Gnarly Neon 5k and My 2013 Garden

I was in the midst of writing this new blog post when the Boston Marathon explosions occurred. There are absolutely no words to express the sheer sadness of this ruthless action, and my whole heart goes to those affected by the attack. I've spent most of the time since hearing of it in tears, even though I don't know anyone who was there at the time. The fact that someone or some group would attack innocent people who came out to cheer on loved ones and strangers is sick and wrong and abominable.

Anyway, here's the post I meant to put up. It all seems so trivial now, doesn't it?
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Hey there!

It's looking more like spring around here! You know what that means for me? Races and gardens :D (and also being outdoors, the return of Mad Men and Game of Thrones, and my birthday!!!!!)

I ran my first races in 2012, and I'm continuing to this year. I'm eyeing about 7-8 different races, the first of which I just completed this past weekend. The Gnarly Neon 5k was my jump into the "dirty/colorful" racing series (like The Color Run, Color Me Rad, etc.). There were things I enjoyed about this race and things that weren't too awesome.

The weather, though a little nippy for 9:00am on a Saturday morning, turned out to be rather pleasant. I started the run with a light jacket on over my white shirt that was soon to be smudged in color but took off the jacket about halfway through the race once I finally warmed up.

It wasn't a timed race, which I was at first disappointed by, but it didn't make sense to time anyone! We experienced a little bit of bottlenecking at the three color stations. Plus, this race was all about hanging out with my friends (at least it was for me). I was on my own for a while after the first color station and then found two of my friends right before the second station, then we found everyone else and ran together the rest of the way. That was probably the best part of the whole experience--being with my friends.

There was no flipping way I was going to get my phone and running case covered in weird, colorful chalky gunk, so I decided to run sans music. Running without music was a wholly new and very enjoyable experience for me. It allowed me to really try out the 3:2 breathing method I'd read about in last month's Running Times. I was just having a great time and realized I was doing the breathing method backwards (exhaling 3 counts: breathing 2 counts instead of visa versa).

Didn't end up with too much color dust on me. My friends got pelted in the face and in the ear with it. It was basically just people bent over boxes filled with color dust throwing it on runners as they passed by.

{m-fer it was cold.}

{Team Effing Carl...you'd get it if you watch The Walking Dead}

{Little Mermaid running tights?!? I die!}

{I'm off! still in my red jacket...it was COLD!}

{not too much color on my front, more on my back}

Also, garden 2013!! I'm working on arugula, lettuce, beets, cucumbers, zucchini, oregano, cilantro, lavender, basil, and swiss chard. Here's the progression so far:

{a couple of days ago}

{whoa!}

{lettuce grows amazingly fast}

Jes

Holy Bajeez, It's Been a While!

I'm so sorry (not really?). It's been a month or so since I've written a post, but it was a necessary break. Here's what I've done in the last month:

1) FINISHED THE BOOK!!!!!! Kansas: In the Heart of Tornado Alley will be coming out in late November (just in time for xmas...). It was done as non-for-profit to benefit the Wichita State Univ. History Dept. You know, to keep the lights on for a little longer, right? :)

2) Got a promotion at work. Definitely not something I was expecting; I didn't even know we had a higher level for my job. Now I am a "senior" at my position with a huge boost in $monies$. Right on!

3) Enjoyed my summer. That's right! I am soaking up the sun on weekends (and at our Annual Lake Trip last weekend), and I am not looking forward to the fall. Nuh uh.

4) But I am also bummed by our annual "omg, it's summer, and we are POOR" lull. Damn these bills and grown-up responsibilities!

5) Started writing to my vegan pen pal (if you are viewing my site, "What up, lady?") :)

6) Watched my zucchini plants FAIL miserably. The last big zucchini I pulled off had a funny hole in it. So I poked the scissors into it...AND PULLED OUT A SQUIRMY WORM! I FREAKED OUT and threw the whole thing over the fence into the alley in a sheer panic. And now the plants are toast. Ah well!

I'll be posting more regularly on here and want to share with you an AMAZINGLY AWESOME recipe from VegWeb.

FUDGESICLES!!

These really take me back to my childhood. For real--even the popsicle mold I used is from my own childhood (yeah, Mom, I took that!). There are only two popsicle holders left on it, but it still works!

Mmmmm...childhood. You MUST try these out!

Bon week-end!

Jes

The Fruits of Our Labor

This is what growing your own garden is all about. Through all of the small (and large) failures, the chance you get to PICK YOUR OWN ORGANIC FOOD is so rewarding.

May I present you with my garden selection for tonight:

{stalking my prey}

{you will have your turn soon, lettuce}

{one big zucchini, sucking up the resources}

{you look tasty!}

{used the beet greens as a baked potato topper}

{The Hubs and I kept throwing out the idea that the zucc

was bulging in the middle from bugs, had to cut it open to see lol}

{some wheatberry and barley salad

made with farmer's market veg and my own basil}

Jes

Happy Weekend! I made a radish for you.

{first radish from the garden! I ate it!}

Jes

Garden Update! And a Happy Mother's Day (especially to your mom.)

Time for a garden update!

{indoor basil}

{grow, tomatoes, grow!}

{jalapenos and two types of tomatoes, going outside soon!}

{cilantro is the shiz}

{outdoor basil, soaking in the sun}

{parsley}

{my little container garden}

{beee-utiful kale}

{carrots! and they have teeny-tiny character leaves now!}

{looking forward to radishes}

{beets and their greens are my fave}

{had to replant my lettuce outside, turning out ok so far}

{mega-zucchini! it's grown so much just this week alone}

Happy Mother's Day! You know, it's that one day when "your mom" jokes just don't have that kind of snap to them. (Love you, Mom!)

Jes

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Some pics, as promised, of my fledgling container garden:

{zucchini just came up like 2-3 days ago}

{purpley-kale!}

{green onions in front, larger onions behind them}

{radishes!}

{beets!!}

{Enu with her friends next door. they're in love}

{one of the gorgeous trees in our backyard}

{hope you have a lovely weekend!}

Jes

Garden Update!

Tomorrow I have the day off. Legitimately (company holiday, for some strange reason).

Tomorrow I will update you on the status of my garden. It's growing, dying, making me glad and sad all at once.

Cucumbers have died (no thanks to the freeze we had last week for ONE day). Radishes, zucchini, beets and green onions have sprouted (and are adorb!). The kale is thriving. My herbs are struggling. Tomatoes and jalapeño seedlings inside are growing.

Pics coming tomorrow! (if it's sunny)

Are you growing a garden? If so, how's it going? What are you growing?

Jes

Kickstart the Weekend

Here's to Friday, the best day of my week. I think it's more the promise of the weekend that is actually more thrilling than the weekend.

I'll be spending half of my day among dead people, reading about their interments at the cemetery for my thesis research. It's actually pretty exciting, to tell you the truth. There are some great stories in the records they have kept since 1888, when the cemetery opened.

I'll also be watching two programs by Dr. Neal Barnard, renowned cardiologist who promotes the vegan diet to reverse heart ailments. PBS is airing these two programs on Sunday, March 6:

Kickstart Your Health with Dr. Neal Barnard--9:00am-10:30am

Tackling Diabetes with Dr. Neal Barnard--10:30am-12:00pm

I haven't seen these before. I doubt they are new, but I plan to check them out.

Also, we're going to shell out some kizzy for gardening seeds (organic) and supplies. This will be our first garden, and I am super excited. I hope it works out; I've been researching it for weeks now and am ready to start some seeds inside. Probably start transplanting around mid-late April here.

Are you starting a garden? What will you plant this year?

Jes

Cutie Pa-Tooties!

Check out our mini herb garden! Just sprouting now--I am so excited!

There's even a tiny chive poking through the soil.

These are going to be Sweet Basil.

And this will be Cilantro, one of our favorites.

We have three other seeds waiting in the wings for later: Marjoram, Dill, and Curly Parsley.

EEEEEEE!

Jes