Rants, Recipes, and Running

Where do I even begin? How has it been since June 28 since I've checked in here. Gosh, so much to catch up on. So many events, I think we will need to do a "bullet point style recap" to get this all down before time flies too fast and I forget it all! Ha! I'll throw in a few pictures, as well. Hold on tight - lots to cover ;) 4th of July weekend was amazing. So full - so much laughter - so much fun. We got to bond with family from California, cousins, siblings, nieces, nephews. Much boating, laking, laughing, eating over the 4th of July. Have I mentioned that I feel like this trip home feels like this freeze in time where I'm kind of covering ground I lost over the past 9 years? Blog post to come on that soon.... Out to dinner over the 4th of July weekend with family on my dad's side!   Fedora picture taken after a day of tubing down the river with aunts and cousins on the 4th of July Pontoon ride that weekend with several of my siblings, ...

My blogging has been a little MIA lately. The way I've been setting up my life lately, it leaves very little time for blogging. **I refuse to make statements like "I'm too busy to ______". That's not the truth. I just have been choosing to fill every hour of the day with other things ;) #stopsayingyourtoobusy #biggestpetpeeve Ryan and I have not seen much of each other, either. I sound like a broken record, repeating this statement over and over again. But it's the truth. For the past month, we have been planning a camping trip with 2 other couples up to Mount Lemmon, and it couldn't have come at a better time! To me, there is nothing more therapeutic than driving 1 hour up the mountain to cool weather, disconnecting from world, and spending 100% of your time in the great outdoors! When we pulled out of our driveway Friday morning, the temperature was 105 degrees (at 11:00 am). When we reached our campsite, it was 74 degrees F. Amazing ! Here...

On our drive home from our last Mexico trip, we decided on trying to come back for Memorial Day weekend to get our "Advanced Open Water Certification". We had some hoops to jump through to make it work....but we made it work. Best last minute vacation ever !!! What does Advanced certification do for you , some may ask ? It's so you pay more money to the PADI Scuba diving association..... Just kidding. But sometimes it feels like that ;) Being advanced allows you to go on more dives, since you are certified to 130 feet below sea level. A basic certification only allows you to go to 60 feet. We wanted to get this before our Hawaii trip, so we can potentially check out some wrecks while there! What type of dives did I have to do to become "advanced"? In order to become "advanced", you have to complete 5 specialty dives with an instructor. Our dives were: 1. Peak Buoyancy Dive - you have to show that you can gracefully flow through the wat...

Ryan and I have few weekends where our schedules align...and this was one of them. Therefore, I try packing in as much possible! I had a 3 day weekend - so mine started bright & early Friday morning at 5 am with masters swim, followed by a 24 mile bike ride! I had some technical difficulties with my bike, on a crazy-steep incline, and it was scary. But I managed to fix the chain on my own!! * insert fist pump * The rest of Friday was spent cleaning house, grocery shopping, and making deserts for the party we were hosting Saturday night. Ryan and I ordered in thai food and watched "God is not Dead" while I made white-chocolate truffles. It was a productive, but nice night in! And green curry always makes me happy.... Saturday I needed to sleep in past 4:30....so we "slept in" until 6 am! We had 10 miles to run, and I knew we had to get somewhat of an early start. We were on the trail by 7 am, and it was already 84 degrees F. * insert tears * Unfortunat...

Somehow, 5 years have managed to fly by since I married Ryan. They say time flies when you're having fun  - and that statement is very true! It almost scares me when I reflect on how fast these 5 years have gone. As cliché as this sounds, I just don't know where the time went! I seriously feel like we were planning our wedding a few months ago. But I am preaching to the choir, here. So I'll move on from my moment of awe.... We spent our anniversary in the place where we got married - Battle Lake, MN . Which is the happiest place on earth, in my opinion! Being in that area always brings back such strong memories of growing up. And now having the memory of our wedding makes it even more of a special place in my heart. Here are my favorite moments of the 1st 5 years: Our honeymoon . We stayed a the Playa del Mujeres Excellence Resort outside of Cancun - and it ranks as my favorite vacation. That place is seriously paradise.....sailing, all-inclusive indulgence, beautifu...