My Kayak Sunset

Memories

2011-06-30T19:51:00.002-04:00

It's been a while. I know. I'm not even going to ask for forgiveness, because I've been trying to enjoy life. It is summer now. Maybe I will get in more updates. Maybe not.

I've been walking down memory lane lately. I've decided to sell my piano (and have sold it, just waiting for it to be moved to the buyer's house. It is going to a teenage girl who will play it instead of use it as furniture like I do, since I didn't learn enough during my piano lessons to play it well). The only reason why I was holding onto it was because of the sentimental memories attached to it. But I can write down some memories and hold onto them, and still let the piano go to someone who will give it life and use it the way it was meant to be used.

When I was a kid, my parents let me take piano lessons. They bought a piano and my piano teacher came over to the house and gave me a lesson. I hated to play the piano. Well, most of the time. There was one song I played over and over and over. "The Little Birch Canoe". Today I called my mom and said "listen!" and put down my phone and played the song for her. I haven't played the piano in years but I remembered that song and played it for her. She laughed.

There is a mark on the piano bench. It looks like a bunch of scratches in one concentrated area. When I was young I used to do everything I could do to avoid practicing. Where the piano was located, I could see down the stairs to the family room, straight to the TV if I bent down enough. I would sit on the bench and plink around a bit to give the illusion that I was actually practicing, and then I would get on my knees on the bench and bend down and lay my head on the bench (kind of like in a yoga child's pose) so that I could see the TV. I would watch and every commercial break I would plink around. I don't think I was fooling anyone. :) But I still tried. Well I had a pair of boots that I loved to wear. It was the kind where you had to twist the laces around hooks in order to pull it tight and tie it. I wore those shoes one day while practicing, and the shoes, while in my child's pose position on the bench, scratched the piano bench. I was afraid of losing that memory after passing on the piano. I wanted to write it down.

I hope that the girl getting the piano will have her own memories attached to it. In the meantime, I will be learning the art of photography with my new camera (well when I buy it... sometime between tomorrow and Wednesday!).

Creamy Cheesy Chicken Lasagna Rolls

2011-04-04T21:20:00.002-04:00

I have a bunch of requests for this recipe, and I've been meaning to blog about it... so here it is! They are SUPER yummy and VERY easy to make! We doubled our recipe this time and it made 14 rolls, so that is the recipe I will put on there. It came from the Clean Eating magazine March 2011 issue, but it had tilapia in it instead of chicken. Since we do not eat seafood, we substituted chicken breast and it was very good! So without further ado...

Ingredients
*2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
*1 carrot peeled and either shredded or chopped into small pieces (we chopped with our Pampered Chef hand chopper... best kitchen tool EVER)
*1 package of whole grain lasagna noodles
*1 cup of skim milk
*8 oz of low fat cream cheese
*7 oz of all natural mozzarella cheese
*1 tsp of dill weed
*1 tsp of sea salt
*spring onions (optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350*. In a large pot, boil the lasagna noodles. For the last 90 seconds, throw in the layered shoots of the spring onions to get them limp so that you can tip them around the spring rolls if you would like. We have done it with and without. They don't add much flavor, but they do give it a neat look.
2. While noodles are cooking, boil and shred the two chicken breasts.
3. While both the noodles and the chicken are boiling, peel and chop the carrots.
4. After the chicken is finished, in a medium saucepan combine milk, cream cheese, dill weed and salt into a saucepan and cook on medium to low until the cream cheese is broken up into the milk, whisking continuously. When the cream cheese is broken up, add half of the mozzarella cheese into the mixture and continue to whisk until the cheese is melted and it is a thick sauce (about 1 minute). When it is finished, remove from heat, pour about 1 cup into a liquid measuring cup and set aside.
5. Remove noodles from heat when they are finished and drain.
6. Combine the chicken and carrots with the sauce and mix until evenly distributed.
7. On a non-stick pan, lay out a lasagna noodle. Spoon about 2 tbsps (I just eyeball it) of the mixture onto the lasagna noodle and then roll it up. If you are using spring onion shoots, take a shoot and tie it around to hold the roll closed. If not, then just place the roll on top of the loose end so that it stays shut. Continue until you run out of the chicken mixture.
8. Pour the sauce that was set aside evenly over the lasagna rolls. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese evenly over the rolls and sauce.
9. Place in oven and bake until the cheese starts to brown. Remove from the oven and ENJOY!

I have even had this leftover and it is wonderful left over as well!

I love giveaways!

2011-03-24T19:56:00.003-04:00

I'd like to do one someday on my blog! But for now, I can enter them and share them. Here is a giveaway that Katie from When Hello Means Good-Bye is doing. The giveaway is something from Etsy seller, the r house, who makes beautiful, encouraging jewelry and is a major supporter of adoption.

Check it out and check out Katie's blog! She is one of the most positive bloggers I have ever read, especially after her heartwrenching but amazing life story!

Baked Ziti

2011-03-17T18:39:00.002-04:00

So I haven't made a whole lot of brand new recipes to blog about lately... more of the same stuff that we've already made. We did make one or two things that we didn't like (like Tandoori Chicken... EW! Definitely not good!), but tonight I made Baked Ziti from the Clean Eating for Family and Kids book (which I highly recommend! As long as any of the other Clean Eating books) and it ROCKED. I don't have a picture because facebook changed their photo settings and now for some reason I can't get the image address from my own picture. So now I need to figure out another option.

Ok... so enough babbling and on with the recipe:

Baked Ziti (with my changes... there are some changes in the recipe itself, but I am not going to note those because I think the way I made it was wonderful)

Ingredients
*1 lb ground beef or ground turkey (I used beef)
*2 cups of shredded carrots (I did not put this in)
*1 small onion, peeled and diced
*2 cloves of garlic peeled and pressed (or 1/4 tsp of dried minced garlic)
*26 oz can of crushed tomatoes (I used 28 oz)
*1 cup of chicken or vegetable stock (I didn't have this so I used low sodium natural chicken broth)
*8 oz of whole grain penne, ziti, rigatoni (I used 12 oz of rigatoni)
*2 tbsp of fresh basil leaves finely chopped (I used 2 tsp of dried basil leaves)
*1/2 cup of fresh mozzarella (I used an 8oz bag of natural, shredded mozzarella)

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, combine meat, onions, and garlic and cook until meat is brown. Drain the fat. At the same time, in a separate pot, boil water and then put the noodles in to cook.
2. Add to the meat the tomatoes, chicken/veggie stock/broth, basil and let simmer.
3. When the noodles are al dente, drain and then combine with the sauce.
4. Put the noodle/sauce mixture into a lightly greased baking pan (I used a 9x13) and the coat with the mozzarella cheese.
5. Bake at 350* until cheese is brown.

ENJOY!

Crispy Chicken Sandwich and our menu for the week

2011-02-20T19:58:00.003-05:00

So I will have to find a new way to put pictures on here. I was uploading them to my facebook and then copying them over to here, but with facebook's new changes in their photos, I can't get the photo address anymore.

We made a pretty yummy chicken sandwich today! My Clean Eating magazine finally started coming (HOORAY! I love it!) and you will be seeing a TON of recipes from these magazines when I get them. Today we tried the Crispy Chicken Sandwich. We used to LOVE going to Wendy's and getting a Spicy Chicken Sandwich and we have been missing having a chicken sandwiches because they are usually friend. This is as well, but it is in olive oil and it is pan fried, so it isn't unhealthy. It was very yummy! We did not like the sauce that was with the recipe, so I am not going to include it in the recipe. I dipped my sandwich into some agave nectar as I was eating it and it gave it a very sweet, yummy taste. I am the type of person who liked to dip my chicken into honey, and agave nectar is the perfect substitute.

Here is the awesome recipe from the Clean Eating Magazine, March 2011 edition:

*1/8 tsp each of sea salt and ground black pepper, divided
*4 egg whites
*1 tsp Dijon mustard
*1 cup whole-wheat panko bread crumbs (our grocery store only had regular panko, so we used whole wheat bread crumbs instead)
*1/3 cup whole-wheat flour
*4 4-oz boneless, skinless chicken cutlets, pounded 1/4 inch thick
*1 tbsp olive oil
*4 thin whole-grain sandwich buns, toasted

1. In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites, Dijon, salt, and pepper and set aside. Transfer panko/bread crumbs to a shallow pan or plate.
2. Dredge each chicken cutlet in flour, shaking off excess, then in egg white mixture. Press cutlets gently into panko and transfer to a baking tray or plate.
3. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet on medium-high. Working in batches if necessary, sear breaded chicken cutlets for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown and fully cooked. Transfer to a paper-towel lined plate.
4. Toast whole-grain buns and assemble your sandwich!

We served this with baked potatoes. It was very yummy and I have 3 left to last for a few lunches this week. Yummy!

Also on our menu for the week:
Tandoori Chicken
Chicken Stir Fry
Potato Chowder (we need to see if we can find low sodium, nitrate free ham before we make this)
Chicken Cheese Steaks

Our life has been crazy and tonight's dinner

2011-02-17T20:19:00.004-05:00

Jeff has been working some strange hours and I've been pretty tired by the time I get home, so we have either had leftovers, gone out for Valentine's Day, or gone out to grab a quick bite. For a quick bite, I like to go to Panera because they have a lot of pretty healthy foods and I can pick and choose what I do and don't want to eat to a point.

I didn't take a picture of tonight's dinner. We had turkey breast and I had mashed/smashed sweet potatoes and Jeff had mashed regular potatoes. The sweet potatoes were good, but I didn't cook them enough! They still were good.

I used for the sweet potatoes:
2 cut up and boiled sweet potatoes, 1 tsp of pure maple syrup, and about 1/2 tsp of cinnamon, as well as a splash of soymilk.

The turkey breast was seasoned with 2 tbsp of olive oil, 1 tsp of rosemary, 1 tsp of basil, 1 tsp of thyme, 1 tsp of sea salt, and 1 tsp of black pepper. I mixed them together and rubbed them on top of the skin and under the skin and then baked. It was very good!

We were missing some sort of gravy. We need to learn how to make our own because we used to use the powder gravy in the packets.

Overall, it was decent. It felt great to cook tonight.

Jeff made the menu this week and it was just too much of the same (for example chicken tacos and Mexican chicken wraps. We made the tacos but not the wraps because we weren't in the mood for it after having tacos. He loves mexican food... I don't). Next time we will make the menu together. There are a few recipes from the Eat Clean books that we got that I really have been wanting to try.

Tomorrow we are having soup my grandparents homemade. They have a tradition that every winter, when it snows a measurable snow for the first time they spend the day making homemade vegetable beef soup. It is so good! I am sure it isn't 100% clean, but I'm not asking because it is just too good! There is a lot of natural ingredients in it, so I will be a happy camper. YUM! I can't wait! Maybe we will make some bread to go with it. Depends on the time I have in the afternoon tomorrow. I have a half day but it has been so nice that I have been hitting the streets on a few runs.

Come on weekend!

A look back at Skillet Chicken Cutlets with Button Mushrooms and Peas

2011-02-10T21:36:00.002-05:00

We made this meal last month and made it again today. It was very good! This time we actually followed the recipe and instead of using lemon pepper seasoning, we used lemon juice and salt and pepper. I think I like the lemon pepper seasoning better because I wasn't as thrilled with the lemon juice seasoning the mushrooms, but it wasn't terrible either. Once again we added peas and they were great!

Another note... I lost 8 lbs!!! I had a doctor's appt today to follow up from starting the metformin for my PCOS and the doctor was happy that I lost 8 lbs! I have another at the end of March. I really hope I lost more by then! I do have to say that it wasn't the medication that made me lost the weight. It was the clean eating and the exercising. The meds helped my PCOS symptoms and the amount of insulin my body needs because PCOS makes the body insulin resistant. There is no such thing as a magic pill! Get out there and do the work! :) I hope I keep losing!

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes

2011-02-10T21:28:00.003-05:00

Once again no picture... they didn't look the best just looking at them so a picture wouldn't have convinced you to try it or not.

We liked them. I liked them more than Jeff did. You can't go into it thinking that they are going to be just like regular pancakes. They were a lot heavier and very sweet. I had them with pure maple syrup and it was just too sweet for me. I ended up cutting up a few strawberries to give me a bit of a tart taste with them. It came with a recipe for homemade pomegranate syrup and I think I would make it with that next time. The pomegranate would give it the right amount of tartness. I will include the recipe for it, although it has honey. I would use natural honey or agave nectar instead of the stuff with added sugar.

Ok here is the recipes, both from cleaneatingmag.com:

Oatmeal Banana Pancakes
Source: Clean Eating magazine
Makes 10 to 12 five inch pancakes, or 20 four inch pancakes

For the syrup:
1 cup Pomegranate Juice
2 tablespoons of honey

For the pancakes:
3 medium bananas (I used frozen), plus 1 sliced banana for garnish
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats, ground to a course flour in food processor
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 egg whites, whipped to soft peaks
Olive Oil cooking spray

Whisk juice and honey together in saucepot. Bring mixture to boil over medium high heat, then drop the heat to medium. Simmer mixture and reduce it to syrup, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let syrup cool before using. (Mine thickened as it cooled.)

To make pancakes, add bananas, milk and vanilla to blender and puree until smooth. In large mixing bowl, whisk together ground oats, rolled oats, flour, salt and baking powder. Fold banana puree into dry ingredients to a form a thick batter, taking care not to overwork it. Gently fold in the whipped egg whites into batter. Heat a large nonstick griddle coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Drop 1/4 cup batter for 5-inch pancakes onto griddle. Cook until lightly browned, about 1 1/2 per side. Serve with banana slices and a drizzle of pomegranate syrup.

Steak and Farfalle Pasta

2011-02-09T18:15:00.001-05:00

No picture... sorry.

I made steak and farfalle pasta last night for dinner. It was OK. Not my favorite. Not the worst either. I am really not a tomato sauce kind of person, but I did enjoy it. I would think that someone who likes marinara sauces would like this. I will give the recipe. I ate it before I remembered to take a picture! OOPS!

Here is the recipe, from cleaneatingmag.com:

INGREDIENTS:

5 cloves garlic, finely minced, divided
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 lb lean eye round steak, cubed
16 oz whole-wheat farfalle pasta
Olive oil cooking spray
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 28-oz jar or can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil
8 oz low-fat sour cream

INSTRUCTIONS:

Prepare marinade: In a bowl, whisk together 3 cloves garlic, vinegar, Dijon, cinnamon and pepper. Pour marinade over steak cubes in another container, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. (You can also leave steak to marinate overnight.)
Cook farfalle according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Drain steak cubes and discard marinade. Heat a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-high, mist with cooking spray and sauté steak until browned on each side, about 4 minutes total. Remove steak from pan and set aside.
Mist same pan with cooking spray again, add onion and remaining 2 cloves garlic and sauté until brown, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomatoes and reduce heat to medium low. Add seasoning, basil and sour cream and combine. Cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, then mix in reserved steak and cook for 2 more minutes, until meat and sauce are completely warmed.
Serve 1 cup farfalle with 3/4 cup steak sauce. Garnish with an additional sprinkling of Italian seasoning, if desired.

Hamburgers and Breaded Mushrooms

2011-02-02T20:09:00.002-05:00

Today we made hamburgers on the George Foreman Grill and then breaded mushrooms. Our whole grain hamburger rolls were moldy!!!Ew! They weren't that old either. So we had to put the hamburgers on bread. Sigh. They still tasted good.

The mushrooms were OK. We dipped them in eggwhite and then rolled them in whole wheat breadcrumbs and baked them at 375* until they were hot. I feel like the breading needed Parmesan cheese in it as well. They weren't amazing. Jeff liked them though, so that is good!

Chicken and Brown Rice

2011-02-01T22:16:00.003-05:00

Tonight we made chicken breast with whole grain bread crumb and Parmesan cheese breading. We also made brown rice in our rice cooker, as well as sauteed broccoli and mushrooms in a homemade sauce which didn't work out so good. I would definitely do the breading on the chicken again and we really loved the brown rice! No real recipes to share since it was just the rice and the breading and cheese on the chicken and then we baked the chicken.

Tomorrow I am hoping we are having oatmeal banana pancakes, but we will see.

I had a snow/ice day today. I did nothing. I really wanted to go for a run, but because it was so icy I just didn't feel comfortable. If we have off again tomorrow I may go out in the afternoon depending on the roads.

I also may be starting Zumba for my cross training! I can't wait! It won't be until March, but it sounds like it will be fun!

Beef Stew

2011-01-30T19:07:00.002-05:00

We made Beef Stew from cleaneatingmag.com. It was good but it was missing something. I'm not sure what. It needed something to make it heartier. But it was still good and it is a recipe that I will play with to make it better.

INGREDIENTS:

2 tsp olive oil
3/4 lb lean bison or beef stew meat cut into 1-inch cubes
1 medium white onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 bay leaf
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium parsnip, peeled and diced
1 medium russet potato, peeled and diced
1/2 cup frozen peas
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS:

Heat a medium saucepan on medium-high and add oil to coat pan. Add half of meat and cook for 5 to 7 minutes turning to brown all sides. Transfer browned meat to a rimmed plate, then repeat cooking steps with remaining meat. Cover plate with meat and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add onion and shallot. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, until onions are softened and lightly browned. Add thyme and allspice, stirring for 30 seconds. Add vinegar, then increase heat to medium-high and cook for about 1 minute, until most of liquid has evaporated.
Return meat to pan, adding 3 cups water and bay leaf. Bring mixture to a simmer, then cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer for about 1½ hours, until meat is tender.Add carrots, parsnip and potato and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove and discard bay leaf.
Remove 1 cup liquid and vegetables from pan and transfer to a blender. Purée vegetables and liquid until smooth. Return purée to pan, add peas and cook on low heat for 5 minutes or until peas are heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Our Menu for the Week

2011-01-30T13:53:00.003-05:00

This week we are having:

Beef Stew
Oatmeal Banana Pancakes
Mexican Chicken Wraps (we didn't get to them last week either! They are on the plans for tomorrow)
Steak and Farfalle Pasta
Hamburgers with Breaded Mushrooms and Broccoli

Keep and eye out for the yummy recipes!

What is Clean Eating?

2011-01-29T10:06:00.001-05:00

If you want to find out more about clean eating, here is a great article to check out:

http://www.answerfitness.com/204/clean-eating-eating-clean-answer-fitness/.

Fondue with Zen Cooking Style

2011-01-27T20:48:00.007-05:00

*I want to start out by saying that I am not sponsored and I did not post anything on here by request of any company.*

We made fondue tonight and it was SO YUMMY! We love fondue. Our favorite restaurant is The Melting Pot. It wasn't until we started to go to The Melting Pot that we even knew we liked fondue. Now we go for as many occasions as possible (birthdays, graudations, celebrations, just because...). Well they recently came out with a cookbook and of course we bought one (and gave two as gifts!). Tonight we made the Zen Cooking Style from their cookbook and it was SO GOOD. We had chicken for our meat, and we had baby bella mushrooms, potatoes, broccoli, and carrots in it. We love fondue. :) The best thing about it... it was completely clean!

Here is the recipe (but to get any more, you have to buy the cookbook!)

*5 1/2 cups of warm water
*Juice of 1/2 lime
*3 tbsp of chopped lemon grass
*3 tbsp of finely chopped onion
*1 tbsp of finely chopped celery
*1 tbsp of finely chopped carrot
*2 tbsp of kosher salt (I used sea salt)
*1 tbsp of freshly ground pepper (I just used regular black pepper)
*1 tbsp of ginger
*2 tsp of garlic powder (I made a mistake and used 2 tbsp! Oops! It was still good and you couldn't tell)

1. Combine all of the ingredients into a pot and heat on medium-high until it is in a rolling boil.
2. Pour into a fondue pot and keep it on a low boil.
3. Put your veggies into the fondue pot.
4. Put the raw meat (which should be cut into cubes) one at a time on a fondue fork and cook (about 2 minutes) in the pot until it is completely cooked and then eat it (but not off the fondue fork! It is too hot!) and put a new piece on and back in the pot! The veggies should be ready as soon as they are cooked through. The mushrooms don't take so long. The potatoes and broccoli and carrots do take a while, but they are good once they are ready! We dig our veggies out with a spoon (The Melting Pot calls it a search and rescue spoon! Haha!). If you use metal, don't leave it in the pot because it will get hot!

Enjoy! Fondue is one of my favorite things to cook and eat! I just wish we could make all 4 courses of their meal at our house. We will have to just go out to the restaurant for that! (And I won't complain one bit!)

(Recipe from The Melting Pot Cookbook)

Frozen Mixed Berry and Granola Bars

2011-01-26T20:28:00.002-05:00

This was a nice yummy treat and easy to make. This would be a great summer time dessert. There is one change I will make in the recipe, but I will note that below.

Without further ado, here is another recipe from cleaneatingmag.com:

NGREDIENTS:

1 cup whole-grain granola
2 cups fresh strawberries, raspberries or combination
3 cups low-fat Greek-style yogurt (I would use vanilla, not plain. I used plain today and it was too tangy. Vanilla would make it great!)
1/3 cup agave nectar
1 tsp real vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS:

Line an 8-inch square baking pan with foil.
Sprinkle granola evenly on bottom of pan and set aside.
In a blender, whirl together berries, yogurt, agave nectar and vanilla until blended. Pour berry mixture over granola, smoothing mixture to the edges of the pan. Cover with foil and freeze until firm, approximately 4 hours. Keep frozen until serving.

Meatloaf

2011-01-26T20:00:00.003-05:00

I made yummy meatloaf tonight! I did my best to make it clean. The loaf itself was clean and it was super yummy. It is my grandmother's recipe, so you better feel special that I am giving it to you! BUT I put in homemade ketchup! I was a little nervous to use the homemade ketchup in this recipe because it is such a classic recipe in my family and I didn't want to ruin a good thing. But it made the meatloaf even BETTER!

The one thing that was not clean was the brown sugar used in the topping. I need to figure out what I can do for that, or just use brown sugar and deal with it. One item out of all isn't so bad. Ok, so here are the recipes:

Homemade Ketchup from cleaneatingmag.com:
*3 tbsp of tomato paste
*2 tsp of grated onion (I used onion powder and only used about 1/2 tsp)
*1 glove of minced garlic (I used garlic powder and only used about 1/4 tsp)
*1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
*1 tsp of agave nectar

Mix them all together into a bowl and refrigerate.

Meatloaf Recipe (I do have to warn you that I eyeball everything when I make this recipe, so I can't promise I have the right portions for some of the ingredients)
*1 lb of ground beef (the less fat the better)
*1 egg
*1/2 tsp of garlic powder
*1 or 2 cups of whole wheat bread crumbs (you want to make sure that the meatloaf isn't too damp and squishy. If it forms into a loaf and holds pretty well you should be good)
*3 tbsp of ketchup (the whole amount that the above recipe makes would be good)

1. Set oven to 400*. Put foil on and in a broiler pan (makes it easier to clean!) and cut holes in the foil so that the grease can drip to the bottom.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Add breadcrumbs as needed until it forms well into a loaf.
3. Form into a loaf and place on the broiler pan.
4. Poke holes in the loaf (all over) and then cover the loaf with the topping (recipe below).
5. Bake until the meat is cooked through.

Meatloaf Topping (This recipe is what we put on our meatloaf before it bakes. It is super good!)

*Dark Brown Sugar (I think I will try to use pure maple syrup next time)
*Ketchup

Combine in a bowl equal parts ketchup to brown sugar and mix. Put on top of meatloaf before it bakes.

I used to eat this meal with pierogies, but I had it with steamed broccoli with a little bit of melted cheese on top.

Slow Cooker Chicken and Barley Stew

2011-01-26T11:36:00.003-05:00

This was OK. I don't see us making it again because Jeff was not a big fan of it. I did not like the texture of the barely. The potatoes and carrots were so good and the overall flavoring was pretty good, but I just don't see us making it again. BUT since I thought it was OK, here is the recipe, which I got off of cleaneatingmag.com.

Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Stew (3 g of carbs)

INGREDIENTS:

32 oz low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth
1 tbsp garlic, minced
1 tsp garlic sea salt
1/2 tbsp thyme
1/2 tbsp basil
1/2 tbsp cilantro
1/4 tbsp dill
2 bay leaves
1/2 tbsp fresh ground black pepper
12 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed (uncooked)
1/2 cup uncooked black-eyed peas, rinsed and picked through
1/2 cup barley
1 medium sweet onion, cubed
20 oz potatoes, peeled and cubed
10 oz carrots (3 large), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
8 tbsp low-fat sour cream (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fill a slow cooker with broth, 8 oz water, garlic, herbs and pepper. Add chicken, peas and barley, then layer onion, potatoes and carrots overtop. Liquid should just cover vegetables. Do not stir.
Allow to simmer overnight, at least 4 to 6 hours. Remove bay leaves and stir before serving. Spoon 1 cup into each bowl and top with 1 tbsp sour cream, if desired.

Nutrients per 1-cup serving without sour cream: Calories: 230, Total Fat: 2.5 g, Sat. Fat: 0.5 g, Carbs: 3 g, Fiber: 5 g, Sugars: 4 g, Protein: 21 g, Sodium: 240 mg, Cholesterol: 40 mg

I know it is Wednesday... but here is our Menu

2011-01-26T11:33:00.002-05:00

Here is our Menu for the week:

Monday: Whole grain spaghetti (I am not blogging about it because we ended up needed to cook something fast, so we used whole grain noodles and the jar of sauce we had in the cabinet instead of making our own. We will make our own next time and I will blog about it then)

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Chicken and Barley Stew

Wednesday: Taco/Loaf night (I hate tacos, so Jeff eats tacos and I eat meatloaf)

We are also planning on having:

Mexican Chicken Wraps
Fondue

And keep an eye out for my reviews on homemade ketchup as well as frozen granola berry bars!

Chicken and Pineapple Skewers and some fun buys!

2011-01-20T21:58:00.003-05:00

Oh yum! This meal was so good! It was from the Clean Eating Magazine website, however we changed the recipe a bit. It was so sweet and good and WONDERFUL! We both loved it and once again, I can't wait for my lunch tomorrow! We served it with jasmine rice, which was WONDERFUL, but we should have used brown whole grain rice, as it is much healthier for you and not so processed! We just didn't have the time for the brown rice today.

Ok so here is the recipe:

*2-3 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce
*1 tbsp of agave nectar
*1/2 tbsp of ginger
*2 chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
*fresh mushrooms (we used baby bella cut into halves)
*1 onion cut into 1 inch thick and long slices
*grape tomatoes
*1/2 of a pineapple, cut into 1 inch cubes

1. Combine the soy sauce, agave nectar, and ginger and whisk until blended. Then pour over the chicken breast and marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Once the chicken is marinated, string onto either bamboo kebob sticks or grilling skewers (we used the metal ones that were bendy and very long, but we do have both), alternating between desired veggies, fruit, and meat.
3. Place on the grill (either indoor our outdoor... we used our George Foreman grill because it is cold and snowing outside!).
4. After about 3-5 minutes, flip.
5. When the chicken is done, take the skewer off the grill and take the food off the skewer.

Enjoy!

I am also so excited! We bought a rice cooker tonight! It has a brown rice setting too! WAHOO! I can't wait to try to make brown rice! I wish we had to the time to do that tonight.

AND we bought a food processor! If I have time this weekend, I WILL be making larabars!

A Super Exciting Goal!

2011-01-19T21:37:00.001-05:00

Ok, I have an awesome goal that I can't wait to share (though if you know me, you probably already know it!).

Barring unforeseen circumstances, I am going to run a half marathon in October! I am hoping to join Team in Training to train and run with them! I went to a meeting the other night and I am so excited about this opportunity, and my opportunity to run for a GREAT cause! I can't join this training season, but the one that starts in April I will be joining to train for this race! I can't wait! I will post more when I know more. :)

A year ago I wasn't even working to run a 5K! Now I am hoping to run a half! I never thought I would say something like that!

Chicken Nuggets and Broccoli with a Low Fat (but not so clean) Creamy Cheese Sauce

2011-01-19T20:47:00.002-05:00

Once again, PLEASE excuse my terrible pictures! I really need to work on using my camera instead of my cell phone, which is so much handier!

This meal was SO YUMMY! I can't wait to eat my leftovers for lunch! The chicken nuggets were very healthy and clean and had only 3 grams of carbs! The broccoli was very healthy too. The one thing that that wasn't clean, but it was low fat (though we really want to make it as clean as possible next time! We just were in a pinch for something to go with the broccoli!) was the Creamy Cheese Sauce from our Low Fat Vegetarian Cookbook (Thanks Steph!).

The chicken nuggets were super easy to make and took 30 minutes total (including cooking time) to make. I think that kids will LOVE it (especially with clean, homemade ketchup... which we didn't have so we used a tad bit of regular ketchup). I love to dip my chicken in honey and I think that next time I am going to try to dip it in Agave Nectar.

Ok, ok... enough talk. Here is the chicken recipe! See below for the review and recipe for the Creamy Cheese Sauce!

Crispy Chicken Nuggets (3g)

Ingredients

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts weighing about 6 oz / 170 g each
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml oat bran
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml wheat germ
• 1 Tbsp / 15 ml coarsely ground flaxseed (I used my Pampered Chef slap chopper and chopped them... it worked OK, but took a while)
• 1/4 cup / 60 ml coarsely ground almonds (I used my Pampered Chef slap chopper and it worked great on these!)
• 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml sea salt
• 1/2 tsp / 2 1/2 ml white pepper (I didn't have white so I used black)
• Pinch garlic powder
• 1/2 cup / 120 ml water or low-sodium chicken broth (we used low sodium, all natural chicken stock... but water would have been fine and I will use that next time instead of spending the extra money!)
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400°F / 232°C. Prepare baking sheet by lining with parchment paper or coating lightly with best-quality olive oil.
Cut chicken breasts into nugget-sized pieces, about 1.5 inches square. Set aside.
Next, combine all dry ingredients in a large container with a tightly fitting lid. Shake well. This is your coating mixture.
Combine water and egg in a medium bowl. Dip each piece in the water/egg-white mixture. Then dip each piece in the coating mixture. Make sure each piece is well coated.
Place on the baking sheet. When all of your chicken has been coated and your baking sheet is full, place in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.

Ok... the Low Fat Creamy Cheese Sauce from 1001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes... I think I said in the beginning that we aren't going to be making our own cheese or anything TOO extreme, but that we are going to try to get as clean as possible. I just wanted to say that from the start of this recipe! We decided to make this recipe because we wanted something on top of the broccoli that wasn't going to be too full of calories or unhealthy junk. So here is the recipe, with our alterations to it. It was very yummy and we can't wait to make it a little cleaner next time!

*2 tbsp of minced onion (we didn't have fresh onion on hand and it was such a small amount that we used dried minced onion, which was fine)
*2 tbsp of whole-wheat flour (this was another change we made... we used whole wheat instead of regular, which was great!)
*1 cup of skim milk
*1/4 tsp of dried mustard
*2-3 drops of red pepper sauce
*1/2 cup (2 oz) of cheese (we used what we had... a little bit of all natural mozzarella and some American Cheese to make up the difference since we didn't have 2 oz)

1. Saute onion in 1 tbsp of margarine (we didn't do this step since we used dried onion so we excluded the butter/margarine) in small saucepan 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in flour; cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in milk and heat to boiling; boil, whisking constantly until thickened, about 1 minute. (We started with the milk and whisked everything into the milk since we weren't sauteeing the onions, etc.
2. Reduce heat to low. Add cheese, dry mustard, and pepper sauce, whisking until cheese is melted.

We drizzled a small amount over steamed broccoli and it was very yummy and added that flavor we wanted!

Enjoy!

Menu for the Week

2011-01-14T23:31:00.003-05:00

My Clean Menu for dinners for the week is as follows (in no particular order):

-Chicken and Pineapple skewers on the grill (we may use the indoor grill for this, but it won't be as good)
-Chicken Nuggets (I can't wait to try this! The breading sounds very interesting! We are having steamed broccoli as a side.
-Hamburgers on a Whole Wheat roll
-Whole Grain Spaghetti with homemade spaghetti sauce
-Mexican Chicken Wraps on Whole Grain Tortillas

I am also hoping to make homemade granola bars. I also found a recipe for larabars that I really want to try, but I have to get a food processor. Any recommendations?

I do have to say that so far it has been fun trying all of these recipes, but it is frustrating when you really look forward to a recipe and it turns out not so good! I hope that this turns around and we build a base of foods we really like! We are also spending a lot on food each week because we are still in the "stocking phase" (we didn't have much of the spices, flours, etc that the recipes called for). Hopefully we will be out of it soon and just be able to cook! But it is fun, especially exploring them with my husband!

Pizza

2011-01-14T23:25:00.003-05:00

We had my husband's brother and his girlfriend over to make pizza with us. It was a lot of fun! We made our own dough and our own sauce. The sauce turned out GREAT. We kind of winged it with what to put in it, but we did have a recipe to follow with the spices in the sauce. We did have a recipe to follow for the dough. I didn't like the dough. It tasted like frozen pizza dough to me, which I don't like. I'm not a pizza person anyway... but I thought it would be a lot of fun. If you would like the recipe for the dough, let me know. Below is the recipe (sort of) for the sauce. Like I said... we didn't follow it exactly. We used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. We did use some tomato paste, but not a lot. And we put more spices in than it called for. But the sauce was SO GOOD! So without further ado:

Pizza sauce Ingredients

3 garlic cloves, minced (or 1/2 tsp of dried minced garlic)
3 tablespoons olive oil (only if you are sauteeing the garlic. If you are using dried minced you won't need this)
1 (29 ounce) can tomato paste (we used 18 oz and then 2 fresh, finely chopped tomatoes)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes (we did not use this because of our fresh tomatoes)
2 tablespoons brown sugar (we put in 4)
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (we put in about 3 tbsp! Too much but it really added some great flavor to the sauce!)

Directions

In a large saucepan, saute garlic in oil until tender (only if you are using fresh garlic! If not start with the next step by combining everything in a pan). Stir in the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until sauce reaches desired thickness. Use in Deep-Dish Sausage Pizza, Tomato Artichoke Chicken or any recipe that calls for pizza sauce. Sauce may be refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Chicken Cutlets with Button Mushrooms

2011-01-14T23:18:00.002-05:00

Another yummy meal from www.cleaneatingmag.com! We will definitely make this one again! And once again, sorry for the bad picture!

We decided to add peas to this and the peas were wonderful! We also didn't use button mushrooms because our store didn't have them this trip, but we did find a baby mushroom that was yummy. We also didn't use capers.And we used a lemon seasoning because we didn't have any lemon juice and I had used our fresh lemons the day before (oops!). But the flavoring was still good! Here is the recipe:

1½ lbs Chicken cutlets (about 6)
¼ t sea salt
¼ t pepper
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided
2 t olive oil
1 c fresh button mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp Italian Parsley
2 t whole capers
Lemon Slices for garnish (optional)

Season chicken with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 T lemon juice. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and mushrooms and cook chicken for 2 to 3 minutes per side or until golden brown and until mushrooms are softened. Add remaining 2 T lemon juice, parsley and capers and cook for 2 more minutes. Garnish with lemon slices before serving if desired.

French Toast

2011-01-14T23:13:00.003-05:00

No picture! Sorry! I forgot to take a picture!

I had very yummy french toast this week. I always pack my leftovers (actually, I cut what I am eating in half and put it in a dish) for lunch the next day and I was concerned about the french toast, but this turned out pretty good even left over! I froze them in the freezer and then just took them out and put the bag with the 2 pieces in my lunchbox with a cold back and it kept them cold but thawed them by the time I got to lunch.

I got the idea from www.cleaneatingmag.com. I did change their recipe, but the directions were similar. Here is what I did:

*Whole wheat bread (desired amount... I used 8 pieces for dinner and lunch the next day)
*6-8 egg whites (I did include 2 yolks)
*1 tsp of nutmeg (I won't use this next time. I wasn't a fan)
*1 tsp of cinnamon (or more if you desire)

-Mix the eggs and the spices together and then coat each side of the pieces of bread. Cook them on a medium pan at medium heat on your stove until they are browned on both sides and cooked through in the middle. Enjoy!

Not So Fried Chicken

2011-01-14T23:07:00.002-05:00

This was YUMMY! YAY! Finally a recipe I can talk about and proudly share! We got it from www.cleaneatingmag.com. The one thing we changed was that we used whole wheat bread crumbs instead of whole wheat panko. We can't find whole wheat panko anywhere in our grocery store! You also need to remember to marinate this in the buttermilk for 6 hours! We kept forgetting and then have to change our plans for dinner that night. But once we remembered, we were happy!

With this I made my own version of "fries". I cut up a potato into chunks, brushed it with olive oil, and then sprinkled it with garlic salt. I baked them the same amount of time I baked the chicken on the same tray as the chicken, taking them out and turning them halfway. They were yummy also!

Here is the recipe copied from www.cleaneatingmag.com:

Not so Fried Chicken (17 g of carbs)

INGREDIENTS:

4 7-oz bone-in chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
Extra-virgin olive oil cooking spray
2 tsp dry mustard
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup whole-wheat panko

INSTRUCTIONS:

Using a sharp knife, thoroughly remove skin and visible fat from chicken breasts.
Place chicken breasts in a resealable plastic container that is slightly larger than the breasts. Pour buttermilk over breasts, then turn them so they are completely coated. Let marinate in refrigerator for at least 6 hours or overnight, rotating them once or twice.
Preheat oven to 450°F. Lightly mist a medium, nonstick baking sheet with spray.
In a small bowl, mix mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne.
Add panko to a medium, shallow bowl.
Remove 1 chicken breast from buttermilk, allowing any excess liquid to drip off. Sprinkle both sides of breast evenly with 1/4 of seasoning mixture. Then transfer it to bowl of panko, covering it completely with crumbs. Place breaded chicken breast face down (ribs up) on prepared pan. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.
Lightly mist top of breasts with spray. Bake chicken for 10 minutes, then gently, being careful not to remove any breading, flip the breasts. Lightly mist them again with spray and continue to bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until breading is crispy and chicken is no longer pink inside. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 2 days to eat cold. Tip: To make your breaded chicken a bit more golden in color, try toasting the panko in a skillet over medium heat before using it to cover the chicken. Just remember to consistently shake the skillet over the stove to ensure you don't burn the panko.

Nutrients Per Chicken Breast: Calories: 267, Total Fat: 5 g, Sat. Fat: 1 g, Carbs: 17 g, Fiber: 2 g, Protein: 37 g, Sodium: 255 mg, Cholesterol: 91 mg

Chicken Pot Pie

2011-01-14T23:02:00.002-05:00

(Once again, sorry for the crappy picture. There will be a bunch of posts with crappy pictures! Sorry!)

Anyway... this did not wow us. I am not going to post the recipe. If you want it, please feel free to ask and I will send it to you. This was very bland. It had almost no flavor. I think we were having issues for a few reasons. Reason 1- I grew up on PA German cooking, which is pot pies, casseroles, breads, pastas, etc. I am used to that creamy, not very spicy but yummy taste. I love bland foods, so for me to say this was bland wasn't very good. Reason 2- We are still getting used to the whole wheat flour. We aren't a fan yet, as that is all we tasted!

It wasn't BAD, but it definitely isn't something we will make again. I think I've realized that I can't recreate the recipes that I LOVE that aren't clean with clean and healthy products because they won't be the same and I need to get over that and find NEW recipes that we love.

My Menu

2011-01-09T19:31:00.003-05:00

Here is my menu for this week:

Beef Chickpea Chili (see review in previous post)
French Toast
Not So Fried Chicken
Chicken Pot Pie
Homemade pizza
Chicken Cutlets with button mushrooms

I can't wait to see if chicken pot pie will be as good as the chicken pot pie I am used to eating! And I think Jeff is most looking forward to the homemade pizza. I have also been craving french toast since seeing this recipe for french toast on Clean Eating magazine's website!

Beef Chickpea Chili

2011-01-09T18:46:00.003-05:00

Please excuse the crappy picture! I took it with my phone, which doesn't have the best camera (get on that, BlackBerry!). I promise better pictures of the future meals!

I got this recipe from www.cleaneatingmag.com.

This was OK. There are definitely some changes I will make. I give it one thumb up, and the husband gives it NO thumbs up (except he did like the meat in it... he isn't a fan of beans so the chick peas weren't awesome to him). Part of the problem with the meal was that the chick peas weren't cooked enough, though I followed the directions on the bag (I bought them hard, so I needed to cook them before I prepared the chili. We are trying not to eat canned beans because of the high amounts of sodium in them). I am hoping they will be better left over after they absorb some moisture. Next time I make it (I want to make it one more time to give it another chance) I am going to only do one cup of chopped tomatoes, and I am going to half the chick peas. I am also going to include some greens in this (peas, zucchini, those fuzzy green bean things that look like snap peas... I have a long way to go with the names of ingredients!) . It tasted more like a vegetable beef soup than a chili, so I want to play on that instead of turning it into chili, which I already make.

So here is the recipe, though please take what I said above into consideration! It will help!

Beef Chickpea Chili

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb top-round buffalo steak or lean beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbsp garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups yellow onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
2 cups carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 tbsp cumin, ground
2 tsp dried coriander
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp saffron (optional)
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
3 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 cup frozen corn (no need to thaw)
2 cups tomatoes, chopped
1 bay leaf
1 6-oz jar tomato paste
2 lemons (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

In a large nonstick pot, cook steak for 2 minutes over medium-high heat. Add garlic, onion, celery, carrots and all spices. Cook for 5 minutes. Then add chickpeas, cooking for 2 more minutes.
Turn up heat to high and pour in 4 cups water, corn, tomatoes and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and stir in tomato paste. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid reduces and chili thickens. Squeeze juice of both lemons into chili, if desired, and stir. Remove bay leaf before serving. Chili can be stored in refrigerator for 5 days or frozen for 2 to 3 months.

Clean Eating

2011-01-09T18:26:00.002-05:00

The husband and I have started to eat clean (or as clean as we can without going completely overboard... for example, we don't make our own cheese or cut our own meat, or anything along those lines). But basically we go by this quote that I heard recently "If it was grown on a plant, eat it. If it was made in a plant, avoid it". Clean eating cuts out all of the processed foods and preservatives. It doesn't cut down on flavor or things you can cook. it just changes the way you make your food and the way you eat. We now eat a lot of whole grain products, we eat a lot of fresh veggies, and we are cooking almost every night at home. I am trying to make sure we have lots of protein in our foods. I am also watching carbs on top of it all.

So the hunt as been on for meals and snacks that are clean and low carb. It has been fun and difficult all at once! Everything is new to us. I likened it to when we switched grocery stores last year. We switched from the grocery store we had been going to since we moved to this house 3 1/2 years ago (then it was 2 1/2 years) to another grocery store. When we came to this new grocery store we felt lost. We had no idea where to find certain items and it was hard to get used to. We were so tempted to go back to our other store, but then it started to get easier. We learned where we could find things in the store, and we now feel like we are used to the store. When it comes to eating, we were so used to eating the food we had all of our lives. We aren't going to be used to this change over night. For Jeff, he was brought up on meat and potatoes. What was made was what you ate. I was brought up on Pennsylvania Dutch foods. Lots of pot pies, casseroles, carbs, carbs, carbs. It isn't something that is going to change overnight. But as we make recipes we see what we like and don't like and we will begin to find a base of foods we like and will make regularly.

It has been an interesting week and a half of food so far. It has been expensive as we build the things we need in the house to make regular meals. It has been excited to try new meals, disappointing when we find meals we don't like that we really hoped we would like (like the chicken and dumplings that we made last week... yuck) but we've found some that we do like.

So here we go on this journey to change our lifestyle. I am going to try to take a picture of each meal and give a review on the meal. If we like it, I will include the recipe so that you can enjoy it as well. I am also going to post our weekly dinner menu. If you see something you would like to try and I haven't included the recipe, please feel free to send a message and ask! Not everyone's tastes are the same.

I was also told that if we were successful 90% of the time, then that is considered successful. We aren't always going to be able to eat clean (like when we go to family's house. We have no desire to dictate what they cook! Or when I am craving chocolate because I just can't give that up!).

So on top of life and exercise (which has been lacking the last few days!), I will be hopefully blogging about food.

Old Year, Old Goals, New Year, New Goals

2010-12-29T11:00:00.004-05:00

I don't believe in resolutions. I think resolutions are "quick fixes" that people say they are going to do, and then they forget about them and have the same resolution year after year. "I resolve to lose weight. I resolve to make more money. I resolve to do this or do that." And come the following year they still have the same resolutions. It is why gyms see an increased number of enrollments in January.

I make goals and I try to achieve them.

In 2010 I made a goal to run a 5K. And I ran FOUR!

I started in March not being able to run 60 seconds. Now look where I am! In January I had no idea that I was going to go on this journey, so I wonder what journey I will go on THIS year!

My goals for 2011:

I am going to run a 5K in under 40 minutes. I just can't seem to break the 40 minute mark!

I am going to run a 4 miler and a 5 miler.

I am going to run a 10K.

And here is the big one... just planned last night and I have it picked out. I am going to train for and run the Hershey Half Marathon in October!!! I am so excited! The only thing that I can think of that will prevent me from doing this is a goal I've had for a while... to get pregnant. But I am going full steam ahead to run this half! I am so excited that I've made this goal!

I also want to start changing my eating. I am going to transition into clean eating over the next few weeks and try to cut down to 30 carbs a day, making sure the carbs I'm getting are good carbs. Even the husband is on board with this one (finally)!

Obviously I really want to get a contract teaching position and that is a HUGE goal for me this year (not that it wasn't in 2010). I pray that next Christmas will be MUCH happier than this Christmas.

I know this post is a few days early. I wanted to write it while I remembered. I hope that everyone has a HAPPY and HEALTHY 2011!

What goals did you complete in 2010? And what are YOUR 2011 goals?

Merry Christmas (Eve)

2010-12-24T10:17:00.003-05:00

I know I've been a bad blogger and I haven't updated lately. It's been a very difficult month for my family and we just want to move past the holidays. I don't want to get into it on here because it is very personal, but prayers are appreciated.

However, I didn't intend for this to be a sad post. I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Be prepared for me to come back! I have a whole bunch of updates about races I've run, as well as new goals to post about!

For now, enjoy our family Christmas picture:

We are wishing you and your's a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Second 5K

2010-10-31T11:41:00.009-04:00

I ran my 2nd 5K yesterday! It was the Hershey Halloween Hustle and I ran with my friend, Steph. I was sick the whole week leading up to the run, so I didn't get to get in my normal runs like usual, but I feel like I still did pretty good, all things considered. It was a COLD morning (30's), but it wasn't too bad of a race. The whole first half was up a hill, but it was beautiful. It was on a paved trail through the woods, next to a stream. We had to walk for a tiny bit, but for the whole run we maybe walked .1 of the whole 3.1 miles. If the first half was up hill, that meant the 2nd half was downhill! It was a GREAT second half. We were nice and warmed up and it was a beautiful run. We didn't beat our time from last time, which we were disappointed about, but we still are proud with how we ran. I am really looking forward to my next one, which is Thanksgiving morning!Here we are at the start. See the kid in the blue shirt behind us? He beat us. HAHA!

Coming up to the finish!

Jeff tried to be creative and get just me running in the picture.

FINISHED!

I am WOMAN, hear me ROAR! Haha!

Aww! :) I'm so glad Jeff was able to come watch this one! He was excited to see me run.

I've been a bad blogger!

2010-10-10T10:55:00.015-04:00

My only excuse is that I've been crazy busy, but I come with a peace offering... pictures from my FIRST 5K!

Yesterday I ran my first 5K. Honestly, it wasn't my best run ever. Wednesday I ran 4 miles without walking once. And I felt like I could have gone more. Yesterday's 5K I had to stop and walk a couple of times. I was so mad. I can do it and I can't believe that I had to walk. I came in at 40:32. My goal was to come in around 40 or less and run the whole thing. I did the 40 part, but the running was disappointing. But I still ran pretty much all but .25 miles of the race, so I need to be proud of myself because in March I couldn't run 60 SECONDS without dying.
So here are some pictures!:

My brother in law is on the left, I am in the middle and my friend Steph is on the right. This was also Steph's first 5K and she did great! If it weren't for me, we probably would have ran the whole thing!

Here we go!

Action shot! This was not quite a mile in and already I was suffering. The whole race was up and down hills. The hills were TERRIBLE! I run a lot of hills around my neighborhood, but I also run down hills too. It seemed like this race was purposeful having us turn and run up another hill instead of down the hill. It was rough!

Here we come to the finish!

Here we are! Finished and tired!

We decided to go out and celebrate at an awesome crepe restaurant. YUMM! The guy in red is Steph's fiance, Craig, who was my husband's roommate in college and then Craig, Jeff and I rented an apartment together.

When we were freshened up and changed (and after we said goodbye to my brother-in-law) we went to a corn maze and pumpkin picking patch.

Inside the maze we had to find letters that spelled out TRACTOR MAC. We found all of them and got a free piece of fruit!

AND we made it out of the maze alive! :)

We grabbed a wagon and our free apples and went pumpkin picking.

Look at all of those pumpkins! We got 5 and our friends got 6 pumpkins.

What a fun fall day! We headed home and had stuffed chicken breasts and mashed potatoes and corn for dinner! YUM! It was overall a great day and I am proud I did my first 5K! I can't wait to do more and show myself that I can do better!

When I Said I Do...

2010-09-23T06:31:00.007-04:00

I meant that I will,

forever and ever.

Be gracious and true,

devoted to you.

That's what I had in mind,

When I said I do."~Clint Black

I missed posting about it yesterday because I was taking a hiatus from my computer because yesterday was my anniversary!

Happy anniversary to the love of my life! I am so happy to be married to you! 9/22/07!

I love to run

2010-09-07T18:13:00.001-04:00

I really do... I go back and forth, but I really love to run. And I would love to win this necklace to show people how much I like to run and to keep me motivated to run. You don't want to enter because of course you want me to win it, right? Ok, well enter at your own risk.

Day 11- A photo of you recently

2010-09-06T17:23:00.004-04:00

This is a picture of me take by my husband on Needles Highway at an overlook taking beautiful pictures. Probably one of these:

Day 10- A Photo Taken Over 10 Years Ago of You

2010-09-02T15:16:00.003-04:00

Ooo this one will be hard. I'll have to go digging in my computer.

Ok this is what I dug up:

This picture is old, obviously!. I was probably about 5 here, which means it is now 21 years later. We moved into this house in 1989 and my dad did a TON of work on it. This is the family room, which he was completely redoing (new floors, new walls, bar, etc). Here I am, "helping" to finish the family room!

Day 9- A photo you took

2010-08-31T11:42:00.004-04:00

Oh man! What is with all of this making me choose days! I *LOVE* taking pictures and so I'll need to find a good one.

Ok so instead of an artistic picture, like this one I took while on our honeymoon of Duvall Street:

Or a nature picture, like this one I took before we headed into the jungle in Belize:

I decided to show a picture that shows fun and love. This one I took during one of the blizzards we had this past winter. The husband jumped into a huge pile of snow and the dogs ran and jumped on him and licked him. They love playing in the snow.

Day 8- A photo that makes you angry/sad

2010-08-27T23:39:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'll do my best with this one, but I hate keeping photos like that around.

Ok so these are the pictures I found (don't worry... they both make me sad for the same reason). When we first adopted our puppies they were 8 weeks old. A week after we got them they got sick. It seemed like a cold but then they got this crazy cherry eye. They had fevers, were dehydrated, etc. They were put in these cones, but they ended up being too small so they were put in bigger cones because they would scratch the cherry eye open and we'd have to rush to the emergency vet. Eventually, they ended up having surgery to have these tear ducts (that was what had swollen up) removed and while they were under they decided to spay them too (this wasn't scheduled until a month or so later, but they figured they would kill two birds with one stone instead of having to put them under later). Because we had just adopted them from the SPCA, all of their medical bills were covered (YAY!), but it was so hard to see them like this. Plus, once they had their energy back, there wasn't a standing chair in the house because they would chase each other and knock all of the chairs down. AHHH!!! (I think if you click on the image, you can see it larger. On the second one especially you can see Maggie's cherry eye. It was GROSS! Neither of them could close their eye! It was so sad!).

Oh and for a bit of perspective... now, one fills up the whole landing that is above them! They couldn't lay on that step if they tried anymore!

So guess what I did...

2010-08-26T22:01:00.001-04:00

I ran 3.2 miles!!! WAHOO! I am officially able to run a 5K without stopping! I also registered for my VERY FIRST 5K, which will be October 9th. I am running to raise awareness for eating disorders. My goal is to finish the run without having to walk. I'll worry about time in the future. I am so excited right now. Running has really become a wonderful release to me. I never thought I'd get there.

Day 7- A photo that makes you happy

2010-08-26T21:42:00.009-04:00

I have two (I know, I know... I can't pick just one, can I?).

This picture was a day that Jeff and I decided to walk the rail trail near our house. It was an awesome walk together and it really was just a wonderful day. I am so glad we went!

And this is a picture of me and Jeff on my birthday (I love my birthday!) in Yellowstone. I was with my husband and my parents, in one of my favorite places on Earth, and this picture shows the hard work is paying off with running! I love how I look in this one!

Day 6- 20 of my favorite things

2010-08-25T14:08:00.002-04:00

"Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens. Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things!"

WAHOO! Finally a day I don't have to pick just ONE favorite thing! Apparently I'm not good at picking just one thing. So here we go... 20 of my favorite things (in NO particular order).

1. My husband :)
2. My dogs
3. My bible- my parents gave it to me in 1999 for my birthday.
4. My family
5. Traveling with my husband and family!
6. My electronics- computer, BlackBerry, mp3 player, GPS, etc.
7. My books! I love to read!
8. Taking pictures.
9. Large open fields.
10. The New England Patriots!
11. My wedding and engagement rings!
12. Yummy meals.
13. Chocolate
14. Massages
15. Running in the rain
16. The smell of honeysuckle.
17. The sound of rain on the roof.
18. Sweaters, jeans, and boots!
19. New shoes!
20. Kayaking, hiking, biking, or whatever else I am doing outdoors with my husband!

Ok so it was easy, but I made a list and then realized that it was so materialistic. So I did it again and I like this list better. :)

Day 5- Your Favorite Quote

2010-08-23T23:11:00.003-04:00

You know, once again, I don't know for sure. I know that there are a few quotes that I love, but I don't know of a favorite quote. I am always looking out for new quotes. When I was a kid I used to collect quotes. I had a blank journal that I would write down quotes that I loved. I still have it somewhere. Here are a few of my favorites now:

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

"Beauty is not caused. It is." ~Emily Dickinson

"You don't know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." (Oh so true! I have really learned this one the past few years!)

"Don't let your yesterdays take up too much of your today." ~Will Rogers (LOVE it!)

Many people know I am a HUGE Patriots fan and a few years ago we had a player named Rodney Harrison (#37) who said: "There ain't nothing funny about a hungry bunch of Patriots." They were looking good the other night! I hope this will be another good year!

And of course there is: "If you can read this, thank a teacher."

So there you have it. A few of the ones that I love. If you have a quote that you love, please share with me! I am always looking for new quotes!

Day 4- Favorite Book

2010-08-19T20:54:00.003-04:00

Ooo tough on! I am a teacher and I read CONSTANTLY. I can tell you books I've enjoyed, but I honestly don't have a favorite book.

This book is one of my all time favorite pleasure reads. It is Christian Fiction, but I love Lori Wick and I read this one every summer. It is always my first pleasure read book and it is wonderful!

If you want a book that will make you think, you have to read The Help. It is wonderful! It was Kathryn Stockett's first book, and I think she did mighty fine. It takes on the views of segregation in the 1960's. It was shocking to me to read, but it was eye opening too. I think it would make a great movie! It was funny and sad. I really recommend it... oh and you'll never look at chocolate pie the same again. :)

This book is sort of a lighter version of The Help. I bought this book to read on vacation and I couldn't put it down. Definitely a great book to read and I suggest you check it out. It is Beth Hoffman's first book as well. It also takes place in the 60's (I think... I forget).

This is a great children's book that has a message! It has wonderful pictures, and I think the message (segregation) is a great one. I didn't meant to pick a theme this post. I just love this book and it is a great one for kids to read.

And what teacher can post without recommending Dr. Suess? This book was given to me twice. Once at my kindergarten graduation, and once at my high school graduation. It is a great book with an awesome message. I've come to realize that ALL of Dr. Suess's books have great messages. A lot of people just think of his books with goofy wording, etc, but read into it. They each have a great message to share!

Happy reading!

Day 3- Your Favorite TV Show

2010-08-18T16:39:00.002-04:00

Day 3 is so easy... or is it. Hm. Well, my favorite TV show used to be LOST! , but (sniffle, sniffle... SOB) it is over. I won't get to look into their lives anymore and try to figure out what the heck is going on.

I'm also a stickler for reality TV, but not even that is the best on TV. Really it isn't. It is pretty much the junk food of TV. You see, you have your fruits and veggies: those are the documentaries (like on the History Channel, which is a staple on the TV when my husband has the remote), health shows (not like Biggest Loser, but more like Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution). Then there is the meat: your dramas (ie- Law and Order and CSI). I might even categorize the news in this section, although a lot of the news could be considered junk food too. And then there is desert: your comedies (ie- Big Bang Theory and I'd even throw The Simpsons) in there. And then reality TV is the junk food. It is stuff to watch simply out of guilty pleasure, but really does nothing for you when you watch it.

So where does my FAVORITE TV show fall, and what is it? Well my favorite TV show I would classify as a DIVINE desert. It is the best of the best. It is that one part on the tray that they show last. You know, that tray that they bring out to show you all of the deserts to make sure you order them, and they save that one for last... you know that triple chocolate something or other that makes you drool and you just HAVE to have it (or in my mom's case, a creme brulee). MY favorite TV show is.....:

Oh yes! That's right! GLEE! Oh I love it so! It is so funny and I can't wait for it to start this fall!

So there you have it. :) What is your's?

Day 2- Your Favorite Movie

2010-08-17T13:18:00.002-04:00

Let me give you a few hints before I go and just tell you what my favorite movie #1 is (I have two... I'll tell the 2nd one later in the post).
Ok so hint #1:
Still not sure? Hint #2:
Ok, one more hint and then I'll tell you:

Ok that last one should have been a gimme... so if you haven't gotten it by now I might as well just tell you!
Ok so yes, it is a kid's movie but that doesn't bother me! I ADORE this movie! It is my comfort movie. Whenever I am sick, upset, or just want to lay around and watch a movie, I put this movie in. We made sure to go to Turtle Time with Crush when we were in Disney, and on the Nemo ride. Here is a picture of me in front of the building:

OK and for my 2nd favorite movie:
I love this movie for many reasons. Many of you may not know, but my husband and I met on line. We were young (ahem, 17, ahem cough cough) and dumb (so dumb that I never told my parents and then forgot that they didn't know and they found out at my bridal shower!), and this is the one time I am glad we were young and dumb (but not super dumb! I brought a friend along when we met and we met in a public spot!). This movie is just so sweet, and charming. I love the character Meg Ryan plays and how she is a very strong person. It is just a great movie, especially in the fall! I love to get a box of chocolates and a glass of wine and a blanket and watch this movie.

Ok, so there you have it. My two favorites! A close 3rd is The Holiday, but I think two is enough to talk about!

Day 1- Your Favorite Song

2010-08-16T22:43:00.002-04:00

Wow, this is actually a tough one because I love all kinds of music. I always have favorite "at the moment" songs, but in a few months they will become just another song to me. They aren't my forever favorite songs. So this one involved some thought. What is one song that, no matter when or where I hear it, I have to listen to it? Hmm.

But I can't think of just one. There are a few.

As a kid I loved classical music and still do. One of the songs, which is so common, is "Pachelbell's Canon in D". I bought a tape of it when I was a kid on a vacation. It had beach sounds to it. I made my parents play the tape in the van on our vacation and all it was was that song over, and over, and over, and over, and over... and over again. They couldn't wait for me to fall asleep so they could take it out. I walked down the aisle to that song, as most brides do, but that song has special meaning to me... not just a good song to walk to.

I love the song "Home", which Michael Buble sings. It fits me. I am not completely comfortable unless I am home with the ones I love.

I love the song "Boondocks" by Little Big Town. I grew up outdoors. I am a country girl and that song suits my childhood. I can remember hunting for crawfish in the creek with my cousins and then building "homes" for them.

"When I Said I Do" by Clint Black has a special place in my heart because it is the song I danced to with the love of my life at my wedding. :)

And last, but not least, I love the song "Down by the Station". I had a student who loved this song. We would sing it every day. He is struggling with his health right now, and that song makes me think of WHY I went into education.

I love many more songs. I grew up in music and there is just so much out there. How can you pick just one? It is the same thing with color... I tell my students I don't have a favorite color, because I don't. They are all beautiful! there are some types of music I just don't do (like the screaming, creepy Marylin Manson type music, or the rap with awful lyrics (not all rap is bad)... not for me!), but there isn't much that I exclude from my mp3 player!

30 Day Blog Journal

2010-08-16T22:41:00.002-04:00

I got this idea from Seasons of Life. Katie got the idea from a fellow blogger as well. I think this is a neat idea and I can't wait to add to my blog by doing this! I'm going to start tonight! I can't promise I'll be able to do it every day, but I'll do my best to get in all 30. But first, here is the list (in case you are inspired to do it as well!):

Day 1 - your favorite song
Day 2 - your favorite movie
Day 3 - your favorite television program
Day 4 - your favorite book
Day 5 - your favorite quote
Day 6 - 20 of my favorite things
Day 7 - a photo that makes you happy
Day 8 - a photo that makes you angry/sad
Day 9 - a photo you took
Day 10 - a photo taken over 10 years ago of you
Day 11 - a photo of you recently
Day 12 - something you are OCD about
Day 13 - a fictional book
Day 14 - a non-fictional book
Day 15 - your dream house
Day 16 - a song that makes you cry (or nearly)
Day 17 - an art piece (drawing, sculpture, painting, etc)
Day 18 - my wedding/future wedding/past wedding
Day 19 - a talent of yours
Day 20 - a hobby of yours
Day 21 - a recipe
Day 22 - a website
Day 23 - a youtube video
Day 24 - where I live
Day 25 - your day, in great detail
Day 26 - your week, in great detail
Day 27 - my worst habit
Day 28 - whats in my handbag/purse
Day 29 - hopes,dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 - a dream for the future

New earrings

2010-08-16T14:24:00.008-04:00

I entered a giveaway on Good Mom, Bad Housewife (check out her blog! She has some cute kids!) for a pair of earrings from the Etsy shop Elsy Bleu and I am so excited because I WON and my new earrings came today! :) One thing that I really like about this store is that the earrings are sterling silver. I have a jewelry allergy and anything that is made with cheaper metals makes my ears itch other not-so-fun stuff. Sterling silver earrings don't turn my ears weird colors or make them itch, etc. I was bummed because a few weeks ago my favorite pair of earrings broke. I got so many compliments on those earrings and when they broke I almost wanted to cry (almost, but crying over broken earrings would be silly, right... right?).
Ok so here is a picture of my old, favorite earrings:Well, when I entered this contest, I had a pair in mind to make up for my favorite ones and boy did they make up!First, check out the packaging it came in!
And here they are!
And here they are on my ear...
and here they are on me!

(Please excuse the dirty dishes in the sink behind me!)

Yes, I think these earrings will do well making up for my broken favorite ones. Let's hope I have a reason to show them off soon... like a first day of school!

I recommend this etsy store! Very awesome! And they are having a sale right now so check them out!

TWO sneak peeks

2010-08-10T16:13:00.004-04:00

Two blog posts coming up... :)

Here's a hint on where I was this past weekend:

And before we left for a long weekend vacation, here's a hint at what I did last week:

Two blogs to come hopefully tonight!

And I picked my running back up today and it felt wonderful! My two week illness hiatus sucked and I am so glad to get back out there. I had to cut my run about a quarter mile short today beacuse of construction on my route, but it still felt wonderful and I can't wait to get out there again tomorrow!

And there is the motivation...

2010-08-04T21:57:00.003-04:00

I found the motivation I was worried about finding. It is in this quote:

Running is a statement to society. It is saying 'no' to always being on call, to sacrificing our daily runs for others' needs. When we run we are doing something for ourselves.

So when I start back running on Monday or Tuesday AM, I need to look at this quote because this is why I run and this will motivate me to get back on my butt.

I hope I don't lose motivation, and other fun stuff

2010-08-04T11:32:00.003-04:00

I was very sick last week, so I decided to take some time off for my health from running. I am antsy to get started again, but I am giving myself until Monday yet. I am going crazy. I want to run, but I'm also afraid that I will lose my motivation and forget that feeling after a run. I need to make sure that next week I start running again on Monday and keep it up!

In other news, I painted my bathroom! Pictures to come! It looks awesome! I am just nervous about one area that I didn't prime and whether or not the paint will stick or if I will have to go back and prime it (along the floor) and then repaint it. We will see. I am hoping I won't have to. It isn't finished yet. We still need a new blind for the window (I'm thinking bamboo), a new sink (have it picked out! Just waiting for the $$$), and new globes for in the wall sconces. But the paint, which was the main part, is D-O-N-E! I can't wait to unveil the bathroom to family who is coming tomorrow for a celebration...

what are we celebrating? I finish my master's! I am very proud, but it is bittersweet. I wish I could be excited, but without a job, and the master's preventing me from getting a job, it is hard to celebrate and be excited even though it is an accomplishment. So for one day, I will celebrate. And then I will go back to being a Nervous Nellie (or Anxious Abbie?) as the school year approaches and I am classroom-less.

VACATION 2010!

2010-07-23T22:45:00.071-04:00

If you make it through this whole post, kudos to you! You deserve a prize. Of course, in my opinion, your prize would be allowing yourself to look at these amazing pictures from our vacation.

On July 10th, 2010, Jeff and I flew out of Baltimore to Salt Lake City and rented a car. Let me add, we woke up at 2:30AM to fly out of Baltimore at 7AM. It was a 5 hour flight and we landed in SLC at 10AM their time, which was noon our time. Oh, wait, we LANDED at 9:30, but they didn't have our gate open so we sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes before being allowed off the place. Remember this... it will become the theme of our airplane adventures this trip.

From the SLC airport, we drove to the Great Salt Lake. It was neat, but we didn't walk down to it since we still had a 6 hour ride to get to West Yellowstone that day (and yes, that is after waking up at 2:30AM!).

But one thing that we really wanted to do when we landed in SLC was to drive to see the salt flats (which we could see from the plane). One of our favorite movies is "Word's Fastest Indian" with Anthony Hopkins (I recommend it!) was filmed here. It is MILES and MILES of salt. Super cool!

Ok, so we got to West Yellowstone at about 6:30pm MDT, which was 8:30pm our time. My parents were already their in their RV, where we would be staying. They had already been on a week of vacation and this was their second week, with us! We ate the wonderful dinner my dad had prepared for us and collapsed into bed at about 10:30MDT, which was 12:30EST. Yes, we were up for 20 hours, traveling for most of those hours and we were EXHAUSTED!

Sunday, July 11th- HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! :) What a wonderful way to spend my birthday: on vacation in YELLOWSTONE with my husband and my parents! It was a great birthday!

We had just barely entered the park when we came upon this amazing view:

It was in the first little bit of Yellowstone that we came upon Jeff's first bison sighting: (My parents and I had been in Yellowstone 16 years ago and I do remember the bison from the trip! I have a funny story about bison later on... stay tuned!).

These brave souls were flyfishing in the same area as the bison. It made for a great picture though!

This was Jeff's first hot spring. The water is boiling and you can smell the sulfur in the air (which smells like hard boiled eggs, or a resemblance of the Spring Grove Glatfelter Paper Mill, if you know what that smells like).

In the 1980's, Yellowstone had a horrific forest fire. Over 75% of the park was burned. I will add some details about the trees later, but one interesting note is that because it is so cold here, the trees do not break down so they remain in form, either standing or laying. It really made for beautiful pictures!

This is the Ojo Caliente Spring.

The water flowed into the river...

...and because it was so warm from the boiling water, plant life grew in the river. It was neat to see!
And sometimes, when you look off into the distance, you can see steam from other springs and geysers in the background.

We came across a boardwalk path that was very neat. It took us past this area, which was so neat. It was formed from an earthquake. The puddle looking thing in the front is boiling mud, and the steam you see coming from the back is VERY loud. It sounds like a machine. It was very neat!The colors were amazing, and it was so cool to see the depth of the pools on this little boardwalk trail.
This is called the "Fountain Paint Pots". It is boiling mud that holds its shape as it boils. In the winter, the boils hold their shape for a while.
We saw geysers, like this one, which is called "Jet Geyser". It jets out in 3 different places... can you spot the places?

Once back in the truck, we travel on and come across another bison, giving a beautiful picture!

And of course we had to stop at Old Faithful, which was so kind to go off EXACTLY at the time I was born, 1:27pm EST! So cool that it went off at that time! Old Faithful goes off every 90 minutes +/- 10 minutes and can shoot over 100 feet into the air!

We are graced with views with this as we take random pull offs for scenic views.
And when we get a full view of Yellowstone Lake, we are blessed with a view of snow capped mountains and a very dynamic sky.

There was a forest fire last year, 2009. While this picture is sad, it is beautiful. In a few years you will see trees growing amongst the dead trees.
This is called Dragon's Mouth and the water waves in and out, while steam is coming out. It looks like a Dragon's Mouth, hence the name.

Near Dragon's Mouth is Mud Volcano. Years ago, a hole started to spew mud, and now it leaves us with this mud volcano.

Toward the end of the day we came across Sulfur Cauldron. The pH level of Sulfur Cauldron (which had an INTENSE sulfur smell) was 1, which is 1 below battery acid, which has a pH of 0!

And this elk so nicely started to pee as I took the picture. :/

Day 2 started with an "animal jam", which is caused when lots of cars stop to view an animal. Usually it is just bison or elk, but when we saw what came wandering down the road we felt that waiting was worth it. It was a coyote!

We made a stop at a beautiful small creek so my mom could stick her feet in the ice cold water, which is usually snow runoff.
THEN we come across the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. It was simply breath taking and my pictures do not do it justice (nor do my pictures for the rest of Yellowstone or the trip).

When we stopped to view the Upper Falls in the canyon, an Elk was eating within 10 feet of the crowd. The park rangers did a wonderful job controlling everyone and making sure they stay away from the animals. It was amazing how many people thought that they were in a petting zoo and could just go and pet the animals. We had seen two elk eating on the side of the road and pulled over to take pictures and an RV pulled up in front of us. Out comes running 3 children, followed by their parents a few minutes later. We drove away before we saw what happened. These are DANGEROUS animals and people don't realize that. I just heard that a woman was attacked by a bison in Yellowstone, and it was probably because she was too close.

But once we pulled ourselves away from the elk, we saw this amazing view of the Upper Falls. We were later at the bring of the Upper Falls, which were so cool!

Not all of Yellowstone is stops to walk to view beauty. Beauty is all around, and this is just one example. This was just gorgeous and it was just along the drive that I snapped the picture.

The trees at Yellowstone are called Loggerhead Pines and they require fire for the seeds to germinate and start growing. The bare trunks were from the fire in the 1980's and the trees that are growing have all started to grow since then. It was very beautiful.

We were up close and personal with snowcapped mountains, including driving through them and being next to snow. It was so amazing.

And then we came across a black bear! My first ever bear sighting! And yes, I was very close, however I had a plan of what to do if the bear got angry (which may or may not have including pushing the guy in front of me over so I could run away... ok so I probably wouldn't have. But I didn't have to be the fastest, runner, I just didn't want to be the slowest! And I did have cars all around that I could have jumped in, including my dad's truck, which was right behind me. So I wasn't a stupid as it seems!).

The sky at Yellowstone was so incredibly dynamic.

My favorite part of Day 2 was seeing Mammoth Springs. The colors and views were so vibrant. Here are a few pictures, which really don't do it justice.

If you look close, you can see an endless pool effect. Remember this. I have pictures from the front (the waterfall section), which are neat!
The white is dead space, where water used to flow but no longer does. The orange is where water does flow and bacteria grows.
The bacteria that grows forms these amazing patterns in the water.
The front of the endless pool section.

So that was Yellowstone, the most amazing National Park I have ever been to. It was incredible and I am so glad I went. I can't wait to go back and spend more time there.

And the low for the country at night was at West Yellowstone, which made me happy to hear considering we were in 100+ degree weather when we left home.
We left Yellowstone (sadly) and headed to South Dakota (which was a very long, but scenic drive). This is a picture of my parents' pulling their RV. We followed them in our rental.
The next day we went to see Mt. Rushmore. It was so neat to learn about the history of this mountain. Did you know that the mountain was originally supposed to be sculpted to their waists, but that the sculptor (Gutzon Borgelum) died 17 years after starting the project, before the project was finished. George Washington is the only one that is the most finished.

After viewing Mt. Rushmore, we drove on the corkscrew highway, which got its name because of these bridges that you went under, and then around...
...and then drove on top of them. There were a bunch of them!
There were also a bunch of granite tunnels.
We then drove on Needles Highway, which got its name because of these spires of rock, which look like needles. Did you know that the person who came up with the idea of Mt. Rushmore originally wanted famous people to be carved into these needle rocks, but the rocks were too soft, so Mt. Rushmore was chosen because it is a hard rock.

We left Needles Highway to go see Crazy Horse before heading to Custer State Park. Crazy Horse is not finished. It is supposed to be a full sculpture of Crazy Horse riding his horse.
Once in Custer State Park, we drove looking for animals. We saw many antelope and pronghorn and then came across the burros! The burros were once used for tours, but many years ago they stopped doing the tours and let the burros free. These are the descendants, which are wild animals, but friendly (and rude!). They don't let cars go by unless you feed them!

It was also here that we came across Jeff's first bison herd! It was so neat to see! These bison were on a mission, heading somewhere!

16 years ago, when my family first traveled out here, we came across our first bison herd. My dad stupidly got out of the car to video tape them, and one bison became agitated and went after my dad, causing my dad to jump into the van through my door and push me out of my seat so that he could close the door and stay safe. We were wondering if this could be the bison that did that.... (probably not though. They thin the herd depending on the availability of grass to feed them). That trip 16 years ago was also the trip that my dad was chased down the road by a mother moose after he got out of the car to get pictures while we were taking a bathroom break in the camper (and after the chase I'm sure my dad needed a bathroom break!). He decided to stay in the car when he saw the rattle snake that was hit by a car and very angry!

That night we went for dinner at the Circle B Ranch, which serves a chuckwagon dinner. We went here 16 years ago when I was a child too. It was fun to return and see what I remember.
After dinner there was entertainment of old country songs by a father and his two sons.
And then Jeff put me in jail... haha!
The next morning for breakfast we went to the campground's $3 all you can eat pancake breakfast! YUMMY!
We then headed to see the Badlands National Park, which was just incredible. This was one of Jeff's favorite parts (as was Yellowstone, particularly the 2nd day).

These badlands were caused by a volcano and then wind erosion. It was incredible to see the colors!

Just imagine you were a pioneer coming across the prairie in your wagon and all of the sudden you go over a hill and see this:

After the badlands we went to Wall Drug, which was a drugstore started in the 1930's by a couple who offered free icewater to travelers and advertised with signs all over the interstate. Because of that free ice water and 5 cent coffee, the place boomed to a huge tourist trap that it is today. We went when I was a kid and I got a cowboy hat, haha. This time we got a super cool fruit bowl made in South Dakota and our traditional Christmas ornament (on our honeymoon we started a tradition of buying an ornament on every big vacation we go on).

We then said goodbye to my parents and headed east to cut out some of the 10 hour trip to Minneapolis. We drove for 5 hours (well 6, if you count that we were already an hour away from the campground) and then stopped in a hotel for the night. We got up and headed north to Minneapolis to visit Gina and Sam! Gina and I went to high school together and became friends around the time we were planning our weddings. It was so nice to visit good friends and we can't wait to go visit them again!

On Saturday, July 17th we headed home... or at least TRIED. This picture was a joking picture, but little did we know how well the picture foreshadowed the evening/night we were about to endure.
We got to the airport at 2:00 for our 4:00 flight. We got on the airplane (with gray skies looming) and taxied away from the gate. And then we sat. (This is the time I should add that we had a connection to catch in Philadelphia to head to Baltimore where Jeff's mom would pick us up. We had an hour between when we were supposed to land and when our connection took off.) The pilot came on the speaker and announced that there was a problem with the plane and we would have to go back to the gate, but that because we were now in the midst of a severe thunderstorm (which would later bring tornadoes after we finally left!) we weren't allowed to go back to the gate, so there we sat. He decided to restart the plane (um???) while we were there and apparently it was OK to take off so after 30 minutes of sitting on the tarmac we were cleared to takeoff... during a severe thunderstorm with horrible lightening. It was not a fun takeoff for me (especially knowing the plane had issues before takeoff!!!) and the first hour of the flight we had not-so-fun turbulence. The kind where my stomach was everywhere and I was glad I hadn't yet eaten because my food would have probably ended up on my lap. But the clouds made for beautiful pictures!
The flight attendant assured us that they build extra time into the flight so we would land on time and we would make our connection. Famous last words. We landed only 10 minutes late, with enough time to make our connection... or so we thought.
Apparently there was a plane at the gate we had to go into, so we again had to sit on the tarmac waiting for planes to leave. What we didn't understand was WHY our gate wasn't open when they KNEW we were landing at that time. This was the second time this trip this had happened (remember, when we flew out it happened too!) and this time it affected us. We were sitting on the plane, with the most annoying and rude family in the world disturbing everyone, waiting and praying we'd make our flight. Well we finally got to the gate, 5 minutes before our flight had to take off and as we were getting off there was an announcement that anyone going on that flight, and a few others, had to see the gate attendant because our flights had left. Fun. So we went to the gate attendant and they had us booked for a flight the NEXT day, which wasn't going to work for us because Jeff had to return to work the next night and he would have had to call off because he wouldn't have been able to sleep. Well they did find a flight that took off that night and landed at another nearby airport, which we happily took, along with food vouchers to have dinner that night. Not five minutes later do I get an email to my phone saying that the new flight had been canceled and we had been rebooked to a flight the next day. Oh dear. There was no other flights that night and nothing the airline could do for us. Luckily, my aunt and uncle live 1 1/2 hours away and were more than willing to drive and pick us up and take us to Jeff's mom, who would take us the rest of the way home. WAHOO! So we got home at 2:30AM, but we got home. What a mess. And I won't fly US Airways again. The whole experience was terrible, but as my dad says "sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you". This time the bear got us, but we made memories (as my mom's friend reminded us).

It was an amazing, and eventful vacation! If you made it this far you deserve a reward (but don't you feel like those pictures were rewarding enough?!?!). We can't wait to go back to Yellowstone and I would love to move to Montana. It was so awe inspiring out there, and even Minneapolis was wonderful (I'm not a city person, but this was a great city!). What a wonderful trip. I am blessed to be able to take a trip that wonderful.

2 Miles and counting!

2010-07-23T22:33:00.002-04:00

So I did it! I ran 2 miles without stopping for the first time a few weeks ago and IT.FELT.WONDERFUL! (And torturous during!) What a motivator in and of itself to continue and see how far I get. I have never been able to run even a mile without walking, but I am now running 2 miles!

So the other day I ran a two mile run with a new route and it was WONDERFUL. I felt like I could go longer (and now wish I would have!). My goal for my next run was to go longer. Well that next run was today, and that wasn't happening. It is so hot and humid out and I tried to beat the heat by running in the morning, and THAT didn't happen. It was so hot and humid while I was running. It was almost torturous and it was really hard to actually finish 2 miles, but I did it. Now I will have to run 2 miles every time. No excuse stopping! I've done it 3 times already! And who knows, maybe I'll be at 3 soon! My goal is to add another mile soon!

I am about to sign up for my first 5K ever! I am so excited! Updates on that to come soon!

And Jeff and I have been biking together, although I am taking a graduate class right now (my last! As of next Thursday I will be finished and have my Master's!) so it makes it hard to fit any exercise time in my schedule.

I am starting to wonder where I will run when I am able to go above 3 miles. Since I am adding that third mile soon, I will pretty much have run my entire neighborhood and it will be hard to expand unless I start lapping around, and I really don't want to do that in order to keep my mind fresh. The roads outside of my neighborhood are very busy and I wouldn't run on them. I will have to figure something out. I would hate to drive somewhere just to run because that takes some motivation out, but I may need to do that. I don't know. I will figure something out I guess. I am really looking forward to moving to the country someday!

Sorry this blog is so rambly! BUT get ready for my next post because it will be about my VACATION!

Not a Whole Lot New

2010-07-05T10:37:00.002-04:00

My life is a continuous cycle of running, job hunting, and waiting. Once in a while I'll have some excitement with an interview, but after that it is more waiting before I find out that I didn't get the job (because of course that is how the cycle continues). I am so disappointed and trying not to lose hope right now, but I am so scared that I won't get a job come the new school year. I really want to teach, and to provide for my family as well because once my school loans start back up, I will have to take any job. Will they even hire someone with a master's to work retail?? I don't know and I really don't want to find out! I hate that having further education is looked down on in education right now. I was offered a job with a district and then called a few days later and told the superintendent didn't want to pay me because I was too expensive because of my master's. I am praying that someone will see through that.

Running has become my stress reliever. When I am really upset I crave a run. Of course, it is most usually when I am not home to run. But when I am, I go. It is relaxing to me. I really would like to start running other places, not just my neighborhood, but I live near the city and it is not a place I want to run. So to run anywhere new, I would have to go somewhere else. I posted pictures of the rail trail from a few weeks ago and I think I would love to go run that if I can find someone to run it with me. I won't run it alone for fear of my safety. It isn't that it is a dangerous place... but it is remote and you just never know. I am tempted to head to the gym and run on the treadmill to see what distance I can go when I am on the same surface, etc. It is much easier to run on the treadmill, although I hate it because I get so bored.

I have tried to be positive. It is difficult sometimes. But I do have a wonderful husband, family, friends, a roof over my head, adorable dogs, and when all else fails... I'll head for a run (that is if I am home).

Kayaking adventures...

2010-06-13T22:19:00.002-04:00

Jeff and I went kayaking yesterday with my aunt, her partner, my uncle, my two cousins and my mom. This was my mom's first time out. Since we planned the trip out my mom has been so concerned about tipping or getting really wet and I was very adamant that we weren't going white water kayaking and that unless she gets some spray from her kayak paddle or falls in, she won't get wet. I told her that all the times I've been out I've never gotten more than a sprinkle on me and other than my feet when getting in and out of my kayak, none of the rest of my body has gotten wet. (can you see where this is going?)

Well we went to a big lake and the lake had a creek running into it so we decided to paddle up the creek. To get to the creek we had to go into a shallow area and we all got stuck. Vicki had to get out of her kayak to pull us all to deeper water just over the shallow area.

(The picture above is her pulling my mom into deeper water. Too funny!)

There was a downed tree and some of us went under the tree to the other side to ride a few SMALL rapids (really, I don't know if my kayak moved any faster than the current was moving outside of the rapids when I went over them). My mom stayed behind with my aunt to wait and float and just relax and enjoy. We came back through and I got stuck in the tree.

I was able to break one of the branches to get out of being stuck. Then it was Jeff's turn and this is what happened to him:

In he went! (This was after, when he moved to shallower water and my cousin and aunt came to help him pump out a minute later).

So they finally get him pumped out and back in and not 30 seconds later does the current take me and I couldn't paddle out. I went into a HUGE sticker bush along the shore and... you guessed it! I rolled in too!

That picture is everyone trying to help get me pumped out. They eventually just lifted my kayak up and dumped it because there was so much water in it, haha. Then I had to try to get back in, but the water was higher here and I'm shorter than DH so it was hard. They were afraid I would fall back in! But I made it! Jeff didn't get hurt but I got a NASTY cut on my right hand and a very mean bruise on my right knee and cuts up and down my right leg (which was the way I rolled, so it makes sense). I'll spare you those pictures!

I think it is hilarious that I was adamant that my mom wouldn't get wet. She didn't, but WE did! HAHA!

Then we had to race a storm back to shore that started to come. I am SO thankful I left my BlackBerry in my car and that my camera was in a plastic bag that floated. Unfortunately, my waterbottle is resting with the fishies. :(

Seriously this was the most eventful kayaking trip I've EVER been on!

When it rains....

2010-06-09T14:37:00.003-04:00

run in the rain! (And you thought I was going to say "it pours!"!) I just had the best run of my life and had I not run in the rain, I wouldn't have had this run. So on a nice rainy day (not a hurricane! just a nice rain), don't run on a boring treadmill... hit the roads and run in the rain! It is rejuvenating!

(PS I'm not responsible if you get sick or hurt running in the rain. Use your best judgment! Just don't let the wet discourage you from running outside.)

Condition

2010-06-07T19:48:00.002-04:00

I think when you work out, it is important that you don't get bored or tired. If you get bored with your workout, you are less likely to look forward to working out and your motivation will drop. I love running, but even running can get boring if you run the same route every day, or if you do it all of the time and don't do anything else with it.

Near our house is a trail that goes along old railroad tracks. It is beautiful and a wonderful walk. Jeff and I walked with the dogs twice. Once south, through a train tunnel built in the 1800's and once north. Both times we did about 4-4 1/2 miles walking and it was very enjoyable!

Today though, we biked it! I had a run this morning that was about 2 1/2 miles and then this afternoon we stuffed our bikes into the car and headed over. We biked about 6 1/2 miles total and it was wonderful! It wasn't has hard of a workout as I get when I run because it is fairly level, but it was so neat to bike it. We really enjoy doing this together and it was a great way to condition. It was a great way to do an exercise without getting bored of my normal routine.

Now if I can only find someone to run it with me...

Fun! And some not so fun news...

2010-06-07T10:26:00.002-04:00

Ok, I'll start out with the fun news first... there is a blog (click here to go to The Bragging Mommy giveaway)giving away a really cool teacher tool and I want it! So I will shamelessly post about it on here for 2 more entries because I think this is a really cool math teaching tool! I struggled in math growing up, so as I teacher I want to make sure I am reaching all of my students in math, not just the ones who understand the concepts right away, and this tool, called the Zillio math mountain, will help with this! Check it out! It will make you want one, even just for your kids at home!

On not so fun news... many of you know I am looking for a job. I had an interview with a school I used to work in waayy back when I started in education, when I was working in the special ed field as a paraeducator. Well, I was called this past Tuesday and told I was being recommended to teach 1st grade (perfect huh? Since I just finished teaching 1st grade and LOVED it!). The offer would come from the superintendent and we were just waiting on a meeting date with him. I was told he rarely turns down a recommendation, so the job was all but mine. I got a call Thursday, and I was expecting it to be the meeting time. Instead... it was the principal telling me she had bad news. He turned down the recommendation because he didn't want to pay me as much as I would have to be paid because of having a post-bacc certification (you go in at a higher rate than someone with a bachelor's). I offered to go in at a lower rate or not finish my master's and it didn't make a difference. He didn't want to pay me so much (and I'm sure there were union issues with going in at a lower rate). So I lost my dream job. Everyone says that just means there is an even better job out there for me. I just hope they are right because I don't want to sub the rest of my life. I want my own classroom and I want to teach. I told my principal, it isn't about the money to me... I want to teach.

So please keep me in your prayers that a job will open for me before the 2010-2011 school year!

Thank You

2010-05-31T11:30:00.003-04:00

No matter your political views, today is the day to stop and THANK everyone who has served and is serving in our armed forces because without the ones who served, our country wouldn't be free. Without the ones who are serving, we wouldn't be able to choose how our life is lived today. So THANK YOU to everyone serving!

Every Damn Day... Just Do It!

2010-05-12T20:25:00.002-04:00

'Scuse the "french". I saw a tshirt that I want. It says "Every Damn Day. Just Do It". It is obviously a Nike tshirt... not my favorite product, but I really love the message of the shirt! Never give up and do it every day. Just do it. Don't complain. Just DO it!

I've been having a tough couple of weeks with running. I actually started to run outdoors, which I love much more than running on a treadmill. I get so bored on a treadmill. I concentrate on the sounds around me and on the time, rather than on getting into a good rhythm. The last time I ran on a treadmill I had three people talking very loud next to me and it was very frustrating. When I run, I run to exercise, not to talk. They say that if you can talk while you are exercising then you aren't working hard enough. Apparently the talkers didn't get that memo. I had just completed Week 4 Day 3 of the C25K after that run, and I was feeling very frustrated and discouraged. It wasn't a great workout.

The weekend after that run was GORGEOUS outside so I decided to give running outside a try. It wasn't so bad. I was originally only going to run 4 streets of my neighborhood (about a mile), but I pushed myself (well, I locked myself out of the house and had nothing else to do except weed the garden while I waited for Jeff to wake up, so I decided to finish the rest of the neighborhood, which was another mile and a half). I did it! It wasn't the C25K protocol, but I decided that as long as I am out running then I have nothing to be upset about. My neighborhood is set up so that it would be a pretty easy progression to keep pushing myself, which is what the C25K does. There are 7 streets that are parallel to each other and they are each about .25 miles long. I run a street, then walk to the next one (1 block), and then run that street. But TODAY I ran two streets together without walking in between, which is over .5 miles!!! I am so happy! I am up to 2.5 miles total, running and walking. My 5k is June 26th and I hope that I will be up to it by that point, but I will still complete it!

The C25K program was designed to make people runners and to reach their goal. I didn't give up on it, but I found something that, when I am running my neighborhood, works a lot better, however when I do run inside I will continue the C25K program. I am actually tempted to see how well I do on the treadmill because it is easier to run on the treadmill, although surprisingly my knees hold up A LOT better outside.

But back to the rough couple of weeks... I started to run with a friend which threw off my routine. Then I got sick, so I took some time off. I am back and VERY glad to be back! I had a GREAT run today, which I thought would be a bad run because I hadn't really run, save for a mile on Sunday, since last Tuesday. Now I am super excited to run tomorrow!

So even if you are tired, weary, or unmotivated... just do it. Every. Damn. Day.

(Sorry for the lack of organization in this post! My mind is not with me today. I'm pretty stressed about a few things, but my run took that stress off a little bit!)

Awesome Running Program

2010-04-30T20:50:00.003-04:00

Check out this website! You can zoom to where you run and map your run to see how long the distance was. I did it today and found out that I actually had a longer run/walk than I usually do. It was about 2.28 miles. I have been running about 2.06 miles. WAHOO!

The next post I have will be 200 posts! I am trying to think of something awesome for that post. We'll see.

How to be a Friend to someone with Infertility

2010-04-30T16:45:00.002-04:00

I posted this post last June, but because it is National Infertility Awareness Week, I decided to do a repost, and maybe edit it a little bit. Here is an edited version of the post I posted in June 2009:

Since it has been over a year and a half (edit: It has been 2 1/2 years now) since we've been trying we've gotten a TON of comments about when we are going to have kids, what we need to do to have them, etc. I am going to cover this topic today because it is a VERY important topic. These are things that should never be said to anyone, let alone someone dealing with infertility! In most of these cases, the people knew we were dealing with infertility when we were told this. I feel if I cover this topic it will help people understand how much their well meaning comments actually do hurt. I will also suggest a few good things to say to someone dealing with infertility and miscarriage.

1. "When are you going to get pregnant?" or "When are you having kids?"

This question is a hard question to hear. In my honest opinion it is also an extremely rude question to ask. It is right up there with "when are you going to lose weight?". I know that those asking this question mean well, but it can be a VERY difficult question to take, especially when it is asked to someone who is going through infertility or suffering from a miscarriage (or both). Most of the time the asker does not know what the person is going through, which is why it is such a difficult question. How are we supposed to answer it? Sometimes I really do feel like asking a rude question back, but I'm not rude. I just force myself to smile and say something like "we are trying", or "when we want to" or if I want to be a little cunning I will say something like "9 months after I conceive". But inside my heart is ripping apart because I am wondering the same question myself.

2. "Just relax and it will happen."

Seriously, it is beyond relaxing at this point. My body does not work correctly. Relaxing will not help me get pregnant. It may help me to relax when I am going through the treatments because, let's face it, stress really is not a help at all, however at this point not relaxing is not why I haven't gotten pregnant. This response makes anyone dealing with infertility want to SCREAM. We have to suffer through countless uncomfortable tests and heartbreak and embarrassment along the way. Relaxing at this point is MINOR.

3. This one is a doozy. I was told by someone who meant well that I was not getting pregnant because I was not being faithful to God.

How heartbreaking to hear this. This person was a family member to, and someone I did not expect to hear it from. It broke my heart to hear this and it makes me cry to this day. I had just finished telling the person about our infertility. I now feel like I can no longer tell this person about anything else. I do not believe that God punishes anyone this way. If so, then are the teens getting pregnant more faithful than me? Or are the prostitutes or druggies more faithful than me? I believe that we go through things to prepare us for something in the future and that I am chosen for this journey to prepare myself for something in the future. Perhaps it is so I appreciate the children I have even more than I would have if this would have been easy for me. I do not know, but I know that God would not punish me by making me infertile.

4. Told to me after I suffered my miscarriage: "At least you know you can get pregnant".

This does not help someone suffering the loss of their child. My miscarriage was very early. I had already miscarried before I found out I was even pregnant. It does not put my mind at easy. I still think "what if my body can not stay pregnant?" and "why did that baby die?".

5. "You can always adopt."

This is said as if adoption is an easy alternative. Adoption is not easy. There is a long process you have to go through, not to mention a lot of money. Also, choosing to adopt means that you first need to go through a grieving process knowing that you may never have your own biological child. It also implies that the adoption is a replacement for biological children. I don't see it as a replacement. I see it as an addition to your family. Often times this comment is also followed by "I know someone who has adopted and they got pregnant as soon as they started the process". Adoption is not a miracle for infertility. Those people were blessed, but that does not mean that it will happen for everyone, and at that point the couple who are adopting have already chosen to start their family in a new way, so that pregnancy was a surprise.

6. "Now that I know about your infertility, you won't be able to surprise me with your pregnancy".

I refuse to allow this to be taken from me. I will be telling everyone in a special way when I am finally blessed with the miracle of pregnancy. I will not just be able to tell them because it is no longer a surprise. It will still be a surprise and it will be a happy moment and I will tell them in a fun way. I can not give this part up. It is important to me. I have dreamt about this from the time I was little and I can not wait to tell everyone in a special way.

What to say to someone who is going through infertility:

Just tell them you will be praying for them, or thinking of them. If you are closer with them, ask them how their procedures are going.

What to say to someone who went through a miscarriage:

Just say "I'm sorry" and/or "I will pray for you". There is nothing more you really can say to make someone feel better. You can let them know you are thinking of them by sending them a card or something.

Added: Please also do not make the person feel bad if they decide that they can't come to your baby shower, child's 4th birthday party, or even to your house because you have babies. They may be having a difficult day dealing with infertility and being around children or pregnant women is very hard. It isn't that we are angry with you for being pregnant. It is that people going through infertility often have difficult times with things like this because they don't know if it will ever happen for them. They are not trying to be mean or spite you. I had a friend tell me that I treat her differently now that she had her "oops" baby.

Infertility and miscarriage are difficult subjects for people to talk about, even more difficult for those who are walking the path, and it just adds to the difficulty to hear the above comments, and others that I did not mention.

Running Outside 101

2010-04-30T16:37:00.002-04:00

Oh man. I did my first outdoor run today. Let me tell you... it was NOT easy! But I DID IT. I am guessing it was about 2 miles total up and down all of the roads of my neighborhood, but I could be wrong. I need to measure to find out, but that is what I am thinking it was. Well first of all, dog owners... pick up your dog poop! I stepped in dog poop today that was on the edge of the sidewalk! I run with my eyes up, so I don't always see what I'm stepping on, and I stepped on a big pile. I wasn't a happy camper. And a lesson, among many, learned: make sure you either bring a key with you or hide a key outside if you are running near your house. I, being the smart one that I am, decided that I would leave the back door unlocked so that I could get in because Jeff was sleeping. Well, out of habit, when I closed it I locked it, not even THINKING of what I was doing, and then went on my merry way, only to come home and find the door locked. Yipee! So I had to wait for Jeff to wake up and let me in, haha.

Running outside IS harder than on a treadmill, but I think that running on an incline when I do run on a treadmill really has helped me because it wasn't as hard as I was expecting it to be. I am glad I had the treadmill to start though, and I will continue to run on it. It really has helped me with a pace. I actually had a pace outside, which I never do! I supplemented my run today. It wasn't a C25K run, it was an adapted run for what I thought I could survive running in my neighborhood and it was tough, but I did it. :) And I loved running with something to look at other than a timeclock! It was wonderful!

So give outside running a try! You never know what you are capable of until you try!

Just a Video, but a great message

2010-04-26T22:27:00.001-04:00

This is all I am posting today. Just a video... but a great message. Watch with tissues.

Tears and Hope

National Infertility Awareness Week

2010-04-25T12:32:00.003-04:00

Yesterday kicked of National Infertility Awareness week.

Did you know that more people suffer from this horrible disability than is known. Right now approximately 10% of the population deal with some sort of trouble conceiving.

Infertility is defined as not conceiving after a year or more of trying, and needing to seek medical help in order to conceive.

Infertility is considered taboo. Not many people talk about it, which is why I am talking about it. Infertility is not covered by many insurances. Treatments can run up to $15K-$20K a CYCLE, depending on the treatment. Many insurances cover abortion, but not infertility treatments. Infertility is a disability, and along with it comes the emotional pain. It is nothing to be ashamed of, yet many people are ashamed, and many are afraid to take the step to seek help!

Please take a moment to think about the many people out there suffering, often silently, with infertility. This week, many of my posts will have to do with infertility, including what not to say to someone who is infertile, and how to support them. I hope you tune in!

Smile :)

2010-04-25T12:08:00.002-04:00

There is a smile on my face. I just completed week 4 day 1 of the Couch to 5K program, and I am hearing week 4 is the hardest, but I can do it!!! If I can get through week 4 and 5, I can do this whole thing! I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...

I was thinking to myself earlier that a little suffering now, which will lead into finding a hobby is a lot better than suffering from health problems and being overweight for the rest of my life. It is so worth it to me to do this! If not now, then when???

I also wanted to touch on music. To me, music is so important to my run. It really helps me get into a good rhythm, which I didn't have when I first started. I looked like a bumbling fool, I'm sure! One of my favorite groups to run to is Enter the Haggis. They are an awesome, very upbeat celtic rock band. They are so fantastic and they rarely have a slow song. The drummer always has a great rhythm to the song, and their music is easy to get lost on while you run. It is wonderful. But everyone is different. You have to find your music, the music that will help you. Some people don't run with music, but I need to. If I don't, I don't have anywhere for my mind to go except to my running and then I psych myself out. Music has always been what got me through tough times, so I wouldn't have it any other way than to have music go with me on this journey.

Who do you like to listen to?

Goals

2010-04-22T20:54:00.002-04:00

Goals are essential for a full life and I will prove it. :)

In every sport there is goals (in some sports the ways to earn points are even by scoring goals ie soccer, hockey, and kicking a football through a goal post!). In every activity you do you have a goal in mind. For working, your goal may be to earn money, to become the first woman CEO of your company, to move up in the ladder, to expand your business, etc. Whatever it is you aren't just working to work. You have a reason for working. When you are playing an instrument, you aren't just playing it to play it. You play it to get better, to enjoy your music, to possibly perform. You set a goal that you work towards, otherwise you have no reason to play it. When you go to school your goal is to earn the best grade, to complete the program, to get somewhere further than where you are.

Goals are important. It is important to set them for working out as well. I was talking today with Jeff about my workouts now compared to my workouts before I started running. I had goals before I started running, but those goals weren't as important. Well, not that they weren't important (after all losing weight is an important goal to have if you need to lose it!), its just that they weren't tangible. Yes, I could lose weight, but I didn't have a timeline. I didn't have a real reason to lose the weight. NOW my workouts are different. When I run I'm not just running to lose weight. I'm running because I know that if I don't I will suffer greatly during the 5K on June 26th that I am running. I know that I will let the team I am running with down if they prepare for it and I don't. And I know that I will be angry with myself, and you are hardest on yourself, so you better believe I would have a hard time forgiving myself.

But I don't run with just that goal in mind. I set other goals. I set small goals, which are important if I want to keep succeeding. I set a goal of completing that workout that day. And then my goal is to complete the week. This week I had a tough time with a run and I held on to the treadmill for a minute. For my next workout my goal was to do the whole workout without holding on. And I completed it. And it felt amazing. That runner's high that everyone talks about? It is because runners are constantly setting goals. When I was on the eliptical I didn't have goals like I did. Sure, I kept expanding my time and seeing how long my endurance could go, but it didn't matter to me like this does.

Setting goals is essential for life. Without them you won't push yourself further than you know you are capable. Set reachable goals. If you can't reach them, what is the point in setting them? You won't feel that excitement of completing one goal and being able to set a new, higher goal for yourself!

So what are your goals?

A link to an awesome giveaway

2010-04-22T20:49:00.002-04:00

There is a blog I follow that I love. It is a girl who went through a horrible tragedy and found a miracle in it. She now has a beautiful son, who her and her husband adopted. I love reading her blog because of her positive attitude after losing her first son before birth and going through a kidney transplant, two things that could send someone spiraling into depression. I am sure she has difficult days, but she is such a positive girl and I encourage you to check her blog out!

She is also doing a giveaway right now for a beautiful pin. I have to admit that I have selfish reasons for posting this... because it is part of the requirements to be entered in the blog, but the pin is so adorable, AND if I blog about it I could get you to read her blog and look towards a positive attitude, something I've been blogging about lately! So go check out her blog, and even the giveaway while you are at it!

Week 2 down!

2010-04-18T12:38:00.002-04:00

I completed Week 2 of the Couch to 5K Running Plan today and it feels great! Running is little by little getting easier for me. I am very excited to be heading into Week 3! Because I have a grad class on Mondays and Wednesdays, those are my off days, so the 1st day of Week 3 will be on Tuesday after work.

AND I am so excited to say that my first 5K will be on June 26th! A friend of mine runs in this one every year and has invited me to run with her. We want to get a team of 5 people to run together. I have two that would like to do it with me, so we need one more. It will be so exciting to have so much moral support as I am running in my first (hopefully of many!) race! I want to find one in July to run as well to keep it up, because I am going to also run one in September with my dad and my uncle. I have wanted my dad to get healthy with me so it will be exciting to run one with him! He is an avid golfer, along with me, and used to run quite a bit every day but as he got older, and as his ankles got weaker from multiple sprains, he has stopped running. I sent him the program I am doing as well and can't wait to hear his progress. Jeff and I are going on vacation with my parents this summer and I look forward to hopefully running with him then.

Off to the store right now! Have a wonderful, and hopefully active day!

Motivation

2010-04-13T20:34:00.003-04:00

Motivation is difficult. Sometimes you have it and it is overflowing from your barrel, and sometimes you are scraping the bottom of the barrel to find the very last drop. It is hard to stay motivated for something that seems so distant. In those times, the times you are scraping the bottom of the barrel and wondering if you can even take one more step in your run or lift one more weight, those are the times you draw your motivation from those around you. That is why people have workout partners. That is why there are motivational speakers. That is why the news stations do feel good stories about someone who has achieve something. And so today I bring you a feel good story. Actually, they are feel good storIES, as in more than one. These are submissions from the people running the Boston Marathon and why THEY run. Check it out!

http://www.boston.com/newsprojects/whyirun/#/story-715

Why do YOU run? (or workout, or whatever you do to get/stay in shape)

Negativity Breeds Negativity

2010-04-11T12:47:00.004-04:00

I saw a bumper sticker on a car when I was leaving the gym yesterday that said B+. I thought to myself: "That is weird. Why would they have their blood type on a bumper sticker?" and then I put two and two together... B+ = BE POSITIVE! Oh how right they are too!

There is the age old saying "do you see the cup half empty or half full?". This week I was teaching my first graders about halves and wholes and one of the examples was a cup that was half full with a question: "is a cup that is half full equal to a cup that is half empty" and almost all of them said that the cup that was half full was MORE than the cup that was half empty. They were wrong in real life of course, but figuratively speaking I think they were right. I mean, think about it. If you see your cup as half full, your life is fuller. You are a more positive person. You see things for what you hope they become. If you see the cup as half empty, you aren't reaching for what you want your life to become. You are sitting there in your "woe is me" world, hoping that someone gives you a break on something. Well, here's the thing: You have to make your OWN breaks in life, not sit around waiting for someone to hand you something because they feel sorry for you! (Of course this isn't saying that every single person in the world who see's the cup half empty is a negative person, or sees the cup half full is a positive person.)

You make your own life. I know someone who is a chronic downer. Every single facebook post I see of hers is negative. Every time I am around her she whines and complains about how hard her life is. I don't know how she LIVES with herself! But the thing is, she isn't living. She is sitting around waiting for someone to hand her something. For someone to MOTIVATE her! But you know what? No one will. No one will motivate her enough for her life to change. No one will say "I feel sorry for you, here is $1000 to cheer you up because you complained about money to me." Sorry. Life doesn't work that way. YOU have to go out and make YOUR life positive. No one can ever motivate you enough to change your life.

I realized that on my own. I was sitting around waiting to get motivated. I would go to the gym, but not regularly enough. I would see things that need to be done and think "I'll get to them, but not now. I'm not motivated.". Well, that isn't cutting it ANYMORE. Guess what: motivation and a positive attitude doesn't just knock on the door. doesn't knock on the door. I am now pushing my butt because I HAVE TO! NO ONE is going to do it for me. I have to much working against me with my family genetics to let myself fail because I didn't push myself hard enough when I was young enough to work it into my routine. Yes, others can motivate me. Yes, I may be able to motivate YOU, but in the end it is the individual person who needs to motivate themselves to get moving on changing their life. No, it won't always be easy, but I have to do it. I have to do it for myself. I have to do it for my husband. I have to do it for my future children.

So how do you see your cup? Half empty or half full? I know how I see mine... B +

Week 1 Day 1 of Couch-to-5K down!

2010-04-10T10:43:00.003-04:00

I decided to start a program to help me achieve my goal of running a 5K. I am not a runner right now, but I wouldn't mind being one! I've heard great reviews of the Couch-to-5K program and decided to start it! I did my first workout yesterday and it was GREAT (although I realized I tweaked it a little... OOPS! It is hard to remember some details after teaching 21 1st graders all day long!). Today won't be tweaked though, haha.

I also went to the gym after work yesterday for the very first time and it felt great (although a little crowded... hm, may have to do an outdoor run on Fridays). I am so proud for doing that! I know that I need to take my clothes to work and change there or else I won't go. I tried to go Thursday but I got home to change and Jeff was awake and the dogs were wagging their tails and it killed me that I would have had to leave, so I just stayed home. BUT I went on Friday and I am proud of myself. Unfortunately, because I have grad classes Monday and Wednesday for another month, I won't be able to go on those days

Anyway... I encourage you to check out the Couch-to-5k program! Follow me as I do it! Do it with me! Whatever you choose, but I hope it gets you thinking about fitness. OH and this is cool (although I don't have an Ipod :( )... if you have an Ipod you can download a podcast and it will work you through the workout. It will tell you when to run and when to walk and it is set to music, so you will have music to listen to. I think that is pretty awesome!

Ok I am off to the gym and I hope you are off to check out that website! By the way... if you are doing it, drop me a comment and let me know! I would love to know who is going to do this with me!

The "I Want to Live" Campaign!

2010-04-05T21:42:00.006-04:00

I was working out in the gym today and thinking about all of the different things I would blog about now that I have added health to my blog and then the song "I Want to Live" by Josh Gracin came on my MP3 player. If you don't know it, here is the video (and I'll post the lyrics at the bottom of the post):

It is so perfect for my situation right now. I am so tired of just sitting around, waiting for things to happen and waiting for life to pass me by. I want to get off my ass and actually make life HAPPEN. As Josh Gracin sings, "I want to take every breath I can get"! So this is now called my "I Want to Live" Campaign! Because I WANT TO LIVE! I want to enjoy life. I want to make the most out of what I can. I don't want to cut it short by living unhealthily and just sitting around watching TV. I can't promise I will always be positive and I CAN promise that it won't always be easy or that I won't always be this motivated. But then I will read these first few posts and I will make a list of WHY I want to live and hopefully that will keep driving me!

And I'm not letting this stop at fitness and eating healthier. I want to devote myself more to my husband and family. I want to walk in fund-raising walks to earn money for good causes and get healthy at the same time! I want to throw myself into my students and make sure that they have an energetic, enthusiastic teacher. I want to be a better friend. And I don't want to be a "Negative Nellie". I really want to keep this up and I really need you to hold me accountable! That doesn't meant hat I can't have a post once in a while that is down about what I am going through, because life is hard. But every single post won't be hard anymore.

I want to LIVE!

And to think I almost changed the MP3 player when the song came on.

Here are the lyrics:

Sometimes I feel like I need to shake myself, to wake myself:
I feel like I'm just sleep walkin' through my life.
It's like I'm swimmin' in an ocean of emotion,
But still, somehow, slowly goin' numb inside.
I don't like who I'm becomin', I know I've gotta do somethin',
Before my life passes right by.

I want to cry like the rain, cry like the rain,
Shine like the sun on a beautiful mornin'.
Sing to the heavens like a church bell ringin',
Fight with the devil an' go down swingin'.
Fly like a bird, roll like a stone,
Love like I ain't afraid to be alone.
Take everything that this world has to give,
I wanna live.

Sometimes I wonder why I work so hard to guard my heart.
Well, I hardly feel anything at all.
I've spent my whole life buildin' up this ivory tower.
And now that I'm in it, I keep wishin' it would fall.
So I can feel the ground beneath me, really taste this air I'm breathin',
And know that I'm alive.

I want to cry like the rain, cry like the rain,
Shine like the sun on a beautiful mornin'.
Sing to the heavens like a church bell ringin',
Fight with the devil an' go down swingin'.
Fly like a bird, roll like a stone,
Love like I ain't afraid to be alone.
Take everything that this world has to give,
I wanna live,
I wanna live.

Somethin' deep inside keeps sayin life is like a vapor,
It's gone in just the twinklin' of an eye.

I want to cry like the rain, cry like the rain,
Shine like the sun on a beautiful mornin'.
Sing to the heavens like a church bell ringin',
Fight with the devil an' go down swingin'.
Fly like a bird, roll like a stone,
Love like I ain't afraid to be alone.
Take everything that this world has to give.
I wanna take every breath I can get,
I wanna live.

The gym

2010-04-04T22:47:00.002-04:00

I went to the gym today. My second day (in almost a row... it wasn't open when I was able to go yesterday) after becoming determined. I felt so great walking out, knowing that even though I didn't want to go I still went.

I did everything I wanted to do, which means I didn't lose as much as I thought I lost from a few months ago. I was able to do all of my ab routine, I was able to do all of my treadmill time at the right speed, which means there will be nowhere to go but UP from there! And I even added an arm weight. I didn't go on it last time because every time I went to use it someone was sitting on the machine... just relaxing, not lifting, talking to the person on the machine next to them... ie preventing ME from lifting with that machine! But I did it!

Now, today being Easter, I can't say I ate the healthiest. Sigh. I am going to hide the Easter candy. I won't get ride of it. But I will put it somewhere where I actually have to work to get it, which means I need to be determined, which means that if I do get it I will actually NEED that piece of candy because I was determined enough to climb somewhere for it. (I just hope that my husband doesn't mind, because I bought it for him too!) And I will have apples readily available. :)

My Goals

2010-04-04T21:23:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm starting to feel very frustrated with myself. I've always struggled with self esteem issues. In high school I went through a lot, as I am sure every high school girl has dealt with a bit. I don't want to get into everything I went through because it was in the past and it won't help me move forward to rehash it. I've changed a lot since high school and my confidence has grown, but not to where I'd like it to be and I have been analyzing WHY it isn't where I want it to be and a lot boils down to my appearance. Now, I don't consider myself ugly, but I don't see myself as beautiful. I am coming off of a "fat WEEK" (not just fat day), and my self esteem really took a hit this week. I also think that the weight I put on since high school may have an effect on our fertility problems, although they probably aren't the entire source, but it isn't helping!

So here it goes. I am adding to my blog. I plan on blogging about my progress. I plan on blogging about going to the gym and my workout routines, etc. I plan on blogging about the extras I do on top of going to the gym (ie walking the dogs, working in the garden, hiking, golfing, playing sports, etc). I will also blog about some of the healthier things that I eat. I can't promise that I will change 100% of how I eat because my husband is going to be hard to change. He holds strong to being a meat and potatoes kind of guy, so we will see how I can do with the eating thing. If anything, I will narrow down portions, and make most of my snacking good snacking (though I'm a chocoholic, but I will be limiting myself to one small piece a day) and try to make my lunches very healthy. I will also be blogging about my downfalls. What did I do that day that took me two steps back from where I was? I think it will help to hold me accountable.

I also have goal to run a 5k in the fall. I shared about this goal in the past and it is still real. I had a few downfalls with the gym. I was very faithful and then student teaching threw me for a loop and my schedule was 100% out of whack! Then I got back into it and sprained my ankle. Now I am back. I will be working up to running... I am walking for 20 minutes on the treadmill very fast a day, plus doing some lifting. I hope soon I will extend it to 30 minutes on the treadmill. And then start to run. And hopefully work it up to a 5k length so that I know I can at least endure running that long. Oh, did I mention I *HATE* to run????? But I have to do it! I know I do!

I am doing this for my husband, so he can have a healthy wife. I am doing it for my family to have a healthy family member. I am doing it for my angel in heaven and my future children, so they can have a healthy mother. But most of all I am doing it for ME!

Please support me!

Rough

2010-03-14T22:15:00.001-04:00

Today is a rough infertility day for me. I could use prayers. I had a dream a few days ago that I was pregnant and starting to show. It was so real. And when I woke up it was ripped away from me. Then I found that AF had arrived, which then made me feel like I was kicked in the gut. I hate this.

I'm still alive!

2010-03-06T12:10:00.002-05:00

Wow it has been a while. I really need to work on keeping this blog up! It has just been a crazy few weeks. I started my job and that has taken up A LOT of my life, but I LOVE IT! I love teaching. It is so much better than student teaching (and the paycheck doesn't hurt either)! My first graders are great and the other teachers are wonderful to work with. I want so bad to work in this school next year! I am praying so hard that something opens up. There are a few teachers close to retirement age and talking retirement, but they aren't talking about it for this year, so I don't have my hopes up.

After being buried in snow (which I loved! We got 5' total in a week!) I can say now that I'm ready for spring. I loved the snow, however when I walked outside into really nice weather this week I got the itch and now I am right there! My snowmen are coming down today and my flower flag is going out. I'm ready! Bring on spring!

Goodness Gracious

2010-02-02T12:40:00.002-05:00

I sprained my ankle. :( I was wearing heels and stepped onto uneven grass and, while bearing all of my weight, my ankle turned both in and out. It is not fun. The pain isn't too bad anymore, but I have almost no muscle control, so it is a lot of fun. Ugh... and I'm supposed to start teaching next week!

On another note... check out this mirror giveaway! Her blog looks pretty cool too so check it out!

Well... here we go!

2010-02-01T14:25:00.003-05:00

Last week was QUITE eventful! I have been applying for jobs left and right. Most of them long term sub positions because there really isn't much else available out there. There was a call for resumes for next year, and then there was a permanent job, but I didn't hear from that one (and it was at the top of my list to do anyway).

One of the jobs I applied for was in my mom's school district (and just happened to be the first job I put my resume in for). It is a 1st grade long term sub position, start in February and ending in May, or later depending on how the teacher feels about coming back. WELL... I got a call on Monday from a principal in the school district my mom teaches in asking if I had my certification in hand, and since I didn't, he couldn't interview me, but he said if I did get it that week, to call him and he'll set up an interview.

Tuesday I was subbing, but I decided to call the dept of education and find out the status of my certification. Well as of Tuesday it hadn't even been processed yet. I spoke with someone who said they would let my evaluator know, but that she couldn't promise anything. I called the school back and left a message. When I left subbing that day I had a message on my cell phone saying that because they had other candidates that had the certification on hand, they couldn't interview me, but that they had a 2nd grade long term sub position coming open soon and I could apply for that one. I was bummed...... until I got home and there was a message on my answering machine from my evaluator saying that she went ahead and processed my certification and I was approved and therefore certified to teach in the state of PA! So I emailed the principal that evening and let him know about the message, but that I understood if he couldn't interview me for this job because I couldn't guarantee I'd have my cert in hand by the end of the week. Well I got an email back congratulating me and asking me to call the secretary to set up an interview for that week!!!

I had friends, and my husband quizzing me with interview questions all week and helping me pick out what I would wear. Meanwhile, I scrambled to get my portfolio together for the interview. I was also VERY nervous, but didn't really have my hopes up.

I went to the interview, felt I babbled a lot but that they liked my answers and then went home. I got home, changed, went potty, let the dogs out, and heated up my lunch and my phone rang. I GOT THE JOB! 30 minutes after my interview and they offered me the job! I am so excited! I just hope something permanent opens up because I'd really like to feel comfortable about having a job for next year and it would be great if it were with this district!

Wish me luck! I am nervous about teaching and taking two grad classes at once! Yikes!

Before and After Paint Pictures!!!

2010-01-24T20:03:00.020-05:00

LIVING ROOM BEFORE:

When we first moved in we didn't mind the color, so we stuck with it for a little while. Unfortunately the old owners liked flat paint and so everything started to look pretty dingy and it couldn't be cleaned because the paint would come off.

We *HATED* this mirror, but were dreading taking it down, thinking it would be very difficult. It was actually very easy! It was held on by clips and a few adhesive strips! We put contact paper on top just in case it shattered so that it would stick to the contact paper and not go everywhere. In the end, one tiny little piece broke off, but we have a whole mirror sitting in the basement. It was one of the easiest demos we've done in this house! Behind the mirror were two holes where sconces had originally been. I bought a patch kit and patched them and you can't even tell!

LIVING ROOM AFTER:
*We love how it came out! What we are still planning on doing in this room: hanging a painting over the fireplace, buying a large area rug (the other one was too small so we moved it upstairs to another room), and replacing our couches with dark brown leather.

See how nice that wall looks without a mirror! It will look great with a painting (or set of 3 collage paintings).

DINING ROOM BEFORE:
We *HATED* the paint color. BUT It was so much better than the ugly blue that they had in the dining room so we were living with it because it did make the room a lot brighter. We just didn't like the green. We originally wanted tan, but the tan we chose didn't match the tan in the living room and we didn't plan on paining the living room after we moved in, so we went with the green we had chosen for the kitchen (it didn't look right in the kitchen so we just had it left over). We lived with it until we painted the living room and then realized how badly we wanted to change the dining room.

For some reason this picture showed up dark:

DINING ROOM AFTER:
*What we still want to do in this room: get a clock for above the piano that is very large and has a golden yellow face to pull in the yellows from the living room, add more to the curtains (they look a little sparse right now), and change the chandelier (we hate the one that is up). And I'd like to add some more accents to this room. We are also going to hang something on the stair walls.

Again, this picture (as with the before) came out very dark. The paint is lighter than it looks. This picture does show how badly I need to finish the curtains though!

It was a lot of work! The trim took a long time (especially the spindles on the stairs!) but I'm happy with how everything turned out!

If you have any questions on how I did anything please feel free to ask!

Just you wait...

2010-01-19T00:22:00.002-05:00

Painting pictures coming very soon! I am just finishing up the trim in the dining room, which is the last room I have to do. It looks fantastic. (That and I can not wait to have my house put back together!)

Interesting, but not so interesting, painting story: when I paint I have to have something on TV. I am not the biggest fan of painting, but if something is on TV I don't mind painting because I listen to it. I put on a lot of movies when I am painting and if you point to a spot in the room, I can remember what I was watching when I was painting. It even dates back to our apartment. I can remember what was on TV when I was at certain parts in the apartment. Oh goodness I'm a nerd. :P

How is it fair?

2010-01-12T20:24:00.000-05:00

It is so hard to see two people struggle with pregnancy loss this last week and then to sign on and read someone announce they are pregnant with their 5th child. Life really isn't fair. Infertility sucks.

Painting Fever

2010-01-08T23:09:00.002-05:00

Can you guess what I've been up to lately based on my title? Painting I painted the living room and the dining room (twice). Once all of the trim is done I will post pictures, but until then you will have to hang in suspense. Believe me, you will love it. :)

In other news, I start subbing again on January 26th (unless they get me in the 21st or 22nd)! So I need to enjoy my last week and a half off. And I will. Once I'm done painting I plan on reading... a lot. I will also be starting grad classes the week of the 26th. Fun.

A Decade in Review

2010-01-07T11:51:00.004-05:00

I saw this done on another blog and thought it was really neat so I wanted to do it. This is my life, in a few pictures, from 2000-2010.

2000:
2000-2001 I was a junior in high school. This was our family picture that year. I was 16 and got my license! (Sorry, I don't have a picture online of my first car.)

I was also the Queen of Hearts in the play Alice in Wonderland and I was in the musical our school put on.

2001:

I met my husband in August of 2001! I was a senior in high school at the end of 2001 and I had just returned from studying abroad in Germany. I turned 17 this year.

2002:Jeff and I both graduated from high school this year! Before graduation I performed in my high school's dance/music show. We put on Carmina Burana and we also did a musical review. I also turned 18 and enrolled in the first college I attended... which I hated and transferred to a school near home at the end of the semester.

2003-2004

2003-2004 Sophomore in college, not the best year and I don't have many pictures. Here is one with me and my cousins outside of a teahouse. Jeff and I went to Kentucky the summer of 2003, but I don't have pictures online.

This was also the year that we had a hurricane in PA and I went outside to play in the mud during the hurricane with some friends.

2004-2005

2004-2005 I was a junior in college. Jeff transferred to campus and ended up living in the same dorm on the same floor as I did! We had a blast!

This was also the summer he and I traveled to Maine. One of our stops was to the Desert of Maine... it is a real desert! Check it out!

2005 I was a senior in college! We lived in an apartment with his roommate from college, who we are still good friends with today! We had frequent poker nights with his roommate and his roommate's then girlfriend.

We also went kayaking for the first time in the summer of 2005. Here is a picture of our first time out! We now have our own kayaks (which are currently collecting dust in the garage).

2006- I graduated college!!! (Although it ended being pretty much all for naught because there were no jobs in my degree). Jeff and I moved into our own place this year. We went on vacation to Virginia with his parents this year.

Oh and something else happened this year... WE GOT ENGAGED! After 5 years of dating he finally proposed!

I also had an impossible time trying to find a job and took a job with the college I had just graduated from as a secretary while I tried to find a job in my field... although later I changed my mind about the field I wanted to be in.

2007 rocked for the most part!

Jeff graduated from college after 6 years of being in school!

I unfortunately had my first kidney stone surgery to remove a stone that completely blocked my left kidney and even killed a part of it. It was very painful and I was very sick. :(

I also decided to back to school during this time for elementary education and applied to graduate school for both my post-bacc certification and Master's of Ed in Elementary ed. I was accepted for the Jan 2008 semester!

In September of 2007 we were married!!!!!!

We went on a cruise to Key West, Cozumel, and Belize for our honeymoon.

2008 was a year of illness and fun.

It started off with a bang... I had surgery in January to blast a kidney stone, surgery less than a month later to remove a piece of stone that had gotten stuck, and pneumonia in March!

In March of 2008 we signed to buy our first house (the day I was diagnosed with pneumonia!) and in June 2008 we settled and moved in!

In July we adopted these two rascals. They had some health issues the first few months we had them but after that they have really GROWN and are so precious!

In August I had a miscarriage.

In August we also traveled to Massachusetts to go to our first home game of the New England Patriots!!! It was a blast and now I would like to go to one during the regular season!

In October I became and aunt and welcomed my first niece into the world.

2009: It wasn't the greatest year either and I couldn't wait to say goodbye to it, although it did have some positive parts.

June- Jeff and I went to Disney! It was my 3rd time and Jeff's 1st!

We spent the summer doing a lot of golfing, which I am thrilled about. It is now an obsession!

July- We bought our first brand new car!

December- my brother got married.

December I finished my post-bacc certification and am officially a teacher! Now for the job hunt and to finish my Master's...

And this was how I rang in the New Year and new decade... bowling with my husband and his family and then going back to his uncle's house for a small party!

Somewhere in the last 10 years I also went to South Carolina and Ocean City MD with Jeff's family, but I can't remember what years!

I hope the next 10 years is even better! I can't wait to see what is in store!

I saw this on another blog...

2010-01-07T11:32:00.002-05:00

I saw this posted on another blog, who saw it posted on another blog, and I really wanted to post it for you. I know I could use some encouragement these days!

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;

forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, alterior motives;

be kind anyway.

If you are successful you will win some false friends and true enemies;

succeed anyway.

If you are honest people may cheat you;

be honest anyway.

What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;

build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;

be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;

do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;

give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the end, it is between you and God;

it was never between you and them anyway.

~ Mother Teresa ~

I'm alive! I swear!

2009-11-25T10:43:00.004-05:00

Wow have I been missing for a while! I have been so swamped that I can barely keep my head above water, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I am almost there. I told my mom that if I can make it to thanksgiving, I can make it to the end.

I have a hard time with the holidays. I have a hard time letting another, childless holiday pass, thinking that maybe next year will be my year, and for the past 2 holidays and this holiday season, it isn't my year. But I'm not posting another downer post. I want to post what I'm thankful for. Yesterday I had my students go around the room and each say 1 thing they were thankful for. I got anything from an airsoft gun, to food to eat, to family members, and a roof over their heads. They are thinkers! I wanted to say what I'm thankful for.

I'm thankful for my Christian beliefs. While I may struggle sometimes, (ok, a lot lately...) I still am trying to hold to them and to some important verses that get me through this time.

I'm thankful for a wonderful, supportive husband. He is my rock. Without him I wouldn't have anything to stand on. He can always make me smile, laugh, think of something other than what may be on my mind. He is so supportive in everything I do.

I'm thankful for my family. They make me smile. They make me laugh. They support me and pray for me in everything I go through!

I'm thankful for my dogs. They bring humor to every single second of my day. I mean, we do live with our own personal "Marley" (that would be Maggie in our case). At this very moment they are crying at a window because they want to attack a squirrel that is outside.

I am thankful for a roof over my head and food in my refrigerator. I can't say food on my table, because that would imply that I have time to cook! But in this tight economy, many people often get caught up in the materials that they aren't able to buy. I'm trying to think of what I do have, because so many people don't have a roof over their heads and food in their refrigerator.

I'm thankful for my friends. They make me who I am. They stick by me when I disappear for weeks at a time because I am so swamped and are right there waiting when I come out of the tunnel.

I am thankful for the support I have from a wonderful group of ladies on the bump who are all going through IF or have gone through it and succeeded. They are such an amazing group of women and I am thankful that I have them to lean on during this journey and that I am there for them to lean on.

I'm thankful that I am 13 school days from finishing out this very difficult semester and 13 school days away from my certification.

I'm thankful that I am going to see New Moon today for a second time. :) Ok... I had to throw ONE material thing in there!

I'm thankful that there is technologies to help people dealing with infertility to achieve pregnancy and am hopeful that it will work for me (or that a miracle will happen between now and the spring!).

What are YOU thankful for? I'd love to see your responses so leave a comment to let me know that you know I'm still alive and that you are thankful for something!

Too beautiful for earth...

2009-10-15T20:01:00.002-04:00

Today is Miscarriage/Pregnancy Loss Awareness day. At 7:00pm I, and many other couples lit a candle for their angels in heaven.

I also wanted to give you a prayer request along the same lines. I belong to a website where many amazing women post. One of these women experienced a horrible loss yesterday. Her baby died only a few days before it's due date. Please pray for Angie and her husband for their loss.

I lit three candles. One for my angel, one for Angie's angel, and one for every other couple who has experienced loss. I wish a day like this didn't have to exist.

An angel in the book of life wrote down my baby's birth,

Then whispered as she closed the book,

"Too beautiful for Earth"

-Unknown

May Angels Lead You In

2009-10-05T19:47:00.003-04:00

My mom's godmother passed away Saturday night. She was such a special woman and so wonderful to our family. She was like a grandmother to me. She was 94 years young (and you will get why I say young in a few minutes). She is truly an inspiration. She graduated college in 1935. She traveled around the world well into her 80's. She volunteered at a nursing home for years until they told her to stop because she couldn't see over the wheelchairs anymore! My mom and I always made at least one trip a year to visit her. She lives a few hours away. Once in a while we would make a few extra trips if we were up in that area. We used to go up and have lunch with her and my great-grandmother, who passed away when I was 17 years old, whom I still miss dearly. Now they are friends in heaven. She didn't have any children, but always treated my mom like her own grandchild, and she would spoil us rotten when we would come to visit her.

I have an insane obsession with York Peppermint Patties and I have Kitty to thank for it (we called her Kitty... everyone did). When we went to visit her one of the many times when I was a kid, we would take her to the store and she would INSIST (no matter how much my mom tried to say no) in buying me and my brother our own bags of candy. I would pick the Peppermint Patties. Every time I have one I think of her.

She passed in her sleep, without any illness. It was just her time. She was called Home, to be with her beloved husband who passed years ago.

May angels lead you in Kitty. I will miss you forever and keep you close to my heart always.

Frustrated

2009-09-26T23:11:00.002-04:00

I am frustrated with the coverage that fertility treatments get on the news. It is no wonder people have such a horrible view or such an uneducated view of fertility treatments and infertility. The only coverage that anyone ever hears is negative coverage. There is no success stories heard in the press. It makes me sad to see that. It makes me sad that couples already hurting so much over the pain of infertility then has to face opposition from some friends or family who think fertility treatments are inherently evil and always result in high order multiples. We don't hear about the wonderful success stories.

I am determined to be a success story and to help change the views of those around me on the good that fertility treatments can do.

Thanks and more

2009-09-26T11:18:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone for the anniversary wishes! That was very sweet of you! We had a great evening, although we were both tired (me from a busy day, and him from getting up early).

After we were married, we didn't avoid getting pregnant, although I wasn't charting, using OPKs or anything. We thought it would eventually happy. I used to worry what people would think if we got pregnant right away and had a honeymoon baby. Now I laugh at that thought. I would give anything to have someone think that, than to go through the difficulties we are having now. We have one more month to try before we have to stop until the spring. I don't have my hopes up. This month was a big fail. No ovulation. I was back to the way I was before I went on Clomid. I can't wait until I can start working in January. We can start saving for our first fertility treatment beyond Clomid, which I am hoping will be IUI. We will meet with a RE in March to start more testing.

School is going. I am so so tired all of the time because of all of the work I have to do, but I just need to adjust to it. It is a lot of work all at once, and there is not really time to do it during the day other than my prep time when the kids are in special, which isn't a whole lot of time. I do a lot of work at home. I think when I am in my own classroom, I am going to try to keep most of it at work. I'll go in early or stay a little late so that I can get things done (more the early than the late, probably) so that I can enjoy being home. But right now with student teaching, it is more than just what I would be doing normally because I also have assignments that I have to do for the college in order for me to graduate. I am trying to bang those out so I can concentrate on teaching my kiddos, whom I adore! This is a great age (4th grade)! I really hope I will get the maternity leave position when I am done with the semester (my co-op is pregnant and will be going on maternity leave in January). And there is another 4th grade teacher retiring at the end of the year, so I hope they fill it and fill it with ME! I really love this age. I think I would love teaching between 2nd and 4th. And the school I am in is fantastic! There is a lot of support and a lot of resources. I really am enjoying it. It is a great learning process. I can't imagine how I would be if I had only had the field experience that my college provides us with during the program and I didn't have the year and a half working in a special education classroom, and the experience sub teaching. I think I would be even more overwhelmed right now!

I just have to say that I can not WAIT for Christmas! I will be certified (hopefully!) and it will be my favorite holiday! That is my push! I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm even seeing Christmas stuff in the stores now!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-09-22T21:58:00.002-04:00

Today is my 2 year wedding anniversary! I have married the most wonderful, amazing man ever! He is so thoughtful and caring. He always knows how to make me laugh, smile, and feel comforted. I am so happy I get to spend my life with him! I love you honey!

I'm Alive! I promise!

2009-09-12T09:22:00.002-04:00

Here is the promised update. :)

I have been so busy the last few weeks! I've missed blogging! I started my last semester of my post-bacc certification (that is a teaching certification for those of us who already have their bachelor's degree). That means that this semester I am student teaching. So far I am loving it. The kids are a great group of kids (4th grade!), and my co-operative teacher is really great. We have very similar teaching and organizational styles and I think it is a fantastic placement. She also found out in May that she is pregnant and she will be going on maternity leave in January... which means that I will be considered for her long-term sub job! Wish me luck! It is hard finishing my certification in December because schools aren't typically hiring anything but long-term sub jobs at that point. So we will see! I am viewing these next 16 (well I guess, 14 1/2 at this point) weeks as an interview. I hope it goes well! :)

We tried an unmedicated cycle this month and I really don't think it worked because I didn't pick up an ovulation in my chart or on my CBEFM (Clear Blue Easy Fertility Monitor), so my hopes really aren't up. We will try one more unmedicated cycle after this month before putting trying on hold until April so that we can save money for IUI. Wow I never thought I'd be dealing with IF. I've been trying to be positive and not think about it lately though. It isn't like I don't have other stuff to be thinking about! Haha!

It is edging closer to fall. (Well, if you ask me, fall has arrived). I am wearing sweaters to school and sleeping under a heavy comforter! I love fall! My favorite season! It is beautiful. The colorful, crunchy leaves, the crips autumn air, football, sweaters, jeans, apple cider, pumpkins, Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie... I could keep going. I just love fall! I've already decorated for it.

So that's it in a nutshell right now. Not a whole lot of interesting stuff going on, but that is ok. Its really busy... so I am taking a deep breath and heading in head first. :)

I've been bad

2009-09-11T19:15:00.001-04:00

But I promise an update to come hopefully sometime this weekend. I've just been so tired with the start of the school year. But I will update soon. :)

Distractions

2009-08-28T12:21:00.003-04:00

I absolutely love to golf. It is my distraction from my problems. My husband and I go together and we love it. We went a few weeks ago and I shot a crappy game so I was nervous when we went again this week and ended up having one of the best games I have ever had. While we were out on the course he opened a bag of balls to get me a new ball out (one of my not-so-good shots right into a water-hazard) and found an envelope in the bag. I had gotten the balls from my parents for Christmas a few years ago, along with golf lessons. Well I had forgotten I also got this envelope. It was a gift certificate for a golf course I love to go to! 3 years later and a phone call later I find I am still able to use it! So we went out again the next afternoon. It was wonderful! It is so peaceful out on the course. And what you think about is how the course will play. You forget everyday life. You forget problems. You forget issues you are dealing with. You just think about your game, how you can improve, what would be the best way to take your next shot without going out of bounds. It is wonderful. By far my favorite distraction. I wish we had more money and time to golf more frequently.

I also love to scrapbook, kayak, and travel, but they don't distract as well as golf does. Kayaking and traveling actually make me think more, rather than less. Scrapbooking I can only do for a bit at a time (I have a short attention span). I love to do these things though.

I start school next week. I will be with 4th grade for the fall. If you don't know or need a refresher, I am finishing my post-bacc certification in Elementary Ed. I already have my undergrad degree, but in something other than El. Ed. It is a long story that I may share at some point. I am also working on my Master's in El. Ed., but I will be done with my cert in the fall and able to teach as of December. I will use this semester as a distraction as well, and I hope it will be a great one! I love to teach and spend time with kids. I can not wait to actually get PAID to do it, haha.

So, what are your distractions?

Bittersweet

2009-08-24T13:30:00.002-04:00

Today is a bittersweet day.

Today Jeff and I celebrate 8 years of being together. 8 years ago today we went on our first date. It was to the movies to see "The Others". We were both just entering our senior year of high school. At the end of the date he asked if he could give me a hug. How adorable is that? Want to know what we looked like then? Check out this picture:This was actually about 9 months after we started dating, but it was still right around that time. Inevitably, you are looking at his hair... we used to joke around that he looked like carrot top. I loved it though. He had the body of a soccer player and the hair to match. :) And what I wouldn't kill to have the body that I had back then back. I'm working on it...

We really don't celebrate the day anymore. We mention it, but because we are married we celebrate our wedding anniversary now, which is less than a month later.

But today is bittersweet. One year ago today I found out that the positive pregnancy test I got a few days earlier was the result of a chemical pregnancy. I had just bought something to tell Jeff that he was going to be a daddy... and I was going to tell him that day. How perfect? To tell him on the day we were celebrating 7 years of being together. It wasn't to be though. I didn't even get to tell him. He never got to feel the excitement. I only pray that we will be able to be excited together someday soon. It is hard to think that if it would have worked out, I would be a mother by now. But instead I am looking to more infertility treatments. To saving as much money as possible to be able to afford these treatments. They say the physical pain is easier to get over than the emotional pain of a miscarriage, and that is very true. For me, other than some painful cramps, the physical pain wasn't too much more than a normal period (sorry for the TMI). But the emotional pain still hurts to this day. I know that what I've been through isn't nearly as much as many other people, but it still does hurt.

"An angel in the book of life,
wrote down my baby's birth,
then whispered as she closed the book,
'Too beautiful for earth.'"

So today is bittersweet. We are thrilled to be celebrating 8 years together, closer and more in love every single day, and we are having a hard time knowing that we still don't have a child and mourning the loss of the chance we were given.

I found this poem I wanted to share. It is more for the loss of a child, but I think it goes with infertility as well, so here it goes:

Don't Tell Me That You Understand

Don't tell me that you understand, don't tell me that you know.
Don't tell me that I will survive, how I will surely grow.
Don't tell me this is just a test, that I am truly blessed.
That I am chosen for the task, apart from all the rest.
Don't come at me with answers that can only come from me,
Don't tell me how my grief will pass, that I will soon be free.
Don't stand in pious judgment of the bonds I must untie,
Don't tell me how to grieve, don't tell me when to cry.
My life is filled with selfishness, my pain is all I see,
But I need you and your love...Unconditionally.
Accept me in my ups and downs, I need someone to share,
Just hold my hand and let me cry, and say, "My friend, I care."

~Author Unknown~

Resting Peacefully

2009-08-22T19:10:00.003-04:00

Sweet Annaleigh, the baby I posted about yesterday, went to Heaven today. Please pray for her mom, dad, and her brother and sister as they grow stronger. Infertility sucks, but when you beat it and then lose a child it makes everything even harder and I can't even imagine how they feel. This is a woman who is so strong. She beat infertility with her triplets and not long after had to send one home to Heaven. Please pray for this family.

I lit a candle for them last night. My prayers are with them.

Prayers needed

2009-08-21T20:39:00.002-04:00

This family and their sweet baby, Annaleigh, could really use your prayers right now. It is a fellow IFer, who was blessed with triplets, but delivered them very early. The babies were all doing very well but one of the babies suddenly was sick with a bacteria that eats away at the bowels. They went in to do surgery and from what I heard on the board that I go on, the baby will not make it. Her bowels are dead. Please pray for the mom, dad, the sweet baby, and the other two working on growing strong. My heart is broken for them right now. IF is already so unfair, but to lose a child on top of it, after you were successful and beat IF, is extra heartbreaking.