It's official...I have lost all my marbles!

So this past weekend I was talking with my boyfriend's mom and sister and they talked me into running a half marathon with them. I signed up today and it is official, I am running my very first half marathon. I am very excited but also very nervous at the same time. We are running the Divas Half Marathon in Myrtle Beach. It is a big nationally know race called Run Like A Diva. Hopefully I will be able to blog my training progress for you all. Today began day one of train for a half marathon. I did a 30 minute walk/run. I started out walking Rambo but his little legs only lasted on loop around the neighborhood so I dropped him off and ran the rest. By running more I think it will help me maintain my stress during my final semester of grad school. Please join me in my new journey to prepare for a half marathon!! Now back to grad work.

Pinterest

Ok if you have not heard of Pinterest or if you have and just havent visited the website then DO IT!!!! I have recently become obsessed with it. I found a recipe for loaded potato soup on it. The recipe came from Live A Little Wilder blog. I made it for my parents the other night and it was so good!! For Christmas I got a KitchenAid mixer and it is my new baby!!!! I seriously could go bankrupt buying things to make with my new mixer. To go along with the potato soup, I made homemade bread. I was nervous at first because to make homemade bread you have to have time and patience...two things I normally do not have a lot of but luckily break provided me with both. My next thing I want to make is the Santa Fe Chicken Fajita Soup.

My new baby and her accessories


The bread: It is round because I did not have a loaf pan...


The final product!!


For real Paula you should watch out there is a new chef in town. :)

Watch our Paula...

Since I have had so much down time during break I have worked on my cooking and baking skills. I had no idea what to get my dad for Christmas other than a funny t-shirt that said: "I came, I mowed, I kicked grass" because even though I live on my own, he still comes to mow my lawn! I sure do love my daddy!!! After thinking for awhile, I decided to make him a homemade caramel cake using my grandmother's (his mother) caramel icing recipe. Not to toot my own horn, toot toot, but it was pretty delicious and daddy loved it. :) To make the cake I just used a box cake recipe but for the icing all you need is powdered sugar, light brown sugar, whipping cream, vanilla extract, and butter. Below is the masterpiece:


The beginning stages of the icing


The final stage of the icing


My final masterpiece after daddy ate a slice!! He loved it!!

My other thing I made was a pound cake! Usually I struggle with making the pound cake stay moist by Oh buddy it was real good!! All you need is butter, sugar, flour, almond extract, cream cheese, baking powder, and eggs. Here is the final product:

Christmas Season!

I cannot believe Christmas is just 2 days away. 2011 is almost over. So much has happened in the past year and I am so lucky for the many blessings that were brought to my life. In 2011 I finished my first year of teaching, first year of grad school, bought a house, went to Alaska, and paid my own bills. There are times I come home from work and I am still in shock that I am a "big girl". I love having my own house and be able to provide for myself, although I did not mind at all living with my parents. :) I used to absolutely HATE yard work, especially picking up pinecones. Lucky for me my house has one tree and it is not a pine tree. I have thoroughly enjoyed Christmas break so far. I never realized how badly I needed a break to kind of get myself back together and run some errands. I completed all of my Christmas shopping yesterday...I was a little behind/didn't start until Wednesday. My only complaint about break is that I wish it was a little bit colder outside so that it would feel like Christmas! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!

Be the Shark not the Goldfish

I just started reading this book tonight called The Shark and The Goldfish by Jon Gordon. I have only read a little bit of it but already I 100% recommend this to everyone.



The back cover is what hooked me instantly.



Not many know this but I have been struggling the past few months with change. Some of the change is for the better while other parts not so much. It weighs on my physically, mentally, and emotionally. My hope after reading this book is that I can be more like the shark and not the goldfish.

Update

It has been over 2 months since my last post and so much has gone on since then. Work, grad school, and coaching have consumed all of my time lately. Teaching science this year is going well. I still love math the most but I do enjoy a change and I love the hands-on experiences. :) Coaching is going well. My girls have been working so hard this season and we have competed in 3 competitions already. They have placed 2nd at all 3 competitions but have been improving each week. We have this weekend off but start back up next weekend. I am halfway finished with the Fall semester of grad school which means I am almost 3/4 of the way finished with my masters degree. I will graduate May 5, 2012 at 3pm...yes I am counting down the days. I absolutely love my degree program and I am learning a lot of useful information. However, I am ready to not have the stress of grad school in my life. I have been living in my house for almost 3 months and I still love it so much!! I finally had a fence put up in my backyard. Eventually I want to paint the half-bath downstairs and my bedroom but that will be a later project. My dad finally installed a ceiling fan in my bedroom and one of the bedrooms upstairs. I will post some new pictures soon!! My goal is to update more often then every 2 months but I cannot make any promises. ;)

Alaska = AMAZING!!!

I loved Alaska! The weather was in the 50's most of the time and the scenery was gorgeous! I saw whales, grizzly bears, bald eagles, and a sea lion. Kaitlin (my best friend from college) and I took a ton of pictures. So about the trip...the plane ride there was a bit rocky because there were several screaming kids on it. Also I had the middle seat so I felt trapped and could not stretch out. It was 5 long hours to Seattle. We spent the night in Seattle and then set out for our cruise the next day. Once we left port, we were at sea for one day and then we hit Tracy Arms Fjord to see some glaciers. We did not actually dock anywhere so we basically were at sea for two days. On Friday we arrived in our first port, Skagway. Here Kaitlin and I did some rock climbing. It was so much fun. Since we were at port from 7am until 9pm, Kaitlin and I decided to ride in a floater plane over to Haines where we rented a car and toured the town for a few hours. This is where we saw grizzly bears and a bald eagle. We were within 100 feet of the bears and it was truly something else! I did at one point, while I was running across the field to get closer to the bears, feel like I was on the discovery channel creeping through the fields filming bears. After our bear adventure, we stopped and had dinner at Fireweed. It was one of the best pizzas I had in along time. We flew back to Skagway in time to get back on the boat and sail on to your next port. Here are some pictures from the first few days of the trip. I will post more pictures later but here a few for now.


Sunset from the plane to Seattle.


Seattle, WA





A tiny iceberg in Tracy Arm Fjord.


The breathtaking glacier!


Glacier up close


One of many waterfalls!!