Spa Day

Back before Mother's Day, I said that I would love to have some relaxing time at the spa. Bryan had looked into a trip for myself and my friend Kelly to go to Nashville and spend the day at the spa and night at a nice hotel. After months of us never getting around to making that trip, I decided that maybe we should try something on a smaller scale.
Last Wednesday Bryan had the day off so Kelly & I made an appointment at a spa here in Clarksville. The day was AMAZING!
We started with a facial - which I had never had before. I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxing a facial is. I almost fell asleep during the process!
The facial lasted an hour and after that we had our foot treatments. Their foot treatment is basically a pedicure, but it was the best one I've ever had.
Following our foot treatments, we had lunch in the Garden Room of the spa. We had vegetable soup, corn bread and chocolate cake. We decided that it was a perfect meal because the vegetable soup wasn't heavy or super filling. Therefore we had plenty of room left for our big piece of cake!
Our final treatment for the day was our hour long massage. It was wonderful! After the massage, the therapist told me that she could tell during the treatment how badly my body needed that.
Overall it was one of the best days I've had since we moved here. It was great to be able to share such a relaxing day with a good friend who also needed a break. I'm so thankful to Bryan for making the day possible for us!

Clarksville Half Marathon

This past Saturday was the Clarksville Half Marathon. The race was at 8am so Bryan & I were up by 6. Our babysitter came to stay with Marlie while we ran. A half marathon is 13.1 miles. I ran 13 miles two weeks ago, but this run was MUCH harder. I struggled a lot and was disappointed with my end result, but I completed the race in 2 hours and 38 minutes.
On the other hand, I was very proud of Bryan. He was in the field for the 2 weeks prior to the race so he wasn't able to run much leading up to Saturday. He finished the race in 2 hours and 4 minutes.
I'm glad to have the experience behind me now. I plan to sign up for the Country Music 1/2 Marathon in Nashville in April. For now I'm going to take a bit of a rest from running long distances though!

Once again we had to take a post race picture at our house because there was nowhere to put our camera at the race site.

You can view some of our action shots here. You have to search by our bib numbers though. Mine was 132 and Bryan's was 133.

http://orders.racephotonetwork.com/QPPlus/SearchBibNumber.aspx?EventID=838397&_AccountNumber=20098&EventName=%20%&EventDate=


Here is a picture from the start of the race where you can see Bryan well.

Sausage & Cheese Squares

This was a winner at my MOPS group and a hit in our house too!

Sausage & Cheese Squares
2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls
2 lbs breakfast sausage
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 8oz pkgs cream cheese

Brown & crumble sausage, then drain.
Remove sausage from pan and melt cream cheese in pan.
Fold in sausage.
In a greased 13x9 inch baking dish, place one can of rolls in bottom and press seams together.
Add the sausage & cream cheese mixture on top of the flattened crescent rolls.
Next sprinkle the cheddar cheese evenly on top of the mixture.
Finally add the 2nd can of rolls on top of cheese and press the seams together.

Shoes!

So I've told some of my friends and family about these, but haven't put them on my blog. I have bad feet so it's always an ordeal for me to find cute, comfortable shoes. I came across these on Target's website and LOVE them! They are soft and flexible which leads me to believe they would be a good fit for anyone. They are only $12.99 and if you spend over $50 at Target, you can get free shipping. I would recommend doing what I did, and get them in multiple colors! In addition to red, I also bought turquoise, mustard, pewter, bronze and fuschia!

Sausage with Peppers and Pasta

Here's another recipe from Kraft foods. I have to include the disclaimer that our votes were split on this one. Bryan just thought it was ok, but I really enjoyed it. That is especially surprising since I don't eat peppers.

Sausage with Peppers and Pasta

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 29 min
Makes: 6 servings, 1-1/2 cups each

3 cups rigatoni pasta, uncooked
1 lb. Italian sausage, sliced
1 each: red, green and yellow pepper, coarsely chopped
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1-1/2 cups Shredded Italian* Mozzarella-Parmesan Cheese Blend
1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

COOK pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook sausage in large skillet on medium heat 10 min. Stir in peppers; cook 7 min. or until sausage is cooked through and peppers are crisp-tender. Stir in tomatoes; cook 2 min. or until heated through.

DRAIN pasta. Add to sausage mixture with shredded cheese; mix well.

TOP with Parmesan.

Happy Halloween

Last week Bryan & Marlie carved one of our pumpkins that we got on our trip to Patterson Place Farm. Marlie enjoyed being the assistant, but she did not want to put her hand inside the pumpkin!




Getting an up close view of the glow!


On Wednesday night, my friend, Kelly, and I took our girls to the fall festival at our church. It took Marlie a little bit to warm up to her costume, but once I mentioned that she could get candy if she wore it - she was all about it!
Showing off all her candy!

"Baby" Emily & Marlie

My sweet Foofa

Searching for candy in the hay


On Saturday, we had a pre-trick-or-treat get together at our house. Some of our neighbors came over and we had an early dinner then let the kids play. Once 6 o'clock rolled around we were out the door! A large group of us walked around the neighborhood while the kids collected way too much candy!
Foofa once again

Kate & M

Rainbow Brite, Foofa, and DJ Lance Rock. I made my costume last year and plan to wear it until it falls apart. M's costume was easy to make, but DJ Lance was a little more work. They're not perfect but it was fun to make them.

Gingered Carrots & Cod

I'd almost forgotten about this recipe, but if it's the one I'm thinking of, we really enjoyed it.

Gingered Carrots & Cod

Makes 4 servings
Prep 15 minutes
Cook 12 minutes
Microwave 1 1/2 minutes
Bake at 400 for 23 minutes

4 cod or scrod fillets (about 5 oz each)
1/4 cup honey
1 Tbsp chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1/8 plus 1/4 tsp salt
pinch ground black pepper
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 large bunch carrots, peeled and cut on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices
1 sweet yellow pepper, cored and cut into 1 inch pieces
mashed potatoes, for serving (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Coat a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Place cod in dish, spacing fillets at least 1/2 inch apart.

In a 2 cup measuring cup, combine honey, ginger, vinegar, soy sauce, 1/8 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper.
Cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 1 1/2 minutes (mixture will bubble up).
Remove from microwave and whisk in 1 tablespoon butter.
Spoon 1 tablespoon sauce over each cod fillet.
Sprinkle cod with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Cover dish with foil and bake at 400 for 20-23 minutes, until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork.

Meanwhile, melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Add carrots; saute 3 minutes.
Add yellow pepper and saute 2 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium; add 1/4 cup water and cover.
Cook 5 minutes, until tender.

Uncover skillet; stir in remaining sauce from measuring cup.
Raise heat to medium-high and cook 2 minutes.

Divide carrot mixture evenly among 4 plates.
Top each with a piece of cod.
Serve with mashed potatoes, if desired.

Per Serving:
293 calories
10g fat (6g sat)
22g protein
31g carbohydrate
3g fiber
645mg sodium
71mg cholesterol