Rants, Recipes, and Running

Yes, I am an extraordinarily creative blogger (Ha!). I am so very talented @ stealing "borrowing" post-ideas from others. So here I go! What I'm currently up to, what currently is populating my mind. Working, working, and Trying so very hard to be away from work when I'm away from work. Lately it's just been hard for me to "leave it at the door". Running! I finished my half marathon - so my plan was to STOP running. But that race got me so jazzed about running, and it's such a great release!! I've done some gorgeous trail runs lately! Need to get me some "trail running shoes". Landscaping. Well, we will be. The next 2 days, I will be spending most of my time using a shovel digging in the dirt. Ryan and I are going to dig up the dead grass, and lay rocks & flagstone. Should be interesting! Wondering. It's so weird that I have no idea what life will be like in 4 months. My husband will be leaving for pilot training for...

It is time for a recipe post! On Saint Patricks' Day, I made corned beef & cabbage, paired up with Irish Soda bread, and I made a promise (on facebook) that I would do a post on that... But I just couldn't. I'm going to be honest & say I'm not a big "corned beef fan". The recipe turned out well, but I just don't love it. So I decided to throw this one at you all, instead! I highly recommend, as it is amazing. It was my "pre-race fuel" on Saturday night. I paired this with a whole-wheat pasta salad to get my carbs! 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter 1/2 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce 1/4 cup rice vinegar 1/3 cup sugar 1/4 tsp red pepper sauce 1 thai pepper (or jalepeno), finely chopped 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped 1 bell pepper (I used 1/2 green & 1/2 red to add some color), chopped into squares pineapple chunk Red onion, chopped into squares Chop all ingredients & place into containers or piles for ...

I've got the fever to do another race! Running is truely an addiction. The more events you partake in, the more you want to do. This weekend I did the Arizona Distance Classic Half Marathon. One of the fun parts of this race, is my I won the raffle for free registration! My hospital happened to sponsor this race. It was kind of funny, actually. I know I'd be seeing people I know at one of the water stations. Of course, they were stationed @ mile 12. This entire race was hills, so by mile 12 I was a breathless, sweaty mess. :-) So when they greeted me and cheered "Go Abby!" -- I was so hypoxic, I couldn't even find it in me to say "hi" or "Thank you". I was just making a whimpery moaning noise.....and nodded my head. The AZ Distance Classic was the most challenging race I've done. I'm not sure it was something I did nutritionally, training-wise, or hydration-wise? It could be that I hung out with the 1 hr 40 min pace team for the 1s...

Do you ever run in the dark? How do you do with it? Are you comfortable, and just enjoy the peacefulness & anonymity? Or are you scared of the dark? I try to be badass . I try to be fearless . I tell my husband "Pepper spray - schmepper spray" "alarm system? Sch-larm system" when he tells me to be aware of my surroundings. But really? Let's be honest. This lady is scared of the dark. Today I went for a run in my neighborhood for the 1st time ever in the dark. Usually when I work out before I go to work, it's still dark out. Therefore, I light weights in our "home gym" or I use a tredmill @ my gym. (may I add we live in a ridiculously safe, mostly retired, community...) But today I decided it's time to wear some reflective gear, wear my head-light, and carry some pepper spray & a cell phone. Sounds like I was armed, right? Didn't feel so. I was a nervous wreck. My first encounter was when I heard footsteps, and I s...

I've started to get better about blogging on more of a regular basis (for the past week). And lately I've done a rant..... I've done a blog on running (my Garmin).... Now I think I'm due for a recipe, right? (Hence the name of this blog) So part of my New Year's Resolutions was to "Try a new recipe weekly".. I've done okay at sticking to this. Well, initially I started out by cooking a "step-by-step" legitamate recipe. But for the past few weeks it's been more of Abby's traditional "a little this", " a little that". "whalla!!" However, this recipe I did a few weeks ago turned out delicious. It made our house smell like we were from India. It made me feel ethnic and cool. I wish I had a different ethnicity, that I could cook foods of my culture. Being German is great. The beer is great. The sauerkraut is fabulous. Other than that? I'm not really crazy about German food. No Sauerbraten for ...

Good morning, all! I stole this one from my sister Lisa . I like these kind of posts! Hope you all have a great weekend. I actually get a weekend finally, so I'm a very happy camper! I am rather pithy at times. I think often about the future. I know life is full of endless blessings. I have lots of painting to do, even though I've done hours of painting already..... The projects never end when buying a new home! I wish crystal balls were real - and they could tell me if my decisions would be failures or successes. I hate disappointing people. I miss my family. I fear that someday the US will be a 3rd world country. I hear birds singing outside. I smell coffee. I crave a day out on the lake. I search  for a place to get my hair done. It's been 2 years since I've been in a hair salon. I wonder what I will be doing 10 years from now. I regret not paying attention to the "formal meetings" when I was in a sorority in college. I went to my 1st...

The time has come for a new Garmin. I am reaching out to anyone out there for suggestions....Here's what happened. (For anyone who doesn't know what a Garmin is, it's a running watch with GPS letting you know how far you've run, your splits, your elevation, etc ) Marc Antony is the name of my current Garmin. He is the second Garmin I've ran with. (I have a habit of naming my Garmin's Roman leaders & Gods. I don't know why. My 1st Garmin was named Julius. My next Garmin will either be named Spartacus or Pheidippides (the 1st marathon runner in history). Your vote ? Anyways...last Friday I was doing a nice 10 mile run (I have a half marathon in 3 weeks). And Sir Antony backed down on me. Luckily, I was doing an "out & back". I ran out 5 miles, and come 6.78 miles - he got "stuck". I assume it's early stage dementia. For after running about 300 more feet, he attempted to kick back in & act as though nothing happened. ...