Summer tastes so good!

One of my favorite parts of summer is grocery shopping at the Minneapolis Farmers Market.  The market is huge, the vendors diverse and the produce in lined up in abundance.   As I collect various recipes throughout the year, I set aside recipes specifically to make after a leisurely trip to the Farmers Market.   One such recipe came from one of my mom's 'Cooking Light' magazines from 1998!  The magazine may be dated, but good food never goes out of style.   

Roasted-Corn Salad

3 cups fresh corn kernels (about 6 ears)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil, divided

Cooking spray 

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar 

1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

1 cup chopped seeded tomato

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper 

1/2 cup chopped green onions  

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Combine corn and 1 teaspoon oil in a jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes until browned, stirring occasionally.  
3. Combine 2 teaspoons oil, vinegar, mustard, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl, add corn mixture, stirring well.  Stir in tomato, bell pepper, and onions.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Yield: 4 servings (serving 3/4 cup).  154 calories. 

A friend of mine sent me this quote the other day.  I just re-read it and was humbled by how actively I pursue control, order and new knowledge in my life.  Jesus is bigger than ALL of my planning! 

"Our understanding isn't key to the operation of His creation. We can participate in it without being in control or knowing everything there is to know. In fact, we must. Control & omniscience are not options for us. Why does God so frequently put us in our place? Because He has to. We repeatedly grow out of our dependence on Him and try to manage things on our own." -Chris Tiegreen

Strong. Confident. Determined.

This morning I woke up from a blaring alarm clock, at an hour too early to be acquainted with Saturdays, regretting my decision to run a half marathon.   I mean, one of my favorite things has been and always will be sleep, so can you blame me?

Only 2 weeks stand between me and the finish line, which means that I am in my 5th month of training!  One might think that with so much time invested, I would be jazzed and ready to tackle this race.  The reality is that I am itching to transition into the next stage of my life and not devote hours and hours to stretching, hydrating, running, showering, stretching again, re-hydrating and washing load after load of sweaty running gear.  I know this to be true because other than my long run this morning, I logged ZERO training days this week.   I was supposed to run 5 miles Monday, 3 miles Tuesday, cross-train Wednesday, run 5 miles Thursday and then take a much needed rest day on Friday in preparation for my 9 mile run this morning.   I actually had an amazingly productive week, filled with countless tasks and accomplishments.. . but I didn't run. At all.  

I went to bed last night with the sinking knowledge that my lack of training would most likely adversely affect my ability to run 9 miles but there is something to be said about having an iron will!  On my 30 minute drive to pick up my friend Kelli, I prayed, listened to my favorite cd and reviewed 5 months of running accomplishments.   When I started this process, I hadn't exercised for essentially 2 entire years.   Despite my "get skinny 2008" crusade, I hadn't worked out consistently since doing Pilates with my sister Anna our junior year of high school.   I wasn't a runner, but I started running anyways.   In early June, the farthest I could run without stopping was 33 minutes.   Sometime between June and today, I have gained enough endurance to run for 2 entire hours!  On my drive, I reminded myself that I had the endurance to run 8 miles and therefore could not let myself walk any part of this mornings mileage sooner than the 8 mile mark.   I was bound and determined to run the whole time but I had no idea how long it would take me to finish.  

Unlike most runners, I didn't do this in high school, I don't love the sport and I have never run fast.   It is my experience that most people who call themselves runners, run at least a 10 minute mile.   Not so much for this kid.   I average about a 12-13 minute mile, which I have no intention of changing because I learned early on in this process that if I pace myself, I can run a lot further than if I don't.   I am proud to say that a 12-13 minute mile is a comfortable run for me, and when distances like 9 miles are being tackled, being comfortable is an essential component to success. 

So, after mentally re-living my journey, I was feeling strong, confident and determined to run 9 miles no matter what happened.   The morning started out cool, then turned humid, then started to rain with the humidity thickening simultaneously.  I have learned that when I let the weather stand in my way, it does.  So today, I decided that I didn't care how hot or uncomfortable I was.  I just kept running.   I finished 9 miles in almost exactly 2 hours.   I know a lot of people can run a lot further given that same time frame, but for me, it was a personal best.  

I am already trying to talk myself into waking up early enough this week to train like I am supposed to be but with life tasks such as finding car insurance, finishing up graduate school, maintaining my friendships, and getting things in order for my job, the challenge is greater than it seems.   I guess I'll just have to take it one day at a time. 

warm, comfortable and oh so inviting!

At last I have taken pictures of my new bedroom!  Instead of giving you a tour of my apartment all at once you are going to have to stay tuned for pictures one room at a time.   Since I am most excited about my bedroom, it's up first. 

My Aunty Joy gave me this queen size bed since she wanted to upgrade her guest bedroom.  It's the first bed I've ever had bigger than a twin, which makes me feel pretty grown up! 

I am very much looking forward to sleeping on my new comforter set tonight!  Since purple is my all time favorite color it was the obvious choice when sorting through so many comforter options. 

The purple chest has been with me ever since I moved into my very first apartment and I love it dearly.  The couch is a result of the generosity of my Aunt Joy (thanks Aunty!) Having TWO diploma frames is the result of 4 years of undergrad + 2 long years of graduate school.   It's hard to believe that I am weeks away from being able to fill that second frame! Who would have ever thought I would have two diplomas hanging above such a comfortable couch in a St.Paul apartment?! Not me!

You can't have a couch without having a tv!   I have to say that I am pretty thrilled with the idea of coming home from work, popping in a Netflix and knitting on my super comfortable love seat.   I have GREAT living room furniture also but it's always nice to have space to call my very own. 

The only pictures from my bedroom you are missing is the wall of closets I have opposite my bed and my bathroom.   Since closets are uneventful and I still haven't unpacked my bathroom all of the way, you're just going to have to imagine what those things look like :)

To do's!

It's Tuesday evening and I just compiled the list of things I want to accomplish in addition to the things already on my schedule for the week.  I am hopeful that I can tackle most, if not all of these things by the end of the weekend.

• Get library card

• send in stuff to get my cell phone rebate

• organize and label document files and folders

• go to the bank

• organize front hall closets

• set clock in room

• organize bathroom stuff 

• grocery shop

• return phone calls

• Administer and write up transition assessment 

• Figure out new TV 

 Let the productivity begin! 

A new kind of shopping

Among many new goals for the year, one of my goals is to always grocery shop with coupons.   It sounds simple, but the task is large considering how much time and energy it takes to sort through ads, pursue online sale items and create a menu which reflects the sale items.  Manufactures and stores put out coupons all of the time, but up until now I have chosen not to capitalize on the savings because my time has been more valuable to me than my money.  

My ambition to start shopping smart and using my grocery money wisely was affirmed when I found out that the grocery store across from my new apartment has what the call 'double day'.   Every Wednesday and Saturday if you present a manufacturer coupon, they double the value!  I went shopping last Wednesday and saved $15.90!  My bank account is dwindling by the day, so you can imagine how pumped I was to be taking home groceries worth almost $16.00 more than I paid for them! I didn't have a coupon for everything but I in addition to shopping with coupons, I am going to check online each week for the stores sale items in order to start re-building my pantry.   It feels good to have the time to be smart with my money.

If you ever have a manufacturer coupon you're not going to use, you should send it my way :) 

not so competitive after all

Are you ever surprised by the things you discover about yourself?   I am.  Throughout college people have frequently interpreted my commitment to thorough excellence as a competitive nature.   Although I wasn't sure whether or not there was truth to that particular assumption, I never tried to confirm or deny it.    This morning I ran my very first race.  It was a 10K (6.2 miles) which served as a "test" for my race day pace for the half-marathon I am running.   The race went well, but here's what I learned: I'm not competitive enough to care about racing!  I ran with my good friend Pushpa and my new friend Amanda, both of whom were really jazzed about pushing themselves to run faster than normal and pass as many people as possible along the way.  I run because I care about my health, because I love exploring new things, because I like having an active and uninterrupted platform to connect with the Lord and because running has allowed me to move closer to other people.   I don't run to race.  Even though the goal of completing a half-marathon kick-started my journey to become a runner, I never signed up for the race with the intention of racing.  

People have asked me if I will continue running after the half-marathon is over.   After today, I am 100% sure that I run for reasons other than competition and therefore will continue to use this sport as a way to better my health, connect with the Lord and move towards others.

Here are some pictures from this morning!

Me and my friend Pushpa on our way to the race! 

Hot, sweaty, tired & DONE with 6.2 miles! It was really humid!