300 Days of Sunshine

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!  What are you doing for the Halloween weekend?  Although Halloween isn't necessarily my favorite holiday (I could live without the stress of picking out a costume and carving messy pumpkins), I enjoy fall decorating, seeing kids on their costumes, and baking delicious pumpkin treats!  The past few weeks I have experimented with a few varieties of pumpkin cookies and some delicious pumpkin bread.  Hope you enjoy!! Pumpkin Cheesecake Snickerdoodles   (from the Recipe Critic) Soft and fluffy pumpkin cookies with cream cheese filling, rolled in cinnamon sugar... I think the serving size is 10 cookies. INGREDIENTS: 3 3/4 cups flour 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup light brown sugar 3/4 cup pumpkin puree 1 egg 2 tsp vanilla extract       FILLING INGREDIENTS: 8 oz cream cheese, softened...

On our anniversary the hubby and I ran "The Other Half" in Moab.  This was Jaycob's first half marathon!  Moab was gorgeous and I absolutely loved this course. Getting prepped for the race The run started 30 miles up the Colorado River at the Dewey Bridge.  All race participants were shuttled from town to the starting line.  It was a chilly morning and we huddled around the fires to warm up as the sun rose over the mountains.   There were over 1,000 participants in the race, but it didn't seem that way as we were all gathered, sipping hot chocolate, eating last-minute snacks, and stretching before the race.  The gun fired at 8:30 a.m. and we were off! Sunrise over the Dewey Bridge Getting ready to start Running in the canyon The race follows the river downstream through the scenic and picturesque canyon, including view of Castle Rock and the La Sal mountains in the distance.  Jaycob ran with me for the first hour, and we...

I can't believe it's already been a year since our amazing wedding day!  It seems like just a few months ago that we were sending invitations, putting together center pieces, choosing our readings, creating itineraries, and planning all the details of our perfect day.  I am so thankful to have such a dependable, hard-working and adventurous husband who challenges me to be a better person.  I love the beautiful life we've created in the southwest with our four-legged, furry babies, and by this time next year I hope to have our own house. A few memories of our Wedding Day... For our First Anniversary we went on a weekend trip to Moab, Utah, where we spent Saturday afternoon mountain biking, ran a half marathon on Sunday, and visited Arches and Mesa Verde National Parks.   This trip was pretty representative of our active and adventurous lifestyle.  Moab was absolutely gorgeous!  On the night of our anniversary we splurged for a night at t...

“But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.”  -Stephen King, Salem's Lot Santa Fe Baldy It's been quite a while since I was able to write about hiking!  Between running and biking, shopping for a house, and traveling once or twice a month, hiking has been on the back burner for a few weeks (with the exception of occasional trail running and frequent jogs up Picacho Peak).  Eager to see some fall leaves and enjoy the GORGEOUS weather, we headed up to Santa Fe Baldy last weekend.  This is one of my favorite hikes in the Santa Fe area (although also one of the most strenuous), and it was the first time I w...

I love warm, hearty Sunday night dinners, while we're relaxing after a busy weekend, watching Sunday night football, and planning for the week.  This weekend I made my green chile chicken stew!  This is a popular Santa Fe tradition and has so many yummy fall and winter flavors.  I tried to get a lot of my ingredients at our local Farmer's Market this weekend, and I cooked the stew in my beautiful micaceous pot that was handmade by my friend Becky, a very talented ceramics artist in Santa Fe.  These pots are built from coiling, not wheel throwing, and are made with New Mexican clay, so I was feeling very organic and earthy!  I love supporting our local farmers and artists, especially when a delicious meal results. Below is the recipe I have used for my stew, but feel free to share your own recipe with me!  In the future I think I'd like to add more green chile and some pinto beans too.  This would also be delicious with pork or beef instead of chicken...