Darwin is One!

So it has been a thousand years since I last posted. One big reason was the move to the new house. We love living here and the house came together beautifully. I'm still waiting on some custom blinds I ordered (seriously, I may never get them and the headache they have been could be a whole post of its own...but it won't be) so I don't want to take pics yet as it isn't quite finished.

After taking a 5 week hiatus from running during the whole selling/buying/moving thing, I actually got back on track and things are going well. I had a great 10K XC race a couple of weeks ago and right now I'm training for a half marathon.

The real story of this post though is Darwin's birthday. That's right-my baby turned one. I can't believe I've been a parent for a year. I can't believe it has been like 20 months since I first learned I was pregnant. I can't believe a lot of things. The whole experience has been surreal. It's like my life was put on fast forward yet I didn't realize it while it was happening. Only when I look back do I see how fast it all went and how much time has passed.

The little guy is still the most laid back kid I know. He is walking all over the place and is a very jolly, laughing little guy. He loves the dogs (even though they aren't big fans of his), loves pushing his train around, loves playing with any kind of ball and he loves his Daddy. In fact, he calls pretty much everything "Dad" which is the only word he currently uses. He did have a few weeks where he said "Mom" and "Mom-mom" quite a bit but that seems to have passed. Sigh.... Anyway, it goes without saying that this has been one great year. To celebrate, we threw a big birthday bash. It was so much fun! Here are some pics of the day. Thanks to Ann Snelson Photography for these fabulous images.

Big News!

Ok, so selling the house went amazingly well. After cleaning, organizing and staging my butt off, the house went on the market Tuesday, June 29th. On Friday the 2nd of July, we got not 1, but 2 showings! I was so excited just to know that the house was getting some marketing and buyers actually wanted to come see it. The next morning I was tidying up and Brian called and asked if I had checked my email. Turns out, we had gotten an offer the night before. Even better, they offered ASKING PRICE! I could not believe it. We priced it at exactly what it appraises for so there was no way we could have gotten a better offer. Obviously, we accepted. The scary part was that the closing date would be August 2nd. That gave us less than a month to find and close on our new house. To make things even more complicated, our realtor had gone on vacation. We hit the internet and came up with some neighborhoods we wanted to check out. After driving out to see some of them, we fell in love with a great area that has beautiful views and rolling hills. We found the perfect place and were able to put in an offer even though our realtor was out of town. The builder came back with a very fair counter offer and we accepted! I am in love with the house. It is a new construction with beautiful site finished hardwood floors, granite counter tops, an amazing deck with a view of Pinnacle Mountain, etc... It has some really great rustic touches too like exposed beams in the vaulted ceiling. It is really the perfect house for us in the perfect neighborhood. We couldn't be more excited. Here's a pic of the house. The inside is way better. I would post some pics but the ones from the MLS listing really don't do it justice. I'll have to do an update blog once we get settled.

Quick Update

No I'm not dead and I have not quit running, blogging or cooking. All have for sure been put on the back burner lately though. Right now we are readying our house for sale. We're hoping to put it on the market in less than a week. We decided to do this about a week ago after kicking the idea around for a few months before that. Anyway, I immediately went into hyper-manic-must do everything at once mode. For those of you that don't know me in real life (which is about 95% of you), that is just how I roll. When I decide on something, I make it happen right then. Well getting a house ready to sell is not an instantaneous task so you can imagine how frustrating it has been for me. The good news is, it is pretty much there. Just need to do a few finishing touches and we are good to go! I must say, the house looks great and I will be a little sad to go. Not that sad though so come put a bid on my house people! I am worried about the market and I hope we don't have to stay in sellers limbo for too long. I've decided to remain up beat and hope that my positive attitude draws buyers in. The sad news is that I haven't run a step since last Sunday. I've had too much to do and I just made the decision that it would have to wait. I guess something did have to give for once. Everything did kind of work out though as I have been sick for the last few days and wouldn't have been able to run anyway. I love how the universe works itself out sometimes.

So, before I'm off to clean more baseboards and organize one last closet, I'd like to say "Happy Fathers Day" to my husband Brian. Check out this cute picture collage that Darwin and I made!

Catching Up

So I haven't posted in forever. I have no excuse at all. For whatever reason, I just haven't gotten around to it. Let me start off with a fabulous recipe that I got from Gina at www.skinnytaste.com This one is ingenious!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

* 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
* 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely drained
* 15 oz fat free ricotta cheese
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 egg
* salt and fresh pepper
* 32 oz tomato sauce
* 9 tbsp part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine spinach, ricotta, Parmesan, egg, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Ladle about 1 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish.

Place a piece of wax paper on the counter and lay out lasagna noodles. Make sure noodles are dry. Take 1/3 cup of ricotta mixture and spread evenly over noodle. Roll carefully and place seam side down onto the baking dish. Repeat with remaining noodles.


Ladle sauce over the noodles in the baking dish and top each one with 1 tbsp mozzarella cheese. Put foil over baking dish and bake for 40 minutes, or until cheese melts. Makes 9 rolls.



Each roll is 4 Weight Watchers Points. This recipe is perfect for me because it is quick, simple and it reheats well. When I make this we have leftovers the rest of the week. Awesome! Here's how it turned out in my kitchen.



Running has been going fairly well. When I first started running after Darwin was born, I struggled with lots of random pain in the hips and pelvis. That is finally gone. Yay! Now I have lots of little aches in my ankles and feet. This is normal for me. Anytime I am getting back into running shape I have to deal with this. This too shall pass, right? I've done a couple of 5Ks since I last posted. I'm running in the low 22 minute range right now. Not too bad but still slower than my PR of 19:42. I've been training consistently for the last few weeks and I'm happy with how it has been going. I think I'll be back up 60 miles per week in about 8 months. That is a long time from now but I want to do this right and get back without any injuries. Let me take this moment to say that I could not live without my BOB Revolution jogging stroller. It has totally lived up to all the hype! I'd still rather run solo but I need to run with Darwin a couple times a week and this has really made it easy. I can't believe how smooth this thing rides. He usually sleeps the entire time I'm running but is content to ride quietly when he is awake. Amazingly, it doesn't slow me down at all! I was looking at my running log the other day and my pace is pretty much the same with or without the stroller. Because it maneuvers so well, we've been able to use it as our everyday stroller as well so it was more than worth the cost. The only complaint I can make at all is that the handle doesn't adjust so it is a little low for Brian. He's 6'4" so he's pretty use to things not being tall enough for him. I have to say, it is the perfect height for me but at 5'5", I am pretty average.

And finally, Darwin. He is 7 months old already! Where has all the time gone? He isn't crawling yet but he is giving it his very best try. He loves rolling around everywhere and puts himself on his tummy whenever possible. Our latest adventure has been solids. He is not a fan at all. So far we've done avocado, banana, sweet potato, oatmeal and squash. He won't eat any of them. If the food manages to find its way into his mouth at all, it is met with the worst look you could imagine. It is like I have really hurt his feelings by trying to make him eat these things. It would be funny if he didn't look so sad. Here is a picture before his first attempt at solids. Oh how quickly that smile would disappear.



And here I am with Darwin on my first Mother's Day as a mom.

10K

So I did that 10K I blogged about a few weeks ago. It really didn't go all that well. My goal was to beat the time I ran the previous year when I was 12 weeks pregnant which was 47:05. Today I ran a 47:27 which is 7:39 minute per mile pace. It was rather disappointing. I went out way too fast-not a mistake I usually make. The problem is that I really have no idea what I am capable of running right now so I don't know what pace to shoot for. At least this race gave me an idea of where I am running wise.

The big debate for me now is how hard to train. Brian and I were discussing this the other day. We are both on the same page as far as a second child goes. Basically, as soon as we can, we're going to try again. That could be a while though as I am exclusively breastfeeding and not currently ovulating. So, do I train as hard as I can and try to get back to the speed I was pre-Darwin or do I just have a good time running, get pregnant with baby #2, take a few years off and come back as a good masters(40+) runner? Ultimately, being a fast runner in my 40s is the goal. This being considered, Brian and I came to the conclusion that perhaps taking it a little easier until after baby #2 is probably the best plan. Does this mean I won't be training hard? Not really. I'll still be upping my mileage and doing speed work and tempo runs. The only real big changes will be my mentality and my mileage. I'll try to be less intense. Also, I probably won't do a marathon between babies which was my original plan.

There were a few bright spots about today's race. I was 9th overall so it was good to be in the top 10 again. I was a lot faster per mile than I was at the Hour Track Run I did in January so at least I'm making progress. As always, it was fun to be out in the running community. Darwin was very smiley and giggly and everyone oohed and awed over him. Also, I won an embroidered blanket for getting second in my age group. Darwin has already claimed it for tummy time. All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.

This Week's Healthy Recipe

Ok, this one was one of those OMG! recipes. I just couldn't believe how delicious it was. I know I've said before that it is hard to think of soup or stew as a meal but this is another exception to that rule. This is the type of thing I would rave about if I got it at a restaurant. This little gem is courtesy of Gina at www.skinnytaste.com If you haven't visited her blog and tried her recipes, do it!

Garlic Shrimp in Coconut Milk, Tomatoes and Cilantro

* 1 1/4 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
* 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
* 4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
* 1/2 cup cilantro
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* kosher salt
* 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
* 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
* 14 oz can light coconut milk (50% less fat)*
* 1/2 lime, squeezed

In a medium pot, heat oil on low. Add red peppers and sauté until soft (about 4 minutes). Add scallion whites, 1/4 cup cilantro, red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook 1 minute.

Add tomatoes, coconut milk and salt to taste, cover and simmer on low about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend together and to thicken the sauce.

Add shrimp and cook 5 minutes. Add lime juice.

To serve, divide equally among 4 bowls and top with scallions and cilantro.

This recipe has 5.5 weight watchers points per serving.

Here's how it turned out in my kitchen.

Counting Down

I am doing a race in 3 weeks. It is a 10K which is probably my weakest distance. I find it too short of a race to be able to relax but too long to keep my focus at a really fast pace. I've never been particularly happy with my 10K PR (42:11) and I know I will not be able to run anywhere near that fast by this race. I'm not sure exactly how fast I'll be able to run. I did a 6 mile run tonight with the middle 4 miles around 7:30 pace. Last year I ran 7:35s at this race but I was 12 weeks pregnant and was taking it easy. Sadly, this year I'd be lucky to run 7:35s and that would not be taking it easy-it would be quite a challenge. It is really hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I'm slower now after having Darwin than I was while I was approaching the second trimester!

I guess my goal in this race will be to beat my time from last year which was a 47:05. My long term goal is to up my mileage and get faster. This race is just a short term goal to keep me from getting bored along the way.