has anyone seen....

The month of October?
I think I saw her but now she's quickly leaving us and I am so not ready for her sister, November to come.
Seriously?
Anyone?
October?

Happy Halloween-

(Greta with her Godmother on her first Halloween Oct- 2009)

I'm hoping to wrap up some last minute costumes for the girls so that we can go trick or treating tonight for Greta's first time!

(Gretasaurousrex- Halloween 2010)

I'm also hoping to carve our pumpkin today. Yup, that's how far behind we are on this month!

(Greta from October 2010)

Maybe I'll be able to post in November about the stuff we've been doing and the cute projects I've been completing? I made a yarn wrapped Fall wreath, a freezer paper t-shirt for my brother in law, multiple tulle tutus, and some other random stuff.

Finding balance

Balance.
It's a dance. To find the balance in our day to day lives.
I've been substitute teaching a little here and there and I love it. But I don't love the work it takes to prepare to be away from my ladies, whether they stay here with someone watching them or I take them somewhere. It's a lot of work either way.
I've also been working with my Aunt Maureen as her CAbi assistant at shows. It's a blast and I get to meet all sorts of new people. But it also requires time away from my family.
And then there are the other, normal, commitments that just seem to creep their way into our lives and require either me to be away or people to be here. And again, I'm social, and I usually love them all, but they still take something from the quiet night at home.

So here's my dilemma. Life is short. My babies will never be this young again. How do I find the balance? How do I make time for my family, my man, my friends, and myself?
Suggestions?

My Love

On Friday of this week, September 30th, 2011, I will celebrate 5 years of marital bliss with the love of my life.

(wedding photo, 2006)

I have only one question to ask: how did I ever get so lucky?

(engagement photo- summer of 2006)

This man loves me for me.
With all my faults.
With all the junk that I have.
With the crazy that's in me and sometimes comes out.
He loves me.
So well.

(photo from our honeymoon- January 2006)

I never, ever, in my wildest dreams, thought I'd get someone as great as him.
He leaves me sweet love notes around the house.
He works 40+ hours a week to provide for our family and allow me to stay home.
He comes home every day with energy and enthusiasm for our family.

(photo from right before Greta was born- summer 2009)

He plays with our girls regularly

(photo from Greta's newborn shots- Fall 2009)

He spends time with me doing things we both love- like going for walks outside.

(photo from our family photo shoot, Fall 2010)


He encourages me to try new things.

(photo from Audrey's newborn photos: December 2010)


He supports me when I make decisions for us.

(summer 2011)

He is my better half and I'm so very lucky to have him.

(Fall 2011)

Happy Anniversary Daniel Mark.
I love you more than life itself.

Greta is turing 2!

I cannot believe it.
She's going to be 2 on Saturday.

As in, less than a week.
She acts so old sometimes.
Every day she learns at least one new word or phrase.
Today's was chachi-mer-shake (chocolate milk shake, of course!)
She is constantly amazing me with what she can do.
I feel like we just celebrated her first birthday.

Is this the same little baby that I gave birth to almost two years ago?

I love who she is becoming.

Confident. Smart. Curious. Funny. Mischievous. Beautiful. Caring. Protective.
Oh, my darling Greta.
How I love you.

My first race!

It's been a while since I've blogged but I have about 15 things to write about. Well, maybe not 15 but awfully close.

I'll start with something I'm so proud of:
I ran my first 5k last Sunday morning!

(Can you tell we were excited?!)

I actually did it! 9 months after delivering Audrey and almost 2 years after Greta, 3 months into running, and a c25k program later, I ran a race. And I did pretty good, if I do say so myself!

(You can see my stats above- finishing the race in under 31 minutes! Not bad for my first one!)

I did the Women Run the Cities race right here in Minneapolis, on a gorgeous Sunday morning, with my dear friend Ashley by my side. She's run a few races before and was quite the trooper to pace with me and stick by my side!

Our cheering section rocked! Ash's family came, her husband John and her two kiddos- Zeke and Nash. My man came (thanks babe!). And my folks came with our two kids (who spent the night at their place the night before because we were helping with a wedding- another blog post to come!), Greta and Audrey!


Once the race started it was hard not to run full speed. But the guy at the running place where we picked up our packets told me to start slow. So I tried. But I was just so darn excited!

(me getting my cool t-shirt and bib!)

I did think I was going to throw up around 2.5 miles. But Ashley told me to tuck it away and that's just what I did. Also, she advised me to take my hat off. I did that too. Both things helped immensely. So did burping. Lots of info, huh?


And then, once we saw the finish line, we sprinted. It was a blast.


So next up:
Monster Dash on October 29th and then the Thanksgiving Day Race in Kansas City on T-day 2011!

Our dinner tonight

Another delicious meal was enjoyed in the Hansen house tonight and I had to write about it.

I get daily emails from allrecipes. I usually ignore them because all they do is make me wish I had the money to go buy the ingredients and cook new and interesting meals. However, when today's came across and I read that first two ingredients and new I had them on hand, I decided to read on.

I was missing a couple of ingredients but after reading reviews from others on the site I decided to give it a go, add what I had, and substitute for what I didn't.

It was a hit. Warm. Delicious. Hearty. And affordable.

Brown Rice and Black Bean Casserole
My ingredients:
1 cup of brown rice
1 can of chicken soup broth
1 Tbs olive oil
1/3 cup diced onion
1 medium zucchini thinly sliced (garden produce!)
1 green pepper (garden)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp chili powder (I would add more next time to kick it up a notch!)
salt to taste
1 can black beans, drained
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup of shredded carrots
2 cups of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese

1. Mix the rice and broth in a pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease a large casserole dish.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the onion until tender. Mix in the chopped garlic, zucchini and green pepper. Season with cumin, salt, and chili powder. Cook until the zucchini is lightly browned.
4. In a large bowl mix the cooked rice, onion and zucchini mixture, beans, tomatoes, carrots and 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
5. Cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking 10 minutes or until bubble and lightly browned.
6. Serve with a delicious bread!

P.S. I had no idea how much I loved cooking. It's becoming a huge passion of mine. Finding good recipes, creating my own, and making meals that my whole family enjoys. Sorry if you thought you'd get more knitting patterns or projects on this blog. The title is quite misleading!

Our dinner tonight

Well, as promised, I made that zucchini dish I mentioned yesterday and it was delicious.
Here's the recipe and here are my adjustments!
Wish I would have snapped a photo because the colors were gorgeous.

Ingredients:
1 small onion, thinly sliced (I had one from my garden!)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 medium zucchini, cubed (also from my garden)
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained (our tomatoes didn't do nearly as well as we had hoped they would this year)
2 Tbs chopped green pepper, about 1/2 of a green pepper (from our garden)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
1 Tbs Italian Bread crumbs

I sauted the onions in a small skillet with the oil. Then added the rest of the veggies. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Then I poured all the contents into my casserole dish and topped with the bread crumbs and cheese. I then baked the whole thing, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Yum. Absolutely delicious!

Served with a grilled steak (probably the last time we'll grill this year as Fall is definitely upon us) and crescent rolls. Oh, and a glass of wine for good measure.