Gettin' Ready

I leave tomorrow for the Cascade Lakes Relay. Unless I get really motivated the day I get back, this might be my last post for a few weeks. It dawned on me that I'll have to change the name of my blog when I get back to "The not so adventures of B. St. Clair." Or "B.S." for short. Ha!
I can't believe we're down to just ten days before the wedding. Is it too late to postpone this thing? Just kidding...mostly. ;)
First and foremost, we have a race to complete. At least it won't be as hot as last year. It's a 216.6 mile, twelve-man relay. Mom and I both have the same legs as last year which is kind of nice because now we know what to expect. We're on a new team "Far from the van again 2." Our only real objective is to beat "Far from the van again 1." I hate to lose. So I put my game face on and have been simulating the race conditions. I ran 10 miles during the hot-est part of the day, didn't shower, spread some sugar water on my arms, neck, and legs then stood next to a mosquito infested pond, stayed awake until 2:00AM then ran hill repeats for 50min, didn't shower, slept for two hours at 4:00AM on a love-seat, got up and sat in the middle of a crowded city bus for and hour, got off the bus, stood in the sun for forty-five minutes, found a dusty road and ran for five miles, then paid a kid to punch me a couple of times in the stomach. I think I'm ready.

And now, because this is really where it's at, here's a picture of the Q-man and Mama Joe:

So cute.

Spoiled

Wow, I should get married more often. I've been so spoiled. If you're not married and need a pick me up, you should really look into gettin' hitched.
My big sis' and stinkin' sweet friend, Stacy, gave me a bridal shower this past weekend. At first I thought, "I already got the guy, why am I getting a party too?" Then I started thinking about spending a lifetime with this guy, who forgets to take his shoes off after I mop and who likes to practice turkey calling in the living room for hours at a time. It all started making sense. Just kidding. (I love you, Ross.)
Anyhow, the shower was pretty great. Shae, Stacy, and Mama Joe worked on cleaning and decorating all morning. It was so cute when they were done, and so much detail went into it. One of my friends commented, "I'm never throwing another shower again. I feel so inadequate." Seriously, between the decor and the food, they didn't mess around. For example they had truffles. But they didn't just have store bought truffles. They (Shae) hand rolled truffles. One variety was infused with lavender...that she picked from her garden.
They also made these incredible drinks that had homemade vanilla ice cream, a blueberry syrup (from berries picked the day before) or a mint syrup (from mint picked that morning) and club soda. They were as tasty as they were pretty.
There was just about a dozen people there, and sitting at the table with them I realized how blessed I am to have such good friends and supportive family members in my life. Not to get all sappy or anything, but I really couldn't ask for better people in my life. Plus, they brought me lots of presents...just saying. ;) Heehee.
Thank you so much!

Cookin'

Today was one of the warmest days we've had so far this summer - a whopping 89 degrees. Yeah, kind of pathetic for a season high, but we'll take it. Of course I would choose to spend this 89 degree day in the kitchen, working over the stove. Genius. But I had an itch to cook, and these things can't go unsatisfied or they build and grow and morph into ugly beasts. My kitchen just isn't built to deal with ugly beasts.
I thought I'd share a couple of the recipes that are currently causing my stomach to bulge. Mainly because misery loves company. Plus they were delicious and if you make them, you'll thank me. I like to be thanked. Feel free to send your gratitude in chocolate form. Amen.

So recipe numero uno was sent to me by mi hermana. It is so delicious it makes me weep. Or it would make me weep if weeping were in. It's called Caramelized Pork Banh Mi If you click on it, the link has the recipe and picture. I didn't make the pickled veggies; I just used a carrot cucumber relish and fresh avocado. We grilled corn, and I made Creamy Cilantro-Lime Slaw from Bon Apetit. I'd use less sour cream than it calls for, but it's good if you like that kind of thing. For dessert: Lemon-Basil ice cream from Tasty Kitchen and a blueberry cornmeal cobbler from Smitten Kitchen. I tweaked it a bit (hers had peaches), but it's still purdy. Yep, I think I did my cooking for the summer. Now my house is overheated and my stomach is overfull and I can't blame anyone but myself.

Happy cooking,

Peace Out.

Busted

Ross-hole thinks it's a fun game to embarrass me in public. I am not a big fan of his antics. I don't think it's funny when he acts like a gorilla in the grocery store. I don't find it humorous when talks LOUDLY about gas issues when we're in public. Among these things, he tried to pull one on me the other day at Chipotle. We were walking into the restaurant and he thought it would be a fun game to tuck his shirt into his shorts and pull the shorts up to his rib cage. Yeah, hot. I know. I refused to go in with him. And that's when he got busted. A guy and his wife, about our age, pulled up in their SUV. The guy rolled down his window and hollered, "Nice shorts, Man!" It was pretty great timing, but maybe you had to be there. At any rate, it got Ross to fix his shorts, and for about three minutes, all was right with the world.

New Diet Plan

Graham crackers and ginger ale - my diet of choice for the last two days. I'm getting ready for that wedding dress.......no, not really. My stomach is just on strike.

In other news, it's blueberry season. Woohoo! I'm excited to pick a gajillion pounds at the u-pick. I can't wait to make some of my favorite recipes...and then not eat them because they aren't wedding dress friendly. (Again, I'm kidding. Anyone who knows me, knows I wouldn't willingly give up food - especially sweets.)
Blueberry cream cheese braid - you should definitely give this one a try. It's delicious.
Blueberry buckle. Mmmmhmmmm.
Blueberry pepper jelly - sounds weird, but with cream cheese and crackers it's addictive.

Yum. Yum. Yum.

Any other suggestions out there?

S.O.B.

Somebody finally realized it's supposed to be summer around here and flipped a switch on the weather. We went from a high of 65 to a high of 95 in less than a week. My boy is miserable, but I'm sure happy to finally see the sun. If I'm happy - I think by default that should mean he's happy. That's how it works, right? Can somebody please clue him in?

I don't have pictures just yet, but I ran and finished the Siskiyou Outback 50k this weekend. It was hard. But I'm glad I did it. If I am ever sick enough to do it again, I'm going to definitely have to rethink my training strategy. They call it the S.O.B. for good reason. There is a total elevation gain of about 4200 feet. In addition to the other shorter climbs, there is a 3.1 mile hill at mile 19ish that is b-r-u-t-a-l. I did a lot of walking at that point. And a lot rethinking my sanity for entering the race and maybe a little raging at the hill itself - which was especially effective. Once I found the top, however, the rest of the race wasn't so bad, and by the time I finished I even half believed I enjoyed myself out there. My boy was such a good sport. He got up at 4:45am to drive me out there, and was waiting for me at the finish line. I love that guy. I think I'll marry him.

The End.

I'm leaving again.

Ross and I are headed to RR today. Again. I love the place, don't get me wrong. I just don't want to drive there for the umpteenth time in four weeks.

We're going there to:
A) See my grammy
B) Help Shae and Ryan work at the store (aka: stare at Quentin while they work at the store),
C) Finally introduce Ross to some of the fam he hasn't met yet - it's important for him to really know what he's getting himself into before we tie the knot ;)
D) So I can receive a royal butt beating in the form of the S.O.B. 50k. Bring. It. On.

Don't worry, this isn't a multiple choice quiz. We're doing all of the above. I should add E) going to sit in my parents' house because they have air conditioning, we don't, and it's supposed to be h-o-t for the next several days.
It was just in the 60s last week, this week it's supposed to be in the 90s. Help. My body is so confused.

I Survived Cross Country Camp 2010

Box R Running Camp 2010:
We had about 75 campers ranging in age from 12-18.

Campers enjoyed six days and five nights camping in tipis (teepees - it looks funny no matter how you spell it). There was wildlife all around us.

Incredible views.

Some great water sports (zip-lines and an enormous slide).

An almost impossible obstacle course.

More good food than you can imagine (are you supposed to gain weight at running camp?).

And of course, some fantastic runs.


**Pictures provided by Grants Pass Coach, Carl Sniffen.
http://carlsniffen.smugmug.com/Outback-Running-Camp-2010