Rants, Recipes, and Running

As I am preparing for my return to the real world tomorrow, I feel a strong sense of dread. As I won't have a weekend or free week for a long while! Instead of focusing on that.......I'm sharing a few snapshots from our awesome weekend! This weekend we were in Big Lake, AZ -- which is about 20 miles from the New Mexico border (just 5 1/2 hours from our house). (last weekend we were in Parker Canyon...which I will blog about another day) We camped from Friday-Monday, which was the perfect length of time. The temperatures were a great escape from hot Tucson. In fact...it was VERY cold at night. It was in the low 30's at night, 60's during the day. The trout fishing was incredible. Here's a few snapshots: Home Sweet Home for the weekend! Look at the giant tree I cut down!!! Wow!! (Okay, this was posed...) But...Ryan did teach me how to use a wood-saw! There were tons of dead/fallen trees lying around. So we cut all our firewood for the weekend! I felt very ...

Just one day left of work and we are headed away from civilization for... 4 days Just the 2 of us Endless forest & mountains Beautiful, challenging hiking trails Streams with great trout fishing Coooool weather (it was like 98 degrees here today, apparenltly. Days like this I am happy I don't see the sun) Views of herds of elk Delicious, fresh, meals cooked in foil over a hot camp fire Smores Cerveza Cereal in the mini boxes. But not my normal raisin bran...this is my "Get Out of Jail Free Card" --and I eat "naughty" things like Frosted Flakes and Pops! (Helllooo it's camping!) I. Love. The. White. Mountains. (AZ..not the ones by New Hampshire) :)

I would love to be doing a re-cap post on our camping trip from the weekend, as I have many great memories to share such as.... 35 mph winds blowing while setting up our tent -- which nearly turned the tent into a parasail and sent me clear south to Mexico!  (and requiring some serious team-work & cooperation between Ryan & I. Can I say marital test?! ;) ) Seriously having to cuddle up for body heat in our sleeping bags through very chilly, desert nights! Excellent meals cooked on the fire My husband becoming very warrior-like and slaying a snake with a stick & a rock... Visiting the wineries on our trip down! I would have time to post pictures since I had today off...but it didn't happen since from 6am-now (7pm) I have been cleaning, doing laundry, working in the garden, working out, and shopping for our NEXT camping trip on Friday!! So...here is 10 on Tuesday...which clearly takes less effort from my blogging-energy: 1. What is the weather like in your city...

I'm doing 10 on Tuesday a little late! 1. How many blogs do you read every day and what are they? (I’m talking the ones you NEVER miss) I don't read blogs daily anymore, as lately I've made the decision on nights when I get home from work to eat dinner & spend time with Ryan. But -- My consistent blogs I never miss is Lisa's ! 2. How many “best friends” do you have? Do you have different “besties” for different areas of your life? My best friend is my husband for sure. But I've never been one to have an exclusive "best friend". I'm more of a "lover of all"/"the more the merrier" type of person. I have people I'm close to at work, while I was in nursing scohol, and friends I keep in close touch with from when I lived in ND. My life is just on-the-move this past year and changing fast! I also would have to say my Mom or Sister are my best girlfriends -- since they're people I trust so much and they are extremely n...

Greetings, all! It has been awhile since I've graced you with my prescence. For the past 2 weeks...I have been working a lot. My schedule has just been...."screwy" with lots of overtime. It's been a long time since I've just had a day off. Waking up a 4:30 to work out, going to work to run my ass off until about 8-8:30 pm.....is causing so much house-work to pile up!! But tomorrow I have the day OFF!! And then Friday we are leaving this society to escape into the woods for a camping trip. Words cannot explain my joy for this. I want to be in a place for a few days where call lights and IV pumps aren't beeping 12 hrs/day at me, where my patients aren't peeing in their water glasses "accidently" (yes, this happened to me yesterday....), where I don't have to fix emotional melt-downs, don't have to worry about people's blood pressure & heart rhythm, and no one will be detoxing on me. Ahhhhh I am so ready for a real break! ...

1. If you work, do you drive to work or take public transportation? I drive, and it's only a 10-15 minute drive! I love it. It used to be 50-1 hr before we moved. 2. How often do you get your haircut? Do you go to the same person every time? I haven't had a haircut in 8 months, and I don't plan on doing it any time soon. And I don't even like my current hairstyle. I"ve just given up. I used to go "Regis" -- because I have NO CLUE who/where to go in Tucson. Every time I'd get a hair cut, they'd make my look like a boy. So I quit. (Do ya think I'm a little stubborn?!?! ;) ) 3. Do you read the newspaper? If so, a hardcopy or the online version? I don't read the newspaper. In fact, the only way a news paper is somewhat appealing to me is if I have a very large table to sprawl it out on. I hate holding this giant sheet of paper. We sometimes end up wrestling. I use either google news or fox news. 4. What is the best book you have rea...

The Living Room/Great Room of the Dream House. My first thing I would like is for the living room to be attached to the kitchen. I often see people don't like this feature. One of my favorite things to do while watching a movie, is cook/work-away in the kitchen (I cannot sit and watch a movie...) I also think the 2 connected is nice for entertaining. Maybe a bar separating the two? ( http://www.tuscanyvillasredding.com/ ) I am assuming this kitchen bar looks out into the living room. Another detail I am particular about is the flooring . The home we were building have tile floors - since it just seems to be the best flooring material in Arizona. The dryness, the extreme heat, the sand .... tile works best. However, our dreamhouse has wood floors. I'd prefer a darker flooring. Or something like this.... I have decided I definitely like the addition of a fireplace in the living room. It just adds a nice ambiance in the winter! My favorite type of fireplace is a stone ...