35!

Today is my 35th birthday, woot woot! I have been looking forward to 35 since I was 15 years old. I know it's an odd thing to say, but from observing the adults around me it seemed to me that the twenties were full of a bunch of nonsense. Having now lived through them, I think that was a rather perceptive observation, because my twenties were full of a bunch of nonsense. But 35... I always looked to 35 as a time of stability.

Don't get me wrong, my days still have plenty of nonsense (most of which I create for myself, either for my own amusement or due to a lack of writing things down that need to be remembered), but overall life is stable.

So here's to being 35!

Here's how I celebrated this weekend:

-Friday night we ordered pizza, the world's most perfect food. We also prepped some food that we signed up to bring for our church's big annual fundraiser, more on that shortly.

-Saturday morning I ran in my third 5K, my last in the 30-34 category!

 The race was held in Kankakee River State Park - it was gorgeous!

My bib and t-shirt.

-Saturday afternoon these beautiful flowers appeared in the house : ).

-Saturday evening I worked in the pie room for our church's Swiss Steak Supper, with these wonderful ladies.

That's me, leaving a note for the teacher whose room we borrowed!

-Sunday morning was filled with church activities. First, the Sunday school kids sang (that's Mike at the piano, he's one of the Sunday school music teachers this year!). Then we sang with the regular church choir. And then we sang at the first Christmas Cantata rehearsal of the year - the holiday season is beginning!

-Sunday afternoon I took a glorious nap next to these guys:

-Sunday evening: I am currently working on lesson plans (with a little blogging to break things up), and my hubby will be cooking tonight's meal. Great birthday weekend!

Love Potion #9

I would consider pie a love potion of sorts, wouldn't you? So after a brief hiatis (it IS back to school season), here is #9! 

Peaches & Cream Pie, made with fresh farmer's market peaches!

Freshly skinned peaches

Mmmmmmm

Just ridiculously juicy from the freshness of the peaches!

There's much else to catch up on, but all in good time! Happy first weekend of the school year!

C25K Graduate Supreme!

I did it!

The first day that I ran an actual 5K straight was July 31, when we were on vacation in Boston. Thus, I ran my first 5K in the Boston Public Gardens!

 

Could not ask for a more beautiful location.

Then, after completing a 9th week of 5Ks, today I ran in my first race!

I feel comfortable now referring to myself as a C25K BEAST! 

Now I've just gotta keep it up during the start of the school year : ))).

More Pie, More C25K

Pie #8! Black Bottom Peanut Butter Cloud Pie, mmmmm mmmmmmm!

 Graham cracker crust, topped with melted chocolate chips, topped with chopped peanuts.

 Filling of peanut butter, cream cheese, sugar, whipped cream, and meringue.

 Topped with more chopped peanuts.

Frozen, sliced, served. Tastes like a soft and airy Reese's peanut butter cup in a crust.

Am I worried about the calories? Nope, because I just did this:

I'm still rocking the C25K. It took me a little bit longer (an extra 4 minutes) than 25 minutes to hit 2.5 miles, but I did it, and with energy to spare. I am a BEAST! Or am I a Belle?

That's how I picture myself. Reality is probably more like this:

Either way, 2.5 miles is 2.5 miles. Go me! Now where's that pie?

My Opinion: Treadmill vs Running Outside

Just started another week of C25K!

Not gonna lie, feeling pretty awesome right about now. Since I'm heavily invested at this point I'm going to weigh in on the treadmill vs outdoor running question. This one pops up a lot when you spend time surfing message boards and blogs about C25K. Not that I've been doing that on a regular basis over the past week or so or anything. Maybe just a little.

Anyway, here are my thoughts, assembled in stream of consciousness fashion. I began my running on a treadmill at the Y. My thinking first of all is that most people who work out at the Y look ridiculous, so if I look ridiculous running I'll blend right in. I liked knowing my exact speed and not having to deal with traffic, sun, or pesky hills ("hills" being a bit of an exaggeration, as I live in the Chicagoland area in which curbs are higher than most of our "hills"). I also didn't have "real" shoes yet, so I thought it safer to run in my cross-trainers on the treadmill than outside. I had no real basis for this theory, just pure speculation.

I attempted running outside for the first time (after getting real shoes) after completing Week 4. Week 4 ends with a Run 3, walk, run 5, walk, run 3. To be on the safe side I repeated a Week 2 workout - Run 90 seconds, walk 2 minutes, repeat for 20 minutes. I figured that would be a good way to ease into running outside, since I was up to 5 minutes on the treadmill.

It was hard. Each 90 second interval seemed to get longer and longer. I began griping at myself internally for not starting outside sooner.

My second attempt was after finishing Week 5, which ended with a 20 minute non-stop run. I thought that since I had run for 20 minutes on the treadmill I could handle moving on to Week 6 Day 1, which was Run 5, walk, Run 8, walk, Run 5. 8 minutes after running 20? Piece of cake.

And it was. At the end of that workout I decided that I was finished with the treadmill, as running outside was far superior! 

Here's why. One of my hesitations about moving from machine to nature was the fear of boredom. At the Y I had multiple distractions in addition to listening to music: I could read my Kindle, I could watch the morning news shows (airplane crashes, train crashes, second degree murder trials, and of course Matt Lauer), I could watch the other ridiculous looking people working out. I was afraid that without the distractions I wouldn't be able to trick myself into making it through the long stretches. I couldn't have been more wrong. 

Running outside, away from those distractions, made me more focused on me, which turned out to be a good thing. Outside I experienced the run, rather than avoided awareness of the run. I felt strong, I felt powerful... I felt like a beast!

Running outside you feel the wind on your face, you hear the birds tweeting, see the bunnies frolicking about, and the smell is the best part - that smell of cut grass and flowers and nature. 

I'm getting to know my neighborhood a lot better. We've only been here about a year, approximately 10 1/2 months of which were winter (ahem, Chicagoland) so most of that time has been spent indoors. I don't plot out my routes ahead of time, I just run where the spirit moves me (and it usually moves me along tree-lined streets, weird huh?), which leads to plenty of exploration.

Most of all, running outside gives me time to think. No distractions, no disruptions, no temptations to multi-task (as that would result in falling down). I finally felt the freedom that I hear runners talking about.

So, there is my long answer to the question. Running outside is preferable, by a long shot. I may choose to revisit the treadmill in the event of inclement weather, but we'll see what happens.

*Perfect Weather*

Today is one of those glorious perfect weather days - we get about two of those a year in the greater Chicago area. Sitting on the deck, pleasant breeze keeping the air moving and the wind chimes gently singing, sunny blue skies with an umbrella to block the glare, and a good book on the lap. Ahhhh, summer... It doesn't get any better than this.

Sawdust... Pie?

Pie #7: Sawdust Pie!

Standard flaky pie crust filled with a mixture of egg whites, sugar, graham cracker crumbs, coconut, and pecans topped with bananas, mini chocolate chips and homemade whipped cream. Mmm, mmmmm.

p. 336 of the infamous "Pie" book, should you be curious....

C25K!

Summer is a great time for reflection, thinking about what you'd like to accomplish and setting goals. One goal that I have been working toward this summer is completing the C25K program!

Running has never been my thing, primarily due to the terrible side stitches I have always been cursed with - and I mean always. I remember quitting gymnastics at a very young age because the conditioning running we did hurt so much. It's been a bummer, because I've always wanted to be a runner. I'd watch others run and think "Man, I wish I could do that!" Throughout junior high, high school, college, etc, etc, I would occasionally try to pick it up but it never worked out. That is not to say that other fitness routines didn't work for me - I could keep up with an intense elliptical workout forever. Just not running!

Finally I said enough, I'm going to do this thing! Enter C25K, short for Couch to 5K. It is a program designed to help non-runners gradually build up to running 5K through a combination of timed walks and runs. I use the iphone app, which I really like because you can play your own music through it and it alerts you when you should switch from walking to running and vice versa... plus it's FREE! I must say I'm really impressed with it. It's amazing how far I've come in only five weeks, from struggling to run repeated 60 second intervals to running for 20 minutes straight!

Of course an app alone won't get you off the couch, so I've employed a few other motivational tasks. This one's on my fridge:

There were several charts already available online, but some were variations on the program I'm using and some were, well, ugly, so I created this one to keep track of my progress (if you'd like one of these for yourself, there's a clean copy at the bottom of this post you can snag!). I'll confess that I really look forward to getting to cross off another box after each workout - somehow it substantially increases the feelings of accomplishment! I also assume my hubs would notice if the chart just "disappeared" one day, so it is a small measure of accountability.

Another motivational tool was that of financial investment - got me my first pair of REAL running shoes:

Love these shoes! I went to an actual running specialty store to go through the whole fitting process, which was pretty neat. I hesitated to do this - I'm the kind of gal that likes to do my research, go into the store, find what I want, try it on, buy it (preferably with a coupon), and leave. But, as a coach I know firsthand what happens when you don't take the effort to get the right equipment; and as a coach it would be pretty hypocritical to lecture parents about the importance of making the right investment and then not follow my own advice.

Five weeks down - more than halfway there!

Just right click on the picture below and save. Good luck, spud!

Southern Biscuits & a Shortcake

Nothing better than complete spur of the moment baking! As I sat on the couch, it occurred to me that I had cream, I had strawberries, I had your typical baking ingredients, and I had an awesome new biscuit cookbook that simply must have a shortcake recipe that I would love to try. And thus, a strawberry shortcake was born!

Biscuit first, baked in my mini-cast iron skillet. By the way, this cookbook is amazing, another I would recommend.

Look at these layers! Ohm nom nom...

Finished product:

Don't worry, he didn't help - he just watched.

A Brief Recap

It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks! Here are some highlights from our little corner of the world I haven't mentioned...

Last Friday (6/28) we went to the Blackhawks parade and rally! p.s. Thank you Metra for the super cheap "special event" fare that day.

Then on Saturday we went to Indiana for a Mother's Day/Father's Day/Sister's BDay dinner. Sis just got a new (to her) Jeep - here's a picture I texted to her of me hanging out beside it as she waited inside the restaurant:

On July 3rd we went to cheer on the White Sox to victory defeat. It began with a very slight rain delay, but the weather turned out to be beautiful, and the fireworks after the game were awesome.

Look who/what else showed up!

We celebrated July 4th by going to see "Monsters University" (not as brilliant as the first, but a fun flick). After the movie, from the parking lot of the theater we were able to watch another fireworks display (and in the distance the fireworks from 5-6 other townships; ah, suburbia).

July 6th - we went to see "Fiddler on the Roof," presented by one of the local community theaters. We can boast that we know the star of the show (along with several other cast & crew members)! It was an excellent production.

And then of course there was the baking of the chocolate cinnamon bread, which is hard to top. What will this week bring?

Loaves, not Fishes

Another baking day; no pie this time. I have been tempted by the Starbucks chocolate cinnamon bread recipe available online for a while, and since I was signed up for fellowship snacks this week I decided that this was the time! Two loaves of CC bread, two loaves of BN (banana nut) bread:

Both were big hits at church! The CC bread was soooo good that I am now guaranteed to gain about 20 lbs. If you have never tried this, you are missing out! Unfortunately, it is not available during the summer months, so you will have to wait until it comes out again. Don't deprive yourself of the experience!

I had to show off the tags - aren't they cute?

Currently July

It's a new month, which means a new Currently with Farley!



Listening - It's a nice peaceful day in the neighborhood, with just a couple of yaps and vrooooms in the background. Ahhh, summer days with the windows open...

Loving - Summer is reading time! Finished my first serious fiction read of the summer, "Sophie's Choice." It doesn't get more serious than that, that's to be sure. Excellent book though, and fantastic for learning more about the non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Thinking - We're going to see the Sox tonight, and the game will be followed by a fireworks show. Hopefully we don't get rained on too much! (Note: started this yesterday. The rain ended before the game, and the fireworks were great. Best of all, the Stanley Cup was there along with Patrick Sharp!)

Wanting - I've just started watching "Boardwalk Empire," and am totally hooked. I overheard bits and pieces as my husband watched it in his man cave, and became interested enough that I'm now working on catching up to him so we can watch it together. Two more episodes!

Needing - I promised him I'd make some curtains so that he could enjoy more darkness in his cave. I've got the fabric, just have to get in motion!

Tips, Tricks, Hints - Figure out why you're blogging and what you want to get out of it, and let everything else go. There are so many linkys and giveaways and so on and so forth that you can get kind of bogged down in it if you try to do everything or get focused on followers and pageviews. For me, this blog is primarily just a way for friends and family to check in on what I'm up to beyond the limits of Facebook, with the occasional teaching/classroom idea thrown in.

Happy July to all!

Ode to a (BBQ) Pastry Fork

When we combined kitchens after getting married, I discovered this "BBQ" fork that Mike owned:

I promptly commandeered it as my pastry fork. I love it! It is fantastic for pie crust. I use it for whisking the dry ingredients, cutting in the shortening, finishing cutting in the butter (I usually have to start the butter with a pastry blender, given the stiffness of the chill), and best of all blending in the ice water. Works like a charm, and makes pie crust come together so much more quickly.

Yes, I like to use my stand mixer bowl for pie crust - the high sides keeps me from 

getting flour everywhere when I get a bit overexuberant.

If you've never tried a pastry fork before, I highly recommend it.

Moving on, today's pie is apple. It is a recipe I have made several times before, always in my cast iron skillet. This time I wanted to try it out in the mini-cast iron skillets I purchased over Spring Break. And that means I got to use two pie birds!

The secret to this pie is the caramel on the bottom. I start off by melting a little butter with brown sugar until it's thick, and, well, caramel-like.

Mmmmm, caramel.

Bottom crust is laid right on top of the caramel.

Then the pie birds!

You've gotta start working quickly, because the crust softens quickly on top of that hot caramel. In go the apples!

Top crust, which at this point is kind of challenging to pinch with the softened bottom crust - totally worth it, though.

I brush the tops with a little reserved liquid from the apple mixture.

Into the oven! Not chancing a messy oven.

Fresh from the oven! Good thing I took precautions...

All ready to go - just needs a little ice cream. Another win for the mini skillet!

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