Marine Corps Half Marathon 2013

My husband, Nate ran the Marine Corps Half Marathon this past Sunday.  This is the 2nd time he's done this race.  

Here's a picture of Nate that I didn't think I got because it happened so quickly.  Nate ran by at the start and he came over to high five us and as he moved to the left the guy in the blue shirt and him almost collided.  It would not have been good.  Luckily, they didn't crash and get hurt.  I quickly snapped the picture without even looking and got this shot.  It's awesome!  :)  Nate's face says it all.  haha

Here's Nate holding his medal after running.  He finished in 2 hours, 34 minutes.  Way to go Nate!  :)

After the run everyone came back to my house for a cookout and stuffed ourselves.  

It was fun but we were all pretty tired after we ate.  Nate mentioned he wants to do his first full Marathon next year in Virginia Beach.

Oh yes, Nate has decided he wants to start blogging.  You can read his blog here.  

His first post is coming soon.

Bake Sale for Fundraiser

Nate has a co-worker who's teenage daughter Lexy was diagnosed with Leukemia in December 2012.  Currently Lexy, is in remission and just had a bone marrow transplant last week.  The community put on a fundraising benefit to raise money for Lexy this past weekend.  I decided to bake 10 dozen (120) of my Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies for the bake sale that was at the fundraising event.

Here's my counter with cookie supplies everywhere.  I've never ever made so many cookies.  I ended up getting a blister on my thumb from all the mixing.  Yes, I could have used my Kitchen Aid mixer but I find the batter doesn't combine that well.  I just used my purple cuisinart hand mixer instead.  I love that thing!  :)

This is what 10 dozen cookies look like.  :)

Delicious cookies....

After the cookies were cooled I put 2 dozen in a tupperware container with a slice of bread to keep them soft until I was ready to package the cookies.

Here's a packaged cookie.  Orange ribbon tied on a treat bag.

I had some home made stickers that I added to some of the packages.

Cookies ready to be sold....There was a lot of yummy baked items at the event.  By the time Nate and I left everything was free so I grabbed the leftover cookies and told the organizer that I would take them to work and sell the leftovers for $1.00 each and give her the cash.  I sold all the cookies!

The event raised over $17,000 for Lexy.  YEY!  :)

Kristen's Graduation

My BFF, Kristen graduated from University of Richmond on Saturday, May 11th.  We are all so proud of her.  Way to go Kristen!  You did it!!  :)  She's thinking about going on for her Masters but she hasn't quite decided on that yet.

Here's Kristen with her husband Dave.

Kristen decorated her hat.  :)

Here I am with Kristen.  I wore a black maxi dress with a jean jacket and black flip flops.  It was comfy!  :)

We went for a celebration lunch at Brio Tuscan Grille at Stony Point Mall.  I got a burger with fries.  The burger was huge and delicious.

After the celebration lunch we stopped by to see Ashley, Daniel and Ella.  :)  Dave had his awesome camera and took a bunch of pictures.  I love this picture of Ashley and Ella.  I cropped it and turned it black and white.  :)

Dave also got a beautiful picture of Crystal and Charlie.  I turned this one black and white too.  I love this one as well.  :)

Here's a cute picture of Charlie looking into the camera.  She's growing up so fast.

Ashley and Daniel had some ideas for some pictures they wanted Dave to take for their birth announcement. Here's a great picture of Ella in a frame with wooden blocks with the date of birth.  Priceless!

Breakfast Sandwiches

We made a few breakfast muffins one day.  I saw the idea on several blogs on Pinterest.  I told Nate to pam spray a muffin tin and crack the egg into the tin.  Then bake the eggs on 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until done to your liking.

Heat up an English Muffin in a toaster, then cook your sausage (we used microwavable precooked turkey sausage patties).  Add a white American cheese slice, the turkey sausage and cooked egg onto the toasted muffin.  You can zap for a few seconds in microwave if you want the cheese really melted.

You can make these ahead of time and wrap real good in foil and freeze them.  It's best to warm them up in the oven b/c from different blogs I saw on pinterest the bread could get soggy in the microwave.  It was pretty good.  Nate said he didn't like waiting for the eggs to cook.  LOL

Onesie and headband for Ella

I wasn't able to make it the my sisters baby shower that was thrown for her.  I had my friend, Kristen save me a onesie and headband materials so I could make them for Ella.

I chose a dark purple headband and glued a white lacey flower on top and then glued a piece of dark purple felt in the middle of the white.  :)

The onesie was wrapped up all cute in burlap.

For the onesie I had to put headphones and music notes on it since I'm a Radio DJ.  :)

Welcome to the world......Eleanora

This last month has been a busy one and it's not even over yet.  My little sister, Ashley had my niece on May 3rd, 2013.  *Eleanora Linnaea* is her name.  I'm calling her "Ella".  :)  

She is beautiful!  I love her so much and I'm so happy I get to spoil her.

Indoor Garden Update: Day 63

My veggies and fruit are still growing.  Today, is Day 63 from when I first started my garden this year.

I decided to replant the big boy tomatoes.  They were getting crowded in the egg crate and the egg crate was staying really damp.

I carefully got them out and set them on a pot plate and put them in a bigger pot.

I also repotted the zukes and squash and set them outside.  I decided to move other plants outside too.

I moved the Potatoes, Big Boy Tomatoes, and Marigolds.  My potatoes are growing like crazy.  I already put a skewer and tied it back but they've grown beyond them as well.  I figured I'd make my way over to Lowe's this week to get some long stakes to hold them up.

Here's my grape tomaotes.  These guys are doing wonderful so I'm leaving them in the window sill.

My pepper plants is growing too.  I'm not putting my pepper plant outside this year.  I'm going to see if I can grow peppers indoors.  :)

Here's my carrots.  These carrots are going to be so tiny.  LOL

Strawberries....I'm not really seeing any growth yet.

This morning, on my way out I saw 2 wooden stakes on my porch with caution tape.  A few days ago we got our driveway resealed and the paving company blocked out driveway with the stakes and caution tape.  Nate removed them last night and just put them on the porch.  As soon as I saw the stakes on my way out this morning I knew I would use them to hold up my potato plants.  Sadly, one of the plants snapped in half this morning.  I know that won't grow so I dug it out and put it in my compost pile.  I did get the stakes up for the other 2 plants.  I still have 2.  I am determined to get at least one potato.  :)

Oh, I threw out the onions I had going into my compost pile.  They were smelling so bad.  I was tired of smelling onions.  haha  

Inside I have.....the strawberries,, avocado pit, celery, red pepper plant, carrots and grape tomatoes.  

Outside I have.....potatoes, marigolds, rose bush, squash, zukes and big boy tomatoes.

2013 Spotsylvania Farmers Market- Visit 1

Happy May!  Today, was the first day of the Spotsylvania Farmers Market.  It's open every Wednesday through October.  I went last year, and loved going each week.

Here's a view from the inside looking at the front entrance.

I liked the stack of onions, radishes, and swiss chard piled on the tables.  Photo op!  :)

Pretty flowers......

Fresh Asparagus at the C&T Produce Stand.  I bought a bundle for $3.00.

Some fresh herbs at C&T Produce.

Farm Fresh Strawberries at C&T Produce Stand in pints.  These were $3 each or 2 for $5.

I found these strawberries at the Mt. Olympus Farm stand.  I smelled them from a booth that was next to them and they were bigger than the other berries I'd seen in other booths today.  Plus they were sold in quarts, so more berries for your money.  :)  The quarts were $4.50 each.

Here's my loot.  A bundle of Asparagus ($3), 2 Quarts of Strawberries ($9), and a Fresh Baked Croissant with Hazelnut filling ($3, from the Floure Shoppe).

I put all my fresh berries in a bowl and took a picture of them on my favorite kitchen towel.  I have 2 of these towels.  I got the towels from my Grandma Runyon.  Every time, I use them I think of my Grandma.  :*)  And every time, I eat strawberries I think of Grandpa Runyon.  He was allergic to strawberries but that didn't stop him from eating them.  :)  I can picture him sitting at the kitchen table smiling and winking at me and eating one or two anyway because he just couldn't resist them.  :*)

I love farm fresh strawberries!  :)  This year, I plan to go to a local farm and pick some of my own.  I did this as a kid and as a young adult and had fun.  :)