ENGAGED!

Hello Everyone,
It has been an exciting 7 days! Last Monday on August 22nd my Señor proposed to me high on top of mountain next to a beautiful lake. I was having so much fun that it completely caught me by surprise when he got down on one knee. I actually said "are you serious??" haha! Not the best response, but through happy tears I squeezed out an enthusiastic "Yes!"   I have always known that he was the one, and I can't wait to marry him. The proposal was perfect with the perfect mix of nature elements, and  I am so excited and thrilled to be the future Mrs. Davis.
Right now I am enjoying the engagement, but know I have a lot to do when it comes to planning a wedding and I seriously have no clue where to start. So, for all you wedded readers out there, or planning to be wed readers have any advice, or you just know all about weddings please send it my way!
For now though. I'm enjoying the moment.

Salud!

Clouds

For the Love of Nature

Today I went on the most amazing, beautiful, and memorable hike of my life. Nature truly is amazing, and so is life and love.
Cheers amigos! 

Positive Hills

Every have that exciting feeling and anticipation for something but didn't quite know what it was?  I've been having these feelings a lot lately. I'm sort of wondering if it's because I am on a break from school, or because I have finally allowed myself to relax a little bit. Whatever the feeling is, I am loving it!
 I guess it's this sort of feeling that drives me to take care of myself and think more positively. It allows me to be more patient with others, and not sweat the small stuff. It sets me off on a run at 7:30pm in order to catch the beautiful NM sunset.
My run today was a hilly 3 miles, and even though it wasn't a long run it was a quality run. I was happy that I actually got out there because I struggled all day to get out the door.  This morning I woke up a bit late and didn't want to run in the grueling sun. Around 4pm I almost talked myself out of getting a run in completely after getting sucked in to a season of Breaking Bad. It took me having to seriously focus on that great feeling of getting a good run in to start putting my running gear on.  I found myself sort of telling myself off while putting on my Asics saying stuff like.. "Running feels great! I love doing it! Why do I fight myself so much to get out there? "Damn it!"
The feeling of frustration soon faded as I started for my run. I felt the positive feeling mentioned at the beginning of this post visiting me again. It gave me this crazy energy and  I shot up the hills like superwoman intoxicated by the feel good pain of hill running. I found myself taking the harder parts of the run with more determination and with a smile.  During my cool down run I wiped the sweat from my eyes, stretched out the tightness in my legs, and I stared at the gorgeous Nuevo Mexico sunset and told myself "This is why I run."

What drives you to get up your hills?

Catch up

Hello Friday! Wow, this week has been a wonderful week of catching up. School has taken over my life lately and I've been trying to spend the past week calling, writing, and sending cards/gifts in the mail that have been sitting on my desk since this past April (eek). I am so fortunate to have an understanding group of friends that put up with my chronic lateness. 

In casa front news the Señor and I have also been keeping busy with a spontaneous back yard project that just spurted up. Of course, we are always great at tearing things apart. It's putting things back together that is the hard part. However, we do have a full weekend ahead of us and we hope to make some progress on all the projects that we have started. I promise to put a post on what we are doing soon.

In order to make up for my lack of post I wanted to take this time to highlight some of my favorite blogs. These Latina ladies are talented, smart and inspirational. I find myself going to their blogs and reading with a smile on my face, and inspire me to keep on writing on Bandida Blog.  Please take the time to visit and enjoy their blogs. 

Loteria Chicana 

Cindy is a Chicana PhD student and blogger born and raised in Los Angeles. She is currently training for her 2nd marathon like an all around bad ass. I love Cindy's blog because she has a great way of writing about her Chicana culture and a mix of all good things in life. Her blog is a great read.

LaLicenciada & HerDeepThoughts    

Li is a fabulous lawyer, blogger, actress, and  Puertorriqueña who does it all! Her blog is a great journey of inspiration and positive thoughts. She truly succeeds in spreading positive vibes and providing inspiration to her readers. 

Marcela is a Latina born in El Salvador and is the author of Culture Mami.  Her blog is also a great mix of being a great mom, running, and all while working full-time as an ICU nurse. I am sure when I decide to have a family of my own I will use her blog for "buena mamá" tips.

You can check a few of my other favorite blogs on the blog roll to your right. 

Have a great weekend! 

Mariachi Serenade

 I can't express how much I love this video.
Enjoy!

Runner's Woe's.

This time last year I had purchased some random shoes on Nike.com and decided to run a half marathon/10k. They were bright green/yellow shoes and they were going to be with me the whole training step of the way.  They stuck with me through my whole training battle for the half. I had not really run for years, let alone trained for something since my college swimming days. I remember it felt good to get back on track with running and putting on my bright shoes made me smile.

However, I've fallen off the wagon lately. I can't seem to figure out why am I having such a hard time getting back on track (literally).
I am sure we all encounter these physical slumps with whatever sport we are involved in. However, It seems I never seem to remember how I get myself out of it. During my run yesterday, a slushy 3 mile run through my neighborhood. I started thinking, I have to get back to the basics. I don't need to set any ridiculous goals of running a marathon or running up a mountain....
I just need to get out and RUN.
No matter the distance or the time, I just need to find my love for running again.
So my question is..

How do you get out of your running/exercise slump?