Side-view

The utmost of apologies for cranking your necks and probably giving you a reason to see the chiropractor this week. I have NO IDEA why all my photos are sideways. I’ll make sweetly ask the hubsters to assess the situation when he arrives home from work. (I’m sure its the LAST thing he wants to do after 8 hours of work+2 hours of biking to and from). My husband, I must share with you, is the absolute best husband. He is the most caring, selfless, respectful man I have ever met. We were discussing my need to travel and explore over our anniversary getaway, and for the first time in our relationship, he agreed that moving would be worth looking into. WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS. Of course, it was in regards to moving to Australia, NOT Vancouver, but hey, one day at a time. So not only is he beginning to warm to the idea of moving (I’d say he is no longer freezing, maybe half melted water), but yesterday while I was at the doctor I told him how terrible I was feeling via text message. Even though he could only be here for 15-20 minutes, he came all the way home from work to bring me a Starbucks (A non-fat chai tea latte at that! HE EVEN KNOWS MY DRINK!), Flowers (tulips, my favorite), and the worst cranberry juice I have ever consumed (it is organic and 100% natural-lets just say-tart poision?–>but he knows how much I love staying organic). I love my husband =).

 

In other news, I am feeling MUCH better this evening after aprox. 4 viewings of Marley & Me and four doses of  Macrobid. With my newfound burst of energy I decided to whip up some Yellow Cupcakes to eat on the side of my vanishing Chicken Noodle Soup. Both of which recipes are just so good, I must share with you. I took them from my current fave, canyoustayfordinner.com, but made a few small adjustments to the chicken soup for my liking. The soup recipe is below, you can find the cake recipe at http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2011/05/16/the-very-best-white-and-yellow-cakes/

After about three months of “Are you going to make SOUP with the bones” from my hubster, I finally made bone-in soup: he is so fasinated by it and thinks it is the ultimate in cooking genious. Shh, don’t tell him it is practically the easiest soup I make. I have been eating this soup for almost a week of lunches and it has that divine-bone-in-just-cooked-by-dad-at-christmas flavor. The cake on the other hand, I am seriously considering enveloping into the ‘recipes I will make my children grow sick of by age 8’ file and making it a special occasion tradition.

Try to just eat just one. I dare you. 😉

 

Bone Licking Chicken Noodle Soup

Adapted from CanYouStayForDinner.com

Serves 5-6 Large Servings

1 Organic, Free range Whole Chicken

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 L Organic Chicken broth

5 Carrots, thinly sliced (peeling left on)

1 Celery Heart, chopped (dont bother throwing out the inner leaves, chop and add them too!)

1 medium onion, chopped (reserve the peel for the broth)

1 Tbsp dried thyme

2 Tsp salt

2 Tsp black pepper

1/2 Tsp garlic powder

1/2 Tsp smoked Paprika

1 cup dried sea shell pasta

1. Roast the whole chicken, rubbed with olive oil, for 1 h 15 min. Allow to cool, discard skin, separate meat and bones. Shred meat with a fork.

2. Simmer bones, chicken broth, onion peel(to give a beautiful golden colour) and 1 cup water for 1-5 hours. This will allow the full bodied flavor of the bones to cook into the broth.

3. Strain broth, discard chicken and onion scraps.

4. Simmer broth, carrots, celery, onion, spices, and chicken for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

5. Add dried pasta, cook according to package directions, aprox. 5-6 minutes.

 

 

 

When Inspiration Hits

Hawaii-April 2011-Man to I miss that place….Love this picture because the rainbow showed right after a terrible rain storm-it ended up being one of the most beautiful days. A reminder of God’s beauty and grace.

I think that sometimes perspective is all I need. After the last post, I have had two AMAZING runs. Saturday we ended up getting lost on a hiking trail, which lead us into beautiful river trails, continuing onto some back road. It was all amazing and beautiful-so refreshing-until I started hearing gun shots! Haha. That was when we decided we should probably use the iphone (not usually a running companion-God must have been standing guard) to find our location-5 miles OUT OF TOWN. HAHAHA. All in all, great run, great views, and a hilarious memory. I think we must have stumbled around someone’s target practise or something. This run, and the long run before it have really reminded me-I am strong and driven. I seem to get down on myself for my weight a lot, and they reminded me that despite my struggles with my body and self esteem, God has blessed me with STRONG muscles in those big thighs and that big but. I should be so greatful that they can carry me 17km without killing over!;) Life is perspective.

(A picture from our run….ALMOST as blissful as that day in Hawaii. 😉 )

In other news, Graeme and I celebrated our first anniversary this weekend. We spent two days in Regina on a little get-away. Turns out, the science center is more of a kids play center. Haha. We found this out only AFTER we wasted our 18 bucks!;) Haha But it was good for laughs. We then went for dinner at Applebee’s. It was both of our first times here, we don’t have one at home. I looked up the nutritonal information-ALMOST EVERYTHING ON THEIR MENU IS OVER 1000 CALORIES! OUCH! Needless to say, I only ate half of my meal…and saved the rest of the calories for icecream later ;). We spent a lovely night, and a nice hotel which had a balcony on our room-sweet!!! Next year I think we will just stay home, or go away- Hawaii??- I have to say, Regina is NOT my favorite city. It is pretty dirty compared to ours, but it was lovely to retreat with my love. Here’s to another 75 years of blissful marriage.

Today I am spending my last day off on the couch, unshowered, in my flannel PJ’s watching Marley & Me on repete. I have a kidney infection, so I am feeling a little in the dumps. I have been instructed no marathon training again until next week by the doctor, so rather than being proactive and stretching or walking, Im being a lump on the couch. 😉 Im OKAY with that though. Graeme and I had the BEST pancakes EVER this morning. A recipe I took from canyoustayfordinner.com. If you have not checked out this blog, GO NOW! This woman is a wonderful writer and an ever better cook. We made Bacon Parmesan Cornmeal Pancakes-I highly suggest them. Anywho- Im off to drink more water, and feel sorry for my sick self a little longer!;) 

Stuck In a Rut

I am stuck in a rut. Monday, despite running 30 miles last week, and following my weight watchers points, I gained half a pound. I’m no where near where I thought I would be when I started off with this in January. Not only that, but on Sunday, I competed in a 10km race, in which I finished second to last. The entire race I was battling with my own mind telling me to quit now, just slip out of the pack before anyone notices you, as well as struggling with my IT band injury. I know that finishing is really what matters, but when I think back to a year ago, I am so embarrassed and disappointed with myself. I was in the best shape of my life. I could complete 10km in 1:03….not 1:20!!=( I could run 15km, no problem, weighed a healthy body weight, and was actually happy with what I looked like. I was so determined. Then I got married, settled into a new job, continued running-but with no goal in mind…and here I am now. Back to my old self. 30 pounds over weight, hating my body, and hating where I am at physically. It feels like every step I take forward, I take two back. I have a half marathon in only 4 weeks, and I feel so where ready-not only for the physical blow it will take, but for the emotional toil of potentially finishing last. Where has my spirit gone? My spice for life?! It almost makes me wonder, is it this job I am in? Would I be happier, and enjoy life more in a lower stress environment? I think I like my job? But clearly something is off balance in my life. I just found out that I am going to be only part time soon, as my temp full time position is ending. Another blow-now I have to find work again. BLAH. Part of me is thinking I will just pick up shifts to make up full time where I am….another part of me is thinking of applying to other areas to work half time in. I don’t know what I am going to do. I have 3 more days off, so I think I need to regroup, run a lot, eat healthfully and fine my zen. 😉

KONY 2012

Do you know who Joseph Kony is? If you don’t, you should. Joseph Kony is a man who is killing mass amounts of people and doing it by recruiting children whom he abducts(by killing their parents) into his army. There is an association that is gone viral right now; Invisible Children. Their aim is to make Joseph Kony famous; not to glorify him, but to make everyone aware of the terror he is leading. To capture this man, and free 66 THOUSAND children from his reign of terror, we need to make his name known so that our governments know who he is and realize that Canada, The United States of American, Mexico, etc. does not want to stand by and let him reign. The United States has sent some troops in with Barrack Obama’s lead, but it is not enough. The Uganda army needs more help-technology and troops. So this year, 2012 is the year. Lets free a nation. Spread the word. Check out this site: http://kony2012.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/ and check out the youtube video which has gone viral! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc