Weekend Rewind

This weekend was amazing.  It also went by way too quickly and I'm counting down the days, hours, and minutes until Friday at 3:00.

It started off with a nice (although very cold) run on Saturday morning followed by a breakfast of "messy eggs" and toast.  The eggs were delicious and had cheese, tomatoes, peppers, and onions in them.

On Saturday afternoon the hubs and I then went to another All You Can Eat Game with a group of friends.  The weather was a drastic change from two weeks ago when we went.  The last game I wore jeans, a t-shirt, and sandals and was perfectly comfortable.  This game, I wore my Underarmour shirt, another long sleeved shirt, a jacket, a scarf, and jeans.  I also snuggled underneath a flannel blanket and was still cold.

There weren't as many people at this game (probably because it was so darn cold) so the lines for food weren't as long.  I enjoyed two hot dogs, nachos, some french fries, and some fried dough.  So yummy!

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats have a bat dog named Olly that I think is the coolest thing since sliced bread.  When the batters are done, he runs out, picks up their bat, and then trots back to the dug out.  So stinkin' cute.

Perhaps the best part of the game though was being a part of a dance contest on the field.  Normally I am terrified to get up in front of a huge crowd and do anything, but I decided to live it up.

And I went down onto the field with two other people from our group and danced in the hopes of winning an iPod shuffle.  

Here is the video proof for your enjoyment.  (I'm the only girl on the field, just in case you couldn't find me.)  

Sadly, I lost the contest.  But I did win a consolation prize of four free tickets to a future game, so I'm pumped about that.

On Sunday the hubs and I went over to my parents's house for dinner.  We spent all afternoon chatting out by the fire and it was a good time.

My dad made chili for dinner and I had a huge bowl heaped with cheese. My dad makes the best chili.  And it's always extra delicious eating it outside on a cold day next to the fire.

After dinner I enjoyed a s'more.  It got a little burnt thanks to the wind turning the coals into full on flames and catching the marshmallow on fire.  But it was still enjoyable none the less.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Friday's Letters

Dear Sunshine,


While I'm ecstatic that you made an appearance every day during vacation last week, I would appreciate it greatly if you would return.


Dear All You Can Eat Baseball Game,


In preparation for you I am going for a nice long run on Saturday morning.  And then I plan on eating my weight in free hot dogs and nachos.  Oh, and wearing my stretchy eating pants ;o)


Dear Mini Cadbury Eggs,


I'm loving the fact that I have quite the stash of you.  I'm hoping to continue to ration well so that my stash lasts for a long time.


Dear Job,


Sometimes during my work day, I just shake my head and smile.  Yesterday I got to play a game of Sorry and play catch with the coolest light up ball.  I can't believe I get paid to do this somedays.

Dear Hubs,

You are the best.  I don't think I tell you that enough.  I'm a lucky girl that I have you to call mine.  I love you.

A Little Inspiration

My best friend e-mailed me this video a few weeks ago and it was one of the most inspiring things I have ever seen.  I'm still thinking about it weeks later and wanted to share.

I wish more children (and adults) had ambition like this.  This child is amazing.



It's a rather lengthy video (10 minutes or so) but so worth the time.

It made my heart happy.

Healthy Banana Bread

Last week I decided to make Banana Bread.  I had found a recipe on Pinterest that put a healthy spin on this delicious snack, so I decided to give it a whirl.

Source: 8weekstoabetteryourecipes.blogspot.com via Katy on Pinterest

I gathered my ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sugar free applesauce

3/4 cup honey

2 eggs, beaten

3 mashed overripe bananas

And then got to work.  This was probably the easiest recipe I have ever made.  I think it took me 15 minutes at most to measure and mix everything.

I baked the bread in a stone loaf pan from Pampered Chef.  It came out perfectly!

I enjoyed it for breakfast many times!  It was delicious :o)

Linking up today for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

A Note from Bodie

Hi  Momma's blog readers!  It's me, Bodie, taking over again.

Last week my Momma was on vacation and we got to spend a ton of time together.  I love when she is home because then we can just chill out all day long.

The weather was really warm during her vacation, so she had the three season porch open all the time.  It was great!  I'm only allowed on the couch out there and in the basement, so I like when that room is open.

 I spent a lot of time cuddling with my Momma on the couch while she read.  I also got to hang out with my kitty friends out there.

On Friday my Momma took me hiking up Gap Mountain.  It was just the two of us, and Momma was a  little nervous about being all alone but I let her know that I would protect her.

Plus, she packed me some pretty good snacks and I'll do just about anything for food ;o)

Eating the rest of Momma's peanutbutter from her snack.  Peanutbutter is so delicious!

This is the trail that we hiked up.  I had a good time running up the rocks and smelling everything.

There's me!  I was hot and tired at this point (hence the little bit of drool).  But my Momma gave me some cold water so I felt a lot better.

There's my Momma!  She didn't get as hot as I did so she wasn't drooling like me.

This was our view from the top of Gap Mountain.  Isn't Mt. Monadnock pretty?!  Momma's climbed that mountain, but not me.

I think I could climb Mt. Monadnock, but she says "no dogs allowed".  Humph.

On the way back down the mountain Momma let me go swimming in a small stream.  It felt great to cool off!

All in all, I had a good vacation with my Momma.  I can't wait until she is home this summer and we can hang out all the time again!

Tid & Bits: Spring Break Edition

Linking up with Miss Alycia at Crowley Party to bring you my Tid & Bits of April Vacation 2012



One of the perks of being a teacher is having random weeks off throughout the year.  This April vacation, I did not go anywhere special or do anything super fun.

While I do wish I could have gone South and spent time relaxing on a beach, it just didn't happen.  So I made the most of my New England Spring break.

I relaxed around the house, read a few books, caught up on laundry, did some crafting, went for a few runs, and enjoyed the extra time with the hubs and our pets.

I read a few books over vacation and it was wonderful to just lay out on the three season porch or in the living room and lose myself in a good story.  I read: The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks, The Witness by Nora Roberts, The Mulberry Tree by Jude Deveraux, and A Wife by Wednesday by Catherine Bybee.

The weather was absolutely perfect during the whole break.  Monday there were record highs, but the rest of the week was sunny, breezy, and gorgeous.

Amazing sunset from our back deck.  Sometimes, I love where I live.  It is so beautiful.

Love this guy.  He's so snuggly and doesn't understand that he is not the size of a lap dog.  Whenever I am out on the three season porch on this couch, he's there in my lap.  He is such a snuggle bunny.

April Vacation, you were fun while you lasted!  Now, bring on the count down to Summer Vacation!

Friday's Letters

Dear April Break,

You were just what I needed!  It was so nice to sleep in every day, work out when I wanted to, read some books, and just relax.

Dear Summer Vacation,

On that note, please hurry up and get here!

Dear Hubs,

I know it's annoying to go to work every day while I sleep in and be a lazy bum.  But, you were a good sport.  I love you and thank you for not being too much of a grump while I was lounging this week.

Dear Trees and Flowers,

While I am quite thankful you are budding and greening things up a bit, my allergies are not very happy with you.  I wish we could all be friends.

Dear Students,

I hope you got your crazies out over vacation.  You were all a little nutso the week before break, and I'm hoping you all return a little more "normal".  Otherwise, it is going to feel like a very long time until June 21.  However, I do miss you all and can't wait to see your smiling little faces on Monday.

Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday!

I decided to link up for the first time for



I'm rather new to Pinterest and mostly just use it to find new recipes and pin other recipes I find online.  But, I stumbled across this wreath awhile back and decided that it looked simple enough that even I could pull it off.

Source: duitang.com via Katy on Pinterest

Now, the blog happened to be in another language, but the original pin was simple enough that I got the gist.

So I gathered my supplies and a good movie to watch while I crafted and got to work.

via

I have to say this was probably the easiest thing I have ever done.  It was however, really monotonous and took longer than I thought to wrap the yarn around.  Towards the end, the hubs gave me a hand which I greatly appreciated.  He however, did not appreciate having is photo taken to document his crafting abilities.

Finished project:

A few days later, I ended up replacing all of the sticker flowers with flower garland because the stickers weren't sticking to the grassy yarn.  I like the new finished project much better!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Spring is officially here:  we went to our first NH Fisher Cats game of the season on Saturday!

And, bonus!  It was All You Can Eat Day!  Which means all you can eat hot dogs, hamburgers, and nachos.  I made sure to work out before the game so that I could participate to the best of my ability ;o)

The weather was amazing and it was wonderful to be outside enjoying a game of baseball with the man I love and friends.

Sadly, the Fisher Cats lost but they at least made it exciting.  Going into the bottom of the ninth inning they were down 7-1.  The game had been pretty bad up to this point, with the Fisher Cats making ridiculous errors and not hitting the ball.  But all of a sudden they remembered how to play and scored 5 runs in the ninth (including a home run!).

All in all it was a good time.  I left fat and happy, having eaten a hot dog, hamburger, nachos, popcorn, fried dough, and an ice cream sandwich.  Now I will be fasting until April 28, when we go to the next All You Can Eat Day!

Side note:  I do not typically eat like this!  Usually when we go to a baseball game, I'll have a hot dog and some type of snack and that's it.  But it's always fun to indulge every now and then :o) 

Friday's Letters

Dear April Break,

As of 3:00 today, you begin!!!  Nine days off of work...I am so excited!  I have no plans, other than to relax, and I am completely fine with that.

Dear Saturday,

Bring on hotdogs, hamburgers, and nachos!  Hooray for an all you can eat baseball game with friends!


Dear Energy,

You have been slacking lately.  I'm hoping that April Break recharges you.

Dear Hubs,

I hope your belly feels better so that I don't out-eat you at the game.  That would be embarrassing for me.

Dear House and Laundry,

I'm sorry I've been neglecting you.  I guess we will be getting reacquainted at some point over break.

Dear Shins,

After three great weekends of racing, I'm mad that you failed me when I tried to run the other day.  This whole bruised legs and limping thing is not cool.



PS: Sorry there are no photos.  I am ridiculously tired and can not function anymore :o)

The Couple That Races Together, Stays Together

Last Saturday, April 7, the hubs and I ran in our first 5k together.  It was a race put on by the hospital he works for and we were on a team with some of his other co-workers and their spouses.  Our team name was Run CMC, a spoof on Run DMC and a play on the name of where the hubs works.

We made t-shirts for our team with the above logo on the back.  On the front we put everyone's nicknames.  The nickname for my shirt was "Cookie Queen" because I like to bake cookies and bring them into the hubs's office.  Everyone in his office loves snow days, because I almost always come in with a treat!

This was the hubs's first race ever, and my third weekend in a row of running in a race.  I was feeling somewhat confident about my abilities and he was hoping to finish in under 30 minutes.    

I had two goals for this race:
1.  Get a personal best time
2.  Beat the hubs

Seriously, the hubs and I are both pretty competitive people.  I wanted to beat him so badly!  I have been running for the past year and a half and have been working really hard to become a better runner.  He got peer pressured into running this race and had been "training" for a total of three weeks.  I told him if he ran past me I would trip him.  (Wife of the year right here!)

Luckily, I kicked his butt beat him and got a personal best time, so all was right in my world.  He also accomplished his goal, so he was happy.

After the race, I enjoyed this amazing cheeseburger guilt free.  This is why I run.  So I can enjoy food and not feel totally guilty.  Just kidding!  Well, sort of.  It's one of the many reasons why I run, though!

It was so fun to run with the hubs!  I'm looking forward to the Color Run that we are doing in Boston and (hopefully!) in New York.  I think he's also going to join me on a few other races this summer.  Yay!

Spring? Where did you go?

Spring decided to make an appearance in mid-March this year.  We had a glorious week of weather in the mid-70s with gorgeous blue skies and sunshine.  Which is unheard of for that time of year.  So you had better believe I soaked up every last bit of that phenomenal weather that I could.  (Hence the lack of blogging during that time...)

The trees started to bud.  The crocus popped up and bloomed.  Daffodils came back to life.  It was amazing.

Bodie and I even spent some time on the back porch relaxing in the warmth of the sun.  We laid on the couch, read a book, took a nap; life was great.

And then apparantly spring decided to take a vacation.  And winter returned.  Cold temperatures, snow flurries, freezing winds, cloudy skies.  

I especially enjoyed the snow flurries during my 4.5 mile race on Saturday, March 24.  I had been looking forward to a run in shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt while enjoying a cool spring morning.  But no.  Mother Nature forced me to (once again) break out the fleece lined running leggings, fleece hoodie, mittens, and ear warmers.  Thanks a heap...not.  I did, however, get another shirt from the race!  All of the money from the race went towards rescuing grey hounds, which I thought was great idea.

shirt from the race

Oh, I also got a free massage after the race which almost made up for the stupid snow flurries.

So to recap, spring was here for a week, and now it is gone.  Wherever it went to, I demand that it return.  I have cute clothes and adorable sandals that are calling my name.