Twins make the playoffs, and Callie makes her move to the Couch!

Mom, Dad, and Al came over last night for the first game in a post season series between the MN Twins and the Yankies. Luckily the food was good because the game turned out pooey. The Twins lost, but Callie couldn't care less. She was elated due to her couch-time with Grandma!!

SDSU Classic

I got to do the cross country thing again last weekend on a smaller scale but equally exciting because we were at the home place! Edgebrook saw some impressive performances on that gorgeous fall day.







The team and Super-Rod!


This cross country meet and Dad a something in common . . . they're both Classics!! :) Dad turned 50 today. Happy Birthday!!


Tellin' fishin' stories; looks like Joe was out of luck!



Later in the day we enjoyed a walk through a beautiful campus!


What a cutie-patootie! :) (If Joe is reading this, what I really mean is, This guy is smokin'!)

GO JACKS!

Sometimes, when talking to my co-workers and friends, I get the feeling that I'm a part of a small minority that really enjoy running. That was absolutely not the case at the Roy Griak Invitational cross country meet. A couple weeks ago, I went with my family to Minneapolis to watch my little sister and her fellow Jackrabbits run, and I had something like an "Ah-ha" moment. Amongst enthusiastic fans, I watched thousands of runners compete on a greuling cross country course, and most of them had a smile on after the race. Those athletes were awesome to watch (Danielle included!). I think I was most impressed with the massive number of people in attendance who all shared a common interest. I got the sense that thus far I've only seen the tip of the iceberg when it comes to running and racing . . . baby, I like it!!

True Jacks fans!




Danielle






Yep, she's a stud!



This guy too!

Just Us Girls

Just me and the Cal monster hanging out here at home. I'm waiting for my coffee to kick in before I go for my run . . . got the night shift hangover :(

Thought you guys would enjoy this pic!



We tried the "sink or swim" method for Callie's first swimming lesson! Luckily she swam! Haha! This was at shepardson's at Lake Campbell 'bout a month ago. Makes me smile!



Just doing some browsing on "Go Jacks!" I'm so proud of my little sisters for the outstanding performance at the cross country meet yesterday! I definitely wish I could have made the trip to Grand Forks! Good job girls!!

Garden Salsa

So I realized that with my hubby at school and my sistas busier than heck, blogger needs to make a comeback. If nothing else, it gives me something to do on my days off. AND I need to show off my first attempt at garden fresh salsa!



I have Joe to testify that it is pretty tasty, and it has got quite a kick! Mom will love it! It was very simple. It just required a lot of chopping. Here is the recipe I used. I only changed it by adding some garlic, canned green chiles, and a few extra tomatoes. Did I mention, to tomatoes came from mom and dad's garden, so they are the real deal :)

Ingredients
3 cups chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1 cup onion, diced
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
4 teaspoons chopped fresh jalapeno pepper (including seeds)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions
1.Stir the tomatoes, green bell pepper, onion, cilantro, lime juice, jalapeno pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Serve.

Love of Tuna Melts and Johnny D.

I didn't have to work today so I spent the day organizing and decorating our new apartment. Amazingly, I found room for all our pots, pans, silverware, and everything else we had left to put in the kitchen cupboards. I went back to the old apartment and gathered up all the fridge food and everything else that was left over there, which was mainly just things on the walls. Then I came back to the new apartment, put the food away, and started decorating :). 

For lunch, I made a tuna melt using the garlic bread that was left over from Danielle's pizza night and the very last of the pickle relish. Despite being low on groceries, the tuna melt was delish :). Oh, and the popcorn ball chunk I had for dessert was also delish! 

I took a trip to Wal-Mart in the afternoon to pick up some much needed groceries along with command strips, a shower rod and curtain, and a new toothbrush :).

I enjoyed my tuna melt at lunch so much that I decided to make another one for supper. That's what living alone will do to ya :). It was just as good as the first one! 

Johnny was the first one to go on my walls. Right by the head of my bed so I can have happy dreams :).

Tomorrow I'm gonna get a start on cleaning the old apartment. Fun stuff :). Good night all! 

Job at Pizzeria and Lunch at Bistro

This morning I had a job interview at Sundried Tomato Pizzeria. It went really well, and they decided to hire me. Yay! I finally feel like I've got my summer plans figured out--definitely a good feeling! :)

Danielle and I decided to go to the Cottonwood Bistro today for lunch. We split a proscuitto ham and pineapple pizzette--good stuff!

It was so gorgeous out today so we decided to eat outside.

I ordered an iced hazelnut latte, and at first the latte boy came out with a regular latte. I really wasn't feelin' a hot drink so I ended up asking him to make it iced. I felt bad, but luckily he was really good about it. He said he got excited about doing the latte art and didn't hear me say "iced". Haha! I think he might be my Taylor :).

I'm afraid I'm gonna miss this girl way more than I realize :(.

After Danielle left for home, I went to McCrory Gardens and walked around for a bit. After a little bit of scoping, I found "my bench"--a little ways off the beaten path and perfectly shaded :). I gave Mom a call and talked to her for a little while, and then I pulled out a pen and paper and made a list of my summer plans.

This summer is gonna be full of fun. I know it! :)

Brookings Half Marathon

So I tried to copy and paste from my other blog to this blog, but it didn't work. So here's the link to my post. http://runningrdtobe.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/brookings-half-marathon/

Pre-Professional Club 5K/10K

The pre-professional club put on their annual 5K/10K roadrace this morning. They got lucky this year because it turned out to be an absolutely beautiful morning. I heard from one guy that last year it was snowy and windy. Yuck! None of that today, though! I decided to run the 10K--mainly because I figured there would be less competition and thus, a better shot at winning :). Although, there was less competition, there was a beast of a woman who ended up winning it. Ok, I should clarify, she didn't look beastly, she just ran beastly :). Needless to say, I was impressed. I took second--a ways behind first and a ways ahead of third. I ran a time of 40.37. Pretty fast, right? Well, I have to admit that the course was a little short. So I'm not sure what my time would've been had I run the full 10K distance, but I felt pretty fast :).

Taber and Fr. Andrew also ran the race. Taber did the 5K(ended up getting 2nd!) and Fr. Andrew ran the 10K. I forgot my camera at home so no post-race pics. Sorry!

Check out the sweet shirts!

They threw a few coupons in with our registration packet. Free grease-ball burger from Nick's.  Yay! :)

My prize for second place was a $20 gift certificate to a hair salon. But, because of NCAA rules, I couldn't accept it because I'm on the cross-country team. Oh well, I wasn't too bummed.

They had fruit, chewies, and water at the finish line so I grabbed some of that to refuel and then headed home. I decided to have breakfast out on the deck. Toast with PB and yogurt and a glass of milk--hit the spot!

The sunshine felt so good! I soaked it in for a while before getting showered up for the day. 

Lemon Pudding Cookies

Joe and were really glad to have finally made it to one of KayCee's school plays. She did excellent (even if the plot was a little different)!


Alright, so I ended up being on call Friday, so I decided to pass the time by baking a batch of Lemon Pudding Cookies. This is a recipe that I found in a library cookbook. It caught my eye because it only has 5 ingredients and very little prep!

1 Cup buttermilk baking mix (bisquick)
3 oz package lemon pudding mix
1 egg
1/4 Cup Oil
1/3 Cup sugar (for decoration)

1) Preheat oven to 350
2) Mix baking mix, pudding, egg, and oil



3) Roll dough into 1 inch balls



4) Press sugar onto cookie with flat bottomed glass (Flatten to 1/4 inch)



5) Bake about 10 minutes




I sampled one shortly after they came out of the oven (of course). They are SO good! The cool thing is that you could use just about any flavor of pudding and these cookies would be completely different--but just as delicious!

I'm sorry Blogger!

I have to apologize for not blogging in FOREVER!! I could make some lame excuses, but instead I'm just gonna put the past behind me. I'm ready to get back at it!

So, did I mention that I have to give a "talk" to the graduates from Ss Peter and Paul. I say "have to" but I really mean that I (reluctantly) volunteered to. Pat S. asked if I would talk to them about the mission trips I've done. Just a little something to inspire them to serve others. Pat mentioned something about 30 minutes, but I'm just hoping to survive ten!

I also want to encourage them to be involved in a newman center (or whatever parish they end up at), so if you guys have any info or ideas for me . . . PLEASE, send 'em my way!! :) After the Focus conference, I'm sure you have some inspirational little tidbits that would be worth sharing.

I'm officially in love with Charles Dickens! Don't worry, Joe is well aware and is completely fine with it. He's so understanding :) I just finished David Copperfield, and it was SO good! I visited the library again this week and got another Dickens novel, Hard Times. I know it sounds depressing, but I'm gonna give it a shot.

Spinach and Turkey Egg Bake

I was feeling adventurous last night, and we had a ton of eggs in our fridge so I decided to make an egg bake. It was my first experience making an egg bake so I wasn't sure how it would turn out--especially since I wasn't following a recipe AND since I was using breadsticks that had been in the freezer for...a while :S. BUT, it turned out great! Egg bakes are apparently fool-proof :).

Spinach and Turkey Egg Bake

1 lb. lean ground turkey

12 eggs

1 cup spinach(thawed from frozen)

3/4 large onion, chopped

1 T. olive oil

3 breadsticks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown turkey. Chop onion and carmelize with olive oil in skillet. Cut breadsticks into bite-size pieces. Whisk eggs in a bowl and add turkey, onions, spinach, and breadsticks. Mix thoroughly. Pour into a greased 9 X 13-inch pan. Bake for about 30 minutes.

*A little cheese on the top makes it even better :).

Accidentally Ran a Road Race

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Brookings. I got up around 8:30 and went out for a run. While on my run, I found myself in the middle of a 5K road race. Haha! Ok, I'll explain. I got onto the bike trail and was running through Larson Park when I spotted a bike followed by a bunch of runners coming towards me. Apparently the Chi Omega sorority was putting on a road race for the Children's Miracle Foundation. I had seen posters around campus for it, but I didn't realize it was today. So I ran for a couple miles with the racers until we hit a fork in the path and they went one way and I went another :). I ended up running ten miles this morning. It felt great! 

After I got back home, I didn't want to go inside so I had breakfast on the deck. Breakfast consisted of a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with chocolate bunches and flaxseed sprinkled on top. Yummo! 

Mom got into Brookings around 12:30 and we met up with Taber for lunch at Bagelworks. I had a chicken breast ciabatta sandwich and a cranberry-white chocolate chip cookie for dessert. So good! With a little influence from Mom, I decided to introduce myself to the manager. He told me that he's been really busy lately, but he said he would have summer employment figured out by April 15th. Only five days away! Yay! Also, he said he put my application in the "good pile". Haha! Definitely a good sign :).

After the wedding, Mom came over to the apartment for a bit to visit before she had to leave for Sioux Falls. The rest of my afternoon was spent doing homework, filling out a scholarship application, writing an essay, and doing other things that were long overdue. It was an awesomely productive afternoon. I'm ready to tackle anything now :).

For supper, I had one of my favorite meals--a Hot Hannah Banana sandwich along with an apple and a piece of chocolate for dessert.

I never get sick of the peanut butter and banana combo. For a late night snack, I had a banana with PB and vanilla yogurt.

I think I'm gonna read a few chapter of Great Expectations tonight. I'm only a few chapters in, and I'm already loving it! Thanks for the recommendation, Marie! And for loaning me the book :).

Twenty-seven and in Heaven!

We went to Dimock last night to celebrate Joe's birthday and to indulge in the feast and Mom and Dad prepared! It was excellent!!! Steak, potatoes (with REAL bacon bits!Appropriate for Joe's day), salad, bread, cheese, cookie salad, wine . . . we were stuffed, but everyone somehow saved room for my (box mix) brownie birthday cake!

Joe was so surprised and absolutely thrilled when he opened his gift . . . the Lakeview Golf Membership! Summer can not come fast enough for him!

Oh, and we laughed so hard at the card that you girls sent! Luckily, I bore no resemblance to the woman on the card, and Joe has never seen such a "Look" on my face (well, maybe just that one . . . :) otherwise Joe might have been trembling instead of laughing!

Belated St. Patty's Day Delectables

We had both sets of parents (a.k.a. grandparents) over for Sunday dinner (lunch for you, Joe!). While on our trip to the grocery store for the menu, we came across a sale on all things Irish, so we went with it. The menu consisted of corned beef, mashed potatoes (true Irish staple), cooked cabbage (always a risk with the male population), asparagus, and strawberry rhubarb pie (not Irish, but soooooo good!) with ice cream. Wild Irish Rose was the drink of the day (looks like you started something, Marie, because Dad purchased the large economy size!). It was a success, but the photography was not. I'm SO BAD about remembering to do that in our empty nest situation! Good company, lively conversation, and a sunny view out the dining room window made for a perfectly picturesque gathering. :)

Sweet Potato Casserole

I entered this recipe into the Soy Foods Contest they had here at SDSU, and I ended up getting third place. I was pretty impressed with how it turned out so I thought I would share my recipe.

Annie's Sweet Potato Casserole

Ingredients:
3 small sweet potatoes(~2.5 cups mashed)
1/2 c. soy milk
4 oz. soft (silken) tofu
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 c. whole wheat pancake mix
1 c. soy milk
1.5 c. apple pie filling
1/3 c. crushed pecans

1.) Wash sweet potatoes and stab with knife. Microwave for eight minutes or until soft. Peel and mash.
2.) Combine sweet potatoes, 1/2 c. soy milk, tofu, and brown sugar in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
3.) Combine whole wheat pancake mix, 1 c. soy milk, and apple pie filling in a bowl. Pour mixture into an 8 or 9-inch square pan and spread evenly.
4.) Layer sweet potato mixture over pancake mixture.
5.) Top with crushed pecans.
6.) Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

SDSU Indoor Triathlon

I did it! I completed my first triathlon this morning! Ok, I'm not sure if I can really call it a true triathlon, but it makes me sound hard core so I have been :) . The race was all indoors at the SDSU Wellness Center. It consisted of 10 minutes of swimming, 30 minutes of biking, and 20 minutes of running. We had 10 minutes to transition from the pool to the bikes and five minutes to transition from the bikes to the treadmills. They had us go in flights with about 6 or 7 of us going at a time. 

They kept track of each racer's distances. These were my final results.

Swim: 18.5 laps(0.2913 miles)

Bike: 14.1 miles

Run: 2.77 miles

Total: 17.16 miles

I didn't win overall, but I did win the running portion for the females. Yay! I'm supposed to go pick up my prize sometime today. I'm excited to see what it is :) .

The number on the arm makes me look pretty intense--don't you think? :)

I tried to not look super tired in this post-race pic. It didn't exactly work. Blah!

Once I got home, I was famished so I had a bagel with PB and honey. It hit the spot! 

After eating and chattin' with Danielle, I took a hot shower--glorious!

We are spending the afternoon at Cottonwood(our favorite place for hittin' the books).