Normal Wednesday

Three days in a row with a new post means I'm getting back on my blogging game! Today was nothing out of the ordinary, as I woke up and went to class, squeezed in a quick workout, and headed up north to Westwood, but I'll try and keep things interesting for you guys.

Breakfast

This morning's breakfast looked identical to yesterday's, as I still had (and still have) some leftover banana-oatmeal-almond butter "dough" leftover to do with as I please. I'm choosing to simply eat it without cooking it first, because it tricks my mind into thinking that I actually like oatmeal. That might be all the add-ins (read: chocolate) talking, but it sure hits the spot every time!

After breakfast I braved the 34-degree weather and biked to my 9am class. We're currently reading and discussing Shakespeare's Othello, which I happen to really like, so I couldn't even be mad about having to brave the elements. It is always a little more difficult on the ride back, though, thanks to the headwind and slight uphill incline. When I got back to my house, I quickly shed my gloves and ear warmer for Nike shorts and a t-shirt, and headed out the door for my first treadmill workout in a while. It's certainly not a new one, but it gets the job done quickly - 4+ miles in 34 minutes - and I always leave feeling like I got in a good workout. Can't beat that!

After my time at the gym, I quickly showered and got ready to go to Westwood, where I went and observed some very exhausted-looking students take a benchmark test. I think they are also at that point in the semester when a little break would be much appreciated. Thank goodness Thanksgiving break is less than two weeks away! It will be so nice to have an opportunity to recharge for the last little bit of school that we have left. 

And because I was feeling pretty unsure about becoming a teacher at the end of last week after a pretty disastrous (okay, not disastrous, just very short on time and a lot of bored faces), I have to share with you guys two small but encouraging moments from today. One of my favorite things about coming to Westwood is that one of the students is always so excited to come up to me and talk about the latest Young Adult novel she is reading. We bonded over The Hunger Games and Divergent series, and she has been showing me up since then with the number of books she has read. It seems like she has a new book to recommend to me every other day! I love talking about books, and for a student to be reading and discussing books so enthusiastically just brings a smile to my face.

Her latest book (Source)

Another unrelated-to-academia moment happened today when two students were discussing Twinkies. One student mentioned that he had forgotten his breakfast this morning, so another student offered him a Twinkie (I know, super balanced breakfast). He had never had a Twinkie before, and he claims that his life had forever been changed. Overhearing this conversation, I asked him if he had ever had a Ding Dong, which elicited quite a few laughs from the students, who had obviously never been lucky enough to try one of my favorite childhood snacks. I also disappointed him when I told him that I don't like Twinkies, to which I received a "You must be a hater, miss!" As goofy as they are, you can't help but love them!

And now I'm off to run a few errands, and finalize lesson plans numbers eight and nine! The finish line is in sight!

Thought Catalog Tuesday

I normally have absolutely zero time available to make a blog post on Tuesday, and though I still don't have time to post this, I am going to anyway, because I don't want to let a month go by without writing at least 10 blog posts. Remember that 2012 New Year's Resolution?

Breakfast

I'll start off with a breakfast blurb, because it's been a while since I have done that. Today's breakfast wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but it was definitely one of my better batches of scrambled egg whites and spinach.

Last night I made two more batches of my banana-oatmeal-almond butter muffins, in an effort to use up some old bananas, and I had some "dough" leftover. I put it in a Tupperware container and enjoyed more than a few spoonfuls this morning alongside my egg white concoction. A little chocolate for breakfast is the best way to start out a day!

After breakfast I headed off to class, and then my group met up to finalize everything for our group presentation on Thursday. We were asked to create a Unit Map for a sophomore English class, and we have created a 6-week unit over Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. I first read the play when I was a sophomore, and though we didn't use much of them, I had fun looking over my old notes and handouts, mainly to laugh at how much my handwriting has changed over the years. 

Anyway, our Unit Map is not due in final form until the week after Thanksgiving, but each group has to present either this Thursday, next Tuesday, or the following Thursday, and our group elected to go first and just get it over with, which is fine with me, because this week is much calmer than what I'm anticipating next week to be. Our brains were fried by the time we ended at 3:15pm, and we only ended then because two of my group members had to go to class, and I went home and continued working on the unit map until I took a break to go to a spin class that had me sweating up a storm. We did a lot of sprint work, which normally I don't like, but I had been sitting and working and staring at a computer screen for so long today that I welcomed any and all physical activity.

I hurried home after my spin class was over to shower and get ready for small group, and now I am here, taking a break from my lesson planning, unit map creating, and essay writing, which is now calling my name. But not until I share these two great Thought Catalog articles with you guys:

18 Things Everyone Should Start Making Time For Again - 

• Number one on that list clearly speaks to my heart. I love letters, and I am hoping to get lots of letters off to friends in the next couple of weeks. Number 17 also really resonated me, because Sarah and I are constantly looking for another trip to take together. We haven't traveled together since Europe last summer, so be on the lookout for a suite one getaway sure to come soon! Really, though, every item on this list made me nod my head in agreement, as our culture is constantly telling us that if we aren't doing something constructive and productive, we are simply wasting our time. I know I get caught up in that mindset a lot, but taking time for things that mean a lot to me is truly so important. 

100 People You've Been at Some Point In Your Life

• I really liked this article, and I found it to be extremely well-written. It's cheesy, yet insightful. It is thought-provoking and so very true. What 20-something-year-old woman can't identify with at least 3/4 of the items on that list?

And now it's back to the books. Only two short weeks until I am blogging from my couch in Houston. Let the countdown begin!

And, because I promised you a few more formal pictures, here are some pictures of the beautiful (and a little bit dysfunctional) Anderson YoungLife team!

YoungLife Formal

I am not even going to make any excuses for why I haven't posted in over a week, because one, you are probably really tired of hearing how overwhelmingly busy I have been, but two, if I did have a spare moment to post, I didn't have too much to write about. There's only so much school talk you guys can handle. I have no new recipes for you guys, and my workouts have been nothing out of the ordinary, though I have been upping my BodyPump and cycling class game lately. Though I have been seriously slacking on the blogging front, I am hoping my post about YoungLife formal will be enough to redeem myself. If nothing else, I have some fun pictures to share with you guys.

Formal

Every year around this time, College YoungLife asks us to shed the funny costumes that we put on for crazy club themes, and dress up a little bit for a special evening. This year's theme was "YoungLife's Black and White Ball," which made going shopping for a new dress pretty easy, as there were only two color options from which to choose. I didn't really need to buy a new dress, because I have quite a few black dresses in my collection already, but since it is my last formal, I decided to make a new investment. Plus, I was really feeling like wearing winter white, because it's been a bummer not being able to sport my white pants or shorts.

Anyway, yesterday was a very full day, in that I left my house a little before 9am, and didn't get home again until about 5pm. Thankfully, I still had plenty of time to get ready and snap a few pictures with my roommates before we all went to our separate team dinners.

Suite 1 forever 

PLL

I opted to go to dinner with my old Murchison crew, and we decided on Salt Lick, round two for dinner. We also went there for dinner before formal last year, but I have yet to meet someone who doesn't like Salt Lick, so it was a well-received choice. I didn't snap a picture of my food prior to eating it (I'm a little rusty on the food pictures, and I was so hungry by the time we got our food that I dug right in). You guys can just use your imagination to picture the delicious turkey plate that I enjoyed.

After dinner we headed down some windy backroads until we arrived at the beautiful Pecan Springs Ranch near Dripping Springs. It was beautifully decorated, and it was the perfect venue for the occasion. It is technically a wedding venue, but because it is so spacious, it was a good place to have something like this, as there were quite a few of us there. You had the option of tearing up the dance floor all night, or getting a breath of fresh air and hanging out outside on the back lawn. I did a little bit of both, and it was an all-around great evening, minus some of the song choices that were a little difficult to dance to, but we'll let that slide.

3/5 of our 2011 placement night crew

Thankfully he appreciates the importance of cheesy candid pictures

It's fun to have an excuse to get all dressed up, and it was especially fun to spend time with my roommates, my old team, and my new team all in one place. There are more pictures out there that I will be sure to share with you guys when I get them, but for now, enjoy this rare dressy occasion!

And I hope to be back with some regularly scheduled workout and food posts, but we'll see how well I keep that promise! Have a GREAT Monday, and a huge thank you on this Veteran's Day to all who have served, continue to serve, and will serve our wonderful country. There aren't enough thank you's in this world for all that you do!

Start of November

HAPPY NOVEMBER! November is easily one of my favorite months (again, I feel like I say that almost every month, but November really is one of my favorites). One, I love that I can finally start to wear sweaters and boots on a regular basis, and I love the fact that November holds the month of Thanksgiving, which is easily one of my favorite holidays.

(Source)

It has been another crazy week for this blogger, which has resulted in a major hiatus from writing any new posts. I will try not to get into the habit of writing "catch up" posts, but that's what this one is sure to be, so prepare yourselves for a long one!

My week started off on a crazy note, as I had class, immediately came home to get ready for Westwood, and set off to teach lessons #5 and #6, with #6 being observed by my university observer, a former teacher of 35 years. I met with her afterward to debrief, and I left feeling really encouraged, and I can honestly say that these felt like my best lessons yet. I taught over propaganda and propaganda techniques, so the students were pretty well engaged through the entire lesson, because I shared some fun commercials with them to demonstrate many of the techniques. Though it was a fun lesson, it was a huge relief to have that observation done. One done, one to go!

Tuesday and Wednesday sort of passed by in a blur - lots of class to attend and school work to catch up on (it feels like every time I finish one thing, I add three new items to my to-do list). It's full speed ahead for the next five weeks, and I will be more than ready for a break once it's all over. Though you would probably leave this page if I started describing what I was doing in my classes, I do have to share one thing that we did in my UTeach class. You likely feel this way about poetry, but it is quite an intimidating thin, and it often has a negative stigma attached to it. I'm certainly not pointing any fingers, because unless it's written by Shel Silverstein, I probably won't like it (or I just think I don't like it). So, the idea of having to teach poetry one day (aka next year), is pretty daunting. We worked with a few different poem forms, and though I still wasn't a huge fan of many of them, there is one that I really liked, and that is probably because it allows you to write about yourself - which is obviously something I enjoy doing! It is called "I Am What I Am," and naturally, we tried our hands at this poem, so I might share that poem with you guys in a later post. You probably won't be surprised to read a lot of the things in this poem, but it was fun to try and make these different attributes sound somewhat poetic.

Halloween

And as many of you probably celebrated last night, or plan to celebrate this weekend, the last day of October is best known as Halloween. 

I normally don't do a whole lot for Halloween, as it has fallen on a weird night of the week these past few years, and I have also been unlucky in the fact that I've had an exam the following day. Not that I'm likely to do anything too crazy, anyway. Even in high school, Halloween was also pretty low-key for me. I got in a car accident on Halloween my junior year (which resulted in me standing on the side of the road wearing my mom's Halloween vest), and I played in a volleyball game against our rival, Memorial, on Halloween my senior year (capturing the district championship). So, long story short, when we got an email saying YoungLife was pairing up with a "fraternity" (aka a group of boys who created their own fake fraternity) to throw a Halloween party, I decided it would be fun for me to go. Of course, my costume didn't come together until the last minute, and I saw a whole lot of Austin while trying to find it, but now I have a banana costume to add to my costume collection, and I feel like it was a very worthwhile investment.

When Dylan said he wanted to be a gorilla for halloween, it only made sense for me to go as a banana, and thus, our costumes were born. The party was a good time, except my roommates and I were easily some of the only seniors there, but it was still run dancing to Taylor Swift's 22. I even crawled into bed just after midnight, not making it too difficult to get up and go to class this morning.

Workout

I didn't have to go to Westwood today, so I got to get in a good workout for what feels like the first time in a week. That's not really true, but it is the first time that I didn't feel pressed for time. So, today I did a combination run and arm workout, and though my arms are sure to be sore tomorrow, it felt like a really great workout. So, without further ado, this is what my workout looked like:

And now I plan on making this Friday a really productive one. I have a lot of work to do this weekend, so I'm going to get as much done today as I can before Sarah and I go out for a suite 1 dinner date. Have a great Friday!

First Run (And Post) Back

You guys probably thought I didn't make it home from San Francisco due to the fact that I have neglected this blog for the past week. It may have been midnight when I stepped foot inside my house, but I made it back to Austin safe and sound. I didn't manage to do one bit of homework on the flight home, but I did watch Midnight in Paris, and I absolutely fell in love with it. If you have never seen it, go out and rent it (if that's even a thing anymore). It's wonderful.

(Source)

I wasted no time getting back into the swing of things, as along with Monday came class, Westwood, YoungLife club, and some serious lesson planning. I am teaching my fifth and sixth lessons this coming Monday, and we have to turn in our lesson plans 48 hours in advance, excluding weekends, so that meant my lesson plan was due by Wednesday afternoon. Since I didn't get to talk with my teacher until Monday about what I would be teaching, that meant I had very limited time to actually put the plan together. It also meant I had a couple of late nights, but I managed to get the plan done in time, and I think it's a good one, but I'll get back to you on that one after I actually teach it!

Things slowed down for me a little bit on Wednesday as I didn't have to go to Westwood, and I only had one class in the morning, so I did a lot of laundry, cooking, and cleaning (though I still have yet to fully unpack from San Francisco. I seem to enjoy living out of a suitcase), and the highlight (or lowlight) of my day would probably have to be the fact that I got all the way to the register at Target, and realized I hadn't transferred my wallet over from my backpack to my purse. Unfortunately, that kind of thing happens far too often, but luckily for me, Dylan needed to get a few things at Target anyway, so he came to my rescue and took me back later that same day. 

Thursday was another whirlwind of a day, as I had class from 9:30am-12:30pm, and then I immediately set off for Westwood so that I could teach the lessons that I was going to teach a couple of week ago, but that were canceled due to a change in the schedule. I thought they went pretty well, but I also know that identifying and analyzing ethos, pathos, and logos is forever a tricky concept for many students (including myself). These classes are also pretty rowdy (especially her 8th block), so that is also a challenge for someone like me who is typically pretty timid and not prone to raising my voice, but it's something that I am working on! After school I decided to go for a walk at Town Lake, because it is one of my absolute favorite things to do, and I haven't gotten to do it for quite some time. Lucky for me, I hit it right as the sun was going down, and I got to catch a glimpse of this lovely sight.

Friday was a really wonderful day, and just the kind of day that I needed after a crazy week. I had my 9am class, and then I immediately went for a swim over at Gregory, before hurrying back to my house to shower so that I could meet Melissa, my freshman year roommate at SRD, for lunch. We decided on Galaxy Cafe in the Triangle, and since it was such a beautiful day outside, we decided to walk the 10 blocks down Lamar. Because I have my car with me in Austin, it is so easy to just drive myself everywhere, and I tend to forget how much I enjoy walking. It was a very tough decision on what to get, but I went with the garden salad (with the added grilled chicken), and a side of fresh fruit. I pretty near cleaned my plate, and it was so wonderful catching up with Melissa. It's hard to believe that we are now seniors who are about ready to graduate, but here we are, about to register for our final semester of college!

After lunch, I finally took my car back into the shop so that I could replace my headlight, and in the meantime, Dylan and I made a quick trip over to Sports Authority and Home Depot, so that he could complete yet another DIY home project. As someone who still calls her dad anytime something needs fixing or improving, I am pretty impressed with the way he just attacks any type of project. We worked in his backyard for a while, before our stomachs got the best of us and we tried a new (to me) restaurant that I absolutely recommend - Blue Star Cafeteria. It's located on Burnet, which has got to be one of the coolest streets in Austin, and everything on the menu looked wonderful. I went for the garden burger with a side of fries, and with Dylan helping me a little with the fries, my plate was clean by the end of the meal. Both of us have been pretty crazy busy this semester, so it was nice to spend some extended time together, and we were even productive in the process!

I let myself sleep in a little bit today, waking up just before 9am, and I immediately set out on running a few quick errands before coming back home to make breakfast. Breakfast was my usual scrambled egg whites and spinach, with a small honeycrisp apple and a cutie. 

It was enough to fuel me through my first run since the half marathon last Sunday. I have been doing a lot of swimming this week, mainly just to give my knees a little bit of a break, but today felt like a good day for a run. I hit the gym around 12:30pm, and ran 5.3 miles, mainly following my 45-minute treadmill workout. It felt good to get in a good run, though running always turns my stomach into a bottomless pit, and I never seem to be satisfied no matter what I eat!

I quickly showered after my time at the gym, and headed down the road to House Park for the Anderson High School football game. A lot of my girls are on the dance team or in the band, but a lot of them were just there watching. The biggest shock for me was the fact that none of the students were wearing mums. Apparently they just aren't a big thing at Anderson! They were a huge deal at Stratford, and though they were extremely annoying to wear and carry around, it was fun to look at all of the different mums!

Seniors got gold mums

I left the game at half-time, and came home to eat some of my pineapple chicken and vegetable dish, along with a handful of grapes and a honeycrisp apple (#2 of the day!) and peanut butter about an hour later. I'm now trying to convince myself to do some homework, but I might just go run a couple of fun errands before settling down to watch the Texas-TCU game tonight.

I hope that is my longest hiatus for a while - after Monday this week should be pretty relaxed, so hopefully I'll be checking in pretty frequently. Have a great one!

Nike Women's Marathon: My Experience

Good afternoon from the San Francisco airport. Our flight doesn't take off until 3:10pm, but my mom and I are currently sitting at our terminal (and we have been since about 11:15am). We had to check out of our hotel by noon, and I figured I might actually look at my school work if I am forced to be in the same place for four hours, so here I am, avoiding said school work. But, I will get down to business once this post is up and running.

Breakfast

So, let's pick up where we left off. I went to sleep around 9:15pm last night, and I woke right up with my alarm, not even minding that it was currently 5:00 in the morning. I immediately ate my traditional race day breakfast of peanut butter and bananas on whole wheat bread, and it, once again, proved to be the perfect breakfast.

After I finished eating breakfast, I quickly got dressed and ready, pinning my race bib to my jacket, and I headed out the door for the quick 10-minute walk to Union Square. Because we got so lucky and our hotel was located so close to the start line, my mom was able to sleep in a little bit and stay back at the hotel until the transportation shuttle was scheduled to take her to the finish line at Golden Gate Park.

I somehow made my way to the very front of the pack, so I started very, very close to the beginning. The atmosphere was a lot of fun, and they even shot off fireworks for us prior to the start of the race. Everyone around me seemed very excited and friendly, but how could you be anything less than excited when you were just 13.1 (or 26.2) miles away from a Tiffany necklace? Plus, where better to run than through the streets of San Francisco?

View from above (Source)

When I checked my weather app this morning, it told me the current temperature was 54 degrees, and that it was only going to get up to 57 degrees by 9am. I made a game-time decision to wear a Nike running pullover with my black Lululemon shorts, and I am so glad I decided to wear long sleeves for this race. It was cold to start, and though I started to regret my decision between miles two to five, I was very happy for the extra coverage once we started running by the water. It was extremely foggy, and the sun never came out (until I was on the shuttle that would take me back to Union Square, of course), so I think I made a good decision.

The Race

Now, onto the race itself. The first couple miles were "downhill," but I considered them to just be flat road. In any case, they were a very pleasant first few miles, though it was still fairly dark outside. I ran a pretty quick (sub 8:00) first mile, but I knew to slow my pace down so that I would have enough energy to propel me up those later hills.

That being said, it took me about four and a half miles to get into my groove. First of all, I made a bathroom stop around mile three, which I normally don't do, but there is nothing worse than having to go to the bathroom during the middle of a tough run, so I sucked it up (and held my breath) and used a Porta Potty, before rejoining the pact. Second of all, I got a stitch in my side that I just couldn't shake for about a mile. I considered stopping and walking, but I knew I wouldn't want to start again, especially because I was about to approach that daunting mile six. I finally found my groove, just in the nick of time to tackle that very tough hill by the Golden Gate Bridge (at least, I assume it was by the Golden Gate Bridge, because I couldn't actually see it due to the extreme fog). It was very much an ongoing, gradual hill, and I was very excited to see the flat road, and eventually, the downhill. That being said, I think I covered more ground during the uphill, and the downhill was a lot harder for me (and there were a lot more people passing me). I'm not used to those kind of downhills, and I took it nice and easy so that it would have as little impact as possible on my knees. I discovered that I am very much a product of Houston, as those flat roads are definitely my favorite!

Other than that hill, and a couple others, the hills really weren't that bad. It also helped that the fog was so dense that I couldn't see the hills until I was already making my way up them, so I had no time to freak myself out about them!

(Source)

Another thing about this half marathon is that the miles seemed to FLY by. I was shocked to pass mile marker 8, because I couldn't possibly believe I had been running for that long. I told myself that it was just an easy five miles, and the next thing I knew, I was at mile 11. I will say that the last two miles seemed to drag on a little bit, probably because my knees and feet were starting to hurt, but there were so many motivational signs lining the streets, that I knew stopping wasn't an option. I crossed the finish line just under two hours, which might be shocking to you, because it was definitely shocking to me. With the hills and a bathroom break, I was extremely surprised to see a time of 1:59 on the clock, but I certainly won't complain!

(Source)

I immediately grabbed a Whole Foods water bottle, and headed back to the finisher's area, where I got my finisher's shirt, a goodie bag full of food, and of course, my little blue box. Like they said, the fireman were all jazzed up in their tuxedos and Nike's, handing out smiles, congratulations, and the best medal of all, a custom Tiffany Necklace.

I sat in the friends and family area so that I could catch up with my mom, and we took a few pictures by the water before catching the shuttle back to Union Square. I was still pretty cold from the race, but I warmed up very quickly after a hot shower and some food. Overall, I had a wonderful race experience. The extremely organized packet pick-up and expotique, seeing my name on the side of the Nike San Francisco store, the beautiful Tiffany blue Nike shoes (which I am currently wearing), the race route, and the way the race organizers made this feel like everything was a celebration of us was just wonderful. And I can't forget to give credit to the wonderful volunteers who made this race possible. Everyone did an incredible job, and I couldn't ask for much more in a race.

And now I am here at the airport, contemplating what I am going to get for lunch. I purchased a NuGoOrganic dark chocolate pomegranate protein bar from the airport bookstore, and I scarfed it down in approximately 30 seconds flat. If you know me at all, you know I love chocolate, and I was happy to see that this bar can be called "vegan." Though I am far from being a vegan, it means the bar is completely dairy-free, so I knew eating it would be a safe bet. I might purchase a few more before I board my flight, because I have a long day of traveling ahead of me.

Thanks for reading these San Francisco posts - I have had so much fun writing them, and more importantly, so much fun living them. I am so, so, so incredibly thankful for this trip - an opportunity to explore a wonderful city, a chance to get another half marathon in the books, and most importantly, a full weekend of time spent with my mom. We had an incredible time together, and I wouldn't change one thing about our trip. I will be sad to say bye to her in Phoenix, but I will be seeing her quite a bit in the month of November. I can't promise I'll be very active this week on the blog, as I have a fairly crazy school week ahead of me, but I'll do the best I can. Have a great Sunday!

San Francisco: Day Two

It has been another wonderful day in San Francisco. First of all, the weather has been absolutely incredible. I have worn shorts, a short-sleeve shirt, chacos, and a sweater, and I have been so very comfortable temperature-wise. The sun has been shining, and some (most) of the views I have had today have taken my breath away.

Workout

Following the same plan as every other half marathon I have run, I woke up and got dressed and ready to run a two-mile run through the streets of San Francisco. It was my first bought of running these monster hills, and let me tell you something - they are just as intimidating as they look. I was huffing and puffing by the time I got to the top of Jones Street, but even though it was extremely difficult for me, I felt empowered once I got to the top, and in talking to people who have run this course before, the hills aren't "too bad." Then again, these people might not be from the flat land of Houston, Texas. Apparently the worst hill is at mile six when we're near the Golden Gate Bridge, so be thinking good thoughts about mile six!

Breakfast

After I returned to our hotel, I laid on the floor for a few minutes trying to catch my breath, and then I hopped in the shower so that we could be on our way to begin day two of our trip. We once again went downstairs so that I could snag two pieces of bread for tomorrow morning, and my mom ate another piece of toast with butter, before heading back toward Union Square to check out another breakfast place that we saw yesterday: Cafe La Taza.

We arrived just in the nick of time, snagging a table on the ground floor, and we saw many other marathoners stopping in for a healthy bite to eat. I opted for the veggie scramble, which was egg whites, spinach, bell peppers, mushrooms, and avocado, with a side of fruit and four pieces of whole wheat toast. I was apparently pretty hungry, as I finished off the egg scramble and fruit, and I scarfed down two pieces of whole wheat toast, while my mom helped me with the other two. It was both delicious and filling, and I was more than ready to attack the day.

We then made our way back over to Union Square, so that my mom could pick up her spectator wristband, and I snuck back over to the Nike store, where I, unsurprisingly, made a few purchases. After my mom picked up her wristband, we found ourselves purchasing two bus tickets that would take us over to the iconic Golden Gate Bridge. It was a beautiful drive, and I found myself getting more and more excited the closer we got to it. One of the perks of taking one of these tour buses is that you get a lot of history (shout out to my roommate Jamie Lynn, as she would appreciate this the most), but it opened in 1937, and the bridge has to be continually painted, because the fog that comes in from Alaska corrodes the paint, meaning it has to be an ongoing process. Pretty cool! Anyway, the bridge is absolutely beautiful, and it just took my breath away. I snapped a few too many pictures, and I won't share all of them with you, but gosh, the views were just stunning.

We hopped back on the bus at promptly 11:00am, which took us back to Union Square. My mom and I had casually talked about visiting Muir Woods (thank goodness the government shutdown is over), because she and my dad had visited it when they came to San Francisco about 25 years ago, and they still talk about how incredible it was. Luck was on our side (luck favors the lucky, so I've been told), and there happened to be a bus leaving from their office at Fisherman's Wharf at 1:45. DJ Paul took care of us, making sure we got over to the office, where we picked up our reserved tickets. We had about an hour to kill before catching the bus, so we ate lunch at a delicious restaurant right next door - Hollywood Cafe. I ran back over the Pier 39 to pick up a souvenir, so my mom ordered for me so that I could take it to go with me on the bus over to Muir Woods. I opted for the grilled chicken salad, and y'all, it was incredible. I'm not sure if it had more to do with the actual salad, or the fact that I was downright starving by the time we got on the bus, but I ate every last bite. The toasted almonds and avocado stole the show.

After a minor bus malfunction, we made it over to Muir Woods just before 3:00pm. I have never seen anything quite like it, and I don't think the pictures even do it justice. There is so much to see, with so many different trails to take, and I would love to spend an entire day hiking all of the different trails. As it was, my mom and I walked for about an hour through the woods, and these redwoods were some of the prettiest things I have ever seen. My mom and I agreed that it was well worth the trip, and I am convinced that we came during the perfect season.

We got back on the bus around 4:30pm, and stopped for about half an hour in Sausalito, a small little town that is located just across the Golden Gate Bridge. My mom and I picked up two grilled chicken sandwiches to go, but had we more time, I would have loved to go to this gourmet burger and wine restaurant. Oh well, next time! I also stopped to snap a few pictures of the bay. The sun was starting to go down and it was an absolutely beautiful view.

We got back on the bus, and our driver had a little surprise for us - we were going to stop to take pictures of the Golden Gate Bridge. Though I had already seen it, I was certainly not going to complain about another chance to see it, especially when the sun was starting to set. We approached the bridge from a different angle, and I think I liked it even better than when we saw it this morning. The wind was blowing, the sun was setting, and I really couldn't ask for much more than that.

We enjoyed a curbside hotel dropoff, where I am currently sitting here writing this post, and getting ready to wind down for an early night. I have had such a wonderful two days in San Francisco, but I am so excited to try my legs at these hills. I am going to have my phone with me on the run tomorrow, so I will likely be tempted to stop and snap some pictures (which will consequently give me a break from running up those hills)! I will be back with a full report on the race, but wish me luck tomorrow! I'm a little bit nervous, but I think I'm more excited than nervous. And if the going gets tough, I will have some incredible views to motivate me to keep going. I will see you guys on the other side!