August 15, 2018

Well I’ve been baking/cooking and still running, I just haven’t made time to blog about it! Sorry!

I’m still running, more so a run/walk now, as my pelvis gets achy and feels like I’m supporting a bowling ball. (In case you wondered what it felt like running 30 weeks pregnant! 😉) I’m thankful I’ve stayed so active this pregnancy.

I’m also thankful to have passed my glucose test a couple weeks ago. I barely passed with my last pregnancy so I felt kind of doomed this time, assuming my summer ice cream cones were numbered. When in fact my numbers were the best they’ve ever been! I was thrilled! And the doctor confirmed that yes, it is probably very much related to the fact that I am running through this pregnancy. Yay! We definitely celebrated with an ice cream cone. 😁🍦

I’ve also been content with my weight gain this pregnancy. Being my third I was so worried I was going to gain even more weight and at the age of 35, would have a harder time losing it. So far running and staying active have helped and I am so thankful for the ability to continue running and being active; bedrest or restrictions would killlllll me. So praise for that!

Not a great picture but saw these babies bedded down in a yard in town on one of my early runs last week:

And I didn’t get a picture of my fluffy black and white friends I ran into on my early run on Monday this week. You all know how much I hate skunks!? Ran into a pair of them, with one of them running directly AT me! You want to see this fat girl run…it was definitely the fastest (block) I’ve ran in a while! 😂

Last but not least, I promised to share another squash recipe with you. One of my favorite summer side dishes and thankfully even the kids love it too!

Calabacitas
Serves 4
(Slight alterations from Cook’s Country’s original recipe)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 onion
1 yellow Hungarian pepper & 1 small jalopeno pepper (both stemmed, seeded, and diced)
1 chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & pepper
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash, both cut into small 1/2″ pieces
3 ears fresh corn cut from cob
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 oz feta cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet; add onion, peppers, garlic, salt & pepper and cook until vegetables are softened (about 5 min).
Stir in zucchini and squash and cook until tender (approximately another 6-10 min).
Stir in corn and cream, let simmer without stirring until the liquid evaporates and vegetables are slightly browned. (Approximately 7-10 min)
Season with salt and pepper to desired taste and sprinkle with feta cheese before serving.

The original recipe called for a few things that weren’t available in our small town grocery store so I used what I had/wanted and like how it turned out! But if you wish, you could make with a poblano pepper in place of the jalopeno/Hungarian peppers I used. And it also called for cotija cheese, which is similar to feta anyway. The original recipe also stated you could serve with lime wedges if you wish, but I never have.

This really is not a difficult dish and so very yummy and fresh! Enjoy!

July 22, 2018

Almost 27 weeks, 6 months pregnant, taking my basketball for a run this morning! 😜🏀

I don’t like the whole belly pic stuff but once in a while…and don’t mind the mess of shoes in our tiny entryway (hashtag real-life). 😛

Anyway it was a great morning for a run, 58* and a break in the rain. If you trusted the weather man one would have stayed in bed, as there was green all around us..but I was able to squeeze a whole hour in without any rain drops! It felt great!

And added bonus, huge festival in our town this weekend so there were lots of random port-a-potties around town (lol). 😂 Hey you can’t relate or appreciate it until you run with a cantaloupe size baby sitting on your bladder!

Off to get ready for church, enjoy your Sunday!

July 20, 2018

If you have an abundance of zucchini and you are running out of ideas of things to make with it, don’t give it away just yet! This recipe was a huge hit with my family last night; even the kids asked for seconds! My daughter asked why I’ve never made it before?!

The original recipe I saw floating around the internet called for spinach and artichoke filling. I’m not a huge fan so I concocted a broccoli and cheese filling. How can you go wrong with broccoli, cheese, and bacon!?

Bacon Wrapped Zucchini Boats
3 medium zucchini
8 oz. Cream cheese, softened
I box chopped broccoli, thawed/drained
1 1/2 cups shredded colby jack cheese
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 garlic clove, minced
Dash of crushed red pepper flakes
Salt & pepper
12 slices of bacon

Cut zucchini each in half, and remove middle/seeds, scooping them out with a spoon to create a ‘boat’. Place in greased pan.
In a large bowl combine all other ingredients, except bacon. Mix until combined.
Spoon mixture into prepared zucchini halves.
Wrap each filled zucchini half with two slices of bacon.
Bake at 350* for 40 minutes, or u til zucchini is tender. Then broil for an additional 3-5 minutes, if needed for additional desired doneness of bacon and to add desired color to topping.

Enjoy!

July 17, 2018

I’m getting slower and slower …but I’m trying to listen to my body and do what I can. I had a pretty good run on Saturday, I felt good.

But to be honest, by time I spent the day cleaning and getting ready for a birthday party after my run, I felt I had over done it. Plus it was hot…and I was whooped.

But I’m not ready to give up running yet. My goal is the end of the summer, approximately 30 weeks I guess.

I’m 26 weeks today and it was a slow one with the kids. My two kids, on bikes, and there were times I had to wait for them! Whiney today, let me tell ya! But we at least got 3.5 miles in.

A slow 3.5 miles in…but hey at least I’m still plugging away!

July 11, 2018

I have a hard time making myself get up at 4:20am to run before my husband leaves for work, when I do not need to be up that early. So I run in the morning after my kids get up and coax them along on their bikes. They don’t always want to go but I’m thankful that they do (with minimal whining). 😛 (Funny they whine a lot less when my friend Whitney comes with us! 😉)

Today we hit up this trail, even though I’m not a fan of trail running, I needed the shade! Gotta do what you can to get a run in. It was definitely on the slower side today and had to cut it half a mile short because my little dude biffed it with his bike at the end of the trail, but we all survived!

Many have asked how long I plan to run into this pregnancy and since this is the first pregnancy I’ve ran this far into, I’m not really sure. Just playing it by ear depending on how I feel. So far things are going fine so my goal is to run at least until the end of August (7 months one week approximately). Time will tell!

July 8, 2018

Normally going into a blog post I have an idea what I want to say…not 100% the case today.

As I was running on 4th of July this past week, it was a good run, best pace I’ve had in a while (remember I need walk breaks, I’m 5 1/2 months Prego) less aches and pains; but I ran through the park where we had Simon’s first birthday party and as his 6th birthday is approaching this week, it made me think of the different seasons of life.

I hate change. I hate my kids out growing clothes and new milestones and grade levels, and even birthdays. I always say I wish I could just freeze time. It’s hard to think that they’ll (my kids) never be this little again. With pregnancy hormones, just thinking about stuff like this lately has me in tears. Oy.

But as I ran on the 4th, I was reminded of what a former co-worker and special friend (who still holds a special place in my heart) used to always tell me, ‘there’s a season for everything and there are always things to enjoy in each season.’ She is right…but it doesn’t make change any easier for me.

But it’s inevitable…not just with our kids growing up but life in general, as I was reminded today. People come and go in your life, sometimes employment changes, and pastors change… unfortunately. We were so saddened to hear the news in church today that our pastor and family, who we so very much love and appreciate, have been called to another church. ….I understand, I get it, it’s God’s calling and what they should do, but it doesn’t make it any easier.

My husband and I are very grateful for all the changes, improvements, and growth they’ve guided our church through. I’m sure the majority would agree and I hope they know the impact they’ve made on each and every one of us. My husband and I renewed our vows last summer after going through a lot of growing together and strengthening our relationships with God and each other; Pastor Joe (and Michelle) were a huge part of this.

Still processing it…but understand, and know that God has plans for us and our church. Praying the next pastor will be just as honest, relatable, and diligent in spending time with God, bringing his word to us and helping/challenging us to grow the way Pastor Joe did.

But I’m still allowed to feel it stinks at the moment!

June 25, 2018

May was a busy month and I honestly don’t think I’ve baked more than chocolate chip cookies in what seems like forever! Well, I got my fill this weekend! We celebrated my grandma’s birthday on Friday afternoon and a late Father’s day cookout Friday night, for which I made desserts for both.

I made a light summery, new strawberry dessert for my grandma. It was delicious but I can’t take credit for the recipe. You can find it here: No-bake Strawberry Lasagna, the only thing I did different, I omitted the white chocolate shavings on top (not a huge fan of white chocolate and it definitely didn’t need it).

My father-in-law loves chocolate so for our father’s day cookout I made a triple chocolate cake with homemade fudge sauce. Yum! The fudge sauce would be yummy on ice cream or peanut butter pie too! The cake recipe is super easy, since it’s just a doctor’s up cake mix; but your guests don’t have to know that. 😉 The fudge sauce is very rich, you may also choose to just serve cake topped with cool whip.

Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake
Chocolate cake mix
1 box (regular .3oz size) instant chocolate pudding
2 cups sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
2 cups semisweet chips

Mix all ingredients and bake in a greased Bundt pan at 350* for 50 min to 1 hour. Cool 15 minutes before removing from pan. Serve with fudge sauce if desired.

Fudge Sauce:
On stove top combine 1/2 cup light corn syrup and 6 oz semisweet chips. Bring to boil.
Remove from heat and whisk in 3/4 cup heavy cream.
Cool and refrigerate leftovers.

*For the cake I used sugar free pudding and light sour cream and was equally delicious!

June 22, 2018

I have lots of beautiful vacation pictures from our trip to Siesta Key beach in Florida last week. The morning runs there are much warmer and muggier than at home but the views are beautiful! What’s not to love about the beach, right!?

Sunrise on the Bayside (two different mornings):

And the public beach that I would run to (so that I had a potty break 😂 lol):

But like I said in the title, there is really beauty all around us, not just on vacation, but I try to appreciate the everyday beauty of nature and animals I see on my runs at home as well. Today I was blessed with a beautiful second day of summer sunrise on my run at home. 😊

I also enjoyed the fact that it was 58* and not 74 and muggy already at 5am. But I’m certainly not complaining about Beach weather either!!! We were blessed with beautiful weather on our vacation and thoroughly enjoyed our time together as a family. 😎😍

I will definitely miss our gulf sunsets! One for your viewing pleasure; have a great day wherever you are!

June 2, 2018

Well most of you know I had a goal to do a half marathon…while 19 1/2 weeks pregnant. Its a race (with a huge hill) that I have done at least two other times, but under the current circumstances I wasn’t sure how I’d be feeling or if I could do it, so I waited til the last minute to sign up. Thankful that God gave me the strength I needed to finish!

I had mentioned before that my biggest challenge with running lately was the stress of feeling like I constantly had to go to the bathroom! I was stressed how I was going to wait the five miles between race day port-a-potties, when sometimes I feel like I have to pee every other mile! lol- don’t laugh, the struggle is real people!

Anyway, the strange things that I know my praying friends have prayed for me over the years…this one is probably up there on the list. But I could certainly tell they were praying because I did fine! Made it to the port-a-potties lol and wasn’t overly stressed about it. I could also tell prayers were answered when the sun started to shine despite the forecast which had called for cloudy skies all day. Yes, I always pray for a ‘cool & cloudy race day.’ I don’t do well in the heat. Once it hits 70, I feel like I’m done! The day was cloudy but started out at 67* and somewhat muggy. Then there was a two mile stretch where the sun came out and I started to feel drained. I had friends cheering me on along the way and I mentioned/they knew the sun was going to drain me and I still had 4 miles to go. I knew my faithful prayer warrior friend Rachel was praying because within another mile the clouds rolled back in and it was tolerable! I kind of smiled to myself and thanked God and said, ‘yup, Rachel prayed for clouds for me.’ ❤ That’s what friends are for, right?

I was so blessed to have my own little cheering section hopping all the way along the course for me! I felt so loved and blessed! Until you experience it, you don’t know how much fun a race can be, and having family and friends there to cheer you on along the way gives you the excitement and boost you need! So much fun and I so appreciate alllll the support!

(Photo credit: Rachel Darrah)

I didn’t really have any finish time goals in mind because it didn’t really matter to me. I just wanted to finish (and not have to pee anywhere other than a port-a-pottie, lol). My normal finish time for this half is two hours; so with my current pace, factoring in potty breaks, and the fact that my daughter had a soccer game at 11, my goal was 2.5 hrs (10:30 am). I was happy with my time of 2 hrs 21 minutes.

(Photo credit: Rachel Darrah)

The Lord is always my strength when I run (and when I don’t ha); I spend a lot of time in prayer and have faith He gets me through. Again, so very thankful for all the love and support from my family and friends! Even if they think I’m a little crazy! (All us runners are, aren’t we? 😜)

(Other cheerleaders that hopped along the way too but missing from the picture are my mom, step mom, and Hannah Darrah and family! Appreciate them all!) And appreciate all the love, support, and prayers from friends and family who weren’t here in person as well! ❤

Ps. Everyone got a kick out of my shirt I had made by someone local (*thanks Caroline)! 😀

May 23, 2018

I went to bed last night feeling kind of down and in a miserable mood. I didn’t feel like venting, or even talking at all. Sometimes all you can focus on is the negative. Thankfully I’ve always been one to get up the next day and start fresh.

Today I feel so much better, mentally and physically. I appreciate the early sunrise. I appreciated a run with less aches and pains than I’ve had in a couple weeks. I appreciated my prayerful run and my time with God. I appreciate the extra rest day I allowed myself yesterday (mostly due to rain), but it was definitely needed and made a difference. I’m thankful for good Christian music this morning. And I’m thankful I found one more pair of pants that still buttons! Woohoo, at 18 weeks now, I’ll celebrate that!

It’s the little things I guess. Don’t let them go unnoticed or unappreciated. Start each day fresh and give the new day a new chance. Going to try to focus on the positive today!

Hope you have a wonderful, blessed day ahead too! 😃