Yes it's Saturday, I know...

I used to do Friday Fives and thought about it today, so I'm going to start doing it again (but on Friday).

1. What do you usually take to the beach? A towel, sunscreen, water, magazines, and my phone.
2. What do you find essential for a trip to the mall? Coupons and money.
3. What’s something you take to the ballgame? Cash. 
4. What do you take to the movies? A big purse full of candy. 
5. This one may not have broad enough a relevance, but what do you take when you go to the symphony? A book and my phone lol.

Oh, I finally got around to joining a gym! 24 Hour Fitness here I come :)

Sometimes I inspire myself...

When I posted about baking I felt inspired to cook dinner for family. However, I did not turn to Smitten Kitchen, instead I turn Giada DeLaurentiis. She is a personal favorite of mine! I love Italian food and usually turn to her when I need a good pasta dish. I perfected this recipe last year during student teaching. When I wasn't having a turkey sandwich for lunch, I would take the leftovers to school. The other teachers thought it looked good too. I thought I share it on my blog and actually take pictures this time. Just a FYI, the photos aren't that great but at least I posted some right?

Penne with sausage, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes. The link uses a different pasta and it works fine. (Here is the link from food network) 

Cutting up the garlic

Cooking the sausage in the sun-dried tomato oil

Wine with the super cool Wine Rabbit (if your avid wine drinker get one)

The cork! 

It was so cool I had to take a picture, oh and proceeds from the wine go to help Dress for Success which helps woman get into the work place. Good wine and they have a bunch of different types.

The artichokes, tomatos, wine, broth, and garlic cooking.

My Dad took a break from football to help with the cheese. 

Back to football. We watched the Packers/Chargers game and the Raiders/Broncos game. 

The cheese! 

The table set up. My sister's spot has become where we put our mail. 

My cake from yesterday :) It's almost all gone. My mom, dad, and I has a piece for breakfast, we have no shame. 

I realized why I don't do a cooking blog. Food photography isn't as easy as it looks. I probably could have posted the recipe instead of the link to show changes I made but I rarely ever make changes. You could follow my pictures better too. Oh well! Hope you all like it :)

Baking

                                          Me making pizza dough.

When I'm stressed out or completely bored, I bake. I also love baking with my friends. It's a fun way to unwind and hangout. We are huge fans of funetti cupcakes and cookies. Today was cold and rainy so I thought why not bake?

                                          Alyssa and I got creative and decorated them once :)

I follow a cooking blog called Smitten Kitchen. This blog is written by woman named Deb who lives in New York. Her recipes are easy to follow. She has a great variety of recipes to choose from. On the rare occasion when I cook dinner for my family, I usually look at her website to pick something out. Most of it has turned out good!

Since I am a creature of habit (I had a turkey sandwich almost everyday while student teaching for lunch), there is one recipe I always turn to called blueberry boy bait. Here is the link. I did not do the topping which made it lighter (actually I forgot about it and it was already in the oven by the time I realized you do it before you put in the oven not after). This will be great for breakfast this week :)

I did not take pictures. The quality wouldn't have been as good and nature does it's job when I want a scenic shot so I'll leave you with a few of those.

Motivation

So after anxiously awaiting for email, I finally got the one I've been waiting for the other day. As mentioned before, I want to run the Colder Boulder. However, you have to qualify for it with a time of 56-58 minutes at the Bolder Boulder. Luckily for me, I qualified this year!

This means getting back into running and training my butt off! I really want to do well and say I've done it. It would be cool to place again but I'm not counting on it. I have not registered yet but I will soon (hopefully).

I have just realized I haven't updated in a minute. Since the last time I've updated I've turned 22. It was a good birthday and a lot clammer then last year. Now I'm no longer the youngest one at the bar. 21 was a good year and one of my favorites so far; 22 has a lot to live up to! It's up to me to make it a good year.

Being an adult

So I have a job now. After a whole of summer of searching I'm a productive member of society again. I work at daycare. It's not a school but I don't mind it. I'm working with younger kids then I'm used to but they are so much fun! I'm with another teacher and we are the K3 room. Therefore, most of our kids are 3 (we have a few who are almost three). Love my class and the teacher I'm with.

I also float around as well. I can be with infants, toddlers, two year olds, or four year olds. I mostly go where ever I'm needed but I mainly stay with K3. The infants are cute unless they are crying since there can be ten babies in there at once! The toddlers make me laugh like none other. They are very alert and like playing with you for the most part. You can see their personalities forming and watch them take in the world around them. One of them punched me in the face! I call him The Situation since he dresses like Mike from Jersey Shore. The two year olds are wild. They have an attention span shorter then mine! However, they are good kids and are a ton of fun to work with. The four year olds are crazy! They give good stories to share and are fun to be with. They did tire me out today but my friend from UCCS works there so I like being with her. K3 is the best! I love my kids in there and they are too much fun. They make me laugh like none other.

My running has suffered since I'm at work all day. I'm using excuses not to go so I need to get ready for the Colder Boulder to motivate me. I did go for a run today but my foot was hurting for some reason. I'm going to get my running back on track and be ready for race season :)

So much for my run today...

Well I said it before, winter is coming and boy did it come today! Last night I was over at my friend's house and when I left it was raining. I was a little excited since I do like rain (but my hair doesn't). Then this morning I crawled out of my warm bed and went upstairs. Since my room is the basement I never see the weather until I go upstairs. I was greeted by a dark gloomy sky and snow. This time last year it hadn't snowed yet and summer was prevalent as ever. It was like winter was never going to come.

To make it clear winter is here, there is already an opening day for ski season. Ski season has started at Wolf Creek with three feet of fresh natural snow. Usually Loveland or A-Basin are the first to open but change is good right?

So my run was canceled today. Last time I went for a run in the rain, I almost ate it on a bridge. I do not want to know what will happen in the snow. Also the wind is kind of crazy. Colorado has the worst wind ever! As the rate I'm complaining you would have never guessed I'm from Canada.

Now time to enjoy my everything bagel, make some coffee, and cuddle up in my sister's CU Snuggie. It's going to be a PJ day.

GTL

Winter is coming! I'm excited to go skiing since I missed out last season. Now that I have a job skiing will is on the top of priority list. It's a expensive sport but it's something to do outside in the winter. But I need to run.

When it snows, my trails get gross and muddy. My personal favorite trail, Ute Valley is the worst! Even after a bad rain storm I stay away from there. My shoes get so muddy that I gain three inches to my height. The mud collects at the bottom of my shoes the further I run. My other trail is okay since it is paved and usually cleared off fast. However, I'm stuck the same parts because the unpaved parts are muddy. What I'm getting at is I hate muddy shoes.

To avoid this I would go to the rec center at school. It was nice to relieve stress after class and socialize with my friends. Now that I'm graduated I can no longer go since I'm not paying my rec center fees (as well as other fees that I'm happily not paying). So the big question is: What gym should I join?

Option 1: UCCS Rec Center
I would pay 200$ annually, have full access to fitness classes, and the pool. Also, it's 15 minutes away from my house! However, I'll be paying for parking. The campus police have been strict and we cannot park across the street anymore. I avoided getting parking tickets for four years and I hate UCCS parking. Most of my friends have graduated or will be graduated by the end of May. The pool keeps weird hours. The fitness classes interfere with my work schedule and I have to pay extra for them.

Option 2: Lifetime
It's the new gym in town and opened this past summer. It has a spa, tennis court, indoor and outdoor pool, yoga classes, and state of the art equipment. This place is nice but far from work and my house. I would go here for the outdoor pool in the summer time haha!

Option 3: VillaSport
This place is fairly new and is near Lifetime. Classes aren't free but there are many options for me to try. Like Lifetime, it has an outdoor and indoor pool and far away from everything.

Option 4: 24 Hour Fitness
Most people I know go here and like. There are various locations around town that I can go to as well as other states while I'm on vacation. There are spin and yoga classes at times I can take them. I really want to get back into yoga again.

So these are my gym options so I can get my GTL on. I'll be doing more research to see where I should go.