Rants, Recipes, and Running

As I recapped in my " Thank you, 2015 " post, that was a pretty amazing year. My biggest goal was to make 2016 more exciting and happy than 2015. I think we are off to a good start. We kicked off New Years weekend with a bang. I started NYD with a 20 mile run with my girlfriends, and then Ryan and I headed to Star Pass Resort for a weekend of relaxation, hiking, good food, and rejuvenation! But this post is to focus on literal this 10 day span, because I cannot believe how much as happened. Let me set the scene: Ryan is working night shift on random days (sometimes he is Monday - Friday, sometimes he is Wednesday - Sunday, sometimes he is Monday-Tuesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday). You get the jist. It's all over the place and we are ships passing in the night. In fact, I met a friend for brunch today and I was a few minutes late. And my reason was "I met Ryan on the street and hadn't actually talked to him since Thursday - so we stopped in the street to hu...

I'm going to continue with my "writing project", and today the theme is "landmark events". This is fitting theme for the week. I'm not ready to share the big news, but let me just say my head is spinning from a VERY BIG week!  Write about your first crush.  My 1st crush was a boy at the lakes. Name: Alex. He was "good looking" (for a 12 year old), funny, rebellious, and he had no curfew. Thank you, Mom & Dad, for being so strict and giving me a curfew!! Sometimes I play a little game with myself, and think about what life would be like if these crazy "crushes" from my youth would have persisted. How different my life would be .  That is all I'm going to say! (LOL!) Write about your first week in college. Exciting!  I could not wait to get out of Wyndmere, ND!! I was making new friends every day, my classes were so exciting and interesting. Coming from a high school class of 24 to class sizes of >300 was invigorating...

While out and about last weekend, I stumbled upon a book with "things to write about" - which inspired this series I will be posting about sporadically. I say sporadically, because I am not a very consistent blogger ;) I thought a childhood theme would be a fun place to start! Feel free to join in! 1.   What was your favorite toy?  I definitely have fond memories of this baby doll that you filled with water, so it felt life-like. This is funny to me -- because I'm not a "baby person" in my adult life. But that is the toy that comes to mind 1st for me 2.  Did you ever get lost? Several times. The one that sticks out most vividly was when my family went to Paridisio (a Mexican restaurant) and I went to Pizza Hut (which was next door). I was probably 3 or 4? I remember sitting in a booth, and finally realizing my Mom, Dad, and 4 siblings were not there. I ended up finding someone to help me get to the restaurant next door! I believe my parents ended up call...

I've made a significant change in my fitness over the past few months, and have been waiting to blog about it until I knew for sure it stuck. ;) My prioritization for exercise for the past few years: 1) Running 2) Weight training (heavy weights - fast-paced circuits) 3) Biking/swimming (but this is only a priority when I have a triathlon on my plate) I decided it was time for a change, when a few months back I felt like a rest day was never enough. To be honest, I was in pain. Sometimes sitting at my desk at work, I'd almost be in tears because my back and legs hurt so bad. It wasn't that I was injured, my muscles just ached . I was doing a lot of weight lifting in addition to triathlon training. And my weight training was more along the lines of "crossfit/power-lifting". I felt heavy, bulky, and just blah! Step 1 -- reinvent the wheel. I decided to stop my gym membership. That's a creative way to "get the body you want", huh?! ;) Here i...

Is it possible that 2015 is coming to a close? Just as I was getting into the "groove" of the year, it's gone like the blink of an eye! And what a year it was. We had a lot of time to reflect on the year, and look forward to the upcoming year over Christmas -- which I will be blogging about soon. But Ryan and I got an unexpected 27 hour drive twice in 1 week! ;) Lots of time to reflect, talk, and plan. May I also add that the fact that I still couldn't wait to get home from work to share my evening with him today, tells me that I married the right dude :) Alright, here are my 2015 highlights!  We got a puppy who stole our hearts: Miles. This little ball of fur taught me to put others' needs before my own. And brought us so much joy (and some messes).  In February, we did another Ragnar (my 4th): Ragnar del Sol in Phoenix. We did this with a group of close friends, and it was an absolute blast! 30 hours filled with adventure, challenging ...

Reading : Bittersweet by Colleen McCullough -- it's about 4 sisters post-WWI, who decide to enroll in the 1st ever "RN program" together so they can live their own dreams and have a career. So far it's a great book! Thinking : About how I will keep sane during our 27 hour drive to Minnesota this week. (We have to bring our dog, because my brother is going to take him for the next few years while Ryan is doing all his training). Any recommendations on good e-books? We are signing up for audible. Frustrated : **Cue broken record** -- That we don't have any information for when we are going to be moving, how we will be moving, whether we will have a home/apartment/hotel room, or any of the details regarding pilot training. So all I can do is take a deep breath, and let it be.  Feeling : Relieved that I got my 18 mile run done this morning. One of my girlfriends joined me for the full run, and 2 others joined us for 14. It was windy, cold, and extremely hilly ...

I'm doing a double-post day...because I don't know when I'll be back on my blog to recap the memories! ;) On December 6, Ryan and I did the Tucson Half Marathon. It was Ryan's 1st half marathon ever. I was on a mission to PR. We both had a successful day. I 1st have to say how impressed I am with Ryan. He is not big on long distance running. And during the training, he had a flare-up of knee pain which had him out of running for 3 weeks before the race. To be honest, he didn't really train for this race. He wasn't going to do the race, but Sunday morning at 4am, when I was getting ready to leave -- he decided to give it his best! And that he did. He finished in 1:43:10, just a few minutes behind me! That is not bad for a 1st half marathon, especially not training!! (and was a good sport about his wife beating him....) We stuck together for the 1st 5 miles, met up again around 8-9miles, and then I took off with adrenaline. I definitely ran the fastest I...