All over the place...

This blog will be all over the place... just the way I like it.

• How come every time I try to take a picture of my dog, he has his tongue out?  Or he looks possessed?  Or like this picture, both?  Seriously, how am I supposed to get a good picture?  Maybe I need to invest in an SLR camera just to capture him.  For those of you with kids, I don't know how you do it.

• Sunday, we cooked the big bird.  Yes, there are two of us and according to the Butterball website, with 2 adults and 2 kids (well... we do have two, see the picture above), wanting left overs (the best part) and being big eaters (see... proof again that the scrawny little twerp at the local restaurant was maybe right) we needed a 6 pound turkey.  HA.  I laugh at 6 pound turkeys.  We made a 21 pounder.  Go big or go home people.  And these pictures prove that Tom's much more mature than I am...

• I love great products.  I love winning products even more.  I recently won an Endorphin Warrior Training Bracelet from a giveaway on the Women's Endurance Gear Blog.  Endorphin Warrior has some super great items (hint hint... Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa are all coming up).  From their website, each bracelet features a positive and powerful keyword or phrase to help you train, perform and live with greater strength of body and mind.  I had so many to choose from.  I decided to pick "BELIEVE".  Something you might not know about me is that I had a hard time believing in myself.  I'm full of self doubt.  But I'm working on it.  This bracelet was perfect.  I got it in the mail a few days ago and I love it.  They would be great for men or women (mine's the smallest they come and fits perfect).  Thank you Laima and thank you Endorphin Warrior!!!

• Do you visit Etsy?  I forget it's there, but have recently found some great things there.  Check it out!  So I bought two "no-slip" headbands (very similar to sweaty bands) but for a fraction of the cost and tons of super cute designs.  The lady custom made me two of them in the ribbon of my choice.  I got my hair did a few weeks ago and my bangs are just a teeeeeeeny bit too short so the bands work great.  No moving or slipping when I run and bike!  And I scored two, shipped to my house for $14!  NICE! 

• Also from Etsy was this cute sign that my committee got me as a thank you for chairing the fundraiser.  You can barely see the holes in the bottom, but those are for 9 hooks that came with it (I haven't put them in yet).  I love it.  And Nicole who ordered it for me knows me all too well - she requesting Malibu Barbie Pink as the color!  Love it!

• I haven't been writing much about my training.  That's because I'm not training, my training is boring, it's off-season, I've been kind of blah about it.  I'm running.  I spin occasionally.  That's the recap. :)  Anyway, a while back, Zensah sent me one of their new racerback tank to try out.  I actually wore it during the Chicago Marathon for the first time - you know, because it's always smart to try new things on race day.  Anyway, it was a super smart choice because I LOVED it right away.  It's long, not clingy, deep arm holes, seamless and super comfy.  I've been wearing it a lot when I ride inside because I sweat like a pig at a luau, and this thing just sucks up the sweat.  Super big fan and I've added another to my Christmas list.  You should too.  

So hope you followed along with my crazy all over the place post! :)

 

Return to normalcy

"Normal" is all relative.  I feel like my life is easing back into normalcy, but really, who can say that my life is normal?  Heck, who can say that I'm normal?! :)  Tom's home, our family of 4 is back together, I eat dinner at night with my best friend, I wake up next to him each morning.  I guess that's our "normal".   Thank you all so much for your emails, calls, facebook messages and blog comments about Tom and the Run Across America.  It'll take months for him to process the enormity of everything that he and those other 9 guys experienced in the last 18 days.  I'm thinking of having him do a guest post on here (if you'd be interested) and if you have any questions for him to answer, let me know.  Then, I promise I'll stop talking about it.

Coming home was such a joy because one of my favorite holidays is right around the corner.  I absolutely love Thanksgiving.  I don't know why.  There's something about going for a run that morning and then totally gorging yourself with food so that you feel like total crap the rest of the day that we just love. :)  I'm a little sad that I won't be hosting dinner at our house... I love to cook a bird (again, define "normal").  But we're heading to my sisters and I'm excited to be with the family.  We're running the Columbus Turkey Trot which is 5 miles and hopefully will score me a pie!  I might even have a crazy hair and run the course twice (10 miles means double the food right?)

Since I'm not cooking a meal at home which means that I don't get any left overs, I decided to pick up a small 21 pound bird to cook this weekend for Tom and I.  If you saw my post on Facebook yesterday, you'll know why I got such a big bird.  According to the guy at the restaurant that we ate at, I eat a lot and set records.  We don't do things small in the Kingery house!  So this weekend I am going to make our version of Thanksgiving so that we can have the leftovers and make all the fun stuff that comes with extra turkey.

And I will leave you all with a recipe that I just found in our local coupon section of the weekly Sunday paper.  I will not be making this for our meal this weekend or to bring to my sister's on Thanksgiving.  I'm sure you'll understand why.

White Castle Holiday Stuffing
10 White Castle Hamburgers, no pickles (sorry EMZ)
1.5 cups celery, diced
1.25 tsp. ground thyme
1.5 tsp. ground sage
.75 tsp. ground black pepper
.25 cups chicken broth

In a large mixing bowl, tear the burgers into pieces and add celery and seasonings.  Toss and add chicken broth.  Toss well.  Stuff cavity of turkey just before roasting.  Makes about 9 cups (enough for a 10-12 pound turkey). Note: allow 1 hamburger for each pound of turkey, which will be the equivalent to .75 cups of stuffing per pound.

Yep, awesome.  They need to add one more line that says "if you didn't already feel like shit from eating the Thanksgiving meal, then we're going to absolutely ensure that you will after eating this stuffing".

I love America...

Thanksgiving week

Tom has said to me about a million times, "I can't believe that it's Thanksgiving week". In Ohio, most people have looked over the fact that it's a holiday week because it's also Beat M*ch*gan week, but honestly, this is one of my favorite holidays. I'm hosting the fam at my house this year because I LOVELOVELOVE cooking a turkey. Somehow I lucked out and just have to make that, pumpkin pie, and mashed potatoes so it's really not a big deal. The turkey is going in the fridge tonight to start thawing - it's a 21 pound bird. May seem like a lot, but Tom and I have done a 20 pound bird for just the two of us before (don't judge... we like leftovers!). Butterball.com suggested 14 pounds for 7 hungry adults, but who are they kidding... I would have bought a bird bigger than 21 pounds had I been able to find one at the grocery the other day! You can never have too much bird...

Anyway, I've started thinking of my list of things I'm thankful for - my list is quite long

• I'm thankful for my amazing husband. He's such a great friend, my biggest supporter, my coach, my coworker, the person who pushes me. He laughs with me (and many times at me), hugs me when I cry (which can be a lot) and loves me unconditionally (that includes my fat days!) He's really my world and I couldn't be luckier!
• I'm thankful for an amazing mom and dad. Their love and support has helped me more than I will ever be able to thank them for. They've stood by my side through a lot and still love me! :) They make me laugh, and I admire the fact that they will be happily married 40 years this coming August!
• I'm thankful for my sister who also happens to be my best friend. We might have had rough patches in the past (what sisters don't?), but I think now that we are grown up, we understand how lucky we are to have each other. She's awesome! (and I have a fabulous brother-in-law too!)
• I have a great extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, and a niece and nephew who all go above and beyond to support Tom and I.
• I'm thankful for friends who have been with me through everything. This year as been a trying year as I've learned some pretty tough lessons in friendship, but I've grown to learn that TRUE friends are few and far between and those that I'm blessed with in my life are truly amazing.
• I'm thankful that I have two amazing dogs. I mean really - they may be mutts to some people, but they are my kids. They remind me that no problem is too big and that a walk in the park (or a slice of cheese) is all we need to cheer us right up.
• I'm especially thankful for my health - I put in a lot of hours training because I love it, but I know that there are so many people in the world who don't have the good health that I have. And on days when I don't feel like running another mile, biking another pedal stroke, or swimming another lap, I remember that I'm truly blessed that I CAN do these things.
• I'm thankful for a job that allows me such amazing freedoms day to day and that I can live a comfortable life without many sacrifices. I must say, I have it pretty good.

And lastly:

• I'm thankful for all of you, my blogger friends. I've only met a few of you, but you all read my ramblings each week. You support me, you encourage me, you make me laugh, you love me no matter what nonsense I'm writing about. I just hope that someday I get to meet all of you.

What are you thankful for?