Bonus Day

 What a handsome pup.

 Too much rain.  We are stuck under the jet stream and it's not stopping.  According to the weather man, it may be the rainiest March on record.  Almost 8 inches of rain. 

 So what does a guy do?  He naps.

I made a lemon loaf from the Mennonite Girls Can Cook website.  Who knew!

 I found an awesome Chilaquiles recipe on a blog that my wonderful husband tried out.  It was so good!  It's pretty hearty stuff (it is tortilla chips soaked in sauce, after all.)  That didn't stop Jim from eating three helpings!  We made it with eggs and black beans and I had some for breakfast the next day. 

You can't tell in this picture (yep, he's laying on our clean laundry), but Trooper went to the groomers this week.  We haven't seen any hot spot since we've returned from NYC (yay!) so we're hoping he's calm for now.

I am in Week 5 of Half Marathon training and this is the first week it's felt difficult to me.  I will brag about myself and say that I am in pretty decent shape, but I have a feeling the next few weeks will be a bit of a challenge.  If you are a new runner, I would recommend doing at least 12 weeks of training.  Last night I ran about 5.5 miles on the treadmill (with sprints in the middle) and tonight I ran 6 miles outside.  Tomorrow is 4 miles outside, then rest day (yay).  Saturday is cross train, then Sunday we are lined up for 9 miles.  Then I am going to eat the heck out of a breakfast strata.  I've been trying to make sure to eat a lot of healthy proteins/ fibers/ fats such as peanut butter, almonds, cheese, fruits, etc.  Even though my body is tired, training is strangely addictive.  I love crossing off my workout on my schedule on the fridge.  Who knows, maybe I'll do another one before we leave Eugene!

Date Night

 Last night we watched The Descendants.  Although it's a pretty depressing view of marriage, it made us both crave Kauai.  These three pics were taken at Hanalei Bay in June of 2010, on our honeymoon, the best vacation known to man (or at least us.)

 I think this picture was actually used in the movie.

George Clooney did not ask for my Tai Chi picture.  Not sure why.

Last night we celebrated Jim's spring break by going on a date to a really nice Mexican fusion restaurant, Red Agave.  It was the nicest meal we have treated ourselves to since arriving in Eugene over a year and a half ago.  We both had awesome margaritas (Jim plain, mine jalapeno).  Jim had a lamb shank and mashed sweet potatoes for his entree and I had Fillet Mignon and pablano mashed potatoes.  OMG it was so good.  I thought I'd have leftovers to enjoy today but I ate it ALL. 

My running buddy is nursing an injured ankle, so I tackled my eight mile run by myself today.  Half Marathon is April 29th!  Next Sunday we up it to 9 miles. 

Today I put a pork roast in the crock pot and am making one of our faves: pulled pork sandwiches with cole slaw on top.  I use Tyler Florence's BBQ sauce recipe and cole slaw recipe.  Such a great combo!  I cook the pork all day, then shred it with a fork, and mix in the home made BBQ sauce.  Then I make a sammie with the meat (and sauce) and pile the slaw on top of the meat.  You should do it too.  I also made the Legal Beagle good old chocolate chip cookies.

Looks like the Legal Beagle will be working every day of his break, but we are both taking the day off on Friday.  We have a few fun things on the agenda including a hike, The Hunger Games, and  a Happy Hour.  Should be fun!

Snow (Slush) Day

We woke up to a "snow storm!"  I took this pic on our 7am walk.  Trooper loved the snow!  I still had to go to work, but the Legal Beagle had a delayed start.  Actually, the poor guy thought school opened at 10am and was riding his bike through the snow when someone told him it didn't open until 1pm.  Poor guy!  He turned around and came home soaked. 
If you could see our parking lot now, it looks like the Apocalypse.  There are trees down all over, some of which landed on carports and smashed them to the ground!  The snow has also combined with rain to make a big slushy mess out there.  There is a call for more snow tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
In true hard core fashion, my running buddy and I ran outside this evening, to the rec center, where we ran sprints inside.  We decided that we are so hardcore that they should make a reality show about us.
Legal Beagle crosses the Cascades tomorrow to go to Bend for work, leaving Trooper and I for our jog/ Cafe Yumm date. 

San Fran on our Minds

I am pooped.  This week is NOT a recovery week.  I ran 6 miles in the pouring rain tonight.  Trooper ran two of those with me.  As tiring as it is, I love crossing off my workout on my training schedule on the fridge.  As I told someone the other day, I feel like an 80 year old arthritis patient who is training for The Hunger Games. 
Speaking of running, a girl was "groped" on a running/ bike path in a park near UO and our apartment.  If you know the Legal Beagle, he is a serious worrier.  I was hoping he wouldn't hear about it, but he did, and his worrying will now only multiply.  Oh, Legal Beagle and our culture of fear.
The other thing that LB gets to see when he gets home from class tonight is that our garbage disposal finally stopped working.  It's been broken and leaking for weeks, so our "fix" has been to put a bowl under it to catch the water leaking and ignore it.  And continue to use it.  Probably not the best method.  Repairs are tough for us as I don't like the maintenance men coming in when we aren't here and Trooper is. 
But in better news, we are planning to drive to San Francisco for Memorial Day weekend!  I have never been before and we have some friends in the area.  It should be about an 8 or 9 hour drive from Eugene.  My boss said I can take off that Friday through Tuesday.  And, as our loved ones may remember, May 29 is our anniversary.  Looks like we're going to be smooching in San Fran. 

Last Days of Winter

Tons of daffodils are blooming around Eugene.  These ones are from the grocery store, but they still bring a lot of sunshine to our kitchen.

Spring is transitioning in with weird Oregon weather.  Today it we have seen rain, snow, and sun throughout the day.  This past week was one of the rainiest of the season and was a rude reminder that it does, in fact, rain a lot in the Pacific Northwest.  Today we did fun things like wipe away mold and mildew from the walls, windows, etc. of our apartment. 

Yesterday was a nice St. Patty's Day.  After spin, I took my LS to a BBBS sports day.  Last week she was home as she had acquired head-foot-and-mouth disease (elementary schools are petri dishes) so she was really excited to go out with me this week.  And then it was friends and fun with the Legal Beagle, out at the bar, listening to bag pipes and drinking beer. 

This morning I woke up at 8am for a 4 mile run with my running buddy.  (This week was a recovery week, with only 15 miles total.  Next week we are back up and will end the week with 23 miles!!)  After we ran our gentlemen joined us for a lovely breakfast.  It was fun to have our workout and breakfast over before 10am.

After breakfast, my GF and I went to Target to buy seeds and supplies for gardening!  She has garden plots in her yard (the luxuries of a house!) and has invited me to share the space with her this year.  We picked up seeds for the following: basil, cilantro, peppers, peas, carrots, zucchini and we plan to get tomatoes, strawberries, and lettuce at a specialty store.  I'm looking forward to get back to gardening, as I haven't been able to since our sweet little garden plot in St. Charles. 

Black Pepper Tempeh

Trooper loves reading about Trusts and Estates.

Last night I made Heidi Swanson's Black Pepper Tempeh.  Oh my goodness, it was good!  Tempeh is a soy based product but has a different texture than tofu.  (The blog I linked for the recipe says it looks like brains!)  I think it has a distinct flavor and love it.  It's a great plant protein source.  If you make this recipe correctly (including the 15 cloves of garlic!) it has a nice amount of flavor and spice.  Next time I may have to double the recipe, as we didn't have any leftovers for lunch the next day with this one. 

Feeding a Hungry Bear, Er, Law Student

We are currently consuming at least one jar of peanut butter a week.  And one container of honey.  When I pointed this out to my lovely husband this morning, he said, "I'm like a bear."  I am making home made trail mix, granola bars, cheese cubes, fruit snacks, etc., on a weekly basis.  Riding his bike, working out, and studying burn a lot of calories. 
Tonight I am trying a new veggie recipe, tempeh and cauliflower.  I found this great website, 101 Cookbooks, and then checked out the author's cookbook at the library.  It's filled with tons of healthy/ natural/ veggie recipes.  As I always say, I love meats as much as the next gal (probably even more), but it never hurts to work in a few veggie meals a week.  It's good for your heart, waist, pocketbook, and the environment.  (Note: I still love cheeseburgers.)

We Heart the Weekend

Life is always nicer on the weekend.  On Friday night, we ate Little Big Burger take out, drank IPAs, ate Girl Scout Cookies, and went to bed early.  I slept 10 hours.  (Sometimes on the weekends I sleep for 11 hours!) 
Saturdays have become my run around day.  I go to a Spin class every week (one of my cross training workouts).  After spin, I took our taxes to the UO campus where students will do your taxes for free.  Free but a three hour wait (ugh.)  But we ended the night on a fun note, having dinner at our friends' house and playing the Wii.
The Legal Beagle is spending most of the weekend studying away.  Before we know it, it will be spring break and then finals.  And then summer, when I get to see that guy even more!
This morning is my distance run.  7 miles today.  If you are a runner (or walker), a great resource for mapping your routes is the gmap pedometer.  There's an option to enter your weight and it will also tell you how many calories you burn.  I think we are going a total of 18 miles this week.  Next week is a little bit of a recovery week, so our Sunday run is only 4 miles.  The exciting news is that after today, we are 25% of the way through our training!  And it will be light out later. 

Broccoli Pesto

We loved the Broccoli Pesto!  It was really yummy.  I was concerned that the broccoli would be too pungent, but it was really good and was a nice compliment to the sausage.  You should try it! 
Life around the Zika/ DiVerde house is pretty standard.  Jim is a bit less busy due to Moot Court being finished, but still finding ways to occupy all of his time.  Trooper is going for an allergist check up this afternoon to make sure he's still reacting well to his medicine and that it's the right dose for him, etc.  I am cooking, working on a skirt sewing project, running, etc.  Nothing too exciting to report!

Snow Pup

Snow isn't too common in the Willamette Valley, but we've seen a few flurries this year.  I took this picture on my phone this morning.  Within an hour, all of the snow had melted and it went back to being a soggy day.  Trooper wasn't too excited.
In funny Trooper news: During our morning walk, a neighbor opened her door just to call hello to Trooper.  Then, this evening, I took him on a jog, and another neighbor spotted us about a mile from our complex and yelled out her window, "Hi Trooper!"  He's seriously a big deal around here. 
In Trooper's health news: We haven't seen too much itching since we've been back from NYC.  He has one big scab that's healing from an old hot spot, but otherwise he seems pretty calm lately.  He's also been behaving better now that his dad's home more. 
Week Two of training is going well.  I just ran four miles tonight (two with Trooper, two without.)  Tomorrow is another four miles, then sprints on Thursday.  I run sprints and the long run with my training friend.  For now, I am making Friday my "day off."  Training will be really nice when we change the clocks next week.
And just a few weeks until the Legal Beagle's spring break!
(I am making a broccoli pesto dish tonight.  Will report back.)

Fun Weekend and Chile (Di)Verde

"I'm so tired and want to lay down in the stinky grass." This walk was followed by a bath.  

Eugene has been blessed (by some sort of Sumerian god of weather) by two days of sunshine and 60 degrees.  There are a lot of pale legs out and about this weekend.  Trooper got in two trips to the dog park and has been sitting on the patio both days. Crocuses and daffodils have started blooming, and that wonderful hopeful feeling of spring seems to be here. 
We had another fun filled weekend.  Friday night was Book Club.  Let's just say that 8 women consumed 8 bottles of wine and part of a pitcher of sangria.  You do the math.  (I really like my girlfriends.)
On Saturday, I was go, go, go.  Spin class, bowling with LS, groceries, dog park, finally sat down at 6pm and realized I wasn't moving again for the night.  I'd fully intended to go out for a drink, but it just didn't happen.  Jim made me an awesome chile verde dinner that you all should try.  Luckily Jim still went and Trooper and I turned in early.
Today I finished Week One of training with a 6 mile run.  It felt good but my legs are tired!  We cleaned all morning and walked Trooper to the dog park, so I am finally able to sit down to a cup of tea and a slice of the apple bread I made this morning.  (Which have a few healthy substitutions: canola oil for the butter and fat free Greek Yogurt for the sour cream.)
My plan now is to chill-ax while a pot roast cooks in the oven and Jim is working.  Another successful domestics weekend.

Energy

I am so excited.  I finally perfected my granola bars.  I made these granola bars three times and the first two times they were crumbly, more like granola than granola bars.  As you can see, I cut the recipe in half to make a smaller pan.  I also replaced the butter with canola oil (trying to keep the hearts healthy in our house.)  Last night I decided to keep the recipe halved, but kept the amount of honey the same (so basically doubled the honey.)  I also let them cool overnight so they could harden.  And they were bars!  The other changes that I made were the addition of flax meal, golden raisins, coconut flakes, peanuts, and walnuts.  Jim has already eaten a few of them today.  I think that means they are a hit.
Tonight was our first speed training.  We ran two miles at a regular pace and then did sprints on a track on campus, a half of a lap at a time.  And then we ran a mile back.  And my legs are jelly.  Gotta maintain that energy. 

Yummy Blog

I just found Joy the Baker, a cute blog that makes me hungry.