It's Dangerous Out There

Happy freaking Valentine's Day. Needless to say, this day was a roller coaster for me. But I must admit it has finally leveled off on a high point and I have learned a thing or two about Valentine's day. I can state, with absolute confidence, this holiday is not (just) a commercial ploy to get people to buy flowers and chocolates, but instead it is a day where the littlest things can mean so much.

Coming into Valentine's day with the knowledge that I probably wouldn't get my Valentine, wouldn't get to share a romantic dinner with someone special, or in general celebrate a romantic bond with (okay, okay I'll say it) a hunk of a boyfriend/lover/romantic interest, had me in all sorts of low places today. I am a hopeless romantic and I am not going to try to cover that up. Anyone who knows me would say I wear my heart on my sleeve and fall victim to the slightest bit of mushy-gushy-ness. So I was afraid this holiday was going to be wasted on me. 

And it turns out that was not the case at all. 

My morning started with a text at 5:30 am from my friend Zach, wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day. He was thoughtful to send that text, and it made me smile, but at that point only reminded me of the day to come. 

At 5:45am, I started my body-pump-up-your-muscles class with a mixed version an always-classic love song remix by O-Town. Great. Figures. 

I get to work and open my email and see this little Valentine from my dearest Regina. She certainly knows how to warm my heart :)

After that, work starts to drag and a co-worker notices I'm a little down. We begin to chat about Valentine's day and it becomes apparent to him that my spirits could be lifted. He suggests going out to lunch, getting out of the office and asks me where I'd like to go. He rounds up some people and out we went into the rain and wind (yes, perfect Valentine's Day weather) to get some sandwiches. While at lunch, I mention my sandwich is salty and my friend Ted (after exclaiming his love for his Turkey-Dinner-in-a-sandwich sandwich and how absolutely mind blowingly delicious it is) trades me my second half sandwich for his. He wouldn't take no for an answer.

Some of my other friends offer to hang out with me tonight so we don't have to be alone and can promptly forget it is even Valentine's day. 

But the ultimate kicker of my day and the point that pulled me out of my storm cloud was Ted. As I walked to my car after work, he stopped me in the parking lot to give me a card he made me. It started off as just a scrap of paper he had found at lunch, but then he turned it into a legit, 3-D hand made pop up card 4 hours later! 

The reference is from one of his favorite video games as a kid. Totally nerdy, totally true, and totally sweet. 

And now I'm about to spend the night with my sister, getting lost in one of our favorite TV shows together. 

By the end of this day, I could have felt pretty down in the dumps for not having someone special on one of my favorite holidays... But when I took a step back as I held my hand-made Valentine's day card, I realized I had so many special people I had "spent" today with. 

Rather than one Valentine, I had multiple Valentines. 

So really, I should be saying Happy wonderful Valentine's Day. I'm lucky to have so many good friends in my life. Maybe next year boyfriend/lover/romantic interest.

Life Under Our Wheels

There is no better feeling of accomplishment than riding up a mountain, pushing yourself to your goal, and celebrating at 30 mph all the way back down. 

I grabbed a couple of my best pals and went for a ride this beautiful morning. During my climb, I thought a lot about how riding up Mt. Lemmon is a lot like overcoming life's challenges. In the moment, things are looking rough: your muscles burn, you can't catch a full breath, the sun feels a little too hot, you're thinking "is my back supposed to hurt like that?", "I'd die for some cold water right now", "what do you mean it never flattens out!?". But in that moment, you just have to say "SHUT UP LEGS!" and keep pushing on. 

Huffing and puffing away next to Lauren as we blabbed about some tidbit of gossip, a group of studly bikers pushed passed us on their fancy 'too-many-thousands-of-dollars' bikes. We both tuned into our leg muscles, drew some great power from them and rode behind the pack for a short while. We realized we could probably always push ourselves a little harder and go a little faster. You can forget your capabilities for a while and fall into a comfortable groove. 

Sometimes, we must remind ourselves that we can push ourselves harder and we will survive. The road may look steep ahead and you sure might not be moving very fast, but you're still moving and somehow, your muscles still have the will to keep flexing. Challenges we face are rough and we all have many of them. But when you can reach that goal, big or small, and look back, it really can feel awesome. 

As I rode down the mountain, I got the greatest feeling of serenity. The smooth road whizzed by under my two thin tires, my wind breaker flapped at its own frequency in my ears, and the curves were smooth and road was empty. Going 30 mph on your bike down a mountain might seem scary and anxiety inducing (I cannot deny that it it's not!), but my goodness, there is no feeling quite like it. 

And is if the ride down wasn't awesome enough, the food awaiting me at the bottom only added to my perfect ride.

As we sat in the sun devouring delicious grub and laughing and talking about nothing in particular while the "hurt-so-good" feeling overcame our legs, I was not wanting to be anywhere else. 

Grillin' Sisters

It's supposed to still be cold outside...it is still winter, right? But it was just simply a beautiful, cool evening. Perfect for grilling out on my quaint back porch. 

My sister and I tried our hands at grilling for the second night in a row. Last night we grilled a tasty Mexican-spice infused chicken and mixed it in with a ton of fajita style veggies and homemade salsa. 

Tonight, Rebecca crafted some delicious, Italian inspired turkey burgers. 

We grilled them. They had grill marks and everything. (We're basically professionals.)

The spicy, oven crisped fries were the perfect finger-licking accompaniment. 

I may never go back to stove-top cooking again....

Now if only I had some s'more fixings.

Hello Sunshine and Cinnamon Muffins

I don't think this Sunday could be any more of a perfect day. It's 73 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, and a slight breeze is ringing the wind chimes outside. It's days like these where I can't help but open the windows, turn on some country music, and bake. 

I went on a search for a more filling and substantial muffin. Rather than bake another batch of my cranberry muffins for this week, I decided to try out these muffins. Because of my super healthy tendencies, I've adapted  her recipe just a tad. 

Ingredients


**Makes about 2 dozen muffins**


1 1/2 cup oats
1 1/2 cup buttermilk (I used skim milk)
3 eggs
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
3 Tbsp molasses
2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour: (1/2 cup buckwheat, 2/3 cup oat flour, 1/3 cup oat bran)
3 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup raisins


Directions


1. Put the oats and milk in a large bowl and let the oats soak in the milk for 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Then, add the eggs, oil, yogurt, molasses, and vanilla.
3. In a smaller bowl combine the dry ingredients and mix.
4. Combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix all together.
5. Ladle the batter out into a muffin pan.
6. Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

R2, this is mind zen #2 of the day ;) 

Mind Zen #1

By orders of Dr. Fitzsimmons. 

What would I do without you, R2. 

On my way...

Banana Oat Bars

My sister hates bananas. She hates even the sight of them. I wish I had a picture of her face when she said "..and BANANAS are everywhere!!" when were talking about our messy kitchen (which I have now cleaned to be spotless!). It was probably the best disgusted look I have ever seen!  :)

If every banana was as brown and spotted as the ones I put into these delicious oat bars, I might hate bananas, too. But I don't, and these are delicious! (if you like bananas)

I'm often looking for a little quick snack that will ease my hunger, won't cause me to be starving in a half hour, and is not full of processed, unhealthy stuff. I think these bars will do just the trick and are healthy too! (Gluten free in fact.) Easy to pack. Easy to eat. And easy to make!


Ingredients
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

2 cups oats
1/3 cup whole wheat flour (I used buckwheat)
1/3 cup flax seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shredded coconut (I had sweetened)
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/3 cup raisins or dried fruit of choice


Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the dry ingredients together well in a small bowl
3. Mix the wet ingredients together in a bigger bowl
4. Combine the dry ingredients in the wet-ingredients bowl and mix all together.
5. Grease up a baking dish and pour in the batter and pat down with a fork. The thickness of the bars is really up to you, but mine were about an inch thick.
6. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown.
7. Let the bars cool before cutting them and storing them in a Tupperware or tinfoil.

Early morning giggles and coffee with Regina

                                                                                                    pure joy