Liebster Award

OMG...I am so excited!  I have been nominated for a Liebster Award.  EEEEEEEE!(That's the sound of me squealing for delight).  This is absolutely AMAZING!!  Why you wonder?  Because it means someone is reading my blog....and they must find it kind-of interesting.  Whoohooo!  This is my new-blogger equivalent of an Emmy.  Seriously.  I'm considering an acceptance speech.  :)  Now that I've got my blubbering out of the way, I'll move on with the actual award. 

 

I have been nominated by the beautiful and stylish Diva from www.docndiva.com.  Go check out their blog, it's awesome!  This award is for an aspiring blogger with less than 300 followers. 

Rules:

- Answer the questions the tagger has asked you

- List 10 bloggers you nominate and link them in your post.  Let them know

- Create 10 questions for the bloggers you have tagged to answer.

 

Following are my answers to the 10 questions from DocNDiva

   Which excites you more:

1) Blogging or vlogging?  Blogging

2) Alien or ghost?  Ghost

3) Color or B&W? In clothing - Color, in Photographs - B&W

4) Style or fashion?  Style

5) Strong eye or bold lip?   Strong eye 

6) Sunny active afternoon or rainy lazy evening?  This ones hard because I love both...especially a sunny active afternoon FOLLOWED by a rainy, lazy evening.

7) Music or book?   Book (but this was a hard one too)

8) Statement jewelries or color-blocking accessory?   Statement Jewelry

9) Trendy casual or chic formal?  Trendy casual 

10) Friendly eating-in or romantic dine-out? I used to be a friendly eating-in kind-of girl, but now that I have three small kids, I cherish my romantic nights out. 

Here are my nominees:

1) A Dr.Mom run to Disney
2) Running Thoughts
3) Travel With Emily
4) Elbow Glitter
5) The Unlikely Competitor
6) Runner's Tales
7) One (Officially) Goofy Mother Runner!
8) For the love of Disney running...
9) Running Jennie
10) Running After the Boys

Here are my 10 questions:

1) What is your favorite book or movie?
2) Do your friends and family know you blog or are you anonymous?
3) Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
4) What is your favorite blog?
5) Name one thing you have always been good at?
6) What do you do to relieve stress?
7) What is your favorite color?
8) Do you have a bucket list?
9) If you could describe one word to describe yourself, what would it be?
10) Do you have a favorite quote, what is it?

Thanks so much again to The Doc N Diva for the nomination.  You absolutely made my day, week, month!!!  Check out their blog, as well as the 10 I nominated...let's share some love!  Have a great weekend everyone!!

Question of the day: Do you have a blog?  Let me know, I'd love to check it out! 







Tasty Tuesday

I realized I have yet to feature a recipe from one of my favorite food categories....appetizers.   Mmmmm, delicious, although not often a healthy choice, they are a wonderful indulgence.  Today, I'm sharing my Crab Meat & Shrimp Dip recipe and it's definately on delicious indulgence side of things.   I've seen many, many variations of this recipe with many different names, but this is the one I use.

Crab Meat & Shrimp Dip

   2 - 8 oz packages   cream cheese
   1 cup                      mayonaise
   1/2 cup                   diced onions
   3 tsp                       dill weed
   2 cups                    grated cheddar cheese
   1 can                      crab meat
   1 can                      shrimp (small works best)
                                  french loaf
                                  parmesan cheese (real not the Kraft shaker kind)

Mix cream cheese, mayonaise, onions, dill, & cheese.  Add crab & shrimp.  cut large oval in the top of French loaf and hollow out.  Stuff the above mixture into the bread loaf.  Sprinkle the top with parmeson cheese.  **I wrap the entire loaf with tinfoil before baking, so only the top with the mixture is showing.  These seems to help so the bread doesn't burn** 
Bake at 325F for 45 minutes to 1 hour (or until bubbling and hot).  Serve with bread pieces and crackers. 

This dip is absolutely amazing...but what isn't with those ingredients.  I usually save it for special occasions since the calorie count is so high, but it's very worth it when I do indulge.  I'm told the dip itself freezes well, but to be honest, I have never tried it.

Next time you're hosting a few friends, or heading to a special event, try this dip.  I hope you won't be disappointed!

Question of the day: What's your favorite food category: appetizers, salads, soups, main course, dessert?

The Happiest Place on Earth

A year ago, I was in the happiest place on earth...Disneyland.  I had a four year old daughter and twin two year old sons.  Hubby and I decided, that with the help of my parents, we would take our very first family vacation.  Watching my children experience Disneyland for the first time...well, it brings tears to my eyes a year later thinking about it. 

Today, I decided I would share some photos from our vacation with you.  FLASHBACK!  I enjoyed going through them so much, I hope you enjoy them as well!  I am only doing Disneyland, so I'll save California Adventure for another day.  Enjoy!

 

The castle all lit up at night.

 

My dare-devil daughter, hands up on the ramp heading to the big drop on Splash Mountain. 

 

Pixie Hollow

 

 

Partners Statue with the Castle in the background

 

You definately achieved this, Walt!

 

Trains station with flower bed out front.

 

Afternoon parade

 

 

Snow White's Grotto....#1 place for proposals in Disneyland (or so I'm told)

 

 

The sign as you leave the Disneyland Resort, walking toward the hotels on Harbour Boulevard.  Thank-you for the great memories!!  Hope you enjoyed my photos. I tried to include pictures of things that are different or don't exist at Disney World so anyone who hasn't been to Disneyland can see some of the differences. 

Question of the Day: Where did you take your first family vacation (either as a parent or a child?

Tasty Tuesday

When life gets hectic, I find I turn to my slowcooker for meals more often than not.  Before I leave the house, I throw my meal in the slowcooker, and when I get home, supper is already cooking.  It's relieving to take the pressure off of trying to make something to eat for my family when I get home from work or a day away from the house.  Today, I'll share a family favorite recipe that works great in the slowcooker.

Barbeque Beef

2 cups celery
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup water
1 pkg beef bouillion (powdered)
2 tbsp onion flakes (dried instant minced)
1 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp prepared Mustard
1/4 cup vinegar
2-3 lb roast of beef (any cut of meat works)

Combine all ingredients and cook in slowcooker for 4-5 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low (or until fully cooked).  When cooked, use two forks to "shred" meat. 

Serving suggestion: Serve in buns as "Beef on a Bun" or serve over rice or mashed potatoes.  I always serve this with buns and a fresh tossed salad, or raw veggies.  Everyone in our house loves this meal, including my children, who don't usually eat beef. 

Time-saving alternative: I often will purchase a larger roast (5-6 lbs) and slowcook it in the slowcooker without the sauce on a day when I have other supper plans.  When it's cooked, I shred it all and then divide into 3 ziplock freezer bags.  Then, I make the above sauce 3 times and divide into the three beef-filled ziplock bags.  I freeze all three bags and then have 3 suppers ready to go.  I find people don't eat a lot of meat when it's put on buns, so each portion often serves 2 meals.  Whohoo...two meals from one slowcooker...that's my kind of recipe.  :)

Question of the Day: What's your favorite slowcooker recipe? 

My Week in Review: February 24, 2013

Here's my week in review.
Monday - 30 minute walk
Tuesday - 30 minute walk
Wednesday - 30 min stationery bike
Thursday - 30 min stationery bike
Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - No real "exercise" but 4 hours of volunteering and being on my feet running back and forth in my community
Sunday - Rest Day

My first week back blogging has been a success in my mind.  Thanks to everyone who has stopped by for a peak!  I am getting very excited about getting to know everyone better and becoming more active in this amazing community.  I'm looking forward to reading everyone's race recaps from this weekend, and even though it will be a long time until I have recaps of my own, I'm getting excited thinking about it!  Have a great week!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone!

In the spirit of doing "more things for me", I am taking the afternoon to run errands and pick up things that would take me twice as long with my kiddos in tow.  Tonight, hubby and I will be going out for supper to celebrate 7 years of marriage.  Wow..time flies!  I'm incredibly lucky to have married such a wonderful man and look forward to an evening out celebrating that. 

In other news, as many know, this weekend is the Disney Princess Half Marathon.  Good luck to all of you running this weekend!  I look forward to reading your race recaps and hearing your stories!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Inspiration

With the Disney Princess Half Marathon days away, I felt there was no better time than today to talk about everyone who has inspired me.  I have been planning this post in my head for months and months...and months.  Back in September, when many of you ran the Disneyland Half Marathon I was planning a post where I linked to everyone’s race reports.  I planned a post about the bloggers who inspired me to become healthier, to take charge of my life, and to make goals and strive to achieve them (that’s a whole other post).  I decided to combine the ideas.
 

So, on to who has inspired me...if you’re reading this, it was probably you.  I have been reading Healthy Living Blogs for a long time now.  I have been lurking on Disney message boards (www.runningoftheears.com and www.disboards.com) and have been reading all of your blogs.  Some I read at the beginning and have lost track of now (before I learned to favorite them or follow them).  Some, I have followed all along and some I just stop by to read a race report or two, grab a recipe, and check out what’s going on.  But, EVERY one of you has inspired me.  I hope you remember that everyday somewhere in the blogiverse, someone is reading your blog, not necessarily commenting, and you are changing their life for the better.

Without further ado, here is the list of blogs I love.  Many of you will already know each other, but maybe some of you don’t.  Please take the time to stop in and say hi to each other.  You are an amazing group of people!  For those of you who have found me from somewhere else, welcome!  By checking out this list of fellow bloggers, you are about to be inspired!

Running With Sass

Eat Sleep Run Disney

Running Toward the Prize

Running At Disney

A Dr. Mom runs to Disney

We Run Disney

Running Thoughts

Running Halfway Around the World

Travel With Emily

Running Through the Castle

2princessesontherun

Elbowglitter

The Unlikely Competitor

...Just Me & My Running Shoes...

For the love of Disney running...

Runner's Tales

Pumpkin to Princess

Running Toward the Prize

One (Officially) Goofy Mother Runner!

Live, Run, Grow

C Talley Run

Menubyvicky

This list doesn’t include every incredible blogger, and it doesn’t even include everyone who’s inspired me.  I know I have missed some of you, and I am sorry for that.  This doesn’t include all the Race Reports I have read on the running sites...you inspired me too! 

Question of the Day: Was there a blogger who inspired you to start your healthy living or running journey?  I’d love to hear about them!