Please Pray..

Please pray for our friend Daniela. She is home now and needs all the prayers in the world...for a miracle and for strength. Pray for her her beautiful son, husband and family. May God give them strength hope and faith.

Send positive vibes!!!

Would you pleeeease? a little prayer, positive vibes, all welcome!

I've got a very important appointment in the morning.

Fingers crossed that everything goes well!!!! Good night!

Quick update...

Still no cross. I actually redid most of the run I did on Sunday just in case and stared at the floor the entire time. :( Still keeping up hope it will turn up though.

It was a good run, 4.65 miles and my average pace was 10'07'' / mile...which is my fastest longest outdoor run yet! (I can run in the 9's on the treadmill, which is a lot easier than running outside!).

I am thinking of a quick last minute change of plans. Take tomorrow off and give the good ol' legs a rest....Pump Class of Thursday, long run on Friday, rest Saturday and do a 4 miler on Sunday.

Good night!

Tuesday

Not sure how well my run will go today because I'm just not in a good mood at all. Maybe running will help. I am just so upset at losing my cross....I still think I will find it, I keep looking everywhere and even put an add on Craigslist!

Anyway...just thought I would give a running update. Last night I ran about 1.6 miles and went straight to the kickboxing class. It felt great (although now I'm mad because I feel that's where I lost my cross!)....the actual workout was awesome and I could really feel it burning (good kind of "I'm burning SO many calories" burning).

Today I'm off to do a 4.97 run. We will see how it goes. It's my last long run until Friday, when I try to go for 6.21 miles. It's a nice day out and I've been drinking plenty of water to get ready. Afterwards I think I will have a protein shake for dinner.

And because I can't think of anything else other than my precious cross, here is the prayer you can say for me(in case you are just reading this, see the post below):

San Antonio de Padua
que en Padua nacistes, en Lisboa te criastes,
donde Cristo predicó, predicastes,
te vino la sentencia de que a tu padre
lo iban a ahorcar por un falso delito
que le querían acumular.
El brivario se te perdió, la Virgen María se lo encontró
y tres voces te dio
y te dijo: Antonio, Antonio,
los muertos, resucitados; lo lejos, alcanzado;
y lo perdido, encontrado

And here is another version, a little more straight forward and probably the one I will try if the first doesn't work..

los cojones te ato;
como no me lo devuelvas,
no te los desato.

Here is one English version, though no exactly the same:

Tony, Tony,look around.

Something's lost

and must be found!

That cross...

is really, really, really important to me.

It was the first Christmas gift Alejandro ever gave me...and it was also the necklace I wore the day we got married. It's been with me for almost 4 years...every trip, every night, every special moment (the good ones and the bad ones...and even the scary ones like when we ran into the Grizzly bear!).

I never take it off. Ever. And now it's not in my neck...it fell off somewhere and I can't find it. I am beyond upset. We've looked everywhere...last night at around 11pm, we even went as far as grabbing some flashlights and redoing the walk we had done with Chepe earlier in the night. This morning I checked at the Gym. Nothing.

St Anthony helps you find the stuff you lose, right??. So would you mind saying one little paryer? I know, it's a material thing....but it has so much sentimental value.

...you can also see it on the picture below with Chepe :(

Pd: I just called the gym again, they were going to check under the treadmills. Nothing.

I love Saturdays! (plus some recipes :))

Saturday has to be my favorite day..I love, love, love Saturdays!

Today is also the day of my last run for the week, so I will give an update on Running/Week 3 tomorrow!

Last night the husband and I decided to stay in, make dinner and enjoy some wine. The night turned out to be awesome because we basically chatted the night away. If you know Alejandro, you know this is not normal as he is not the "chatting" type. Yes, we talk, but chatting the night away is not usually the norm..lol. It was great, I love chatting so I was going to complain!...after a while I started switching into a more comfy (horizontal) position and got a hold of the blanket. Not sure when exactly, but the inevitable happened. I felt sleep. When I woke up, is was almost 2 am and quickly moved to bed (the boys stayed watching tv a little longer).

Update: Alejandro woke up and told me last night I actually announced I was going to sleep. He asked me why I didn't move to the bed and I said I just couldn't! haha

We had a great dinner and I snapped some quick pictures (while Alejandro laughed because he knew they were for "the blog")....but hey, I've got an audience here and they like yummy healthy recipes!...I just do it for the people. LOL ;)

Marinara Mussels

I love having Mussels for appetizer. Really, I like any appetizer, but Mussels in particular are great. You serve them in a big bowl (or directly from the cooking pan like I did) and everyone jumps in. I think it's a "social" appetizer, great for small groups (2-4 people). Not sure I want to be sharing a big bowl of mussels with 10 other people!.

Ingredients (2 people)

Mussels (I usually count about 6 per person. Make sure you keep them in the fridge until you are ready to cook them. Wash them well to get rid of any sand they mat have. Discard any Mussels that don't open when cooked)

Pured canned plumed tomatoes (I had left over from the Chicken Cacciatore)

1/2 Yellow Onion, Diced

4 Garlic Teeth, Minced

Fresh Basil (which reminds me I should replant a new Basil plant!)

A pinch of Dry Oregano, Basil and Tarragon (or whatever Italian Herbs your heart desires!)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Balsamic Vinegar, about 2 tablespoons

Sugar, about 1 teaspoon

• In a deep pan at medium heat, saute the Onions in a little Olive Oil, for about 5-7 minutes, season with dry herbs and add salt/pepper. Add the Garlic and continue to Saute for a couple more minutes.
• Add the Tomatoes, Balsamic, Sugar and season to adjust salt and pepper if necessary. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, add some water (for mussels you want the sauce to be on the more thin side). Add the Mussels, the fresh chopped basil, stir and cover back up. Once they open, stir them again (to make sure the sauce gets in there and just cook them a little bit longer (about 1-2 minutes).

Serve! This would have been awesome with some bread to dip in afterwards!

Roasted Fingerling Potato Medley

(name provided by the husband!)

Fingerling potatoes are supposed to be the healthiest kind of potatoes (don't recall the actual reason, but Alejandro read that on his Men's Health Magazine). I love them because you can get a bag with a great little variety. Some are yellow, red and some are purple (my favorite ones!).

I also love roasting potatoes because it is easy and non-messy :) Usually I just roast the seasoned potatoes, but last night I decided to add a little twist.

What you'll need:

Fingerling potatoes, diced small

Half yellow onion, half a red onion, quartered

A lot of Garlic teeth (with the skin..this makes a delicious little paste you can then squeeze on to the potatoes!).

Red Pepper, sliced (I just happened to have some)

Salt/Pepper

Any dry herb you like, I used Oregano

Olive Oil, just enough to cover the potatoes lightly

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine all ingredients in a roasting pan and mix well. Roast for about 30 minutes, and then raise temperature to 425F (to get those yummy golden colors) for another 15 minutes or until it looks done!...

Roasted Acorn Squash

Since I had the oven going, I decided to also roast an acorn squash. I love all things Fall...and Squash can be really delicious as a side!.

I cut big slices of the squash and seasoned with olive oil, salt/pepper, nutmeg, cinnamon and honey. Make sure you coat all sides and keep an eye on it while in the oven. I kept adding a little water to the roasting pan to form a bit of a sauce. They were in the oven almost as long as the potatoes (I took them out a few minutes before.

A few minutes before taking them out, I added a few dried cranberries....YUM! :9

Enjoy and have a great weekend everyone!!!.

Prayer request: Today please say a prayer for my cousin, Alfredo, who was in a motorcycle accident in Spain. He is in serious condition.