The Dam Run 5K

Today I was able to run a 5K with my dad...something that I've always wanted to do. It was a chilly day in Orinda, but a beautiful January morning. We had a great time.



I'm proud of how we ran. I came in 4th in my age bracket and 15th out of 89 women. I finished at 28:07...

Kids/Guest Bathroom Re-do

The beginning of this month, we had one of the guys from our ministry move in with us until he gets married at the end of this coming September. Since the bathroom he is using is the one place we haven't touched since moving in except for replacing the toilet, we decided that it was time to make some improvements in there.

Here are a few before pictures:

This is the nasty fan that didn't work at all...
It was so caked with grime and junk. I was thoroughly disgusted when I was cleaning it out. I thought if we cleaned it, then it would work...I was wrong. We ended up replacing the motor and fan blades (which was much cheaper than replacing the whole fan)

The medicine cabinet was broken when we moved in as well, so we decided to remove it and Phil built a built-in to replace it.

I don't have a before for the mirror that was up there, but it was a pretty standard
gigantic mirror that stretched from wall to wall. We removed it.

Here are the after shots:

In this shot, we still didn't have a mirror...we do now, which will be my next post...but here, you can see the new paint color (which is the wrong color, so eventually we're going to re-paint the bathroom a shade darker)

Here you can see some of the wainscoting behind the toilet

We put up wainscoting all around the bathroom. We think it makes the bathroom feel so much more fresh and clean.

We put in a new low-flow shower head (which, by the way, we did in our bathroom as well). We just got our latest water bill and have already saved $10 off our bill just from our shower usage alone!

Here is the built-in Phil constructed. We still need to put shelves in, but I think this is a huge improvement from what was there...

Overall, this took us about 2 solid days and a few nights to complete...not bad considering what we did (new lighting, new shower head, built-in medicine cabinet, paint, and wainscoting). I still have new drawer pulls to install as well.

family christmas photo

This year we decided because of yucky weather and poor planning to just take our own Christmas picture instead of having a photographer take them...so we ended up in our backyard with a tripod and timer...worked great. We got the kids and ourselves ready in our outfits and went outside took a few shots and in less than 15 minutes had our photo shoot complete...the kids were great and smiled for every picture, which I thought was amazing in and of itself...maybe this will be a new tradition for us...

fall leaves

The day after Thanksgiving we decided to get out for a while and head to our favorite bookstore/park/coffee shop hangout with the kids. It was a beautiful fall day and the kids found a huge pile of leaves in the park to dive in...so much fun.

.my recipe. Chicken Noodle Soup

This fall, I've been craving soup constantly. For one thing, its something that most of the time you can make healthy and it always makes your belly warm.

I love chicken noodle soup, but most recipes are pretty high in fat and so I was inspired to write a recipe that would be a healthier version. Honestly, I can't tell the difference and I don't miss any of the fat. If you are familiar with Weight Watchers, this recipe only has 3 pts for 1 1/2 cups of soup.

Serves: 8
Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
3 carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 med. red onion, chopped
1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp ground sage
2 bay leaves
48 oz fat free chicken stock
2 chicken breasts, cooked and cubed *see note below*
8 oz. whole wheat spiral noodles
salt and pepper to taste
cooking spray

Directions:
In a dutch oven (or large pot), over medium high heat coat pan with cooking spray and add carrots, celery and onion. Add a small amount of salt and pepper. Saute until onions are translucent, stirring frequently. Because you are only using cooking spray, the vegetables will burn easily if you don't stir frequently. Add sage and bay leaves, stir for another 2 minutes. Add stock and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer for 45 minutes. Add parsley, chicken and noodles. Continue to cook for 10 minutes or until noodles are tender but still firm. Ladle into bowls and allow to cool for a few minutes. This also freezes well. If freezing, allow to cool completely and then ladle into freezer bags (I like to put them in individual portions for quicker re-heat time).

**Rotisserie chicken works great for this recipe. If you make your own chicken ahead of time, I like to use chicken breast tenders. Put 4-6 tenders in a 350 degree oven with salt and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes. Cube and use. **

.halloween.

This year for Halloween we went to the Harvest Carnival at church. Elijah wanted to be a football player and Savannah wanted to be a ballerina...They had a great time. Pumpkin carving was fun. Its not my favorite thing to do, maybe because I end up having to scoop out and clean everyone's pumpkins and then do most of the carving too, but the kids have a blast, so that makes it all worth it.

.cambria.

Well, once again its been quite a long time since I've posted...I just haven't had the motivation or time lately. I have a lot of new recipes to share as well as some pictures from life lately...So, I'll start way back in September...

In September, we went on vacation to Cambria. This year we rented a house and it was perfect for our family. My parents were able to come for a few days and then we stayed there a few days after them. The weather was warm and lovely. We had a great vacation.