Rants, Recipes, and Running

Greetings from our cabin in the woods in Big Bear, California! I am supposed to be moving Ryan to March AFB today for training, but his training has been rescheduled and re-routed. However, we had already put our deposit on our cabin (we were going to stay here for a few romantic days before I moved him).....so we made a fun vacay out of the deal! Pictures will come eventually . :) I am determined to finish this Grateful blog, however! So here's the last of it! The best thing I tasted today was.... For breakfast I had a slice of my home-made blackberry lemon bread, toasted on the stove, and a spread little Fage greek yogurt on it. I love going online to .... look up recipes, gawk at dream vacations, and look up home renovation ideas. I must admit a great deal of this is done via Pinterest. I'm grateful for the way these things feel: my husbands arm around my back, a hug from family & friends, cool & crisp freshly washed sheets after a long day, the ta...

Last time I talk about marathon training, it wasn't the most positive post. I was having foot pain, that I assumed to be a stress fracture. (When it comes to sports-related injuries, it is much better to overestimate than underestimate). Well, I finally got x-rays upon my return home to AZ, it turned out to be bone spurs . I have oddly shaped feet with high arches, which affects my gait. He gave me some orthotics, and it's honestly helped. A few things I've changed up with my training plan, since I "went forward" with it: I almost never run on consecutive days. Prior to this injury, there were times where I'd run 3 days in a row. If I had it my way, I would run 7 days in a row - for running brings me such joy and release. But discipline runs marathons. In the past, my marathon training included gradually increasing my mileage weekly and then scaling back every 3rd week. (ex 12, 14, 9, 15, 17, 12). Now I'm building steady and slow. So I did 8, 8, 8...

Well, it's taking me longer than 30 days, as my consistency in blogging has been horrible since I've been home! It's been really busy and I've been in a constant mode of go-go-go! All good things, but I will admit that I'm having a deep longing to just hole up in my house and be a recluse for a day. All this business has me feeling extremely grateful, which is a great theme to get me ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas! Let me pick up where I left off with this "30 Days of Gratitude" I'm lucky that I'm smart enough to figure out how to .....use critical thinking in my job. It's something they try to teach you in college, but I think it mostly comes with experience. My time in the ER has really built that. I've reached the point where I feel like I can look at a patient, anticipate what's going to happen and just how sick they are within the first 20 seconds in the room. In this moment, what I love most about my friends are .......

So we've been home for a week, and boy, what a week it has been! Got the house cleaned and in order Helped Ryan assemble a 350 lb smoker - and trial run it before our party Returned to work after my leave and got to read about 300 emails. (I think 5 were worth reading) Had a mini dinner party Friday night - made grilled filet mignon, asparagus, & butternut squash risotto Ran 10 miles to resume my marathon training Prepped and threw a party Saturday night with approximately 45 guests Sunday after cleaning up, scrubbing the floors, and getting the house back in order - I will admit I fell asleep with my feet danging in the pool. When I set up this party, I wanted to do something easy. "Let's grill some burgers, have a big salad, and call it a day!" Somehow that transformed into a menu of...... Smoke Pulled pork Pulled pork flatbreads 4-cheese bacon Mac'N'Cheese North Carolina-style Slaw Smoked Beer Can Chickens So Saturday morning Rya...

The strongest part of my body in this moment is ......I'd have to say my legs. Even after basically taking a 3 week break from running (with a few intermittent jogs in the middle) - I am clear to resume training. I went for a 10 mile run yesterday, and worried that I wouldn't be able to carry though. But to be honest, my legs didn't even feel a hint of soreness. I have all the strength training and biking to thank for that! Even after a rough day at work, the things I'm most grateful for are .....This answer is very evident for me right now! My coworkers. After working at different hospitals in a different state this summer, I gained a serious appreciation for my coworkers. I honestly think my ER is the dream team of ER's. No matter how busy it is, everyone helps each other out. People always have your back, and that energy is contagious. We all work as a cohesive team, and we find things to laugh and smile about throughout the day. It makes even the worse days e...

Last Friday, Ryan got his wings pinned. He is now officially a military rated pilot. Pretty cool. When he was 17 years old, he signed up for the Air National Guard. He had one goal: to become a pilot for the Air Force. From there, every decision he made had that goal in sight. He chose electrical engineer, he got an internship (and then a job) in the defense industry, he worked as an Avionics technician on F-16's, we moved to Tucson to get to a different base where there were more opportunities.....9 years later, those wings were pinned on! 9 years of some amazing experiences. I've been a part of it for 6. The amazing part is...this is only the beginning! So many years lie ahead of us, and I cannot wait to see what the future holds. The weekend went perfect. Everything from our time spent with his family to the ceremonies was just perfect. It was wonderful to have both his parents there. It was also really cool to see his Dad give him his "blood wings". A little...

I am making a point of savoring a little "me time" before it gets busy. Starting this afternoon, then next few weeks I will be going 100 mph at life. So many exciting things I look forward to coming up. But I'm also a little stressed, as our house has sat vacant for 4 months (ahhh!) -- and we have a party hosting about 30-40 people just 6 days after we get home! So this is my moment to breath. Okay, okay, I lied. I'm procrastinating . All the luggage bags and totes are nicely laid out, I'm supposed to be packing, and then going to the gym, and then packing more, and then picking up Ryan's family at the airport. But I am avoiding packing like the plague. So decided, "I really should drink my coffee and play on the computer...." I'm not going to be able to do my 30 days of Gratitude post tomorrow, as tomorrow is going to be a very busy day with Ryan's pinning ceremony starting at 9 am! I have major butterflies in my stomach thinking about...