I think the question is what haven't I done since I last blogged...

Despite all my efforts to regularly update this blog it seems I once again to a spill off the wagon...whoops.

So, I thought I'd give a giant summary of what I've been up to:

#1: Craftiness...

I've been trying to be crafty, so I made this year's Christmas newsletter cards and decided that Valentine's cards were way more fun than Christamas. So some of my dear friends got handmade Valentine's from Will and I. Another crafty project I tried out was inspired by one Lisa Leonard's blogs. It's an easy decorative project. She did hers as a small Valentine's project, but mine is giant C-130 wall art! To see Lisa's project, go here. Check out mine:

It's sideways here, so it hangs with  the plane going up. It's a C-130 in a heart. If you look closely, you can see it's 4 propellors!

#2 Running...

I am back to running. My feet are healed up and I am back on the road. After 1 week of no running and another week of light running and long walks, I'm excited to get back to my running routine this week!

#3 New Shoes...

I deduced that my running shoes were old and contributing to my sore heels, so the hubby and I checked our accounts and it was decided I could purchase new shoes. I went over to Fleet Feet here in Corpus where their awesome staff had me run around the store like a crazy till we found the right shoes. I ended up with Saucony Omni Progrid 9's. They are awesome!!! They keep my heel gripped nice and tight and have great padding.

Beautiful new shoes...

#3 Ran a 5k

I'll have more about this later, but I ran the Cupid's Chase on Saturday. It was pretty brutal after not doing a long run for two weeks. I didn't die, I didn't stop, and I did finish, so I'm going to say that it was a success...

#4 Valentine's Day

My dear hubby is back in pilot training, so week day celebrations don't happen for us. We had a great night in on Saturday instead. We bought some delicious sushi to take home from the HEB (WM picked out our rolls). We watched an episode of Bones (our favorite). We drank champagne. We made each other desserts. WM made me sopapillas!

Valentine's flowers from WM

#5 Baked Alaska

My friend Claire over at her blog Spare Thyme posted a Baked Alaska recipe back around Christmas. I found it inspiring and decided to make a Valentine's Baked Alaska for WM. I used her recipe. The only change was my ice cream flavor. I went with a swirled variety that had raspberry, white chocolate, and chunks of dark chocolate. It had an appropriate red tint for Valentine's Day. For the recipe, check out Claire's blog here.

Top View. My meringue got a little toasty, but still tasted good.

Yum!

#6 Decorating Cakes...

I am taking a cake decorating class. Last week we learned about making stars and star clusters with one of the frosting tips. We practiced on cookies we brought to class. Here is one of mine.

They will get better!

#7 Read about a Million Books...

Maybe not that many, but a lot. The local librarians think I'm weird when I carry out my stack of about 14 or 15 books at least once a week. One of the stand outs this week was "Miss Harper Can Do It" by Jane Berentson. It was a quirky and sweet novel. As a military spouse I was a little sad at the end, but still really enjoyed it.

#8 Helped Mack with His Weight Loss Goals...

Mack is doing great on his smaller amount of food diet and getting even more exercise. I am happy to say most of his pudge is gone and he seems to be a much happier dog. I think my friend Julia getting a puppy named Shadow that comes to play might be part of it too!

#9 Siesta Scripture!

I'm part of a group memorizing two scriptures a month. You choose one on 1st and one on the 15th. For more info, go to Beth Moore's blog here. I think it's great and I'm so excited to share my verse for today. 

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

2 Corinthians 12:9

This verse is a great reminder that our weaknesses are okay. We don't have to be perfect, we just have to know when to ask God for a little help. So, this verse will help me to remember that when I feel like I can't quite do it all and feel like I'm lacking that it just gives God a chance to help me out! I also love the imagery in the NIV translation of God's power resting on me. It is very comforting me. I imagine that God's power is like a foggy hug resting on me.

#10 Drank lots of coffee

I drank coffee with my husband, with my friends, with my dog, and by myself. I'm a good Colorado girl at heart, what do you expect ;)

I think that's my life since the last update. Hopefully my race update will be up tomorrow for all you running folk!

Till next time!

One of those crazy, tragic, sometimes almost magic, awful, beautful nights

!So today was so awesome (mostly)! I woke up knowing I had my very first big night at my new job. I'm working at an art gallery/school. I teach some classes and then do some art outreach. For my first big not just kid event, I did a Bad Art Night. Bad Art Night is supposed to be a liberating experience where you come, learn about a contemporary artist and then make a work that is kind of a parody of their work. We call it bad so people are not afraid to participate. When you tell someone to make bad art, it allows them to more easily venture out of their comfort zone creatively.

I was a little worried no one would come. The organization told me that a lot of first events are not very well attended. So, I worked really hard to make this awesome. I promoted my event on facebook. I talked about it with everyone I ran into. I got a couple of older wives on base so excited they told their friends too. I was a promoting machine.

So, today I wake up knowing that this is my make it or break it experience. After walking Max, I still had a ton of nervous energy, so I decided to bake goodies to take to my event. Normally, I am a great baker. Today was a bad baking day. First, the espresso cookies I made turned out half good and the other half terrible. I think my oven was having a bad day. So, I ended up with half a batch of cookies to take. Then, I decided to make dark chocolate and white chocolate tea bread. I've made it before and I really liked it, so I wasn't worried. I didn't get it out of the bread machine in time to bake it in a bread pan. So, I wait for the bread machine to cook it. The timer went off, it looked done. I flipped it upside down to get the paddle out and weirdly enough, the paddle started sinking. This should have been a red flag. After I get it out, I flip the loaf over only to have a large portion of unbaked middle pour out onto my counter. I turned on the oven, put the loaf in a pan and pile the batter back in. It took almost another half hour to bake the center and then the bottom was kind of crispy.

The only success in baking was new recipe I tried. It was tuscan thumbprint cookies. I found the recipe in last month's Better Homes and Gardens. I'll probably post that recipe tomorrow.

So, after I finish baking, I need about two glasses of wine to calm down. I know I'm ready for the event, but all the baking mishaps have bruised my confidence. After I shower and get ready, I realize I need to iron my blouse that I'm going to wear. It's a really cute orange blouse from H&M. It has the ruffley pleaty thing in the middle. It's a huge pain to iron. So, as I'm trying to iron tiny pleats, I burn my finger on the iron. After finally getting ready, I was a few minutes late getting to my prep time for the event, but I made it.

After all my kitchen mishaps, Bad Art Night was awesome. Everyone even like my salvaged baked goods.
So, now I'm going to grab a Stella and then go find my husband to skype with my inlaws.

Time to relax!

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Here is one of my latest baking away recipes:

Chocolate Espresso Cookies

2 1/4 cups sifted confectioners sugar
6 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbs instant espresso powder
1/4 c all purpose flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
3 large egg whites
1.5 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 325
Line baking sheets with parchment paper - lightly spray with cooking spray

In a large bowl, using a whisk, combine confectioners sugar, cocoa, espresso powder, flour, and salt
Beat in egg whites one at a time with a mixer on low speed.
Add vanilla and beat for 1.5 minutes on high speed. Fold in chocolate

Spoon heaping teaspoons of dough onto cookie sheets

Bake for 15-17 minutes - cookies will look shiny and firm
Let cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer whole sheet of parchment paper to cooling rack

Delicious - only 69 calories a cookie!