This may be one of my last posts...

IF I DIE THIS SATURDAY IN THE OPEN WATER!!!!
Okay, I guess it's not really THAT bad...But, this coming from the girl that has been both skydiving and bungee jumping, I will say that this was one of the scariest things I've done. Last Friday, Kelli and I took our first shot at an Open Water Swim. I put on my cute little tri swim top, grabbed my workout bag and headed out the door to pick Kelli up..la la la la la...no worries. And then halfway down the road leading to Lake 288 (a scuba diving and sports training lake) something unexpected happened...BUTTERFLIES IN MY TUMMY!! This is VERY different than swimming 60 laps in a 25 meter pool! Will there be alligators? The big know-it-alls say "No Misty, there aren't alligators in there", but HOW DO YOU KNOW?? An alligator can go wherever it wants! At one point I will be 1/2 mile away from shore bobbing like bait...what if I get a hammy cramp? aaaaahhhhhhh!!! We talk the whole drive out and calm ourselves down. Then we arrive and see this:

Yep, it's official, I'm going to die! THIS is where I'm going to die!
The owner of the Lake took pity on us and got his swim instructor to come give us a quick little private lesson. Faking confidence (as to not look as stupid as we know we are) we began putting on our swim caps and ear plugs...only to be told WE HAVE BEEN WEARING OUR SWIM CAPS WRONG ALL ALONG! We were putting them on sideways (which looking at them and minding all of the rules of fashion is how it SHOULD go, but whatever)! How do you fake confidence in your swimming ability when you don't even know how to put on a swim cap! So this process, which has taken us an average of 10 minutes (getting our big fro's all up in a tiny cap is NOT an easy task) only takes about 10 seconds when you do it correctly!
Now that we are one week from the triathlon and just passed level ONE of putting on the cap, we were ready to do a "test" for the instructor! Simply swim out to the boat in the middle and back. Sounds easy, right? Being the show offs that we are, we put on our best swimming form and did his little test. After a couple of quick pointers (and Richard nicely lying and saying that our form actually isn't all that bad) it was time to start! If you hug the perimeter of the lake it is a square, 225 meters on each side. So twice around would be 1800 meters, 200 meters more than the race.
So off I went! No more than 100 meters away from shore, it was like I completely forgot how to swim! I floundered, gasping for air and would have drowned, I think, if I hadn't forgotten how to do that too! I had a quick Come to Jesus meeting with myself and said, "Misty, you have a long way to go...there's no turning back, and you know you'd rather die than quit! So GET IT TOGETHER!" Before I knew it, I'd passed the first buoy, then the second, then the third, and in no time at all I'd finished 900 meters, one time around the lake! And since this whole triathlon is just a big mental game with me, now knowing that all I had to do was do the same distance one more time, I was good to go! Settling into my rhythm, I finished the distance just before sunset! It was a great feeling to be done, and an even better feeling to know that I can do this again in a week and I won't die!
And it really felt good to get out of the water, talk to Kelli, and find out she had ALL OF THE SAME EXPERIENCES in the water as I did!

I was on such a high the rest of the night and began counting down the days to the race! I told everyone who would listen all about this Open Water experience but I don't think you can understand the feeling unless you try it!
A few more pictures of our recent training...

If you look closely, you can see a little dark shadow called KELLI! Yep, we are DUMMIES! We had to start EXTRA early (5:30am) one day because Kelli had to be home earlier and it was a 2 1/2 hour workout, so we meet in our usual spot forgetting that it would still be PITCH BLACK! Good thing I was wearing black shorts, grey tank, and had NOTHING reflective on me! I eventually turned on my iphone and tucked it in the back of my shorts to shine behind me, hoping the cars MAY see us and not kill us! :)

Beautiful morning for a bike ride!



T-Minus 2 days, 17 hours, and 31 minutes until start time...

This just in...a local 28 year old girl has just enrolled in Karate!

Have you seen that commercial? It makes me laugh SO hard!!

Well I've actually been taking Karate all summer! I started going just to hang out with Kristen and thought it'd be a good extra workout in my week...but I've really started to enjoy it! I feel super tough and really like learning the self defense portion...I DARE someone to try and steal my purse...and if you have a knife you are in SO much trouble! I'll send that thing flying out of your hands so fast you won't know what hit ya! :)

Next, on to my GREEN BELT! Watch out muggers everywhere...

When I'm not out fighting crime with my ninja-like skills I've been a bit of a Susie Homemaker around here! Well let me clarify, I'm way behind on the laundry, my gardens look awful with dead plants and weeds, and I STILL don't know how to work our iron we got 4 1/2 years ago, but I have been cooking some YUMMY dinners! Look to the right...in my profile...it says that when I find something I like I become obsessed with it...well i loooooove finding recipes and trying new meals right now!
It was a fiesta around here this weekend! On Friday I made Mexican Chicken and Avacado Soup:

It was really healthy and tasted awesome!
Then on Saturday I made a Southwestern Skillet! I put it on top of a baked tortilla, drizzled it with ranch, and added a side of salsa! aaaaahhhhh SO good!


Tonight I broke my mexican food streak and made Bourbon and Maple Pork Tenderloin with a side of garlic and onion sauteed green beans

...oh and lookie-loo what I found at the grocery store today...

mmmmmmmm! Tastes like a Flinstones Push Up!

Soooo, by this point have you gotten the idea that I LOVE FOOD!? :) Well I do and I'm proud of it!

I live with a serial killer...

Anyone remember the movie "Sleeping with the Enemy"? Of course I know it well because it has my Julia in it! Do you remember the part where she knows her crazy killer ex husband has been in her house because the towels which were hanging uneven and messy before are now hanging even and neat? Also the kitchen cabinets which looked messy like most of ours probably do, were straightened with the cans in perfect rows.
Well, THAT'S KEVIN!!!!!!!! It's a running joke in our house because he is just a little OCD and I am sooooooo not! It is the most obvious when it comes to the dishwasher. I will load it and he will come right behind me and straighten it up!! So, you'd think I'd learn, and begin doing it correctly...that would be the mature thing to do....but that wouldn't be the funniest way to handle it! :) So what do I do? I DO IT BAD ON PURPOSE to see what he'll do! See? Now isn't that funnier?! So the other day I set him up...ran a little experiment, if you will...

And HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED:

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Creeeeeeeeepy! :)
Now, of course I realize that his way is SO much better, but I have to be honest, I DON'T GIVE A FLIP ABOUT THE BEST WAY TO LOAD A DISHWASHER! But I'll always get that little chill down my spine, and giggle to myself every time I open the dishwasher and see those perfect rows...

Nice buns honey!

Oh.My.Goodness...I know I said I was on a quest to find HEALTHY recipes, but allow me to splurge just one more time! (Okay, nevermind, I won't make promises I can't keep) But this WILL be the last one for a while because my big bootie is feeling the effects of my cooking this weekend!
May I present to you, THE BEST CINNAMON ROLLS IN THE WORLD!

I have to admit I was pretty proud of myself to make these completely from scratch! The recipe takes a while, but oh man, well worth it!
Thank you Pioneer Woman for this fabulous recipe:
1 quart of whole milk
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8+1 cups of all-purpose flour
1 heaping tsp baking powder
1 "scant" tsp baking soda
1 heaping Tbsp of salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups melted butter
1 cup of sugar
generous sprinkling of cinnamon
Mix the milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. "Scald" the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but not hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it-overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to splurge out of the pan, just punch it down.)

Sprinkle surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam to the roll to seal it. Spread 1 Tbsp of melted butter in seven round, foil cake or pie pans. Then begin cutting rolls approximately 3/4 to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20-30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees until light golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

Maple Frosting

1 bag of powdered sugar
2 tsp maple flavoring
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup brewed coffee
1/8 tsp salt

Mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don't skimp on the frosting! :)
Okay, I promise, it's back to healthy...at least until I get my next crazy craving!!

On a different note, my little buddy Cooper Holloman (Kelli's youngest boy) was taken to the ER at the end of last week and his appendix ruptured! Poor baby! He's doing good and may be coming home today...fingers crossed! Kelli has been STIR CRAZY up at the hospital and has missed 4 days of training, which means MISTY has trained the last four days ALONE! YUCK-O! I didn't realize how much I needed my workout buddy until the last four days! I know you can't even talk during a 60 minute swim anyway, but just knowing she's in the lane next door somehow makes it easier! I can't wait for her to be back!!

Well, I hear kids screaming wild in the gym, so I'm off! :) I leave you with this...just a glimpse of the fun days of Summer 2010...which I'm sad to say is slowly coming to an end...