Norman Saturday

Last Saturday there was a free Iron and Wine show in Norman we wanted to go to. It was also the day of the OU Spring Game. So we made an afternoon and evening of it all in Norman! We picked up lunch at Pickleman’s, attended the Spring Game, made a quick stop in at the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, took a break for a drink at the Library Bar & Grill, picked up dessert for later at Crimson & Whipped Cream, grabbed dinner to go from Pad Thai, and enjoyed the Iron and Wine concert.

I don’t have any pictures of Pickleman’s, but the former OU player Kenny Stills was in line in front of us!

The spring game was interesting. The offense plays the defense, so they have the scoring set up differently. Offense of course gets points for scoring, but the defense got points for things that it’s important for defense to do. I have enough trouble following a regular football game, so I was a bit lost! But it was still fun to cheer for the big catches, and I brought my new camera along to try out.

After the game we considered going in to the Fred Jones Jr. Art Museum, but it was less than an hour till closing and I assumed I’d have to pay. Then we walked by a big sign they had out front that said “The museum is always free.” We turned right around and went in. Since we only had about 40 minutes we probably didn’t even see a quarter of what they had, but I was impressed with what I saw and I’m looking forward to going back!

I’ve been wanting to try Crimson & Whipped Cream for a while. They’re a member of Keep it Local, so I always see them on the list and am curious. I expected it to be similar to Cuppies & Joe with lots of cupcakes, but instead it was a mix of all sorts of treats and what looked like a pretty big drink menu. We picked out several things to try and they packed them to-go for us. We got: a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting, a strawberry granola bar, a Nutella cinnamon roll, and an oatmeal cream pie. All of them were quite tasty, and I’ll definitely stop by again and trying some other things.

Our choice for dinner was Pad Thai. It had been recommended as the best Thai food in Norman. We were running a little short on time so we each ordered a pad Thai to-go. After an unfortunate 40 minute wait (their kitchen exhaust fan stopped working and they had to turn away people who they’d already seated!) we got our food. They were very apologetic about the wait and offered us free drinks, so I won’t hold the wait against them. The portions were huge, and the pad Thai was a little sweet and I thought tasted a bit tomatoey. Nate ordered a 4 star which I tasted and it wasn’t very hot, so if you go order a 5 star if you like spice! I’d go again, but probably try curry or something different next time.

The Iron and Wine show had a bit of a rocky start – everyone at the front stood up to listen, and everyone at the back, where we were, started talking really loudly. About half way through we got a little fed up, picked up our bits, and moved into the standing crowd. All in all it was a really great show, and we should’ve just moved forward sooner!

Since they weren’t checking cameras or anything I carried in my new zoom lens, and we had some fun testing it out.

Glow Run 5K

I “ran” my first 5K over four years ago. At the time I was swimming a couple days a week, so I figured I was in decent shape. The day came and, although I found the whole ordeal a bit miserable, I did finish with a time of 36:17 which for my first 5K and having not trained at all isn’t terrible. The thing that stuck in my mind the most though was how sore I was for the next week! See us below on the front line on the left of the picture.

This past Friday evening it was determined that I’d be running my second 5K in OKC’s Glow Run on Saturday night. A friend had paid the entry but couldn’t make the race and didn’t want her entry to go to waste. I was dreading it and only agreed when I found out another friend, Jill, was also entered and she and her niece would be jogging and walking. So at least I’d have some friends to keep me going!

The concept of the run was pretty cool – everyone was decked out in neon and glow sticks, glow glasses, glow necklaces and it was dark out. There were no time chips, so it was pretty laid back, and after getting settled at the start line to wait for the start I started feeling less nervous.

The course ended up being really hilly which was awesome when you were going down hill (not so much on the up hill). Jill and her niece set a really good pace and we’d stop every once in a while to walk which was perfect. I kept thinking the whole race, wow this isn’t so bad! I crossed the finish line with a time of 34 something which means an improvement of nearly two minutes! And the next day I was hardly sore at all. I guess my gym visits and run/walking the past several months are paying off!

So, after that second 5K experience if I have a friend to run with (that’s the key) I’d sign up for another one!

The Head of the Oklahoma Regatta 2012

What a busy weekend in Oklahoma City! It seemed like there was an endless list of things one could get out and do this weekend. My Friday evening, though, was filled with our final rowing race of the season – at the Head of the Oklahoma, OG+E Nightsprints.

The weather and water were perfect Friday night! We went into the race with a really great time trial time of 01:52, and in order to advance to the finals we had to finish first in our heat or have the next fastest overall time. We raced a 01:49 which we were so proud of since it was our best time this season, but unfortunately was the 5th fastest time overall keeping us just out of the finals.

It’s always a bummer not to advance to finals, but our team worked together really well this season! I hope most of us decide to row again in the spring so we can keep getting better. I forgot to get a team picture, but here are the results of our division’s heats.

Corporate Coed Experienced
H1
1 Chesapeake  01:45.063
2 ARL/DNA Solutions 01:57.572
3 Chesapeake 02:08.407

H2
1 OGE 01:41.622
2 Integris 01:43.402
3 Lamar  01:50.778

H3
1 Chesapeake 01:44.777
2 My office’s team 01:49.304
3 American Fidelity 01:53.632

Olympic Fever

I, like a lot of people, love the Olympics. I remember watching them as a child listening closely for athletes who started their Olympic careers later in life. Always holding onto that small chance that I could still become an Olympian. These days I’m mostly content to cheer on the athletes and be amazed at everything they accomplish, although I could still get into Archery or Handball or Water Polo right?

On Friday I attended an opening ceremonies watch party. I wanted to bring a festive treat to share, but since I’d be coming almost directly from rowing practice I wanted something easy to make, store, and transport. So I thought up some Olympic ring fruit.

Blueberries, black grapes, watermelon, mango, and green grapes (please excuse the terrible picture I quickly grabbed). I’ve seen a bunch of other really cute Olympic food ideas on Pinterest that I’m keeping in mind in case I have another Olympic party to cook for (click the picture below to go to the original recipe). Have you made any Olympic themed foods this year?

Via: CandiQuik

Via: Taste of Home

Via: examiner.com

Rowing Team – Spring 2012

Oklahoma City has really come onto the national rowing (and canoeing and kayaking) scene in the past couple years. We have a beautiful river that for the purposes of rowing is perfect. While it’s incredibly cool that our river and facilities are bringing athletes training for the Olympics to OKC; the boathouse offers a place for those in the community to learn these sports as well. Since I started my job four years ago I’ve participated in my company’s corporate rowing league and this past Saturday was our end of the spring season Stars and Stripes Regatta.

My lovely teammates and I (pictured above) were racing at the highest level this season and were so happy to take second place in our heat and move on to finals. Unfortunately we came in last in finals. It was still a fun time and we’re already gearing up for the fall season which starts next week.

Corporate Challenge 2012

This past weekend was Oklahoma City’s annual Corporate Challenge event. The weekend is like a mini Olympics for employees of OKC companies. My company has been participating for the past four years, and it’s something my co-workers and I prepare and look forward to in the months leading up to it.

2nd Place 5K and 1st Place 5K

The event that’s the biggest deal is the basketball tournament. So, In the months before we try to coordinate basketball practice once a week so that we can practice playing together and brush up on our skills. All that practicing and hard work finally paid off, and the women’s team came away with the gold! We’ve won 2nd a time or two so 1st was huge for us!

The 1st Place Basketball Team

We won’t find out until next week how we did in comparison to the other teams, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed for 3rd to last place or better (we’ve had last and 2nd to last already). We do know that we won the following:

1st and 3rd Place 5K Cycling

Gold in women’s basketball
Gold in men’s 5K 30-39
Gold in women’s 5K cycle

Silver in women’s freestyle swimming
Silver in the obstacle course
Silver in women’s 5K 30-39

Bronze in men’s sprint relay
Bronze in men’s 5K cycle

I had a part in the women’s basketball, women’s 5K cycle, women’s swimming, and the obstacle course, so I was pretty elated and exhausted after the weekend!

Walk-about Participants