Texas Adventures

Here's the scoop... Since living here in Texas, I have not explored any cities other than Dallas! Side note: I have almost lived here for a year?! Also meaning that Kyle and I have almost been married a year. Mark your calendars. Where in the world has the time gone?

Ok, back to the scoop. That being said, we decided that it was time for me to go exploring a bit. Our friends down here were up for a mini road trip as well so one Friday evening, Kyle, Daniel, Chelsey, and I hopped in the car and headed south. We headed to Lockhart, Texas where Daniel's uncle so graciously let us crash at his pad. We got in pretty late, but took advantage of his sweet pad in downtown Lockhart and went on the roof to enjoy the perfect evening and some wine. Yes, we are fancy, we know. (Did I mention we drank it straight from the bottle). Classy.

Here is one of the hidden (except not so hidden) gems of Daniel's uncle's place. Meet Noel. There is actually a really sweet story behind her.

We woke up the next day and did some exploring for a local coffee shop, where we enjoyed coffee and lattes and some good conversation. At about 10:30 - 11:00ish we decided it was time for what we really came to Lockhart for... BBQ!! We hit up one of Texas' top rated BBQ restaurants, Black's. We had smoked turkey, brisket, sausage, macaroni and cheese, and don't forget the sweet tea. Let me just say, I am a turkey and mac 'n cheese pro. Both of these passed the test. The brisket was also delicious. Chelsey and I were not huge fans of the sausage, but I think it was more of a texture issue. This sausage was very "gamey", whatever that means? After lunch we strolled downtown and went in and out of antique stores. We sound so old. After strolling aka rolling around because we were so stuffed with BBQ we prepared ourselves and headed... some direction towards Gruene, TX. Gruene is home of the oldest dance hall in Texas. George Straight and Willie Nelson have both been through there and the movie, Michael was also filmed there!

Anyways, our first intent was to head there for a wine and music festival, but we spent a little too much time exploring Lockhart and also realized the tickets were a little pricier than we had originally thought. But we were just going where the wind took us this weekend so we decided to head there anyways. Upon arrival, we were heading up this big hill (big for Texas) and noticed a cute little winery and decided to just have a little looksy. Turns out, they were having samples as well...so in the long run, we won. We got to taste wine at a much cheaper price and after we got to walk around Gruene and enjoy music. We spent much of the afternoon walking in and out of stores and exploring everything this unique little town had to offer. Even though none of us were super hungry, we had to eat at the Gristmill. Let me just say, looks can be deceiving... this place looked like your average size restaurant... but it goes on FOREVER! Seriously, so huge. It's nestled right on the bluff of the Guadalupe river and has a great view! We stuffed our faces again (sort of a theme for this trip) and rolled ourselves out of there.

We continued to explore and made our way to the actual Gruene Hall. Music was playing and there was a large crowd. This was the first time where I really felt "Texan". I loved the atmosphere of the hall and the music that was being played. Chelsey and Daniel so kindly offered to teach us the Texas Two Step (I think that's what it was called), but we declined. We will blame it on being too full (cough cough, Kyle). We weren't ready for that yet!

After enjoying some music and people watching we decided to head out of Gruene and catch the Aggie game with some of Chelsey's friends that live in that area... we hit up a fun outdoor bar that had live music and way better people atmosphere than any here in Dallas. Whoops, yes I said it.

We stayed the night in Lockhart again and woke up and decided to eat.... yup, you guessed it... BBQ! We decided to try another one of Texas' top rated BBQ places, Smitty's.. also located in Lockhart. This time we had brisket, sausage, cole slaw, and of course the sweet tea. I preferred this brisket over Black's but I am not sure everyone agreed.  None the less, it was amazing and once again we over ate. Whoops. Our original plan was to hit up Austin before heading back to Dallas but the weather was less than ideal and Austin City Limits was going on so we figured it would be a mad house. Therefore, we headed back to Dallas a bit earlier.

Side note: everything IS bigger in Texas. Here is a flask from one of the small shops. No, we did not buy it. This is for example only!

In conclusion, we had a "couples retreat" to Lockhart, where we did some exploring and a lot of eating with great friends. It was nice to get out of Dallas for the weekend and see a little more of Texas. If we are being honest, I really enjoyed the Gruene/ New Braunfels area! The whole town felt way more laid back and easy going compared to Dallas. My type of place. Over and out.

StumpJump 50k

After Catalyst, the family made the trip to Chattanooga for the StumpJump 50k.  Sara and I left before the last session of Catalyst in hopes of making it to Chattanooga in time for packet pickup at Coolidge Park.  Atlanta traffic was Atlanta traffic and we didn't make it in time.  Andy was able to pick up my packet so all was ok.  Sara and I arrived and went directly to Andy's.  Our friends Ahop and Carrie came in town for dinner and to hang out for the night.  Always great to get to see them.  Mom, Pop, and Abe got into town and we ate dinner at Marco's Italian Bistro for some carb loading.

Race morning came quickly and it was off to Signal Mountain High School for the 8am start.  There were nearly 600 people running the 50k and 600 running the 11 mile race so this was a much bigger starting line experience than my previous races this summer.  Rock/Creek puts on a really fantastic race with lots of great sponsors.  The weather was nearly perfect Saturday morning when we arrived...somewhere in the mid 60's.  A beautiful East Tennessee morning... the sun was just coming up as the race started.  Andy and I met up with Will, said our hello's and goodbyes to Sara and family and then headed for the start line.

When the gun went off, I settled in around the middle of the pack determined to learn from mistakes from the last race.  I wanted to start off real easy knowing that there was a lot of elevation change coming that I was not used to running.  I settled in at a nice comfortable pace for the first 5 miles.  At Mushroom Rock the course takes a steep descent down to Suck Creek Rd.  This was my first experience with mountain running in a long time and it felt great.  The mountains, my support system, and weather really energized me during the race.  After Suck Creek Rd, the course climbs back up and onto a ridge line towards Mullins Creek loop.  At this point, I had settled in with a group of 5-6 people at a pace that was still very comfortable.  I got to the Indian Rock House aid station and got out as quickly as possible to get passed some people.  The Mullins Cove Loop was fun to run.  Lots of rolling single track.  There wasn't many steep climbs or descents so I ran almost the entire loop still feeling great.  It was slowly starting to warm up by this point but still felt very comfortable to me.

Somewhere around the Haley Rd. aid station I caught up with Will.  I would end up running the next 8-10 miles with him, each of us pushing each other at times.  Mom and Dad, Sara, and Abe drove out to the Mullins Cove aid station to cheer us on and provide encouragement.  It was great to see them at this point and a huge mental boost.  The legs were starting to get a bit fatigued but I mostly still felt great.

Feeling good...I think?

From Mullins Cove back to Suck Creek Rd was mostly downhill and went by pretty quickly.  By this point, I started passing quite a few people.  My plan to start slow and try to finish strong was working.  After the Suck Creek aid station, it was a climb straight uphill back to Mushroom Rock.  This was the only point of the race where I couldn't have run if I wanted to.  This section was mostly a 4-5 mile power hike.  This was a very tough climb at this stage in the race.  I just tried to continue moving forward as quickly and efficiently as I could.  About an hour later, I finally made it to the top.  Here, for the first time during the entire race, I got passed by someone.  I was spent after that final climb and the final three (relatively flat) miles were pretty slow for me.   Finally, after what seemed like forever, I came out of the woods onto the road at Signal Mountain High School and crossed the finish line at 6 hours and 37 mins.  Will finished in 6 hours 43 minutes and Andy finished in 8 hours 39 minutes.  This time was about 30 minutes slower than my first 50k but this was easily my best race.  I ended up finishing in 96th place out of roughly 600 starters.  The temperature ended up being the hottest in Chattanooga since sometime in the 1950's but this didn't phase me at all during the race.  I never once thought during the race that it was hot.  I can thank a summer of training in Texas for that.  Of the 600 starters only 342 finished.  The times were 30 minutes to an hour slower from previous years due to the conditions.  I felt great most of the race, I had no stomach issues, and it was a blast to get to run in the mountains back close to home.  I was sore on Sunday but I was ready to do it again.  I can't thank Sara, Abe, Mom and Pops, and HT enough for the support...only wish the Greenwell's could have made it.  It meant the world to me and made everything about the race a blast.  Thanks to Andy for the hospitality.  Chattanooga is a great city.  We wouldn't mind living there sometime in the future.

Shout out to HT for coming to support at the finish line!

After watching the second half of the Vols crushing defeat we drove to Tellico Lake to spend the night and most of Sunday with Aunt Dolly and Uncle Bruce.  It was the first time that Sara and I had been to the lake in a couple of years.  It was great to see family, as always.

After spending Sunday on the lake, we headed back to Atlanta to catch our flight back to Dallas.  Thanks to Abe for the chauffeuring.  What a great weekend.

Catalyst 2013

Sara and I had the pleasure of going to Catalyst Conference in Atlanta last week.  We flew into Atlanta last Wednesday where Abe picked us up from the airport and met Mom and Dad (along with nearly 120 other people from the Tri Cities area) in North Atlanta for the conference.  The conference is a two day Christian leadership conference filled with heart-changing talks and lots of worship and fun.

Thursday featured talks from Andy Stanley, Malcolm Gladwell, Lecrae Moore, Jason Russell, John Piper, and Judah Smith with music from the Catalyst band, Propanganda, All Sons and Daughters, and an incredible session from the Passion band.  Friday featured Dave Ramsey, Priscilla Shirer, Reggie Joiner, Jud Wilhite, and Andy Stanley again.  All the speakers focused on the theme of Being KNOWN...being known in our identities in Christ...as leaders, friends, spouses, co-workers, etc.

Catalyst Atlanta 2013 Preview from Catalyst on Vimeo.

I would highly recommend for everyone to go to the conference if you have the chance.  It was a fantastic learning and growing experience.

Tons of great resources on the website:  http://catalystconference.com/