Tag Archives: running

Juggling 

I can now see how actual juggling is so difficult: the concentration, coordination, and multitasking is utterly mind blowing and I’ve again encountered a less than stellar juggling act the past week.  

The husband was back last week from his trip but my father was still gone so juggling the house, gabriela (who I think is getting 4 more teeth), dinner, errands, and training was left to me. This isn’t a woe is me moment– I’m actually recalling loving this time right now. Not every moment, but a lot of them. 

I’m loving the quiet time I get when Gabi (miraculously) decides to take a nap in her crib (yes, I’m that mother who would cuddle her while she naps until she’s 18. I’m working on it). It’s just me in the house and it’s blissful. (Sorry dad, I love having you around but being alone ROCKS!). I’m able to just sit. And that’s all. Before I was always doing something: meal planning, cleaning, etc etc. but last week I just vegged a few times. Priceless. 

But it was still rough for a hours/days. Sometimes naps weren’t had at all and that sassy little chica ruled the roost. On those days, dinner was had out. And I’ve got a lovely husband who’ll be happy to dine out anytime. Thank you, husband. 

 

Gorgeous view overlooking Jobos Beach

  

Grilled shrimp with mango pico de gallo at La Vista Smokehouse


Overall it was a great week and we even took a drive out west to check out a new restaurant and the sunset. Unfortunately it was overcast and it actually rained – a lot – but being up in the mountain region was very refreshing. It’s amazing how green things are up there. What’s even MORE amazing is that we can get this different terrain/scenery by only driving 45 mins away from our house in any four directions. Puerto Rico surely is amazing! 

 

Casa Linda Restaurant overlooking the Anasco/Aguada valley. Rincon beachline in the background.

  

daddy- daughter giggles as the rain comes down.


So that pretty summed up our week. This week found my husband working nights for the next two months (ugh) but at least my father will be back on Saturday and the husband and Gabi get to spend a lot of quality time together during the day. Which has allowed me to make homemade chicken stock, which i doctored up by adding fresh herbs, carrots, and celery. But the way the recipe as written really does churn out a lovely stock. And I’ll be doing chicken pot pies for tonight, along with little mini ones to freeze for Gabriela. I haven’t found a recipe yet so I just might wing it. I’ll update you. 

 

chicken stock stash heading to the freezer.


So far the week has been pretty good. This weekend we’re off to San Juan for three days for the races so that’ll be a nice staycation ! 
Happy Tuesday, friends! And welcome to the new followers and thank you all for the likes!

 

my girl and me ❤️

 
 

 
 
 

I wonder wednesday…

I wonder…

…why do we park on driveways and drive on parkways?

Yea yea, pretty lame. But I can’t for the life of me think of anything I’m really wondering about. Maybe I should wonder about that! 

So anyway, on to other things (don’t worry, I’ll be sure to be wondering for next week!)…

Oh! The pizza! In case you missed my last post, I was doing homemade pizza using the pizza dough recipe from Tuscan Gun. This is the second time I’ve used the recipe and the initial attempt delivered a really great, crispy yet chewy crust. So I figured I’d give it another shot. 

Not sure what happened this time around but the dough ended up being a bit dry while it was mixing. I really think I should have added some more water but I didn’t want to alter the recipe. I wonder if cooking in a non air conditioned kitchen with 80%+ humidity had anything to do with it? I’ve read that heat and humidity can wreak havoc on baking and this is sorta baking so maybe?? If anyone knows please offer up some advice. 

I was worried that the dough would be too dry/thick that it wouldn’t proof/rise. I was wrong! That sucker plumped up like a champ! 

 

pre-proof

  

after two hours! score!

 

The next step is punching it down and letting it proof for one more hour. This is not a quick pizza crust so make sure you give yourself time to let it rise. 

And, of course, that’s where the pics ended. Ggrrr! What else goes on the pizza? Great question! I use buffalo mozzarella, the roasted tomatoes, grated fontina cheese, and vey thin proscuito de Parma. In Dothan, I would have also added figs but I cannot find them here. 

Overall, it turned out pretty tasty. The crust was a little suspect and I think it was because of it being a bit dry. It came out pretty thin and ended up being cracker crispy. Not too bad though.  

I’ll be giving it a whirl again in the next few weeks as I have the leftover dough in the freezer. How nice is it to go into the freezer and pull out some fresh dough. This is why I love to cook! At anytime I can go in to my freezer stash and pull something out that I know is fresh and healthy. Speaking of fresh and healthy, here’s the bolognese I made last week for our dinners as well as single servings for gabriela. Gotta love snack sized ziplocs!

   

  

  

 
Gotta end with a Gabriela pic!

I Wonder Wednesday (series)

i wonder….when does running get easier? Just sayin. That’s all. 

Ok, that’s not really all, but it is a serious question. 

As a little background, I’m a runner. I am. Seriously. I’ve done ( and these are approximations because I can’t seriously remember them all): 7 half marathons (two even, in the same year, which got me an awesome ‘rock star’ medal from the Rock n Roll Series: the first in Phoenix and the second in St. Louis. Yea. I even travel to RUN), about 30 5ks (there was a point pre-Gabi that I was doing two 5k’s a month!), 5 10k’s, and when running just got the better of me I switched to triathlons (sprint distance) and I’ve done about 8 or so of those. 

our first run about 5 months ago. at least there’s a beautiful view

You’d think I’d have this running thing down. But it is the bane of my existence. Which is why I picked up triathlons because while training for the swim (and I much much MUCH prefer open water swims) and biking, the running sorta works itself out. 

 

first triathlon: SheRox 2009

 
 

gotta love finisher medals

 
So this is where I’m at right now. I have lots of races coming up and I’m sorta freaking out about it. And I’m sure it doesn’t help I’ve got a yummy Julia recipe coming up! But I still run. And I know it’s all about mindset. I try every run to think positive and I really do try to like it. It’s just hard. Hard. But I’m doing it. 

 

Rambling Rose in North Carolina

 
So here are my upcoming races for the 2015 season (I figure if I announce them then I will HAVE to do them) 😉:

September 5 – friends 4 running 5k fun run

September 19 – Run like a Lola 10k (what!!??!!)

October 3 – friends 4 running 10k fun run (FUN!?!)

October 9-12 – Mujer Brava swim, bike, run (one event each day). I’ll be doing the 5k (or 10k if I’m feeling good) run one day, and the 25 mile bike the next. Getting TRI ready! 

November 8 – Run Like a Diva HALF MARATHON! YES! 

 

another phoenix Tri


 
Happy hump day! 

my ever present running buddy, dad. Lost Dutchman 10k in Arizona about 4 yrs ago

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Never be within doors when you can rightly be without ~ Charlotte Mason

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