Sharin O' The Green

Over St Paddy's weekend Ryan and I ran the Sharin O' The Green 5K in Fort Collins with some of Ryan's colleagues.  It was pretty much a perfect day for running as it was nice and cool and not too sunny.  This picture of us made the Coloradan!

I probably shouldn't admit this but that barefoot guy beat me.  So I didn't break any land speed records but Ryan did really great.  I also probably shouldn't be so proud that we're so noticeable in this picture because we are the only two (besides barefoot guy) not decked out in green.  We're festive like that.

After the race we enjoyed breakfast at Lucile's with one of Ryan's colleagues and his wife.  I tried grits for the first time and discovered I really liked them.  We enjoyed the rest of the day in Fort Collins and later met a group of Ryan's colleagues for a Colorado Eagles hockey game.  I didn't even know there was such a thing as a Colorado Eagles hockey team but I found out they play in the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland.  I liked that it was a much smaller venue than the Pepsi Center in Denver.  

Food News

I haven't posted about food for a long time and am feeling a little funny on the inside about it so I will update you with the latest gastronomic affairs in our household.  We finally cut into the farmhouse cheddar cheese that Ryan made months ago and it was fantastic.  (We cut the cheese..hahaha.)  Perfect all alone or with some wine and crackers.

We also have been eating elk everything.  Elk tacos, elk pot roast, elk spaghetti, elk steak, elk on salad, elk pizzas, smoky elk brisket, elk meatballs, elk sloppy joes, elk chili, elk fried noodles, bacon wrapped elk...basically anything that could be made with beef we now make with elk.  The ground elk is really good and I can't even really tell we're not eating beef; however, I have a little more trouble with the big cuts of meat like roast, steak, and loin so we've looked for elk/venison specific recipes which are more suitable to the flavor of the actual elk (instead of beef).  So far, the bacon wrapped elk loin went over well and so did the smokey elk tacos (made with roast) and a venison pot roast recipe.  Ryan likes the elk no matter how it is cooked so some nights he will grill up steaks for himself while I eat something else.  I've been really bad about taking food pictures lately but I did capture at least a few of our elk creations.

Another thing we've been eating more of is authentic Chinese food.  I guess Ryan was missing some of the food we got to eat while in Hong Kong so he just started making it himself.  He has made congee on several occasions and also made coconut buns once.  We haven't been to dim sum since Hong Kong though because we're pretty sure we'll try to compare it and it just won't stack up.  So maybe after another month or so we can try...

Seedlings

A couple weeks ago we planted seedlings for our garden.  I think we may have been slightly overly ambitious considering our backyard is the size of a postage stamp and we'd never be able to plant everything if all the seedlings hatched...but, hopefully we get a few good seedlings of each type of veggie/herb we planted and can work with our space.  This is what we planted:  green onion, carrot, acorn squash, butternut squash, spinach, jalapeno, poblano, bok choy, dill, pickling cucumber, regular cucumber, basil, green beans, mesclun, and okra.  We decided not to plant any tomatoes in the ground this year because they never seem to grow that great in our backyard and what does grow gets eaten by our dogs before we can pick it (even though we have fences up to deter them).  If we do grow tomatoes we will just get one of those bag things you can hang.  Here is our starter kit the day we planted.

And here it now!

Some of the veggies are growing like crazy!  It makes me so excited for spring/summer!  Well, that and the absolutely gorgeous day we had today. But anyway, nothing tastes better than veggies from your own garden!  Unfortunately not everything has sprouted and I'm not sure if it will but we have a pretty decent crop of seedlings already.  If none of the herbs come up we can try planing again in some pots I think.  I mean you can never have too much fresh basil and dill.  We used so much dill last summer with all of Ryan's canning and we used a ton of basil too and what we couldn't use fresh we made into pesto and froze it.  We still have some of that pesto in our freezer and it is so good on everything.

A Boy and His Dog

Betcha thought those were going to be pictures of Ryan with Mojo, didn't you?  Nope.  Peanut stays by Ryan's side like nobody else when he's doing outdoor tasks.  When we used to have a large backyard that took more than two swipes to mow, she was right on Ryan's heels the entire time.

These pictures are from the big snow we got the weekend before last.  But by last weekend it was sunny and 60!  Snow never lasts that long around here but I hear we're supposed to get some more this weekend.

Awesomeness

The last week in January was awesome.  It started off with attending the stock show for the last weekend it was in town.  I got to cowgirl up with my new sweet boots.

When we got there we walked through and checked out all the different vendors selling things like cowboy boots, hats, fences, home decorations, clothing, ranch equipment, etc.  We also got to walk through the areas where the livestock were kept and saw several cattle and sheep up close and personal.  In one of the arenas we watched a border collie sheep herding competition.  It was so neat to watch the border collies work with just whistles and verbal cues from their owners.  We only saw one dog complete all the obstacles successfully.  The rest were disqualified because they were taking too much time or they nipped at the sheep.  Oops!  Then we got to watch the rodeo!

I love going to rodeos.  We had one in my hometown every summer and it was an event.  There was a Rodeo parade and everything.  And I love snarfing on nachos and kettle corn.  :)

Later in the week Mark and Wendy were in town for one night for work so we got to meet them for dinner and spend some time together.  We took them to Root Down and they both seemed to like it and we got to visit for several hours.  I love it when family comes to town.

Mark had also brought a package with him from Mom so I got to tear into that later and discover a bunch of goodies:  tea cups to match the teapot my aunt gave me, chopsticks, and a few other items.    To top it all off, when I got home later that night I had a package waiting for me from Momma Sharon and it was FULL of delicious homemade caramels!  What a way to top off my fantastic week!

A Story

Recently Ryan and I were at Petsmart and this is how our conversation went:

Me:  Can I have a cute, fuzzy, little chinchilla?
Ryan:  No.  Chinchillas stink.
Me:  I could give my sweet chinchilla baths...
Ryan:  Water turns chinchillas into gremlins.
Me:  Oh.

So I didn't get a chinchilla.  The End.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Church Lady pics

I realized I never posted pictures of The Church Lady after all of the body work.  Here she is:

Ryan loves this car.  I still haven't driven it.  Ryan thinks that is weird but I think it is self-preservation on my part.  I have run every single one of Ryan's vehicles (except the Batmobile) into a structure (think parking garage walls, telephone poles) and I don't really want to continue that streak.  He was very forgiving with the trucks but I'm not so certain how he'd feel about me smashing The Church Lady up against the side of our garage or against a light pole at the grocery store.  So, I will continue on my merry way and drive Olive and just enjoy being a passenger in The Church Lady.  :)