Trick or Treat

I mentioned before that we had a little Halloween shin dig on Saturday night, in celebration of Matt’s 25th birthday. Just wanted to share a few photos from the event! Hope everyone has a safe, happy and maybe a little bit spooky Halloween!

The ladies :-)

Cowgirl Ginger!

Matt and Me, Sookie and Bill from True Blood

Happy Matt Day!

I certainly won't be quitting my day job to make cupcake
creations, but with a little help from Matt, it
came out pretty well! (and very tasty!)

Today is my hubby's birthday and he's turning the big two-five! Although the weekend has had some really crazy weather (snow on October 29th, what?!) all in all it's been a great weekend. Last night we had friends over for some Halloween fun, celebrating with Apple Cider rum punch and a homemade Halloween Birthday cake. Today we're watching the Redskins game here at home, with friends and family. Wings and pizza might not be every ones idea of a great birthday, but it's Matt's day, and this is how he wanted to spend it. Happy Birthday to the love of my life! (don't forget, you'll always be older than me!)

Twitter & Such

I have this new found interest in social media. I used to consider myself tech savvy. To say that now, would be a complete fallacy. That being said, you have to give a girl credit for trying, right?! I've been fiddling with this new thing called 'twitterfeed'...if it works the way it should, when I publish this blog post, my twitter and Facebook should automatically update with a link. I'm not overly optimistic...

Thursday Blonde Joke: A blonde woman gets in an elevator. She says to the man in the elevator "TGIF!!" in a very excited manner. The man looks at her for a minute, and then replys "s.h.i.T." Stunned at his rudeness, the blonde repeats herself, this time saying "TGIF, thank goodness it's Friday!"..as the elevator comes to a stop, the man looks at her and repeats himself as well "s.h.i.T...Sorry hunny, it's Thursday" :-)

5K Success!

Running has always been a challenge for me, but the past two weekends, I felt like I finally turned the corner – I completed my first 5K, and then another!

Two weeks ago, I headed out to the middle-of-nowhere St. Mary’s County for my first 5K. The race went great! My time was 33:05 (not too bad!) and I ran the entire thing without stopping. There were only about 40 people there, which was nice. There was no pressure and the course was really flat, which was great for a first timer. My friend Shelly also came out to do the race. It was her first race too, and I think we were both very happy with how it went!

Check out the woman behind us, number 30,069!!

This past weekend, I went up to Hunt Valley for the Race for the Cure. I was completely blown away by this event. Through my friend Diane, I was able to join on with a team that raised almost $40,000 for Breast Cancer! The entire event was huge. There were thousands and thousands of people, all together for a common cause. The energy and excitement of the event was enough to keep me pumped the entire run. Although my time wasn’t as good (36:00), I’ve decided to blame it on the massive crowd. After the start bell rang, I still waited at least 3-4mins before I even made it over the starting line! What a great event for a great cause - Certainly one I will go to again next year!


Facebook Frustrations

About 90% of the time, I really enjoy Facebook. It is a great way to keep up with old friends, especially when you don’t live right around the corner anymore. But lately, I’ve been increasingly frustrated with Facebook. I don’t want to find out about life altering events on Facebook, I don’t want to see 600 photos of the party I wasn’t invited to on Facebook and I certainly don’t appreciate being “friended” so that you can stalk your exboyfriend via my page, on Facebook.

I guess the logical thing to do would be delete my Facebook account…nah I love it too much for that. But if you’re interested enough to ‘post on my wall’…try picking up the phone and calling me…I would probably appreciate a real conversation instead of a half hearted wallpost.

Friday Night Face Lift

Playing on the computer when my hubby is home is pretty much impossible.  (Not that I would like it if he were sitting on the computer all the time either...) But since I'm hanging out by myself tonight, I decided it was time to learn how Blogger really works.  Who knew you could make so many changes to the templates, and add so many creative features to your blog!?! I'm completely intrigued with all of the possibilities available in blogspot.  When I started my blog I just slapped a template on there to get it started, but after three hours of tweaking and playing with it, I'm really happy with how it looks.  Hope you like it too! 


PS. happy friday!

The Ma & Pa Trail

The Ma & Pa Trail, found in Bel Air near my parent’s house, has always been my own personal challenge.  Dating back to my high school field hockey days, “going up to the trail” was always a good sign that I was in pretty decent shape.  As I transitioned From:  in shape high school senior  To: drink beer more days a week than I exercise college grad, my visits to the Ma & Pa became few and far between.

Since I’ve started running again, I haven’t visited the trail very often.  I always found an excuse why I didn’t have the time to make it up there, or it was too muddy etc.  Shortly before our wedding, I decided it was time to face the trail, but this time I was going to run the entire thing, from start to finish and back.  Go figure that the weather before our wedding was terrible…hurricane Irene really put a damper on my plans.  So, last week, about a month after the wedding, I headed up the trail – ready to run. 

For the first time ever (I think…) I ran the trail from one Bel Air end to the other and back.  The total distance was roughly four miles, and even though I was moving fairly slowly, I managed to keep running the entire time.  Four miles might seem like a small accomplishment, but for me, it was absolutely the push I needed.  Plus, now I am confident I’m ready for this 5K I’m doing on Saturday!

If you haven’t visited the Ma & Pa Trail, make some time to go check it out.  This hidden little gem in Bel Air is the perfect place to walk with pets, exercise or just spend some time with your family outdoors!

Apple Deliciousness

Apple picking season has arrived! Although Matt and I didn’t actually go out apple picking (Giant had a great selection tho!) I was able to get into the spirit of the Fall season and made some delicious Apple Crisp. I’m not the best cook, although it is a work in progress, but this simple recipe was super easy and tasted great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

If you’re looking for an easy dessert, try it out! (and remember to thank Betty Crocker)

We had to try it out before I took a picture...
just in case it was a flop!

4 medium tart cooking apples, sliced (4 cups)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat oven to 375ºF. Grease bottom and sides of 8-inch square pan with shortening.

Spread apples in pan. In medium bowl, stir remaining ingredients except cream until well mixed; sprinkle over apples.

Bake about 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and apples are tender when pierced with a fork. Serve warm with cream.

Makes 6 servings

5K Fall Challenge

When summer rolled around, I decided it was time to get into “wedding shape.” I wanted to slim down and lose some weight, but of course I didn’t want to pay to join a gym. Lucky for me, Calvert County put in a very nice new ‘park n ride’ right near our town house – and I made it my very own track.

Now that the wedding is over, I absolutely need some motivation to keep me going. Running is rewarding, and I felt great about my diligent exercise routine, but it is so easy to let it go, especially once the weather gets cold. So, I decided to sign up for a 5K…and then another. I’m scheduled to run my very first 5K on October 15, just a little over two weeks from today. I think I can jog the entire thing. I’m a little nervous tho! Hopefully the adrenalin from the race, and the support from some of my coworkers that will be running too, will be enough to help me finish without having to stop and walk!

I’m also signed up for the Race for the Cure – Komen 5K in Hunt Valley on October 23. That one is a little closer to Bel Air, so if anyone is interested in getting out and going for a brisk Sunday morning jog (or just interested in supporting a great cause!) let me know and you can join my team!

New Name, New Blog?

As you know, I used to have a Blog that I failed miserably at maintaining.  But with all of these fun changes happening in my life, I decided maybe it was time to start fresh.  So here I am, with a new name and a new blog. (Just in case you don’t get the pun, it is pronounced Brownie…like the snack)

So, if you know me, you already know that I love to start things, but sometimes lack in the finishing projects department. (Case and point, my old Blog)  One of my goals with this new Blog is to put my goals and projects in writing.  That way, when you haven’t heard anything about a project for a while, you can remind me that I need to finish, or stick with, it!

First goal of the Blog: post at least once a week.  That shouldn’t be too hard, right?!