2009 in Review

What a year it has been! I lost my job (still don't have a new one), moved in with my extended family (of whom I love dearly), watched the Twins make the playoffs (then lose horribly to the Yankees), watched the Florida Gators win one national title and miss out on the next, joined a bookclub, started a blog (then kind of forgot about it), and most excitingly... ran a 10-mile race and beat my goal time!! With that said, I'm glad I'm bidding farewell to 2009. Not only is a new year right around the corner, but also a new decade.

Over the past decade, I graduated from high school, started college, changed my major about five times, studied abroad in Australia for a semester, graduated from college, got a "real" job, had a couple boyfriends, lost 30+ pounds, started running, became a "runner", traveled to Paris and Amsterdam, made great new friends, lived in at least seven different apartments/houses, lost my first "real" job, lounged by the pool all summer (and had a great tan to prove it), and now I'm trying to figure out where the next decade is going to take me. If all of that happened in the past 10 years (and that's just what I can think of off the top of my head), I can't even imagine what is going to happen in the next 10.

So cheers to 2010 and to the next decade! Think of the possibilities and all of the potential that the next year holds. There's nothing like closing a door and opening a new one. You just never know what lies ahead!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Big Move

So, I've moved. I wasn't planning on moving but my cousin and his wife made me an offer that I couldn't refuse. A few months ago, we were discussing what I would do if I still didn't have a job by the time my unemployment benefits ran out. I said that I would probably move back home to Blue Earth and figure out what to do and where to go from there. They said that I could always move in with them if it came to that. Then we just started talking about it and it turned into a possibility now.

With that decided, I gave my two months notice to my apartment building people and started thinking about packing. Naturally, I didn't start packing until the two weeks before I had to be out. Why pack gradually when I could save it all for one last hurried rush?! Thank goodness I have great friends and a super mother who were willing to help me lug my belongs across the metro. My mom was definitely a trooper for the two days that she was helping me. I don't know if she would lasted another day... I really put her to work. :)

Now that I'm at home in Eden Prairie, I'm trying to find new ways to store my stuff in my smaller spaces. I didn't realize how much "stuff" I had accumulated when I lived in my most recent apartment. My first purchase was a couple small organizers for my bathroom stuff. The second purchase was a three drawer dresser to store my sweaters (I have much less closet space now) and to use as a tv stand. And now I'm trying to figure out what my third purchase is going to be. I still have boxes full of stuff to unpack but it's mainly the miscellaneous things that I don't know what to do with or how I want to organize them.

Some of it is stuff that I have to hide so that my little cousin Josh doesn't get his greasy paws on it. You gotta love the kid but man can he get his fingers on every last thing that you don't want him to. It's almost like he can just tell what he shouldn't touch and then he touches it. And he's a pro at hiding things without realizing that he's hiding it. Just ask his mom where her headphones went. It's a mystery!

All in all, my digs are pretty great. I'm still trying to figure out where everything is - not only in the house but in my new town. I've pretty much decided that Eden Prairie is one giant loop. No streets run straight and you never end up where you think you were headed. Slowly but surely, I'll figure it out.

FINISHER!!

That's right, I'm a Finisher!! I even have the t-shirt to prove it.

I did it!! I completed the TC 10 mile race!! Talk about an accomplishment. And not only did I finish, but I beat my goal time. I finished the race in 1:44:49, which is 11 seconds ahead of my goal to finish in under 1:45. 11 seconds is 11 seconds. That's 11 seconds that I could have walked but ran instead.

And I got a foil blanket wrapped around me! I felt like the coolest runner ever when I got it. Other than finishing, I'm pretty sure it's the highlight of the race. To me the foil blanket meant that I was finally a "real" runner.

I'm so happy that I completed the race. I remember a year and a half ago when Tracy suggested that we should run a 10k. That's 6.2 miles and at the time I thought that was going to be a feat to accomplish. And it was. And I was so proud of myself after I finished my first "Get in Gear" 10k race. We both ran the "Get in Gear" 10k this year and about a month or two after the race, it was Tracy who suggested that we run the TC 10 mile race. She had found out about a running clinic that the Running Room offered in preparation of the race. So we both entered the lottery, managed to get in via the lottery, and went about training for the race. In the middle of July when we started training, October 4th seemed so far off. I thought that I would never be able to run 10 miles! And now it's come and gone. The race has been run and finished!

Out on the course (and at the starting and finishing lines), we were definitely the "woot woot" girls. Anytime we saw someone we knew from running clinic we called their name and followed it up with a "woot woot". I mean, really, how can you not be excited as you're heading to the starting line?! And when we saw our cheerleaders along the course, we yelled the obligatory "woot woot" to thank them for standing in the chilly morning air just for us. Then at the finish line when we saw our fellow runners and finishers, we had to cheer out yet some more "woot woots" for them.

Tracy and I both had lots of cheerleaders out on the course cheering us on. So THANKS to all of you - Mom, Alicia, Bridget, Justin, Dee, Donna, Jean, and Aaron. Without you, I wouldn't have been near as motivated and inspired to keep on trekking. And also THANKS to Krista for the glittery signs you made. Without those, we never would have been able to spot our cheering section. THANKS to Lena, Amy, Dennis, Josh and Ellie for showing up early to the finish line. Finding you guys at the end made it all worthwhile.

I guess that's it... I FINISHED!! We'll have to wait and see what my next race is. Sara has suggested running a half marathon. We'll see. Right now, my legs and feet are asking for a bit of a break and I think I just might give it to them.

Time to Shine!

Note the picture at left. These are my pre-race "rewards" from the race expo. I like to think of it as my reward for all of the hard work I did training and getting my body into race day shape. Besides, who doesn't love baked chips? Who doesn't want some granola bars and granola cereal? Who doesn't need some soft baked cookies and raisins? And, who doesn't want some free juice, a water bottle, and a stress ball? I paid my race fee to have the opportunity to run 10 miles, I earned these goodies. And I definitely maximized my time while perusing the various race sponsors. I made a haul!

On a more serious note, tomorrow is the big day. The TC 10-mile course is calling my name (well, my name and 10,499 others' names). I've prepped and planned. I attended every race clinic session - woot woot for perfect attendance. I've run all of the long runs in preparation, including two 10-mile runs. I took my legs out for one last pre-race jog this morning. There's not much more else I can do other than show up tomorrow morning and give it my all. (I even have my race day outfit all laid out on my bed right now. It's like picking out your outfit for the first day of school!)

So, TC 10-mile, it's been fun preparing myself to conquer your course. I know that Tracy and I are going to give our all and show you that we're bigger than your hills. That your twists and turns won't get us down. Our friends and family are going to cheer loud and proud, holding up glittery signs and biking along beside the route, to show you that you are no match for our guts. We'll show you race course.

TC 10-mile race course... you're going down!! Finish line, here we come!!

Tapering

I love tapering! I wish every workout week was all about cutting back. I thought about going to the gym this morning but decided not to. I'm tapering, I shouldn't be adding extra workouts this week as I prepare for the big race on Sunday. Oh tapering. But I guess if I was constantly cutting back my workouts, then I would eventually stop working out. And not working out is not an option, so it's good that I don't "taper" all the time.

It was so nice running only 5 miles on Sunday. The weather was finally cool (although a bit windy). I had forgotten what it felt like to run in 55 degree weather. Every other run so far during running clinic has been done when it's been 75+ degrees, making running rather unenjoyable. Who wants to run 10 miles when it's hot and humid outside? Not me.

Let's all just keep our fingers crossed that at 7:15am on Sunday it is 50 degrees outside with no rain or wind. The current forecast is looking a little iffy. Granted, it's Tuesday and Sunday is still 5 days away so the weather forecast is bound to change at least once. But I don't like where it is headed. Rain would probably be better to run in than wind. But I don't want it to rain since my sisters are making signs to hold along the race course. How crappy for them to be standing out in the rain, cheering me on, holding up signs that are being ruined in the rain. I don't want my sparkly signs to be ruined! I'm planning on keeping them forever after the race.

I never thought that I would be the person who said, "Yeah, I only ran 5 miles on Sunday. It was a shorter run." When I started running, on my first ever treadmill run, I managed more than a mile without stopping. That was a workout! But I was so proud of myself. Then I did my first 5k (who remembers the Turkey Trot... Bridget, Sara, Leah???) and thought that was an accomplishment never to be duplicated. And now here I am, having completed numerous 5k races, two 10k races, and ready to conquer a 10 mile race. I never thought that I would be a "runner". Never!

TC 10 mile... here I come!!

College Football

Let me just say this... I love college football! There is just something about it that is so much more inspiring than watching the NFL. I'm not going to lie, I'm not a huge Vikings fan. I don't cheer against them, I don't hope that they lose, but I definitely don't purposefully sit down on a Sunday (or Monday) to watch them. But college football on the other hand, I will make sure that I am home to watch select games.

I know it's going to sound random, but I love the Florida Gators. I think it started when I was young girl (approx. 13 years old) watching football with my Dad. For whatever reason, he was cheering on Florida State - we were watching the big FSU/UF game. Being 13, I wanted to cheer against him, so I picked the Gators. And what do you know, the Gators won. My love for them was cemented after that victory. I'm telling you, this love goes way back to the days of Danny Wuerffel - I didn't just jump on the bandwagon when Tim Tebow arrived.

So today, I had to make time for the Florida / Tennessee game. I could have wasted way more minutes at my beloved Roseville library (I'm very good at wasting time at the library), but I didn't because the game was starting at 2:30 and I needed to be home to cheer on the Gators. All of that trash talking that Lane Kiffin did before the season began just made me even more fired up. I mean, please... did he really think that his team was going to march into "The Swamp" and beat the Gators? Yeah right! [Side note: Thank goodness they were on channel 4 because now that I don't get "deluxe" cable I would have been very, very disappointed to have missed the game due to it being a "sports" channel. Thank you CBS!]

And along with loving Florida, I also love Tim Tebow. How can a person not love #15?! He plays with grit. He plays with passion. He's fired up and he makes a statement on the field. He doesn't let Eric Berry - SEC Defensive Player of the Year - scare him. No, no. Tim meets Berry literally head on and shows Berry whose field it is - it's Tim's. [Side note: Tebow is the returning SEC Offensive Player of the Year. So he's got himself some skills as well.] And, Tim was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. Really, how can you not love him?

There's just something about the atmosphere of a college football game. The students. The band. The passion. The grit. There is so much festivity that it's hard not to fall in love with the game. Now that the MN Gophers finally have an on-campus stadium, they will rekindle that spirit. Not that people didn't cheer for them when they played in the Metrodome, it's just better now that they're in their own stadium. (Not that I would know since I haven't been to "The Bank" yet, but I can only imagine how fantastic it is there.)

I just love college football and I'm so happy it's September!!

Public Libraries

Can I just say, I love my public library. Even though my beloved Roseville library is currently under construction and I have to go to its temporary location, I still love it. Actually, the temporary location is closer to me than the permanent location, so it's kind of a plus that they had to move over here for a year. There's nothing like free internet and free books.

Did you know that the Roseville branch of the Ramsey County Library system is the busiest public library in the state? It is. So not only do I love it, but apparently everyone else loves it too. And really, what's not to love? There's free internet. Thousands of books at my disposal to check out. A dvd rental selection that's rather large. A coffee shop. Too many perks to even list.

So I guess this is a big giant "Thank you" to my public library. If I wasn't unemployed, I probably wouldn't have fallen so in love with my library. So "THANKS" for all of the free services!

Running Clinic

Who knew Running Clinic was going to be so much fun?! Not me! The meeting tonight is our sixth meeting, meaning I'm half way done with the class and half way to my goal of running 10 miles. These first six weeks have gone by so fast that I know October 4th will be here in no time.

Last weekend we ran 6.2 miles (accomplished in 64 minutes in dreadfully humid weather). This weekend... 7 miles! This will be the first time I've ever ran past the 6.5 mile mark, so hopefully it all goes well. I wish I was going to be in town so that I could run with all of my new running friends, but I'll be home Blue Earth running on my own.

Last night we ran 8 hills. Not only am able to run more hills each week, but the time it takes me to tackle hill is getting faster. The first time I ran hills - 91 seconds to tackle the hill. Last night - 85 seconds. That's almost 10 seconds faster. And I was able to run up the hill 8 times, 85 seconds each time. Consistency is key!!!

The best part about running clinic... all of the new friends (Giselle, Celeste, AJ, Anmol, Julia). [Side note: Tracy, you're the best and I would really struggle without you.] I really thought that I was going to be the slowest person there and the most inexperienced. As it turns out, I'm one of the faster runners and have a decent amount of "running" knowledge already. I can't wait to learn more and make more friends.

And really, I can't wait for all of us to cross the finish line on October 4th!!!

Yellow Buttermilk Cupcakes

This recipe makes a lot of cupcakes! I made almost 4 dozen cupcakes from this recipe. My bowl of batter was so very close to overflowing. It was quite interesting mixing the final few ingredients into the batter. I was very close to making a huge mess in my kitchen.

Martha suggests making your own vanilla frosting. Instead, I purchased fluffy white frosting and also used some chocolate fudge frosting. I think I liked the fluffy white frosting more, but who can turn down chocolate frosted buttermilk cupcakes? No one that I know of.

Since I got so many cupcakes from this recipe, I decided to freeze some of them. We'll see how well they thaw when I decide to remove them from the freezer. For whatever reason, these cupcakes seemed a bit on the dry side. So I really hope they aren't even more dry tasting when I thaw the frozen ones. I don't know if I mis-measured some of the dry ingredients but they just didn't seem as moist as I was hoping they would be. They were still good, just a little dry.

They were a huge hit with some of my former co-workers. I baked the batch the day before we met up for a happy hour. So not only do they miss me and my excellent "work" skills, but now they really miss me because they got a taste of the yummy cupcakes they don't get to eat. :)

Other than the chocolate chip cupcakes, these have been my favorite. Very classic recipe.

Dreaded Hills

Hills. To run them, can't really be described. I thought that I knew what it would be like to run up and down hills as a workout but they were so different than what I was expecting. I thought that I would hate them more than I actually do. Believe me, I don't love them by a long shot but they aren't as killer as I thought they would be.

Hills are very deceiving. You see it in front of you as you stand at the bottom and look up. Then you pump yourself up and tell yourself that you can tackle it. Then you're actually running up the hill and you get about half way up and want to stop. Once you're at the top, you're just huffing and puffing. The last thing you want to do is run back down and do it all over again. But as you're slowly running down to the bottom, you almost forget how painful it was running to the top. Then you do it all over again.

Today, Tracy and I ran up the horrible hill near my apartment. We decided to run hills in the morning since it's going to be 90 degrees today. So rather than run hills with our running clinic friends at 6pm when it's super hot outside, we decided to get them out of the way this morning while it was "cool". It felt like it was 100+ degrees outside while we were running. I checked the weather when we got back to my apartment, it was only 77 degrees.

So we get to the bottom of the hill (we did a 12 minute warm up run prior to arriving at the bottom of the hill). It didn't look that bad. It looked better than the Randolph hill we run with the running clinic group. Our goal, 2 sets of 4 hills (total of 8 hills). We'd previously ran 6 hills and 7 hills, so we figured why not just add one more. Big mistake! We ran the first hill and thought that we were going to die. We slowly jogged back down and got pumped to run up again. By the time we made it to the top the second time, we really thought we were going to die.

After finally catching our breath and we're back at the bottom, we're deciding how many hills we're actually going to run given that 2 hills have totally wiped us out, this girl comes up and completely charges the hill. I mean, she's sprinting. Obviously we couldn't let her just show us how it's done. So we buck up and start the insanity again.

Needless to say, we only managed 4 hills before jogging home. (And the last hill wasn't even the complete hill, we didn't go all the way down to the bottom before turning around to come back up.)

Raspberry Marble Cheesecakes

Creamy. Smooth. Delicious. These are some yummy cupcakes. These are also some pain-in-the-ass cupcakes to make. Although super good to eat, I probably won't make them again unless I really like the person who requests them.

I had way more cream cheese batter than I had crumbly graham cracker crust (you bake the graham cracker crust first, let cool, then fill with the cream cheese batter). There would have been an easy way to remedy this situation, just make some more graham cracker crust. But by the time I realized how short I was on crust, I just couldn't be bothered to make more. I was already 34 cupcakes in and the water bath was driving me crazy, so I just threw out the rest of the batter and called it good.

One problem, I don't think the water bath went far enough up the cupcake tin (3/4 of the way up the cupcake tin, as recommended by Martha) because the cupcakes didn't quite set-up as well as I would have liked. After they were cooled and refrigerated, they definitely needed to be eaten with a spoon instead of just by peeling away the paper liner. They were baked, just a little on the creamy side.

In regards to the water bath issue... you try and find a pan that is big enough to fit a cupcake tin in it plus water. I had to purchase a turkey roasting pan (thankfully it was on clearance at Target), which still wasn't quite the right size but I didn't know what else I was going to use. Once the first pan was baked, I had to figure out a way to un-wedge the cupcake tin from the water bath so that I could cool the cupcakes and get my next batch baking. I ran out of patience by the time the third batch was baking - hence me throwing away the extra batter instead of making more crust.

Next up: Yellow Buttermilk. I think these are going to be dangerously good.

Job Descriptions. Ugh.

Why can't I find a job? It's not because I don't look. Believe me, I do. It's not because I don't send out my resume and cover letters. Believe me, I do. It's not because I haven't read three different books on how to create the perfect resume and cover letter. Because I have. And I've even met with a career counselor and completely reconfigured my resume. Seriously... I just want a job!

I'm so sick of reading job descriptions. They're all basically the same. Everyone wants someone with a bachelor's degree. Got it. If you've got the degree, they'd also like you to be proficient in Microsoft Office Suite. Still got it. And if you're proficient in that, please also have great communication skills. Done. On top of that, please also be able to work independently but not so independently that you can't work well in groups. Still good. So why can't I find employment? Based on the job descriptions, I should be hired by now.

But I'm still unemployed. Non-profit organizations have passed on hiring me, major corporations haven't taken a second look, companies that have 100+ apparent open positions aren't interested either. What is so wrong with hiring a 27-year-old, educated, personable, organized, female? Seriously. Just give me a chance.

New Addition

On Thursday, July 23rd, precious little Ellen Grace joined the family! She is quite possibly the cutest newborn I have ever seen (she's pretty much tied with her big brother, Josh, in the cute category). Right now she really just eats, sleeps, pees, and poops... nothing over the top exciting. One thing she has going for her is that she doesn't cry that much (knock on wood for her parents that she keeps this up). And she is such a little peanut! Just tiny.

Oh, she is going to be one gorgeous girl when she grows up. So there's your warning Dad and Josh, you'll have to keep your eye on her. ;)

Welcome to the family Ellie!!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

The chocolate chip cupcakes are good! (So far no one else has tried them, but I've had two, so they can't be all that bad.) They are super rich, even with all of the chocolate chips at the bottom. I skipped the homemade chocolate frosting and just used purchased chocolate frosting. I didn't notice a difference and I'm pretty sure no one else will. The cupcakes are just so good!

After this recipe, I've officially decided it really would be nice if I had a Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Before I only thought that it would nice to indulge myself with purchasing one. Now I'm realizing it might be becoming a necessity. Apparently Martha doesn't realize that not everyone has one. It's really hard to add the sugar in a steady stream when you are trying to keep the mixer that's in your right hand from throwing butter everywhere while the bowl in your left hand with the sugar in it keeps bumping into the mixer. Tricky business.

And beating the egg whites into stiff peaks didn't go so well. I didn't beat them too much, stiff peaks were formed. But as I was pouring them into the bowl with the batter, I noticed that there were still some egg whites that hadn't been sufficiently whipped up in the bottom of the egg bowl. I'm not sure what happened there. I figured that since a majority of the egg whites were in the form of stiff peaks, the still runny egg whites at the bottom should be fine. The cupcakes were going to be baked, so it's not like anyone would notice.

Here is my one complaint so far... three recipes in. In the first recipe (Cornmeal & Blackberry) I made, Martha commented that you should bake the cupcakes at 375 so that the berries don't sink to the bottom. Of which, the berries didn't sink to the bottom. Then I made two more recipes (Blueberry & Cream, followed by Chocolate Chip) of which the cupcakes are baked at 350. In both of those recipes, the blueberries and chocolate chips sank to the bottom. Why aren't they baked at 375? Why Martha? And... coating the chocolate chips in cake flour did not prevent them from sinking to the bottom.

I just love cupcakes!!

Running Clinic

So last night was the first night of my TC 10 mile running clinic. I was a bit nervous about the whole idea of a running clinic and a running group. I'm not a fast runner, I'm the first to admit that. I lace up my shoes, hit the pavement, and just go at my own pace. So I was hesitant to sign up for the clinic because I figured that everyone else would already be a running guru and would be fast... then there would be me bringing up the rear of the pack.

Tracy found the running clinic at the Running Room and said she thought it would good for us. We would be "guaranteed" entry into the TC 10 mile race (in case we didn't get in via the lottery). That way we wouldn't have to risk running the race by ourselves should one of us not win the lottery. Side note... we both won the lottery!! Plus it would be helpful to learn more about running and training. And if we were both the slow people there, at least we could be slow together.

As it turns out, we're the fast people! There were 3 or 4 guys who were faster than us, then there was us. We couldn't even believe it... we were the leaders of the pack! What were the odds? First, we both got in the race via the lottery. Second, we were the fast kids in the running clinic. This race just might not be as bad as we thought. And, we're ahead of the "curve" because we can already run 6+ miles.

When we first got to the clinic, I sat next to one lady who has never run before. Literally, she has never laced up her shoes and gone running before the group run last night. That's impressive that she decided to tackle a 10 mile race as her first race. I told my mom last night that it would be like her deciding to run the race with me and my mom just started laughing because has zero intentions of ever running a race.

So... all in all, the running clinic has promise. I can't wait for next week!

Blueberry Cream Cupcakes

I tried out my second recipe the other night, this time it was Blueberry Cream Cupcakes. It's kind of a stretch to call these "cupcakes". They're more like muffins but I guess once you put the cream topping on top, they're more cupcake-esque. Two issues that came up: no sifter and no stand mixer. The recipe called for "sifted" cake flour. Sorry Martha, but no sifter for me so I tried to put as much air in the cake flour as possible without having a sifter. Even though I've only made two of the recipes, I'm already realizing that having a stand mixer would make the process so much easier. As of now, I guess the old hand held mixer will have to get the job done.

The cake batter pre-baking tasted super good, so I was hoping that meant good things for the finished product and it definitely did. My finished product final grade... YUM! (And that was even before I topped them with homemade whipped cream.) I do believe Tracy's husband, Aaron, also will agree with the final grade. He seemed to quite enjoy them when I brought them over to her place the other day. Once they were topped off with the homemade whipped cream, you could just tell that there was nothing low-fat about this creation. They were so rich and delicious. Martha sure knows how to make a mean blueberry cream muffin.

Hello!

Cupcakes. Running. Weight loss. Unemployment. What do all four of those things have in common? ME! I love cupcakes, I mean, I love cupcakes. And in order to eat those cupcakes, I need to do something to keep them off my hips, so I run. The running helps me keep the weight off (most of the time). I worked really hard to lose 30+ pounds and cupcakes are not going to be my demise. And I currently have lots of time to run because I'm unemployed. This is how all four fit into my life.

Oh Wow! A blog. I originally was going to start this to be like "Julie & Julia". I know, that's very copy cat of me. My friend Tracy recently gave me Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook for my birthday. So I thought, I should make a recipe a day and blog about it. Then I realized that that would be a lot of cupcakes and I clearly can't eat them all myself. No amount of running would help me if I ate that many cupcakes. So then it turned into a blog about cupcakes and running. By that point, I figured I might as well blog about two other topics that I know enough about - weight loss and unemployment. But really, why not create a blog?

As for cupcakes, I made my first recipe from the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook. My first try was "Blackberry-Cornmeal Cupcakes". They were a hit! They were super easy to make. Martha said that I would get 16 out of the recipe, but I only got 15. She also said that they would taste best the day they were baked and I have to disagree with her. I think they tasted better the next day. In general, the first try was a success!

Thursday is the first day of my first running clinic. Oh boy! This is going to be interesting. Tracy (the above mentioned friend) and I are running the Twin Cities 10 mile race this year. 10 miles... that's far. So to keep us motivated, we signed up for a running clinic. The first meeting is this week, so we'll see what I've signed myself up for. Stay tuned!

That's all for now. I can't promise that I'll post something everyday. But I'll definitely try. Later!