STOP!! BACK AWAY FROM THE SMALL KITCHEN APPLIANCE!

Do you ever have those times where about 30 seconds after an event has occurred you wish you would have taken a picture? This morning the Vitamix and I had a moment. And it was a very brief moment. Since Adam has been gone this week, I have had to make my own breakfast smoothies; and I thought I was getting the hang of it.... I think I was very wrong.

Let me describe what happened. I cleaned my carrots, cut the peel off my oranges and kiwis, cleaned the grapes and hucked it all in the machine along with a handful of spinach and some frozen berries. I started the machine on low and slowly raised the speed until it was nice and smooth... and here's were things went very wrong. I turned the machine off. Bad idea. I proceeded to grab the milk and a handful of ice cubes which I put in through the whole in the top of the machine. I switched the Vitamix back on - I put it on low again, but then I tried to speed it back up and that's when it happened BRIGHT RED SMOOTHIE went EVERYWHERE! And how did I react? I laughed so hard. You know when you have those moments to choose whether to get upset or just laugh? Well I didn't even think about being mad, I just laughed and laughed and laughed. There was smoothie everywhere - on the wall, the counter, the window blinds, the floor, the Kitchenaid, in the Kitchenaid bowl.. By this point I realize I am going to be very late for work. I have no choice, I have to clean the mess because if I don't do it now it will be much harder after work. But I laughed the whole time. And then laughed the whole way to work. And then laughed as I recounted the whole event to my coworkers. And then laughed 4 hours later when I realized it was all over my shirt - why I didn't look before, I don't even know.

After I cleaned, I wished I would have taken a picture, but as funny as it was I didn't want to recreate the event a second time. I'm pretty glad that Adam wasn't here to witness it happen, he'd probably ban me from all future use. I think I'll wait till he reads this to fess up....who knows I may even get away with it......

Reception # 2

I don't have pictures from our first reception in Mesa, but I thought I would post some from our Boise Celebrations. I wanted something pretty simple so our food theme centered around fountains - we had 3 fountains: Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Carmel (the PB was amazing!). We also served cupcake trees and my aunt made delicious homemade lemonade:










We had lots and lots of things to dip in the fountains... creme puffs, oreos, pretzels, marshmallows, ritz crackers, celery, apples, strawberries, pineapple and bananas! The table of goodies looked amazing - it was the creative genius of Adam's mom... you'd never know that there were 3 primary chairs stacked on that table for all the layering! This is me trying to enjoy the treats - Adam was behind this - he shoved a peanut butter covered marshmallow in my mouth - yeah, try to chew on that without milk!

For decorations we had a iron backdrop and an archway which we decorated up with fabric and flowers:

You can also see in the picture my own personal creation. I spent hours folding tissue paper flowers to hang from the ceiling. I made over 120 in 2 shades of pink, lime green and orange. I worried how it would turn out but it was awesome! I must thank our dads, Adam and my sister Kena for spending a good hour or more poofing all of them out - I don't know how I survived all the groans and moans of that job!


My good friend and former roommate Tonya made the beautiful centerpieces which we accented with real limes (later we juiced them all, froze the juice and now have delicious limeade or virgin margaritas whenever we want!).

We spent all day decorating and getting everything looking great and it turned out so much better than I thought! I had detested the idea of having the reception in the gym and was worried that it would look so cheesy in there, but with lots of help everything was beautiful!

It was great to have Adam's parents up to celebrate with us in Idaho.

My sister Kena came over from Eugene.






For those of you who think this is a normal family picture... look closer at my dad. Yep that's no photoshop, he's wearing converse with a suit! In Mesa he wore a stunning 3-piece suit - the first time I ever saw him in a suit and tie (at least the tie is green!) but in Boise he borrowed this suit and showed up in Converse! If you know my dad, you'll fully understand and appreciate this- for those of you who don't I grew up seeing my dad in nothing but converse tennis shoes (I'm just surprised he didn't show up in green ones!)










I had lots of great friends come. Two of my former roommates, Kaila and Kayla, helped with the refreshments





Cindy and Bridget are former roommates as well that drove all the way up from Utah to celebrate with us.

And of course the best thing that ever happened to me, my dear sweetheart ADAM!

I'm a runner...

I'm a runner. That might be a pretty bold statement, but as I went running today I started to think about what makes a runner a runner. Now I haven't been on a regular running program since November of last year. I have many excuses, it was too cold was the biggest one... I could blame it on getting married, but I still managed to find time to get on the elliptical machine 3-4 times a week during our engagement, so yeah, the cold sounds good. Anyway, I digress.... I went running today for probably the third time this year (I managed to put in February when mother nature teased us with 45 degree weather; and then the day before we were married I went for a run in Arizona cause I just couldn't resist the beautiful weather). Today I ran 41 minutes (yes that 1 minute is significant!), but if you want to get technical it was more like a moderate jog. So what makes me think I am a runner? Well I will tell you. Many people might say a runner is someone who runs everyday, who can run sub 8-min miles for miles and miles, someone whose run marathons, someone who has "running shoes" and uses them only to run in, etc.... Well I say they are wrong. Yes I have trained for 5 days a week before, I've done the marathon thing, 3 half marathons, countless 10K's and 5K's and even 2 triathlons; I have "running shoes". But those things don't make me a runner. I am a runner because 6 months after running a marathon I still like to go out for a jog. I am a runner because I love the feeling of a good 41 minute run and can enjoy every minute of it. I am a runner because I know that even though my 41 minute run felt great one day, the next day a 25 minute run might feel like pure torture. I am a runner because after that 25 minute torturous run I'll get back out there and do it again the next day, because I know that there's a chance I'll have an awesome 41 minute run. I am a runner because a potentially ugly t-shirt is enough motivation for me to enter a race I know I'll never win. But most of all, I am a runner because I SAY I AM!

If you ever ponder the question "Am I a runner?" I think you've already answered the question by even thinking it. Yes you are a runner......

79?

I am so tired of the cold. And this week the forecasters tell us that its going to get up to 70 degrees on Saturday. So imagine our surprise when we woke up to this Tuesday morning:


Have I mentioned before I live in Boise? This is not normal. OK, well its normal in December. But in April? Not a chance. It got up to 51 degrees today... but, yeah, its going to be 79 on Sunday. Believe me, I can't wait, but I'm not holding my breath.....

Adam's New Toy

Most of you know I love to cook. So you would think that a brand new, bright and shiny, kitchen appliance would be my pride and joy. Well, you'd be wrong. Oh don't get me wrong, I love the thing, but we've had it a whole week and I have yet to touch it. Adam is obsessed with it. He uses it twice a day. So whats this wonderful thing? None other than the Vitamix 5200!!!

After drooling over the machine for two straight weeks at Costco, Adam finally caved and bought it. This beast will grind up just about anything and makes the best darn smoothies around (well I must say that Adam plays a pretty good role in that one :) Apparently it will also grind wheat, knead dough, make soup (including heating it), make ice cream and countless other things.

Am I jealous that I never get to use it. Not in the least. Every morning my wonderful husband sends me out the door with a Delicious, nutritious smoothie (yes nutritious, he throws celery, carrots, spinach in there along with the fruits and the best part? Absolutely no added sugar!) So I think for now I'll just stay away from the Vitamix 5200 and let Adam have his fun and I'll go on enjoying an awesome breakfast. Thanks sweetie!