Choose to Become

In September, I had the opportunity to attend Time Out for Women here in Logan. For those of you who aren't familiar with this amazing awesome weekend, check out this website. It's basically an evening and a day of inspirational music and speakers for women only. I've gone 4 times and plan on continuing to go whenever I have the opportunity.

This year, the theme was "CHOOSE TO BECOME" which I LOVE! This is something I've spent alot of time thinking about and I think I'm finally ready to write about my goals. During the opening remarks, we were encouraged to DISCOVER ALL OF OUR POSSIBILITIES. We were encouraged to make a list of things that come to mind and we were reminded of the scripture in Mark, that ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE. Here is the list of things that I wrote down.

Writing a book
Becoming a strong cyclist
Setting a PR at the 70.3 triathlon distance
Taking voice lessons
Completing an iron-distance triathlon

As I sat down and pondered (yes, I've actually been giving this quite a bit of thought), I noticed that, of course, 3 of my goals involve triathlon and training. Since I got engaged, I've let my training and racing goals slide quite a bit. No excuses for that...except getting married, getting a puppy, having 2 part time teenagers, moving to a new state, etc etc etc. I also feel like I've had to sort of figure out who this "new" AJ is and what she looks like. That probably sounds funny, but it's sort of hard to explain.

So, in an effort to establish my goals and start moving forward, I'm posting my CHOOSE TO BECOME goal.

I'm CHOOSING TO BECOME A TRIATHLETE...AGAIN...specifically an long distance triathlete.

In order for this to happen, there are several things that need to take place. Things like losing weight, getting back into the "training" habit, finding a place to swim that's not 20 minutes away and only open from 5-6:30am, etc.

I've sort of put together a rough draft of a timeline for this happening...hopefully, it will play out this way, but I also know that life is tricky sometimes, so... we'll see what happens.

October 2011-January 2012 - Work on losing weight and regaining strength and fitness. Work on cleaner eating.

February 2012 - Start training for Boise Ironman 70.3

May 2012 - Run the Ogden 1/2 Marathon (one of my favorites) with my hubby, Kyra (my step-daughter) and my friend, Andrea.

June 2012 - Boise Ironman 70.3

September 2012 - Bear Lake Brawl 1/2 Ironman and hopefully (it's a lottery) LOTOJA with my Dad.

At some point, I would like to sign up for an Iron-distance triathlon. I'm sort of thinking Ironman St George, Ironman Arizona, or maybe Ironman Coeur D'Alene, but we'll see. I know that in order to train for an IM I absolutely need my whole team (ie. hubby, kids, dog, etc) on board.

So, that's it...that's my CHOOSE TO BECOME goal. I've already cut out the candy from my diet, started focusing on eating lots more fruits and veggies, journaling my food, and most importantly, working out 6 days a week. Now, I just need the scale to start dropping, and my fitness level going back up. I'm hoping that the blog will be a good way to keep myself honest and up front about how this whole journey is going.

Oh, and I need to remember that

ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM (or her) WHO BELIEVETH!

What Have I Been Up To???

Yes, I have seriously neglected this blog. Life has been insane. I'm learning that pretty much life is always insane, so I need to just embrace it. Here's a brief (probably not so brief) list of what we've been doing in the last several months.


June 4 ~ Did 50 miles of the Little Red Riding Hood Century Ride. I had to stop at the midpoint in order to head to Dallas, TX with Tim for his mom's bypass surgery. Tim and I spent our 1 year anniversary there, mostly hanging out in the hospital. The good news is that his mom came through a quadruple bypass with flying colors. The bad news is that we had to cancel our week long trip to Moab, Arches, and Canyonlands National Parks.

June 14-16 - Ward Youth Conference. Our youth went down to Camp Utaba in Ogden Canyon and had a Back to Basics Boot Camp. This included playing in Pineview Reservoir...which I skipped due to my aversion to freezing cold water, a ropes course, along with several team building activities, a fireside by a magician, and a trip to the Salt Lake Temple to do baptisms for the dead. President Thomas S. Monson stopped in to speak with the Young Men. It was truly awesome!

June 17-18 - WasatchBack Ragnar Relay. Yep, I did it again. I was runner #7 and we had a blast. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it again next year, but my friend Chelsey and I are considering Ragnar Colorado???

June 24-25 ~ Tim and I, along with our friends, Tyler and KeniaAnn, headed down to the Miller Motorsports for Cruiserfest! Friday was a really fun trail ride. Tim has the pictures on the other computer, so I'll have to post them later. We stayed in Park City Friday night and had a great breakfast at the Eating Establishment. We also took the long way home...like from Toole, all around the west side of the Great Salt Lake, ended up in Snowville, UT, but did make it back to Logan. It was a blast and we can't wait to go next year!
July was pretty busy with garden stuff. I was picking peas like a crazy person, as well as weeding, watering, and staying busy with Young Women stuff.
July 15 ~ My new nephew Jay Edward Hansen was born. Yep, Karen and Eric had boy #2. He's adorable and of course, I'm his favorite auntie!
July 19-22 ~ Young Women Girls Camp ~ We headed up Ogden Canyon to Camp Liberty and spent the week camping with the girls. There were showers, which totally made my week and I took advantage of them daily! I also had an opportunity to bear my testimony about the importance of preparing to attend the temple. It was a really great experience. Oh...and I turned 33 while I was there.

July 23 ~ Tim and I, along with our friends Tyler, KeniaAnn, Brad, and Dustin, hiked the Wellsvilles. The Wellsvilles are the steepest mountains in the world and they happen to be right across the valley from us, so up we went. I think it might have been the hardest hike I've ever done. Tim said he would rather do the Narrows, although I'm not so sure about that. It took us about 8 hours and was fun, but I'm not sure I'll need to do it again in my life. I ended up with stinging nettle on my legs, as well as a nice sprained ankle. There were also many falls on the way down...that's how steep it was!


July 30 ~ Tim and I took the cruiser up Franklin Basin Road in Logan Canyon. The drive was gorgeous. The wildflowers were amazing. We even came across a plane crash site from the Korean War.

August 6 ~ Tim and I took the kids on a hike up Green Canyon. It's a 4 mile hike round trip, but is pretty steep on the way up. It was a challenge, but it was really cool to hear the kids talk about how cool it was to be able to do that and how overcoming challenges helps us in our life. Definitely a fun day!

August 13 ~ Tim and I, along with our friends Andrea and Tom, and my Dad, rode our bikes up Blacksmith Fork Canyon. It was super windy when we got to the mouth of the canyon, but all the hard work was well worth it when we came flying down the canyon! We made plans to ride again last weekend, but the cold, wet weather changed our minds.

August 17-21 ~ Tim and I took the kids to spend the weekend with my family in Park City. We swam alot, went to the Farmers Market, hung out with cousins, went to church, Tim and my Dad went mountain biking, played ping pong, and had alot of fun. That will be a new family tradition I'm sure. Although, I'm planning to take my road bike since there's so many great places to ride.

August 19 ~ While we were in Park City, Tim and I took the kids down to Timpanogos Cave in American Fork Canyon. Once again the trail was steep, but we had lunch at the top and the tour was awesome. I will admit to feeling claustrophobic and a little freaked out, but I did it...with a smile on my face. The drive through the Alpine Loop was gorgeous as well.

August 27 ~ I ran the last 7 miles of the Top of Utah 1/2 marathon with my Mom and her friend Tami. They actually got medals this year, which made me want to do it next year.

September 3 ~ Man vs. Mud... Tim and I, our friends Tyler and KeniaAnn, and Tom and Andrea, along with lots of others did the mud run at the American West Heritage Center. I don't have any pictures, because I didn't run with my camera. That turned out to be a good thing, since we had to go down super steep fast waterslides (I almost got taken out by a super big guy, after I slid off the slide and almost into a fence), we had to swim/crawl/muck through a good 1/4 mile of 5 foot deep trench, we had to swim across a super freezing cold pond. Yep, it was a blast. Definitely it will become a Labor Day weekend tradition.
September also involved canning 50+ quarts of green beans, 150+ quart bags of frozen corn, 50+ containers of freezer jam and at least 100 pints and 75 quarts of salsa. I also froze zucchini, both shredded and sliced for my winter cooking. My first attempt at zucchini bread last week was a hit, so I'll have to remember to freeze more shredded zucchini for next year. Apparently, I have become quite domestic.
Also, in September, we've been spending lots of time driving around to Rylan's soccer games. He's playing on a competitive team, so that means lots of practices and games. He loves it and we're enjoying it as well.

September 16-17 ~ I got to go to Time Out for Women, with my friends Chelsey and Amy. The theme this year was Choose to Become. The speakers and music were AWESOME! It was super inspirational and I've been working on what I've chosen to become. I can't wait to go again next year!

September 25 ~ Tim took me on a drive up to Bloomington Lake in Idaho. I've ridden my bike around Lake Bloomington in IL several times, but who knew there was another Bloomington Lake. It was gorgeous and definitely the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Yep, I've been busy. I'm pretty sure I haven't listed everything, but like I said, I've been super busy. :) Hopefully, I can do a little better job of keeping up on the blog now that I'm caught up.

Peanut Butter Caramel Corn

I found this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine and since I love peanut butter, I decided to try it. I should mention that I'm not a huge fan of caramel corn. In my world, popcorn is meant to be salty. However, since I do love peanut butter, I thought this might be awesome. To me, it tastes alot like cracker jacks. The popcorn was a hit. Everyone, except me, who has eaten it can't say enough good things about it. In fact, I think the most common comment was, "This stuff is addicting. I can't stay out of it." So, while I don't love it, I think it was a success and has been added to my recipe box.

Here's the recipe. Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Ingredients:

Cooking spray
2 T. canola oil
1/2 C. unpopped popcorn kernels
1/2 C. sliced almonds
2/3 C. packed brown sugar
2/3 C. light Karo syrup
2 1/2 T. butter
1/2 t. salt
1/2 C. creamy peanut butter
1 t. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 250.
2. Line a jelly-roll pan with parchment paper; coat paper with cooking spray.
3. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Ad popcorn; cover and cook 4 minutes, shaking pan frequently. when popping slows remove pan from heat. Let stand until popping stops. Uncover; add almonds. ***I used a non-stick pan for this. I also poured the popcorn into a large paper bag to absorb the excess oil. I also wanted to keep the unpopped kernels out of the caramel corn, so I scooped the popcorn onto the pan, leaving the kernels in the bag. I sprinkled the almonds onto the popcorn, after it was on the jelly-roll pan.***
4. Combine sugar, syrup, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add peanut butter and vanilla; stir until smooth. Drizzle over popcorn; toss well Spread mixture out onto prepared pan. Bake at 250 for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely. ***I drizzled the sauce over the popcorn on the pan, instead of trying to spread a sticky mixture onto parchment paper.***



Other notes:
-I doubled the batch to share. It made 2 large ziplock bags full.
-The recipe says that it will serve 20 people. Each serving size is about 3/4 cup. The nutritional information can be found on the recipe link.

Enjoy! And let me know what you think!

What's for Dinner?

Yes, I have been a total slacker...I have a million things to write about, but haven't taken the time to sit down and tackle all of our adventure stories. However, tonight, after making dinner, I realized that dinner is definitely blog worthy. So, here's the recipe. I did want to mention that I was planning on making this recipe, from Cooking Light, but I didn't have all of the ingredients, so I adapted. Oh, and I'm not sure what to call this recipe, so I'll take suggestions.

Ingredients:
2 frozen deep dish pie crusts (I don't make my own pie crust.)
1 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 c. sliced mushrooms
1/2 c. diced onion
garlic powder to taste
1 c. frozen spinach, unthawed, drained, and dried
1 c. sliced zuchini
1 tomato, thinly sliced
5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 large eggs
4 large egg whites
1 1/4 c. 2% milk
1 t. salt
1 t. crushed red pepper
1 t. thyme

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400.
2. Saute mushrooms, onions, spinach, and garlic in olive oil.
3. Bake pie shells for 15 min.
4. Turn oven down to 350.
5. Add vegetables and bacon to pie shells and cover with cheese.
6. Mix eggs and milk and seasonings in bowl and then pour over pie crusts.
7. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Let cool for 15 min on a wire rack.

Anyways, it's cool and time for dinner. Hopefully, it tastes as good as it looks!

Sunday Dinner with the New CrockPot

I've actually had a request to add more recipes to my blog, so here's one of my favorites. We just finished an awesome Sunday dinner, thanks to my trip to the farmer's market and my new crock pot.

Dinner started off with a salad of fresh gourmet greens, including some amazingly delicious arugula. There were also vine ripened tomatoes, radishes, sliced olives, and shredded cheese.


I started cooking the swiss chicken this morning, so it was ready when we got home from church. It's a super easy meal that we all enjoy. Since Kona woke up at 6:30am, the chicken was started at 6:45am, and was cooking by 6:55am.

Step 1. Spray the crockpot with cooking spray.

Step 2. Place the chicken breasts or chicken tenders on the bottom of the crockpot. I usually use chicken tenders, or if I use the chicken breasts, I make sure they're thin.

Step 3. Pour 3 cans of cream of chicken soup, 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and 3 small cans of mushrooms on the chicken.

Step 4. Cover the soup mixture with slices of swiss cheese.

Step 5. Dump a package of stuffing (I used 2) on top of the cheese.

Step 6. Cook on low for 8 hours.


So, when we got home from church, I made the salads. Tim grilled the asparagus (also from the farmer's market).

Tim dished up the swiss chicken and threw away a slice of cheese. He thought it was some sort of "skin". I mention this only to warn you what you might find under the stuffing, and also so you won't throw away one of the best parts of the meal!

So, Sunday dinner at our house was a hit today. Oh and we have enough leftovers that we'll have more chicken again later this week.

Saturdays are Busy

This has been a super busy Saturday. Kona woke me at 5:30am to go outside and then I was awake, so I decided to head out for a run.

I actually got 6 miles done and felt great! When I got home, I took Kona for a walk around the neighborhood to cool down. He decided he was in kind of a naughty mood.

Then it was home for a shower. At some point, Kona found a kleenex box and we ended up with this in our living room.

Tim and Rylan headed off to put the bumper on the cruiser (more on that in a minute) and I headed to the Cache Valley Gardener's Market. Tim says I am a sucker for farmer's markets and he's probably right. I went with the intention of buying some lettuce. I came home with 2 bags of gourmet organic lettuce, a bag of spinach, a bag of over the top delicious arugula, a jar of raspberry jam, 2 mini strawberry pies, 2 mini razzleberry tarts, and a bunch of radishes. I'm thinking that Tim is probably right.

When I got home, I dropped off the yummy goodness I bought, and Kyra and I headed to my parents. We were planning on finishing planting our vegetable garden, but the soil is too wet, so we helped my parents plant 25 arctic willow bushes.
Here's the before picture.

Here's the after picture.

Oh and in the middle of this, Kona decided that he's lost his fear of water and went to play in the canal.

He got to come home smelling like a swamp.

When the planting was done, we headed out to Tim's dad's house, except we had to turn around and head home to bring the jeep Tim's dad is selling to a mechanic for an inspection. Anyways, Tim came to pick us up and we headed to McDonald's for a quick lunch. Then, we got to spend the next 5 hours helping Tim put the new 200 lb bumper on the cruiser.


Here's the mostly finished product.

In the middle of all of this, Tim sold his dad's jeep. Here's my father-in-law's dance of joy!

I headed home with the kids and pulled out the chicken for dinner tomorrow, as well as the frozen pizza for dinner tonight.

While dinner was cooking, it was off to McDonalds to pick up our movies. We love the redbox!

So, now we're lying in bed, with Kona, watching "Knight and Day"...dumb movie, but entertaining... I'm just glad that the day is almost over.

So...I Guess We Need a New Crock Pot

Dinner tonight was supposed to go much better than last night, however...

It started off great. The spaghetti sauce simmered in the crock pot all day. The salads were made. The garlic bread was toasted perfectly. The pasta was a very nice al dente. Tim and I ate our dinner and I started to clean up...

That's when it happened. Our beloved crock pot slipped into the sink while I was putting the sauce into tupperwares for the freezer, and the handle broke off. Tim asked if I needed to take Kitchen Safety 101 over again.

Perhaps, I should be done cooking this week.