the store so I should probably put it in the fridge. Waited around about 1-2 minutes more before he calls me back and I share the great news, filled with laughter and more jumping. (I'm sure our neighbors who live below us loved it if they were still home.) After we got off the phone, I called my parents. Next I started sharing the news with others, from those in my bible study groups to other close friends and family.  

The bittersweet aspect was finding out that not everyone passed. That was probably inevitable, but it definitely dampens my celebration to know some of my friends are having such a hard time. 

Regardless, Matt & I still celebrated once he got home from work. We went to a local restaurant we have always wanted to try in downtown Grapevine, but were just waiting for the proper occasion. Over drinks and delicious appetizers and entrees, we finally got to relax and realize that so many of our prayers have been answered. We walked around afterwards and enjoyed the beautiful Christmas lights that had been put up in the area. And then of course dessert and coffee had to happen. 

Cheesecake with a chocolate swirl. It was every bit as delicious as it looks.

I am just so relieved to have it all done with. Passing all 3 exams the first attempt was never a guarantee. Something I now feel comfortable with sharing is that I even had a job waiting on me. Starting in Fall of 2015, I will be an assistant professor at a local university (if you know me in real life, feel free to ask). I interviewed for the position in October and was offered it a few weeks later. However since I wasn't ABD, I didn't feel comfortable talking about it until I knew I would be done in time. Now that I am ABD, I am confident I can get my dissertation done by July. We don't have to move to another part of the country. Matt gets to keep his job. We can stay in Texas where most of our family is. 

You can see why I feel so relieved and blessed! So congrats for living through comps with me. You won't have to read another post on the topic, promise! :)

Birthday Weekend Shenanigans!

Though my birthday isn't until tomorrow, this past weekend Matt & I headed down to the Houston area to visit my family and go to an A&M game! It was so nice getting to celebrate my birthday with my family in person for the first time in what seems like forever. My dad grilled us some amazing steaks on his new grill and we also had some delicious smoked ribs. My parents were able to go to the game with us and we really enjoyed getting to see campus and the new Kyle Field! Though it was a late game (kick off at 8 PM!), we enjoyed getting to see our Aggies beat the Rice Owls that night! 

We didn't get home until late Sunday evening because we had a get-together with our church's small group at some friends' condo in downtown Dallas. Between the authentic St Louis BBQ pork steaks, delicious ice cream pie, and the amazing view of the skyline, it was a great way to end our amazing weekend!

The delicious steak that cannot be beat.

Our last minute birthday ice cream cake! So good :)

Have to get our picture with Sully!

The new student section side of Kyle Field. SO different but I like it a lot!

The new Aggie War Hymn statue

Love this picture of the four of us!

One of the reasons we went to this game was to take part in the Young Alumni Tailgate.
Some of those in attendance were former yell leaders, so they
led us in a mini-yell practice before the game.

Inside the stadium!

View of the new screen from our seats in the third deck of the south end zone

And gotta have a picture of the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band!

View from our friends' condo in downtown Sunday night

We got to go onto the roof and get some more views of
downtown-- looking towards the American Airlines Center

It was quite a weekend, but I had a lot of fun! As for my actual birthday, it will involve doing some studying in the morning (because comps), relaxing in the afternoon, then we'll see! 

Hope you have a great week!