Thursday, May 31, 2012

May Foodie Penpals...

So this is my third month participating in the Foodie Penpals, and I have just loved everything I've gotten so far.  This month I got a box from Rebecca @ Changing Us.

Hello there, box of yummy goodness.
These are a few of my favorite things.

I'm not sure how she knew about my chocolate addiction, but this box was full of the perfect amount of chocolate for me.  Note to self, stop opening the boxes in front of the children so I won't have so keep sharing the yummy stuff inside.  The milk chocolate truffles were amazing, I could have eaten the entire box in one sitting, but I did not.  The best part is they all came from my favorite store, Target, so I can pick these things up whenever I want.  Now that I think about it, that might not be a good thing.

I am so excited about this honey, and it's in a collectible glass.  I'd say that's a win-win situation.  I love honey, it use it to make my homemade granola, or as a part of my pre, post or during workout fuel. 

Peanut butter and honey on whole wheat toast to fuel the end of my super-sized Memorial Day workout.

I also got popcorn and instructions to make popcorn in a brown paper bag instead of buying the microwave popcorn.  Genius idea!  I think people already know about this, but I did not.  No pictures of the popcorn yet, but I'll have to post some soon.  Camy was a little jealous since she's not supposed to eat popcorn with her braces.  I told her she's only got about 28 months to go.  She didn't find any humor in that.

Thanks for the goodies Rebecca!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

WIAW #6...

I can't believe it's Wednesday again already.  My WIAW post will be some pictures of the eats from the long weekend.  It was our 16th wedding anniversary so there was lots of eating out this weekend.

Have you tried this yogurt?  I really like it.  I have been eating Greek yogurt for a while so it's a nice change of pace going with just regular organic yogurt.

We had dinner at the Melting Pot on Saturday night.

I didn't get a shot of the shrimp we shared, but these are the appetizer and dessert.

The cheese was:
Wisconsin Trio Cheese Fondue
Rich Fontina and Butterkäse join buttermilk bleu cheese, white wine, scallions and a hint of sherry
 
The chocolate was:
Flaming Turtle
We consider it Fondue Candy. It’s an irresistible combination of milk chocolate, caramel and candied pecans flambéed tableside.
 
All I can say about this was yum.
 
Instead of brunch on Sunday we went to my new favorite Mexican restaurant, Chuy's.  I had the Bean and Cheese Burrito. 
“Big As Yo’Face”
They describe it as:
A homemade, 12” flour tortilla stuffed with refried beans,

cheese and your choice of the following. Served with
your choice of sauce & your choice of Mexican rice or
green chile rice.

It looks like this:
Well it looks like this sideways.  It was enough for two big meals.

I broke out my bike on Monday, I've got a 5K bike sprint on Sunday for the Corporate Challenge and I hadn't ridden my bike since the Tie Dye Tri last September.  (My number from the race was still on my bike.)  So I got it down and headed out for 12 hilly miles and then rode the 3.5 miles to the Y for weights and lunges and sauna and then 3.5 miles home.  Between the 12 mile ride and the Y I had this:
Crunchy peanut butter and honey on whole wheat toast.  I also drank both water bottles full of NUUN as I was in re-hydration mode after the weekend's festivities.  More on that later.

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

WIAW #5...

My WIAW post this week will be What I Ate Monday.

Sunday was a glorious day.  I had no plans.  I went to the grocery store on Saturday (that hasn't happened in weeks!), I got my work out in Saturday morning (yoga, spin and a trip around the gym lunge-style) so on Sunday I could barely move. 

Josh and Carson headed up to Edmond to get some work done on the damaged car, and Camy decided to stay and hang out with me.  I think she thought it was going to be exciting.  What I got done on Sunday contributed to What I Ate Monday.

Breakfast:

I made a fresh batch of English muffins, and I really think I am getting the hand of them.  You know, if you grease the English muffin rounds it works much better.  Next time will be awesome!  I also made a batch of spinach and mushroom individual fritatas.  So my breakfast sandwich had that, a fake sausage patty and some Laughing Cow cheese.

I also had a glass of this yumminess I found at Target on Saturday, Silk Fruit & Protein.  I love Silk Almond Milk.  The Dark Chocolate is amazing, and I use the unsweetened instead of milk in everything.  Camy and I spotted this Saturday and just had to give it a try.  It was so good!  Tastes like a smoothie, kinda creamy and kinda fruity.  I will definitely keep this in my fridge.  I think it could be a great after workout beverage too.

Lunch:

Leftover orzo with veggies that I made the end of last week.  I also had an apple and a piece of cheese and one of my new White Chocolate Chip Nutella cookies.  I did this experimental cookie baking on Sunday as well and the white chocolate chips really cut through some of the richness of all that chocolate in a good way.
Afternoon Snack:

Of course I had pistachios.  I can't say anything more about it.  I also had a Luna Bar before spin class.  I am glad I did, I don't think I could have made it through that class without it.

Dinner: 

I started with a salad.  I even made one to have in my lunch today, in case you were wondering what I was eating on Tuesday.  I bought this Archer Farms Raspberry Acai Vinaigrette Salad Dressing a while back and have been having it on all salads ever since.  It's really good.

Camy requested mac and cheese for dinner so instead of leftover spaghetti from Sunday I decided to make some from scratch.  I almost forgot to take a picture of it.

In all it was a pretty yummy day.  Clearly I was carb loading for some unknown race I must be doing. 


Friday, May 18, 2012

My Leg Hurts…

Here's a funny story for you. When I saw my doctor last week he discussed the reasons for me to not run for four more weeks. Apart from giving my body more time to heal he was concerned that my right quad had atrophied a little spending most of the previous 7 weeks in the boot or on the dreaded crutches.

{Do you know what I hate more than the treadmill? That damn boot. It's the single most expensive shoe I own now and it doesn't go with anything.}

Did I mention before that Dr. Hines is the doctor that has done both of my knee surgeries? He is also the team physician for the OU Wrestling team AND he's the team doc for the US Olympic Wrestling Team. How cool is that. Sure wish he'd give me some good news once in a while when I go in to see him.

Anyway, he even measured my quads and he said there was about a 1 cm difference in the right and the left. I bet you can guess which one was skinnier. I almost asked him to measure my calf, but I figured I could do that on my own. I swear my right one looks skinnier. Might just be the angle. I don't think my ankle could get any skinnier.

So, I have to say that I didn't believe him. I thought he was trying to make me feel better about not running. For. Four. More. Weeks. Well, I believe him now. I have been working out like a mad woman. I have been so set on not losing my fitness level I have been spending major time at the gym, on the spin bike mostly. I thought I was keeping my legs in pretty darn good shape. Clearly it's only because Donna B. hasn't had her "friends" in her Wednesday afternoon Pilates class recently.

Her "friends", AKA ankle weights, showed up this week, and we did lots of leg lifts and all other kind of insanity that I think she just makes up on the fly. I am convinced she just does it to see if she can get us all to do it. For some crazy reason we always do.

Even without the "friends" when it comes to leg lifts it is almost impossible for me to stretch out my insanely tight hamstrings to hold my leg out perfectly straight and perform any lifting movements at the same time. I am a runner, after all, and my hamstrings hate me. The class was pretty darn hard this week and I was glad to have an excuse to skip out of spin afterwards and not feel guilty about it.

Yesterday morning when I got up to meet Ro at the pool my leg (just one) felt a little angry. I just chalked it up to the hard class. I got in the pool and this was my workout:

200 yard freestyle

200 yard freestyle with fins (trying to get the old heart rate up.)

200 yard with the kick board

200 yard freestyle

200 yard freestyle with the pull buoy

5x50 yard freestyle sprints with fins

50 yard cool down

It was a pretty good workout. My shoulders had been pretty sore from Tuesday's weight room workout brought to us by Ross. They were screaming at me at the start of the workout but they loosened up, and then were pretty mad about the 200 yards with the pull buoy. You can't make everyone happy 100% of the time. I rewarded myself with a little sauna time afterwards.

I ended up taking Camy to swim practice last night and decided to hop on the elliptical so I could sleep in this morning. After 35 minutes the walk to the sauna was hard. My quad was not happy with all of it. Today it's still pretty angry with me. It's weird to have only one leg be really sore, so I guess I'll have to believe what Dr. Hines told me and know that not walking like a normal person for 8 weeks will have negative effects on my muscles. I might have to break out the poor man's stick, the rolling pin and roll it out a bit when I get home.

I've got cupcakes to make tonight and tomorrow morning I'm planning on yoga and spin, or swim and spin. I can't decide. I am training for a Sprint Tri so I maybe should do the two parts of the race I am allowed to do right now. Yoga sounds so nice though.

BTW, anyone know how to convert my 500 yard swim time to a 500 meter swim time? I am gonna have to do that.

Can We Talk About What You Are Wearing?

Or more importantly what I am wearing? 

It's springtime in Oklahoma, which in Oklahoma terms means it's similar to summer in other regions of the country.  Can I be straight with you?  I hate wearing shorts.  I'm not sure when this happened, but I do.

Don't get me wrong.  I am a runner.  {Although, I feel less and less like one lately, but I have issues.}  The issue here today is my issue with shorts.  But I am a runner, and in Oklahoma heat of spring, summer, and even fall, I wear shorts to run in.  All.  The.  Time. 


Fall Classic Duathlon 2009
I love this picture, and I am wearing shorts.  Although this is a duathlon and I would never wear shorts like these for a race like that again.  Tri shorts are the way to go. 
***Side Note: I have said this before but the best way to finish a race is to have someone hand you a beer in a souvenir glass.  I believe the beer I am holding here is the best beer I've ever had. ***

 Two pictures of me and my 2011 Partner In Crime, Abby.  After the Rock N Roll, I was sure wishing I weren't wearing shorts.  It was was a long cold walk to the train that day.  But we sure looked cute that day.

And then there was the OKC Memorial Marathon last year.  Yep, I wore shorts, what I really could have used was a wet suit.  My legs were so frozen after that race.  Don't get me started on how far you have to walk at the end of a marathon to get your food, beverage and finisher shirt; I think there should be a fleet of wheelchairs to wheel the marathoners through the finisher's area and back to your car.  A girl can dream, can't she?

Anyway, back to my original topic of shorts.  I don't understand how I can wear shorts whenever I'm going to go out to pound the pavement, but I shy away from them in my regular life.  Maybe running is my regular life.  I can wear my running shorts in my non-running life and feel perfectly comfortable in them, but other types of shorts make me uncomfortable and self conscious. 

When I wear non-running shorts I am always worried they are too short, or my legs are too white, or too skinny, or too whatever.  Maybe the real issue is that it can be such a bother to shave my legs?  I'm not even gonna go there.  Maybe I just feel like when I'm running my legs are moving too fast {in my mind they feel fast} to be judged. 

We bought Carson a pair of jean shorts last weekend.  The length of them scares the hell out of me.  I guess I need to be glad that she wants to wear them, and hope that she will grow up not having issues with her body that would prevent her from wearing something that looks really cute on her.

Women can be so hard on ourselves.  How do we get these altered images of ourselves in our heads?  How do we get them out?

Thursday, May 17, 2012

I Do Remember How To Cook...

I have been baking lately, but it doesn't feel like I've been cooking much.

Camy had her spring orchestra concert last night so between pilates and that I squeezed in time to make Risotto-Style Orzo with Spring Vegetables, I made it and then let it sit covered while we went to see Camy play and it was perfect when we got home.

Carson was sitting by me.
Camy before the concert started.
 
Action shot!
I am amazed at how well they played.  Camy doesn't bring her violin home much now so we don't get to hear her practice at home.  In my amateur opinion I think she is pretty good.  Might just be because I'm her mom though.

So afterwards we went home and I had this for dinner...
Here's the recipe if you don't want to follow the link to the Whole Foods website...
Ingredients


4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter*
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups uncooked orzo pasta*
1 cup sliced carrots
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas*
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth*
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Melt butter in a large heavy saucepan. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until tender but not browned. Add orzo and stir to coat. Add carrots, peas and broth. Bring to boil and cook until orzo is tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan and cover. Let rest 5 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and season with salt and pepper.

I love a one pot meal that is full of veggies.  I usually put a little more than the recipe calls form.  If some is good for me more is better, right?

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Dirty 30…

So I decided to sit this race out this weekend.

dirty 30 I had known for a while that I wasn’t going to be able to run it.  Even before my doctor told me I couldn’t run for four more weeks it was looking pretty doubtful that I’d be able to run it.  Then they moved Beer Sprocket from April because of bad weather and so I figured I wouldn’t be running this one.  I opted to be a little selfish and stay home and not go as a spectator.  The thought of watching everyone do another race I’ve registered for while I sit on the sidelines was not something I wanted to do this time around.

So I told Karen she could run it with my bib.  I was not giving up my t-shirt though.  That shirt cost me $50, and I know that it was for charity, but that doesn’t make me any less bitter about missing out on yet another race.  "*sigh*

So Josh headed up to Jen’s early on Saturday and they headed up for the race.

335Jen, Karen and Josh, before the race started.  If you look real close you can see my name on Karen’s bib.

And then the after:

337Apparently, Josh did a superman dive into the mud at the end and then did a mud angle.  From what I hear the crowd went wild.  I’m so proud. 


336

In other news, last week was the 20th anniversary of my senior prom, which happened to be my first date with Josh.  Wow, check out how young we look.  Check out those hair styles!  20 years, it seems crazy.

Who did you go to your senior prom with?

Beer Sprocket 2012…

beersproketI was asked again this year to have a table for Beer Sprocket.  Last year I made 400 mini cupcakes, this year I only had to make 300.  I’m not sure the exact number, but it was a little over 300.

So on Friday I got to work…

319Jen loaned me her mixer this year.  I’ve actually had it for over a month since they moved the date of the event due to possible bad weather in April.

320This is what 300+ mini cupcakes looks like when they are all boxed up and ready to go.  I didn’t get a chance to stop by the bakery supply store beforehand and so I had all different sized boxes to use to pack them up in.  Thankfully I had enough room and all of the cupcakes made it out to Choctaw unharmed.

331My little table full of goodies.  I was smack in between my brother-in-law’s beer table and the beer table of another distributor.  What fun.

332

Last year I did four different flavors, this year I went with three.  Shawn asked me to try out some beer flavored cupcakes so I went with:

Red Velvet with cream cheese frosting

Raspberry chocolate chip with chocolate buttercream

Cherry with vanilla buttercream.

The Raspberry and Cherry flavors were from a couple of Fruit Ales that Shawn gave me.  I think they turned out pretty well.

333Before I knew it all of the cupcakes were gone and I got to call it a night.


Up next?

I’ve got two dozen red velvet cupcakes for a woman I meet at Beer Sprocket, and some red velvet whoopie pies for my friend Patti.  It’s going to be a good weekend.

WIAW #4...

So my WIAW post is going to be about What I Ate Last Thursday.  It's a good thing I am not a For Real food blogger because I always remember to take a picture of my food, after I've eaten it.  Trust me you don't want to see it then.

Funny story, I was at The Mont last night crashing a Mom's Night Out with my friend Rochelle, and it came up about kids talking about poo.  We discovered that poo stories never get less funny.  Even for grown ups they are funny.  And that's all I'm going to say about that.

I can't remember what I had for breakfast last Thursday, but I bet it was either a yogurt or an egg fritatta sandwich with a fake sausage patty.  I won't bore you with another picture of my boring rotation of breakfast foods.  Maybe I should try to make my own McGriddle, with some pancakes and my egg fritatta and a fake sausage patty.  Food for thought.

Anyway, for lunch we had a Chili Cook-Off to raise money for the UCO Endeavor Games, and it was a huge success.  My work is participating in the OU Medicine Corporate Challenge and there is a fundraising aspect to it now.  The company is matching what we raise so we had the cook-off and invited everyone to come have lunch with us and make a donation.

 Here's the pots of chili for the contest.  I made my Chipotle-Spiced Sweet Potato Chili, I didn't win, but I didn't think I would.  I did get some high praise for my meat-free chili and I had something to eat for my lunch.

Seriously, make this chili tonight.  It is AMAZ-ing! 

Of course there were desserts, I think it's insane to eat a meal that is not followed by dessert so I baked up a batch of my Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Would it be horrible to say that I might like these more than my original chocolate chip cookies that started my love for all things baking?  It might be, so I won't, but these babies are a close second in the cookie love-of-my-life contest.  This is something else you should make tonight. Really.


So after work I meet my sisters and sister-in-law for dinner at Musashi's.  It was a fun Mother's Day dinner, and the food was good.
I just love it when they set things on fire.  Our chef was awesome, since I am a horrible food blogger I missed the volcano the first time, but he did it a second time so I could get a picture.

I went with the shrimp, yes, I know I am a vegetarian, but I do eat shellfish on occasion.  Besides they didn't have an all vegetarian option on the menu and I didn't feel like ordering everything individually.  Those purple potatoes in the veggies were awesome.  I was stuffed when I left.

We did get some pics...
My SIL Chance, Jen and Karen

Chance, Jen, Karen and me.
I drank a bunch of water all day too.  And I put this in some of it...
I love my NUUN, and this is banana flavored!  How insane is that.  I was a little scared at first, but it is really good. 

So it was a good day, with some good eats.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

And Now the Depressing News...

I saw my ortho doc yesterday for what I thought would be my final visit. I've been boot/crutches free since Friday and my leg feels good. So while I am walking like a normal person I have still not been cleared to run for ANOTHER 4 WEEKS. My definition of eternity? I know you want to know this, is 12+ weeks of no running. I go back on June 5th.

So I thought I would sum up what I have missed...

Rock N Roll Dallas Half Marathon in March...


The OKC Memorial Marathon in April...


I'll be missing the Dirty 30 5k on Saturady...


And there will be no running at the Corporate Challenge the first week in June...

Luckily there are other things I can do here.  Swimming, cycling and maybe even an obstacle course.

Still, I won the 10K for our division last year and before my injury I was running way faster than I had been running in that race a year ago.  I was looking forward to what I could do there this year.








There is one race I am on the fence about.  It's the OCCC Super Sprint Tri on June 9th.  I go back to the doctor on June 5th and I should be good to go at that point.  Is it possible to train for a sprint tri when you are not able to run?  The run is only a 5k, so I just have to see if I'm willing to find out if it's possible.  Sounds scary, but I have done lots of things in the past that are scary.  Fear is good, right?  I need some motivation, otherwise I feel like I've been spinning my wheels for the last 8 and a half weeks and I still have another 4 weeks to go.


 
 
 
 
 
 

WIAW #3...


For my WIAW post this week I'll actually be posting What I Ate Tuesday.  It's been another boring week of food.  I have been lacking in creativity or the desire to get in the kitchen and do much of anything.  So here we go...

Breakfast:
Breakfast was a banana, with some Greek yogurt with homemade granola and chia seeds.  I also drank some Dark Chocolate Almond Milk on the way to work.

Lunch:
I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat bread.  No picture because what could be more boring than a picture of a pb&j sandwich?  Instead I thought I would take a picture of the new peanut butter we picked up.  We usually just have creamy peanut butter around our house but we went crazy and picked up a jar of the Super Chunk.  I remember why I used to eat chunky peanut butter as a kid.  What a nice change.  I believe that sums up the food excitement we've got going on.
I also had some Doritos, and apple and one of my Oatmeal Whoopie Pies.  How about a picture of that?

I can't believe how chewy these cookies turned out.  It is my first attempt at oatmeal cookies and I was very impressed with myself.  The filling needs some work, but I'll fix that next time.  I am planning to make some red velvet whoopie pies later in the week so I'll keep you posted.

Dinner:

After a disappointing doctor's appointment, some retail therapy, 30 minutes on the elliptical, some weights, and a haircut I was home and ready for dinner.

Side note, I love my new hair cut.

This could be the worst picture ever taken of me.  Yellow really isn't my color, and the lighting in my kitchen is pretty horrific for self portraits taken on an iPhone.

Anyway, back to dinner.  I made the Pepperoni Pizza Polenta Bake from the Whole Foods website.

Here's the recipe:
Ingredients


Nonstick cooking spray
1 (18-ounce) roll precooked polenta, cut into 9 rounds
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup sliced roasted red peppers
9 thin slices (about 1 1/2 ounces) pepperoni
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon chopped fresh or dried parsley

Method

Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.

Arrange polenta rounds in an even layer in the bottom of the dish. Spoon marinara sauce over the top, then scatter with oregano. Arrange peppers and pepperoni over the sauce, then top with cheese and parsley and bake until hot throughout and bubbly, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

Here's the changes I made:
  • Instead of pepperoni, I used mushrooms (I am still a vegetarian after all.)
  • I didn't have any roasted red peppers so I left them off, naturally.
  • I forgot to add the oregano and the parsley
  • I used slices of mozzarella instead of shredding it because I was tired.
  • I didn't have any marinara sauce so I used pizza sauce, we always have that in our pantry.
So basically I butchered this lovely recipe.  I have never had polenta like this and it was really good.  I might try frying it a little bit before I throw it all in the oven next time.  I even have leftovers for lunch today.  Dessert was salt and pepper pistachios, if only there was cheesecake with those pistachios...

So really my WIAW post about What I Ate Tuesday does contain a bunch of stuff that I will eat on Wednesday.  My breakfast is the same, I'm having last night's leftovers for lunch, paired with a salad, apple and another oatmeal whoopie pie.  (I believe in eating some sugar every day.)  I had a Luna Bar before my afternoon workout yesterday and I have one to eat between Pilates and spin tonight.







Monday, May 7, 2012

What We Did This Weekend...

Friday night rolled around and I was worn out from the week.  Instead of cooking dinner, which I don't seem to be doing very much of lately we loaded up the car and headed out to Red Robin for dinner.

 

I'm not gonna lie to you, the fries were good, but my veggie burger was less than stellar.  The pics at the table might have been the best part of the meal.  Afterwards we went to Ross in search of a Nike bathing suit for me, but the suits I tried on were even worse than the veggie burger. 

We headed home and I was in bed way earlier than everyone else in my family.  I had to get up early to go help out my friend Patti with the 5k that she organized.

Art and Sole, it was their first race, and while the volunteer shirt was not my best color, the race was a success.  

Rochelle and I showed up at 6:30 to help in whatever way we could.  For me, I got to go help set up the water stops, and Rochelle helped with walk up registration.

We then headed over to our spot on the route, after a pit stop for coffee.  I sure wish I had gotten a picture of Ro running across the parking lost with her cup of hot coffee.  Oh well, next time.
We got to our spot in time to see Scott (in green) fly past us, with Conner not far behind.  These guys are amazing!  Scott was the first male across the finish line, Conner won his age group and then instead of sticking around for awards they went for a long run.

 After all of the 5k participants finished, Rochelle and I headed back out for the 2k and got to see a ton of super cute kiddos run past us.  Including Austin, who had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction at the start of the race.  His Vans apparently couldn't keep up with his speediness and he ran right out of one of them.

He got it together and ran a great race.

Patti, in her beautiful yellow t-shirt even came by during the 2k.  What a race director!

I headed home afterwards and instead of laying down and taking a nap, headed over to the Y for some weights and the elliptical.  My arms are even more sore today!  I love that.


Camy stayed at a friend's house Saturday night, so Josh and Carson and I headed to Subway and Chipolte to get take out for dinner.  Then we hit up Orange Leaf for frozen yogurt.  I love self serve frozen yogurt, but I am disappointed in the options we have in Norman.  Passion Berri was the first place we tried, and it's okay, not anything I would go out of my way for.  The girls and I discovered Cherry Berry in Moore a while back and I fell in love with it.  Their chocolate is to die for.  Orange Leaf wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either.  (In my opinion.)  I do like the rewards card, but I doubt we go back there.  We got our take out and froyo and headed home and watched Iron Man, the girls are excited to see The Avengers so we thought we'd give Carson a little of the back story on at least one super hero.

Yesterday afternoon we headed out to Lake Thunderbird for a trail run that was benefiting Relay for Life.  Rochelle and I ran the 10K last year and it was so much fun, I knew I wouldn't be running, but Josh and I took the girls out and we planned on walking some of the trails instead.
Me, Rochelle and Ann.
 Here's the pictures I took while we did our trail walk...








This was a big hill we had to climb up.  We just went out and back, and when we went out Carson and I opted for the by-pass to avoid going down this hill.  Then on the way back we missed the by-pass and had to go up the hill. 

This picture was supposed to showcase the hill, I couldn't get Camy to move her head over so we could see both Josh and Carson.  


 Before we knew it we were at the finish, or at the start again.  Not sure how far we actually walked, but we were out there for about an hour.  I am happy to report that other than my legs being sore from walking farther than I have in ages, my leg feels great.  I am on day four with out the boot or the crutches and I am heading back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon.  I think I'll get cleared to start running again.  The idea of which is very exciting and terrifying.  It's been so long since I've been able to run, I wonder if my body will remember how.  *sigh*

All in all, a great weekend.  We even managed to hit up Target on the way home so we have food at our house.  Week night grocery trips are the pits.

We only found two tics (one on Josh, one on Carson) when we got home, and nobody fell down.  Unless you count Rochelle, who fell twice out there and was the first woman to finish the 10K.  She got a t-shirt for her efforts, and I am quite jealous about that.  I hear they do another no chip, no timing, no rules trail run in the fall with a chili cook-off.  I'm so there!  I'll be practicing up my chili on Thursday for a chili cook-off at work to raise some money for our Corporate Challenge fundraiser, so we'll see how that goes.