Ramblings

• I'm running a half marathon with a bunch of ladies from my area on Saturday.  I'm really excited for it because I have no expectations for myself.  I'm just in it to finish it and have a good time.  Everyone else seems to be pretty excited about it too.  I remember my first half marathon and how nervous I was.  I know that some of these ladies are feeling that and I love it!  
• Friday night I got a text from one of the gals that hasn't been able to do the long runs with us.  I wasn't even sure if she was going to make it to the race.  She texted me that she ran 11.8 miles. In the dark.  In single digit temperatures.  By herself.  And you could read the excitement in her words.  I actually ran into her a little later and she was so proud and happy, it made my weekend.  I can remember the first time I ran double digits and how proud I was for myself.  I could feel that for her too.
• Speaking of single digit temperatures, this winter has been the worst one I have ever run through.  I feel like I owe all these people an apology for saying "oh it's not that bad." when they moan about running in the winter. It's bad.  Really bad.  The other Saturday--for our 12 miler--it was -3 degrees.  Luckily, I woke up with a low grade fever and played the pregnancy card, so I sat it out.  Which is probably good, because whatever I was fighting didn't blow up into anything big.  This Saturday, it was a balmy 13 degrees.  It's only gotten above freezing twice in the last three weeks.  
• In contrast, St. George is going to be close to 60 degrees on Saturday. :)
• We find out the flavor of our baby on Thursday.  Ultrasounds always make me nervous and I'll just be glad when it's over.  But I think it's a girl.  A. really wants a baby sister.  J. wants a baby brother.  One of them is going to be disappointed.  A. christened the baby Heart when we first told her we were having a baby.  Then last week she changed it to Twilight.  I think she thinks we're having a My Little Pony.
• I  have successfully kept the house clean for two weeks straight.  And the laundry is caught up.  Just don't open any closet doors.
• Our book this month for book club is Jane Eyre.  I've been reading my 24 pages a day so I can finish in time.  It's been really good. I even had to send out a retraction email to the book club for poking fun at the book.  
• My natural tendency is to be a hermit.  I hardly left my house the two weeks Wade was off for Christmas.  If left to my own devices, I would sit and stew in my own juices.  But, it isn't what I want for my life.  So I've had to transform myself into more of a social person.  I think it makes me well rounded.  And nothing bad happens from being out of my comfort zone a little bit, right?
• I consume more calories during the hour I sit and watch Biggest Loser than at any other time during the week.  
• I have the funniest, cutest kids.  Couldn't ask for better.  And the bestest husband.  The other weekend, when I was sick with a fever and just feeling blah, he took the kids up to Park City overnight.  It was awesome!
• Tomorrow, I'm officially half baked.  Now it's a countdown!

What's For Dinner Wednesday: Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

Source: Family Circle February 2013 

Prep: 20 min Bake: 50 min at 400 degrees Cook: 22 min Broil: 3 min

2 1/2 lbs baking potatoes

1/2 lb sliced bacon (I cheated and used bacon bits from the salad aisle)

2 T unsalted butter

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 T all-purpose flour

4 C milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

3 C shredded white cheddar cheese

4 scallions, thinly sliced

6 tsp sour cream

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Pierce potatoes with a fork and bake 50 minutes until tender.  Allow to cool some.  Scoop potato flesh into a bowl and mash.

2. Cook bacon until crisp.  Crumble and set aside.  Reserve 2 T bacon grease.

3.  In a large pot, add butter and reserved bacon grease.  Heat over medium heat.  Add onion and cook 3 minutes.  Sprinkle flour over onion and cook 1 minute.  Gradually whisk in milk; stir in salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg.  Add reserved mashed potatoes and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in 2 cups of the cheese, half the reserved bacon and half the scallions.

4. Heat broiler. Divide soup into six oven-proof bowls.  Sprinkle the tops of the soups with the remaining cheese.  Broil 4 inches from heat source for 3 minutes until cheese melts.

5. Garnish each with 1 tsp sour cream and remaining bacon and scallions

Nutrition: Cal: 577 Fat: 31 g Pro: 29 g CHO 48 g

This was my first attempt at a favorite soup of mine when I'm out and about.  I thought it was decent.  Could have used some more oomph to it, but otherwise a great starter.  It's definitely not for the healthy conscious. Look at the grams of fat in that sucker.  But it warmed me up on (yet another) really cold day.  I really, really liked the white cheddar cheese.  I've never had it before and it's definitely considerably stronger than the orange cheddar cheese--even the sharp flavor.  It has a grittiness to it that I also really liked.  I found it in the regular aisle with the other cheeses.  I've never noticed it there before.  Goes to show you that you find new things every day.  The hardest thing about the soup was scooping out the potato flesh.  That's my kind of meal.

What's For Dinner Wednesday: Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Cranberry Quinoa

Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Cranberry Quinoa

Source: Taste of Home magazine December/January 2013

Prep time stated: 45 min 

     Actual: 1 hr

Cook time stated: 30 min

     Actual: 35 min

Oven temp: 350 

2 C Chicken broth

1 C quinoa, rinsed

1 fresh thyme sprig--I just used the dry stuff

1 T olive oil

8 green onions, chopped

1 celery rib, chopped

2/3 C dried cranberries 

2/3 C chopped dried apricots

3 T lemon juice

2 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

1/2 tsp salt

chicken

3/4 C dry sherry

1/4 C water

3 T red wine vinegar

1 T brown sugar

2 tsp cornstarch

1/4 t ground ginger

1 large, tart apple, peeled and chopped

1/2 C dried cranberries

1/3 C chopped walnuts (omitted because I don't like walnuts)

1/2 C apricot preserves

2 T butter 

6 skinless chicken breast halves

1 T olive oil

1. In a small saucepan, bring broth to a boil.  Add quinoa and thyme.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.  Remove from the heat; fluff with a fork. Discard thyme (if you didn't use the dry stuff)

2.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add green onions and celery; cook and stir until tender.  Add cooked quinoa.  Stir in the dried fruits, lemon juice, lemon peel and salt.

3. In a large saucepan, mix the first six chicken ingredients until smooth.  Bring to a boil, cook and stir until slightly thickened.  Add the apple, cranberries and walnuts.  Stir in preserves and butter until melted.

4.  Cut a pocket horizontally in the thickest part of each chicken breast. Fill each with 2-3 T quinoa mixture; secure with toothpicks. Place remaining quinoa mixture in a greased 1-qt baking dish; cover with foil.  Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Brown stuffed chicken on both sides.  Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 in baking pan; spoon apple mixture over top.

5. Bake chicken and quinoa at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Nutrition: 1 serving (1/2 chicken breast): 606 calories, 11.8 g fat, 93 g CHO, 33 g Pro
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I really liked this dish.  It was a little different and the chicken I had was too thick, so you didn't get to taste the stuffed part much, but overall, I really liked the apple sauce that was poured over the chicken and the different tastes of the different fruits involved.  It was a little labor intensive for a weeknight meal, but a lot of that is my disorganization in the kitchen.  And the kids fighting in the background.

The quinoa needed some work and might be one of those acquired tastes.  It wasn't so horrible that I won't eat quinoa again, but I do need to figure out how to cook it right.

A good first meal of the year.

2013 New Years Resolutions

There is something about the beginning of a new year.  It just seems like the perfect time to start over.

Or fine tune yourself.  Or better yourself.  Or to become something completely different.

Whatever's your tune--January 1st seems to be the perfect time.  And I am no different then the rest of the crowd when I profess my desire to change things about myself every year.  So without further ado, here are my resolutions for the year:

(1) Write more.  This means in the blog.  But also other things.  I really, really enjoy writing but I don't do nearly enough of it.  After many failed attempts at explaining why, I've come to the conclusion that I view writing as an extracurricular activity only to be engaged in when everything else on my plate is done.  Which is never. So, this year, I'm giving myself permission to not have everything done before I sit down to write.  I'm going to schedule a time to write and then adhere to that schedule.

Speaking of schedules, I plan to resurrect my book reviews and my What's For Dinner Wednesday posts.  I'm in a book frenzy right now--I've read 17 books in the last three months--and have read some amazing books whose virtues need to be extolled to the masses.  I've even finished the first book of the year (I know! It's 2:30 on New Years Day and I already have it crossed it.)  It was amazing, one of the best I've read in a long time and left me sobbing in the bathtub.  As for new recipes, it's something I enjoy and now that I have some more energy, I plan on adding some more to my arsenal.

(2) Get organized.  This is on my list Every. Single. Year. but this year I'm serious.  I even got a book on how to become organized in a year that has everything broken out by the different months so you don't get too overwhelmed.  I'm tired of looking for the tools and things I need because they're never all together in the place where they should be.  I want to be one of those organized people that has long periods of the day stretched before them in which to do things they want instead of things that they have to do because they're not organized enough to get it done in the morning.

(3) Do my thing.  I know we all suffer from the dreaded "what will people think" disease from time to time and I found myself in this trap a lot in 2012.  So guess what?  I'm freeing myself from it.  So, you know what?  I'm not listening any more.  Life is too short to care what others think, so I'm just going to do my thing.

Note: "Doing my thing" is not the same thing as "never doing anything that I don't want to do".  I will still be doing things I don't want to because of inane reasons such as I value a particular friendship more than I value the time lost in doing something I'm not excited about.  Or, it's just easier to do something than to put up a big stink.  But, I'm not caring what anyone else thinks as to why I'm doing things the way I'm doing them.  So  there.

These seem a lot less ambitious then years past.  Except for the whole organizing thing.  That seems unfathomable at the moment.  But no physical exertions that will bring me to my very limits.  It's the first time in a long while something like that hasn't been on my list.  But, it feels good to concentrate on other areas of my well-being.

Happy 2013 my fellow friends and followers.

End of Year Thoughts

It's been an amazing year.  I mean, not that I shared a lot of it here because looking over this year's blog entries, I see I have slacked heavily in that area.

But, rest assured, it was an amazing year.  And I'm flooded with all these things to talk about as it comes to an end, but I'm going to focus on one thing in particular.  It stems from a comment I made during a lesson I taught at church...

Oh, right.  That story.  One Saturday night, I received a frantic email from the teacher pleading with me to please teach her lesson the next day to all the women of the congregation because she was so sick.  Never one to shirk from a challenge I accepted and gave what I thought was a pretty mediocre lesson given my total lack of planning, but one in which one of the most critical (and smartest) women in the congregation congratulated me on my lesson.  Boo-ya...

So my comment was directed towards a time in which I felt like I needed to ask forgiveness from the Lord for something.  I had opened the discussion to the other women because I didn't want to share anything too personal, but no one spoke up.  And so as I was grappling with the silence this experience popped into my head.

I was running a half marathon this past summer and I was having a great time.  But, as I was floating down the road I started in on my usual negative self-talk.  It's a problem that I have battled in nearly every race I have ever done.  I will tell myself how dumb I am for being out there, how I didn't prepare as hard as I could have, how I'll never amount to anything more than just a wannabe runner, yada, yada, yada.   It's debilitating to have that coursing through your head as your pushing yourself to the limit.

However, in this particular instance, the very clear thought came into my head "This isn't about you."  I was a little stunned by what this meant.  Running has always been a pretty solitary sport in my opinion.  Sure, I run with people and it's socializing, but in the end, I only reap what I sow and I'm the only one who is going to get myself across the finish line when push comes to shove.

As I allowed myself to ponder this statement, I realized that I was approaching running in the wrong manner. Sure, there are those who will win and bring accolades upon themselves and raise awareness for their different campaigns.  I was not one of those people.  I will never be one of those people.  I had resigned myself to that years and years and years ago.  But, that didn't mean I didn't have something to offer.

And it was at that moment that a tiny, tiny speck of what was to come was planted.  I came to a very clear understanding that my moment in this sport wouldn't be about what place I came in or what time the clock said but that my talent was in raising awareness for others.  To teach others that they can have dreams and no matter how silly or far-fetched they are, they can be achieved with support and hard work.  And that God had given me this talent, per se, not to run fast and be the fastest in the group, but to be the person who motivates others to go out and try.  And when I reverted to the negative self talk, I was basically throwing this "talent" back in His face.

I can say that once I had a glimpse of what my true purpose for being out on the race course was, my total attitude changed and I didn't suffer from the negative self talk in any of my other races, including the mother of all races, the Half Ironman.

Of course, I would still like to be the fastest...but that's just my humanness emerging.

It was a pretty profound moment and one in which I brushed aside in the exuberance of crossing the finish line nearly 8 minutes  faster than any previous race and 48 seconds faster than my goal time.  In fact, I didn't think much more about it until I started relaying the story in church a few weeks back.

About 4 months after this race, I met a new friend.  I like that I can still meet new people.  I was at a volleyball training thing for church and was talking to a few people about the Half Ironman, when this petite blond asked if I was Sandra.  I had never met her before, but we ended up talking all the way through the training thing and then did a few long bike rides together.  She knew who I was because of a mutual friend and said that she had always wanted to meet me.  She also mentioned that she thought it was cool that I had a group of friends that did these races together and how she wished she had a similar thing in her neighborhood.

Which got me to thinking...if this total stranger knew of me, how many other total strangers know of me.  And how many others were standing on the outside wishing they could be in on our "fun".  It had never occurred to me in the past that perhaps there were a few others who looked at my little posse and thought "how do I get something  like that."  So I had this idea.

Two friends and I have been doing a race in St. George nearly every year for the last four or so years.  It's a half marathon in January--which is a terrible time to do a race--but it motivates you to stick to your exercise routine through the holidays.  And the snow.  And the cold.  This year, we had invited a few others to join us and had outgrown our current lodging arrangements.  In a moment of pure divinity, I had this grand idea that I should see who else around might be interested.  As long as we were getting hotel rooms...why not, right?  So I sent out an email to those close by who I knew ran.  Or wanted to start running.  Or at one time ran, but had fallen by the wayside.  I think there were 12 people in that original email.  I thought maybe two or three would join up with the seven of us already committed.

Ten said yes.

Which floored me.  So I went to my Facebook friends and tagged everyone who lived nearby and asked them.  I got a bunch more from there.  In the end, there were 34 women who expressed interest.  Women from every background, of every shape and size, of every ability imaginable.  Women who had been running far longer than me to women who had just a tiny, tiny inkling of a dream when they received my email.

I think women, in particular, are really funny.  A lot of them fall into a trap where they can't see themselves doing something for themselves.  It's a novel idea that you could have a desire to run a half marathon, look up a plan on the internet and then go do it.  I have found that a lot of women have these secret desires, but just need the extra push to do it.  Someone to do it with.  And so I strove to create that atmosphere.  I have tried to make this as seamless as possible.  I plot the running route for the week, email the group, set up mileage signs because they give you a little bit of an oomph when you're out there, even if you have a gps watch, put out water stops, and have a hot chocolate table at the finish line where you can catch your breath before heading home to your family and responsibilities.  Everyone follows their own pace and naturally fall into place with those who run the same pace, forging new friendships and alliances.  There's no pressure to be the fastest and no shame in being the slowest.  We're all other there with one goal--to do the best we can.

If you'll remember, I was pretty much pregnant the minute I crossed the Half Ironman finish line and so this endeavor hasn't been without it's difficulties.  I have to wake up extra early to put the water for the hot chocolate on the stove to heat up.  Then I have to drive all the signs and arrows and water stops around.  I've been up for nearly an hour and a half before I even start running.  Later on, I have to go retrieve all the signs and arrows and water stops. Yesterday, I spent two hours with signs and arrows and another two hours running.  One Saturday, I spent the entire time putting up signs while also throwing up out the car door.  I ended up sending everyone else on their way and going back home to bed.

But I know I'm being blessed for this.  I'm 18 weeks along and still have it in me to complete 10 mile runs.  I have met some amazing women.  We had an absolutely beautiful run in the falling snow a few weeks ago.  It took me 45 minutes to brush out the snarls in my hair from the ice and snow.  Word is spreading about the club and I'm so excited to see what lays ahead.

There was some backlash when I originally set this up, but I felt compelled to do it anyways, and it's worked itself out.  I'm disappointed that not everyone I know who runs was as excited about this project as I was, but I've come to terms with that too.  It's not for everyone.  But it's for some.  And that's good enough for me.

So what's the moral of all this:  There are a couple of lessons I take away from this.  First, sometimes what we want to achieve is not what we need to achieve.  Not everyone is going to be the best at what they do, but that doesn't mean that you have nothing of value to add.  Figure out your purpose and then go with it.  Secondly, life is short. While you might not think that you haven't lived long enough to do something profound, others are passing you up.  And before long, you'll be looking back and thinking "where did all that time go?"  If you're feeling like you need to do something, it could be that you need to do it.  If I could impart one nugget of wisdom it would be to get off your butts and make something of yourselves.

There.  Now go have a good New Years.  And since I'm all cheesy and stuff, I will reveal my New Years Resolutions on January 1st.  So at least you know there's one post coming.  Hint: one resolution will be to actually post more because I enjoy writing and haven't done a lot of it this year.

Um...Hi?

Hello?

Hey...it's me again.

Remember me?

Yeah, it's been a while.  

So what's been going on, you ask?  Not much.  That's the problem.  Not a whole heck of a lot has been going on.  Let's see...

14 weeks ago, I did a Half Ironman.  How do I know the exact weeks? Well, as it turns out, I'm also 14 weeks pregnant.  Well, not exactly  14 weeks pregnant, because I was pretty tired after the Half Ironman.  But darn close to 14 weeks.  And I guess, that's what has consumed me day after day after miserable day.

I mean, I can't complain much--though I will--because I've only thrown up twice as opposed to the twice daily I did with J.  But, man oh man, have I been nauseous.  And tired.  So, so, so very tired.  More tired than I ever remember.  And I keep thinking maybe it will lighten up some, but so far, not much.  Though I can now do simple tasks like showering without needing a nap afterwards.

Baby looks good.  We've had two ultrasounds.  One at 9 weeks to confirm the pregnancy and another one this last appointment when the doctor said "hm...seems like we can't hear a heartbeat."  Cue stomach drop.  But everything looked good.  Baby was just sitting on my vein so they could only hear my heartbeat, which was, admittedly, very loud considering the doctor was so nonchalant about not being able to find a heartbeat.

I thought I was having another girl, but it might be a boy.  I really don't care.  As long as it's healthy, I'm happy with either.

In other news, I put together a running club out here in the Boondocks.  Turns out there are A LOT of women who run.  And I had this brilliant idea to invite as many as I could to join us for a race down in St. George in January.  I thought maybe 10 people, but I'm up to 25 people going and another 10 people who couldn't fit it in for January but are interested in doing one in the future.  It's been quite the undertaking, but I've enjoyed doing it.  We meet together Saturday mornings and do our long runs.  I made mileage signs and put them out every week.  Then we have hot chocolate afterwards.  So far I've been able to keep up--by which I mean to say that I run very, very slow and am the last person in, but I do it.  Did 8 miles yesterday and felt really good.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to do the half marathon in January as I'll be 20ish weeks along, but I know I can finish the 5k.

I guess I'll keep the running club going as long as people are still interested in it.  It's fun to see people who swore they'd never run out there week after week.

And...what else?  That's it.  That's why the long absence in posts.  Everyone seems to be doing well.  Since I could hardly lift myself off the couch for three months, nothing funny has happened.  The holidays are here and I'm recommitting to posting  more.

Here's to a happy month for everyone and more posts from me.

Busy, Busy

It never seems to slow down, does it?  All summer I've been looking forward to the end of August because that was when my big race was over and then I'd have all this time.  And guess what?  I've gone and filled it up.  So what's going on out here in the boondocks?

• A. started preschool a few weeks ago.  She loves it!  This is such a relief because J was not as enthusiastic about school.  More than once I had to drag him in kicking and screaming.  But A. is having a great time.
• With A being in preschool and J in school, that leaves me a few hours a few times a week to myself.  The first day, I went to breakfast with a friend.  Then I got my hair trimmed and highlighted the next week.  Today, I went swimming and took a bath.  I find that it's all a little strange to have so much time on my hands where I'm not constantly wondering about another little being.  
• I've been trying to tie up old projects before the weather turns.  Last year, I started refinishing a dresser for A.  I never got it done and then I was so busy with the training for the Half and the weather was so hot, and now I am finally getting back to it.  It's SO close to being done.  
• Before I started on the dresser, I refinished a desk that was part of the same bedroom set as the dresser and the bed I did for A. last year.  Originally, it was going to be hers, but then I got to thinking that it would be pretty cool in my room as a vanity.  Our master bathroom is really tiny and Wade is always getting after me about my hair stuff and make up, so I finished this "vanity" and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the end result.  It's probably the best project I've done thus far.  Once I unearth the before pictures, I'll post a picture.  Grandma (who originally bought the bedroom set for my aunt 65 years ago) would be duly impressed as well.
• In addition to the dresser, I'm also refinishing a cedar chest.  This one is near and dear to my heart because it belonged to my grandma, who's been gone nearly 10 years.  When I was sanding it the other day, I swear I could smell her.  Funny how some things bring back memories.
• I'm also making curtains for my bedroom.  Haven't sewed a thing in my life, so by all means, start with curtains.  Google, youtube, and pinterest are awesome, though I'm sad to admit that pinterest is really hard for me to follow.  I'm a dork.
• There's two bookcases out in the garage I need to do something with.  I have a few ideas.
• I won the evaluator contest at Toastmasters a few weeks back.  A target speech is given and then you have five minutes to come up with a 2-3 minute speech evaluating that speech.  It can sometimes be reallly difficult, depending on the target speech.  Luckily, the target speech was good and I had an easy time evaluating it.  Ideally, you have to point out things to work on in addition to what they did well.  I went on to the next level and was the only one to show up, so I won again.  Now on to the next level at the end of the month.  
• I'm back to exercising after taking a much needed break after the Half.  It's been harder than I anticipated to make myself go out without some kind of goal in mind.  
• I'm decorating my house for Halloween and maybe even Thanksgiving.  I'm going to become one of those people.  Maybe not to the extent of some, but I want a cool house too.  I'll post pictures when that gets done this week.  
• A. also started ballet classes this month.  She's a doll and really enjoys them.   I never thought I'd be a dance mom and I have a lot to learn.  She's picking up on the moves a lot quicker than I thought she would.
• Taught myself how to do the flip turn while swimming laps.  This has been on my wishlist for a long, long time and had I known it would only take 15 minutes, I would have crossed it off years ago.  I'll post about it tomorrow because it's kinda interesting and funny how I came about learning this trick.

I guess that's about it.  Seems like the same old stuff.  Loving the weather right now.  Wish it was it was like this all the time.  I hope it will stay nice for a few weeks so I can get the yard  fixed up before winter too.  This time, I promise I won't be two weeks again.