Rants, Recipes, and Running

I have had quite the absense from this little blog of mine lately. Let's just leave it at the fact that there's been a lot going on. I look forward to having a day where I can do what I want to do. If I'm not working, life is being heavily consumed by "to do lists". But I will say that there is a "bounce" in my step & a smile on my face while completing these "to do lists". What have we been up to? Between our crazy work schedules, me trainging for a marathon, and Ryan taking on a new position within the Air National Guard.....Well, I would have to say we are being such a traditional ole' American couple. Buying our 1st home, fixing it up, becoming "regulars" @ Home Depot ( seriously..they know us by name ), hanging Christmas lights, baking loads of White-Chocolate-Cherry Biscotti for the neighbors...... We're kind of cheesey, huh! :) But as we are, and I'm sure all of you are -- getting caught up the shear mad...

Today I am going to write a brief "thankfulness" post on my job. I am well aware of the blessing of having a job in today's economy, and so I go to work every day feeling blessed & thankful. The best part of my job is that no 2 days are the same. There is always something challenging and I can always learn something new. I'm also blessed to get to interact with so many interesting people. One of my favorite things to do is just spend a little time talking to my patients about where they came from, where they've been, etc. I also have a pretty fabulous team I work with, which makes a huge difference! However...my "dream job" would be to work in an 8-5 M-F clinic as a Homeopathic Nurse Practitioner. But with the economy and people's reservations to spend money.....that is just a dream. A very far stretched dream. So I will continue to recover patients from cardiac caths, convert people from afib to sinus rhythm, do dressing changes to foot ...

Today I am thankful for our house. We are so blessed to have gotten this place! Here are a few reasons why I love this the steal we got!: 1) It happens to be in a neighborhood in the part of town I've drove to to run the trails for the past year! Now I don't have to drive 10 minutes to go for a gorgeous run, as it's right outside my back yard! 2) It backs into a golf course. Some people (our realtor) would say that's not a good thing. I disagree. AZ doesn't have a lot of green grass...and that's what we look at every day, and we don't have to maintain it either! (maintaining grass in this state is a headache ...) We are located in a spot where very few balls end up in our yard too, so it works out. 3) It's a very friendly neighborhood. (but not too friendly..so it's a nice balance. No annoying neighbors!) -- The weekend we closed, our neighbor came over with a plate of cookies to welcome us. It warmed my heart. And people are already working on...

Today I am focusing my giving of thanks to my Mom & Dad, Marlys & Paul.   (this is a photo of us @ the reheasal dinner before our wedding)   I never knew how much I'd miss them before we moved to Tucson. Growing up I took for granted how lucky I was to have such loving and wise parents. They taught me so much about God, family, work ethic, and so many valuable life lessons. They demonstrate the meaning of a marriage centered on love and commitment. They run a business together and raised 5 children together. It is sometimes easy to get sad when I realize we only see them a few times each year. But, then I must remember I am so very blessed that I get to see them. And I talk more than once/week. In fact, I text my Mom almost daily!  I am so happy to have them in my life. AND I get to see them in just a few short months as we're making a short trip home for New Years -- which is a TOTAL surprise since I didn't think we'd get home at all this year!!

Remember last week when I said "I'm going to think about trying to do a thankful post daily" ? Well, I thought about it!And that is as far as I got..... Can I just say that I'm really sick of packing. Every day I've had off for the past 1 1/2 weeks, I've spent the entire day packing boxes, taking them to the house, unloading them and placing items in appropriate places, take empty boxes back to the old house, repeat. Also, life has been a tad chaotic lately. We are living between 2 homes. So when one says "Do you know where my ______ is?"...I now just laugh. But the official "moving day" will be here this weekend! I am SO excited! Okay, now to thankfulness..... Today I am blessing my thankfulness on wellness . By wellness I mean a variety of things. 1) I am thankful that we both have our health. It is sometimes easy to forget how truly blessed one is to have their health (mental & physical) 2) I am thankful that we are...

I haven't been blogging lately. I have been spending my days off on a ladder painting. On my hands & knees cleaning grout. And packing boxes. We closed 2 weeks ago - and the more time we spend in the house, the more thankful I'm feeling! (and the more time we spend in the house, the more things we find that need repairs :D) We get the U-Haul next weekend, and make the big move -- so we will be all settled in just before Thanksgiving. :-) This experience has brought Ryan & I closer. We haven't had much of a social life lately, so we're getting LOTS of quality bonding time working on the house. Our new idea of a date night is a trip to Home Depot or a night of painting baseboards together. Good times! All I have to say is Thank God for unsecured wireless networks & Pandora Radio. It's keeping me working! What did people do before Pandora? ( Don't worry...I realize the answer to this question is they had these weird *tape-devices* and someth...

I finally feel like a domesticated woman. I have roasted a chicken . We have made several chickens, but always on the grill. I cook chicken several times of a week - but in the form of breasts, wings, or thighs.. On Sunday it was 98 degrees on October 16 and we did not want to be outdoors in that crap. So I suggested pretending it was fall.... So we roasted a chicken. I didn't know what to do for a side dish...and I realized we have an over-abundance of carrots that need to be eaten before we move... So carrot soup it was -- and it's one of my new favorite soups :)  We used the "Beer Can Chicken" method of this one in the oven. Poured 1/2 can of beer, fresh rosemary, thyme, & basil -- stuck it in the cavity, coated the chicken with seasoning & paprika. And backed for about 1 hour @ 350 degrees. Carrot Soup (recipe below) Carrot Soup -4 cups chopped carrots -1 potato, chopped -1/2 yellow onion -14.5 ounces chicken broth -2 cups milk (the recipe c...