Rants, Recipes, and Running

When we learned Ryan would be heading to Syracuse for a few months for work....we decided that we would take advantage of this time to visit NYC ( as neither of us have ever been there!). But I decided 3 months with only 1 visit was NOT enough. So I was able to score some tickets to visit Ryan in Syracuse with frequent flyer miles. That is the beauty of the military. It sometimes send them to random places. And those random places can be gems - and places I probably wouldn't have visited otherwise! Which a post about this is soon to come.... I fell in love with upstate NY. I think if you took a normal person that grew up in, say, AZ .... they wouldn't find this part of the country that thrilling. But for me -- I felt at home at times. Rolling hills, tons of trees, snow, farms, rivers, lakes....hmmmm sound familiar? Yes - it reminded me of Minnesota. My 2nd home. Now we visiting in the most undesirable time of the year. But I still just loved it there. Syracuse itsel...

What a great weekend this has been!! I absolutely love December and all the holiday parties, food, and fun. And being this was the only weekend Ryan had off -- we packed it full of good times!!  We have a group of 5 really good friends/couples that have started a "dinner party group". Every month someone hosts the dinner party. The host makes the main dish, has a theme, and everyone brings a side dish/appetizer/dessert to complement! Friday night we hosted - and it was our 2nd party -- and it is so much fun! Ryan and I decided to go with "Thai night", since that is our favorite cuisine to cook. We made Shrimp and Chicken Pad Thai. And I had to go to a special Asian grocery store (LeeLee's) to get the ingredients. So in other words...it was the "real deal". It was SO good! We didn't get any photos of us cooking or our food. But we did get a few photos post dinner of the game playing ;) We played the game "Watch Ya Mouth" - you w...

So Thursday night Ryan and I were out hanging metal fencing to snake-proof our yard, and I said, "What should we do this weekend besides our 50 mile bike ride Saturday morning?" And he said, "Do we have to bike?" I said, "What else do you have going on?" Ryan responded "Camping" And within 2 hours we were rummaging through our camping gear and off to the grocery store to plan a spur-of-the-moment trip to the White Mountains! White Mountains are about 4 hours NE of Tucson -- and it is my favorite place in the state! It is all pines and about 30 degrees cooler. In the winter time they get snow and all the hiking trails turn into cross country trails. The scenery is absolutely breath-taking and there is so much wild life!! Our favorite camping destination in this area is Big Lake - and we always stay at Rainbow Campground, which is across the road from the lake. I've gotten so used to reallllllly " roughing it" with backp...

It is no surprise to anyone that is friends with me on Social Media...I have been busy in the kitchen this month!! It has been so nice to have a spacious kitchen again. We also made a pledge to do no restaurants all month of July to help save money for house furnishings, etc. (Restaurants are SUCH budget-suckers!!! Good Lord!) Ryan has been working a ton lately - and weird hours +  it's his "finals week" w/ grad school. - so had lots of "me time" to spend in the kitchen and wanted to spoil him with good food. I like to send him with baked goods to bring to his squadron on the weekend's he works. And his request was White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies . I went to make them Friday night, and realized I didn't have any Macadamia nuts. So I improvised: and crushed up almonds, and used a little pure almond extract. They turned out SO GOOD!!! I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman . Definitely a keeper of a recipe!! Saturday I wanted to send h...

I live for the weekends that Ryan is not working! His current schedule has him working 2 weeks on, and 2 weekends off. So we really try to pack in a lot! This weekend we decided to really try to get a mix of fun and rest -- as we know the next couple of weeks are going to be insane! Friday night he surprised me, and got tickets to see Gabriel Iglesia - aka "Fluffy". Such a good show! There is nothing more healthy for the soul than a comedy show, I always say! The concert was held at the "Ava Amphitheater" - which is at a casino west of town. It is actually a really cool venue - as the seating is out in the lawn and you are surrounded by mountains. We went to our favorite Mexican food truck for some late night eats after the show: Karmelo King. I swear this is the best Mexican food I've ever eaten.  Karamelo King : A food truck in a random parking lot in a shady part of town. They only come out at night. And you have to order in Spanish - or point to ...

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...