ribs and running

In October, Kyle's BBQ team had their 1st cook off at the Arlington BBQ festival! They've been practicing all summer and the time came to show off their smoking skills.

Greg, the team leader!

Compared to the other grills/smokers, the Bluff City Bulldogs had a smaller set up. As their slogan said "it's not the size of your grill, but the taste of your meat." Boys, boys...you're so clever! Now get your mind out of the gutter.

Steph-Jen-me-Jessica

We showed up later on Friday to try the food. YUM! Jessica entered in the dessert contest. She made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese icing!!

The boys eating

The boys also entered in the seafood contest. Salmon.

I love the smell of a man gilling! It is one of my favorites! Kyle had been smoking ribs and a boston butt all day (since 7am).

The layout

The girls after eating some food!!



The atmosphere was fun. The air was full of smells that reminded me of the Memphis in May BBQ contest. We went for a walk and happened upon a band jamming out.

Twin Soul was playing 80s music. GREAT people watching event! We rocked out to Def Lepord!

Kyle stayed the night in a camper while I went home. I take that back. Kyle stayed up with Greg to smoke a boston butt and I went to rest up for the Le Bonheur 5k pumpkin run.



Our divsion team: Takin' It To the Streets!

I woke up bright and early on Saturday to burn off some calories and run for a good cause. It was my 2nd best time, just a little over 28 minutes. We had a great turn out!

After the run, I headed back out to the BBQ contest.

Ahhhh yeah. The ribs looked amazing.

Looking good guys. So proud of you!

The long walk to the judges table. All the hard work is about be up to someone's taste buds!

the judge's table.

the team: Chris, Greg, Kyle, Clay
the results: good news, they did not get last place!

dessert: 8 out of 13

seafood: 5 out of 8

ribs (patio porkers-rookies): 15 out of 18

The guys did great and most of all, they had the besttime. Can't wait for the next one!

Since Kyle only slept 1 hour on Friday night, he was not rested for the Road Race 10 miler on Sunday morning. So I ran in his place with Lauren! It was a beautiful run through Shelby Forest. It was early, but fun! A great way to start the day!

fall showers

Our last night in September was spent at the Levitt Shell. We love going to the shell.

To recap: free show, outdoors, great music, fall time=awesome date night!

We tried real hard to get the band in the picture.

The Alternate Routes played that night. The famous member of the band is the battered yellow toolbox that one of the band member plays.  First time I've heard that before and it sounded great. 

Finally October is here. One of favorite months. It is the month I got engaged! Speaking of being engaged, my friend Lisa did and I went to one of her showers.

She's in the middle. So excited for her. I made my very first pinterest craft for her gift!



After the shower, I went to my parents house where I walked into this...

Kyle was grilling some burgers on the famous keg grill. If you grew up with me, then you know all about the grill! It has fed many of my friends. Mom tells me I had a habit of inviting people over all  the time to eat! I did! It was fun.

i'm a PINster

...not to be confused with a gangster!

For those of you who don't know what pinterest is, it is crack for those of us who have a hard time being creative. Well, that is what it is for me. There is something for everyone on pinterst. It is a world full of endless ideas!

 I've been pinning for a while. Yes, it can be addicting. But I have managed make some things.

I made this wedding invitation ornament for my friend as a wedding gift. I can tell you this. I would not have come up with this cute, easy to make, frugal idea on my on. It was a hit at the shower! Now that I'm a PINster, I am the crafty, artsy girl I always wanted to be!

food for finance: run like a mother

(healthy) food for finance is a column where we talk about how fitness and finance correlate with each other. join us on our journey to be both physically and financially fit.


Amber Miller runs a marathon while almost 39 weeks pregnant

I stole this title from a book I'm reading. However, did you hear about the 27 year old lady who completed the Chicago marathon while pregnant..38 weeks and 5 days pregnant??! Then went to the hospital to give birth to a healthy baby girl! Well, this was her 2nd time to complete a marathon while pregnant. She ran one in May while 17 weeks. So really she ran 2 marathons while pregnant with her baby girl. The sweetest thing I read was that her husband ran/walked it with her, every step of the way! Of course she was a runner before (8 marathons under her belt) and was in shape while she trained and ran the race. She finished 3 hours slower than her personal record but that is understandable! Here is the t.v. clip.

Kyle is training for the St. Jude marathon so I decided to train with him even though I did not sign up. I have no desire to run one. I know that sounds really strange since I'm training with him. It gets lonely running for over 3 hours by yourself. But we're only up to 16 miles. If I do the math, I'd still have 10.2 miles left. And that is still a long way to go. I told him I'd see how I felt about signing up after I ran his 20 mile run with him. Then I looked it up today and the marathon he is running is capped out. So if I decide to do it, and you know someone who signed up and doesn't want to run, let me know!

I need to reflect. Who would've thought Kyle would be training for a marathon when just 3 1/2 short years ago he was 60 lbs heavier and swore he'd never run a half marathon! Never say never.

I really have NO idea how the pregnant lady completed the marathon!! 2 times!!! She gets the cool award in my book. What a way to go into labor and not get induced.