Gratitude

I like running outside more than feeling like a hamster on a wheel in the gym.  Usually at the gym I'm staring impatiently  at the timer, praying this torture will end soon.  Being outside gives me an opportunity to breathe fresh air, pace myself better, clear my thoughts, and take in the beautiful surroundings.

I'm hoping the vacation condo has walking/running trails, so that I continue to be with nature.

I was able to wake up 15 mins (6:15) earlier than I typically do.  My goal is to start my daily journey at 5 AM and be in the bed reading by 10.

While on my run, I thought about all the things that I'm thankful for at that very moment:

*Strong legs that allow me to conquer the asphalt in my neighborhood

*The ability to smell the beautiful flowers

*Being able to listen to the sweet sounds of nature-the birds chirping and bees buzzing

Day 5 is complete

Houston, TX

I just returned from a relaxing weekend visiting family in Houston, TX.  I enjoyed great food, went to a few parks and also attended an awesome art car parade.



Houston is the 4th largest city and my cousin Keith made sure I saw a lot of it.



View of downtown Houston while coming from the airport

After having dinner at Luby's, we headed back to the house where I crashed on the couch like an old woman. There was no night life for me and I was sleep by 11.



Saturday afternoon we did some sightseeing in the Sugarland section of town

There were a lot of horizontal street lights in Houston, opposed to the vertical ones I see in VA.  I have a feeling I would have went through a few of those because I barely saw them.



On Saturday we visited a vegan restaurant for dinner.





Golden Rolls-carrots, cabbage, taro, onion, mushroom



Silken Midnight-rice noodles, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, bokchoy, ginger root, mushroom, tofu



I appreciated Aunt Dot and cousin Keith allowing me to drag them to a vegan restaurant.  They were so open-minded about the food and we had a great conversation.





We went back to the house for margaritas.





I showered and fell asleep soon after this drink. lol



Sunday morning we took Aunt Dot to work and headed to downtown Houston for breakfast and sightseeing.

First stop The Breakfast Klub.  We stood in line for 30 minutes to eat here.









Fresh Fruit! Yummy!





My favorite part about The Breakfast Klub is that it's a black owned business and the owner, Marcus Davis was there to greet us.



After breakfast we headed over to Discovery Green-a sustainable park in downtown Houston





We also stumbled onto an art car parade







I had a great weekend! Can't wait for my next vacation

Brown Thumb

Theo's class planted the moms beautiful flowers for Mother's day gifts.  I'm not sure the name of the plant (I know nothing about flowers) but it's yellow and beautiful.  Each morning since receiving my gift, Theo has been excited to water and watch the plant grow.

Seeing his excitement, got me thinking about the possibility of starting a flower and vegetable garden in our yard.  We've lived in this house for the last 6 years and I haven't done anything to improve our curb appeal.  I feel blessed to live in a lake community with miles of lush trees and water but I realize that I don't spend enough time embracing my surroundings.



Alvin planted some flowers in a jug a few weeks ago and they're coming along very nicely.

Hopefully  by next summer,  my brown thumb will officially become green.