If I Didn't Run... / Tuesdays on the Run

Today, and Tuesdays moving forward, I am going to link up with my girl Patty & her crew for Tuesdays on the Run!  I'd love to meet other runners and start reading some new blogs, and I think this will be a great way to do it!

If I Didn't Run...

I would walk.  I know that sounds silly... but it's the truth!  I started running back in 2013.  I had just lost a decent amount of weight and was really getting into the whole "fitness scene".  Running was okay but it wasn't something I loved.  My husband and I were watching the Today show while getting ready for work, and Al Roker had just finished the NYC Half Marathon.  I told my husband "Hey... if Al Roker can run a half marathon... I think I can, too!"

A proper response from my dear, sweet, husband should have been "you sure could!" ... but no.  Instead, he paused, sighed, and said: "thirteen miles is a LOT of miles".

Challenge accepted.

From that day forward I was all about running.  It was still a little while before I picked a race (Wine & Dine Half Marathon) and set an actual plan... but once that happened... I was hooked.

Training for that race really changed my life.  I was dealing with infertility at the time - and it was my way to show myself that my body COULD do anything I wanted it to do.  It gave me faith that one day, I would get pregnant.  It showed me that I could do anything that I put my mind to.  It was proof that anyone, anywhere, can lace up and accomplish a goal.

So yeah... if someone told me tomorrow that I could no longer run... I would walk.  Miles are miles and I don't think I'm ready to give up my runDisney races...

... if I straight up DIDN'T run, I'd be cranky.  I'd be lazy.  I'd be irritated.  Running is my therapy - it's my time to myself where I think.  I breathe.  I connect with nature... and on days where nature sucks and I'm stuck on a treadmill... it's my time to connect to Netflix on my iPhone.

Day Trip: Waco, Magnolia Silos

Just like any warm-blooded Texas girl... I love me some Joanna Gaines.  I also love what that family, and that show, has done to the sweet town of Waco!  I spent a lot of time there when I was in college (no, I didn't go to Baylor... but my boyfriend in college lived there!)

When I watched the construction of the Silos on TV... saw the pictures online... heard the stories from my friends... I knew we had to make a trip out there. 

So, we scheduled a stop for lunch when we were planning our most recent road trip from Dallas to San Antonio... and it did not disappoint!

We went with absolutely zero expectations - it was really, really hot... and we had two little ones with us.  So if we could only handle 20 minutes... we were going to spend 20 minutes at the Silos!

Parking was... rough.  So plan for that. 

The line to get in the actual store was... long.  So for this trip, I just had to skip it.  Next time (and yes, there will be a next time) I will plan to get there a bit earlier and wait!  I do like that they only allow so many people in the store at once, I'm sure that makes for a much more pleasurable shopping experience...

The first thing we did once we got there was find something to eat.  I was on a pretty restrictive diet at the time, but we decided on the crepe food truck.  It was delicious (even though the 1-year-old and 2-year-old didn't really eat at all...)  I loved all the options... and it was my first time at any sort of "food truck park"!

We took some pictures, let the girls run around on the lawn, played on some (ridiculously expensive) bean bags... and then headed back to the car.  It was actually really quick and totally uneventful... but a blast.  I think if it were a little cooler, I didn't have my kids with me, and I had a good game plan... it would have been really cool.

I'm glad that we stopped, but really it just got me excited to go back!

Silent Sunday: A Girl and Her Corn