New Orleans!

Josh and I have never been to New Orleans before, and neither had my friend Lauren. So, we decided what better way to spend a summer weekend than meeting up in this crazy city and exploring it together! Plane ticket was booked, hotel was booked, swamp tour was reserved, we were ready to go.

We show up at the airport to pick Lauren up and I get out to hug her, when she says, "I ran into an old friend we both know from college at the airport," then she yells across the street, "hey, do you want a ride?" At this point, I think it's a little strange that she would offer this person a ride without checking with me first, but I figure it's fine. Then I look across the street, and it's my beloved LUCY! Those rascals planned her surprise visit without me even having an inkling of an idea about it!

Still in shock! I was pretty much speechless. 

It was so fabulous to be with the girls again. We had lots of fun at BYU together, and now that we are spread out across the country, it was so good to reconnect! This definitely needs to be a regular event.

It was a very busy weekend!

Day One:

• Beignets

• Oak Alley Plantation

• Coop's Place for lunch: fried crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp creole, duck quesadilla

• Jackson Square and Bourbon Street

Day Two:

• Swamp Tour, complete with gators, bugs, and wild hogs

• Fried Alligator and Catfish Po' Boy for lunch

• Trolley and Garden District  

• Softshell crab and oysters for dinner

Day Three:

• City Park

•  Paddle Boating 

• Saying good-bye  :(

Overall, I loved New Orleans! It's very unique and there's a lot to do. I'm sure this won't be the last time we make a trip down there...

Choctaw Indian Fair

We are always on the lookout for fun/unusual/novel things to do while in the south. Partly because it is fun to do fun/unusual/novel things, partly because it tends to happen naturally that most of the events that take place here are unusual and novel for us, and {generally} fun.

While googling one day, I stumbled upon the Choctaw Indian Fair. Choctaw is about 2 hours away from us, so at first I was a bit skeptical, but knowing that if we didn't go, we would just be watching The West Wing and sitting on the couch {again}, we decided who cares about driving 4 hours to go to an INDIAN FAIR? C'mon, let's be real, that's a no-brainer.

We made our way over to Choctaw and were pleasantly surprised with a fabulous evening. First, we got to see THE world champion of hoop dancing and his cute little son practicing on the side.

The biggest reason we went though, was because country star Josh Turner was performing. This was great for many reasons: Josh has always been a big Josh Turner fan (maybe it's the name), it was super cheap, and the venue was super small with a crowd that was 80% over the age of 60, which made it easy to get close to the stage.  Josh Turner's voice was smooth, deep, and beautiful, and his wifey played the keyboard and sang backup with him! Super adorable. There also aren't many concerts that stumble through Mississippi, so to find someone we had actually heard of and really liked was all but a miracle. 

 Mandolin shout-out for Lucy

We made new friends who came with us! Yay! 

(apologies for the quality of the photo taken by random teenage girl)

We didn't get to go to any of the other Indian Fair events, because we had to get back to our dear doggie, but it was super fun and I'll definitely go back!

Miss Mississippi

One of the perks of living in Vicksburg is that the Miss Mississippi pageant takes place right down the street from where we are living! Some of you may ask, "But Sarah, I didn't know you were so into pageants?" Well friends, I'm not. But I don't mind a good ol' fashioned parade, and that is exactly what the Miss Mississippi pageant provided me with last night.

While there was no candy throwing and no elaborate floats in this parade, it was complete with convertibles, police cars and fire trucks (with accompanying sirens), dancers, and young women beautifully adorned in feathers, sequins, and satin. What's not to love?

All set up and ready for it to start! 

(it's a little hot here)

Yes, they are pointing and smiling at Franklin. 

I forgot to mention the zombies!

THE Miss Mississippi, also pointing and smiling at Franklin. He's basically famous. 

In all seriousness though, it was fun, and, as Mississippi has proven to be very good for, something I have never done before, but probably something that I will do again (this is an annual event, after all). Who knows? Some day, we may even scrap together the $50/ticket and actually go to the pageant itself.

I've always been a bit perplexed by pageantry, seeing as I often go day-to-day with no makeup (during summers at least) and without brushing my hair (a year-round occurrence). I'm not much for dressing up all that often, either. However, skeptic though I was, I read some of the bio's of the contestants in the pageant and was thoroughly impressed. One of the girls holds District, Regional, and State titles in high school track, got 11th in the 400m at Nationals, and was even on the front of a Wheaties box! If you're not impressed by that, you should go run a 400m sprint and then talk to me. So alas, my initial skepticism was met with proof that there is more than feathers, sequins, and satin involved in pageants, for which I was quite relieved.

Now I Know Why My Husband Calls Me Crazy

On Saturday, I ran in the Jalepeno Half Marathon in Ft. Worth, TX.
Now, I had been to Texas before, and I even went running there on one visit. But I am living in Mississippi for the summer and train in a very hilly national military park for every run, so I thought, "13.1 miles in Texas in the middle of the summer will be FINE!"

I was mistaken.

I had high hopes for this race: I was training at an 8:30/9:00 minute pace, so this was my goal for the race. I had been doing speed work one day/week and had seen improvements in my pace and times. I had been running in MS for a few weeks and had been out some very humid days (as well as in DE). I thought I would be FINE!

Again, I was mistaken.

The first 5 miles started out great, I was trying not to push myself too much and averaged about an 8:30 pace. I felt good, I was passing people, the course was very flat, and I thought "Yea, I got this."

^^All smiles and thumbs up between miles 3 and 4^^

I had a Gu at mile 4, followed by an excruciating side cramp at mile 5. I get cramps like this sometimes that aren't normal cramps that you can just run through and they go away. They are bent-over-in-pain-I-think-I'm-going-to-die cramps. I don't get them all the time, but of course on raceday, I did. The cramp bothered me for the next 3ish miles, and at this point, the sun was beating down and I was only about halfway done with the race. I fought the cramp and the heat the rest of the way to the finish line, stopping to walk more than I ever thought I would and more than my pride will allow me to admit, but I finished!

Please enjoy the following procession of pictures, in which my face tells quite a story (also note the jubilation on the runner's faces behind me, in contrast with my own face):

My goal started at finishing at 1:45, then after the cramp hit, it changed to 2:00, then after the heat got unbearable, it changed to just surviving and finishing. Needless to say, it was definitely not my best race or run, but I am grateful that I finished, didn't pass out, and didn't get injured. This just means the next race has to be that much better, right??

Results: 

Overall 304/867

Age Division 29/78 

10:51 pace; 2:22:13 time

Weather:

8am: 81 degrees, 62% humidity

9am: 84 degrees, 56% humidity

10am: 88 degrees, 53% humidity

After the race, Josh and I went to downtown Dallas with our friends and their kids that we were visiting. We rode in an old trolley, went to a park/splashpad that was built above a freeway, ate from a food truck, and had gelato. Despite the disappointment, frustration, pain, and heat of the race, it was a fabulously fun weekend!