Got my race on - finally!!

This weekend I ran a 5K!!  It was my first race in almost a year, my first race since having a baby, and my first race  since moving to the continent of South America. 

 

 

It was tough!  Considering I really only trained for about a week I guess it went well enough.  I actually had to stop and walk a couple of times, which is something I used to never have to do.  I finished in 38:47, way behind my husband, but as usual he was there at the finish line waiting for me with a smile and a hug.

 

  

Our oldest daughter and nephew were also there waiting for us because they had gotten up early to go watch us run.

 

 

Just a few observations:

1. The starting line is like a wild horse stampede with people practically running each other over coming out of the start area.  I’m used to races with a little more calmness at the beginning.

 

2. Three point one miles is a looooooong way to go when one has only been running for about two weeks after almost a year of no running.

 

3. There is a running community in Santa Cruz!!!  And I can’t wait to get more involved with my running and racing periodically like I did in the states.  Awww, that makes me miss my old running partner – hi Amanda!!!

 

4. Four words – water in a bag.  Coolest thing ever!  See, like I wrote about last week, there is one more random thing that comes in a bag to add to the list! I thought it was so cool I saved one and brought it home.

 

5. Despite sucking eggs from pretty much the start of the race, it was FUN!  It felt good to get the pre-race jitters again, to feel the anticipation of the race, to wake up early and get ready to go, to run with the cool morning breeze in your face, and the sweet feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment one feels after the race is over.  Even the post-race naps are the best as you rest your weary bones and sore knees!

 

After the race we went out for Salteñas.  Salteñas are like empanadas, or meat pies, but they are made with the most delish sweet dough and then are baked to perfection.  I LOVE them, especially the spicy beef ones! 

 

We also had Maracuya (passion fruit) smoothies.  I CANNOT get enough of this stuff!  Maracuya smoothies, ice cream, and mousse are my favorites! Maracuya was a rare find in the states.  There were only two places I had ever had it before moving here.  The first was in College Station, Texas, in my good old Aggieland.  There was this little smoothie place in the food court and every time my friend Cristina and I went to the mall, we had to have our Passion fruit and strawberry smoothies.  Awww, remember the good ole days, Cris??  The second place I had Maracuya was in Houston at a Columbian restaurant called Mi Pueblito.  I pretty much drink it everyday here, and at the market where we shop for our fruits and vegetables every week, the vendor and his wife see me coming and pack up some Maracuya fruits for me.  But I digress.

 

We had our post-race breakfast of champs and then headed home.
 

 It felt good to be back in the racing saddle again and I can’t wait for the next race!

It's been a great month, there's no comparison, and everything comes in a bag

Yesterday marked one month to the day since we arrived in Bolivia.  After having officially been a resident of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia for one month, I have much to talk about!  Over the next few posts I want to talk about some observations I have made since living here.  I think the easiest way to do it, so as to attempt to cover as much as I can, is to do it in list form and then to go more in-depth as it occurs to me.  I don’t want to miss anything and I want to get it all out before I forget!!!  In my absence I seem to have gotten kind of rusty with this blogging thing and it’s going to take me a hot second to get back into the swing of things.  I’ll be back to jotting notes and taking pictures everywhere we go in no time!  The truth is that I have missed blogging, and have sincerely wanting to go back to it since the day I stopped.  However, the last fifteen months have been one roller coaster of a ride (that’s a whole other show, as Oprah would say…more on this later), and life never permitted me the kind of time commitment it would need. Nevertheless, I promised myself (and my friends) that I would start blogging again once we moved here.  I’m doing it in part to document our adventures while starting our new life in a new continent and in part to allow my friends and family to keep up with what we are up to.

My first impression of Bolivia is definitely a positive one!  I LOVE it here!  I love my beloved United States of America and while I absolutely loved living in Houston, the only thing I genuinely, truly miss with all of my heart is the people I left behind: my Mom, my friends and my family.  I especially miss this lady…I love you, Mom! 

 

Mom and I.

Now don’t get me wrong, there are certainly other aspects about the motherland that I am going to miss as well.  I miss the creature comforts, the overabundance of EVERYTHING, the clean streets, and the excellent customer service at restaurants.

Before I continue,* turns down the music* I want to take a second to talk about something a little more serious. A disclaimer, if you will.  I do not, and I repeat DO NOT, want this blog to turn into a “Bolivia vs. USA” thing.  I want to make that clear from the start!  Obviously I will be comparing life here to life in the USA as part of the sharing of my adventures but I don’t want this to turn into any kind of competition.  If I share experiences while living here it is strictly for entertainment purposes.  What I don’t want this to turn into is a “it’s better here than there or better there than here” thing.  I enjoyed living in the United States, and it will always be my home.  Period.  End of story.  But I see absolutely no reason why I cant fully embrace and enjoy living here as well, and sharing my stories as I go along.

Now, with that being said, let the fun begin. *cranks the music back up*



La familia: this is what I live for. :)

Back to what I was saying.

 

One of the first things that made me want to start blogging again is the fact that everything here comes in a bag.  The most random things are bagged here!!  Ever since we got here and I first started noticing, it has become my personal mission to seek out as many random things that come in a bag as possible.  The mission is going well up to this point.  I’ve discovered many things that are sold in a bag so far.  Everything from mayonnaise to milk to salsa (which, incidentally, is not called salsa here – that is the Mexican in me talking – but is called “yahua” instead) to yogurt is sold in a bag here – even Coca Cola!  I’ll never forget the first night we were here we went to Fidalga, one of the main grocery stores here, and I saw, for the first time ever, mayonnaise in a bag. 

 

I thought it was the coolest thing!  That is, until we went to the dairy aisle and I saw the milk in a bag.  They don’t sell milk in plastic gallon jugs like they do in the states, or even in cartons like Mexico – although they have those here too – here, it is bought/sold primarily in bags.  And it comes in all flavors: plain, low-fat, chocolate, strawberry, banana, peach.  And the flavored milk tastes like a milk and fruit smoothie, not like milk with sugary, artificial strawberry flavoring like the one we have back home.  And don’t even get me started on the drinkable yogurt, which is very popular here…and which comes in tiny bags perfect for kids’ lunchboxes.  It’s like the Bolivian version of a juice box; it’s like Capri Suns or Sunny Delight or Kool-Aide…only healthier.

 

One night while still in our first week here, our oldest daughter came home from having walked to the little neighborhood store with her friends.  In her hand she had a little sandwich bag halfway filled with coca cola with a straw sticking out.  It was so funny to see her drinking a soft drink out of a bag!  What a genius use of a sandwich bag!  

 

Now, if I walk into a bar and get served a stiff drink in a to-go bag then I will consider my mission complete.  Until then, the search continues…

Hi everyone!  After a lonnnnnnnng break...much longer than intended…I am back.  No need to worry, I am fine.  Better than fine, actually!  In the last year and three months since I stopped blogging, I have still been running around hungry.  Okay, okay, I must admit, I’ve been doing a whole lot more hungry and not as much running.  To make a long story short, during my absence, I ran around hungry at school, ran around hungrier while pregnant, ran around hungry enough for two after having the baby, and am now running around hungry in Bolivia.  Yep, you read correctly, Bolivia.  My husband and I recently moved our little family to the South American country where my husband is originally from.

 

Man, do we have a lot of catching up to do!!

 

It is my hope that you haven’t completely given up on me and that you will continue reading.  I have so much to show and tell you!!  I promise to not disappear for such a long period of time again.  It is also my hope that, from this point forward, I can provide you an entertaining glimpse into my life as I RUN AROUND HUNGRY…IN BOLIVIA.

 

Please stay tuned!!

Sunday “Not-So-Fun” Day

Today was definitely NOT a “Sunday Funday”.  You see, what had happened was this…

Yesterday I started the day by eating a nice, healthy breakfast while watching the México vs. Brazil Olympics finals soccer game with the hubby.  I had my new favorite meal, the same one that I had had for three out of the last four meals: whole wheat mini pita pocket, eggs with diced steak, freshly diced tomatoes, drizzled with Chimichurri sauce.

*** In case you are wondering, Chimichurri is an Argentinean parsley/garlic/red pepper flakes/red onion/lemon juice/olive oil/throw in a blender sauce…almost like a pesto only more flavorful and with parsley instead of basil.  If you’ve ever had a dipping sauce for your bread (or a green sauce atop your steak) at a South American steakhouse or Spanish Tappas or Italian restaurants, then you know what I’m talking about this because this is pretty similar.***

 Anyway, I made a big batch the other day; we can’t get enough of it in this house!  The hubs is from South America, where this stuff is a staple because they are such big meat eaters and the little one, well she just loves it!  Honestly, I eat the least amount of it usually or get tired of it within a day or two but I have been obsessed with it too this time around!  It had been a while since I made it, so maybe that’s it.   Anyway, I drizzled this stuff onto the steak, eggs, tomato mixture and it was soooooooo good!  Well after that meal I was really full, and by the time I got hungry again it was close to my run time and I didn’t want to eat and get full before the run so I just waited.  Well I went for my run and then got cleaned up and dressed and well, long story short, we ended up at a Mexican restaurant at 10:30pm.  Big mistake.  Huge.

Let me preface this by saying that I really don’t like eating at Mexican restaurants.  No offense, but most Mexican restaurants (around here anyway) are actually “TexMex” and well, when you grow up eating real Mexican food everyday, three meals a day, home-cooked by your straight-from-México grandmother and aunt (that never even learned to speak English when they came to the states) until the age of 18 when you went off to college, well, suffice to say, the other stuff just doesn’t measure up.  If I do eat it, I prefer to eat at a good old Taquería or Carnicería (meat market); the smaller, the greasier, the least-likely-to-hear-English being spoken, the better!!  

So we went to this Mexican restaurant, and by now it’s been about 12 hours since I last ate anything and I am HANGRY!!  Translation = hungry + angry.  I’m so hungry I’m grumpy and my head was hurting big time.  I wanted food, and lots of it, and chose a platter that included two ground beef (which I never even eat anymore, we only buy ground turkey) enchiladas, rice, charro beans and a small salad.  Oh, and I told the waiter to please keep the chips and salsa and guacamole/green salsa dip coming.  Oh, it pains me even just thinking about it now!!  I never eat like this, it's not good for my system, and I know this...and  I did it anyway!! #momentofweakness

I ate everything on my plate.  Ever.y.thing, and made a nice dent in the chips basket and salsa bowls too.  On the ride home I was already starting to feel sick, and by the time I made it to bed (passed out, actually) the food felt like a giant rock in my stomach.  I slept fretfully and tossed and turned and sweated all night, and my hubs finally woke me up at like 3:30 am and gave me some Picot in water, which is the Mexican version of Alka-Seltzer only in powder form.  This is the best stuff ever and usually does the trick anytime something has my tummy hurtin’!  Not this time, however, because I awoke early this morning to watch the Olympic Men’s marathon and I still felt sick!  I watched the last half-hour or so of the marathon, climbed back in bed and that is where I stayed the rest of the day. 

I only got up for bathroom trips, napped on-and-off, read a book, and finally ate a tiny bowl of cereal that my daughter brought me around 2pm.  My hubby and daughter kept coming in to check on me – it’s just not like me to stay in bed all day – and they knew I was feeling awful!  Honestly, I had not felt this bad in forever, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that my daughter – who had virtually the same meal – felt perfectly fine, I would have been convinced I had food poisoning.  I’m still not totally convinced that I don’t.  L

I finally made it out of bed and got showered and dressed and we went to Souper Salad for dinner where I had some Chicken Noodle Soup and cornbread with my salad.  The food didn’t make me feel any better but at least it didn’t make me sick!

The highlight of my day, aside from the fact that I almost got an entire book read, was that I ended the evening having Tapioca at my favorite place, with one of my favorite people ever, my friend Amanda.  We got caught up since we hadn’t seen each other for most of the summer.  We jumped from topic to topic in the crazy way that we always do, and it was great to get to spend some time with her.  I can’t wait until we see each other again!

Now I’m home and heading to bed because I actually have to go to work tomorrow...and I'm still not feeling very well.  We have an all day staff development and it starts at 8:00 am.  Guess it’s that time of the year when I have to start getting back into routine.  Darn!!  No more Olympics, no more late night runs, no more staying in my PJ’s till gym time, and no more staying up all night and sleeping late the next day!

Summer is (almost) over; the new year has (almost) begun! 

Lunch date, Olympic Opening Ceremonies and Late-night Pho

Yesterday was a great day, filled with great food!

I had lunch with two of my favorite people, my best friend Rachel and her mom, Dian who I call “Ma” because she is like a second mother to me.  I love spending time with these two ladies!  Whether it’s a road trip, early morning breakfast meet-up, or lunch or shopping date, they make the hours slip by like seconds!  I feel so comfortable with them and can let my hair down, so to speak, and be my real (crazy/dramatic/silly/random/OCD/sarcastic) self and they don’t even get scared away! 

We ate at Mi Luna, a Spanish Tapas restaurant, in Rice Village. 

Source

Mi Luna is an old favorite, although I hadn’t eaten there in almost a year.  We ordered several Tapas, including some of my favs like Empanadas and goat cheese with marinara sauce and garlic toast, and beef kabob skewers over Saffron rice.  DELICIOUS!!!  It was Ma’s first time eating there and she really enjoyed the food.  Rach and I considered ordering some Sangrias but since it was only noon on a Friday, we decided to be good.  I regret that decision now, though; we totally should have done it.  I mean, it’s always 5 o’clock somewhere, right?!

After eating, we walked around the many shops in Village Arcade, which is famous for lots of little shops and restaurant.

Source

I love this area and used to frequent it often when I lived inside the loop with some college roommates back when I first moved to Houston.  We shopped for clothes and makeup.  Rachel is THE person to shop with if you really want to get serious about it – she really knows her stuff!!  Shopping with her is like shopping with Stacy and Clinton from TLC’s “What Not To Wear,” which happens to be one of my favorite shows.  I may or may not follow both of them (and of course, Carmindy too) on Twitter.  #crazyfan

Source

Shopping kind of turned out to be “window shopping” since neither one of us really bought anything.  I take that back, I did buy some body spray from Victoria’s Secret…but refrained from going crazy on the makeup (another obsession of mine!) even though we went to MAC and Sephora.  Hubs, aren't you proud of me? Man, I’ve come such a long way. #progress

Afterward, I came home and took a nap.  I have a CONFESSION to make: I slept through the Olympics Opening Ceremony even though my daughter kept trying to come and wake me up like I asked her to, and even though I was being a grumpy napper and shooing her away.  I finally woke up around 7:30, got dressed and went out and ran 2.6 miles in 24:39 minutes with a pace of 9:30min/mile.  #proud  #usuallyslowerbutnottodaysucka

After coming home and cleaning up, I was fortunate to catch the repeat of the Opening Ceremonies.  The Parade of Nations literally made me cry; I’m such a baby sometimes!  It’s just unfathomably amazing to me how the Olympics magically brings so many people from different cultures, backgrounds, languages, heritages, all together in one place at one time.  And for that one night, everyone is so united – and EVERYTHING else is put aside: language barriers, wars, civil unrests, and religious differences.  It’s all so absolutely incredible!  Of course, the next day things are different because the competition begins but for one magical night, all the rest falls away and is forgotten. 

Source

I thought the ceremony was fantastic and loved all the little surprises they included.  Great job, London!!

While watching the ceremonies, my hubs came home from work and it was then that I realized 1. that I had not eaten since noon, and 2. that was almost 12 hours ago, and 2. no wonder I could feel a huge headache coming on.

 

The solution?  Late-night Pho.

 

We went to one of our favorite Vietnamese restaurants, Pho 24, since it stays open reaaaaaly late.  We love the atmosphere of the place, love how the owners always greet us like we’re their long-lost personal friends, and (of course) love the food!  The little one and I ordered our all-time favorite, the Pho Tai.  If you’ve never tried Pho, I encourage you to go out and try it TODAY!!  Pho, in case you are wondering, is a rice noodle soup with the most flavorable broth and meat.  I favor the steak, which is super-thinly sliced and served raw but actually cooks in the steaming hot broth while you stir it around a bit.

Pho, with the meat cooking in the broth.

I am convinced Pho is the cure for everything.  Or at least, it’s cured many of my ailments over the years.  Colds, body aches, tummy aches, hangovers (tried and true from my partying days!), Pho cures anything that aches!! 

Pho Tai once it's been sturred around.

The hubs ordered his favorite pork porridge stew.  We both got some sandwhiches too; I got the Chargrilled Pork and he got a fried egg and pate one.

Chargrilled Pork Bánh mì  (Sandwhich)

Hubby's food. Yum!!

Hubby getting his food ready.

Only this crazy little family does things like go for Pho at midnight on a Friday.  We are so random and I love it! 

Little one enjoying her Pho.  She's becoming a pro on the chopsticks!

I'm doing a happy dance on the inside.

One last thing I have to tell you about!  I downloaded the Instagram Collage app to my Ipod while we were at dinner.  (The restaurant even has free Wifi too, does it get any better?!?)

Late night Pho!

Having lots of fun playing with it!  Expect to see lots more collage pics like that one.  Kind of like all of the # you saw in this post!  J

  

  

Today I had “lunch” with two really good friends of mine, Rachel and Kendralyn.  They are both counselors (CONGRATULATIONS to Kendy who just finished her program!) but we all met a few years back as teachers working on the same campus.

In case you’re wondering, lunch is in parenthesis because I don’t even know if it can be considered “lunch.”  Can it still be considered lunch if you sit and talk for four hours after you have finished eating?! 

Now, while those of you that know me might find it easy to believe that I might exaggerate every now and then (I cant imagine why, it’s not like I’m a DRAMA QUEEN or anything!!), I PROMISE I am not kidding when I say we were at the restaurant for five hours.  We had a lot to catch up on, and since none of us had anywhere else we had to be (the joys of being school employees), we took our time and enjoyed ourselves!

Kendy (l) and Rachel (r).  Aren't they gorgeous?!

We’re lucky they didn’t kick us out.  Although we did get a few funny looks from the employees a time or two. J

We ate at Fadi’s, a Mediterranean restaurant with awesome food!  I lovessss me some Mediterranean food!!  I went through a phase about two years ago where I was all about the hummus, pitas, Shawarmas, Fatoush, falafel, lamb shanks, and kabobs!  Oh, who am I kidding?!  I would still take those over a burger and fries anyday! 

Check out this goodness; I had the lamb shank with half cabbage salad and half artichoke salad.  Divine!  I think what I love the most about Mediterranean food is the strong, intense flavors…heavy with garlic, basil, and lemon.  Three favorite flavors ever…and in that order.

Yummy...and pretty darn healthy too!!!

  

I love the way the restaurant is decorated; even the bathrooms have a swanky feel. J  I told my friends that when I build my dream kitchen in my dream home one wall was going to look like this:

I especially love that they actually use those veggies!  Over the course of the day, since I was sitting facing the wall, I saw several employees take veggies from there for dicing, chopping, and cooking. #prettybutuseful

Out of all the things we discussed, one thing that Kendy said really stuck in my head.  Now remember, I’m a sucker for a good quote and have been collecting quotes since I was in the sixth grade.  So when she said it, the first thing I thought was that I needed to add it to my collection...and put it up on my wall! 

I’m not sure exactly what we were talking about, but she said that she constantly reminds herself that sometimes in life you have to “DO IT AFRAID.” 

DO IT AFRAID

Isn’t that amazing?!  And sooo true!  Sometimes there are things in life that scare the crap out of us – but we have to do them anyway.  We have to do the things that scare us the most, regardless of the possible outcomes or consequences.  Otherwise, we would let the fears in our lives paralyze us into inaction. 

Like Franklin D. Roosevelt so famously put it, in his 1933 inauguration speech,

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

 

His wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, was pretty wise herself and she once said,

“You must do the thing that you fear the most.”

That means putting aside our fear of rejection, fear of inadequacy, fear of incompetence, fear of whatever.  Easier said than done, I know, but what have you got to lose?  I think sometimes the worst thing is the fear of the unknown.  The fear of the woulda-coulda-shoulda, and of not knowing what would have happened had we just tried, that eats us up.

To Kendy’s credit, when Rachel and I told her how much we loved her mantra, she said she couldn’t take the credit because she had heard it in one of Joyce Meyer’s sermons.  Regardless of who said it, I think it’s magnificent and would like to thank my friend for speaking those words into my life.

So I challenge you to go out there and do it.  Whatever it is that you are scared of today, face your fears.  And when times get tough, and you want to turn back, remember what Joyce Meyer, and my friend Kendy said, and forge ahead and do it anyway.  DO IT AFRAID!

Tango Tuesday, 7.24

I have decided to start something new here on the blog.  I am calling it TANGO TUESDAY and it will be my weekly post where I talk about all of the random tangents and thoughts that are dancing around in my head.  (Get it? Dancing around?  Tango Tuesday??  Kinda clever, huh? LOL!!)

So without further adeu, I present to you:

Tango Tuesday!

Source

Here are the thoughts that are dancing around in my head today:

1) I still can’t believe the horror of the shootings that happened in Aurora, Colorado on Friday.  No matter what the investigators and court trial conclude, I will never be able begin to fathom what would possess someone to do what that sick man was able to do.

2) I woke up with a wild hair today and cooked in bulk this morning.  I made:

-         balsamic vinegar roasted tomatoes

-         roasted (diced) sweet potatoes

-         a large (five cans) bowl of tuna salad with boiled eggs, diced celery, cilandtro, dill relish, RF olive oil mayo, mustard, and lemon pepper seasoning, and

-         a big batch of brown rice, enough for the whole week

3) It’s about that time for…another Jasmine Green Tea tapioca dream, I mean drink!  And it just so happens that today is double stamp day at my favorite place, Boba Zone, so I’m thinking my daughter and I may have to head over there after the gym tonight!

4) I really need to get on the ball if I’m going to complete my July goals by the end of this month!  And I only have a week left to do it in!  I may have been a little over-zealous when I planned it all out, and will keep this in mind when I plan my goals for August in the next couple of weeks.  It’s good to set your goals high, but not so high that they are unattainable! J 

5) What is going on with the Jackson family?!?!  Is any one else confused with all the “where’s grandma-Katherine” business going on, or is it just me?!

6) I’m super excited about two things going on later today:

1)               a kick-butt workout with a Body Pump class, followed by 2 miles and then ½ a Zumba class and then

2)               going to visit my new nephew!!!  Our friends Marco and Lety’s beautiful son (from this baby shower) came into the world yesterday!  We get to see him for the first time in person today…and I can’t wait to hold him!  I also can’t wait for him to rock his motorcycle onesies and his sock/shoe checkered Vans socks that match!

Hope you enjoyed the new TANGO TUESDAY and reading some of the random thoughts that are dancing around in my head!  I gotta go…gym here I come!