Jingle Bell Run.

I am knee deep in training what I like to refer to as my little grasshopper. You see, as I have mentioned before if someone spends enough time around me they somehow get a bug that they just can’t seem to shake……the bug to start running.

This past weekend my little grasshopper did her coach proud as she conquered her first 1k race. 1k may not seem that far to some, but if knew the incredible strides Lindsay has made in her training you would be just as proud as I was.

After all when we started this couch to 5k journey, Lindsay was not able to run 2 mins without struggling……….this past Saturday she ran 8 mins straight. No stopping to walk, no sucking in air so hard I thought she was going to kill over, just a good solid jog.

Look at that smile as she is nearing the finish line!

This goes to show that anyone who has the drive and determination to achieve a goal of running can, you simply have to fight through the days in which you feel as though it is impossible to lace up those running shoes.

After the race Lindsay turned to her small cheering section and smiling said…………..”1k down, 4 more to go”. I will be there every step of this journey she is on, coaching, cheering, supporting, encouraging and pushing her when she feels she has no more to give. More updates to come!

The sports fanatic…

I don’t know about you but I have what one would call a ‘sports fanatic’ or two on my list of people to shop for this season. As I was scavenging around looking for that perfect gift I ran across these awesome sports bands. And they seemed even more incredible after I ran a race this past weekend wearing a sports watch and it annoyed that bone that protrudes from the wrist, some silly scientist out there may refer to it as the ulna.

Anywho, these sports bands brought to you by Nike might possibly be a gift sent straight down from heaven. They are slim, lightweight, and most importantly don’t hurt any wrist bones. The sleek, easy to use SportBand track distance run, pace, time and calories burned.

When used in conjunction with the Nike Plus memory chip designed to fit into any Nike Plus shoe allows the runner in your family to connect to the world’s largest running club through nikeplus.com. 30 hours of workouts can be saved in the memory of the Sportsband that also doubles as a watch.


Do a little Christmas shopping for yourself and then hit the running trails.

Love ya,
JB

I love to give personalized gifts! Over the next few days I will share a few of my favorite personalized gifts and let me tell you there are a lot of spectacular gifts that you can add your own personal touch to. One of those gifts are these sweet and elegant Lights.


After submitting a photo to Light Affection™ they work their magic by carving an illuminated masterpiece. Their carved artwork is framed into either a standing table lamp or a wall night light.

Check them out you will love the creativity they offer and the perfect gifts they create for mom, dad, grandparents or friends.

What is Christmas without a card?

For me, Christmas equals holiday cards, I love to send them and I love to receive them. I especially like to receive those cards that have pictures and a letter attached detailing all the fun adventures the sender had been through the past year. I have been sending Christmas cards for as long as I can remember and the past 5 years I have included a picture. My momma always used to say “do onto others as you’d have done unto you” so I figured since I love receiving cards with pictures, well then I need to be sending a card with my mug on it.
This year I used Tiny Prints as the company to hook me up with an awesome card. They have a super cool selection of cards, I am sure everyone could find a print they just could not pass up, I know I did.

In addition to cards they also have out of this world personalized photo gifts, from notebooks

to personal stationery

to gallery wrapped canvas prints,

your options are endless. Please check them out and personalize a special gift for that special someone!

Love,
JB


All photos are courtesy Tiny Prints.

A must for the holiday's

I like to channel my inner Heidi Klum from time to time, most frequently around the holiday season. Two weeks ago I ventured out into the cool crisp Oklahoma November air to have pictures taken, not only for my Christmas cards but also for gifts for my family. I like to call my friend Destiny ‘my photographer’ after all she has been taking my pictures for the past 5 years so that kind of makes her my photographer right? Anyway she is super duper talented, beyond sweet and just might have a few Harry Potter magic tricks up her sleeves because she can make everyone, even me look pretty darn good in a picture or two. Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot.






Oh how I love photography, I just much prefer being behind the lens rather than in front of.

Best EVER Sugar Cookies!!!!!

Because I am sure that it is not public knowledge that I like to bake, I feel as though I am doing a huge disservice by not sharing the news…….I like to bake, wait let me rephrase that I LOVE to bake. I use to bake for the entire town of Tulsa until the cost just got too much for me. You may think I am kidding, but my friends I am here to tell you I am not. I baked for all my gym friends, I baked for my church groups, I baked for my co-workers, I baked and was not happy with the outcome so I wanted to give my baked goods to my homeless neighbors but was advised not to, probably wise! I love to bake and anyone within a 50 mile radius of Tulsa has probably been given a slice of sweetness from my kitchen. Because I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas I hunt high and low for scrumptious bites of heaven and I am certain I could hear angles sing when I took a taste of my new favorite sugar cookies.

Here is what you will need:
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 1 cup Canola Oil
• 2 sticks Butter, Softened
• 1 cup Sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 4 cups Plus 2 Tablespoons, All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together eggs, oil, butter, sugars and vanilla.
Add dry ingredients and mix and blended well. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least one hour.
Using a cooking scoop, drop balls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
Smear a dab of butter all over the bottom of a glass, and then dip the glass in granulated sugar. Use the glass bottom to flatten each ball of dough, dipping again into the sugar before flatten each ball. Repeat until all are flattened.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, until cookies are just barely turning brown.




Be prepared these little delights are going to knock your socks off!!!

25 days of Christmas

With December comes tradition, happy spirits, family, friends, love and everything that is the holiday season. To me the holidays have always been about sharing, giving, thankfulness and gratitude, so I was on a mission that I have to admit shamefully I have already failed. I was looking forward to taking the 25 days of Christmas to blog about people, treats and places that makes Christmas time one of my favorite times of the year. I realize I am 7 days late, but better late than never right?




You can’t think of Christmas without thinking of the word gifts. Over the next few weeks I am going to share some way cool, must have gifts for Christmas 2010. If you happen to be like me the men in our lives are by far the most challenging to shop for, this year is no exception for me. I have been hunting high and low for cool and unique gifts for the men in my life………….and last week while I was at Boards I ran across a LEGO set, and it was not in the toy section of the store. This LEGO set was anything but a toy, you see it was an architectural model. Being my brother is an architect I tend to be drawn to names that sound familiar and when I saw Frank Lloyd Wright and Fallingwater all together on the same box cover I knew I had to investigate. There are 9 different architectural models by LEGO all of them ranging in difficulty and complexity.


Rockefeller Center


Sears Tower


John Hancock Center


Empire State Building


Seattle Space Needle


Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum


Fallingwater


White House


Taj Mahal


With each model set comes a booklet with facts about the building, its construction and its history. This is a perfect gift for any architecture enthusiast in your life, but expect to pay a little bit for each set!

Happy Shopping

Another Season Down.

Another season of kickball has come to an end. I do realize my documentation of fall kickball here on my blog was……….what should I say……..nonexistent. There are many variables as to why I didn’t find time to share with you the great details about the Budweiser Brawl, but none of them had to do with the fact that we only won 2-3 games the entire season, I promise.

At the end of each season we have a kickball party, this season was no different. As with any evening in which we venture out on the town it typically starts out calm, and somewhere turns in the opposite direction of calm, what is that called…………….mayhem! I am positive the fact that beer was free from 8-10p and from 10-12p shots were only $3 had everything to do with the quick decline of judgment. However, when you are the only sober turkey in a bar you are bound to get some priceless pictures and that I did. Here are a few……………

When the night starts like this..........



and this.



You end up with results similar to this......



and this.




Yet somewhere in the mix we got pictures like this.....



and this.....



and this!!



It was an incredibly fun night!!!

Love ya!
JB

Pink Power Lunch

Tuesday 11.16.10 was go time. I spent the past month working on the logistics, getting speakers, working with the venue on strategy and preparing to execute our 2nd Annual Pink Power Lunch. A lunch and learned geared towards HR, CEO’s and executives in local organizations to educated and empower them with knowledge.



This lunch was not about fundraising it was about experiencing the power of knowledge, friendship and community…….to experience the power of pink. This Pink Power lunch was uniquely different than many other breast cancer presentations that our guests had attended in the past. On Tuesday the lunch brought together dynamic men and women of the Tulsa community to become educated and enlightened about the realities of breast cancer and the impact it not only has on the life of the patient but how the reality has changed the way some businesses approach healthcare and the health of their employees.

Our most essential tool for a better and brighter future for all is knowledge. With that said I made sure we had speakers that could talk with our guests about what they could do within their organizations to bring Breast Self-Awareness to their employee’s year around, not just during the month of October. Our hope was that they were able to walk away from the lunch feeling empowered to make knowledgeable decisions about their health and the health of their employees.



From the feedback I have gained, I think our hope was reached. I will not bore you with all the details about the topics discussed, but it was a well rounded, educational and thought provoking 1.5 hour.

McNellie's Pub Run

I run in the McNellie’s Pub Run this past weekend. Now I have run a race or two or twenty in my life, but I had yet to run in anything with the words ‘pub’ in the title. I didn’t just fall of the turnip truck that actually happened two weeks ago, so I was aware that in a ‘pub run’ there would be beer. I however did not have prior knowledge of the men sporting (fashionably I might add) kilts,


the cast of Reno 911,

or men confused as to whether they were at a triathlon or a run,

being present at this ‘pub run’ but yes all of the above plus much more were present and ready to run.
For participants interested in registering for this race there were three choices……..1 mile fun run, 4 mile run, or the 4 mile Guinness Challenge. As a side note I was the only one out of our group of friends that registered for the 4 mile run, I was not interested in incorporating Guinness in my 4 mile jaunt.

We don’t need to cover the harassment I endured due to that decision, I will say though I was quite happy with my choice. This run was a learning experience for me………….
1) Someone who does not register for the Guinness Challenge should be prepared to not have the opportunity to hydrate during the run.

2) I don’t like to run without adequate water!
3) One should not expect the workers at the water stops, or beer stops as most like to refer to them as, to have the slightest idea of what water is.

4) I see mirage of lakes when I don’t get enough water!
5) Anyone who wants to make it through the race without feeling as though they are going to pass out, well they need to plan on drinking beer.
6) I loved running at a slower pace than normal.
7) The Culligan Man should not be at the finish line for I drank him out of water.
8) I wanted to eat a hamburger when I was done.
9) I completely enjoyed having a fun new running buddy for the race.

10) I have a lot of work to do to catch up to Matt and the speed demon he is.

It seems to me the one lesson I learned loud and clear is that I need to hydrate extensively before the pub run or I may end up dead on the side of the road due to dehydration.

My time was not the best in this race, but I will say it was one of the more fun races I have run in. I finished with a smile on my face!

I plan to do this race again next year.