Bucket List Item #44 - Run a 10K race - CHECK

I'm pretty proud of this one. My goal was to just finish the whole thing without stopping and I did that so, GO ME!

I don't feel I was as ready as I could have been for this race, I really wanted it to be faster but I know that I lapped everyone on the couch. This race was also more than a 10k. A 10k is about 6.2 miles and this quarter marathon was 6.7 (ish) miles.

Here are the official times
Overall Quarter Marathon Time: 1:29:39
Overall Place: 91 out of 93
Female Age Group: 53 out of 53

I want to run another 10k, maybe in the spring and my goal for that one will be to run it faster than this one.

Bucket List Item #115 - Donate to Locks of Love

 I am NOT a long hair type of girl. I never have been. Most of the time when my hair gets really really long like this its because I'm too poor to afford to get the cut and color that it really needs. This past time I decided it was time to doing something for someone else no matter how much it drove me nuts. So I grew it out for Locks of Love.

 I did this to honor my mom because my mom had breast cancer. I originally thought that Locks of Love did wigs for everyone with cancer but I found out it was just for children. It didn't matter, cancer sucks not matter what age.

The last time I had a hair cut was February 2013 so my hair was really long. Again, hated my hair that long, it just looks ratty and I was ready to cut it.

 Since moving to Oklahoma I have never found a hair dresser that I like and I think that was because I was going off of recommendations. I decided to find my own and I'm really glad that I did. Caron did a great job. I was literally on the border on how long my hair was but at this point I figured something has got to be better than nothing.

Caron sectioned my hair off into 3 sections and a cutting she went. I already felt lighter by have that cut off, it was awesome.

 Here is the picture after it was colored and cut. Loved the color and the cut. I'm very much a shoulder length kind of person. It's still long enough for a pony tail but not to long that I won't wear it down.

 I took these pictures at home and the reason for the squinty eyes is because the sun was in front of me making it hard for me to see anything.

I mailed my hair a few weeks later to Locks of Love. It was pretty easy. Pretty much put it all in a ziplock bag with the information sheet and mail. About a month or so later I got a certificate of appreciation from Locks of Love for my hair donation. 

Number #115 on the Bucket List - Donate of Locks of Love - CHECK!!!

Bucket List Update: Item #109 - Eat a Meal Backwards - CHECK!!

While Tim was deployed I had planned a trip to go and see my best friend, Beth, in St. Louis for Thanksgiving. The last time I was in St. Louis Beth took me to this place called Lotawata Creek. No joke, they have had some of the best food that I have ever tasted. As I planning this trip I looked at what I had accomplished (which was quite a lot actually) on my Bucket List and what I could still get done with Tim being deployed. Then towards the end of the list #109 Eat a Meal Backwards and I thought of Lotawata Creek. So the day before I left to come back to Oklahoma we went to Lotawata Creek for dinner. 

 Dinner started with dessert (and yes I made those signs to go with each course). Dessert was a hot fudge sundae. By no means was it the best hot fudge sundae I have ever had but it worked. Their food is so much better. I might have to revisit this bucket list item at the Cheesecake Factory.

I have no idea what this is called but it was AMAZING!!! I only ate like half of it because the fried stuffed mushrooms and fried pickles were on the way to the table. 

 The appetizer was, again, AMAZING! I wish I knew how to make these because I would really try. How impressive would that be.

 These were the fried pickles. They were still really good too but nothing like the mushrooms. Also the pickles probably wouldn't be good for leftovers where the mushrooms still taste good reheated.

 So this was the last thing that I crossed off my bucket list in 2013. I'm working on a few things for 2014 and hoping to hit some of them soon.

Bucket List Item #82 - Get a 3rd tattoo - CHECK!

I have a thing for turtles and I love sea turtles and I'm a really big fan of the Polynesian and Hawaiian tattoo styles. I have a wave on my right leg and I really like that one so I knew I wanted something similar when it came to this tattoo. 

We knew we were going to Hawaii this year so I started looking for what kind of design I wanted last fall. My best friend Christine also has 'a guy' for tattoos and hooked me up with the friendly price (thanks Chris & Kory, my tattoo artist). I email Chris, who emailed Kory the few designs that I had in mind but at the same time I wanted something original, and that's exactly what I got. 

When I showed up Kory hadn't drawn anything. I told him what I wanted and off he went. Originally it was going to be one turtle with wavy kinda stuff around it. Then one turtle turned into three turtles, one big one and 2 smaller ones. But we were having problems coming up with small turtles that we both liked. 

 In the end we decided to go with one big turtle (the top one) and one slightly smaller turtle (the bottom one). I also really wanted some hibiscus flowers in there as well along with some other tribal/girly looking designs.

 It took about 2 and half hours but totally worth it. Tim was taking pictures of my pain as I was getting tattooed. When Kory got down around the ankle it hurt really bad and about the last 20 minutes I hit my pain wall. Those last little finishing touches were brutal, but worth it. The whole thing is black and white, there is some gray shading in there as well.

It's healing up nicely. I'll take another picture when all of my skin stops falling off. Right now it is also pretty itchy and I'm doing my best not to scratch it but it looks awesome. I'm totally in love with it. I want another one. Maybe I'll get that big sting ray on my back that I have thinking about for a few years now. We'll see, until then, I'll enjoy this one.

Bucket List Item #79 - Go to Pearl Harbor - CHECK

 Pearl Harbor was one of those really cool things to see and do but also extremely sad to walk around and think about what happened there. But that being said I'm pretty proud to say that I'm part of a military family.

 We had to split the doing Pearl Harbor into two different days because we arrived to late to get free tickets to go to the USS Arizona. Pearl Harbor is run by the Parks and Rec Department of Hawaii but the Navy is the one that takes visitors to the USS Arizona and they only do so many trips a day and if you don't get there early enough you won't get tickets. We got there about 8 a.m. the second day and our assigned time to see the Arizona still wasn't until 12:15 p.m. So a word of advice, go early or the tour groups will grab all the ticket and you won't be able to get to the Arizona.

 So the first day we went and did the Mighty Moe or the USS Missouri. It was a pretty awesome battleship. It is so much bigger than you actually image, well at least to me. Most of these pictures are from my phone as I just wanted to get them posted but Tim took some pretty awesome ones with the big camera.

Here is the Arizona from the dock of the Missouri. It was a beautiful day when we went. The sun was out but it wasn't blazing down on us so it wasn't to hot.

Before we went out the the Arizona they make you watch a short film on why Japan bombed us and what happened on December 7th. It was very sad to watch all the footage.

 We were also asked to be as quiet as we could when we were on the Arizona in respect for the fallen men that are still entombed there. When you get out to "the bridge" and look down and still see the sunken ship you just want to cry to think of all those poor men that are down there.

 Another thing that I learned was that if you were a survivor of the Arizona that you have the option to be buried down there with the other fallen sailors. They will have a special ceremony after the memorial is closed and divers will take the urn of the deceased down to the hull of the Arizona and place him inside. I thought it was a nice idea and option.

The Arizona also has a shrine room. The park ranger was telling us that it has all of the names of the fallen Navy sailors and the Marines that were on the ship at the time Pearl Harbor was attacked. Again this was both cool and sad at the same time. RIP and Happy late Memorial Day to all the fallen.

Bucket List Item #18 - Go to Hawaii - CHECK

 We are home from Hawaii so it is time to update the bucket list as I have marked a few things off. First and foremost, we went to Hawaii. The trip was awesome! I could not get over how clear the water was and the colors that the water turned in the sunlight.

 This picture was taken just outside the airport. I was looking for a 'Welcome to Hawaii' sign but we couldn't find one so this one had to do.

 The flower of Hawaii is the hibiscus and it is my favorite. I tried to find all the different colors while I was there. I think I ended up finding about 5 different colors. Still love the red ones though, the yellows were pretty awesome also.

 I also couldn't take enough pictures of palm trees. It has been a long time since I saw one. I think our honeymoon to Key West was the last time I saw palm trees. I love them!!

This was K-Bay. It was named as one of the top ten beaches in the world. The white sand and the teal/blue water was totally beautiful and I can see why it is on the list as one of the top beaches of the world.

Bucket List Item #49 - Make Cannolis - CHECK

Bucket List Item #49 - Make Cannolis - Check!!

The Bucket List

Not everything on my list is going to be something crazy big feat but there are some things that are going to be more time consuming that others, this was one of those things. I have always loved cannolis and fell in love with them on a trip to the Italian bakery in NY while visiting Tim's family many many years ago. I mean come on, how many Italian bakeries do you know of in NC.

Regina, Tim's mom, asked if I have ever tried this or that as we walked through looking at all those calories staring at me in pretty fluffy colors of fat, fatter, and really really fat. When we came to the cannolis she asked if I had ever had one. I don't think that I had and she got one of every flavor. They were amazing!! Since then I have ordered one when ever the opportunity arose but alas they can be a bit pricey. So why not make some of my own right. So here we go.

I used this recipe and I was pretty pleased with the results. I did change a few things but only in the filling. I did not use the maraschino cherries and I did not add the heavy whipping cream. I think next time I will use the cream to make the filling a little bit lighter.

Okay first things first, make the dough for the shells. I ended up adding more wine than what the recipe called for. Why? I found the dough dry and not sticking together like it is suppose to. The recipe said to make sure you roll the dough as thin as you can get it, I suggest this also, your shells will turn out better and lighter.

After you roll the dough out you need to cut out circles to wrap around the tubes for frying. If you have a large circle cookie cutter, I would use this. I used the bottom of a plastic martini glass. It served its purpose but I think it took longer because I couldn't just cut and go.

Next you wrap your little circle around the tube making sure you seal your ends well. The first one I did wasn't sealed and I ended up with a puffed taco shell looking shape. But it did give me a chance to taste the shell and it had just the right amount of sweetness. 

Time to fry. Drop your wrapped tubes in your oil. I used shortening and I had my thermometer attached to the pan as I don't fry like this often and didn't want to have my oil to hot. Frying the shells take all of about a minute, no joke. You can not do anything else while you are frying or you will burn/over cook your shells. 

Take the shells out of the oil and let them drain on a plate on a paper towel. Make sure you let them cool off seam side down. When it is time to take the shell off I suggest using a dish towel to hold on to the metal tube. The shell will be warm but the tube will be hot. Just twist the shell gently and it should slide right off. The first couple were a little difficult but after those I had no problems. 

This recipe said it would make 24, give or take. I think that would have been accurate had I made the shells bigger. Next time I make these I'm making them bigger. They are great mini cannolis. Time for the sweeten cheese. If I had to make a suggestion, I would do the cheese before you start frying. This way it gives it more time to set up so it doesn't run all over the place when you pipe it in, like it did with mine. 

After the cheese is pipped in sprinkle with powdered sugar and garnish as you wish. I could have added more mini chocolate chips or whipped cream, but I was out of time so I just went with the powdered sugar and called it done. 

They tasted great and I think if the cheese was set up a little bit better the consistency would have been perfect. But this being my first time making these, I think they turned out really well. 

Things I learned making this cannoli recipe

1. 1. The time it says to make these is WRONG. I mean really wrong. It took me several hours but I think part of that is due to #2.
2. Have more than 4 cannoli tubes for frying
3. Make the shells bigger. I used the recommended diameter of 3-4 inches (mine was 3") and that is way too small. They would have been great if I was feeding 30+ people. Going to go with a 4" diameter next time
4. Let the cheese set up longer. I was in a rush as I had to have these delivered by a certain time so the ricotta cheese literally only had about 30 minutes to set up. I don't think that is enough time. Because the cheese wasn't set it was running out of the sides of the shells. **(The next day the cannolis were great and just the way they were suppose to be)**
5. Make them the day before and if you can have someone help you with all the steps. Maybe set up an assembly line.

On to another bucket list item.

Bucket List Item #43 - Run a 5K race - CHECK

Bucket List Item #43 - Run a 5K race - CHECK

The Bucket List post

It's all about the list and this year so far I have marked off 2 things but this one was kinda big for me. See I haven't really run or done any kind of real physical activity since about a year before Max was born. I have been trying to get out of my funk that has become my life for about 6 months now and while there are many things that I have come to accept and not worry about and have really started to feel better about being me, my weight was still one of those things that I needed to tackle. This race was kind of the beginning for that.

So I signed up for a 5K, I figured 2 birds one stone. I got to mark something off my list and I got to get out and be active again, and let me tell you, this was no easy task.

I found the Blazing Sun Race on Goggle (just typed in 5K races in Oklahoma) and I thought the time period was perfect. It was about 6 weeks away and I thought it was very doable. The main goal in doing this 5K was just to run the whole thing (and not come in last place, which I didn't).

I started looking at Couch to 5K training programs and I found one that pretty much fit my time line. So I asked Tim if he would help me and he of course said yes. The beginning was tough, I mean really tough but Tim kept me going, even though I was ready to quit. 

Tim and Max went to New York and I had my Epic weekend with Beth and I fell off the wagon. But once everyone was home the running started again, but the heat was just to much for me to run in the afternoon, so I started getting up at 5 a.m. to run when it was cooler. As much as I like getting things done and over with and the morning is a great time to do that, I still really like my sleep. 

So for pretty much 2 weeks straight I was running about 4-5 days a week. I was feeling pretty good but still getting a little nervous, I mean it was my first one. Tim and Beth both told me that once I got there my adrenaline would kick in and I would be fine and they were right. 

 So the night before I laid out my clothes. I had been trying different sport bras and found that the Nike one was the one I was going to go with since I only had to wear one instead of the normal 2-3 sports bras that I usually wear. I wanted my Adidas shorts because they had pockets in it and I wanted my newer Old Navy tank top because I felt that my fat didn't show as much in this tank than in my other ones. Yeah, I think like that. I had my sign all made up and put it in my pocket. I had driven to the park the day before so I knew where I was going and wouldn't miss my race.

I got there at about 6:30 a.m. or so. I got my race stuff and brought it back to the car. I was pretty impressed with the amount of stuff that I got, I think my favorite is my new American flag tote bag. It seems to be made pretty well. I really like it. I was number 8, the lady said that not a lot of runners signed up early for the race.

Then came the waiting. We waited and waited. Around 7:10 a.m. they did the sort of opening ceremonies, talked about the guy who the race was named for, and sang the National Anthem. It was no sooner than they finish singing, they did a prayer and we were off.

I started at about a 10:40 mile and at the 1 mile mark I had run an 11:40 mile, that's about 30-40 seconds faster than my normal run.

I stopped twice, once because my calves were on fire and I had to stretch them for about 50 feet and the other because my iPhone was playing a morning radio show and I couldn't handle it any longer so I had to switch it.

At one point I was ready to stop but well I knew I couldn't, I was tired but I kept going then I turned the corner I saw the blow up finish line and people on both sides cheering you in. It was a great feeling. I crossed the finish line and there was a photographer there. I told him to hold on, and I pulled my sign out of my pocket. I got lots of congratulations and good jobs once the sign came out.

 I went back to the car to get my camera and I went and got something to eat at the food tent. After feeling better I had someone take a picture on both my camera and my phone. Again, more congratulations and good jobs from people who saw me holding the sign.

Once I got back to the car I realized I hadn't taken a picture of my time. Its not the official time but at this point I don't really care. I'm sure they are about the same.

So what's next on the list, not really sure. I might be something simple like make pasta from scratch or take a cooking class. Who knows?

I am planning to run another 5K in August with Tim. It at the end of August and my goal for that one is run it faster than this one and to try and run/keep up with Tim. He's a much faster runner than I am.

I feel good, I'm ready for next item.