Trip to West Coast Youth Conference 2018, new library card and vegan food

     This past weekend, me and hubby went to Ontario, California to attended to West Coast Youth Conference as well as Engage Pastor's Retreat which was for Seventh Day Adventist pastors as well as bible workers.

West Coast Youth Conference 2018 program

The conference was good and we were able to see lots of young people on fire for God. Hubby and I also assisted the kids with a community outreach project through Harvest Pack company of  assembling packets of oatmeal for poor community members.

Assembling oatmeal packets for community impact

Me and hubby ready to supervise kids 

 The final night of the event was a concert help with performances from Nick Miller and Dale Brown and Truth which was fun and high energy. I hope all the kids left the conference with a renewed sense of purpose and love for God and sharing his word with others. I was also happy to run into an friend from Southside S.D.A. who attended the conference as well.

Last night at West Coast You Conference 

Me and friend Kristen

 Of course no trip to a new town is complete with a stop by the local library. On the day I went to pick up my race packet for the Carlsbad 5000, I decided to stop by the library to get a library card. The library staff was nice, it was easy to get a library card and the I got to pose by their book bike.

Me by Carlsbad book bike and new library card

     While in Southern California, we also stopped by our favorite restaurant Veggie Grill and was able to try food from their new Spring Celebration menu. My mom-in-law had their taco salad, I had a steakhouse burger and hubby has a Nashville Hot Chickn sandwich. I also tried out their new meatballs and polenta after I finished my Carlsbad 5000 5K on Sunday. All of the food was delicious and we'll definitely try it again.

Super Taco Salad

Steakhouse Burger

Nashville Hot Chikun Sandwich

Meatballs and Polenta Bowl

 Since I love vegan baked goods, I used the Happy Cow app on my phone to finish a place to scratch my sweets itch. I was super excited to discover a donut shot with vegan options not too far from out hotel in Ontario called Donuts Xpress. Walking into the donut shop reminded me of being at Ronalds in Vegas and they also had a similar donut set up (first two rows were vegan.) There were so many delicious looking choices and in the end I chose an apple fritter, and donut with sprinkles and a cinnamon roll. All were pretty big and they were good and hit the spot. 

Donuts Xpress entrance

Vegan apple fritter

Vegan donut with sprinkles

Vegan cinnamon roll

Race Recap: Rock 'n' Roll Carlsbad 5000 5K

Yesterday I participated in my first Rock 'n' Roll race which was the Carlsbad 5000. The race was a fun one and I was happy to finish in a faster time than my last 5k time which was in January and was a tine of 39:51. I feel good that the more often I run, the better my finishing times will be and also I made hubby happy by not falling during the race. It was a good course in that it was flat and fast so I finished feeling good. Below are photos from the expo, before and after the Carlsbad 5000.

Me at Carlsbad 5000 expo and seeing name of banner

Me at Carlsbad 5000 starting line

Me after Carlsbad 5000 5K  with finishing time

Carlsbad 5000 finisher medal

Cafe Oaxaca Vegan Bakery in Fresno

I recently discovered Cafe Oaxaca, a Mexican bakery in Fresno that has a whole bakery case full of vegan baked goods. One my first visit there, I enjoyed delicious sweets including 3 leches cake and a coconut raspberry jam pinwheels

Celebrating black history month by watching Black Panther

Last month, me and the family celebrated black history month by getting dressed up to go see Black Panther. Words can not begin to express how important this movie is since it the first film with an all black cast as well as the first black Marvel superhero film. Since the movie has come out, we've seen it three more times and each time we see it, it gets better and better. I hope this movie leads the way for more black directed films which represent black people in a positive light and show our diversity. Here are some photos from out night out to see Black Panther

Sis-in-law and me ready for movie

Sis-in-law with face paint and shell necklace

Hubby and me ready for to see Black Panther

Participating in POPSUGAR 2018 Reading Challenge

I've been participating in online reading challenges for the last couple of years as a way to broaden my reading horizons and expose myself to books I wouldn't normally read. To this end, I am taking part in the Popsugar 2018 reading challenge.I'm happy to report that I completed this reading challenge on August 3, 2018!

Although there is a total of 50 books to read for this challenge, I am pushing myself to read a total of 100 books for 2018 which I'm keeping track of through the goodreads website. Check back to this page as I plan to update this list often. I'm listing the books below with the connected reading prompt and signify completing by highlighting it. Happy reading!

2018 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

1. A book made into a movie you've already seen: The Color Purple by Alice Walker
2. True Crime: Killer Twins by Michael Benson
3. The next book in a series you started: Intimate Geography by Tasmen Parker
4. A book involving a heist:The Little Old Lady Who Broke All the Rules by Catharina Ingelman-Sundberg
5. Nordic noir:I'm Traveling Alone by Samuel Bjork
6. A novel/book based on a real person: Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
7. A book set in a country that fascinates you: The Corpse Walker by Liao Yiwu
8. A book with the time of day in the title: Night Shift by Stephen King
9. A book about a villian or antihero:Darly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
10. A book about death or grief: From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty
11. A book with your favorite color in the title: Roses are Red by James Patterson
12. A book with alliteration in the title: Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel
13. A book about time travel: The Dechronization of Sam Magruder by George Gaylord Simpson
14. A book with a weather element in the title:Heaven Sent Rain by Lauraine Snelling
15. A book set at sea:Pirates by Celia Rees
16. A book with an animal in the title: The Parrot's Lament by Eugene Linden
17. A book set on a different planet: Saga, Volume 8 by Brian K. Vaughn
18. A book with song lyrics in the title:I'll Take You There by Wally Lamb
19. A book about or set on Halloween: Deadly Treats edited by Anne Frasier
20. A book with characters who are twins: Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
21. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym: That Was Then, This Is Now by S.E. Hinton
22. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist: A Very, Very Bad Thing by Jeffery Self
23. A book that is also a stage play or a musical:The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
24. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you:The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli
25. A book about feminism:This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins
26. A book about mental health:Black Pain by Terrie N. Williams
27. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift: Darker by E.L. James
28. A book by two authors:If Only For One Night by Victoria Christopher Murray & Reshonda Tate Billingsley
29. A book about or involving a sport:Nowhere Near First by Cory Reese
30. A book by a local author:Bunny Blues by Amy O'Hare
31. A book mentioned in another book:The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil by Stephen Collins
32. A book from a celebrity book club: Y: The Last Man, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughn
33. A childhood classic you've never read: The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
34. A book that's published in 2018: Happiness is a Choice You Make by John Leland
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner: Room by Emma Donoghue
36. A book set in the decade you were born: Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn't get to: Natural Disaster by Ginger Zee
38. A book with an ugly cover: The Skin Spinners by Joan Aiken
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library: Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges: Book with a one word title Census by Jesse Ball
41. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school (1997): Don't Sweat the Small Stuff by Richard Carlson
42. A cyberpunk book: Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Shiro
43. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place: All Rights Reserved
44. A book tied to your ancestry:Far More Terrible For Women edited by Patrick Minges
45. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title: The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy Reichert
46. An allegory: Maus by Art Spiegelman
47. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you: The Sisters Are Alright by Tamara Winfrey Harris
48. A microhistory:Eight Flavors by Sarah Lohman
49. A book about a problem facing the world today: Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
50. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

New source for vegan pizza & vegan garlic bread in Fresno!

As I was looking on Instagram recently, one of the accounts I follow veganinfresno posted a sexy food photo of a vegan pizza and vegan garlic bread. Yesterday, hubby and I decided to stop by and see if the food was as good as it looked. I was super excited since usually you can only get access to vegan garlic bread by going down south to LA so I was hopeful that the food would be delicious.  

They just recently started offering a separate vegan menu and it has been very successful. Due to the Instagram post, the restaurant has seen a enormous increase in vegan customers and unfortunately they had run out of vegan cheese when we were there placing our order. The restaurant manager Rose was very friendly and accommodating in answering questions regarding if they use nuts in any of their food. Rose answered no but she doubled checked to make sure things were okay. After looking at the menu for a minute, I decided to the vegan garlic bread and a combination pizza. It was at this point that Rose broke the news to use that unfortunately, there was only enough cheese for either the garlic bread or the pizza but not both. I really wanted the garlic bread so we decided to have no cheese on our pizza. She the shared that since the Instagram photo, tons of vegans have visited the restaurant which led to the cheese shortage. 

After waiting a few minutes, the garlic bread arrived at our table and it was as good as I though it would. They use Teese cheese and it came with a side marinara and curry sauce. The marinara was perfectly and the curry had a nice subtle burn. The pizza was delicious and I liked that the offer vegan sausage. Overall it was a great meal and we'll definitely visit here again.

Entrance to Curry Pizza Company

Vegan menu

Vegan garlic bread with sauce

Vegan combination pizza w/o cheese

Sometimes it's not about the PR

As someone who's been consistently running since 2012, sometimes I get so caught up in getting a small finish time, I forget the very reason why I run which is to celebrate being able to move my body regardless of what size it is. Last year while out at dinner with my librarian friends, my friend Nichole said that she'd like to run a race with me. I'll admit, I initially didn't think she'd follow through with it considering I've had friends before who've said the same thing the eventually flake out on me. 

A few weeks later, I contacted her on Facebook to with a link to a race we could do together, the Kaiser Permanente San Franciso Half Marathon & 5K on February 4, 2018 in Golden Gate Park. Nichole shared with me that she had not gone running in 10 years due to health issues and being a busy single mom to three boys (two with special needs.)  After we decided to do the 5K, she started training for the race and despite her being in a car accident and totaling her car, she still stuck with her training and we completed the 5K in 1:05:23. I am proud that she decided to do the event and listened to her body in reference to taking stretch breaks and keeping a brisk pace. By helping her complete this goal, this taught me that I don't have to achieve a PR with every race I do, sometimes I need to just stop and enjoy the race course and having a conversation with a friend. Below are some photos from race day.

Pre-race selfie

               

Me & Nichole pre-race

And we're off!

Nichole at mile 1

Nichole at mile 2

Nichole & me rocking our medals post-race

After the race, I was really hungry so we decided to drive over to Berkeley for sandwiches from Ike's Love & Sandwiches followed by a vegan cinnamon roll from Cinnaholic. The sandwiches were delicious and the cinnamon roll was the perfect treat after the race. 
 

Chester Cheetah sandwich (aka vegan grilled cheese)

Chocolate topped cinnamon roll