Merry Christmas!

Two full weeks off from teaching is always a wonderful treat during the Christmas season and I welcome the time with open arms! The first few days of the break took place in Tampa, Florida where my parents have recently retired and my sister and husband live. Although the time was short, the time with the family was wonderful. I also was able to squeeze in a little knitting which came in handy in Colorado. (Check out the first pic below for the finished project!)
Since Adam just moved out to Denver, I wanted to spend Christmas and the rest of the time with him so he wouldn't be alone for the holidays. I arrived the Wednesday before Christmas and have been having a blast. Thursday morning was spent and the killer REI store shopping for Adam's presents and couple of items for me (including some proper boots for being in this lovely snow!). The afternoon was dedicated to shopping for Christmas dinner and the evening was spent with a neighbor of mine from Alaska.
Adam and I woke up early Christmas morning and he took to the kitchen to make some yummy Pamela's pancakes with blueberries! After breakfast we decided to head outdoors for a lovely, long walk in City Park and complete with picture taking then stumbled upon the Denver Zoo which was open! We had a great time checking out all the critters!
The rest of the day is being spent prepping the food for Christmas dinner, hanging out, and even doing some knitting.
The pictures below are a recap of the Denver trip so far...

My finished project! Mittens!

Hanging with Mimi and Lulu!

Checking out a stunning coral reef

A bizillion ducks!

How snazzy is this critter?

Yep, I'm skipping! Snow makes me THIS happy!


My love and I...our first night in Denver together.

May you and yours have a lovely and peaceful holiday...

Much love and good karma to all,

r

Operation Denver and a Birthday

So Operation Denver got a real jump-start this past week and a wicked, fast way. The original plan from the get-go was for Adam to move out in December taking some of our house stuff with him, start job hunting, and begin school in January. I would stay in Atlanta to finish out my year with my students, rent out my house during that time, then join Adam near the end of May/beginning of June. This past week was when everything was supposed to start going down but things took an interesting twist.

To make the move easier, Adam and I decided to have professional movers take our things out to Denver and they were supposed to pick up on Saturday, December 5 and arriving in Denver on Friday, December 11 . Adam's plan was to leave on Tuesday and make his way out there after my birthday on the Monday the 7th. Two weeks ago, we also decided we would go ahead and put the house up for rent so I might save some moola by renting out the place and moving into some smaller digs. We both had high doubts about the townhome renting out any time before February because people don't tend to rent out during the holidays and the beginning of the year but we thought it wouldn't hurt to put it out there.

So here's how it all went down:
-November 30: We got all our boxes Monday evening to begin packing up Adam.

-November 30: Also Monday evening, a couple wanted to look at the townhome but was asking about any offers we had. Thought this might be a bad sign since I had no intentions of waiving a security deposit or anything.

-December 1: Tuesday afternoon the movers call to say they are still picking up on Saturday but because they have a light load, they will be delivering Tuesday morning, which means Adam has to leave earlier than expected. Adam was ticked because I was turning 30 :) on the 7th and he wanted to be with me.

-December 1: Later that day, the company I have taking care of my renting, called to say the couple who looked at the house the day before want to rent my place. Yay! They also want to see if they can move in by the upcoming Saturday. Yikes! I said yes decided I would bust major tail with the packing to make this work. It seemed to make sense since Adam could go ahead and take most everything with him now since the move out/move in date was now on the same date as mine. I start to freak a little because I still needed to find a place to stay but Adam's parents came to the rescue and offered up a room in their house for the reminder of the time I was in Atlanta. I jumped on it!

-December 1-3: LOTS o PACKING! Packing was going so well by the 2nd we decided to move the actual moving day to Friday since the company said they could do that day and it would be cheaper to switch to a week day.

The move day went down on Friday, December 4. Adam worked late on Friday then we both worked Saturday evening together and he was Denver bound in his car Sunday morning, December 6th. He arrived safely on Monday evening and is getting settled in a little before beginning the fun task of finding a job. Anyone know a restaurant/bar/pub in need of an awesome bartender??? :)

Needless to say, Operation Denver has begun!!! Next up, I'll be finishing the final changes to my resume over the next 2 weeks then plan to begin sending it out to potential schools/systems. I'm just glad this ball is finally rolling!

I miss Adam so much already and am really glad I'll be coming out to Denver for Christmas to see him. We also will be checking out potential venues in the Boulder area for a possible wedding in August/September. Any suggestions?

Happy Thanksgiving

Lots of laughter, delicious food, and wonderful family has filled the day. Along with a lot of this...


I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Good karma to all,

~r

Worth Passing Along

Cleaning for a Reason - If you know any woman currently undergoing chemotheraphy, please pass the word to her that there is a cleaning service that provides FREE housecleaning - 1 time per month for 4 months while she is in treatment. All she has to do is sign up and have her doctor fax a note confirming the treatment. Cleaning for a Reason will have a participating maid service in her zip code area arrange for the service.

http://www.cleaningforareason.org

Leon

Such an informative and entertaining cookbook! Think of this like an adult pop-up, interactive book broken into two parts: ingredients and recipes. The ingredients section not only tells you about the ingredient in a great, straight-forward way but also throws in some funny humor by also telling you about benefits, what pairs well with it, and interesting trivia. The second part offers up delicious and healthy recipes with wonderfully-paired stories to boot. Tie in a 70s-themed pic approach with pull-out charts and stickers, and you have yourself a killer cookbook!

The only downside to this cookbook is it's British which means us Yanks will need to do a bit of converting but nothing too difficult. Oh! You might also learn some interesting new terms for everyday veggies you might not have known before like courgette or aubergine!

The Engagement

I'm sorry for taking longer than a few days to get back to following up my last post. Some of my students thought they would give me the crud as an engagement gift. Lucky me! :) Now onto the fun stuff...

Details!!!!

From previous posts, you may have noticed Adam had bought me this amazing Nikon D40 and I had been attempting to learn how to use it. I had been begging Adam to take me on a field trip and teach me more things and the Thursday before Sunday, Oct. 25th, he said during a phone call we would go that weekend since the weather was looking good and the leaves were out in full force. Yippee! So excited! I was FINALLY going to learn how to work my camera better!

Me: Oh! Will we being doing any hiking?
Him: Nah. We will probably only go into the woods 50 yards and begin shooting...
Me: Okay. Just wanted to check and see if I needed to wear some layers, hiking boots, and bring water for our outing.
Him: We're good.

Jumping to the weekend:
So Sunday morning we get up, get our cameras packed, and begin driving up to Helen, GA area and decide to shoot outside of Helen at Mt. Yonah.
Mt. Yonah!

We grab our gear and begin hiking in....and keep hiking...and keep hiking. We were having a great time but I did notice we were definitely walking farther than 50 yards! The day was warming up quickly and without layers to shed, I was starting to get really hot and wicked thirsty about two-thirds of the way up the mountain. I had no intention of complaining though since I had never been successful at getting Adam to go hiking with me before and I was loving being on a mountain with him! I also knew Adam felt terrible about not bringing water along and he kept apologizing for it. Anything for you, my love! ;)

After stopping a few more times, we finally reached the top where there was this rock face that opened up to look down over the mountain and into the valley below. It was picture perfect with all the gorgeous fall colors and the perfect weather! We plopped onto the rock and soaked in the view. After a few minutes, Adam took my my hand, told me how much he loved me and how happy I made him, then asked me to marry him! My brows just shot up in surprise and, as I sat there speechless, he pulled out a gorgeous ring and put on my finger. I quickly said yes, obviously!

A couple of minutes later, a group of hikers with some chicas in the group came by and I just had to let them know what Adam had just done. Now, I'm not much of a girly-girl but it was definitely awesome to tell that hiking group Adam had just proposed to me and to have all the girls squeal and come up on the rock to check out my ring! One of the guys in the group offered Adam and I a beer but, as tempting as some kind of liquid sounded at that moment, the Keystone beer (blah!) was politely declined. Stouts for me, please!

We quickly made our way down the mountain, snapped a picture together as a newly engaged couple...

then started making lots of phone calls!

Today was a Good Day

Trading in the gf title for the fiance title... ;) I'll tell the full story over the next few days!

Only in New York

So I watched a documentary on HBO called Nursery University.
The film brings to light the insanity parents in NYC are a part of when trying to get their little ones into the "right" preschool program. The parents see these preschool programs as "feeder schools" into Ivy League Schools. No joke! A handful of families' experiences are chronicled as they navigate through this process.

As an educator, so much about this process and the parents' intensity is so insane it's actually funny. I couldn't believe families would actually pay $20,000 for their child to learn how to socialize with others or the fact that there are consulting firms who's sole purpose is to help parents "navigate" the preschool application process. The film is definitely interesting but it only further solidifies the fact that I would never want to live in NYC. My apologies to my NYC peeps. :)

First Pic with New Camera

Here's my first go...straight out of the camera. Nothing amazing but not horrible, either. I'll take it!

My brain is bursting!

In a good way! BF extraordinaire bought me a snazzy new digital SLR camera a few weeks ago and I am now starting to learn about not only the camera itself but also how to really take pictures and play around with photoshop. I've decided the main focus at this point will be shooting a great straight-out-of-the camera, SOOC (lingo!!!!), shot. The photoshop stuff is wicked tempting, but it seems a bit like crack. I hate to use it as an excuse for sub-par photos from the get go. I'll try to hold off on the photoshop for now and just make it the icing on the cake.

To help me on my quest to increase my photography knowledge, I've been buzzing around one of my favorite blogs. If you look to the right of my blog, you will see my list of Peeps to Check Out and this particular blog is listed. It's the Pioneer Woman. Ree is a really rad mama living in the mid-west on a cattle ranch who has quite the knack for knowing and sharing a wealth of things, including photography! Thanks to her laymen's terms, I've gotten a better grasp on ISO, aperture, shutter speed, and how to combine everything.

It's a great site to visit not only for the great information regarding many things in life, but she is also an amazing storyteller with an irresistible sense of humor. I've learned a good bit from her blog including gardening, cattle ranching, cooking, and schooling. Oh! and her pictures are to die for! Who can't love a picture like this...



I love it! When you go to her site, also check out her whole house transformation. Gorgeous!

Seriously! I'll just shut up now. The proof is in the pudding. Go check out The Pioneer Woman now!

How I spent my Saturday evening

Sunny Day Real Estate concert!!!!!

Oh, yes, yes! They were amazing! Seriously, I honestly have to say it was the best concert I have ever been to. The band was so killer! The lead guitarist, Dan Hoerner, was so passionate on stage. I've never seen someone look so genuinely happy playing music. Such an amazing vibe to be around. If you get a chance to catch their tour, I HIGHLY recommend you go check them out! This night goes down officially as one of my favorite nights in Atlanta.

I'm ready....

... for October!!!!!!!!!!!



Today was the first day here in Atlanta we had "cooler" weather. Only a high of 69 degrees! I heart when it actually starts feeling like Fall so, to celebrate the weather and the approach of October, I put up some Halloween decorations today! Slightly early, I know but I couldn't help myself. Bring on Fall and Winter!

Wild Weather

The school week is finally over and it couldn't have come any sooner. It has been raining quite a bit here over the past few weeks with the culmination coming on Monday. It was one of those days I would have loved not to be a traveling teacher. Definitely glad I had my Fry boots on!

On Mondays I go to three different schools and by the time I had made it to my third school mid-morning, the weather was ugly. I had been in my classroom for about 5 minutes and could hear the weather decided to kick it up a notch. Just as I was thanking the Higher Being for letting me get inside before this mess started, I heard a faint alarm sound coming from another hallway. Confused, (since it was horrible weather and ITBS testing) I went to see if I was actually hearing a real fire alarm. Turns out....I was!

I quickly got my student from my classroom and we headed outside to go stand away from the building in the pouring rain. (Apparently the Higher Being has a sense of humor!) After about twenty minutes, we were permitted to go back inside. Turns out the fire was caused by a science experiment gone awry. (Ummm.... yeah. Was a little disturbing to know a real fire happened at school and the alarms throughout several hallways never went off!)

Once back inside, classes resumed and all hell seemed to break loose outside. A massive downpour began around 11:30AM and never let up. Counties were closing schools left and right around us, including colleges, but my county stayed until the bitter end. I was wicked glad to live fairly close to my last school and didn't have to deal with some of the driving problems like some of my friends. I direct you now to exhibit A...

Exhibit A


Crazy, right?!?!

It took some of my friends 5-6 hours to get home from work. Boo....

The next day school was closed and pictures of the flooding began to emerge, including some of the following...





Colorado and it's snowy weather is looking better and better by the minute! :)

I've talked about it...

...for a few years now and I really want it to actually happen this time. Enough talking...it's time for action now. The house is officially on the market. It's not the most ideal time to try and sell but living in Atlanta has begun to leave a bitter taste in my mouth and that has red flags waving now. I can't keep waiting for things to "get a little better". It's time to start living again....

One week down and a little deja vu

The first week of school has come and gone, much to my relief. I'm very excited about starting up the new year teaching in some new settings but switching from elementary to middle school is definitely an adjustment! The students have been great and it's nice actually having a classroom of my own again. I love being itinerant but being in the classroom for an extended amount of time is what really makes me happy. I can't wait to see what the rest of the school year brings!

My attempt at growing vegetables has proved to be quite a success! On my deck I have basil, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes in full swing. Here's a great artsy picture the man friend took of some of my veggies...


Tomatoes!!!! From my OWN garden! How fun is that?!?! I love it...

A little bit of deja vu has been going on in the casa for the past couple of days. You remember Copper and her back problems which led to surgery? Well, my older dachshund, Meg, has starting showing some of the same problems. She's been walking around in what seems like a lot of pain with her back extremely arched but will then turn around and walk normal again. My dad, aka vet extraordinaire, confirmed my thoughts: Meg probably has a bulging disk and, depending on what happens over the next few weeks, may have to get surgery if the disk ruptures.
(Meggie on the couch)


Right now, the protocol is to put Meg on prednisone (keeps the inflammation/swelling down), keep her confined to her kennel, and try to give her body time to hopefully heal on its own, sans surgery. Fingers crossed that a lot of diligence and positive vibes will help her pull through.

Thankfully, I have this man to help over the next few weeks....


I've seriously lucked out having him along for the ride! :)

Disappeared

Well, I've allowed summer to go mostly by without posting a single thing. Time to remedy that!

I last posted in April and at that point I was on the fast train of writing IEPs (special paperwork, aka hell), statewide testing, and end-of-year school stuff. I was really looking forward to the end of May and have a low-key summer of working out, gardening, knitting, and hanging out with Adam. I was especially excited about going home to see the folks and to learn a new skill: sewing! Everything was put on a massive back burner when my mother became sick and the doctors didn't know what was causing her illness. Long story short, she is doing better now and I'm wicked grateful. It's heartbreaking to see a loved one's soul under attack...

Pre-planning for another year of teaching has been this week with a curve ball thrown in. Budgets issues have been on the forefront which has now led to a financial decision by our governor to force three furlough days. Our county didn't want to impact the kids with this decision so the board of education peeps took away three of our five planning days. Kind of stinks since the teachers were still going to have to come in to school in order to be ready for the first day. It's not really fun working for free. Now there's talk the state is going to require the teachers to have to take an additional seven days during 2010. My pockets are seriously starting to hurt. Boooo....

Adam will be moving out to Denver in early to mid-December so he can find a place to live before he starts school for the spring semester at Red Rocks Community College. He is going back to get a degree in Renewable Energy/Resources and it makes sense to do Red Rocks right now until he qualifies for in-state residency. Once he has that, then he will transfer to the University of Colorado, Boulder. I will stay back here in Georgia to put my townhome on the market and wrap up the school year. The plan is to be out there by the beginning of July.

Adam and I decided to spend our Christmas together this year in Denver since he was already going to be out there. We both really hope there will be snow. We never have snow on Christmas here and I really miss cold, snowy weather. I should be out there for close to two weeks with Adam so anyone who wants to hang, we would love to meet some Colorado peeps!

Crazy Week

Eight days and lots of things going on. First, I was really stoked because last weekend (Sunday) was the ING half-marathon and it was going to be my first one. Adam and I show up at the sight ready to rock it out, and notice we don't see any runners around. We ran into a club member who informed us the race started an hour before. Adam had gotten the time completely wrong! He felt so awful about his mistake but, to be fair, I should have looked up the time myself. So, we went back home to do our own run. Turns out missing the race was a blessing in disguise because I was only able to go 7.60 miles before my whole left leg was in crazy pain from my IT Band. The pain drove me to desperate measures....

That's right! Ice bath!

Brrr......

The next day I did an easy 45 minute spin to flush out the legs and when I finished my workout, I noticed Copper, my younger dog, couldn't get up the stairs. She could put her front paws on the stairs but couldn't get enough spring out of her back legs to get up. This really freaked me out because only one reason popped in my mind as to why she couldn't get up... her back was going out from a disc that has ruptured in her spine. I called my dad (he's a vet who does specialized surgeries) to get his opinion. He agreed with what I thought but because she could still walk around fine on level ground, she might have a chance to heal without surgery. I was to keep an eye on her....

The next morning at 5:30 when I was getting up for work, I went to go check on her and she had gotten much worse. She was only able to walk two or three steps before her legs gave out. I FREAKED! I knew time was crucial. If I didn't get her the spinal surgery quickly, I risked her staying paralyzed permanently which meant possible kidney failure and euthanasia. I called my parents and two hours later I was at the airport on my way home for my dad to operate on Copper.

Copper was on the operating table by 12:30pm with little motor movement but still had deep pain sensations. (This was a good thing.) The surgery went well but dad gave me the sobering news that Copper was one of the worst cases he'd seen and to be prepared for her to possibly not get better. Once he opened her up, he had to completely remove 1 disc and clean out 5 others. Here's Copper a few hours post op...



Things were looking positive after surgery. Copper could slightly move her left leg and had some feeling in her right leg. I knew we weren't in the clear, though. A couple more days would be the real test. The next morning I went to go see Copper at the clinic. She wanted me to hold her but I could tell she was miffed at me since she wouldn't look at me at all...


Kind of amusing but I totally get where she's coming from. I'd be mad at me, too.

I had to fly back home that evening to get back for work the next day and was seriously bummed with having to leave Copper behind, even though I knew it was the best thing for her. Dad called me later that night to tell me Copper had dramatically improved! (He was really surprised and impressed with her recovery.) She was very shaky, but was able to stand and take a few steps on her own. Amazing!

Mom was driving down through my town the next evening because she was driving down to be in Florida a week before my sister's wedding (She's getting married this coming Friday.). She and Dad thought Copper was doing well enough to come back home where she could be comfortable and heal quicker. When Mom arrived, I got to see Copper's scar for the first time...


A hella wicked scar, huh!

Poor baby girl! :( She was being so crazy strong, though and was even walking around a little.


So, to wrap up on Copper, she is doing amazingly well with her progress. She's now able to go to the bathroom on her own and is getting stronger each day. It's probably going to take 6 months before she gets back to being somewhat pre-surgery, but no worries. I still have her and that's all that I really care about.

Quick workout update: I had a 10K race this morning and had a really good PR! I've never been a good runner and had also never run a 10K under an hour so I was thrilled to have run today's hilly course in 50:23! I know this isn't really massively impressive but for me, it's baby steps in the right direction. I even got a medal for being the 2nd female to cross the finish line. Ha! Obviously there wasn't much competition but I'll take it! :)

My hardware...



So, that's been my life over 8 days! Good times! Hope everyone's had a less eventful and more positive week!

Good karma to all,

r

Adventures in Slow Cooking in a Dutch Oven

I finally gave in and purchased a nice Dutch Oven! I wasn't able to use it until yesterday since I've been working doubles literally all week and the time was seriously not available. I'd been looking forward all week to Sunday and cooking because I had decided to give my first try at braising and make carnitas! I bought a 4 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast and, after seasoning it with salt and pepper, browned all sides in a large heavy skillet then removed it from the pan. (When I was turning the roast with my tongs, I lost my grip with the following results happening...)


Yes, yes. Who gets to take home the award of dumbass of the day??? This girl! Nothing like grease burns to kick off the cooking right! ;)

After I took the roast out of the pan, I added onions (1 yellow, chopped) and some garlic (2 cloves minced) and sauteed them. I then used one bottle of Dos Equis lager to deglaze the pan, get up all the lovely browned pits, and reduce the liquid. I put the roast in my dutch oven, poured over it the beer mixture, and added some orange and lime zest. Finally, I finished it off with about a tablespoon of oregano, covered and cooked in the oven at 350 degrees for 2 1/2 hours (until it was tender).

Here's the roast with all the aromatics on it prior to putting it in the oven...


While waiting for the food to cook, I whipped up some guacamole as an appetizer for Adam and I, which we enjoyed with some Dos Equis!


I also made some Pico de Gallo and, when the roast was almost ready, warmed up some corn tortillas in a skillet. Here are some finished pics of our Carnitas...





The verdict from Adam: Huge success! Score!

More Sharing

Back in January, bf extraordinaire and I ran a 5K and won some "hardware" for getting 2nd and 3rd AG, respectively. Well, the hardware finally made an appearance...



It started blooming a couple of days before moving to the new pad, which is evident by the background in the pic.

The next pics are of Copper in the kennel as I was driving them up to the house. She is such a goofy dog and I love it...





The weather here has been a bit blah and rainy lately and I've been craving warm breakfasts. Obviously a staple is oatmeal and I had a couple of friends ask how can I make mine without butter and brown sugar and still make it taste yummy. This is how I fix up my oatmeal...





and the last ingredient...


Seriously don't miss any sugar or butter with this one!

Major Slacker

Pitiful, I know. I haven't blogged in forever. To catch up on things...

The past few weeks have been nuts-o. Work has seriously picked up because this is the time of the year when my special ed. students have to have their annual meetings (IEPs) which means lots 'o paperwork. Yippee! I had planned for this but what I hadn't planned for was having to move during the same time. Yuck! I have been renting out my townhome for the past couple of years and my tenants decided to move out early. Two weeks and I have gone from downtown living to the 'burbs. Not a bad thing, though. I had originally planned to put the place on the market next spring prior to moving to Colorado and moving back in will make the process much easier.
Also going on was my sister's bachelorette party. My sister is amazing but she and I are the sun and the moon. As the maid-of-honor, I was supposed to be in charge of planning the party. I thought it would be great to rent a cabin and do a low-key weekend. Maybe some hiking, biking, etc. Ummm... no-go. My girly-girl sister (and I mean that in a loving way!) decided she wanted to do it up in Miami! Here's a group pic of all the ladies from the weekend...



These girls could party like a rock star and with Miami's clubs staying open 'til the crack of stupid, I was done. I definitely could not hang with this crowd. Great group, though.

All this crap really affected my workouts and I realized, bottom-line, I allowed it to affect my workouts. On my Beginner Triathlete website, I wrote a blurb addressing this. The short version is basically this: I like to reflect and see how I can improve at living life The realization hit that I need to do a much better job at balancing things in my life. I've allowed work and other things to take a front seat when a front runner should always be my health. So now I'm working on that. That's it in a nutshell.

The workout front has been poo with a couple of issues persisting: IT band causing some serious side knee pains and lower side stitches killing my runs. Today was my first day in weeks where neither issue flared up. I really do love running and it was so awesome to have a run sans hurting.

Anywho, it's stupid late and I need to go to bed. I have some new grub to try out and I hope to post some pics over the next week or two. Yell at me if I don't...

Good karma to all,

r

A Valentine's Story

I found this story posted on a Triathlon site by a father and thought it worth sharing. Enjoy!

So I take my two boys (8 and 6) to the local Hallmark to pick out cards for their mom. Well, the youngest informs me, to my delight, that he's picked me to be his valentine this year, not Mom.

So he wants to pick me out a card, but I told him I wanted him to do that on his own, to keep it kind of a secret. Since he knows how to read, I told him to just look at the cards that said "Dad" on the tab behind them.

Well, as the oldest and I are in another section picking out something for Mom, the youngest comes over, just beaming from ear to ear. "I want to show you the card I picked out!!" I just can't say no when he's in that kind of mood, so I take the card and flip it over to read it.

It starts, To the man I love . . .

I start laughing . . . but he looks and me and says, "What?!? You ARE the man I love!"

Um, yeah, those things can make a Dad get teary-eyed. So my wife had him sign and date it, so that ten years from now, when he's just becoming a real man, I can pull the card out and exclaim, "Don't you remember when I was the man you loved!!?!?"

Soooo long

I know it's been a while since I've posted so I'll do my best to play catch up!

First food...
Had a great dinner the other night and thought I would share....

Vegetable/Black Bean Burritos!

So, the recipe: (everything organic!!!!)
-1/2 onion, chopped
-ground cumin (i did about a tablespoon)
-chili powder (again, a tablespoon)
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1 can of mexi-corn (i was in a rush!)
-1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
-2 cans of Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
-1/2 a jalapeno chili, chopped
-freshly grated cheese (whatever your preference is)
-cilantro, chopped
-whole-wheat tortillas

-In a pan over medium to med-high heat, heat some olive oil (use the kind that is good to cook with) and cook the onion until translucent. Next, add the cumin and chili powder. Do this to taste. I love cumin and chili powder so I tend to use more. Throw in the corn and bell pepper and saute until tender. Add the beans, tomatoes, and jalapeno last. Bring all this to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper then remove from heat.

I heated my tortillas up in a 350 degree oven wrapped in foil for about 15 minutes. Take a tortilla, spoon in your filling then finish off with some cheese and cilantro! Yummy!





Now for the workouts:
Training has been pretty good but a little up and down. Was sick for a little while so I had a week to recover before my Tundra Time Trial race this past Saturday. The Tundra TT ended up not happening for me. I pretty much had a mental breakdown. There was a lot that happened that caused my breakdown but the two main things that led to me not racing was 1) working the night before and only getting 3 hours of sleep and 2) not being prepared (i.e. packing beforehand, making sure I knew how to get to the race site, adequate time to prepare prior to my start time). I've never had a melt down like this before any event and I was really bummed it happened for this race. One saving grace was the race was a 'C' race so if it had to happen, I'm glad it happened at a 'C' race. I toss up the whole experience to some necessary, albeit hard, lessons learned. C'est la vie!

I had a really great base ride yesterday out in the country that made me remember why I love riding. I first got into cycling while living in Tennessee and the ride yesterday reminded me of the great rides I had back then. It's a lot harder to get in these kinds of rides without having to drive far. This one was worth it, though! I rode with some of my multi-sport friends and look forward to doing this ride again soon.

So that's pretty much catches everyone up on what all has being going on with me! I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!

Good karma to all,

r

Running Recap and New Treats

On the lunch break right now so I figured I would take some of my extra time to update the blog. Workouts have been pretty good the last week and this past Saturday was the Polar Bear 5k in Marietta, Georgia. Here's the run-down on my race.

The Good: I had a new PR with this race! Time on Garmin was 26:02 but I forgot to stop my watch at the end so I think I actually was under 26. (Found out later timing chip showed me at 25:48 which is a minute faster than I was two weeks before.) The course was fairly flat with a couple steady, long inclines.

The Bad: It was rainy, which was a little annoying. There were 2,000 peeps running and they had us all squeezed into one lane. Sardines had nothing on us. The race had us wear a chip in our race number but there were no mats to cross over and activate them so everyone's time began together which really screwed anyone who wasn't up front. To stop the time chip, you had to go another 5 or 10 seconds after you crossed the finish line to the people with these wand-thingies that stopped the time. Not cool.

The Ugly: Work went late last night which meant I was running this race with only 3 1/2 hours of sleep... I was dead tired. Calves were wicked tight from being on them all night. I wore too heavy of a jacket and was hella hot. I ate two hours before the race but quickly learned that going this hard meant I should have eaten 3 hours beforehand. As a result, I had wretched side stitches kick in during the second mile and never let up. I had to stop 3 times to try and get them to ease up some. No such luck so I just made my mantra, "Suck it up, buttercup" for the rest of the race. It just continued to go downhill, as the lap times will attest to...

As soon as Adam and I finished the race and handed in our chips, we went straight to the car to get home and crash.




Just flat out hurting from the side cramps...


Adam cruising in...

Looking back on this race I am still really happy since my time is improving. I know it's still a slow time but I have to remind myself that I do not come from a running background (much less any endurance background!) so it's at least a starting point.

On the food front, last night was a repeat of my delicious turkey/feta/cranberry burgers with some grilled veggies and steamed broccoli.

As for new things, my order from Matisse & Jack's finally came in and I was so stoked! The food is an amazing and natural bake-at-home snack that you can mix whatever else in with their ingredients to make rocking pre/post workout treats or a healthy, anytime snack. I used the Chocolate Chip Power Snacks and mixed in the ingredients from http://vo2maxxed.blogspot.com/2008/11/matisse-jacks-cranberry-pumpkin-power.html to make a hella awesome treat!


Here's all the ingredients mixed together...


Done and so freakin' tasty!


Gotta go get back to teaching! Hope everyone has a wonderful hump day!

Good karma to all,

r