Thank you

As I was running the Seattle half marathon this morning, I was thinking of writing this blog post! It was an amazing run and I want to thank all the people and things that made my run so wonderful.

First I want to thank these awesome people that I spent last evening with:



We had a great time at the game! These people are like family to me.

And I want to thank this amazing ice cream cupcake for providing me some fuel! (I love carbs!!!)



I also want to thank my FANS! These people have been at all my Seattle marathons (even though watching me finish has been a little lacking!!!) They wake up before dawn and drive me downtown through crazy traffic.





Most importantly, I'd like to thank God for getting me through this race. I prayed that He would keep me injury free, and He did! He always follows through. :)

And thank you Matty for filling me an epsom salt bath and stretching me out and putting bright pink kinesio tape on my leg.

Before I sign off, I can't help but thank the CARBS! I have been on the Paleo diet for 40 days and then 3 days NOT on the diet. Carbs really do make a difference when it comes to running.

I ran Seattle half marathon in 1:51:32, which was a Seattle PR by about 10 minutes. I'm pretty happy with my race. :)

Another Amazing Holiday

My favorite holiday came and went to quickly this year! It may have had something to do with all the food I prepared and the many, many dishes that I washed. Those things made the day just fly by!

My husband Matty helped me with the turkey because all the giblets really gross me out. Flash and Leo got to meet the turkey (but no touching of course!!!)



I like things to look pretty on Thanksgiving! I made some fancy napkin holders and everyone got to use a unique glass. (Perfect since I don't have ACTUAL fancy glasses.)





I didn't get very many photos of my guests this year, nor any epic photos of the turkey or the spread of food. Still, I think its more important to enjoy the day than to obsess about photography!

We went to Josh & Ellen's for dessert.



The boys had a little ugly sweater contest, complete with a mustache from Josh! We may have a clear winner here!



I wore my turkey earrings:



A really fun time was had by all! Here we are all playing mafia!



And it would not be Thanksgiving without a few leftovers...



It was a wonderful holiday! I am so glad I got to spend so much time eating delicious food with some of my favorite people in the world.

Now less than 24 hours before I kill myself in a half marathon! Update coming soon...

Thankgiving!

My favorite holiday is almost upon us! I am up a little too late because I have to get up bright and early to start COOKING! I tried to cook a bunch today, but really everything is pretty much last minute. Never-the-less, I made a big mess in the kitchen!



Today I made a paleo pumpkin pie!

I made some cranberry sauce (also Paleo.)

I made blueberry salad, which was Matt's request. We learned about it last year from Josie. Its NOT Paleo, but is delicious!

I made some pumpkin pie cups to bring to Matt's work today!



I also reorganized the living room to make room for everyone. This photo explains why I will not be washing or setting the table until tomorrow!



Tomorrow will be so much fun...I can't wait! I am trying to take photos of course, but also incorporate a little video this year which is something new.

More photos to come!

An Adventurous Weekend!

I was so glad to have a really fun weekend! Lately we have been staying home a lot on the weekends, partly due to my strict diet, and partly due to budget constraints. It was worth spending a little money because we had so much fun!

Friday night we went to the new Twilight movie with Josh & Ellen. We really liked the show, and its always a fun adventure to see a movie on opening night.

Saturday started out with some productivity. We hung pictures, did laundry and took a load to good will. Flash had fun while we worked:



We went over to Bob and Annie's to help Bob finish the Kitchen floor. When I arrived I found a package from UPS! I received the winnings from my very first blog give-away! So I took a picture of course:



We went shopping at Central Market and I bought a coconut! It was quite the adventure trying to crack it open!



Later I made dinner for Matt and I. We were so bored being at home, so we decided to meet Peter at Joey for appetizers (since we had already eaten!) It was so nice to get out! I photographed my food of course. I got the wedge salad and left off the dressing:



On Sunday Matty had a great idea to go on drive up in Bellingham. There is a really beautiful road called Chuckanut Drive. We stopped in Lynnwood at Goodwill and bought an ugly sweater for Matt for Thanksgiving Day! I have a picture, but I will show it later!

Josh and Ellen came with us on our little adventure. We got to stop at a scenic viewpoint and take pictures:



We finally arrived at the cute little town of Fairhaven and got a bite to eat. We found a cute little restaurant! Here we are waiting for our table...



And of course another food photo...my bun-less sauce-less burger! It was yummy but the coleslaw made me feel a little sick.



The weekend would not have been complete without a few cupcakes! I enjoyed the cupcake photography and everyone else enjoyed eating the cupcakes. They were SO cute and I am sure completely delicious!





Well that's all for now! I will have some more Paleo food photos coming soon!

Thanksgiving scrapbook pages

Here are a few scrapbook pages from previous years of Thanksgiving. I love this holiday and I'm so glad I've documented the past several years in my scrapbooks!

In 2008, we were in Chicago for Thanksgiving! (I was TERRIBLE at photographing my layouts back then! I made a couple other pages this year, but the photographs of pages are completely unusable!)



In 2009, we had two Thanksgivings! Mom made a special dinner in October before Joy moved to Europe:



Here is the actual Thanksgiving that we had at Annie's house:



2009 was also the year of the Great Thanksgiving Blend hunt! We went to many, many Starbucks to stock up on our favorite Blend!



And one more 2009 page...I'd like to make a page this year like this, documenting what I'm thankful for.



In 2010, for the first time we did the cooking! James, Josie, Matt and I all pitched in!







How is that for a super long post with tons of scrapbook pages? :)

My main concern is that looking back, I have NO IDEA what we did for Thanksgiving in 2007 (our first year in Seattle.) I remember 2005 and 2006 and I don't have pictures for either year. I sure wish I were a crazy picture taker back then so I could remember every year!

Paleo Update

I think its high time for a Paleo Diet update! Its actually Day 32 over here, and I have some good and bad news! I guess we will do the bad news first.

I went to see my trainer at the gym today and she weighed me...I have gained SIX POUNDS in the last two weeks! Of course I had a mental break down and almost left the gym immediately! I mean, come on? Six pounds? I am not that big, so six pounds is A LOT to gain and call it a "fluctuation." At this point, for my sanity sake, I am blaming it on the scale. I have only weighed myself once on that scale back in January and I had gained 5 pounds in a week. Then Christina weighed me two weeks ago, and again today. SIX POUNDS IN TWO WEEKS!!!

It may have had something to do with day 28 when I was tempted and succumbed to one of these....



And then on Day 29 Matty and I did some "Primal" indulging...



Well, I guess its high time for a little good news! This could be bad news too, not sure! The good news is, I LOVE THIS DIET! I love the way I feel (not hungry) and the food is delicious! (This is only bad news if it makes me gain another six pounds...that would be BAD!!!)

I bought a cook book yesterday! Love this book!



I am planning my Paleo Thanksgiving! (Using a lot of those recipes!)

I found an awesome Paleo food blog! NomNomPaleo

These are all good things. Hopefully Day 32 and beyond will improve this sad six pound situation. If not, I may become super-size Jenn.

What were you doing at 11:11:11?

I was doing this:
And then taking a photo of my watch (which is 2 minutes slow and so I got two photo opportunities!)
My patient was so glad I reminded him of 11/11/2011 and 11:11:11. He took a photo of himself getting his teeth worked on. Awesome!!!

Paleo Pancakes!

For the first time I did a little Paleo baking with my coconut flour. I made Paleo pancakes this morning after being awakened at 4:30 am with a nightmare. (I did not get out of bed until Matt left for Cross fit at 5:50) The pancakes were a fun experiment. I think they did turn out a little dry but I am sure they would be delicious doused in butter and maple syrup. As for me, I enjoyed them with an egg. :)

Here is the recipe that I used that I got from:

http://www.primal-palate.com/2011/02/coconut-flour-pancakes-and-waffles.html

I did not add any of the tempting toppings to keep this marginally healthy. (Still have 5 more days in my challenge!):

1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg (I used less than 1/4 because nutmeg is often strong for me)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 dropper of stevia
4 eggs
2 tbsp almond milk (I used instead of coconut milk and added one extra tbsp to make them more runny)

Cooked in coconut oil and added and egg on the side!

I think next time I would like to try some vanilla and leave out the stevia. Somehow I don't think pancakes themselves are supposed to be sweet. That's why we smother them in syrup...ha!

Anyway, great website that I got this from. I am so tempted by so many recipes on the blog that I might even buy the cookbook, yikes!!!

Matt tried them out after he got home from cross fit. He just said, "Make more!" They were too small. :) He liked them with honey.

One other note....I have no idea how many calories these things are but I DO know that I ate them at 6:30 am and wasn' t hungry until 3PM. Crazy!

The food around our house...

Our food has changed in the past few weeks!

Saturday night I made a delicious dinner for my friends and it was all Paleo! I made taco salad and also made some beans to go with it that I didn't eat of course. I used my favorite fun colored bowls!

I made yummy breakfast muffins with eggs and veggies:
I have fun Irish butter! I love that I eat butter from Irish cows. :)

Today I went on a little coconut shopping spree. I am planning on making some Paleo desserts this fall once my 30 days is over! Its day 24 right now!
I will definitely share more pictures when I bake something yummy!

Shimelle sketch challenge

I have been having so much fun using sketches lately. In all my years of scrapbooking I rarely used sketches, but recently its been a fun change. I rarely scrapbook one photo pages, so sketches can really help with those.

Here is the sketch:

Here is my page:
(And a quick Paleo update...I cheating last night! I ate way too much fruit with a little yogurt and honey but I DON'T feel bad because my ten mile run today was EXCELLENT! I think a little carbs do me good!)

Paleo Day 19

I have just finished day 19 on this crazy diet and I have only 11 more days to go! The first thing I will have on this day is DARK CHOCOLATE! I can't wait! As long as I get the really dark stuff, I will still be technically eating "Primal." So I think that's the first thing I will add into my diet. Not bad, eh?

This way of eating has really been awesome. I have had several opportunities to eat at other people's houses and I have always made it work. Sometimes I have to fudge it just a little. For example, today a friend fed me some yummy tomato soup made with coconut milk, and after trying it I was pretty sure that it had sugar in it. Oh well! It wont kill me.

I have still been taking an inordinate am0unt of tree photos. Can't get enough. Here are my favorite trees at Green lake. See them there across the water?
One more photo I will share. My friend Renae came to visit me this weekend and she posted a picture of me on her blog, taking a picture of her. (Isn't she a great photographer?)

http://renaesadventures.blogspot.com/2011/11/weekend-in-seattle.html

Here is the picture from the other direction. Photography not so awesome...I was trying a new manual focus lens that I was terrible at using. (But I like her pretty fingernails!)
Well that's all for today...a bit of a random post! Eleven days until dark chocolate! Can't wait!