Moving

While in nursing school, I had a blog called Journey of a Nursing Student.  While it mainly focused on my journey as a nursing student, it also incorporated my running.  After graduating from nursing school, I decided I wanted to start a new blog that would focus more on my running and life in general.  So, I created this Life of Marathons blog.  But, after having issues with Blogger, I decided to move blog services and imported both blogs over to Wwordpress.  So, now you can catch up and follow my life journey - running, work, and children - over at lifeofmarathons.wordpress.com.

Hope to see y'all over there soon!

Year of Dates - March

 We are still going strong on our Year of Dates!  This month was a fun one - a cooking class!  Southern Season is a specialty grocery store/cooking school/restaurant from Chapel Hill, NC, and they opened up a store in Richmond this past September.  Hubby and I have been in it a few times and really enjoy walking through the isles of hot sauces, drooling over the specialty kitchen equipment, and browsing their international or specialty beer selections.

For March, our date was a cooking class in the Southern Season cooking school!  Both of us love spending time in the kitchen and eating good food, so this seemed like the perfect way to try something new!  Finding a class that appealed to both of us and worked with Hubby's travel schedule was a bit of a challenge, but we ended up agreeing on the class Cooking with Craft Beer.  Such a good choice!  :) 

Hubby and I in class

First course - Beer cheese fondue

Second course - Hunter's Stew

Main course - Beer braised beef brisket

Dessert - Chocolate Stout Cake

While a bit overpriced (I think), it was a very enjoyable hour and a half.  We got to taste amazing food created and made by a local Richmond chef, and we got to take home the recipes!  I need to find an excuse to make the fondue, Hubby made the stew this past weekend, and that cake will have to be shared at a major chocolate-lover's party.   

After the class, Hubby and I browsed the store before going over to the wine bar and enjoyed a stout and a glass of wine, respectively.  Twas a very nice way to end our date.

Sneak peek at next month...

Lemon water challenge

I've read about lemon water on Pintrest recently. After fighting frequent colds this winter, I'm looking for anything that will help keep me and the boys healthy!
What are the benefits of lemon water?  According to this website, the benefits include:

• Increases hydration
• Boosts immune system
• Improves skin
• Helps with cleansing and detoxing
• Stimulates digestion

Honestly, the only thing I care about is the immune boost!  :)  Especially since both boys are waking up with snotty noses again...

So, first thing every morning for the next 3 weeks, I'll be drinking a large glass of water with half of a freshly-squeezed lemon.

I might have to try convincing my 2 year old to drink this instead of buying gummy vitamins...  I'll let you know how I feel at the end of the 21 days!

Who wants to join me?

Year of Dates - February

Oops!  So, I totally forgot to mention our February date.  Have no fear, it did happen!  :)

Wine and chocolate fondue at home on Valentine's weekend!

Unfortunately, we forgot to snap a photo of our date.  This pic was taken the first time we did a chocolate fondue at home a year ago.  This year, we had some tasty wine, a good stout, and pretzels and strawberries to go with our chocolate.  We snuggled on the couch and had a *surprisingly* quiet and child-free evening to ourselves!  Only to be woken up at midnight by Baby Thunder...  C'est la vie!

Where is spring?

Here is what my winter has looked like so far...

Yup, my coldest run to date - a 10k in 56 min in 13 degrees.  And that was the temperature after the run!  It was so cold that the water in my Camelbak tube froze!  I was so happy to get this run in though, since I spent all of it with a new running friend of mine!  There is no way I would have run that far in that weather on my own.  Praise God for best running buddies!

Yes, my sweet Baby Thunder ended up with his own nebulizer mask.  In January, he ended up with bronchiolitis, which resulted in multiple visits to the pediatrician and one late night visit to KidMed.  After a week of breathing treatments every 4 hours around the clock, he finally kicked the nasty cold and has not had another one since!  Little Man and I had a touch of a stomach virus, I had strep at Thanksgiving, Hubby had the flu on our wedding anniversary, and pink eye has gone through our family three times.  

But, that's not to say we haven't had some fun this winter...

Happy Baby Thunder!

Date night with Hubby at La Parisienne before watching No BS! Brass Band play at the Richmond Symphony

Sweet snuggles with Little Man

Bring on spring!

A Positive End

This has been a rough month for me.  At the beginning of the month, I finally went to my OB to get on medication for postpartum depression and was also diagnosed with hypothyroidism.  Since then, there have been days of complete exhaustion and days of finally feeling like my old self; of brain fog, a bodily weariness that requires rest, and finally - like warm sunshine in winter - a few days of energy.

Speaking of winter...

The fatigue/weariness and winter conditions have made running very difficult, though I did get outside with these two handsome boys after the last snowstorm that left us with 6 inches of snow!  In all, I think I ran twice all month.  That PR at the Monument 10k is probably not gonna happen this year...  But that's okay.  I will take what I can get, and be grateful that I can still run at all!

Saying goodbye to February with a 5k in 28min on the treadmill

February is over, and I'm glad to see it go.  And I am going to keep running forward towards hopeful energy and a bright future. 

Something fishy...

Food and I have an interesting relationship.  I love to cook and bake, but I don't like to eat.  I like trying new recipes, but I don't like to eat.  I'm one of those eat-to-live people.  But I also get bored with food very easily and quickly.  So, I love finding new foods on Pintrest, though I rarely follow a recipe.  Instead, I'll use what I find as inspiration and end up creating something completely different than the original instructions.  Unfortunately, as I was lamenting to my husband recently, the recipes I find on Pintrest are few and far between because so many call for processed foods that we don't eat.

"It's so hard to find good, healthy, from-scratch recipes.  I can look on Pintrest for 20 minutes and not find a single recipe that I would want to eat."

My sweet Hubby then recommended that I just publish my own recipes.

And so, without further ado, I give you...


Lemon Rosemary Salmon

1 sprig fresh rosemary
Juice from 1 lemon
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1/4 cup Olive oil
Salt and pepper
3 servings of salmon, 3-6oz each

Mince rosemary and garlic cloves.  Combine with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Pour over top of salmon and let rest for 5-10 minutes, flipping salmon once so both sides become seasoned.

Heat some olive oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat.  When the pan is hot, add the salmon.  Pour the remaining marinade on top of the salmon.  Cook approximately 5 minutes, then flip and cook another 3 minutes.  Occasionally spoon some of the juices/marinade on top of the salmon.

Serve over pearled barley and steamed broccoli for a complete "clean eating" meal.

A glass of wine or dark beer would not hurt either...

What do you think?