Rants, Recipes, and Running

    I adore Summer.   Summer = fun Summer = sunshine Summer = playful Summer = happy   Okay, in all honesty, summer = blistering, freaking hot in the Sonoran desert . But, I like to focus on the positive.   Here is my list of things I'm planning on checking off my list this summer:   Perfecting my white sangria recipe. And then posting it on here. Eating lots and lots of watermelon Keeping "Holly" my tomato plant alive all summer long (I've named her "Holly", since she was " conceived " while Ryan was at Holloman Air Force Base. Yes, I name my plants.) Spending hot summer nights cooling off in the pool Goal: Tread water for 30 minutes! Another goal: Swim 3 miles. (I'm currently at 1.75 miles. I've got this! I technically have until October, since our summer lasts 6 months!) Join a "Produce Share" group, and learn how to cook some new vegetables! (We just enrolled in Sunizona Family Farms and ge...

The Southwest is heating up fast. There are few "less than 100 degree" days left (until about October). Therefore, it feels like a "race against time" for those who love to enjoy the outdoors. You can still enjoy the outdoors in the dead of summer. But it gets challenging..... Ryan and I both had Friday off - and instead of doing a bathroom renovation project (that we had planned on). We played "hooky" on ourselves, and went for a long hike! It was only a high of 86 F. The goal of this hike was to reach "Hutch's Pool". Which is a year-round natural body of water that is up in the mountains of the Santa Catalina's (in Tucson, AZ). There are supposed to be other waterfalls along the way. However, due to Tucson's drought - that was not the case. We saw a lot of dried up "waterfalls". Sad day. The hike was 16 miles round trip. It took us a little over 6 hours to complete. We averaged about 20-25 minutes/mile. This was ...

On our second day of hiking, I was feeling very exhilarated and happy from how much fun we were having. And my naïve, silly self said to Ryan, "I think any couple that is having a tough time in their relationship should take a trip like this!!!" Ryan had to stop walking so he could laugh, and assure me not to suggest this to any couple in trouble. Bad relationship + survival challenges + wilderness = feed significant other the bear He had a good point. A relationship should probably be thriving before roughing it out in the wilderness. Why do I say this? Because you really have to function as a team. Our tent was so tiny, it literally only fit our bodies. We had to squeeze in and out one person at a time . But as I frolicked through the forest and reflected, there were many analogies between backpacking and healthy relationships.   (or life, in general!) To have a successful backpacking trip, you must be okay with "nothing to do". There aren no TV...

As I put my feet up elevate my scuffed-up, cut-up, bruised, swollen legs....I feel a strong sense of peace. We completed our first backpacking excursion! 10 miles, 30 lbs on my back (40 lbs on Ryan's back), 28 river-crossings. It was amazing! I am going to be honest and say, I went into this weekend with great apprehension. I've never done anything like this. I've camped. I've hiked. But I've never had to stress about ounces . And what shoes to wear. Exactly how much food will sustain us. How will we get water? There is so much planning and thought that goes into these trips. But I loved every second of it! (Well, except for at 3 in the morning, when I could hear something rustling around our tent (black bear?!). Or when it's 30 degrees in the morning and I had to wash our dishes in the cold river...) So let me try to break down our trip: The Hike: Normally we can hike 6-8 miles no problem. This was an enlightening experience. I was humbled. Intere...

I decided on my recent trail run through Phoneline Trail in Sabino Canyon, that if I could trail run every day - I would. But it takes at least 20 minutes to get to a trail from my house. And let's face it - if I did this every day I'd be a pile of ace wraps and ibuprofen. Friday morning my girlfriend and I did a 9.3 mile trail run through Sabino Canyon. It's this beautiful canyon north of the Foothills of Tucson - that is supposed to have a stream that cuts through it. Most years it has running water from about December-May. This year, unfortunately, it's quite dry because Mount Lemmon didn't get snow. *insert rant about my serious concerns about our drought and how people of Tucson need to start making efforts to conserve water and we need to do rain water harvesting this monsoon season so we don't further dry out what's left of our water table* Let me step off my soap box and get back to trail running . 9.3 miles of trail running is a challeng...

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 ...

You may not know this about me (or believe this about me) - but I am a big-time "scaredy cat". I don't do diving boards, I don't do heights, ever sports stadiums make me a little weary..... I never climb anything . I'm too scared of falling. So I'm not really sure what I was thinking signing up for an obstacle run. Especially the 10K, where I have to do it twice . 12 foot walls had to be climbed up and jumped down from 24 times. We had to climb a 30 foot wall using ropes. There was this rope-net that was 20 feet above the ground that we had to spider climb across. We had to climb this other "rope" ladder thing about 20 feet into the air....and then slide down a pole. We army crawled through tunnels under roads (that had fake snakes in them) We army crawled through mud, mud, and more mud.... The only obstacle I couldn't do was crossing monkey bars. My hands were too wet, and I kept slipping. And lets just be honest...I can't cr...