#20 hamilton pool

#20 was a quick trip to the beautiful hamilton pool. amid the strobe lights and party rockin' of aclfest (post to come), david and i slipped away to enjoy a very tranquil and peaceful morning at hamilton pool.  i have read time and time again about how wonderful hamilton pool is and how it is a must see. i had to see what all the hoopla was about for myself. so i did, and it did not disappoint.

on the drive there we picked up lunch and brought it along to enjoy outdoors. we ate on a little picnic bench, had some laughs, cleaned up our mess, then began our short hike to hamilton pool. as i ran through the trail playing my own personal game of hopscotch, david stopped me to admire the area. it was lovely. the sites were amazing. every which way you turned, there was some little piece of nature just glimmering in the daylight with nothing but utter beauty. 

once we finished our hike and arrived at the historic swimming hole, an overwhelming sense of peace took over. there are no words to describe it. we lucked out with just a handful of people already occupying the area. other than that, we had the place to our ourselves. it was filled with such beauty and such serenity. people talked in quiet whispers as if they were in a library and all you could hear was the soothing sound of droplet after droplet falling from above. it was not a large waterfall, but it was perfect. i had to mentally talk myself out of not curling up among the rocks and taking a nice little nap. 

we walked behind the fall and through the cave-like structures just awing at everything and anything. i could have explored for hours but even though time felt as if it was standing still, it wasn't. we had an aclfest to get to and left in the knick of time. as we were walking back up the trail to leave, many people were walking down the trail to enjoy hamilton pool. i've read in many places that hamilton pool fills up rather quickly so the earlier you can go, the better. i believe it!

unfortunately due to recent flooding, there was no swimming or touching of the water allowed. this  took away nothing from the calming beauty of our surroundings and our overall hamilton pool experience.  i could only imagine what fun it would be to splash around and jump in and out of the beautiful watering hole--and i will be back to do so, but the peaceful and calming experience i had was unreal. i wouldn't trade it. and i was with david, we always know how to have a good time ;)

fail #1

fail #2

still not there..

nailed it

  

again, game day.. go frogs!!!

*pda alert* 

to find out more about hamilton pool click here:
hamilton pool preserve

nature gives to every time and season some beauties of its own. 

charles dickens

#19 tough mudder

#19 was tough. tough mudder, tough. 12 miles of mud, running, obstacles and then some more mud. as many of my life decisions go, on friday, we decided to sign up to run on sunday. definitely last minute, but no regrets. 

the race started with a mud crawl under a barbed wire obstacle. within the first 30 seconds, my shirt was clipped to a spike on the barbed wire. great start, right? i quickly unhooked it, making a sincere attempt to not get pricked by the barbed wire, then proceeded to crawl on my hands and knees to avoid any other frightening mishaps.



then it was hill, after hill, after hill. i nearly slid down one of them. leave it to tough mudder to find hills in dallas. however, the hills were do-able. they were minor obstacles leading up to the obstacle challenges. challenges like the arctic enema. what a terrible name. a terrible and fitting name. it was a giant tub of ice and water. the middle of the tub had a wooden wall topped with, more barbed wire. therefore you were forced to fully submerge yourself in this ice bath which is said to maintain a 20-30 degree temperature, and swim underwater to reach the other side. i was in and out as fast as humanly possible.

struggle faces

once my body regained feeling, we were hit with another obstacle. followed by a number of others. there were about 3 which required you to fly over a wooden wall. a few more that were nothing but bodies of muddy water to cross. another that required you to rope climb up and over the great wall of china, called balls to the wall (who comes up with these names?!), and the funky monkey which was a row of never ending monkey bars. if you fell from these monkey bars you dropped into a giant pool of green who knows what. falling was not an option. so i pulled out my elementary school monkey-bar-swinging talents and sailed across those bars.

other obstacles entailed running up a skatepark ramp without skates. i'm 5'3 and 1/2. (gotta count that 1/2). i was certain i was not going to make this one. but with a little help, i did and i'm still not sure how. 

then there was the mud mile. i enjoyed the mud mile. it was a stretch of mounds of mud in-between pools of muddy water. you had to trek through the muddy water then climb a slippery and muddy mound up and over to another pool of muddy water and repeat the process.  i attempted to help as this was an obstacle requiring help, but pulling up boys that are twice my size in slippery mud is quite the difficult task. i let the boys handle this one and patiently waited for david on top of each mound. while waiting, i found myself just playing in puddles of mud. i didn't have a care in the world. i was just enjoying that muddy and very messy moment. it was wonderful.

and last, but certainly not least was the electric shock therapy. 10,000 volts just hanging there waiting for you to run through. as soon as i saw david go down, i went down. electric shock therapy really shocks. the shocks weren't painful, but they were not pleasant. the shock-factor (hah, see what i did there ;) ) didn't help either. it's not exactly a feeling you can prepare for. it just happens. we crawled our way out of the last obstacle and successfully finished the race.

whether you attempt this with a team or not, you will not be alone. the camaraderie was pretty incredible. everyone helps one another out and it is much needed. even so, i couldn't have asked for a better teammate. 

i psyched myself out for this. i didn't train. i would like to consider myself an in-shape person, but i couldn't tell ya the last time i ran over 4 miles. all in all, it wasn't as bad as i thought. i expected much worse. the obstacles are difficult but make the running and distance easier. it wasn't a walk in the park and i came out a muddy mess, but it was all worth it and i'm looking forward to the next one. 

hope you enjoy our muddiful pictures below :)

commemorative t-shirts

before the mudd-fest ensued

to sign up for your toughmudder click below:

toughmudder

life is made up of marble and mud.

nathanial hawthorne

#18 flyboard

#18 was an epic time flyboarding in lake lewisville. the day started with another early morning. i popped right out of bed ready to go. kidding.. i snoozed my way through 3 alarms and hid under my covers as if my big bad phone was yelling at me to get up.


finally, i got up and got ready. at this time i was pumped for the days adventure and more than ready to hang on to sweet summer for a little while longer.

david joined me and we got to the lake just in time to see the fly boarder before us finish up his session. the guy was trying, i'll give him that. but there was a lot of belly flopping and falling going on. it was a father of a young girl who was enjoying his birthday present from his loving family. when we walked near the family who was enjoying the sight to the fullest,  the first words out of his giggling daughter's mouth were, "we need to film this and send it to america's funniest videos." 

i chuckled then immediately feared i too would have a video of me flopping around the water worthy to send to america's funniest videos, so naturally, i begged david to go first. of course, he was a natural pro. he soared through the sky like a real life iron man as i snapped pictures left and right from the safety of the dock. 

then it was my turn. my learning curve was a little lengthier than davids, but i got up! then back down. then back up. and back down again. it went on and on. however, even with my numerous falls that gave the father before me a run for his money, the experience was incredible. 

my secret life goal is to live on a beach and just surf. surf in the morning, surf in the afternoon and surf in the evening. i've never actually been surfing, but i just know it is one of my true callings in life. so while i was up in the air, i pretended i was surfing. it was just a natural instinct. i didn't even realize i was doing it until after i was doing it. i was surfing on thin air and riding the morning breeze and it felt phenomenal. it was a feeling i did not want to end. but inevitably, it did. my surfing day dream ended with
a great big splash of a fall into the water.


flyboarding is by far one of the coolest things i've gotten to do. it wasn't very difficult, but it wasn't easy peasy either. you start by simply strapping a board to your feet and jumping in the water. the board is then towed by a jet ski. once you can figure out how to keep your knees locked in the air and shift your weight to balance on the board, you're good to go.  because we were beginners we were only allowed to go 10ft in the air. for the first time, it was plenty. i actually had so much fun flyboarding that i've already made plans to go back. so flyboard on my friends, flyboard on.

the initial jump

i did a whole lot of this

and some of this

it was game day. go frogs.

frogs won, 56-0 :)

s-u-p-e-r-m-a-n

:)

to learn more about flyboarding click here:
flyboard north texas

we live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. there is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.

jawaharlal nehru

#16 helicopter ride

#16 was an incredible new york helicopter tour. i was going to be in new york for a wedding so it just seemed fitting to take advantage of a weekend in the big apple and get a birds eye view of the city that never sleeps. well, the pre-planned trip and the fact that i have now entered crunch time.

for my first helicopter ride, i must say, it was fantastic. my boyfriend, a 25 in 25 trooper, joined me in my shameless tourist adventure. after arriving in new york and settling in at 3 am, we cat napped and got up early to enjoy our time in the sky. we had a breakfast of champions, wandered the streets of new york, hailed a cab and showed up with plenty of time to spare. 

when it was our turn, we strapped on our safety gear, watched a safety video and headed out to the helicopter for our photo op. one-by-one and couple-by-couple people lined up to stand in front of the helicopter and pose for a picture. immediately after the picture, you were escorted to your seats in the helicopter. 

cheesin'

david and i were last in line. we followed the same drill, waited in line, stood in front of the helicopter, posed for a picture and were escorted inside. except i got the universal stop sign, the hand, and was told to wait. at first i thought the helicopter was full and i wasn't going to be on the same helicopter ride as david. i was bummed. but then once david was seated, they came back from me and sat me right up front with the pilot! i was stoked. beyond stoked. second best seat in the house!! (first was next to david, cheesy.. i know but i like the cheese. so cheese it on up.)

riding shotgun

we took off shortly after and flew over the hudson river. as the pilot turned on the automated tour guide information he switched the controls so only he and i could chat. i got my very own private tour. we saw the statue of liberty, south street sea port, brooklyn bridge, manhattan bridge and wall street financial center. then as the tour information ended the peak of my first helicopter ride commenced. the one and only frank sinatra came through the speakers.  come fly with me, we'll fly, we'll fly away. how fitting. 

i immediately glanced back at david (he was sitting right behind me) with an ear to ear smile and bursted with joy. so much joy that the pilot looked at me and asked if i was okay. i let him know i was better than okay and began to rant about how much i adore frank sinatra's music. he smiled back at me and began to point towards the area frank sinatra grew up. we instantly bonded.

the whole flight only lasted about 15-20 minutes, but it was incredible. the sights were great and the flight was awesome but the cherry on top was definitely the touch of frank. there are different options that give you the opportunity to see more sights and have longer air time. the tour i ventured on was the shortest ride, called the liberty tour. 

my main squeeze 

front seat selfie

"laaaand!"

a wedding favorite of my handsome date and i

a huge congrats to this beautiful couple

to book your helicopter tour click here: new york helicopter tours

the best is yet to come

frank sinatra

#15 paddleboard

#15 took place in the beautiful city of austin, texas. i love texas and everything about it. i was visiting the adventurous city of austin for a friends bachelorette party. we spent the weekend celebrating the beautiful bride-to-be the way all girls should be celebrated. (huge congrats catherine!!)

as sunday quickly came and the bachelorette festivities were nearing the end, 2 friends and i decided to keep the weekend alive and spend the day exploring austin.

we shopped along congress, ate from food trucks, sipped on local coffee and kept it weird, austin style. 

i had explored barton springs for the first time a few weeks prior to this trip. that was when i attempted to enjoy my first paddle boarding experience but time didn't allow for it. this go around, i had all the time in the world. after speaking with some locals we were directed to sup atx paddle boarding rentals. there you can rent paddle boards, canoes and kayaks. we rented our gear, explored the area then hit the water. we couldn't have been luckier with the weather. it was a beautiful warm texas day with a slight, but cooling breeze. abbie, kelsey and i paddled until our hearts content. it just so happened that time coincided with our one-hour rental due time.

there really aren't any instructions to learn how to paddle board other than, stand on the board and paddle. it's fairly simple. the whole experience was very relaxing and peaceful. we got a little workout in along with some great life chats.  


i loved spending quality time with two of my favorite people. at one point i even forgot we were on a lake paddle boarding! i thought we were just hanging out at one of our houses having girl time just like our college days. it's weird growing up but life truly is beautiful.

step 1: paddle out on your knees

step 2: stand up and paddle

canoe rental room

paddle board aftermath

i love texas

hangin on the paddle boards

love is the whole.

e. e. cummings