In Honor of My Grandmother

My aunt is participating in the Baltimore's Half Marathon Pacing for Parkinson's on Oct 15th. She is running in honor of my grandmother who suffered and eventually succumbed in Jan to a rare form of Parkinson's disease called MSA - Multiple System Atrophy. She is fundraising for the event, the charity is for Parkinson's & would appreciate if you can support her cause. Thanks!

Half Marathon for Parkinsons

Until Next Time!

Laura 

Painting Inspirations

One of my hobbies is painting, its very relaxing and good for my ADD brain, ha! I took classes in high school and would have loved to have continued in college but never had the time. I love painting with acrylic and watercolor paints. I especially love painting landscapes and flowers. Here are a few inspirations I found today right in my backyard! 

(Note I did not plant these, I am a terrible gardener!) 

So when I have time, I will have to paint one of these flowers and post it! 

Till Next Time,

Laura 

Sunday Family Dinner

Ive decided to start blogging about some of the yummy dinners we make. I'm a beginner cook, so this will help me stay motivated to cook and try new recipes. With this being the summer, I'm trying out a few lighter dishes. This recipe from Cooking Light is called the Corn and Summer Vegetable Saute

I changed it a little by using celery instead of okra and I added chicken, cumin and lime juice. Next time, I think I'll even add a little avocado before serving. I loved all the southwest flavors from the spices and vegetables and the spicy kick from the jalapeño.  

I also paired this dish with a sweet wine. I had a Muscat (my fav) on hand. 

Love this wine from the Eberle winery in Paso Robles. 

Hope you decide to give it a try!

Till Next Time! 

Laura

Oh How She's Grown: Bath Edition

It's amazing in how much Allie has grown in four short months!


Bath time at 3 days old!

Bath time at 2 months old!

Bath time at 4 months old!

I love how she's starting to love bath time. Those first couple of times giving her sponge baths were a little rough, though I think we've gotten better as parents too! I remember it taking both Jesse and me to give her a bath and now I can do it, one handed and in five minutes! Although, who wants to rush a bath when she loves it so much. She also loves to look at herself in the mirror and lotion time afterwards.

Till Next Time!     

Laura

Fun Photo Friday

Heidi loves to feel the breeze while riding in the car. This time she took it to a new level by sticking her head out of the sun roof!

Till Next Time!

Laura

Baby Allie tried to take out runner at finish line!

Here is a video of Jesse, Allie and I at the finish line at my first 5K. I'm in the left hand corner in the Navy t-shirt and Jesse and Allie come down the center. Note the time clock started with the first group, we started in the third. :-)

You can also see the girls who ran with the ANNOYING cow bells and cow ear headbands that finished just behind us. 

Chick-fil-A 5k 2011 - Newport News, VA :: FinishCam.com

Till Next Time!

Laura

My Top Workouts for Summer!

Summer is here! 

Here are some ways to have fun in the sun and stay cool in the heat

• Join a gym and fitness class

Whether you're into yoga, running, spinning or toning there are great classes at your local gym to sign up for!

Ohh and guess what...a gym has air conditioning so you can work out at any time of the day!

• Walk to your local ice cream shop 
A great idea to get the kids out exercising 

A "cool" reward 
• Start cycling!

Cycling in the summer is a great workout and a way to stay cooler without realizing you're sweating! It's a great cross training workout for runners and a lower impact workout for non runners

Visit a local bike shop to find the routes and sign up for metric century rides

Those of us with kids can also bike with them in the evening after dinner as a great end of day routine!

• Take a hike!

I love going hiking in the summer! There's so much beauty! If you can find a place with trees to hike in, MAJOR plus :-)

Walk in your local park or visit a local national park

Go mountain climbing if you live near the mountains

Hiking in the Alps!

Hiking at Sequoia National Park

• Explore a new city and walk around! 

More of us take vacations in the summer so here is a fun way to fit in some fitness. I loved doing this while living in Texas and California

Visiting Austin, TX

Even the dogs love it

Visiting Coranado Beach in San Diego

• Swimming!

Whether you swam for your high school swim team or you're like me and prefer to use a kick board, swimming is a great workout in the summer and a way to stay cool

Till Next Time!

Laura