Oh. My. Goodness.

I’m a bad blogger.

I’m so sorry for the insane leave of absence! The past few weeks have been absolutely crazy. Between spending time with Ryan, working, and taking an online calculus class, I have had very little time or energy to blog.

But we have a LOT to catch up on!!

For starters, some pretty awesome people arrived in Colorado last week…

My sister and her hubby, whose name is also Ryan, flew in from Florida! (Yes…both of our significant others are named Ryan. It makes for lots of confusing situations.)

You know that feeling when all is right in the world?

me, dad, Bailey, and mom

When all four members of my family are back in the same state, all is right in my world again. We have had SO much fun for the past few days! The pictures above are from Bailey’s husband’s sister’s wedding. It was a blast and she looked beautiful.

And I ate 2 pieces of lemon poppyseed wedding cake. Win.

Other fun activities (which of course involve food) have included a night of homemade pizzas…

"white" pizza accompanied by my dad's wine

BBQ chicken w/ jalapenos and red onions

pesto + chicken sausage

favorite of the night

We actually got my sister’s husband (aka the pickiest eater known to mankind) to try this pesto pizza…

AND HE LIKED IT!!!

We were all shocked.

Dessert has followed after every meal, obviously. Bailey and Ryan are on vacation, which means this is my vacation too. Dessert is mandatory.

strawbs + angel food cake + whipped cream

I ate about four of these. And may have broken out the chocolate syrup at one point as well…

My Ryan has had a few days off and has joined in for some special events as well!

I love having all of my favorite people in my favorite state

Other than spending tons of time with family and eating ridiculously good foods, guess what else I’ve been doing a little bit of?

RUNNING!!!

After a couple of weeks of seeing a physical therapist, my leg seems to be doing really well! I started out with a couple of three mile runs, which built to four, and this morning I successfully completed 5 miles! My lower leg feels great. My knee has been a little bothersome lately, though, which I think may be from banging it on a spin bike last week. Ha, ha. Oops! Hopefully it goes back to normal soon.

So enough about me…tell me what YOU’VE been up to!! I can’t wait to catch up on some of your guys’ blogs!

What makes you feel like all is right in the world?

Anyone else battling a bit of an injury right now?

You guys are freaking awesome.

Seriously!!!

Thank you SO much for all of your sweet comments about my injury and getting a better perspective!! It’s awesome to know that I’m not the only one who struggles with this from time to time.

How is your week going?? Mine’s been busy! Ryan finally had a couple days off from baseball so we enjoyed two days full of lots of laying by the pool, eating good food, and LOTS of froyo. Ahhhh, it feels like summer!

Excluding the last two days of chilling by the pool with my man, I have been surprisingly productive lately. For example, on Sunday, I spent about 5 hours working on my online calculus class. It sucked, but I got a 96% on my first exam…so I guess the hard work paid off!

Other big kid activities lately have included…

1. Entering invoices for my dad’s wine businesses.

The website is finally up and running! If you’re interested, check it out at www.sweetheartcitywines.com.

2. Grocery shopping

My mom had to work quite a bit last week, so she left me a grocery list and her credit card. Obviously I added LOTS of things into the cart that were not on the list.

Our fridge is now happy. And so is my stomach.

3. Making dinner.

Sorry for the awful picture quality, but this recipe is so good I can’t not post about it. Ever since seeing Jessica’s recipe for Grilled Blueberry BBQ Salmon a few weeks ago, I have been quite intrigued. I HAD to try it.

I make messes

This sauce turned out AMAZING. Seriously. I wanted to eat it with a spoon.

Instead, I brushed it on the grilled salmon as per Jessica’s instructions.

Served alongside some roasted broccoli, this dinner was absolutely delicious! Of all fish, salmon is usually my least favorite. But I’ll tell ya what. Anything drenched in this blueberry BBQ sauce is guaranteed to be amazing.

I’ve been making lots of other new recipes so I’ll be sure to share more soon!

In other news, I went to the doctor yesterday about my recurring leg pain and he confirmed that it is in fact a muscle tear. And the only real cure is, of course, rest. No running for me for at least a few weeks. He referred me to a physical therapy, so I have my first appointment tomorrow morning. I’ll keep ya posted on how it goes!

Tell me about your week! Any fun, new recipes that you’ve tried lately? Please share!!

Have you ever had to go through PT for an injury?

Hi my friends! I hope you’re having a great week. Mine has been good…fairly relaxed and mostly sunny. Today is gloomy and rainy…but I believe the sun is supposed to return for the weekend. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

I’m sorry that I haven’t been posting as frequently as I had hoped…honestly, I just feel like I haven’t had much to post about! Ever since I got home, I have been much less busy than I am when I’m in school. I am working part time for my parents’ businesses as well as taking an online class, but other than that, my schedule is really free! I’ve had a hard time finding inspiration for posts.

Today, however, I do have something particular on my mind. Perspective. As most of you know, while training for my half marathon in March, I injured my leg and had to take a couple of months off after the race. My doctor in Chicago said that he believed it to be a torn muscle in my lower leg, so I didn’t run for almost 3 months.

Running makes me feel strong, happy, and alive. Being forced to take a break from it killed me. Around the start of the summer, my leg appeared to be healing really well and I started running again.

Well…bad news. I think I might have overdone it. Last week, I did two long runs (one 8 miler and one 6 miler) and when I tried to go on a short run yesterday, I got about half way down my street and turned around. My leg hurt. Pretty badly. It was the same sharp ache that I felt when I learned that I had a torn muscle.

I was sooo disappointed. The weather is finally nice and all I want is to be outside running! I limped back to my house, burst into tears, and called my mom.

Yes, I am 20 years old

Anyways, while I was moping around the house yesterday feeling sorry for myself, I realized how silly I was being.

I am so blessed in so many ways. I should be thankful that I have working legs, healthy lungs, a beating heart, and a full life.

Why is it that the bad stuff is always so much easier to focus on??

Last night, my mom’s friend told us that her niece, who is a marathon runner, recently discovered melanoma on the top of her head. They removed the spot from her head, but it has spread to her lungs. She’s getting married this week.

Wow. Here I am crying over a muscle tear in my leg that will keep me from running for a short period of time, and there are people around the world like this girl suffering from fatal illnesses like cancer.

Thinking about this stuff really puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

Another thing that helps put my injury in perspective is focusing on the fact that running does not define me. That’s something that I’ve really had to recite to myself. The fact that I can’t go out and run doesn’t mean that I am any less strong or any less me!

I am much more than a runner.

I am a daughter.

My beautiful mother

me and my silly dad

I am a sister.

Bailey and I

I am a friend.

my beautiful high school girlfriends

Kasi and I

Annie and I

Paige and I

I am a girlfriend

<3

And most importantly, I am a child of God.

John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

It’s all about perspective.

What helps you put things in perspective when you’re having a bad day?

1. Vanilla Chai Protein Shakes

Yesterday, after a sweaty 5 mile run, I rushed home to get ready for church. Don’t you hate it when you have to get ready immediately after a work out? I was still sweating the entire time I got dressed and did my hair. So cute. The warm weather inspired me to make a cool and refreshing protein shake. After staring into my parent’s pantry for about five minutes, I was struck with a brilliant idea.

My parents got this sugar free Chai tea powder from our neighbors last Christmas and never drink it. (Which I totally don’t get, because it’s delicious.) I pulled out my parents VitaMix and got to work!

...while drinking coffee, of course!

In the mix:

• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 frozen banana
• ~1 cup water and 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tbs Chai

Success! This powdered Chai is almost gone…and I am on a mission to track more of it down. I need this protein shake several more times this summer!

My phone was FINALLY due for an upgrade, so I got this baby mid-last week. OMG what have I done without the internet on my phone for all these years?!

I’ve been wanting a Garmin for FOREVER, but after getting this app on my phone…I honestly don’t think I need one anymore! This baby tracks my time, distance, pace…everything! It uses GPS so it’s very accurate and I can listen to Pandora while I use it as well. Score.

 Please tell me I’m not the only one here who loves word games. Feel free to call me a nerd, but I was up until like 1:30 in the morning playing this game in bed. And, no big deal, but I am currently beating my opponent 168 to 100. Yesssss.

One of my roommates in Chicago was from California and her mom frequently mailed her care packages including many comforts of home; one of which being dried mango. I tried it many times and fell in love. Last week, my parents went on a trip to Napa Valley for business (did I tell you my parents own a winery?) and my mom returned yesterday with this box of dried mango that they found at a local grocer. She said she wanted to bring me home a souvenir…so she brought me food. She knows me too well.

My mom and I first tried these on our road trip home from Chicago and we absolutely ADORED them. Remember how much I said I was going to miss TJ’s since we don’t have them in Colorado? Well, while they were in California, my parents made sure to stop by my beloved Trader Joe’s to pick me up some Ginger Cat Cookies. My mom also got me a cute red TJ’s tote. She’s the best.

Ginger Cat Cookie Peanut Butter Sandwiches.

Reading it and loving it. Did you know the movie is coming out in August?!

Hi guys!!!

Well so much for blogging much more consistently this summer, huh? I can’t believe how MIA I’ve been! Ever since Ryan got here I have been a total slacker when it comes to blogging or blog reading.

Having him out come out here ended up being a total surprise. He had planned on playing baseball on a league in Colorado this summer, but was injured a few months back and didn’t think he’d be able to play here after all. Surprisingly, he received really good news from his doctor last week and two days later…he was here!!! It’s been so great to start the summer with him and know that we have two months together before we begin our long distance adventure. 

I figured that the best way to get back into blogging after a little break is by doing my very first WIAW. I have been really bad about photographing food lately, and most of the following pictures were taken on my phone…so sorry that they’re not great quality

Breakfast:

Vanilla Chai Carbmaster yogurt, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Kashi Go Lean, strawberries and raspberries. I devoured this while mapping out a running course on my dad’s iPad. Did you know that yesterday was National Running Day? I had plans to meet my friend Kristen at a local coffee shop, so I decided to just run there!

It was about 6 miles and it felt great. Once I got there, I ordered an iced skim latte and sipped it outside while I waited for Kristen to arrive.

I had my mom pick me up on her way home…I wasn’t quite feeling another 6 miles. I was super hungry and got right to work on lunch.

Simple turkey sandwich (obviously I was too hungry to wait to eat it) with peppers and hummus and more fruit.

I did lots of chilling yesterday afternoon and caught up on the newest episode of The Bachelorette while munching on a unpictured apple and lots of PB. I can’t believe that I’m gonna say this…but I’m hooked to that show. Super lame and cheesy…but I really like it.

Ryan came over and we made a big salad for dinner. He also had a turkey sandwich with his.

Later, we enjoyed lattes and one of these babies…

Lemon cupcakes!

A few days ago, my mom and I had a cupcake baking day We used Courtney’s recipe for Strawberry-filled Lemon Cupcakes. We made a few modifications and ended up making lemon curd to fill half of the cupcakes. The strawberry filled ones were really delicious, but the lemon filled ones were everyone’s favorite. They were sooo moist and yummy. Very summery tasting.

What have you been up to?? I’m dying to catch up on blog reading, and am planning to do so today! Have a great Thursday, Friends!