Rewind, Rehash, Reflect, Renew

I was doing the dishes earlier, amid the noise of two televisions, one turned to Lilo and Stitch, the other to the local news, with one sick kid, a barking dog, all of us still in pj's, and thought how I haven't had a time to reflect on the past year, much less set goals for the new one rapidly approaching.

Then out of nowhere, I heard Joni Mitchell's River, which is the type of song that perfectly fit my mood. I located it's source, an ipod sitting under a book on the kitchen table that someone forgot to turn off, listened for a bit, took down the calendar, then sat down to think about 2013.

I feel like we've come a long way since last January, Mike and I were both unemployed, but happily, we are ending the year in jobs that we both enjoy, and hope to stay in for a long time.

I got out of the habit of writing down how many miles I run on my daily calendar, it seemed like since I had different races going on throughout the year, I didn't need to keep doing it. But now I'm curious as to what the final total was, so I'm going to start keeping track again.

There was the Shamrock Run:

Then I fell down some stairs and wrecked my ankle.

During the summer, I made some great new friends and we ran in the early morning, training for The Boilermaker.

Then came the Empire Half:

I tried Cross-Fit, and my arms blew up.

My fitness goal for 2014 is to get planking again, and I want to add more half's to my schedule. I really like that distance, the training is manageable, and it's long enough to feel accomplished at the end.


We spent lots of time in the Adirondacks, a place we truly feel like we can escape to.

Although there is a bench on the lake where you can get WiFi, just for a minute or two.

We were reminded again of how life can change in an instant, and how fortunate we are in so many ways.

Although I got tired of picking rubber bands up from every corner of the house.

I loved watching the kids challenge themselves in different ways this year.

Luke flipping off the high board:

Frank thinks he's the third child.

Every night at 7:00 he brings his bone into the kitchen, and drops it at my feet, which means he wants me to put peanut butter in it.  Every. Night.

Speaking of the kitchen, I once again cooked Thanksgiving dinner, and Mike mastered the art of deep fried turkey.

In 2014 I want to finally master marinara sauce.
                                                                           ~

I really can't ask for a better ending to 2013.

I haven't made any major resolutions, aside from dropping some more un-wanted pounds before our next trip to Disney.

I'm going to keep moving forward, staying positive, hopeful, and grateful.

Wishing you a happy, healthy 2014.....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Putting Out The Reindeer Food

I hope your season was Merry, 

and that the New Year brings you joy!

Cinco por Sunday

1. I'm a fan of cooking double batches of certain foods, like soups and stews, then freezing the leftovers. It makes a crazy weeknight that much easier when you can pull something of the freezer in the morning, put it on the stove at the end of the day, and you're all set. We even do it with certain meats, like grilled sausage, that you can add to pasta. Although it's probably a good idea to label the freezer bag, so you know exactly what you are defrosting.

Case in point, the other night Mike and I decided to have angel hair with marinara, mixed with a bit of a sausage patty which was already cooked, and frozen.  I was on the phone when he was putting the meal together, and when I looked at my plate, I thought the sausage looked a little, soft.  As we started eating, it reminded me of a salmon and pasta dish that I had once when we were in Amsterdam.  It was good, just, weird.  Until I realized......we had mixed a salmon burger into the sauce.

Not sausage.


2.The Christmas season is in full swing, and I have fully embraced the festive spirit.  Although it seems like as soon as I cross one thing off my To Do List, another thing gets added.  While I was shopping yesterday, I found a shirt to wear to an upcoming "Ugly Christmas Sweater" party:

Yeah, it's pretty sweet.


3. Look! I have new running shoes!

I'm so excited that Brooks decided to mix it up and add pink to the new Adrenaline, my last few pairs have been blue.

I have others in my closet, some Asics, Nike, and Mizuno, but the Adrenaline have been my favorite.  Mike has been hounding me to toss some of them, but I like to keep them around, and literally see the miles, sweat, dirt and even some tears that those shoes have witnessed.


4. Tonight Eliza had a pajama party fundraiser for her Girl Scout Troop, it was held in the same place where she and Luke went to preschool.

I was feeling a bit sentimental walking out of the building with her, like we did so many mornings three short years ago. I asked E if she remembered those days, but she was more interested in finishing her leftover popcorn.



5. I apologize for not posting the winner of the Spartan Race giveaway sooner, but Congrats to Teresa, shoot me an email and I'll get you set up!