Josh's Birthday

On September 23 Josh turned 7. Here are some pics from the family party. He did have a friend party this year, but I was pretty busy chasing 8 kids around to take any pictures :) He LOVES stuffed animals so we got him a big stuffed penguin that is also a puppet. It was a big hit!



He also likes Legos and was happy to get this Bionicle.



Happy Birthday Josh!

Emma's first day of Preschool

This year I am doing a neighborhood preschool for Emma. All of the kids are from church and she was very excited when the first day finally came. She loves going and is always asking me when she gets to go back to preschool.

She is learning a lot and I can't believe this one will be in Kindergarten next fall!

American Discovery Trail Half Marathon

I ran a half marathon on labor day with my sister Sarah. It wasn't really something I had ever thought about doing until earlier in the year when Sarah wanted to know if I wanted to sign up for the Moab half-marathon. It's lottery style and after we didn't get picked, I still had the "bug" in me. When we moved to Colorado Springs, I started searching for a race, and found that there was one on my birthday - which also happened to be labor day this year. I took it as a sign and started training. If anything, it would help me get in better shape and give me a goal to work towards. Here are my stats from about 4 months of training:

total miles: 180.87
elevation gain : 15,885 ft
calories burned : 24,624

I had a lot of fun running around the different trails in Colorado Springs. My favorite was the Pikes Peak greenway. It looked like the race was going to be on or around this trail so it was good preparation as well. It turns out the race was on this trail (an out and back) and I had already run on most of it. My longest training run was 13 miles and I completed that in 2:40. Some of my shorter runs had a better per mile pace so that was what I was shooting for. But, I didn't really care about my time. I just didn't want to come in last for my age group and I wanted to beat the first marathoner. Last year the best marathon time was around 2:52 so I figured I could easily do that.

So, race day arrives. Sarah and I were pretty anxious and nervous but things went really well. The weather was perfect.


Here we are waiting in the very long bathroom line! We just barely made it.

The first shot Aaron got of me coming towards the finish.

Sarah finished before me, but she re-ran the last little bit with me.

I think I'm trying to give a thumbs up? Running pictures always turn out weird.

Almost there!

My official time was 2:31:50. They didn't have chip timers for this race, so I started my watch when I crossed the start line and I stopped it when I hit 13.1 miles (according to my GPS, this race was a little bit longer than 13.1 miles) So, my Garmin time was 2:30:47. I cut 10 minutes off my practice run and I ran at the pace I was hoping for (about 11:30 per mile). I beat the first marathoner by a few minutes (he cut 20 minutes off the course record!)


We're done! I think I burst into tears when I finished, but they were tears of joy. I was absolutely wiped out for the next couple of days. But, I'm really glad that I did it and I might even do it again.

A couple of interesting facts about the race. The guy who won the marathon had lost 60 pounds and (like I said before) cut over 20 minutes off the course record. His half-marathon split time would have beat the guy who won the half-marathon. That is so amazing! I can't even imagine running that fast. Also, a 9 year old boy ran the half marathon - and he finished in 1:49. That is so fast for such a young kid! Very inspiring.

The kids were able to participate in a fun run. It happened while I was still running the race. They each got a ribbon and a little goody bag.

Waiting to start.

David came in first

Followed by Rachel.

Then Josh.

They all had a lot of fun running!

Coupon magic

I used to think it was so corny when someone would take a picture of all the food they bought with coupons. I didn't really get it. Well, don't knock it 'till you've tried it! I've been couponing for a few weeks now and I'm amazed at the kind of deals you can find. It is so exciting to score a great deal. Here is one of my best scores at Albertsons - My total for the whole shopping trip was around 35.00. What I saved was around 130.00. I just took a picture of the best deals. The total for these items was around 10.00 - and lots of the items were free.



And, I didn't just get snack food. I also got 2 whole chickens, 5 pounds of pork chops, milk, bread, and produce. Of course now I'm totally jaded - I can't pay more than 1.00 for a box of cereal (and .50 is my average). But, it's kind of a fun way to help keep your grocery budget under control - and build up your food storage.

I'm still just a beginner. There are tons of blogs and web pages out there to help you get started. Just don't try to do too much at once and know that you can't get every deal. Just start small and you'll be amazed at what you can find.

Round 2 Dinners

I love it when I can take a meal or some ingredients and stretch it into 2 or even 3 different meals. Tonight's meal was such a collaboration of leftovers that I just had to share. A couple years ago, I learned how to take a whole chicken and use it for several meals. When whole chickens were on sale a couple of weeks ago I was really excited, because at .57 cents a pound - using it for more than one meal really stretches your dollar.

So, a few days ago, I roasted a whole chicken. It is so easy and there are lots of different ways to change the flavor. This time I put some quartered lemons in the center and the last 20 minutes, I basted with BBQ sauce. Slice it up, cut off the drumsticks, add some potatoes and veggies, and you've got a great meal. So, don't be afraid of those whole chickens that are way cheaper than buying boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

Tonight I made chicken broth with the leftover bones. The chicken still had lots of meat on it (sometimes I will take off the meat and use it for another meal), so the broth was really flavorful. After the broth was done (and I removed the bones :)), I added carrots, celery, onions, and all the chicken meat. I was looking in the fridge and found some leftover green beans and rice (from a different meal - this probably would have gone to waste if I hadn't used it tonight). I threw that in, along with some egg noodles. It made for a really hearty soup. Then I took some hamburger buns (left over from yet another meal - those would have just gone stale or moldy), spread them with softened butter and sprinkled them with Parmesan cheese. I put them under the broiler for a few minutes and we had some yummy "Parmesan bread".


I pulled things from 3 separate meals to make a different meal that didn't feel like leftovers. I love it when that happens - especially when we can top it off with some free ice cream...