Rants, Recipes, and Running

The high of my week was Saturday night's party we attended. My husband's work had a "farewell" party for 3 guys that are leaving. It was a great time! The low of my week was... getting a parking ticket Friday night on my way home running errands. I was on the phone, not paying attention, thought that the meters stopped at 5 pm, but it turns out they stopped at 6 pm. I parked my car at 5:40p, was back in my car at 6:05p. $65 ticket.... My favorite outfit was  I don't have a picture, but the dress I wore to the party last night. I bought it on a whim this week. Tuesday night we had dinner plans to meet a friend for his son's birthday. In my last hour @ work, I spilled coffee on my white shirt. So had to find something quick. I found the cutest brown and white A-line sundress.   For my workouts, I completed: Monday - Lifted weights - did a tough shoulder workout! And ran 4 miles Tuesday - Ran 7.5 miles with my girlfriends Wednesday - Lifted arm...

The high of my week was a tie between 2 evenings. Wednesday - having Happy Hour with my friend Kristy on Wednesday night and catching up. Thursday - having a date night with Ryan after not seeing him all week. Life is pretty crazy right now, so we went to our favorite sports bar, had nachos and beer, and caught up on life. Simple but exactly what I needed. The low of my week was... work was rough this week! We had 2 people out on vacation, so having to do their work in addition to mine made for some long days! My favorite outfit was  This one! It was fun, springy, and comfortable. It's a battle to look "summer-y", but still able to bear the rigid 67 degree temps of my office....   For my workouts, I completed: Monday - I power walked Miles for 2 miles, and did a 20 minute crossfit work out: 5 pull-ups, 20 push-ups, 25 weighted squats. No stopping! Tuesday - Track workout - 16 x 400's, getting faster every grouping of 4. Butt kicker!! Wednesday - ...

The high of my week was making the decision to come home for Chistmas again!!! Prior to last year, it had been 6 years since we were home for the holiday, so this is exciting stuff!! The low of my week was getting stung by 3 bees on 3 different occasions from last Sunday to this Sunday. Can you believe that! #1 while beach camping Memorial Day weekend, #2 at the BBQ we hosted yesterday, and #3 in the pool today! My ankle is double in size right now! #kankles My favorite outfit was my scuba diving suit that I drove on Monday one more time before we came home. It's just too fun.   For my workouts, I completed: Monday - 40 minute scuba dive (? does that count?!) Tuesday - Ran 3 miles with Ryan, and then did weight training and pull-ups in my home gym Wednesday - Ran 6 miles Thursday - Swam 1200 meters, Lifted chest & tri's Friday - Ran 8 flat miles, with some sprint intervals in the last 2 miles Saturday - Track workout: 1600, 4 x 400, 1600 and then I ran stadiums. ...

Happy Friday!!! Finally!!! This week dragged for me. So much stuff to get done around the house. I feel like I need 12 hours to just "regroup". The high of my week was I'm going to jump ahead and say that my high is going to be Friday night's date night! I have been in dire need of a date with Ryan, and Friday night after I get off work -- he is taking me out! :) The low of my week was dealing with some "difficult" personalities. That's all I'm going to say. That can really put a "damper" on one's mood! My favorite outfit was Wednesday's outfit. I get a deal of criticism from a coworker about my choice of attire. They choose to wear scrubs, and I choose to wear business attire. (other people throughout my hospital with my same role wear business attire, as well.)  At my old job, I would wear pencil skirts about 3 days/week. They've sat in my closet since I started this new job out of feeling self conscious. But this w...

Happy Moments from the week. As with all weeks, there were happy moments and not-so-happy moments . The not-so-happy: 1. Our HOA are being, well, "HOA-y". I think your imagination can fill in the blank. Just remember when you own a home in a strict HOA, that is apparently a crime to try to increase the value of your home. Such as hiring professional painters to paint the exterior (with colors approved by the HOA book). They apparently would like your home to rot, and have paint peeling off like some of the other homes in the neighborhood. Okay. I'm ranting. 2. The tone at work was stressed . We had the big triennial inspection/audit. And no matter how much preparation you do for these things, it always just puts everyone on edge. So I greeting Friday evening with a big smile ( and a cold beer ). But despite some shortcomings this week. There were some really fantastic moments that I prefer to focus on: This week we finally are experiencing our 1st mornings whe...

There's a special season in the Sonoran Desert each year called "The Monsoon". It's a portion of the summer where it rains for about 20 minutes around 4 pm every day (hopefully). People get a little crazy in the time preceding "the monsoon". There is worry it will never rain, that the earth will dry up, the animals will die, and we will be forced to eat cactus forever (until they dry up, too). We are in quite a horrible drought over the past few years, and it's getting concerning. A lot of people from other parts of the country find this statement silly. They say, "Well, don't you live in a desert? Isn't it supposed to never rain?" This is not true. Deserts can go a long while without water, but it still needs it. Without water, there is no life. ( Duh ). Yes, there are desert regions where it is all sand. But Tucson is not like that. We actually have a great deal of vegetation, gardening, and there are even farmers in Arizona! An...

Happy Saturday! Here are my "current" currently's. Current Book : "If I Stay". It's an easy summer read...which I'm in dire need of, with my poor reading skills lately. It's about the outer-body experience of a teenager who got in a tragic car accident. She's watching her body in the ICU, and trying to decide whether to stay or go. It's really interesting to the nurse in me. Current Excitement :  It is looking like the next guarenteed weekend Ryan & I will have together is in August when we go to Minnesota for a week @ the lakes w/ family! Lame that he works so much during July, but I'm focusing on the positive!! Cannot wait to see family and meet my niece/God-daughter Evelyn! Current Fashion : I'm really loving the maxi dresses. Only for evenings out. It's too damn hot to wear a maxi dress during the day in Tucson (for this girl, anyhow). Current Drink : Iced Green tea with Raspberry @ Starbucks. I've sipping ...

One of the 1st weekends we lived in Tucson, 6 years ago (!!!!), we decided to head downtown one Saturday morning to "check out the city". We had visions of walking around shops, and having lunch at one of the bistros. When we got downtown, our expectations and reality were very diverse. Everything was closed. Garbage layed in the streets. No cars were around. No people were to be seen. We walked a few blocks down, thinking, "Up ahead is where the action must be". All we found was a homeless man sleeping on a bus bench. Well, 6 years later, things have changed drastically. Over the past 2 years, there has been a huge push to make downtown Tucson cool again. And it has worked! Now you go downtown, and it bustling with new restaurants, coffee shops, yoga studios, apartments, new construction everywhere, and a street car that takes you from the University of Arizona, to 4th Avenue (an arts district), to downtown . In the evenings, you will find live...

I'm choosing to do a "currently" post. I feel like if I try to highlight my week, this will turn into a rant. Honesty time: This week kind of sucked. Moving on. Currently: Reading : The Light Between Oceans. If you haven't read this - you must! Such a good read. Conflicting. Loving : Longer days of sunlight!! I am able to run & bike at 5 am without my headlamp...so I'm a happy girl! And the sun is staying out until about 7! Makes a huge difference on quality of life. That is one of the hardest parts of living here. The longest the sun stays out is 8 pm!!! Makes me miss those Midwest summers where the sun stays out until 10 pm in the summer. Thinking : That my husband is never coming home. He was originally supposed to be home on April 25, then that got moved to April 29, then it got moved to April 30, then May 1. Now I don't think he'll be home until May 6 - but that's being super hopeful. This is getting super old. I'm ready to live ...

As I look back on the weekend, I am almost pinching myself thinking, "Did that really just happen? Where did the time go?" I hadn't seen my Mom in almost 6 months, my Dad in 1 year - and have been feeling extremely homesick. I have learned over the past few years that "homesick" has nothing to do with location - but with the loving arms of those you miss. Lately I have been in kind of an emotional fog. Not a very exciting or riveting person to be around, with not a lot to talk about. And I feel like that fog was cleared this weekend! Especially when my husband walked in the door Friday night (we haven't seen each other in 3 weeks). It was a wonderful weekend. Here are a few of the things that filled my weekend with joy: Mornings of drinking multiple pots of coffee and catching up on life -- I have always cherished weekend mornings with my mom and dad..... Showing them the sights of Tucson Taking them to the Farmers Market to show them that things r...

I'm going to be honest and say I wasn't exactly a "ball of fire" last week. I've hit the point of just being beyond ready for Ryan to come home. We are halfway through this 4 week period of not seeing each other. Although throughout all this 18 months of training, we've gone much longer than 4 weeks without seeing each other - this time around it's harder. I've hit the crabby point. I feel bad, as many of the people I saw this week probably thought I was a bore to be around - as I just don't have much to say about anything. #wahwahwah #woeisme #Ireallyhavenothingcomplainabout So as I'm preparing to start my work week, on this terribly windy Monday morning - I am going in with a new and positive attitude! So here's the headliners for last week: I think I am finally about "wrapped up" on my Spring cleaning. My "to do list" was rather overwhelming. There is nothing more therapeutic to me that throwing sh%t away! ...

Today is my Friday! Thank goodness. Not that it was a bad week - but it just wasn't an awesome week. I don't really have a particular reason why my week wasn't spectacular. I'm just happy it's done. Period. I didn't do one last week...so I'm going to include the past 2 weeks headliners. Don't worry, it won't be too lengthy. Monday-Thursday of this week were pretty bland. My Monday night dinner dates with my friends Heather & Kristy and their boys. They are cousins, and have this traditional date every Monday night...but I have joined in the past 2 weeks. It's really been nice to catch up with them. I don't know what I'd do without my girlfriends!! Ryan's visit last weekend. We had a blast! It went faster than the blink of an eye! I got home from work Friday night, we went out for dinner, we had Saturday together, and he left Sunday after lunch. Saying goodbye gets harder every time..... I'm ready for this phase to be be...

I'm am really trying to get more consistent about blogging, as it is something I really enjoy. But my problem is I often will write an entire post, and then delete it -- out of insecurity. I have been thinking of doing a "weekly top 10" -- but I worry there will be weeks where I won't find 10 things to write about. ;)So here are my weekly headliners! What defined my week...... Monday I planned on driving home from New Mexico in the morning to get home in time to do some housework, laundry, and prepare for the week ahead. During my run that morning (while Ryan was at his flight) I thought - why not stay ? I don't really need to get back early. Best decision ever ! I cleaned his hotel room, make him protein balls, read, blogged, made him lunch - and surprised him when he came home at 1 pm! I only actually got about 30 more minutes with him...but it was totally worth it! My hospital went into a "Code White" this week. Code White means the hospital is...