Happy Birthday to my husband :)

This post is a few days late, but Happy “late” Birthday to my fabulous husband, Jason. He turned 33 on Wednesday and we had wonderful evening (just the two of us) celebrating his b-day. I offered to take him to Jackson for a nice dinner, but his only request was for me to make Chicken Florentine Lasagna (his favorite dish I make) and a Carvel Ice Cream cake!! After filling up on lasagna and cake we watched our favorite show....AMERICAN IDOL!!! It was a low-key birthday, but these days we both seem to like low-key more and more!!

His birthday present actually arrived this past Monday. We both have decent bikes, but Jason has been ready to take his biking to the “next level” for some time. I know nothing about road bikes so I recruited my dad (who I consider the ultimate consumer....he really should write for Consumer Report-ha) to help me out. My parents, my Grandma and myself went in together to get him a new Cannondale bike!! He bought it in Oxford from FUN WHEELS and drove it over on Monday. This isn’t your everyday HUFFY from Toys-R-US….so I was thankful that we made it a “team effort” to buy it for him :) We all went bike riding on Monday afternoon to test it out. It will fly and Jason had to wait at Holly Hill (our turn around point) for me for a total of 12 minutes…I just could not keep up on my “sissy” bike. He absolutely loves his new “ride” and is more than deserving!! Jason does so much for me, that it was the LEAST I could do.

The next Lance Armstrong???

I enjoy more leisurley biking and was struggling by this point....we had already gone about 10 miles.

Looking forward to celebrating many more birthdays with my favorite person, best friend and husband :) I love you, Jason!!!!!

BEST BREAKFAST IN MEMPHIS

We ended our weekend in Memphis by eating the BEST BREAKFAST EVER!! Sunday morning we met Brooke & Corey and the rest of the Griffith clan at Brother Juniper’s. This place is a must visit!! It has been voted # 1 breakfast in Memphis numerous times and was featured on Rachel Ray’s $40 a day show, and many other publications. The open face omelette will leave you wanting more, the cheese grits were divine and those biscuits were just heavenly. Check it out if your ever in Memphis (hint- get there early b/c it gets crowded fast!!!)......... http://www.brotherjunipers.com/

Running (and walking) in Memphis

When thinking of a name for this post, I thought I would entitle it “Running in Memphis”. After my poor attempt at my 2nd 5K, I decided it should be “Running (w/ some occasional walking) in Memphis”……

This past weekend we decided to attempt another 5K. Our good friends, Brooke and Corey that live in Huntsville, were coming to Memphis to visit her brother. Since we don’t get to see them often and are only 2 hours from Memphis, we decided it would be a great weekend trip and why not do a 5K too!!

We both had really good runs on Thursday and were planning on beating our times on Saturday. The race started at 5:00 (unlike most that are in the morning). We thought the time may be at our advantage since we are evening runners anyway. Not to mention the run took you down Front St. and then up Riverside Drive, so there were plenty of attractions to distract you from the pain. Well, unfortunately we were wrong….we both STRUGGLED on this one and finished worse than our 1st 5K :( Jason finished right at 31:00 (his goal was to break 30) and I finished at 38:00 (goal was 35:00).

Both of us were disappointed, but we decided to blame the 86 degree temps and humidity on our poor performance. Since we began running (in Jan) the weather has always been cool. So Saturday was really our first attempt to run in some major heat. However, we are not going to let it get us down. I’m just going to have to start pushing myself a little more. Despite the lack of meeting our goals, the race was really fun and we would recommend it to anyone looking for a 5K in Memphis.

The official name of the race was RACE JUDICATA. The U of Memphis Law School and Memphis Area Legal Services sponsors the race. It begins and ends in Jefferson Davis Park overlooking the MS River. They had a live band after the race and plenty of food and drinks.

Over all we had a great little one night get-away to Memphis. Exercised, ate great food, spent time w/ dear friends and enjoyed beautiful weather :)

**Sorry…no race pics….left my camera in the car and we were looking ROUGH to say the least!!

A FUNNY for FRIDAY

Jason's job requires travel occasionally. In February he ventured to South Florida (Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm to name a few). When he arrived at the rental place it was his lucky day. The guy at the desk told him he was upgrading him to a Mustang convertible for FREE. He told Jason he couldn't bare to give him a Toyota Yaris...I don't even know what one looks like?? So Jason spent 4 days traveling around South Florida in style.......

However, he wasn't so lucky on his next trip. In March he had to go to El Paso first and then flew to Houston to visit properties in and around Houston suburbs, Corpus Christi and San Antonio. If you're familiar with TX, that is A LOT of driving. The rental car guy wasn't so nice in TX. They ran out of their standard cars and Jason got to drive a NISSAN CUBE for 5 day. Not exactly a chick magnet...haha!!

Maybe next time his luck will be better!!

What we've been doing....

It always seems like warmer weather brings a BUSY season for the Pope family. We’ve had a busy past few weeks/weekends and unfortunately NO pics to show for it :( We enjoyed having my parents visit the past two weekends. No, they usually don’t visit two weekends in a row and were hesitant to come again the 2nd weekend in fear of “intruding”, but we assured them they weren’t invading our space :) I don't have the luxury of seeing them all the time and I'm thankful when they can make the drive over.

Two weekends ago Mom & Dad came over for a Friday/Saturday visit. Their purpose was two fold- of course to see their favorite daughter and son-in-law (and only-ha), but also to cheer on AU against State in baseball. Unfortunately State totally EMBARRASSED Auburn, but the weather was nice and we got to eat at Mugshots....can’t beat that!! Our generous neighbors gave us their tickets as well and they were great seats!!! Thank you Tyler family!!! Although we lost, we had a great time and visit!!

This past weekend was the beginning of my Mom’s spring break. Since the forecast for Saturday was BEAUTIFUL…They decided to drive over that morning for a weekend of bike riding. We enjoyed riding to Holly Hill and back. My parents loved the Trace and can’t wait to come back again and ride. We had planned to ride on Sunday, but were afraid of the forecasted rain. So instead we went to church and ate brunch at Julep in Jackson, which was a “HIT” w/ everyone!! They have a busy next few weeks/months ahead w/ mom finishing the school year and their ALASKAN CRUISE 1st of June, but we hope they can come back again soon!

In addition to their visits we’ve stayed very busy w/ various activities…

~Still keeping up w/ our running and looking forward to a 5K in Memphis tomorrow

~Trying to get back into tennis. I discovered my friend JJ is pretty darn good and we’re hoping to recruit some other girls to start playing.

~TH night bible study is back in full swing. We’re enjoying reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan (same author of the popular book, Crazy Love)

~Had a great time celebrating our friend, JJ’s 30th b-day, w/ a great dinner w/ some sweet friends

~Completed our volunteer training for Make-A-Wish and ready to start making wishes!!

~Jason had a busy week in Texas for work the last week of March. Glad to have him back :)

So as you can see SPRING HAS SPRUNG and has been full of activity!! We’re looking forward to more biking, continued running, upcoming weddings, weekends with friends, getting back into tennis, visits home, Jason’s 33rd b-day coming up soon and much more!!! HAPPY SPRING :)

Birthday Shout Outs

One thing I hate about living far away is missing out on sweet friend’s and families birthday celebrations!! This week or shall I say month seems to be full of them. So I’d like to wish the following people a special Happy Birthday.

Jackson Sprayberry ~ our sweet nephew turned 4 on March 27th. We heard he had an awesome FIRETRUCK/MAN party :) He also just had his 1st tball game, which I would have loved to have seen! We hope to see you soon and will be bearing gifts !!!

Haylea Williams ~ another wonderful friend (my college roommate) turns the big 3-0 on Friday, 4/1. She is having a Bday Bash in Huntsville Friday night that I am very sad I will not be attending :( I’m hoping we can celebrate and visit soon!! :)

Lesley Hutchison ~ my sweet BFF since the 4th grade joins the 30 something crowd today, 3/29. She is a great friend and a beautiful person inside and out. I’m looking forward to a visit to Bham soon for a late celebration :)

Jeremy Cruse- another one of my great friends since the 4th grade. He welcomed 30 on 3/19. He always keeps all of our friends laughing. He was definiteley deserving of his Who's Who title in high school "Most Fun Loving"....and still is!!

Uncle Ken (my mom's brother)- he celebrated his 49th this week ... I believe 3/27...so many bdays I'm losing track of them. He lives at the lake and is in is happy place on the water. I hope he gets to enjoy some boating soon!!

And last but not least....the newest addition to our family arrived yesterday....

David “Graham” Robinson ~ my cousin Amber gave birth to a healthy baby boy yesterday in Savannah, GA. Mom and baby are doing great. I can’t wait to meet him :) His sweet big brother, Reed, is holding him.

**photo courtesy of proud aunt, Amy Allen's facebook page :)**

Happy Birthday to my friends and family that span from Huntsville to Savannah. I truly miss all of you and think of you often. Although we are far apart….you are always close to my heart!!!

A Run and Spring Fun!!

I'm happy to say we finished our 1st 5K this morning in Jackson!! Jason's goal was 32 minutes and he finished around 30:40. My goal was 36 minutes and the clock hit 36 right as I was crossing the finish line. We are glad to have our 1st one behind us and are looking forward to the Double Decker 5K in Oxford, MS in April and hope to set new time goals.

Our friend Kayla also ran w/ us and did awesome. She is definitely a more experienced runner having finished a 1/2 marathon recently, so this was nothing for her. Her husband Jason joined us and cheered us on from the street w/ his coffee (I may join him next time-ha).

We did it!!

Happy to have Kayla join us :)

We managed to have a little fun too!! We went to Shuckers last night and loaded up on shrimp and oysters (the non-runners ate the oysters)- great seafood by the way, but don't go for the ambiance (ha). If you want some good people watching go to that place on a Friday night. I think all the River Rats from the Reservoir invade it.

**for my friends back home the biggest redneck in the place had a t-shirt on from Mt. Cheaha Harley Davidson, which of course is located in my hometown of Oxford, Al- thought that was funny!!

Jason and I rewarded ourselves at lunch today with a good cheeseburger from my favorite- Five Guys. We are now back home and looking forward to some R&R and enjoying the rest of this beautiful weekend!!