11. Train Mia the Dog

Well, I don't know if I have quite trained Mia the dog, but at least I am on my way!  Thanks to Cesar Millan's dog whispering techniques, I should have her bringing me Starbucks by sometime late this summer.

Actually, the best thing I learned from Cesar's book is that I must be the boss, the pack leader, the one in charge.  Which means that I go out the door first on a walk.  She stays beside or behind me the whole time.   In fact, leading her on a walk is the best way to teach her who is in charge!

I also learned that dogs need three things with the first being the most important (somehow I have had this backwards the whole time):
1. Exercise
2. Discipline
3. Affection

Finally, dogs are not people (who knew!), so don't treat them like they are.  They are animals first, dogs second, breed third, and name last.  What does that mean, exactly?  Too much to explain here....read the book! 

30. Weekend getaway with Mom!

My mom and I went to Charleston the first weekend in May!  Our adventures include, but are not limited to:
- Walking over the Ravenel Bridge and seeing a HUGE container ship
- Walking around Battery Park
- Taking a Carriage Ghost Tour
- Viewing the gardens of some house/museum we didn't want to pay an entry fee to
- Getting lost on the way to kayaking
- Getting stuck in the mud while lost
- Being attacked by mosquitoes while stuck in the mud
- Kayaking through the blackwaters and seeing lots of birds and one gator
- Seeing the Citadel

Minutes

Minutes by trishjackson

Minutes gone passed
like dead men sleep
never to rise
never more to speak.
Why among the dead
do the living you seek?
Why look back
when there is now to see?

Do You Know?

Do You Know by trishjackson

Do you know just how the wind blows?
Have you heard what it says?
Can you see as it blows through trees?
Calling all God's people to their knees

Singing, ooooh

Do you know just how the waves roll?
Have you heard what they say?
Can you see the mighty, mighty sea?
Calling all God's people to their knees

Singing, ooooh

Do you know how Jesus saved your soul?
Have you heard what He said?
Can you see how He loves you and me?
Calling all God's people to their knees

15. Learn how to make tilapia

Why in the world was "make tilapia" on my list of things to do this year?  After making the tilapia and eating it I remember that I don't really even like fish.  Well, at least I tried!

14.6 and 14.7 Winter Warm-me-ups!

This past week I conquered 

two new recipes: Beef Stew and Chili!

 
My niece and nephew helped cut up the ingredients for the beef stew.  We were going to eat it for dinner, but Aunt Trish-wa did not pay attention that the recipe said that it takes 2-3 hours to cook.  Sad!  We ended up eating nachos instead.





The chili was a joint effort of my roomie, Deb and I.  We substituted ground chicken for beef, and it still came out quite tasty, especially with some cornbread one the side!

19. Have my nephew over for a weekend

It was Dakota's turn to spend the weekend at "Aunt Trishwa's."  

He showed me how to fly like a dragon and fight off intruders.

 Dakota in his Night Fury pijamas!  

He loves the movie How to Train Your Dragon

3. Break 2:00 for a half marathon Attempt #1

Attempt # 1 to break two hours at Kiawah Island half marathon. Time: 2:05:44--A five minute improvement from last year, but still 5+ minutes away. It didn't quite happen this time, but at least we all had a fun time training and spending the weekend with good friends.

21. Visit Memaw in VA

This year Memaw hired a photographer to take family pictures :)

20. Visit Grandmom Wertz in VA

I had a great visit with my Grandmother over Thanksgiving weekend. She makes the best toast!! I am not sure if it the bread or the toaster or the fact that she makes it, Gramma's toast is by far the best toast I have ever eaten!

14.5 Thanksgiving Turkey

Recipe number 5 out of 12. This Thanksgiving I made my first turkey, thanks to a yummy Cuban style recipe from my stepmom!

Whole Garlic Cluster
1/2 bottle mojo criollo
2 tsp salt
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
black pepper

1. Blend ingredients
2. Clean turkey, puncture, pour 2/3 mixture over turkey and into punctures
3. Use the remaining 1/3 mixture inside the turkey
4. Sprinkle black pepper
5. Cover turkey with foil, put in fridge for 24 hours
6. cook turkey
7. Eat :)

2. Break 25 minutes for a 5K-Attempt #3

Attempt #3 to accomplish goal #2- 26:24 @ the HFFA Fall Harvest Race. Forty seconds better than last time. We are getting closer :)

2. Break 25 minutes for a 5k- Attempt #2

Attempt #2. Trying to run a 5k in under 25 minutes. Today's time 27:04 at the Lung Strong 5k in Cornelius- fifty seconds faster than the last race, but still not quite there. On the way, though.....gotta keep working! I am thankful that I able to run and breathe and be alive!

14.4 Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe #4 out of 12 on the list of 30 THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR.

This recipe was a group effort from my housemates and I! Deb cut the veggies and Gloria added the extra spices until it was the right kind of zesty! This was my favorite recipe so far :)

Chicken Noodle Soup from Williams and Sonoma: Family Cooking-Creating Traditions in the Kitchen

The Recipe- we added garlic, onion powder, lots of salt and pepper and basil!

Cutting up the veggies!

Nothing like a side of grilled cheese dipped in ketchup!
Yummy!

14.3 Black Bean Pasta

This is recipe #3 out of 12 on my list of 30 THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR.

It is high time that some of the lonely, often overlooked ingredients in the cupboard get used, so I went to allrecipes and typed in "pasta," "black beans," and "tomato sauce." The result: Black Bean Pasta

It was an ok recipe, a little spicy because of the red pepper flakes, but not very flavorful. I had to add some cheese and salt, which can somewhat improve almost anything.

As usual, trying to cook usually teaches me what not to do: DO NOT PUT THE BURNER ON TOO HIGH, unless you want pasta sauce all over your favorite hoodie, on the floor, and on the side of the refrigerator.

1. Visit a New State, dontcha know?

Number one on my list of THIRTY THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR is to visit a new state. God opened the door and provided for me to go to not one new state, but TWO!

This past Saturday my best friend from Charlotte got married in Houston, Minnesota, a small town of 1,000 people located in the heart of Minnesota Bluff Country. "What is a bluff?" you may ask! From what I can tell, it is something that looks like a mountain, but isn't- it is just bluffing (wah-wah-waaaaah). The bluffs were beautiful, completely covered with trees at the peak of their fall colors.

The wedding party and family stayed in La Crosse, Wisconsin, right across the mighty Mississippi river that divides the two states. Unfortunately, I was not able to purchase any cheese!

Minneapolis, Minnesota
from Native American word "mni" meaning water
and greek "polis," city

Prairies and Bluffs on the route from La Crosse to Houston.

Small town Houston

The wedding cake

My sweet Friend, Melissa (Halstensgard) Meyer!

Some things I enjoyed about Minnesota:
1. The Accent! Bag sounds like baig, gopher like golfer, no like nol!
2. My favorite new phrases

• Uff-da! (Exclamation)
  
• You betcha (You bet/of course)
• Hot dish (Casserole)
• Oh yah (Yes)
• Pop (soda)
  
• Ya, sure
• Oh boy, oh dear, goodness gracious

3. Eating Grampa Halstensgard's Swedish pancakes! It was sweet watching Mel's grampa make pancakes- He was bent over the bowl, whipping up the batter while flour filled the air and was caught in the beams of sun coming through the window. Gramma walked by the plate of pancakes and asked if they were for sale. The family had a contest to see who could eat the most pancakes.

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 cup of whipping cream
• 1 tbsp of sugar
• pinch of salt

4. The beautiful landscape
5. Being with my friend and her family!
6. The people were "Minnesota Nice"

2. Break 25 minutes for a 5k- Attempt #1

To celebrate 30 years of life, I have a list of 30 things I would like to accomplish this year. Very high on that list is running a 5k in less than 25 minutes. Last fall I ran the HFFA 5k in 25:25, just 25 seconds away!

This morning, however, was not quite so close. It was a slow 27:52 at the Hit the Brixx 5k.

Oh well!

At least three good things came out of this morning:
1. I learned what NOT to do: NO coffee before a run. NO dairy products for breakfast. NO staying up to late the night before. NO waiting til the last minute to hydrate. NO benadryl. NO running while you are sick.

2. I got to eat free Brixx Pizza AFTER the race. YUM!

3. Standing in front of me at the start line was a very inspirational woman. She was wearing a bright blue San Diego marathon technical tee, a bright blue hat to match her shirt, neon green socks, and silver earrings. Her name was Harriette and she was 87 years old! When I asked Harriette about the San Diego marathon her son answered saying that she had won her age group 12 years in a row and had raised more money for Team in Training than anyone else.

I found her name in the results and then asked Mr. Google to help me learn more about this incredible lady - stalker-ish, I know.

Article in Run, Theoden, Run
Article at Runnersworld.com

I hope that I can still run and enjoy life when I am Harriette's age, and perhaps by then I will have broken that 25 minute goal!

Next attempt: Lung Strong 5k in Cornelius on Oct. 16!

14.2 Made from scratch Pizza Dough

Item # 14 on the list of 30 things to do this year: Cook using a recipe....once a month.

I haven't been too consistent on this one, so let's just modify the goal to cook 12 new things from a cookbook! This weekend my niece Cheyenne helped me make homemade PIZZA!! So many questions came up:
- does a teaspoon of sea salt equal a teaspoon of regular salt??!! Not sure, but the pizza dough was way too salty!!
- how do you measure yeast? It says on the back of the packet that one packet equals 2 1/4 teaspoon....but I only needed 1 1/2 of a teaspoon....so I used a teaspoon, but it took the whole packet to fill it up?!
- are there any special rules for using wheat flour?

Cheyenne didn't complain, though, so I am content!

18. Have my niece over for a weekend

My niece Cheyenne came and spent the weekend with me! YAY! We watched the SLCA Eagles win in football, took the dog for a jog, went to the park, made homemade pizza and went to church. Fun weekend! Hats off to my sister who works hard being a mom every day!!

14.1 Chicken Salad

I added cooking to my list of 30 things to do because it is something that I rarely do, but definitely a skill worth having, especially since eating Peanut Butter sandwiches, oatmeal, and cereal for the rest of my life is not a prospect worth looking forward to.

The first recipe did not actually come from a cookbook, but from the Pioneer Woman's website. If you have not heard of the Pioneer Woman, consider checking out her site for fun recipes (with super helpful pictures for each step), homeschooling ideas, photography, and a really sweet love story of how she, a city girl, fell in love with a cowboy and moved to the country. *sigh*

Recipe # 1: Chicken Salad

I cannot actually comment on if the recipe was good or not because I have a tendency to look at the recipe and get overwhelmed with all the details and then do my own thing. So, the result of doing my own thing.....ummm.....a little dry. More dressing next time.