Rants, Recipes, and Running

    I adore Summer.   Summer = fun Summer = sunshine Summer = playful Summer = happy   Okay, in all honesty, summer = blistering, freaking hot in the Sonoran desert . But, I like to focus on the positive.   Here is my list of things I'm planning on checking off my list this summer:   Perfecting my white sangria recipe. And then posting it on here. Eating lots and lots of watermelon Keeping "Holly" my tomato plant alive all summer long (I've named her "Holly", since she was " conceived " while Ryan was at Holloman Air Force Base. Yes, I name my plants.) Spending hot summer nights cooling off in the pool Goal: Tread water for 30 minutes! Another goal: Swim 3 miles. (I'm currently at 1.75 miles. I've got this! I technically have until October, since our summer lasts 6 months!) Join a "Produce Share" group, and learn how to cook some new vegetables! (We just enrolled in Sunizona Family Farms and ge...

The Southwest is heating up fast. There are few "less than 100 degree" days left (until about October). Therefore, it feels like a "race against time" for those who love to enjoy the outdoors. You can still enjoy the outdoors in the dead of summer. But it gets challenging..... Ryan and I both had Friday off - and instead of doing a bathroom renovation project (that we had planned on). We played "hooky" on ourselves, and went for a long hike! It was only a high of 86 F. The goal of this hike was to reach "Hutch's Pool". Which is a year-round natural body of water that is up in the mountains of the Santa Catalina's (in Tucson, AZ). There are supposed to be other waterfalls along the way. However, due to Tucson's drought - that was not the case. We saw a lot of dried up "waterfalls". Sad day. The hike was 16 miles round trip. It took us a little over 6 hours to complete. We averaged about 20-25 minutes/mile. This was ...