Find your happy pace.

Well, I did it. I entered, ran and completed my first 5K. It's not really a huge deal because this is the first of many and well, it's only three miles... but when considering all that my body has been through in the past few years, it IS a huge deal to me. From Fibromyalgia, pinched nerves, body aches, Celiac Disease, my body has seen better days. But it felt liberating to cross the finish line today. I am blessed to have Buie, my husband, by my side cheering me on.

April 4th- my first 10K.

Keep on keeping on...

Bucket List

Everyone has a bucket list... you know, the things you want to do before you "kick the bucket." It seems that things on my bucket list are actually becoming a reality here lately. I've always wanted to go to Scotland and Ireland, own a house with my husband and start a family there, go on a photography tour, see Dave Matthews Band live in concert, do something crazy at least once in my life- like sky diving or fly a helicopter. I always hoped to run a marathon, go on an vacation (as adults) with my best friend and first cousin, Lauren, adopt a child, ride the little trolleys in San Fransisco, and visit New England in the fall when the leaves are just gorgeous! These are only a FEW things on my list of things I want to accomplish in my lifetime. This year, it seems I am crossing a few things off my list.

1. Owning a house with my husband... Read more about our house buying process on our blog: http://www.thebuies.blogspot.com/

2. I am training for a marathon one day. I have begun the running process and I am running a 5K in May. Next year I hope to run the Half Marathon (13 miles). My overall goal is still to run a FULL Marathon (26 miles).

(Photo Credit)

This September I will be crossing two off my list:

3. Go on a vacation with my best friend Lauren. Growing up, Lauren and I went on family vacations with her family and mine. (her dad and my mom are siblings) We always dreamed of getting married and one day taking vacations with our husbands. This September we have booked a place near Seaside (where Lauren and Wayne were married) to spend a week with friends. We are counting down the days! 177 days until we take our vacation together as a married couples. I can't believe we are old enough to go on vacation with boys and no chaperons! ha.

4. Dave Matthews Band (DMB) is coming to North Little Rock at Dickey Stephen's Park this September. Ever since I first heard his music, I fell in love with his style. I've always wanted to see him live. Can't wait!

I'm excited about what 2009 has in store! What's on your bucket list??

Fitness is FUN!

Lately I have been running... a lot. I started on this program called Women Can Run at Arkansas Runner. It's been a great experience these last two weeks and I have met some fabulous women in doing this program. There are women of all shapes and sizes who meet at JA Fair High School twice a week to run or walk. Most of us are training for some sort of marathon, whether it is the Full Marathon of March 15th or the Women Can Run Marathon on May 9th. Since this will be my first Marathon event, I will be doing the Women Can Run 5K in Conway on May 9th. I am really excited about this opportunity to get in shape and to feel great about exercising!

Click here for a list of marathons in the Arkansas.



I found this vintage poster online and it made me smile! I hope it motivates you to get outside and do something physical today and this weekend. I know Little Rock is expecting some warmer weather, so I plan to take advantage of it this weekend! :)

It's all apples and oranges!

It's Day 1 of eating a processed free diet. I've done mucho research on the internet and I think I can do it! :) Although, I already made a mistake. I had a baked potato for lunch and then not thinking I put butter on it. Well, butter is processed. Opps! This is going to be a little trickier than I thought, but I really want to learn to truly eat completely natural and "raw" as they call it. My goal eventually is to become a vegan, but I will ease myself into that. I'm scared I won't get enough protein that I need at first. I am trying to teach myself which foods are a good source of fiber and which are a good source of protein, etc. It really does amaze me how food can affect you so.

Also, I am taking the water challenge - to drink a gallon of water a day! Don't think it sounds hard? Well, give it a try. A gallon is a lot more than you think. And when you're not drinking water, you'll be running down the hall to the bathroom. :)

Another improvement I am making in my life is composting. Now you may think I've gone crazy, but it is a great way to reduce the amount of trash your family is taking out. It is great for the environment and for your garden! Right now I have my food scraps in a ziplock bag but I need to go buy a airtight container to keep my scraps in. So all the scraps of the natural fruits and veggies I'll be eating on my whole food diet will decompose and go back into the soil for nutrients for more plants- just as God intended. And the world will be a better place! :)

If you are not familar with composting, read this blog for detailed instructions. It really is quite interesting.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Today is Fat Tuesday 2009 and I am staring at the biggest king cake I have ever seen. Unfortunately it is not gluten free, so I will not be partaking in the cake this year. However, I am having a few friends over to enjoy it! I can't wait!

Even though I'm not Catholic, I do love Mardi Gras time! I thought I would share a little about the history of Mardi Gras today for those of you who are interested. It's really quite a neat history.

(Mardi Gras history taken from this website. )

Mardi Gras most likely originated from the Romans and Greek from their mid-February celebration known as Lupercalia which honored the god Lupercus. This celebration was very similar in nature to the Mardi Gras today, with drinking and eating and satisfying "pleasure of the flesh." In fact, the term Carnival, often synonymous with Mardi Gras, is derived from the Latin expression meaning "farewell to the flesh."

As many pagan traditions, Lupercalia was converted to a Christian festival and was and still is celebrated today in conjuction with Lent. The carnival-like celebration of Lupercalia thus morphed into a last "fling" before the beginning of the Lenten period. Lent refers to the 40 days of pertinence and purification celebrated between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. During Lent, the religiously faithful refrain from a number of indulgences of the "flesh", including eating meat.

in other words, it's the big party before a time of fasting and sacrifice. (as in giving something up, not like sacrificing as they did in Biblical times..)

Anyway, even though I am not Catholic, I usually try to give something up for Lent. Being from Louisiana I was surrounded by Mardi Gras and Lent at this time of year. My friends in high school always celebrated with a king cake, followed by the challenge of giving something up for 40 days following Fat Tuesday.

My 40 day challenge: (I can't believe I'm actually writing this down.) I will not eat any processed food or drink for 40 days. My proposed outcome is that I will feel tons better having NOT put chemicals and additives in my system. If I do, in fact, feel better than I will hopefully continue this in the future. Over the past few years, well, mainly since I was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, I have cut out a LOT of processed foods and have started eating more natural foods...but I have never gone without them entirely...until now.

Can I do it? We shall see.

Recycle Those Phones!

I recently had an interesting conversation with a guy who refuses to recycle anything and therefore, since he is in a position of authority at his workplace, refuses to make their building a "green" office. This conversation arose when I simply asked where, how, and IF he recycled old cell phones. His response was that he used to, but now he simply throws them away. I literally felt my stomach cringe. I can just see all the billions of cell phones in land fills all over the earth because it is easily to throw them away rather than take the five minutes to recycle them. It angers me! And cell phones is only the beginning.

If you have an old cell phone laying around the house, please do NOT throw it away. There are many places and people that would LOVE to have an old cell phone- battered women shelters is a great example. Many of their phones were taken by their abusive spouse, if they even had one at all.

I found Qwest through The Daily Green website. Go Green for Schools is a new and innovative cell phone recycling initiative brought to you by Qwest. By recycling your cell phone with Qwest, you keep unused cell phones out of landfills and reduce green house gas emissions. This recycling program also helps raise money for public school districts and preK-12 educational initiatives.

This website makes it so simple to mail in your cell phones. It gives you step by step instructions and even gives you a PREPAID mailing label for your box or mailing envelope. How much easier could it get?! So before you chunk your old cellies in the garbage, give education a second thought. Help out our schools and RECYCLE THOSE PHONES!!!

Boys Will Be Boys!

This past weekend I drove down to Shreveport to spend the weekend with my cousin Lauren, her husband, and her little boy, Trey. We had the best time! It was so relaxing and Lauren is a great cook. It was just the mini-vacation that I needed. Friday night we just caught up and chatted before falling asleep at 11:30pm and realizing that I am now officially old.

Saturday morning I woke up to a fresh bowl of fruit all chopped and ready to go! Trey and I enjoyed our fruit together before talking a walk to the near by park. We played in this huge field of clover and just had the best time watching Trey be silly. When we were leaving the park we found tons of lady bugs...that was really neat for Trey to see.

Since Shreveport has the famous Humphrey's Yougart I swung by to get Lauren and I a cup at Counter Culture! Man, I wish we had one of those in Little Rock. I would literally each one everyday! I could have left happy at this point, but Lauren surprised me with gluten free pasta for lunch and STEAK for dinner! We settled in Saturday night and watched a great movie on TV.

Sunday morning we loaded up and went to another park down by the Red River. It was fun to watch Trey be a typical boy picking up sticks and rocks and wishing he could go play in the river.

I had the best time! Next time I decided that my babys will come with me: Buie and Conner. I know they would enjoy Shreveport with the Wests as much as I did.

I think my favorite part of the weekend was when Trey got into my makeup. He had it all of his face! hehe.

me and my cousin, Lauren

my favorite picture of Trey from the weekend

giggles...

"Here, smell this!"

Trey, playing in a field of clover!

Trey found my makeup!

I think he got hot so he was taking off his jammies...

My Funny Valentine

"You know you want me"

"You're smoking hot!"

"Bananas for you!"
"My main squeeze"

"You knock me out!"
"I'm horny"
"Can't get enough"
In honor of the upcoming holiday this Saturday, I've been browsing around for cute "love themed" items. These were particularly cute and caught my eye. Found at Bumble Ink.

We are in this together.

Found here. I thought this print was just darling! I want it in my house. It is perfect for a wedding gift for a new couple or for your sweetheart for Valentine's Day. I know it reminds me of my sweetheart... and brings a smile to my face.

Flickr Friday Favs.

I feel like I've been neglecting my camera lately, so this weekend my goal is to break it back out and take some shots. Not sure what I will taking yet since it's super cold outside. Maybe I will use my favorite subjects, my animals.

Well, since it's Friday...here are some of my Flickr Friday Favorites. I haven't done this in a while.

Found on indierocket's photostream.

Change is comin'

It's been a while since I've last posted on this blog. But to catch up on The Buie's First Christmas just head on over to our blog. After much debate on whether I should keep this blog, I decided to be selfish and keep this blog just for me...after all, that's why it's called "simply cb" because it's all about ME and the things I like.

More than anything I hate being normal and predictable so I purposefully didn't do a "Resolutions" blog because I felt like everyone else was. (I know that's really silly). But lately I've been thinking a lot about changes. I work in downtown Little Rock and our office buildings are in the process of moving. It's not really a HUGE change but a change to say the least. We have a brand new building. I'll have a brand new desk and that is just exciting.

Other changes I'd like to see happen in my life include organization. I have learned to make small goals in order to make progress. If I said I wanted my whole house cleaned right now, then I would just be dissapointed. But if I make a small goal by saying this weekend I will clean out my closet then that is a goal I am most likely going to achieve.

Other changes coming in 2009:
My husband and I have decided to adopt a child through Compassion International. If you haven't heard about this program, you need to! I am passionate about adoption first and formost but if you cannot or are not ready to officially adopt a child of your own then try FINANCIALLY adopting one as well as PRAYERFULLY adopting one. Through Compassion Int. you actually get to go online and chose your own child by browsing through hundreds if not thousands of pictures. It breaks my heart to see so many children with little or nothing. By giving only $32 a month, we can help provide a child with an education, food and clothing that they might not otherwise receive in the country where they live. I am excited about this wonderful opportunity! Also, I have heard amazing stories of when the sponser actually was able to travel across the world to meet the child they had been sponsering for so many years! How cool is that?!

Change is coming...
We all know that January 20th is a big day for our nation. Please be in prayer for our next president-Obama-as he takes on a whole lot of changes in his life.

So I give in...Here's my list that I swore I wouldn't make:

1) Send more birthday cards!- Everyone loves to receive a personal birthday card, especially with a hand written note inside. E-cards are great and fast for those last minutes birthdays that sneak up on you, but I encourage you to plan ahead and buy cards ahead of time. Don't just buy them, but actually SEND them. The Container Store has a great container to keep all of your birthday cards and special occasion cards close at hand. Take this greeting card organizer with you to work, that way you will always have cards close by when you look on the calendar and see that Aunt Mary's birthday is coming up! Imagine how excited she'll be when she gets a card from her favortie niece! :)

2) Get buff. Before Christmas, my husband and I went to an athletic store to buy me some "girly weights" as I call them. I purchased two 2 pound weights and two 5 pound. (Don't make fun.) At this point I have used them twice, but the year has just begun. I plan to become VERY familiar with the 2's and the 5's and maybe, just maybe move on up to the 8's. Watch out now! As someone who lives with Fibromyalgia, I know how important taking care of my body is. Not only do I need to walk more regularly, but I need to add more resistance to my workout...hence the "get buff" resolution.

3) Finish a book. That's right, I said finish a book. Just one. UNO. I have a real problem. I'm not exactly sure when it started but let's just say for the last few years I have had problems in finishing a book. I'll start one, read it for a few days and then NOT read it for a few days...but then when I pick it back up I have forgotton where I was in the story so I lose interest. If I had enough... concentration I would just sit and read the book the whole way through but I just can't sit for that long. I keep thinking of all the other things I'd rather be doing. So this year, I want to finish a book. Maybe this will teach me perseverance or something like that...

4) Paint. This one really is as simple as it sounds. I have this overwhelming desire to paint anything and everything I see but I lack the time and the space to do it. The medium you ask? Well, I prefer oil but yes it is a bit messy and smelly...but acrylic would be my second choice...and much easier to clean up. I only wish I had a studio... but until then I will paint something, anything. My current project I am dreaming up in my head is painting the guest bathroom...more to come on that later... So this resolution is to simply paint... whenever, wherever, and however. So watch out! I may start painting your back door purple or something!


So as I start this new year, I keep in mind these four things. Oh, I'm sure there are many more but if I added more than four I wouldn't be able to remember them all so as simple they are, those are my "New Year's Resolutions."

If I had kids...

If I had kids...It would probably be hard NOT to buy all of these things. I found this website and fell in LOVE with it. They have such unique gifts and decorations. I will definitely keep this website on my 'favorites' list for next Christmas.


Wisteria

Free Gift Tags!

That's right I said FREE!

To download YOUR free gift tags, click here! I promise they are totally free. Just print them out on a heavier paper preferably, cut around each tag, punch a hole in the top and attach to present with a pretty ribbon.

Enjoy!

Green Gifts

I am always looking for unique gifts and in the past few years it has become more important to me to find ways to buy more eco-friendly gifts. With the wave of "going green" it is becoming easier and easier to find green gifts. This holiday is no exception. Take a look at some of the great green gifts I found online recently. Take a moment to think about how to make your holidays a little more eco-friendly this year. :

Jute Yoga Mat. Found at gaiam.com for $22.
~Gaiam's yoga mat is made from jute, a biodegradable, fast-growing sustainable resource sure to heighten the consciousness of your yogi's practice.


Eco-Wool and Recycled Plastic Fleece Ski Hat. Found at patagonia.com for only $32.00
~Patagonia's fleece hat is made from a blend of "eco-wool" and recycled plastic to keep craniums cozy and dry.

Engage Green 100% Recycled Paper Handbag. Found at engagegreen.com for only $45.

~More than a paper bag, Engage Green's 100% recycled paper handbag is a statement in sustainable style.

Handmade from sustainable bamboo: Vers Sustainable Wood Sound System. Found at versaudio.com for a surprisingly low price of $179.99

For the dog owner: Eco-Me 100% Natural Dog Kit. Found at miaandmaggie.com

Record Book. Found at bookbinders

~hand cut from an old vinyl album and then hard bound with black cloth.

Recycled Wine Bottle Coat Rack . Found at uncommongoods.com

Justin & Lee Ann

I had a great time taking Justin and Lee Ann's pictures a few weeks ago. They were so much fun to work with. I love working with couples who laugh a lot and we definitely laughed... A LOT! Here are a few of my favorites from the day.