My 1st Half Marathon

I ran through two states on Saturday! That sounds much more impressive than it really was. I ran my first half-marathon on Saturday morning and the race started in Clarkston, WA and ran into Lewiston, ID and then back. Thanks to Jen for the inspiration to try a 1/2 marathon, and thanks to Greg and Dixie for driving around to every possible wide spot in the road to cheer me on! And even though I did all the work, Dixie amazingly got all the attention. She was a kid-magnet. One cool thing at the race... there were three little kids parading around with signs that said "My mom is running her first half-marathon on her 30th birthday!" As soon as she crossed the finish line, a man who I assume was her husband, played happy birthday on a trumpet! Here are a few pictures.

Who knew that Lewis, Clark and Sacajawea were midgets!? The race (The Lewis & Clark Half Marathon) ran along the Lewis & Clark trail from Clarkston to Lewiston. I think they made their point!

Pre-race stretching

The start

Running along the Snake River

The gnats were terrible! They were plastered all over my clothes, stuck in my hair, and running down my face with the sweat. It was really gross. Who knows how many I ate!

Taking a quick break at the halfway point to suck down some Powerade Gel. Luckily, Greg was waiting there with water!

Heading back.

A smile! (because I'm almost finished)

Amazingly, I run 13 miles...Dixie gets the massage!

Friday evening we watched one of WSU's volleyball games. They had a very impressive turnout, but it was easy to see why. They were very exciting to watch and beat USC in 3 straight games. They had a full pep band on hand for the game, and immediately afterwards, the drumline entertained everyone for awhile.

Watching the game with Edith

Here's a video of the WSU drumline playing after the volleyball game.

Finally, my latest sewing project. It is the Heather Ross Weekend Away Bag. It didn't turn out too bad. I've definitely made improvement with each new project. It's just a shame that it takes me 2 months to go from start to finish on a project. :)

Running, Shopping & Cookies

It finally rained here! It seems like months since we've had rain, but it finally rained on and off for a few days. I guess I hadn't realized the rain was missing until it showed up again. It has also significantly cooled down. Last week, the car read 32 degrees one morning while I was driving to work. I think it should stabilize some this week and hover around the upper 50s/lower 60s area, so that shouldn't be too bad. The only other sign of fall around here are the trees that separate the aisles in the Walmart parking lot. :( They are a beautiful yellow-orange, but everything else is just brown. I have a feeling that fall will be when we miss WV the most.

This weekend was pretty laid back. Saturday morning I ran in a 5K race with Travis and Shannon to benefit the YWCA and the Special Olympics. It was the nicest course so far, 3 loops through one of the local parks. Although we all did well in the race, Shannon and I were slightly ashamed that we got "out-sprinted" by a 70+ year old man at the very end of the race. He rode our coattails from the start of the race, and I imagine he was laughing internally as he glided past us in the final stretch.

Saturday afternoon was devoted to shopping. We made all the rounds, hitting the WSU fruit sale for more apples, the Coop for my gluten free items, Walmart for anything & everything, the grocery store, and the pet store. Dixie and Ginny came along (and Shannon) to sniff around the pet store with us. Dixie seemed more interested in the cat food section than anything else...and the fish tanks!

She was trying to lick this despite the plastic.

Can you spot the "squeaky" toy??

Mmmmm.....seafood!

She's not much of a shopper. If we stayed in one spot too long, she would just lay down. :)

Sunday was pretty uneventful, although I made some new cookies that - despite being gluten free - actually turned out good! If you like lemon flavor, you'll love these lemon ricotta cookies. Every cookie that I've tried with gluten-free flour has turned out to be a disappointment, but these were a pleasant surprise. I imagine they would be even better made with regular flour. Here's the recipe if anyone is interested.

2-1/2 c. all purpose flour (I used a gluten-free mixture)
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. unsalted butter (softened)
2 c. sugar (I used sugar/Splenda blend)
2 large eggs
15 oz. ricotta cheese (I used part-skim)
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
grated zest of 1 lemon

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Add ricotta cheese, lemon juice and lemon zest and beat to combine. Stir in dry ingredients. Drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment (I used silicone mats). Bake ~12 minutes at 375 degrees, until slightly golden at the edges. Remove from oven and let cookies rest on baking sheet.

Spoon a glaze made from 1-1/2 cups powdered sugar and 3 Tbsp. lemon juice over top of cookies and allow to set until glaze hardens. Enjoy!

Washington Apples

This morning we went to WSU's Orchard to buy some freshly picked apples. WSU experiments with various kinds of apples, and throughout the season, they sell 80-some varieties of apples! There were probably 20 varieties for sale this morning. The apples are already picked and range in price from $0.35/lb for "juice" apples to $1.55/lb for Gingergold apples. There is even a table where you can sample a slice of each type of apple that is for sale. We purchased a few of the Gingergold apples, which are very, very sweet, and a few Harlson apples, which are not quite as tart as Granny Smiths. They will be having the sale every weekend until Thanksgiving, so I anticipate lots of apple dishes in the near future. Dutch apple pancake, apple cinnamon muffins, apple pie, apple cake, apple bread, cooked apples, apple sauce. I'm trying to keep the doctor away for quite some time. WSU also has quite a few different types of pears, some peaches, plums, and potatoes. Of course... I took some pictures while we were there.

Sunday afternoon, I made an apple pie using my gluten-free crust. This one just had a crumb topping instead of a second layer of crust. I haven't cut into it yet, but it smells delicious!

Martha Stewart's "Crumb Top Apple Pie"

Multitasking. Talking on the phone, while rolling out my pie crust using Greg's water bottle!

After we bought our apples, we drove by the Grizzly Bear Research center to see what the bears were up to. Only two were out playing this time. This first one just sat and scratched his rear for the longest time! It was pretty amusing.


We're expecting cool weather this week. A few days are supposed to be rainy and in the mid-50s. We won't have much of a fall though... there aren't any leaves TO fall!

Labor(filled) Day

Although we cancelled our plans for a camping trip, our Labor Day weekend was plenty busy. We had planned to visit Mt. Spokane for the long weekend, but Greg came down with what may have been swine flu. Eek! We both had some allergy problems due to the recent harvest, but Greg progressively got worse over the weekend. After reading a newspaper article today, I believe that he was one of WSU's many victims of the swine flu. Miraculously, my wimpy immune system is holding strong (knock on every piece of wood in sight)! Greg seems to be on the mend after spending many hours sleeping...with Dixie keeping him company throughout the whole ordeal. Although she never really needs an excuse to nap, she too was healing...from being poked in the eye by Greg's big toe! Eww.

Greg did muster up the strength to go to Ferdinand's for ice cream. We had plans of visiting the University orchard with Travis & Shannon. Once we discovered it was closed, it only made sense to swing by Ferdinand's (even though we hadn't even had lunch yet). WSU had their opening home football game this past Saturday, so the place was abuzz!


Shannon & Travis

Cookies & Creme Milkshake. Just what the doctor ordered for a sore throat!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl. Mmm.

Ferdinands distinctive delivery truck.

While Greg and Dixie held the bed down, I worked on making some homemade marinara sauce using tomatoes that Travis grew in our apartment "flower gardens." He has quite the bountiful garden for an apartment-dweller!


Making marinara sauce for lasagna. I found gluten-free lasagna noodles!

Also big news for the weekend...we had to buy a new laptop. After numerous repairs and replacements, our old laptop finally bit the dust. Fall is already approaching here in Pullman. The last few days have been great! Not too hot. Nice breeze. Below are a few shots of the Palouse.



Recently cut wheat fields.

WSU's Big-Horned Sheep

National Lentil Festival 2009

Every August, Pullman is home to the National Lentil Festival. The Palouse region is responsible for growing 1/3 of the United States' lentils. Pullman celebrates by having a fair downtown, a 5K run, a 100K bike ride, hosting a lentil cook-off, serving lentil chili and lentil pancakes, a parade, bands, etc. It's a pretty big celebration. Greg and I loved it because you can get all sorts of things for free! We had free lentil chili, free sno-cones, and free cotton candy to name a few. We both ran in the 5K Tase T. Lentil run on Saturday morning, and Dixie joined us later for the parade downtown. She was doing fine until a person dressed up as a dog walked by handing out candy... she wasn't too fond of him. Imposter!
Here are a few pictures!

As soon as we left local restaurant Swilly's (where we celebrated our 4th anniverary) we walked into the Lentil Festival and saw the WSU Cougar.

I believe this is the US's largest bowl of chili. Free bowls of lentil chili for all!

The spout at the bottom of the giant chili bowl. It gave me heartburn just to watch the chili drip out!

The bowl was filled to the very brim at the beginning of the evening.

Free cotton candy!

Dixie & I enjoying the parade from a shady spot.

Tase T. Lentil himself. Some more parade pictures...



The WSU drumline.
Good parade!