A deeper look into my hilarious life.

I am so happy right now. So I'm sitting in my parents' office, trying to blog... and my dad comes down and has to show me all these pictures he's scanned onto the computer. I'm pretty sure he took every single picture that we have ever taken and scanned it onto our computer. Did I tell you he just retired... and did I mention he might be bored? So as I'm cracking up at these pictures I told him I was going to have to put some on my blog. This concerned him because he spent a lot of time putting them on the computer and doesn't really want me taking them off. So let me know when you're done looking at them because I have to put them back. :)


And on with the show.



So, when I was little we never really took vacations to anywhere cool like Disney Land or the Grand Canyon. We always went to Kansas City. Awesome I know. I'm actually living in our favorite vacation spot. It's like a dream come true. Naturally we had to take pictures:



This next one isn't quite as funny, but has significant sentimental value. This was our family reunion the summer after my senior year in high school. That was the trip that Jessi and I reconnected and became friends again. And here we are years later and I couldn't imagine my life without her! Tear. Love you Jess! Oh, and can someone please get me to a hair stylist?




Yea! Mom & Dad's wedding! Those are some sweet tuxes.




Oh good, here's one from back in the day when I actually cut my hair... or rather someone put a bowl on my head and trimmed.



This right here is maybe my all-time favorite picture. I still have it framed and it has gone with me to every house I've ever lived at. Maybe this has something to do with my Oreo love.





So, I went through a phase where I didn't smile. You know, I was really into that whole teen angst thing. Whatev. There were a lot of pictures to choose from the "no smiling" era, but I thought this one would give you a pretty clear picture. Again with the hair.

And here's one of my dad. He said maybe if he appeared in the blog more often he'd actually read it. I don't really believe him. More importantly, what kind of wedding is this with hooded bridesmaids?!?

Clearly I had a keen eye for fashion from an early age:

Everyone had a picture on a ladder right? This was my favorite dress. Oh how I loved it! Please tell me acid wash denim is coming back in style!

Sorry Jess. I'm throwing you under the bus on this one. But look how fancy!!!

I'm sure you have a much clearer picture of the real me now. I'm so glad I could share! :)

Marathon Training: Week 16 Recap

I'm blogging from Wichita tonight... so you know what that means!!! Yep, if I hadn't forgotten my camera cord at home you'd all get to see pics of Parker Alexander tonight. I guess you'll have to wait until tomorrow. On with the training recap:

MONDAY: Rest / 8 Miles. We ran at night, in the dark. I had this mystery sharp pain in my back that kept me from taking a deep breath. That makes for a super fun 8 miles if you were wondering.

TUESDAY: 5 Miles / 5 Miles.

WEDNESDAY: 4 Miles / Yoga. Are you kidding me? Our mid-week long run was supposed to be 4 miles? WTF? Who is in charge of reading the training schedule? Why did I run 8 miles on Monday???

THURSDAY: 5 Miles / 5 Miles.

FRIDAY: Rest Day / Yoga. I'm loving this new yoga workout I found on Exercise TV on Demand. It is awesome!!!

SATURDAY: 12 Miles / Bike. Brooke had a fever and we decided to let her rest. It was a team decision. Just kidding. I went to the gym and did 40 minutes of bike. Boring.

SUNDAY: Cross Train / 12 Miles. Yea! Its our last double-digit run before the big race. It is so nice to have this over with! It was cold. I'm serious... I was wearing pants and a jacket. Blech cold!

Total Mileage: 26 / 30 Really?? That was dumb. I'm annoyed.

***Marathon Training Tip of the Week: Taper Seriously. Tapering is tricky business. This is how I tapered in prior marathons: skip workouts, run slow, eat lots, rest lots, no cross training. This results in Jamie reaching the starting line feeling soft and a little bit fat, not gonna lie. Duh, you can't take 3 weeks off before the marathon. Just because you are tapering, it doesn't mean your training is over. Some tips for tapering successfully:

1. Mileage goes down, intensity does not. Do all of your workouts at a level consistent with prior training. The decrease in mileage will leave your legs feeling rested for the race.
2. Stop eating so much. That's common sense. When your mileage goes down you aren't burning as many calories and you can gain weight easily. It is easy (really easy for me) to get used to the "I can eat anything I want because I'm training for a marathon." mentality. Watch out for it!
3. Cross Train, but don't do anything out of the norm. No playing basketball and risking an injury! Are you kidding? Can you picture me playing basketball? No. There is a reason I run.
4. Read your damn training schedule so you don't run 8 when you should be running 4. Can you tell this irritates me???

Runner's World Magazine has a really good article on tapering in their October issue if anyone is interested on tips from someone who actually knows what they are talking about!

Sandra Drops the Ball... Again

This week's cookbook is Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade 20 Minute Meals. I'm not really a big fan of Sandra, and honestly didn't realize I had this cookbook. I found it shoved to the very bottom of my stack of cookbooks... where did you come from?

So I thought I'd give her a shot and I made Spicy Peanut Noodles and Five-Spice Eggplant. The results:

I ran into some troubles with the noodles. The recipe calls for soba noodles and I honestly couldn't find them anywhere. So, I used egg noodles... because they are also sold in the asian food section... and I have a whole bag in my kitchen. I was also supposed to use Thai seasoning, but couldn't find it anywhere. Penzey's, who sells nothing but spices, didn't even have Thai seasoning. The nice lady suggested I use lemon grass instead. I think it was the lemon grass that gave this dish a funky wang. Plus it definitely could have used some chicken in there. Other than that, not awful.

The eggplant was another story. I bought the Five Spice from Penzey's, but I just don't think it was my cup of tea. The recipe was really just roasted eggplant with seasoning sprinkled on top. It doesn't hold a candle to eggplant my favorite way: parmesan! I guess everything is better fried and covered in cheese! I don't know where she found her eggplant, but mine looks nothing like it!
Here's my beef with Sandra Lee; these aren't recipes. You can't really cook in 20 minutes. You need at least 30, right Rachael Ray? The noodle recipe was pretty much: cook noodles, add sauce. Eggplant: Cut eggplant, sprinkle with seasoning, roast. Duh.

I'd choose Rachael over Sandra any day of the week.