Aaaaand I'm Back!

Ch-ch-check it out!
We're Taking The Plunge!

Easy Like Sunday Morning...

Good Morning everyone! I've been enjoying a pretty lazy Sunday so far. After getting up at 6:30 this morning to see my favorite Doc off to work, I shopped online did some intense internet research for an hour or so before taking the puppster on a brisk morning walk. This week went by a little slower than I was hoping but it was still pretty decent. I started Monday off right with an always enjoyable Happy Hour with my friend Olivia. We tried to go to one of our favorite HH spots, Panchito's at the Quarry, but left after one drinking when we realized the new owners had broken the cardinal rule of all that is Happy Hour - Don't fix it if it ain't broken. (And don't take away the half off appetizers.) So we popped over to Fleming's for their pretty crucial HH, 5 for $6 til 7. I enjoyed a delicious white cosmo, shared some crab cakes with Olivia... (yes, only $6...and yummy.) I also brought home this bad boy to Justin, who spent the entire night enjoying the peace of not having to answer "Does this shirt make my feet look fat?" or "Want to watch Nick & Jessica on DVD?" or "Does this cheese smell rotten?" waiting by the window to see my car drive in. (again, $6...except for some reason, his didn't come with those two pictured, plump, delicious, crispy, crunchy onion rings...it's a mystery I can't explain. Burp.) I also munched on some blue cheese stuffed olives courtesy of a bartender who overheard me creppily professing my love for them. Later on in the week, I was about to walk out the door and went into the bedroom to say goodbye to Miss Lily...only she was nowhere to be found. Oh wait..what's that over there? Behind the pillow... SURPRISE! How could I leave right then? She's too cute...and my HR Director wonders why I'm always late...you try leaving that adorable little fluff monster every day.

On Thursday night, after realizing, at 10pm, that I'd eaten 1 candy cane, three bites of a MooseMunch Caramel Bar (Thanks Mom...super delish!), 3 5 oreos, a brownie and some FroYo, I decided to give up sweets. It was a great theory at the time. So far, as of Sunday, I've only cheated once. I had about a tablespoon of No Sugar Added ice cream and a small teensy crumb of brownies. I'm okay with that. But I really need to chill out on the sugar. Now, I'll celebrate Cookie Friday (a la Tina) and not Cookie MTWTrF [btw, anyone else feel bad for Thursday, who gets the lame "Tr" abbreviation since Tuesday was a jerk and stole the uppercase T earlier in the week?] If I want sweets late at night, I'll have a cup of hot tea, some gum or a nectarine. Pray for me.

On Friday night, the unthinkable happened...something I'm terrified to admit as I know my mother will read this and immediately bury her head in her hands, cry and wonder where she went wrong in all those years of raising me. While making spaghetti, I made the gruesome discovery that I had indeed, run out of onions. Sweet potato? Check. Butternut Squash? Check. Yellow lid to Justin's nasty cheese in a can? Check. Onions? .... Hello? Onions? .... Bueller? No onions.

Okay, so maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. I did have red onions in the fridge but no white or yellow onions, two MAJOR staples in my pantry. I had to make do with the cebollas rojas (Your Spanish lesson for the day. You're welcome.) and I didn't notice too much of a difference in taste. But deep down, I knew. And I was ashamed.

I dealt with the shame the only way I knew how. Okay who are we kidding here...this is how I cook every night. And excuse the greaseball look I decided to rock in this picture. I'd just gotten back from the gym.

Yesterday I hung out with my friend Rachelle and her super cute son, Connor, while her husband, Corey, and Justin went to the Army All-American HS Football Game. We ended the night at the Lion & Rose Pub to watch the Jets/Bengals game.

And right now I'm enjoying breakfast

(Leftover egg white omelet from yesterday, d'anjou pear slices, FF cottage cheese and some toast with Polaner) with water and coffee (I obviously refuse to accept the fact that the holidays are over) while DVRed Giada plays in the background.
On the agenda for today...
- Fold the Kilimanjaro of a mountain of laundry that I've avoided all week
- Hit up the gym to lift back and run a few miles
- Take down the last remaining Christmas tree
- Go to Walgreen's to take advantage of this week's specials before they disappear. (My favorites? Free toothpaste & TheraFlu and cheapo Betty Crocker Warm Delights. <---not going to bode too well for my whole "No Sweets" thing.)
- Pay a visit to Justin who is on his first of a month long of Sunday calls. Gross.

Have a great day and a great week!

Are You F-Ing Serious?!?!

On The Wings of Love? Is that really the cheesetastic-ness that the Bachelor producers came up with?!?! Oh lordy...this season is gonna be good! I'm not going to do a recap because Tara at Jimmy Choos and Tennis Shoes does an amazing job so I won't even waste my time.

But I do already have my top three favorites...
Ali
Tenley
Elizabeth
And I really liked Ashley and thought she was cute until she came out like a moron in that stupid Flight Attendant get-up. I wonder how long it's going to take me to get sick of all the "pilot" references and cheesy connotations. It's gonna be a super dramatic season! Can't wait!

I Guess I'm Just A Sucker

I hate doing NY Resolutions because I know there's no way in hell the odds are strongly against my favor that I'll keep them. But I get suckered in every year. [Hence the reason I'm so familiar with my track record.] So here's what I've come up with this year...
- Blog (some) more - I really like blogging and I know family and friends enjoy hearing what I'm up to [Wow, I sound so pompous...but it's true so whatevs] but sometimes it's more of a pain. I'm a brat, I know. So I won't make any promises as to how often I will, but I promise to update more.

- Running - In 2009, I fell in love with running. Something I thought would never in a million years happen. This year I'm planning on doing 2 (mayyyybe 3!) half marathons, a 10K here or there and about a dozen 5Ks. I also set a running goal of 500 miles [a goal that will be pretty easy to attain, I think, with all the training runs.]

- Join the Junior League of San Antonio - I've made good friends here but I'd still like to have more...plus it will hopefully limit the days I stay on the couch all weekend long watching Lifetime Movie Network.

- Keep in touch better - I talk alllll day long at work so sometimes when I come home, I just want to be quiet. [I know, I can't believe I just said that either...] But I miss talking with my friends and keeping up with the action going on back home. I PROMISE to make [and keep!] more phone and skype dates.

- Refinish a few hideous pieces of furniture in my possession - If I can convince Justin that (a) know what I'm doing [which I don't, I'll just figure it out along the way, but don't tell him that], (b) the furniture won't end up pink, and (c) I won't get two hours into the project and get hooked on a Lifetime Movie Network flick and we end up with a half sanded, half painted piece of furniture on the living room floor for 4 months then I think he'll let me channel my inner Martha.

- Stop bitching about how hot it is here - If I also resolve to increase the consumption of Frozen Margaritas, I just may keep this one.

I also have the typical "save more money, be nicer to strangers" crap that everyone else usually has too. So maybe I'll update everyone on my progress or maybe I'll fail at Resolution #1 and not. We'll see!

7 Miles....

...here goes nothing!

SIX!!

I DID IT!!

And boy was it NOT.FUN.

I woke up at 6am this morning, grabbed a bowl of cereal and read a book for a little bit. It was still dark out and I'm a fraidy cat so I wanted to wait until the sky was a nice light blue before I headed out.

Finally, around 7:20am, I was dressed and ready to get the show on the road. I was not too pleased when I was greeted by a blast of humidity the moment I walked out the door. BLEH! I was sweating just making the walk to my starting point at the front of my complex!

I drove around to map out a few different route options last night (with Lily!) so I had a general idea where I was going. I've been using Map My Run to help plan my running routes so I wouldn't be running in circles trying to make the mileage. The part of town we live in actually has the name "Hills" in it and the area certainly lives up to its name, so I've found myself on a mapped out run going up about a 35 degree incline before. To avoid that from happening again, I map a run then drive it to check out the elevation. I don't completely avoid all hills but there are some areas more hilly than others. I've found a few flat areas that make the running a bit easier.

I decided to run with my water bottle today mainly because of the humidity. It isn't really an annoyance and I was glad I had it.

Overall, the run went decent. I was V.E.R.Y. S.L.O.W. I know I can run faster I think I'm just worried I'll exert all my energy in the beginning and not be able to finish the distance. That's what I'm most concerned with...finishing. And finishing without walking.

I did have to stop twice today. Once around Mile 2.9 and the second time around Mile 3.3ish. I had a TERRIBLE cramp under my right rib. I ran with it for about a mile, trying to rub it out before I finally had to stop. The same spot bugged me again less than .5 mile later. I don't know if it went away or my mind just ignored it because I didn't have to stop again. (BTW...I only stopped for about 30-45 seconds each time and I paused my workout so it didn't affect my time.)

There is one GIANT hill that you have to go up in order to get back to my apartment and it's in the last half mile. In all my other runs, I include it as part of my running route. After having run 5.5 miles, I wasn't too sure I would be able to get up that dang thing and I didn't want a stupid hill to be what stood in front of me and a 6 mile run. So when tracking my run last night, I decided I wouldn't turn around to come back until I was more than halfway done. That way, I would end right before the hill and walk home as my cool down. Well, I guess I either started to enjoy the run and didn't pay attention or I just didn't realize how far away I was because when I heard the little voice say "Congratulations! You have completed your goal of 6 miles." I was 2 miles away! YIKES!!

Pretty anti-climactic end to a run.

I'm not one to brag (okay, yes I am) but I guess you could say I ran 6 miles and walked 2 for a grand total of 8 miles logged by these feet!

I think I have yet to experience the "Runners High" everyone has talked about. My mom used to run all the time and she asked me, "Do you ever get the feeling that you can just keep on running forever?" "Um. NO." "Okay, you haven't experienced it [The Runner's High] yet!"

This run was TOUGH for me. I was panting and breathing heavily and praying for it to be over. At the end, I tried to sprint and go as fast as possible but my legs felt like spaghetti and I couldn't really go too much faster. It got me a little worried when I realized I have to run more than twice this for the race. I guess that's what training is for.

I like running around my neighborhood because it's convenient but I think for next week's 7 miles (OH MY LAWD HOW AM I GOING TO RUN 7 MILES?!?!?!?) I am going to try out one of the park trails in town. I ran a trail near my house last week and it was so pretty that I really found myself enjoying the run (and also found myself scared shitless and face-to-face with a deer...but hey I guess that's nature.)

I haven't loaded my Nike+ yet but I think my time was somewhere around 1:06ish minutes. Yeah a little slow, but I'm perfectly content with it.

Justin ran with me a couple weeks ago (actually, at one point he walked next to me just to prove a point at how slow I was...but in my defense he has super long legs and can walk really fast) and asked why I was going so slow...I told him I wasn't the least concerned with how fast I finished as long as I finished. And the good news is at least I know I'll run 13.1 miles in 5 hours or less...because that's all the time they give you!

See you next week when I add another mile to the mix!

Stupid Nike+

So...I may or may not have finished my 5 mile run on Monday thinking I was the fastest person ever. When I told Justin my super-speed time of 42:55, he said "Great job!" all while still looking a little unconvinced because, well, let's face it - Bea Arthur and I run pretty much at the same pace. (Yes, the dead Golden Girl.) I just thought he was jealous of me and brushed it off.

I was playing around the Nike+ forums yesterday when I read something about calibration. WHA? Supposedly, I was supposed to calibrate my Nike+ to run according to my stride. Yeah. Didn't do that. So, when using my sensor to run, I was actually running less than I thought. When that little voice would say "1 mile completed" it was more like "Not really 1 mile completed. But almost 1 mile completed. In like 2 minutes."

I was really bummed at first, thinking that my entire training had been a sham so far and I was pretty much back at Square 1. Then I realized that the only real long run I've had was 5 miles (but wasn't really 5), which felt awesome and I definitely could have gone farther. All of my other runs have been 3-4 mile runs that have actually been mapped out and I know the distance is correct.

Tonight was technically a night off but I wanted to get this bad boy in order before my long run this week. So I took my handy dandy Nike+ to a local high school track and ran around 4 times (I think it's actually the first time I've ever HONESTLY run a mile around a high school track...)to calibrate it to my running style and stride. I'm going to test it out tomorrow and see if it's still a lying biotch little off or if it's just right.

Which brings me to a question...

When I originally started my training schedule, I had the date of the race wrong. I actually started my 12-week training program 13 weeks before the race. The way the schedule goes now, starting two weeks ago, I run a long run every Saturday, each Saturday building up a mile. I started at 4, then 5 and it goes all the way up to 12 miles the Saturday before the race. Since I was a week off, I thought, "Hey! I can actually add one more week to my training and do 13 miles before the race! Then I'll KNOW I can do 13.1!" But now, since I had my slip-up with not really doing 5 miles this week (more like 4.1 UGH!) I have a decision to make.

Anyone who has ever lived with me or known me for a long time just shuddered, as making decisions isn't one of my fortes. For my run this weekend I can either:

a.) Repeat the 5 miler I "ran" last week and do the 6 miles I was supposed to run this Saturday next Saturday. This will mean I'll only get up to 12 miles before the race. I know this is how the training program is supposed to go, but I'm not so sure how confident I'll be going into a race having never run the distance before. I'm a little nervous about making the jump from 4.2 to 6 miles.
b.) Brush off last week's flub and go for the 6 miles anyway. Hey! It's just 1.8 miles farther than I actually ran! (Which, HOLY HELL IS A LOT FARTHER! come on, is that so bad?) This way, I'll be able to go 13 miles the week before the race.

Either way, I'll need LOTS of encouragement as I run my farthest distance to date this Saturday! This training thing is getting intense!

"Do you always find a new reason to shop?"

That question was asked by my fiancee last week when I came home with new running shoes. And then was asked again when my new iPod and Nike+ arrived in the mail. And when I bought my new running skirt...well, you can see the pattern.

I'm not gonna lie, it's pretty fun buying all these cool running gadgets. I keep telling myself I'm investing in my health, but I know deep down that I'm not going to run better just because I have a snappy new lime green iPod strapped to my arm [oh yeah, I had to get a new armband, too...oops!].

But seriously, all of my new purchases DO serve a purpose. And I haven't spent BOATLOADS on all my new stuff. Justin's aunts graciously gave me a $100 gift card to Dick's for Christmas and it had been burning a hole in my wallet since then. Everyone says it's very important to make sure you have good shoes. I had been working out in a crappy pair of Avias I got on clearance at TJ Maxx and I realized they weren't going to cut it. I went to Dick's and, after watching me run, the guy realized my feet pronate inward and decided a particular pair of Asics would help with that. Though they didn't have the turbo rocket engines to propel me forward like I was hoping, they get the job done and feel great.

Now onto justifying explaining my reasoning for the iPod and Nike+....

I've been following a blog for sometime, Roni's Weigh about a super awesome woman who documented her weight loss journey and is now training for a marathon. [I followed her through her first 5K, 1/2 marathon and now she's going for the 26.2...definitely inspirational!] She trains with the Nike+ and raves about it.


It's a computer chip you put in your shoe and it transmits your distance, time, pace and a billion other things to your iPod and to you while you're running. I've been running the same 3-mile route for the past couple weeks but I wanted to explore some trails around the area and needed to know how far I had gone. [I figured the park rangers wouldn't be thrilled with me taking Rhonda Honda barreling through their serene trails and besides, the last experience I had with taking her 4-wheeling didn't go over so well...just kidding Dad!] I told the guy at Dick's I was looking for something to tell me how far I'd gone...he explained that the Nike+ was "more for pace" and then tried to upsell me the $300 Garmin Watch...yeah, no thanks. The $29.99 Nike+ will be just fine for me, thank you. Now, I'm not planning on going all Jackie Joyner-Kersey on anyone's ass at this 1/2 Marathon, but I'd still like to beat the group of 65-year old Red Hats who are walking the race.

The Nike+ is made for special Nike shoes that have a slot to slide the chip in. I wasn't going to drop even more cash on the shoes, besides I already had my cute Asics, so I had to figure something else out. After MacGyver-ing a pouch out of duct tape, I secured my Nike+ to my shoes and headed out for my first run with it on Friday night.

And about 3 minutes into my run, it got flung out of said MacGyver pouch and flew into a bush somewhere. Lovely. I did end up finding it but resorted to purchasing one of these bad boys from Amazon:
I really wanted to run with it for my 4-miler so I had to MacGyver-mixed-with-a-side-of-Chuck-Norris a new pouch on Saturday morning. Happy to say, we had success! It's so cool to run and hear a chick say, "Your time is ____. Your distance is ______. You are running at _______ pace." After the run, I came home, plugged the iPod into the computer, logged onto the Nike+ website and it showed me a graph of my first run. I think I can upload them on here but I just have to become unlazy enough to learn how to do it. Until then, live with the image in your mind of me being the fastest person on earth and my graph displaying: ERROR. UNABLE TO REPORT GRAPH BECAUSE RUNNER IS SO BADASS AND RAN TOO FAST FOR OUR SENSORS.

Right.

I've gotten a little too ahead of myself, but the reason for the new jazzy green iPod is because the Nike+ wasn't compatible with my old circa-1965 first generation iPod. Thanks to Sharon, the nice lady at Apple, I had a new iPod Nano on my doorstep two days after ordering, for only $102, including shipping!

Now onto the running skirt...okay, okay, I didn't REALLY need one...but if I feel cuter when I'm running, I'll run faster. At least that's what I told myself when I was at the cash register at Marshall's.

I don't plan on buying anything else for my hobby at the moment, but I'm sure I'll find reasons to buy new socks, sports bras, tank tops, visors, sweat bands, gooey energy crap and, I'm not gonna lie, I may or may not have been eyeing those Energy Jelly Beans at Dick's...

No More Happy Hours For Me...

NO. I'm not Preggo my Eggo.

I AM however running the 2009 San Antonio Rock 'N Roll Half Marathon!

Yes, I, Shelby Real Last Name Sugarbaker [gotta keep SOME anonymity...don't want any creepy guys following me around...Justin's bad enough! Besides, it's always been my dream last name...oh, Designing Women, sigh], the girl who would cheat on running the mile for the physical fitness test in high school["Yes, Coach Martin, I SWEAR I went around the track 4 times...YES HUH! I DID SO!"], the girl who would go to the gym, hop on the treadmill, run .6 miles and say, "Wow I feel great. Cardio workout's done" is running 13.1 miles.

On November 15th.

And may or may not be absolutely freaking out about it.


I've volunteered at the Va Beach RNR 1/2 quite a few times and a good friend of ours, Rachelle, ran it here last year (4 weeks pregnant!) in some obscene time like 1:46 or something like that. [Yeah, don't look for me in that pace group, you'll be sorely disappointed when you don't see my angry smiling, happy to be running face amongst the speedy runners.] I decided 2009 was going to be the year I, too, lost my mind joined the ranks.

I waited until the last possible minute to enjoy the discounted registration fee (You call $95 DISCOUNTED?!?) and officially signed up on August 31st. I had started a training program a week and a half or so before that but shelling out the bucks REALLY made it official...no turning back now! I don't care if they have to drag me across the finish line, I'm finishing!


Y'all know how lazy I am at updating my blog things in life can pop up and interfere with keeping everyone posted on what I'm up to, but I'm really going to try to update this thing at least once or twice before the actual race. Maybe more. We'll see.

Lots of catching up to do...

My mom just left from visiting me for the most awesome Mother's Day (extended!) Weekend Ever. In order to update you on all that, I have lots of catching up to do!

Also Worthy Of Coming Out of Hiding....

Maybe I'll get back to blogging, maybe I won't...but for now, you can stare at a blurry picture of my cute doggy! (And, according to the picture, my awkward looking fiancee.) You're welcome.


Hi, I'm Lily!

Worthy of Coming Out Of Hiding....

Why do I not find out places like THIS exist until AFTER I have moved HALFWAY ACROSS THE COUNTRY?!?!?

Whoa...how'd February get here??

Hey everyone! Blog slacker here!

I love reading blogs and hearing about what is going on other people's lives...both people I know in person and those I know through the Blog World. Maybe I don't think my life is interesting enough for other people to want to read about it, I don't know, but I suck at updating my blog! It was going to be a New Years resolution to keep up with my blog...obviously, on February 15th, you can see that's holding up real well.

The Doc is on call today and I don't really have any plans, other than to play with the pupster for a little bit...yes, that's how far behind I am in blogging...we have a new roommate! Updates to come!

Happy Monday!

We're 1/5th of the way through the week! WooHoo! Today went by SO FAST! I looked at the clock and it was 5:00 already! I hope the rest of the week zooms by in the same fashion!

We had a pretty nice weekend...Justin was on call on Friday night and I was beginning to resemble Medusa -- on a good day -- so I got a haircut! I had been nervous about trying a new salon here in San Antonio but knew I had to get the hurr did (after all, the last time I got it cut was two days before This Pretty Lady's wedding...in APRIL! YIKES!)

Speaking of April, that was the name of my stylist at Smooth Lines Salon. I was pleased to read her fab-o reviews on City Search before I went. She was just as cute as she was a great stylist -- I thought it was a little short at first but I love it! I think I've found my stylist for the next two and a half years!

On Saturday I woke up bright and early -- and COLD! It was 35 degrees out! -- to get to the City Manager's 5K Run/Walk. My work has a strong partnership with the City of San Antonio so a bunch of us volunteered to participate to show our support. I was responsible for coordinating the event and everyone said they wanted to walk. I was hoping to run bc I'm training for a 10K in April, but was looking forward to spending some time with co-workers so I went with the flow. So, I roll up in my jeans and hoody sporting my still cute-ly stlyed 'do from April's handywork the night before and see some work buddies wearing running pants and tennis shoes, stretching and warming up!

Had I gotten the memo, I would have done a wardrobe change before the leaving the casa -- and wouldn't have eaten that second third biscuit. I decided to give it a whirl and ended up running the first mile with a co-worker then let her go ahead and finish...the jeans, hair down and keys, camera and cell phone jingling along in my sweatshirt pouch didn't make for the best running conditions. I walked back to meet up with my co-workers who were walking and finished with them.

After the race, I headed to my favorite vegetable market and stocked up for the first time since Thanksgiving! I came home, unloaded my loot, cleaned the house and waited for a sleepy Justin to get home from a loooong night in the NICU. When he got home, he passed out and I watched football until it was time to get ready for my company Christmas party!

The Christmas party was nice -- downtown at the BEAUTIFUL brand new Grand Hyatt. Food was delicious and I may or may not have paid two trips to the pasta bar. We left around 9:00 after using our two "Free Drink" tickets and headed out downtown with my friend Amanda. We met up with a couple other friends and had a great night!

Sunday was spent laying around for the first half of the morning and cleaning and cooking for the second half! There's something so nice about starting the week with the house clean and all the laundry done -- there would be something even nicer about it all if I had someone to do it for me. We had a YUMMY pork dinner (Good Luck with the recipe tonight, Jess!) and then watched all we could bare of the first half of a disappointing Redskins game. Boo.

I'm hoping the week will go by fast! Justin is off this weekend and we've made plans to go up to Fredericksburg to do some Christmas shopping, wine tasting, sightseeing -- and a little more wine tasting! Have a great week!

Not Just For Pancakes Anymore!

I found this delicious recipe for Maple Sage Roasted Pork Tenderloin in the November 2008 Cooking Light. I immediately dog-eared the page because I knew I wanted to try it out! I diced up some butternut squash I got on MAYJAH sale at my Farmer's Marketing (Holler at 5lbs for $1!!) and baked them with the pork, roasted some asparagus with garlic and popped an Uncle Ben's in the microwave for 90 seconds and had a DELICIOUS and super healthy meal!

Maple Sage Roasted Pork Tenderloin
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light
Ingredients:
- 1 tblsp maple syrup
- 1 tsp chopped fresh sage (I only had dried...still yum!)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (1-lb) pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat
- Cooking spray

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and turn to coat. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes.

Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 155°. Cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

The recipe calls for the pork to be baked on a flat baking sheet covered with foil. Since I cooked the butternut squash along with the pork, I baked mine in a casserole dish. Also, after consulting with my mom, I decided to bake mine at 375° for about 35 minutes. This was definitely the most tender my pork had EVER come out...YUM! SO DELICIOUS!

A close up of the pork...

Christmas Is All Around Us

If you know that song, then you've seen one of the best Christmas movies. Ever.

We've been spreading the holiday cheer at Casa de Margarita and getting in the Christmas spirit! The weekend after Thanksgiving we trotted off to Wal-Mart and got our tree! We spent the next day putting it together...

And then I spent the next three hours tangled up in a seemingly never-ending strand of lights. What resulted from that monstrosity was this pretty little a lot bigger than it looked in the store tree. Trees look sadder without presents beneath them. Since Justin and I have yet to go Christmas shopping, rather than actually go out and complete said shopping, I told him I was going to wrap up things we already own and put them under the tree -- he thought I was nuts.

Feelin' Hot, Hot, Hot

I haven't always been a big fan of spicy foods. As part of my "training to move to Texas" I began forcing myself to get used to foods that carry a bit o' zing with 'em. I began throwing (verrrrry finely diced!) spicy peppers into my fajitas and enchiladas and adding a couple dashes of red pepper flakes to my pasta dishes. My tastebuds have been learning well and I'm able to tolerate the spiciness in small to medium doses. This dish is considered a wee tad on the "wayyy too spicy for me" side.

On Thanksgiving Day, I wanted to have a snack ready for Justin when he got home after being on call so he wouldn't be rummaging through the fridge and in my way. I had seen a recipe for an easy take on Jalapeno Poppers and I gave it a whirl! They were super easy and he loved them!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Stuffers
6 Jalapenos, cut in half lengthwise, ribs and seeds removed
6 oz. cream cheese, softened
Approx 2-3 Tblsp Mexican Seasoning (such as Old El Paso)
6 Slices Turkey or Regular Bacon, cut in half

In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese and mexican seasoning. Fill each jalapeno half with a small amount cream cheese mixture. Wrap stuffed jalapeno with half slice turkey/regular bacon. Bake @ 350° until jalapeno gets soft and bacon is crisp and browned (about 20 minutes).

You All Know Who You Are...

And this is for you...

Sorry it's so blurry...and a video. I was trying to take a picture of it really fast while in traffic and had it on Video not Photo. By the time I got it switched, he had PED4LLED away. Hehehe.

Luck Be A Lady...

Who would've thought I would ever have two Guys & Dolls themed posts...certainly not me!

So you all are going to think I am totally weird. You know how they say everyone gets their "15 Minutes of Fame"? Well, I don't want to waste mine. If I'm ever at a big event for work, like a gala or charity function, I steer clear of the television cameras when present. I'm afraid of getting caught on camera or asked for an interview and "wasting" my 15 minutes on something lame. Completely weird, I know. But I want to "save" my 15 Minutes of Fame for something good. What? I'm not quite sure...But I'm hoping I'll eventually come to terms with the fact that I most likely won't be discovered while out dancing at a bar and become a huge singing superstar and have Britney Spears open up for me on my World Tour.

I'm the same way with contests. I don't usually do Lotto Scratch-Offs because I don't want to waste my good luck by winning $1. I don't call in to radio stations because I don't want to win a dumb CD. I'd much rather enter a contest that leads to something big. Again, weird.

Well, I must be getting tired of not ever winning anything because while out to lunch one Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago*, I dropped my business card into a bowl hoping to win a free lunch, and of course forgot all about it. Well wouldn't you know, I received a phone call yesterday and I WON! I am going today to pick up my Gift Certificate for Lunch For Two at Panchito's, a DELICIOUS local Mexican Restaurant! Their portions are HUGE. Our leftovers fed Justin for three days (and anyone who knows him, knows that means they were ENORMOUS portions!)

So maybe I'm getting bold with my luck, but I'm entering another contest!
One of my favorite blogs, Baking Delights, is having a contest and the prize is that big beautiful wrapped up bunch of deliciousness you see! If anyone knows my obsession with ALL things Chocolate (Justin quickly nixxed the idea of going to Hershey, PA for our Honeymoon...sad face!) it's no surprise I couldn't help but enter!

Cross your fingers for me! Maybe I'll bake you something if I win! ;) *We went to lunch with our friends Corey and Rachelle to celebrate Rachelle's AWESOME finish time for the San Antonio Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon....13.1 miles in1:49:32!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!?!

Happy December!

Holy cow! Is it really December already? Today, December 1st, officially marks 6 months since I have lived in Texas. 6 months down...30 months to go!

I have lots of updates to come later, including the result of all my (and my mom's...via telephone) hard work on Thanksgiving Day!

This weekend was pretty relaxing...it was Justin's first weekend off in quite awhile so we planned to enjoy it! On Friday night we fully anticipated going out and hittin' the town but we couldn't seem to get off the couch! We were in bed by 10pm. Sad.

On Saturday we woke up early and ventured out to get our Christmas tree! After looking at Garden Ridge (holy expensive!) We found an awesome tree at Wal-Mart for a great deal! After a disappointing UVA/VA Tech football game (BOO HOKIES), I made cookies to bring over to our Alabama friends Jake and Kayla's house to watch the Alabama/Auburn football game. ROLL TIDE!! Great game and lots of fun! Again, we had intentions of going out for Karaoke that night but fell asleep on the couch watching the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State football game. Oh well! There's always next weekend!

Yesterday we woke up (not hungover! such a great feeling!), made a big breakfast and started put up our Christmas tree! I also tore out all my holiday decorations and got the apartment all decked out for the holiday season! When we were here in April looking for a place to live, we stopped and had lunch at a DELICIOUS restaurant, Tiago's. I received a Buy One, Get One Free coupon in the mail a few weeks ago and it was set to expire yesterday so we went out for a delicious meal...Mahi Mahi Skewers for him and Chicken and Shrimp Fajitas for me! YUM! All leftovers were sent away with him for lunch/dinner while he is on call tonight...back to eating (somewhat!) healthy for a few weeks before I devour amazing Funky Chickens and Plaza Azteca Chimichangas when I go home for Christmas!

Waking up this morning was rough...after no work Thursday and half days on both Wednesday and Friday, I'm not looking forward to a regular-length week! At least I started the week off with a yummy piece of chocolate from the December 1st window on my Advent Calendar Justin bought me! YAY!

Have a great week everyone! Lots of updates with pictures are on their way later!