Go away rain.

I'm not feeling very motivated today, but Elizabeth gave me this award!
I haven't filled out one of these in a long time and I'm kind of excited. Does that make me weird? Probably. It takes me back to my myspace days when I did one of these at least once a day. Again, I'm pretty cool.

1.Where is your cell phone? On the coffee table.
2. Your hair? Half up from work.
3. Your mother? At home.
4. Your father? Indy. Taking care of my Grandma
5. Your favorite food? Right now, sundried tomato hummus.
6. Your dream last night? This morning it was me getting ready for work. Never good to dream that.
7. Your favorite drink? Water, coffee, green tea
8. Your dream/goal? Babies, the beach, a job I love.
9. What room are you in? Our office/guest room.
10. Your hobby? Running, job searching. I need a new hobby.
11. Your fear? Not having babies.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? New town, baby.
13. Where were you last night? Gym and home.
14. Something you aren’t? A singer.
15. Muffins? Love blueberry.
16. Wish list item? Keurig.
17. Where did you grow up? Georgia.
18. Last thing you did? Dinner and dishes with the hubster.
19. What are you wearing? PJs
20. Your TV? We're about to watch Poltergeist.
21. Your pets? None.
22. Your friends? The best. Some too far away.
23. Your life? Love it.
24. Your mood? Relaxed.
25. Missing someone? Friends that are far away.
27. Something you’re not wearing? Socks or shoes.
28. Your favorite store? Anywhere I can buy clothes :)
29. Your favorite color? Pink and green.
30. When was the last time you laughed? Earlier.
31. Last time you cried? Don't remember.
32. Best Friend? My husband.
33. One place that I go over and over again? Work.
34. One person who emails me regularly? Monster Job Search. Not that it helps.
35. Favorite place to eat? Mexican.

I nominate
Say Something Beautiful
I Can't Believe It's Not Dead (you don't have to do it again, but of course I love your blog. Without it what would I cook for dinner?!)

Cooler weather means yummy soups

One thing I do enjoy about cold weather is warm comfort food. Although Georgia never makes up its mind on whether it wants to be cold or hot, I'm still craving some delish soup. Tuesday night I was babysitting some of my favorite kiddos and she had me make them Tortellini Soup. It was seriously the easiest recipe ever, but so good. So, I thought I would share.

Tortellini Soup:

1- 9 oz package of cheese tortellini (or veggie or pesto)
5- cups of Vegetable broth (her recipe called for chicken broth)
1- can diced tomatoes
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2- tablespoons of butter
Spices of choice (I used basil and oregano)

In a stock pot melt butter and saute garlic for a few minutes. Add broth, tomatoes and spices. Bring to a boil and add tortellini. Cook until tortellini is done (according to package directions). Serve (with some yummy homemade bread).

I think next time I make it I will add some mushrooms just to add a little more substance, but really it was so good without them.

Tonight, however, I am making this deliciousness. We are having a laid back night at home. I'm pretty sure I am getting sick (thanks to all the people who come to work sick) and we just wanted to hang out. Tomorrow it's football, homework (for M), some cleaning and hitting up the gym. I'm going to hit up the bike tomorrow instead of running so as to not pound my knee on the pavement for a day. Sunday we're going to the pumpkin patch and a corn maize with some friends and then carving our pumpkins! Last year we got pumpkins, but never carved them so this year will be our first.

Just what I needed

I finally had that perfect run yesterday. As I've said or complained about probably too many times, its been really difficult to get back in shape after surgery. Anyway, I had my mind set on running 5 miles all day yesterday at work. Even though I ran the half a few weeks ago, every time I've run since then its been tasking. I've needed that one awesome run that you feel amazing the whole way and when you finish you feel like you could run 5 more miles. So, like I said it felt so good. I finally felt my love for running come rushing back and I couldn't be more excited. I mapped out my run and it was almost 5.5, which made it that much better.

Now, the only bad part. I need new shoes. I shouldn't have run the half in those shoes. They're not that old, but something about them just doesn't work for me. I had horrid blisters on my toes after the half. I have run in Mizuno's since my sophmore year of high school and I swear by them. After my run last night my left outer knee starting hurting and it was pretty sore all day. I think I may have Iliotibial Band Syndrome. From what I've read it occurs from the band not being strong enough and can be treated by icing, pain meds and stretching. I plan on only running 4 miles tomorrow and see how that goes. Hopefully, it won't set me back and I'll definitely be getting new shoes... soon!

USMC 1/2 Marathon

This past weekend we went to Jacksonville, FL to run the USMC 1/2 marathon. Friday Mike, Adam and I drove down and met Lauren and Pat there. We had dinner that night and then we were all in bed by 10:30. We stayed in the host hotel which was conveniently located 3 miles from the start and finish of the race...? (and we didn't know until we got there friday) We decided just to grab a taxi on Saturday morning to the start. Big mistake. But you live and learn and now we'll know for next year. I was pretty nervous about the race because let's face it I'm in no shape to run 13 miles. The most I ran was 5 miles a week before the race. It was Mike's first half though so I was excited for him. Especially since he once said, "why the heck would you want to run that far voluntarily?" The weather was perfect for a race: cool and the sun stayed behind a cloud until mile 10. Thankfully Florida is really flat so we only had to worry about two hills and both were bridges. About mile 2 I can tell I'm going to have horrible blisters on my pinky toes, but I was determined not to focus on that. Lauren and I stayed together, okay she stayed back with me, the entire race until mile 12 when I told her to go ahead. She was really encouraging the whole and the race went by pretty fast. My goal was honestly just to finish, but we had said no longer than 2:30:00... which was hard for me to say because I'm really competitive and I ran way faster than that in my first half (too bad that was almost 6 yrs ago). So anyway I ran like a 2:23:00. Not impressive but it definitely got me wanting to start really running and racing again and ultimately a marathon hopefully next year. As soon as I crossed the finish there were two kids Marines that put my medal on and then another that handed us awesome USMC beer glasses that 5 minutes later I filled with free beer! There was food, beer, live music and Marines (including mine and Lauren's hardcore husbands) doing pull ups for t-shirts after the race. Then we had a 3 mile trek back to the hotel...with some giant blisters on my toes. We weren't sure if we could get free parking the morning of so we took a taxi to the race, but had no way to get back. Luckily Adam and Pat were feeling extra motivated and jogged back and got the car.

Since we didn't bring our cameras to the race these are us in the hotel when we got back. Now we know for next year to either stay in a different hotel or we can park free at the stadium and keep all of our stuff in the car. We decided to turn this into a tradition and run it every year. We had a blast and I think Mike may be hooked on the half! He's already talking about running the one in Atl on Thanksgiving!



Adam, Pat, Lauren, me, Mike
(if you notice Lauren and I's shorts... yes, those are silkies... we had to )

Ten.

Here are the top ten reasons Elizabeth and Cody should move to Georgia:


1.We live here (do I really need to list any other reasons?)
2. Cody can go to one of the best tech schools – Ga Tech
3. Elizabeth can go to one of the best nursing schools – KSU
4. We have Taco Mac. And while you live in New Mexico, who goes there for tacos? You know it’s really all about the vast assortment of beer. <-- = Cody's paradise. :)
5. It’s the ATL. You can throw all the bows that you want.
6. You would be on the same coast as your family.
7. We could train for our first marathon together.
8. Cody and Mike could share their undying love for each other everyday.
9. You can teach me your vegan ways.
10. We would have a blast all the time and I just devoted a whole post to y'all. (and you can use the word "y'all" and not get weird looks )

We love y'all and I hope we get to see you sooner than later!