That time I saw a baby black bear run up a tree.

I've already recapped three parts of our South Dakota adventure: Carhenge, our cabin, Crazy Horse/Mount Rushmore. We stayed in Keystone Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights, which meant we really only had two full days in South Dakota to pack in everything we wanted to do. I can't believe I thought we would be bored! South Dakota, you guys. It's for real.

Saturday was when we visited Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. On Sunday, we got to do a few fun things, and one of those was visit Bear Country USA.

Think, safari except with bears and reindeer instead of giraffes and lions (or whatever kinds of animals they have in safaris). It's a two-mile loop that you drive, and you're given strict instructions to stay in your car lest you get mauled by black bears or gored by an elk. They used all caps and bold and lots of exclamation points on the flier they gave us, so we were pretty sure they were serious. That didn't stop us from rolling down our windows. I like to live on the edge. Don't tell.

Most of the animals didn't have actual pens, so they were free to just roam about. It was really cool to see animals up close like that, the black bears especially. They were right up next to our car! Then they'd walk across the road, and we would have to stop and wait. Kind of like you have to do for geese sometimes, except it's not really same at all. 

Because bears.

^^^ The whole time we waited for this bear to cross the road, I was shouting, "LOOK! IT'S WALKING!" I'm easily amused by animals performing regular functions such as walking. This is either a really good or really bad thing for my future children. Olympic gold medals in walking. Just you wait.

There weren't just bears in Bear Country USA. There were elk, reindeer, big horn sheep, and buffalo (which, being from Oklahoma, we weren't so impressed by).

^^^Reindeer!

After the drive was over, we parked, and there was a small area that was more like an actual zoo. There were only a few types of animals, like this little guy below. And they had skunks, which I thought was weird slash terrifying.

And THEN.

Then there was a huge pen full of baby black bears!

I think we stood and watched them for at least fifteen minutes. They were so fun to watch. There was one in particular that was an instigator. He (she?) was running around jumping on all the other bears. A lot of them were just lying around, and the one bear would come and jump on one or start wrestling with one until both got up and started chasing each other, and then two or three would get involved and they'd all chase each other. It was hilarious! I wish I had a video of it.

^^^ We were cracking up at this one. It's like he's taking a leisurely bath or something.

^^^One of them climbed a tree! Coolest thing ever. Have you ever seen a bear climb a tree? The little guy just ran up that thing!

Overall travel recommendation? If you ever find yourself in South Dakota, take a trip to Bear Country USA. I should warn you, however, that it was $16/person, which is definitely pricy. I mean, if you take a family there, it will add up. But it was a unique, fun thing to do, and honestly it was worth it just to see the baby bear run up that tree.

I will conclude now with one of the only pictures I got of Jordan the whole time we were there. Dude does not let me take pictures of him!

^^^See what I have to deal with? That guy.

-Have you ever seen a bear climb a tree?
-Have you ever been to a drive-through zoo thing like this?
-Do you have a favorite zoo animal? I didn't think I had a favorite, but after this I'd say baby black bears! I wanted to take one home.

Want more South Dakota?
1) Trip overview (the route we drove + other random pictures)
2) Carhenge (awesome tourist attraction on the way there)
3) Our cabin in Keystone
4) Crazy Horse & Mount Rushmore

4/12

*Project 12: A photo on the first day of every month in 2014*

January | February | March

Read

Jordan = 1 book

Don't Know Much About the Civil War by Kenneth C. Davis

Amanda = 2 books

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

Traveled

Nowhere. Womp womp.

You guys, we have got to get out more.

Donations welcome.

Dates

April 12: Went to the zoo and then out for pizza!

April 7: Date night in (Jordan's idea!)

We got Chinese and played this new game we got called Quiddler.

It's like Scrabble but takes way less time.

Jordan likes to annoy me by using weird video game words I've never heard of.

April  8: Google chat date with my besties.

I always feel like I'm in a commercial when we're all on the chat together.
And no, they do not know I was taking creepster pictures during the chat.

3 Things That Happened in April Last Year

-I ran a marathon (I can't believe it's been a year!)

-I figured out how to cook delicious fresh green beans

-I ate a lot of Dunkin' Donuts

Notable Events

I PRd my 10K! Click for race recap.

It started raining at the end. I didn't really sweat quite that much.

Ran a 5k with my mom (go here for the recap!)

Meanwhile, the race was delayed 2 hours, and Jordan took a nap in a parking garage.

The End.
* * *
See you in a month for our first-day-of-May picture!

A Currently Coffee Date (Where I Order Tea)

Some scenes from our trip to the zoo on Saturday!

It was giraffe feeding time.

***

If you and I were meeting for a cup of coffee, I'd say, "Heck no! Coffee is gross. Chai tea for me, please!" Then we'd get our drinks and find a cozy spot where we could have a nice chat, and I'd tell you what's been on my mind lately...

I used to never understand what people meant when they said, "There just aren't enough hours in the day." I always thought that was kind of silly. There are enough hours if we just use them wisely. 

I mean, I prioritize everything I do, so if I don't get something done, it's because I chose to do something else first. I can't blame the fact that I don't have enough time. I need to just be okay with the decisions I made about how I spent my time. Right?

But I think I get it now. Lately I've been feeling like there really aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I either want to do or need to do.

I want to go running and do my arm exercises.
I need to work on freelance editing projects.
I want to write blog posts.
I need to cook dinner.
I want to read books for fun.
I need to go to sleep.
I want to watch TV and crochet.
I need to do the dishes.
I want to hang out with Jordan. 
I need to go to work.
I want to respond to blog comments.
I need to respond to work emails.
I want to read other blogs.
I need to read my Bible. 
(And I want to read it too.)

Each of those things are valid needs and wants that realistically do not all fit into a twenty-four-hour period. And I don't even have a baby or a dog to take care of! Although I do have a husband, which some might say is the same thing. (Just kidding, Jordan!*) 

I also used to wonder why bloggers quit their blog. But I think I get that now too. As my list of needs and wants gets longer and longer, I find that blog-related ones are the easiest to set aside for another day. Most of the time I'm going to choose sleeping over blogging. Running over blogging. Hanging out with Jordan over blogging.

At this point in the conversation, you might set down your cup and eye me suspiciously. "Just where are you going with this?" you might ask.

And I'd say, "Don't worry! I'm not quitting my blog." And you'd say, "That's so good, because if I couldn't read your blog there would be no point in waking up in the morning." Or, you know, something equally as dramatic.

But, I would tell you, I have noticed myself slowing down a bit. I've never been a seven-day-a-week blogger, but I feel like lately I'm slipping into more like a two-day-a-week blogger. I'm not apologizing for it, because it is what it is. But then again, maybe I am apologizing. I do wish I could have more content for you to read lately.

So I guess this is me not apologizing.

After I got that off my chest, I would realize that I've just rambled on for a while, and you haven't gotten to say anything. Then I'd give you the long story short of what's been going on in my life currently.

Listening to the radio on my drives to and from work, and I am annoyed as can be by the insane number of repeated songs. Let's get some variety in here, people! I try to switch stations, but it's the same song again. What is happening? Do people even listen to the radio anymore? How about CDs? Maybe don't answer that.

I need to get another audio book from the library. After The Help, I picked up Lauren Graham's Someday Someday Maybe (narrated by the author) and finished it just last week. It was pretty good!

Reading The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, the second in his trilogy. You can read my review of book one by clicking here. Basically, these books are good, and you should read them.

Wearing jeans to work EVERY DAY. Hashtag my job is better than yours. Also wearing $80 worth of clothes from my shopping spree at Banana Republic outlet. That store is my budget's kryptonite. 

I mean seriously. Check out this shirt I got last weekend. Originally $60. Got it for $17!
In a word: holler.

Eating all the ice cream. ALL OF IT. I bought a half gallon of Breyer's mint chocolate chip on Sunday, and it's already half gone. It's Tuesday. I don't want to talk about it. Why do people snort crack when a bowl of creamy mint goodness is just a short walk to the kitchen away? One of life's great unanswered questions.

Loving my Saturday morning run with the OKC running group! Is there anything better than watching the sun rise on a morning run? I really think not. Although when my alarm goes off at 5:30 on Saturday, I do wonder what the heck I was thinking.

Anticipating so many awesome things coming up this year. Running a 5k with my mom, my brother's wedding, missions trip, our anniversary, our birthdays, Tough Mudder... Those are just a few. 

I have a sneaky feeling my time is going to get squashed even more. I hope you guys stick around with me for all of it! And just bear with my random posting frequency. I'm way too deep into this blogging thing to quit now.

*But seriously.

***

What's one thing you're anticipating?

What would you tell me if we met for a coffee date?

P.S. Read my first coffee date post

A Tale of Two Honeymooners, Part Four-San Antonio River Walk, Sea World, and Free Stuff!

{Note: In case you were wondering when I'll stop writing posts about my honeymoon, wonder no more. This is the last honeymoon post.}

{Note #2: This one's long, but it's mostly pictures, so you shouldn't have to exert yourself too much. You're welcome.}

After Jordan and I finished getting sick on free samples, we left Fredericksburg and headed west to San Antonio, were we would stay at the Westin--a hotel that faced the famous river walk, where, I might add, we were on the top floor and had a balcony. (It appears I am not a cheap honeymoon date. Sorry, Jordan.)

I drove this time, because, well, I'm actually not sure why. I think because Jordan was tired of driving. In any case, I turned on our trusty GPS, and we headed into the big city. We arrived in San Antonio after an hour and half and began looking for a place to park.

It's important to note that we had made a few major adjustments based on the previous day of driving. 1) I was driving, which negated my being a backseat driver and annoying Jordan. 2) We were not hungry. 3) We were not worried about our GPS taking us to the middle of nowhere. 

Still, for some reason, we reached our low point. Wednesday, May 18, was the day we got into our first married fight. I'm not going to go into it; we survived and we still love each other, so the details aren't important. What is important is the fact that we made it to our hotel, saw the Alamo, said, "I love you," and decided we weren't going to fight ever again...

...until later, when we argued because I wanted to go exploring and Jordan wanted to lie in bed and watch more Man vs. Food on the travel channel. Like I said, low point. 

But our smiles are genuine. I promise. Even at our lowest point, we were still happy to be together on our honeymoon. And our view was pretty cool too, so that helped.

See? Jordan wanted to lounge about. 

But I made him walk to the Alamo with me.

When we got back to our room, we found chocolates! Actually, a guy came and dropped them off for us along with a note that thanked us for spending our honeymoon at the Westin. That's why you tell people it's your honeymoon...free stuff!

Then I told Jordan we were dressing up and going to dinner on the river walk. And we finally found someone to take a picture of us! That whole holding-out-your-arm-to-take-a-picture thing gets old. 

When we got back to our room, we found this:

It had come with a box of chocolates and a note thanking Mr. and Mrs. Hampton for spending their 20th wedding anniversary at the Westin. Since we didn't want to be charged for champagne we didn't order, we went down to the front desk to tell them about the switch. We were informed that the first box of chocolates (the ones that had been hand delivered) hadn't been for us. This, however, was ours. I thought that sort of thing only happened in movies. Not so, my friends, not so.

Again, that's why you tell people you're on your honeymoon.

You might get free champagne and more chocolate! 

The next day was Sea World day! We had talked about finding admission coupons, but it never happened, so we were resigned to paying the full $60 per ticket. But when we got up to the counter, I decided to try something I'd seen my parents do on occasion.

"Hello!" I said cheerfully.

A bored-looking girl stared at me, most likely confused by my cheerfulness. "Hey."

"How are you doing today?" I asked.

She smiled slightly, and I knew she was warming up to me. "Fine. How are you?"

"Great! You know, we're here on our honeymoon. You don't happen to have any coupons for honeymooners back there, do you?"

She shook her head.

"Nothing?" I asked again, looking sad. "You sure?"

She laughed. "No, ma'am. Sorry."

"That's okay! Just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask."

Then she said our total was $101 and some change. I looked at Jordan, and he shrugged his shoulders. We looked at our tickets later, and sure enough, she'd given us both the "child" price.

I couldn't believe it. "It worked! I saved us twenty bucks!"

So that's apparently how it's done, people.

We took a picture by the entrance and then headed in. We saw a couple of shows, some animals, ate lunch, and headed out six hours later. It was a good day.

As you can see, it was a bit cloudy, but it didn't rain on us, and I think it kept the people away, because it wasn't crowded at all.

 

We got back and went out to dinner at County Line. 

We sat outside on the river walk and ate a lot because it was delicious. 

Then we went back to the room and played Scrabble while watching the Thunder game, which they won. Wanna know who did not win? Me. Never mind the fact that I had four 30+ words; Jordan ended up winning by adding an s to some of my words and getting a bazillion points while I tried to come up with real words of my own. Don't worry, though, I'm not still mad about it. 

I tried to take an artsy picture of the board, but all I really got was a shot of the terrible, useless letters I had. Seriously. This is what I had to work with.

We left the next morning, and I didn't take any other pictures besides a few attempts to get a good one of the sunset as we drove home. All we got was a blurry picture of a truck, and I didn't think that would interest anyone. 

So there you have it--our honeymoon tales in four parts. If I learned anything from my week with Jordan, it's this:

--Eat often/bring snacks

--Announce your honeymoon status and get free/discounted stuff

--Take pictures and journal/take notes so you'll remember it all later and annoy your friends with lengthy blog posts (oh wait, maybe that's just me)

--When taking pictures, embrace feeling awkward and "touristy." You'll never see these people again.

And the important one...

--If your new husband groans about anything (exploring, taking unnecessary pictures, eating out, etc.), use this magic phrase: "When will you ever go on a honeymoon ever again?" He'll do what you want every time.

So basically I learned that manipulation is the key to a successful marriage.

The end.

Running Update: Less than Two Weeks Till Wichita!

On Saturday, I got up early and ran. I had to get up early to beat the heat. Also, I didn't want to have a long run hanging over my head all day. 

I ran 11 miles in 116 minutes. That comes out to just about 10:30 min/mile. It's 30 seconds/mile slower than my goal pace, but I think that pace might--this being my first ever train-for-an-actual-race experience--be unrealistic. So I'm proud of myself. Eleven miles is the farthest I've ever run in my life.  

Finally I feel like I can think positively about this whole half-marathon thing. If I can run 11, surely I can run 13. Not gonna lie, though. I'll be glad when it's over. Then I can just run because I want to, not because I feel like I have to. 

Then, after my almost two-hour run, Jordan and I went to the zoo and walked around for 3 hours. (I had two free tickets from giving blood earlier this month.) The zoo was full of moms pushing babies in strollers, which I was jealous of (the babies in strollers, not the moms with their babies). Nevertheless, I sucked it up and hobbled my way around.

It was a good time.

I think zebras and giraffes are my favorite.

Then I went home, covered both my legs in Icy Hot, and took a nice, long nap.

The End.