Never fear---our neighborhood is well protected with these super-heroes living next door to me!


  

I mean, who stands a chance against eyes like these?!?!

This past weekend was a really good weekend.   While I've touched on parts of it (the 5K race), there was so much more.  Ron had originally planned to go hunting this past weekend, so he had taken off work on Friday.  When the hunting plans fell through, that left him with a free day, so I met him at Norton's during my lunch break.  Ron packed a picnic and we enjoyed it among the plants and streams.  It was so nice and relaxing, it was hard to leave to go back to work. 

That night, we grilled pizzas and enjoyed them out on the deck.  The hummingbirds must have been hiding someplace a little warmer this time.

















For dessert, I made Cinnamon Popcorn, and we munched on it while we watched a movie.  So Yummy!!

Saturday morning was race time and I guess I got a touch of "runner's high" after that because I became quite the busy bee around the kitchen.   I know that for most people it takes 15 miles or so, but for me, running my first 5K did it!    I'd been wanting to try out these freezer crock pot meals I'd seen over on Pinterest.

Source: melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com via Linda on Pinterest

After a trip to the grocery store, I began chopping, peeling and bagging.  

I actually love to chop vegetables for some reason, and my new chopper from Pampered Chef made that job really easy.   I was so busy chopping that Ron had to go pick up Callie at the airport!   The recipes I followed made ten meals for us that are now neatly stacked in the freezer awaiting the crock pot.  I'll let you know what I think after we try them out!
***Tried the BBQ chicken last night and it was really good***

Saturday evening, the LSU vs. Florida game was on TV, but by that time, I was beginning to crash and actually ended up falling asleep during parts of the game.  I guess a Runner's High can only last for so long.

Ron had the idea of having another picnic after church on Sunday afternoon.  While I was at church, he packed the lunches and after bundling up for the cool temperatures, we headed out to the Red River Wildlife Refuge.  When we arrived, we were the only people there and it was so nice!  We picnic'ed by the lake.

In addition to our sandwiches, enjoyed some of the pecans that were all over the ground (yes, I know it is probably against the law to pick up pecans at a center like this, but . . . ).  

Along the way, we saw lots of footprints---raccoon, skunk, deer and some that we later learned were from a bobcat.  

The walk around the lake was about 3.5 miles and I loved seeing all the flowers and butterflies along the way.  We kept our eyes open for wood ducks, but they have much better ears than we do and always fled before I could get a photo. 

After a quick tour of the visitor's center (which is REALLY nice), we went down to the Revel site to watch and listen as Callie and Jordan performed with their church's praise band. 

You can't go to the Revel without sampling some of the food, so we shared an order of fried crawfish tails that was delish!!  It was really cold that evening, so we headed home in time to be able to watch the Saints game.  

The weekend was so great--from beginning to end!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday, Mama!!

Last Weekend

In my continuing effort to "catch up", here are a few pictures from last weekend.  Valine and Troy came up and stayed with us Thursday night.  I had hoped to go to Canton with them Friday (the shopping is usually lots more fun on Friday), but I ended up needing to work 1/2 day instead, so they left without me.  Of course, Valine and Ron finally had a chance to meet each other and he had a blast with her sense of humor.   We all laughed a lot and "MM" plotted ways to use her "gift" to get her back.

I was able to join Valine and Troy late Friday afternoon for a few hours of shopping.  As usual, there are always some oddities at Canton,



but the company is the best part anyway!  :-)



We pretty much closed the place down



and then headed east to Pam and David's house.  Along the way, there was the biggest full moon over the highway---soo pretty.



After a relaxed morning with our hosts



we drove back to Shreveport to do a little shopping.  First we stopped at Julie Anne's for lunch and a few pretty cookies.



It rained ALL day long, but the weather certainly didn't deter our shopping!  The evidence was in the back seat!

Run a 5K --- Check!

For the last 7 weeks, I've been using the "Ease Into 5K" program on my iPhone, along with one of my co-workers.  She's a week ahead of me, but we've both been pretty faithful about running 3 times aa week with the goal of finally being able to run an entire race.  I've walked quite a few 5K' races---a few years ago, they were a struggle to finish, but as I've dropped pounds and become more active with aerobics, etc., even walking a race has gotten so much easier.

One of the items on  my "bucket list" for quite some time has been to actually run a 5K.  My goal was to be in good enough shape to do it by the middle of November when Ron runs his half-marathon.  But, this morning, bright and early, Danette and I showed up at the Red River Revel for the annual road race.  

There was a 15K that several people from the running group participated in and also a 5K.  During the night, a cold front moved in, bringing brisk temperatures in the low 50's and a breeze.  And we did it!!  We ran an entire 5K without stopping to walk at all!!  I finished in 39:50 and Danette was a few minutes behind me and it was really great to have friends from the running group cheering at the finish line!   While I can check that off my bucket list, I look froward to continuing the training and getting faster!

The Photographer's Workshop

Most of you know that I had the privilege of taking Karen Russell's photography class, The Photographer's Workshop, this summer.  To say it was awesome is just a major understatement.  I enjoyed the class so much and learned more than I can begin to explain.  Of course, I still have such a long way to go, but I feel so much more confident when I pull out my camera----and I almost always shoot in manual mode now!!!

Karen will soon be starting enrollment for another class session soon and if you've ever thought about taking a class, I hope you'll hop on over to her site and take a look.   Here's one of my favorite recent photos:

I know I've been "MIA" lately, but things have been busy and I've been enjoying the business.  Here's the first re-cap of the last few weekends.

It's funny how a weekend can be crazy busy and yet relaxing at the same time!   Two weekends ago was one of those.  Friday night, we had absolutely no plans and it was wonderful.  The weather was nice, and almost as soon as Ron got off work, we sat outside on the deck.   The hummingbirds kept us entertained for a very long time---chasing each other away from the red Turk's Cap flowers in the flowerbed around the deck.









(Emmi stayed busy chasing squirrels on the power lines).

We had a simple dinner of grilled chicken and corn on the cob and it was quite yummy!



As a last minute touch, we toasted some marshmallows over the grill and made s'mores for dessert!



Saturday morning, we went running.  The temperatures were in the low 60's and the skies were clear.  It was great!  Ron ran about 9.5 miles with others from his running group.  I'm a little over half-way through my "Ease Into 5K" program,  so it is getting much more challenging for me, too.  After running my program one way, I walked back with one of the ladies from the group, which gave us a chance to get to know each other.

Immediately after running, we took quick showers and then headed to the church to work at the food pantry.  It was crazy busy there, with a long line extending down the sidewalk before we even arrived.  Unfortunately, we were down one worker and one computer, too, so the time flew by.

Finally, we headed down to Cheneyville to visit Dan.  Dan was pretty excited about meeting Ron, and at one point during lunch, he played the part of protective big brother by leaning over the table and asking, "So how is your dating going?".   Dan wowed Ron by repeatedly identifying a variety of songs and artists from the 60's after hearing just the intro to their songs.   It was fun to visit him and to see his friends, too.







(Dan took this one)



The drive home went pretty quickly with both of our phones tuned to the LSU football game---Ron's had the video and mine was plugged into the car speakers for the audio.  Six months ago, who would have thought THAT would be happening in my car?!?!?