San Francisco Breast Cancer 3-Day

It is hard for me to put into words how absolutely amazing the 3-Day Breast Cancer experience was for me, but I will try. And, before I start, I must say that I cannot imagine not participating in this event next year. This is not something you do once and forget. I have a new perspective on everything in my life and it was worth every single step.



Early on Friday morning, we set off for the Cow Palace in San Francisco. Nancy's husband Phil made us some awesome bacon egg bagel sandwiches (thanks again Phil!). Ainsley, their cute 7 year old even set her alarm to wake up at 4 am -- unbenownst to them of course! We arrived to lines of cars, swarms of people and rows of trucks ready to haul off our gear bags. We dropped everything off and found Mary Ann pretty soon after that. While waiting for the opening ceremony, we posed for our pre-walk picture, set our goals and got our six motivational stickers.





My goal was to walk every single mile and to finish with a smile on my face. I am proud to say that I did just that. The six motivational phrases of the weekend were: Grow Community. Kindness Rocks. Cheer a Lot. Strut your Stuff. Stay Positive. Take your Time. So cool to be there and a part of this. :)



"Kindness Rocks" picture from here.

The opening ceremony was powerful and motivating. Words cannot describe. I cannot do it justice. The power of 2,000 people walking for the same purpose, for something more than themselves, makes you believe that there is so much more good in this world than you ever hear of or see in the news. Rather than pictures, I have video - I'm no filmographer, but I figured what better way to tell about this experience than sharing the opening and closing events with everyone. If you would like to watch, please e-mail me. Apparently, the videos are too long to upload on youtube (ten minute limit?? really???) and I'm not so technologically saavy that I actually know of any other video hosting sites!

So back to the walk.... after the ceremony we were off to walk our miles for the day. Nancy, Mary Ann and I figured out rather quickly how to make sure we were near the front of the pack, as we wanted to hold a good pace so that we could finish our first day strong. We had 21 miles to walk on Friday and we think we started walking around 7:30 am that day. We went from the Cow Palace across Daly City toward the ocean, along Bayshore, by Merced Lake, the San Francisco Zoo, across the Sunset District, through Golden Gate Park, across the Pacific Heights District, finally finishing at our home for the weekend, Chrissy Field at the Presidio by the Golden Gate Bridge. Memorable moments from Friday included leaving Mary Ann due to the heat at the Rose Garden in Golden Gate Park (we felt so bad and we were so worried), finding a street vendor that sold Diet Coke (for Nancy) and Izze soda (YUM - for me!), walking by Kara's Cupcakes and stopping to buy some... so TASTY! My poor callused feet held up great until we got to Pacific Heights. The steep downhills finally got to me and by the time we got within sight of Chrissy Field, I was limping and a lot slower. Nancy waited for me and we finished strong. We later found out that we were within a half an hour of the fastest walker when we finished at 3:30 pm that day. Eight hours for 21 miles... Still cannot believe that we did that!







We set up our hot pink tent, fighting the wind the entire time. We tried and failed to get our fabulous cots to fit -- we later discovered it was the wind making our tent smaller and got them to fit later in the evening (thanks to Mary Ann's brilliant observation that our tent was tiny compared to hers!!!). We hiked what seemed like a mile across camp to get our towels and hit to mobile showers. Sue, one of Nancy's best friends, was working as a volunteer RN in the Medical tent in the camp, so we finally got to meet and hang out while we checked out our feet. So I have to give kudos to Allen the EMT who fixed my callus problem enough for me to get through the three days with moleskin pads for them. Going into the walk, I have had difficulties with calluses on the balls of my feet. Even the podiatrist said there was nothing I could do about them. Lovely. I actually ended up cutting so much moleskin in three days for the calluses and the blisters, I got a blister on my thumb from using the scissors! :)

Our pasta dinner was good the first night and by 8 pm we were ready to crash for the night. We celebrated Mary Ann's birthday in our tent with a cupcake we bought earlier and went to sleep pretty early. About 21 miles down, about 39 to go.... we really were nuts to do this! :)



Saturday began with waking up at 5 am to see absolutely no fog around the bay or even the Golden Gate Bridge. That meant it was going to be really HOT where we were walking! We got off to a little bit of a late start, leaving an hour behind the opening of the course. That just meant long lines at the rest stops and lots more people along the course than we had experienced on the first day. Nancy and I both were a little nervous to walk over the Golden Gate Bridge -- it sways in the wind... the whole heights thing.... it was all about conquering our fears! Our goal for the 24 miles that day was 10 hours. We left at 8 am and I am happy to report that we made it back by 6 pm! :) Our course went from Chrissy Field, up and over the Golden Gate Bridge, along the coast through Sausolito, up to Mill Valley and back. It was scortching hot, but absolutely beautiful.

I think the lowest point for both of us was on Saturday in the last couple of miles to lunch. We were both having issues with our feet and spent at least a mile debating whether or not to flag down one of the "sweeper" vans patrolling the course all day long. We talked ourselves out of it and it was really the only time during the whole walk that I seriously debated catching the sweeper! Even despite feeling much, much more pain on Sunday and limping the entire day. :) We were certainly lagging today and Mary Ann succombed to the heat after lunch. So proud of her for making more than half of the 60 miles!

Brian decided to come up and cheer us on. I was so grateful to see him at our second pit stop after lunch. He got us some Starbucks and cheered us on the rest of the day. It was funny to have our usual roles of participant/cheerleader reversed! :) By the afternoon, the heat had caused several more blisters and a weird sun rash on my legs from the combination of sunblock/sweat/sun that hurt only if I touched it. By the end of the day, we were exhausted and tired, but proud of ourselves for making it so far. By the time we got to the end of the 24 miles, I definitely knew that there was NO WAY I wasn't finishing all the miles tomorrow! I was not sure how I would get that far, but I had Nancy there to set a pace for me, so I was able to get through it. I figured that the faster we walked it, the sooner we were done!

Highlights for day two included the beautiful scenery, making it through the lowest point of the walk for us both, not having some of the unbelievable blisters we saw in pit stop medical tents (yuck!), walking in ten hours and conquering my fear of heights + bridges long enough to walk across the Golden Gate twice!







The last day was not easy. I knew when I woke up that my feet were okay, but I was unsure how well they would really do over the course of the day. We were so grateful to have Brian there to help us by taking our bags, breaking down our cots and tents. (Thank you sweetie!!! :) After a quick breakfast, we got out on the course as soon as possible. We met a lot of really nice walkers on the course on Sunday. Our walk was 18 miles long and Nancy's goal was 7 hours. I was just hoping to keep up! :) The course was a large loop that took us past every major landmark in San Francisco and through almost all of the neighborhoods.... we walked up some of the steepest streets in the city, through Haight-Ashbury, Golden Gate park (again!), Alamo Square, Washington Square, the Tenderloin, City Hall, downtown, Union Square, Chinatown, little Italy, North Beach and back to the Marina. Thankfully, the weather was finally a little cooler! Brian chased us around to the pit stops and sat with us at lunch. Nancy's husband and kids came out to cheer us on at lunchtime and made Nancy signs, so cute! :)




I spent most of Sunday limping at a rather fast pace for the first half. At lunch, I was so grateful for one of the medics wrapping my right ankle for me. By the time we got to the next pit stop, I had to wrap the other ankle. When we got to the last pit stop, it was a bathroom only stop. Neither one of us wanted to stop any longer. Brian met up with us at the last mile and half and walked it with me. Scarlet walked it too -- the whole way with her tennis ball in her mouth! So funny!

When we got to the last mile, I was having a tough time. I just needed to take my own pace and Nancy needed to keep hers. It would be almost impossible to find someone whose pace is exactly the same as yours for so many miles. She set a great pace for us and I worked hard to keep up with her! :) When I finally got to Marina Green, I could not believe we had to walk down an impossible flight of stairs. The pain from my feet brought tears to my eyes, I couldn't believe it! I was so thrilled to finish. It was truly amazing to walk all sixty miles and accomplish something so big. I always accomplish my goals, but this is a whole new thing to me!


Note the stairs going up the hill behind me to the right... yikes!



We cheered on everyone finishing behind us and celebrated the accomplishment of our goals. The closing ceremony was composed of a victory walk where all the participants linked arms in rows of eight and walked from the hall we finished in to the stage for the closing event. It was another amazing, emotional ceremony and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this event. One way or another I will be out there next year walking or volunteering.

All the walkers in front of us...
....and all the walkers behind us in the victory walk!
My poor swollen feet right after I got in the car on Sunday.... 8 blisters, one burst on the top of my left foot. After the pain of the blisters and calluses wore off a few days later, I realized I had actually aggrevated an old injury in my right foot and I had strained tendons/ligaments in the arch of my foot! OUCH!! Finally getting back to normal now.... :)

And finally, my favorite sign from the whole weekend -- a quote. It reminds me of the two people I walked for, my grandma and my cousin Sue -- both of whom definitely continue to go on in a big way!



Thank you to everyone who made a donation, who walked with me as a trained, who supported me with their words of encouragement. As of today, I have raised over $1,800! :) It's still not too late... if you would like to make a donation, please click here! Thank you to Mary Ann for joining us and embracing this experience with almost no training (awesome!).
Thank you and big hugs to Nancy for doing this with me -- I definitely could not have done any of this without you!! You rock and you know I love ya girl!! :)


And most importantly to Brian.... for all those early morning walks you didn't really want to do, for all the support, for everything that you do for me and for us. Happy Anniversary, I love you!! :)

Time for some big changes

So many things are changing right now.... finally taking some time to clean out old stuff, finish up incomplete projects and get caught up before the holidays hit! I am working hard to finish uploading all my pics and videos of the big walk, so I will be posting those early next week (finally!). In the meantime, we have made significant progress on our big wall project and it's getting the finishing touches right now. We still have to build the second tier in the back, add plants, put sprinkler systems in and lay sod, but for now we're happy to be done with the front wall.



Off to Michelle's wedding this weekend... Brian's working hard, so I'm bummed he is stuck at home, but grateful he is working tonight, tomorrow and Sunday... Get to see my nephew and visit with my family. So excited to get to visit Apple Hill on Sunday morning and go with Creighton for his first time. Been waiting for weeks now! I'm outta here! :)

Obsessed!

Brian was teasing me earlier tonight that I haven't had my mac n' cheese in a while. For the last several years, I ate that at least every other day! Which got me thinking, what did I replace that with? I'm a creature of habit. I have my addictions, my obsessions that I have to have.... then one day I'm done and on to the next. So I thought it would be fun to see what my current obsessions are and see how they change over time. :)

Food:

• Cheese, particularly this kind. I eat cheese every single day, without fail!
  
• Decaf, nonfat mochas. White chocolate at Starbucks on the weekends, Marshmallow at the Cherrybean Monday through Friday.
  
• Strawberries & Green Onions. Not together, I just have to buy them at the store because I love eating them throughout the week. Drives Brian nuts! :)
  
• Skinny Cow Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwichs. YUM.
  
• Odwalla Pomegranate Lemonade or Pomegranate Limeade. Been working to cut my juice consumption a little bit, but darn that's tough!

TV Shows:

• The Closer - so happy that new episodes are on finally!
  
• Wipeout! - how can you not love this show?! Hilarious!
  
• Grey's Anatomy - counting the days until it is back on. Seriously.
  
• Any of the Law & Order shows or CSI shows. We watch them together! :)
  
• Amazing Race, Survivor, Project Runway, Design Star & The Mole - Don't know how I ever lived without our dvr!

Playing a million times on the iPod so far this summer:

• David Cook's version of Billy Jean
  
• Mercy by Duffy
  
• Leavin' by Jesse McCartney
  
• Steve McQueen by Sheryl Crow (an old fav)
  
• Work it Out by Beyonce (I have to hear this when I run. No real reason, guess its the right tempo! lol)

Last but not least....
Favorite Photo Subjects:

• Scarlet of course!
  
• And the kitties! :)
  
• Flowers, landscapes & food
  
• And last, but not least, Brian of course!
  
  

(That's the doggie's wool coat on his head! haha!)

Odds are, if I pick up my camera, I have to take pictures of these things!

Being a creature of habit, I think this list could be endless (& cover many areas!), but it is fun taking the time to stop and think about my current obsessions today. What are you obsessed with?!

The Great Wall of Soledad....

Well, that's what we jokingly refer to it as! For years we've looked out at our dirt pile....uh, I mean yard ;) .... and tried to figure out what to do with the space. We've always agreed on a retaining wall. After six years of deliberation, we finally picked a material:




It's called California Gold decomposed granite. Love it! Here's what we're hoping that the wall will look like when it is done:



So here's what our dirt pile looked like to start with:



And here's what it looks like right now....





We had dirt, tumbleweeds and a fabulous concrete patio... soon, we will have dirt, tumbleweeds, a fabulous concrete patio and an awesome rock wall! At this point, I think we'll be lucky to see it done this year... that's what I am hoping for anyway! :)

Leftovers and Homemade Taco Seasoning

So most days, I avoid cooking. I fully admit that I am spoiled by a husband who is an excellent cook! When I first met Brian, I'd say my culinary abilities consisted of following a few recipes my Mom made, boxes of mac n' cheese (or pastaroni!) and the very basics. I was much more suited to desserts because, well let's face it, I have a slight sugar addiction! ;) I must also state that I was never a leftovers kind of girl. Never. It has taken years to overcome that and, while I am better, I am not nearly as evolved with leftovers as Brian is!

Several weeks ago we tried Anna's recipe for Pasta Italia. We made it vegetarian by leaving out the ham (we don't eat pork too often!) and adding an entire clove of fresh garlic. YUM. Must try if you haven't had it before. Here's the challenge to Brian... how to use up the leftovers? Well, we didn't store the leftovers with the pasta and we didn't add the basalmic until serving the pasta, so the leftovers did not contain those two items. Brian's clever solution was to "fry it up" as he says by making grilled veggies sandwiches and "leftover" patties to top them off! Here's his recipe:

Brian's Veggie Sandwiches

Sourdough bread, toasted
Zucchini, sliced thin lengthwise and pan fried
Summer Squash, sliced thin lengthwise and pan fried
Leftover Pasta Italia mixture, pan fry by the spoonful (we used a giant cooking spoon) or we also add whatever cheese we have sitting around (sharp cheddar, blue, gorgonzola)
Add condiments (I like mustard only, Brian uses mustard and ketchup)
Add lettuce or spinach (I usually add spinach)
And, most important, enjoy!

As for cooking the "leftover patties", the water was cooked out of the tomatoes, melted the cheese and it all stuck together pretty well. From a practical standpoint, they were really only in the pan for a few minutes with Brian paying close attention to how much they were spreading in the pan. Sorry, no picture this time, but it really is a quick summer dinner!

So as for the actual cooking around here today, I am experimenting with my favorite basic brownie recipe (we have a brownie bakeoff at work on Wednesday, so more on that some other day) and I experimented earlier with a homemade taco seasoning mix. For weeks, we have talked about making our own taco seasoning mix, so I finally got the chance today! While we haven't used it yet, I have tasted it and cannot wait to use it:

Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix

First, make your own chili powder:
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin

Mix all spices throughly.

Second, add rest of the spices as follows:
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
2 ½ teaspoons onion powder
4 ½ teaspoons cumin
5 teaspoons paprika

If we really like it and intend to keep it, we will probably take the recipe and multiply it by 5 to get a full jar. Makes me want to try experimenting with other spice blends, this was fun! :)





Off to experiment with brownies now! YUM!! :)

Update: We have used the seasoning mix and it's really good!! It is definitely a keeper!! :)

Monterey to Pebble Beach Training Walk

Training to walk. It sounds silly doesn't it?! But that's what I'm doing. I've done some longer walks here and there throughout the last several months. Some more challenging than others, but this was the longest distance I have walked -- 15 miles in 5 hours. We set out to walk from Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey to Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach and back, along the coastal walking/bike trail. I'm not going to lie, it was tough! But we did it and I could not have done it without Brian there by my side. Well, truth be told, several steps in front of me most of the time!! :) Highlights of our walk included:

* Three spectacular stumbles. Surprisingly, only one was mine! :) The other two belonged to Brian and I'm still laughing at them -- he's usually so coordinated!!
* One argument which resulted in 30 minutes of peaceful silence... hee hee! :) So I'm a wimp and I didn't want to walk across the golf course at Spanish Bay to get to the beach -- Brian was not happy with me!
* The look on people's faces when we told them what we were doing! Yes, we are nuts. This is not the first, nor will it be the last time we hear that! ;)
* Sea lion and sea otter watching -- many of the sea lions were "tanning" themselves on top of the kelp in the bay. Who knew they could balance like that?! Such fun animals to watch.
* Tourist watching, of course! ;)
* Best part was five hours spent together talking, laughing and spending time outdoors together!

The fog didn't burn off until the end of walk, thankfully! Now the trick is going to be finding long walking routes for the next several weeks that I can convince Brian to do with me.... yeah, that's soooo not going to happen! I think I need another victim... :) So anyway, here are the pictures!

First half of the walk, taken somewhere around Pacific Grove:



Brian was not amused once we got an hour into the walk! So much for R&R from his training! :)



After the fog burned off, we got to see this amazing view, which is what I *love* about the Central Coast:


Of course, there were the beautiful houses too -- seriously, this would be our beach house if we won the lottery!



Most importantly, we survived!



And not only did we survive, we managed to go to Costco and grab a bite to eat at Panda Express before heading home to collapse on the couch for a Law & Order marathon! All in all, it was a good walk and totally worth it. I learned that taking breaks is a really good idea and that if I do that, I will be able to get through all 60 miles in September. (And I know that Nancy and MaryAnn will be able to do that too!) While some days it is tough to get motivated, I am finding that this is really worth it because on the weeks like last week when I am able to stick with the training plan, it feels great to be able to say that I walked 33 miles in just one week! :)

Long time, no posts....

Been busy living, got distracted from writing I suppose! For the last few months, been training to walk the Breast Cancer 3 Day in San Francisco the first weekend of September. Convinced Nancy and Mary Ann to walk with me, so we'll see how that goes. Today, Brian and I walked 15 miles -- from Monterey to Pebble Beach and back in 5 hours this morning. Boy are we tired! What have I gotten myself into?! It was a foggy morning, but the sun finally peeked through the fog. Now we are just hanging out watching Tour de France (I know, it's shocking right?!).....

Back with pictures later.....

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

So lately, we've been in sort of a food rut. Eating the same things week in, week out. This week we are attempting to break free from that problem. Last night Brian had decided to make stuffed bell peppers. Well that idea got tossed when we saw stuffed portobellos in the prepared case at the grocery store. Same concept, different veggie! What resulted was one of Brian's unique, healthy and yummy concoctions, which I hope to capture here. Definitely worth trying and making me hopeful that we will bust out of this food rut yet! :)

Ingredients:

• 4 large portobello mushroom caps (we got ours at costco)
• Fresh veggies (we used onions, garlic, summer squash, zucchini, bell pepper and the portobello stems)
• 1 can diced tomatos drained (I suppose you could use fresh, but we had none!)
• Extra lean ground turkey (about 1/4 to 1/2 pound)
• Seasoning (we used a new, no salt seasoning blend we found, but just about anything will work, even grill seasonings)
• Shredded cheese (Brian made his without and mine with)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare the portobellos by removing the stems and placing them in a 9x13" pan filled halfway with luke warm water. Heat two skillets or frying pans with a little bit of olive oil or cooking spray. Add garlic and onions to one pan and saute for a few minutes before beginning to add the other veggies. Our tip is to add the veggies in the order of how long they will take to cook, usually hardest to softest, if that makes any sense! In the other pan, add some garlic and cook the ground turkey. About halfway through cooking, add the seasoning that you're going to use. Once both the veggies and ground turkey are done cooking, mix the two into one skillet and begin stuffing the mushrooms. If desired, sprinkle a little shredded cheese on the tops. Place in oven, uncovered and bake for 30 minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy! :)

Some of my Favorites

Lately, I have been cleaning out and organizing our photos. Not an easy task with my trigger happy fingers. I decided I want to create an album with nothing but our absolute best and/or favorite pictures. Here are a few that will be making the cut...

Time passes by so quickly!

It's hard to believe that it's May already. So much has happened this year, so many fun things ahead of us. This is our year of change I think. We finally seemed to have settled into a good routine - one that puts us used to the racing, the traveling, the family, the friends. I've enjoyed breaking out and trying new things and shaking life up a little bit. I went to Colorado to visit some new friends - Kia, Sarah, Susan, Suzanne, Becky - love those girls! In the process, I met a few other nice ladies - Cindy, Chris and Jennifer. We spent an entire weekend in Fairplay, Colorado (in the mountains near Denver) at a crop. And no, that's not harvesting vegetables! LOL :) I got a lot done, made some great new friends (some of which I hope to spend many more girls' weekends with!) and I even flew on a plane by myself for the first time, which is huge considering I'm not such a huge fan of flying!



All in all, it's been a busy first few months of the year and it's not looking to slow down any time soon! Here's a pic from my trip to Colorado - I miss those girls and that place!!! :)

Is it really March already?

Where does the time go anyway?! I guess I should really put in some serious effort now to get this thing up and moving along. I've sort of been slacking on it!

I don't have much to write tonight - by this time of the week, I'm usually tired and ready for the weekend to start already. But I will be back soon to give my very own recipe for healthy, easy, super fast and way-better-than-the-original snickers bars from scratch. Mmmmmmmm :)

For now, here's a great picture I took of our furry little monsters in a rare moment of cuddling (with each other and all the toys!) :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

In the spirit of the holidays, here are some pictures of the snow in our part of the world earlier in 2006. Scarlet loved licking/eating the snow. :)

A vineyard near the Pinnacles:

A view of the Carmel Mountains from our neighborhood, about three blocks from our house:

Highway 146 on the way out to the Pinnacles (about 10 miles from our house):

Scarlet exploring the snow:




And yes, Brian did throw snowballs at her and she did end up with snow all over herself ;) LOL
We hope everyone has a safe, happy holiday!

The last trip of the year - Panama City Beach Florida

It wasn't as warm as I thought it would be. In fact, it wasn't really warm at all - I ended up wearing pants and a sweater 95% of the time we were there! We had a relatively smooth flight back to Florida and managed to get there on time, with everything and NOT lost! To say that the airport in Panama City Beach is small is an understatement. We knew it was a municipal airport, but holy cow! We landed, went down the stairs on our puddle jumper (it literally had propellers on the wings) and walked straight into the airport. The airport is so tiny it has four gates, one terminal, one check-in counter, one restaurant, one waiting area, one baggage claim, one rental counter, one security check and you could walk from the gate to the baggage claim in about 45 seconds! It also had this really cool sea green and coral colored tile walls - that's right - tile walls - inside and out. Like we stepped back in time to the 1950s.

We drove the hour out to our time share in Destin (near Pensacola) and we ended up with a nice big condo - three bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry and screened patio overlooking the beach. It was way more than we needed, but nice nonetheless!




We spent the majority of the weekend lazing around our room, shopping and driving back & forth between the time share and the race location in Panama City. As for Brian's race on Saturday, November 4, 2006 - the Florida Ironman - it was a tough one. Lots of competition - I was astounded at the mass start - over 2,000+ people went into the ocean, all at the same time!




It was exciting to watch Brian hit his target times on the swim and the bike, but I could see the exhaustion in him as he finished his bike ride. It worried me, but I hoped he could rough out the marathon. He ended up coming back from his first loop of the marathon walking and decided to end his race there. It was disappointing, but a good learning experience for timing the distance between his races for what he is able to do. Here are a few pics from the race:





In the end, Brian decided to return to the same race next year and focus more time training & less time racing in 2007 - I guess we'll see about that! Despite the outcome of this race, we had an enjoyable weekend in Florida and look forward to returning next year. Hopefully, we'll get better weather next time! :)