Just a Hop, Skip, & a Jump Away... I Wish!

So.  San Diego.  I can't even begin to describe what an amazing time I had on that trip!  We made a few stops first, since we wanted to take full advantage of the fact that we had decided to drive all the way down.  That was one of the longest drives of my life (second to the drive from here to OKC).  Well, rides I should say, since I still don't know how to drive a standard (yes, that is what I call manual transmission vehicles).

Anyway, our first official stop was at this cute little Danish town called Solvang.  Jacques knew about this bakery shop called Olsen's and that was where we had breakfast that morning.  So after some [very strong] coffee and a cinnamon roll, we headed off to explore a little bit of the town:

Olsen's Bakery & Coffeeshop, where we ate.

New Beginnings

First off, I totally hate that cliché title, but I'm not in a mood to think of something better.

So before I plunge into posting the pictures from our absolutely amazing trip down to San Diego, I needed to write about this.  Jacques and I have decided to make the rather life-changing decision of taking control of our health and changing our lifestyle.  Officially starting last night, we have started a 5k training program, I believe it's called Couch-to-5k.  Or something like that.  We are total newbies in running, or at least I am... I think he said he used to run around 25 years ago or so.  The only steady running I've ever done in my life was back in my early years when I started playing soccer and then later when I was on my high school soccer team.  And I remember hating it with a passion!  Though I put up with it because I loved playing soccer so much.  So yeah, this will be fun.

Ironically though, I'm really excited to get started on this training and eventually become an actual runner who likes to run and does it for enjoyment.  We started out walking last night for 1.7 miles, at around a 3.0 mph pace.  Though we missed our time goal by 3 minutes, so the program has us doing the same thing again tomorrow night.

Anyway, shameless plug time:  I've also started using MyFitnessPal again as a tool to help me track all the exercise and calorie intake.  I love the site because of all of the support from random people who are on the very same journey (plus the app that makes it easy for me to update everything from my phone).  It's also very motivating to me to be able to see their success and experiences.  I've already lost 4 pounds since starting back up last Friday.  If anyone out there reading this has an account there, I would love to be friends, I could use all of the support I can get to keep me on track!  You can find me here.

Long Time No See...

Well, first off, sorry for the long absence!  I didn't realize it had been over 6 months since my last post until now.  I blame it on my lack of spontaneous photography road trips lately... or at all.  I can't even remember the last time we went on a weekend-photography-trip, which is sad because I really do miss all the photo opps I used to find.  I feel like life has just been hitting us too hard as of late.  We've had some major setbacks within this past month alone and it's been difficult to find the extra time (& money).

Anyway... we did get the opportunity to travel out to Little Rock, Arkansas at the end of March, where I was able to satisfy at least a few of my photographic urges.  We ended up taking a totally spontaneous road trip to Memphis, TN while we were there as well, but we weren't able to spend as much time as we'd hoped.  Though the main purpose of the whole trip was to be there for my Granny's 90th birthday party, and to visit with my family, especially my sweet nephew Aidan, who has gotten so big in such a short amount of time, btw!

Jacques by the wall outside of Elvis's house.

I loved looking through and finding little messages from tourists...

Beale Street scene... we ended up eating lunch over at Flynn's on the other side of the road.

The Love & Happiness bus!  It was stopped over by the Orpheum theatre.