Gourmet Runner

Why won't I ever be a model? No, not because I'm too short, love candy too much, or would be confused by the directions. ( Smize? Really Tyra? What is that? ) It's because I just can't pose for pictures. After our intense hike today, I wanted a photo, naturally ! So I handed the camera to hubs, and tried my best to look semi-normal for at least one. Epic Fail. Let's try to guess what I was thinking here: Whining. Typical. "I'm not ready to take a picture yet!" All smiles. We got this, right? "One more? Cool. Let me show you my neck." "Bored. Let's try something FUN!" "What? There aren't cameras on me from each angle?" I wish I could pose as naturally and awesomely as the men did: Look at my hubs in green, cool as a cucumber. He's done this before, this posing for blog photos thing. Old pro.  Anyway, we had an amazing morning hike today. I'm loving have guests stay with us, we...

THANK YOU! The comments left on my last post were incredible. I have some major decisions ahead of me to choose which dinner I'll make tonight! Keep adding suggestions here if you haven't yet! I'll take some pictures of whatever I end up with (and of course let the winner know) in my next post. Obviously yesterday all I could talk about was the new kitchen set-up. And yes, progressing from microwave to oven is a massive improvement. But there's one extra benefit I forgot to mention. Where we are staying is on a beautiful BIG piece of land. I have access to built-in, private trails and a lake to run around! I can't believe it! This will help me mourn the end of my gym membership (t-minus 10 days). Today I managed a bit of running on the trails, and some loops around the lake. Totaled 5 miles. In the beginning I was frustrated with my pace, forgetting that *hello* I'm not running on a flat road. Once I got over the slower pace (about 9:45 overall) I relaxed...

Today. Was. Awesome . Is that too short of a post? But I feel like those three words sum up my day perfectly! Hubs and I were up and at 'em early this morning so we could get to Fort Mountain State Park right after it opened--7am. Good call since it gets hot fast! We hiked the Gahuti Trail, which is about 8 miles and is just gorgeous. We hiked this exact trail once before, under much worse conditions. It was 6 days after we moved to America, there was snow everywhere, and we were exhausted, sick, and jetlagged. Today? Perfect. Here are some photos from the hike: My "deer caught in headlights" look at a little waterfall The trailhead sign This was a CREEPY big red bug! Millipede maybe? The last photo is my favorite. Why? Because it says the average hike time is 6 1/2 hours. How long did it take us? 3 1/2. Boom. It's all about the little things. There were some crazy hills on this hike, here's the elevation map to prove it: Needless to say, I was a...