It’s September!  YaY!!!  I constantly look forward to the changing of the seasons.  Granted I don’t look forward to winter much because here in Central Ohio it gets pretty bitter cold come January and February.  The past few years we’ve seen our fair share of snow as well.  Although shoveling the driveway and sidewalk is a nice way to get some exercise in.  I look forward to fall and spring the most followed by summer.  My summer joy is not long lasting and by August I’m ready for it to be over.

Fall contains so many great things!  Pumpkins, the leaves changing, and cooler weather.  Comfort foods abound and the smell of a fire in the air.  Plus there’s all the fab holidays and reasons for celebration!

In the spring, the weather takes a break from the bitter cold and we see the sun a little more.  It starts to get…

Hi gang!  How’s everybody’s week going? Mine has been so quiet that it’s been very lovely!  I’ve been working on some professional things and also on the blog.  I have some ideas for a change but am not sure quite how to implement them.  Plus my “designer” is a bit of a slow punk when it comes to getting things done.  However he does pay the bills so I guess I can forgive him a little.

The weather here this week has been amazing!  It’s like early fall with very cool mornings, cool enough that I can see my breath, and very mild afternoons.  We’ve been able to open the windows up in the house to let some fresh air through.  I’m relishing this because I hate being all cooped up in a house with recycled air.  Yuck!

Given that it’s still late summer, I’m sure these…

Hi gang! This week was a rough one and a bit off in terms of training.  I only did weights once this week and all my runs, except my long run, were all shorties.  They were good runs, but I was hoping to have a bit more miles going into my long run but it wasn’t happening.  It can be frustrating but I also have to remind myself that it isn’t the end of the world.

I tend to take my workouts one day at a time.  I have a plan in my head how I want to approach the week but I’m flexible as well.  If I’m tired, or something isn’t happening, I’m not going to push it.

Today’s long run was amazing.  I was skeptical going into the run because, not mentioning any names, but someone woke me up an hour before my alarm was…

Hi gang! You know after last week’s pizza debacle that I needed to make some OHC style pizza STAT for this week! I was completely looking forward to it too!  The chew of a whole grain crust, the crisp flavor of fresh veggies, and the satisfaction of eating something homemade was calling my name.

I was a little worried about the crust this week because it seemed a little too fluffy while it was rising.  I was hoping and praying that it work out and that my pizza dreams would not be crushed.  Thankfully my fretting was all for not because the crust turned out amazing.  Not only did it taste fab but during baking it rose like crazy almost looking like I made some sort of deep dish pizza!

Mmmm deep dish pizza!  I have not made that for a while.  Perhaps I should reconsider it and give…

Hello my pretty athletes!  How is everyone doing this week?

Columbus has been hit with some serious humidity this past week and I’m not even exaggerating.  We’ve had heat advisories pretty much all week long.  Sometimes I don’t think people take heat advisories seriously.  Heat advisories happen when the humidity combines with the heat causing it to feel much hotter thus creating a heat index.  Most of the week the actual temp has been in the high 80s to low 90s, yet with the humidity, the heat index has been around the 100 mark.  Meaning people should stay in air conditioned spaces and avoid places with poor ventilation.

Basically it’s DANG hot and just because the temp is technically 85, it can in reality be hotter than that.  People need to take that into consideration and plan accordingly.  Uh, apparently I have strong opinions about that!  I just get frustrated when people don’t pay attention to the weather and then wonder…

Hello pretties!  How’s everyone’s week been and are you looking forward to the weekend?  I am for sure and I hope it’s a relaxing one because dang, we need it up in here!

Also, Happy Friday the 13th!  I am hoping that Scott and I will watch some cheesy horror movies!  We love cheesy horror movies and used to watch them all the time in our earlier courtin’ days.  One thing we watched was on SciFi (I’m sorry, it’s very hard for me to actually type out SyFy and not want to roll my eyes) and it came on every Friday night.  It was called, Full Moon Fright Night and it was hosted by William Shatner.  It was a night full of cheesy B horror movies.  Friday nights rocked at our house!  Sometimes we would order in Chinese and then hang out all night watching movies.

Oh…

This past Wednesday, I had the pleasure of attending a tomato sauce canning class that was put on by Slow Food Columbus.  The class was taught by Rachel of Hounds in the Kitchen.

To give a brief description of who these folks are, Slow Food is a movement that started in 1989.  It’s goal is to get people to not only start cooking for themselves, but to support local suppliers, AND take the time to get to know who the folks are behind your local farms and businesses.  It’s a movement to counteract the idea of fast food and to help educate people on where food comes from and how to purchase and eat responsibly.  Most places across the US have a Slow Food chapter in their area!  If you are interested, take a look at the website to see where your…

Hi gang!  I know I’m getting this post to you late in the day but things have been crazy here at the HQ.  Do I keep saying that because I feel like I’m on repeat.

Pete and his brother Repete were in a boat…..

Ever hear that joke?

Anyway, both Scott and I are tackling projects left and right which means we are busting our butts on this end working hard to make sure things are done and done right.  This week was very busy with business meetings, networking meetings, and project meetings.  Oh and even some bloggy meetings too!

Plus I’m trying to get the HQ in tip-top shape because some of your favorites from the foodie and healthy living bloggy world will be stopping by TOMORROW for a wee lil’ get-together.  Yeah baby!  WHEEE!!

And then there’s living our personal lives and making sure that Scott and I get some facetime together at…

Hi gang!  Scott and I were able to hit the local farmer’s market this week and walked away with some lovely bounty which include some new to me veggies!

• Tomatoes and green tomatoes
• Green peppers
• Banana peppers
• Yellow zucchini (!!)
• Zucchini ball (!!)
• Chicken sausage (not pictured)

Oh my!  I have never seen yellow zucchini or zucchini ball before!  I can’t wait to experiment with those!  Have you heard of them before or ever had them?  How did you have them prepared? I think the zucchini ball looks perfect for stuffing and baking!

Last night I used:

• One banana pepper
• One green pepper
• 2 ears of local corn

To make some Mexican inspired rice for dinner.

It also had onions and a bit of salsa as well.  It was full of flavor and knowing that the majority of it contained local ingredients was very satisfying.

Hello my pretty athletes! How are you all doing and how has your week been?

My week has been a little “off” and it has been a nice reminder that it’s the bigger picture that is more important and not the individual days.  Admittedly I was totally frustrated with the reminder and cursing just about everything with silent mutterings.

I was falling asleep tired all week long and it hit hard on Tuesday.  I did a strength training on Monday and Tuesday I was going to push out 8 miles.  I’m switching up my schedule so that I do longer run on Tuesday, medium on Wednesday, and short speedy on Thursday.

Tuesday called for 8 miles but I did 7.5 because I could not bring myself to do another loop around my hood.  I have sections around my neighborhood that are different distances.  I can combine them…