Pinning Away...

How am I just now joining the Pinterest world?!?!?! I will say it is almost overwhelming for a crafter/dreamer/DIYer. I am so happy to have inspiration organized and digitally "filed." These are just a few of my pins so far...

ps- let me know if you want an invite for the site!

Baseball

What is more American than a baseball game on a hot summer evening?!

J's sister scored us free tickets to the Memphis Redbirds game last night.

We Are...

Enjoying Arkansas.

Let The Training Commence

Yesterday, Amy and I kicked off our training for the 3-Day by attending the final "Walk with the Mayor."

Nashville's mayor, Karl Dean challenged the city to walk 100 miles during the spring and summer. Each week the mayor would walk with the community at different local parks and greenways. Just another reason why I think he is a great leader...

Amy and I have not been doing the mayor's walks, but we thought the final 8 mile walk would be a great way for us to kick off our training. (Insert side punch here.) In just a little over two hours, we crossed the finish line grumbling with lessons learned. I was quite pleased with our time though considering we haven't been walking much.

Lessons We Learned
(1) We must train for 60 miles. 8 miles alone was not fun. Can't imagine 60. Training must commence ASAP.
(2) Stock up on bananas. About mile 5 we ate the best banana ever.
(3) Get better socks.
(4) Do not wear cotton t-shirts. They were stuck to us by the time we finished the walk. Our team design might have to be on wicking shirt this year.
(5) Beth must slow down or Amy must walk faster. We do not have the same stride.

Overall, I am kind of glad we started with a long walk to start training. I think it was motivating.

I will be blogging quite a bit about our training. I think it can be a way to encourage others. We are not athletes, just people who want to try something and show support for a good cause. If you want to hear of another woman who is an encouragement, check out Katie Is Going To Tri. Maybe after this we should do a triathlon... ;)

Something To Look Forward To...

3DayExperience from Komen 3-Day for the Cure on Vimeo.

Just thought I would show you all what I am looking forward to. We are just a little over 15 weeks away. (That is crazy!!!) Please consider donating to show your support. You can visit my website... Deeply Rooted in Hope for the Cure.

"Oh Glory!"

On Friday night, Amy, Katie and I were able to meet our friend Mary Beth for dinner. Mary Beth was another Southern Sister in China. She was in Nashville for a church camp and was able to get away for awhile to visit.

Since MB had been eaten camp food all week, we opted for some good Southern cookin' at Monell's. Large house, large tables, family style, large bowls of fried foods and veggies = a good time. We tried a little bit of everything. Fried catfish, turnip green, pea salad, cole slaw, corn pudding, biscuits with peach preserves, butter beans, spinach lasagna, and banana pudding. A little bit of everything is actually a whole lot. We thought we behaved, but our "waddling" back to Amy's house proved otherwise. We hurt from eating so much! I now know why some men put a hand down the waistband of their pants... a sign they have eaten too well. "Oh glory!"

It was so good to see MB, but sadly I think the food stayed with me the rest of the weekend. I spent all of Saturday in the fetal position on the couch with a bad stomachache. It might have been worth it... ;)

Summer Cake

I recently stumbled across a beautiful summer cake over at Hogwash. Having never been one to make such an elegant cake, I thought it would be time consuming and hard. Boy, was I wrong! This was easier than the normal Betty Crocker mix cake!

Summer Cake
Angel food cake
Frozen yogurt (I used Kroger vanilla)
Cool Whip
Fruit topping (optional; I used strawberries)

Cut the angel food cake into the layers. Spread frozen yogurt between each layer. Put in freezer for a few hours to firm. Next, ruffle ice the cake using Cool Whip. (Here is what looks tricky, but just watch this tutorial from My Sweet and Saucy and you will look like a Wilton expert!) Place frosted cake in covered container and freeze for at least 5 hours. Cut strawberries in half and add to cake right before serving.

For the banner, I used two chopsticks, yarn, tape, and scrapbook paper. Just cut out triangles from paper. Tape to yarn. Tie banner to chopsticks. Done.

If you are like me and do not have icing supplies at home, I used a 40% coupon from Jo-Ann's to score a petal tip and decorating bags for a combined total of $2.84. Score.

If only all things in life came out this well... ;)