Rants, Recipes, and Running

No matter how busy life gets, I whole-heartedly believe that every relationship needs "date night". And "date night" should be a routine. "Date night" doesn't have to be a fancy night out over a plate of surf-and-turf. It doesn't have to be a night out at the movies. "Date night" is about breaking the routine, and spending time together as a couple. I think a routine "date night" is especially important once you start to have children. Not saying it's easy by any means...but every relationship needs 1:1 time away from the day-to-day stressors! Here are my favorite "date nights": 1. Happy Hour, Gelato, and a walk . One of my favorites is going to North, an Italian restaurant in the foothills of Tucson with a gorgeous patio. They have half-priced wine for HH. We share a few appetizers (marghertia pizza...caprese salad...) And then we go for a walk, and finish off the evening with a small gelato. Lots of vari...

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 - ...

I have brushed on this fact in the past. But a year ago, had you asked me "Abby, do you want to get a dog?" I would have laughed hysterically in your face. And now we have a 6 1/2 month puppy who has permanently "staked his claim" in the Nastase household. So crazy! And what's even weirder, is that he's become my little buddy who I worry about, have to put him to bed, won't let my husband clean his ears because " he likes it better when I do it ", and has made quite the showing on my Instragram page. Miles the Golden Retriever has kind of stolen my heart. He's gone from this : Miles at 5 weeks when we picked him out and got to hold him for the 1st time. Miles at 6 weeks when we brought him home. My goodness he was cute....     To this:  Miles sleeping in our living room at 6 months. He is now 45 pounds, and he thinks he's "kind of a big deal". Here is how Miles has changed things around the hou...

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. ...

On our drive home from our last Mexico trip, we decided on trying to come back for Memorial Day weekend to get our "Advanced Open Water Certification". We had some hoops to jump through to make it work....but we made it work. Best last minute vacation ever !!! What does Advanced certification do for you , some may ask ? It's so you pay more money to the PADI Scuba diving association..... Just kidding. But sometimes it feels like that ;) Being advanced allows you to go on more dives, since you are certified to 130 feet below sea level. A basic certification only allows you to go to 60 feet. We wanted to get this before our Hawaii trip, so we can potentially check out some wrecks while there! What type of dives did I have to do to become "advanced"? In order to become "advanced", you have to complete 5 specialty dives with an instructor. Our dives were: 1. Peak Buoyancy Dive - you have to show that you can gracefully flow through the wat...

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...

If you have been following this blog over the years, you may remember that I have had some "cake fails" in the past. Like 6 years ago, when my husband requested an ice cream cake ...and we ended up with a cake engulfed in cookies-and-cream-ice-cream. Last year for Ryan's birthday, I attempted a dark-chocolate layer cake. The cake collapsed in the middle. So my fix was, I made out of those "coffee mug cakes", cut out the collapsed goo, and put the "mug cake" in the hole. Ryan thought it was a "special layer" cake - and it was a win-win! So as you can see, cake baking maybe isn't my strongest? But I like to think I'm good at it. Because I love to cook and bake. So there I was Thursday night. I was at a HH for work, and ran into one of my girlfriends. We were planning a surprise 40th bday party for our friend Amber. I asked if she needed help with any last minute details, and she asked if I'd be able to take care of the cake! ...