Christmas in Arizona

Did you miss them?  My year in review:

• Part One
• Part Two

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What a few days it’s been!  I got back from Arizona lat night with my mom and brothers and couldn’t have asked for a better three-day trip!

My brothers spent most of the car ride doing this:

They say they’re catching up on lost sleep from college…um, they got out of school almost TWO WEEKS AGO.  Crazy boys…gotta love em’!

Anyhow, I finally got to see some of my cousins that I rarely get to see since they live in Arizona…thought my cousin Josh plays semi-pro baseball in Florida, where I am half the time anyhow!

 

We almost has all my cousins together from my Mom’s side of the family…we were only missing one of my cousins, Chris.  So close…so close.

We arrived on Monday evening and left Wednesday mid-day, in which everyday was jam packed!  But Tuesday was exciting since I got to see Jenn!  I know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, this girl is one of the best around.  We first met each other last January (along with Heather and Gina) when I was in Arizona going out to Florida for work and throughout the year we have talked so much  via phone, texting, gchat and video chat…it was so good to see her in person again!

She took me to this great place called First Watch in Scottsdale, and we both settled on the Tri-athlete Omelette which was made of egg whites and veggies with a side of salsa, fruit and a dry English muffin.

I can’t wait to see Jenn again in 2010!  So much excitement in the year to come for the both of us!

We had a farewell dinner with my cousins at a place that was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives with Guy Fieri, called Joe’s Farm Grill.

They’re known for using vegetables and fruits that grows right there in their backyard and using the freshest and most natural ingredients they can use.  They provide very common items on their menu like burgers, fries, hot dogs and chili, but they also have other great things like what I got for dinner:

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Farm Fresh Salad 

And I shared the side of Sweet Potato Fries my brothers subbed out with the regular fries their meal came with.

To end out the meal we had their Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Split Sandwich that was filled w/ pb, strawberries, bananas, pineapples and chocolate chips.  It sounded good, but wasn’t the greatest.  I shared it with my brothers, and ended up just digging out the pb insides, leaving the bread behind (it was covered/swimming in butter. eh).

I think one of the exciting parts of the restaurant though was the bathroom. It was unisex, so it had a urinal, but the funny part was the TV above it.

 

After we finished dinner we had our Christmas with my Mom’s side of the family, in our hotel rooms:

The kids

The parents

The kids taking pictures of the parents:

Hahaha…I thought it was pretty funny.

And I couldn’t resist showing you my cute cousin:

It was a great vacation with the family!  Stay tuned for my New Years Resolutions today or tomorrow!

Happy New Years Everyone!!!!

2009 Recap: Pt. 2

Ready to finish off the year with me?!  It was freak’n crazy!

June:

I saw my first Manatee ever in the wild, watched a loggerhead turtle lay her eggs, and of course spent time on Cocoa Beach with Meghann, her family, and Brad.

I showed you Life in the Day of a Field Technician.  I know you want my job…;)

I showed you my Life List.

I finished my job in Florida and went on an awesome vacation with Brad to Miami, South Beach, and the Florida Keys:

• Leave’n…on a…err…in a truck…
• Downtown and South Beach
• The Adventure Continues…
• What?  You don’t like pictures???
• Another Crawl…and not one including Pubs!
• And it came to an end…

 

July:

Then I spent 4th of July in Del Rio, Texas!

Ran the local city 10k I do every year:

August:

Met up with a great blogger friend: Caroline!

Did an insane amount of scrapbooking!

Guest Posts:

• Post-race food ideas by Brad
• Berlin by Craig (my brother)
• Prague by Craig

Wild West Relay!!!

I started my new job with Hawkwatch International in Smith Point, Texas counting migratory hawks:

A Different Kind of Post (Eating disorder related)

I got to hold my first Hummingbird!

September:

More Hummingbird Trapping and Banding!

October:

Sadly, I got my heart broken

I had a Running Realization while training for the San Antonio Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon

I peaked for my 1/2 Marathon training at 12 miles, got my first chance to bake with some great friends, and got a new job!

I let you see Life in Smith Point, Texas

November:

One of many floods in Texas…

 

Ran my first HALF MARATHON in San Antonio, Texas!  Which included fun beforehand at the Riverwalk and Health Expo.

Thanksgivings #1, #2, #3, and #4!

Ran the Dana Point 10k Turkey Trot with my brothers and cousin!

A Weighty Issue (Eating Disorder related post)

December:

I drove up to Sacramento for the first time to visit my best friend

 

Blogger meet-up with Lara from Thinspired!

I was on TV in Sacramento to promote Operation Beautiful!

Had a Blogger Sleepover with Bobbi and took my first kickboxing class!

Lots of Holiday Baking for friends, bloggers and family!

Christmas Time (the only time you can get my entire family together)

All that’s left is New Years, Mom’s 52nd Birthday and Craig and Eric’s 22nd Birthday!

Hope you enjoyed my recap, especially those who have just started reading the blog!  I am so grateful to all you lovely readers following me through the year!!!

2009 in Review: Pt. 1

I hope you can find the time to make it through my year, because O.M.G. I have done way more than I thought! Makes me just as excited for the upcoming 2010!!!

I’ve split up my year into a few posts to make it easier to take in…It’s been a mad/crazy year!

January

I did my first cross country travel in my life from California to Florida for a new job doing work on Snail Kites!

I finally got to meet up with two of my now greatest friends: Meghann and Caitlin!

February

Took my first trip to a Florida Beach:

March

Caught/held my first baby baby bird:

Cheered on Meghann in her first Tri-Sprint:

Gained one of the best and most supportive friends I could have asked for:

April

Trip to Orlando Wine Bar with my Blogger Girlfriends (and significant others)

My first shot at Clean Eating..

First trip to Melbourne, Florida

May

Donated 9 inches of my hair to Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths

First trip to Universal Studios with Meghann and Brad

Stay tuned for my next few months! I can’t believe all the things I did just in the first 5 months!

Zucchini Tofu Roll Ups

I’m in Arizona right now until Wednesday so posting will be a bit sporadic…I wrote this the other day and it was supposed to post last night, but it didn’t!  Freak’n blogger.  Oh well!

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Don’t think I forgot to share my Christmas Eve Dinner Recipe with you!  It’s really easy to do and doesn’t take much time at all!

Zucchini Tofu Roll Ups

Ingredients:

• 1 Block of Extra Firm Tofu, smashed
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• Italian seasoning
• Jar of Marinara (or whatever kind of sauce you want)
• 2 Zucchinis, cut into long slices

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Slice Zucchini into long slices and steam for a few minutes, just to soften them enough to roll.

2. Sauté the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil until browned, then add in smashed tofu and Italian seasoning to taste (I did a few good shakes).

 

3. I used two different sauces, but you can obviously use one or the other.

Mix in sauce with cooked tofu mash enough to make it stick together well, but without becoming runny.

4. Take a spoonful of tofu mix and lay out on 2/3 of the sliced zucchini, leaving the last 1/3 uncovered.

5. Roll zucchini from the end where the tofu sits, and roll, keeping fingers on the side to prevent the tofu mix from squishing out the sides.

6. Place tofu roll in a pan (I had tomato sauce smeared on the bottom, you can just spray the pan if you want) and line next to each other to keep them from opening up and unrolling.

   

7. Spread extra sauce on top of the rolls and add cheese if you would like (I don’t have cheese on mine because I’m lactose intolerant…and just forgot to put them on my Dad’s, the ones with the alfredo sauce)

(I had some extra tofu mix leftover so I put it in a few mushroom caps with extra sauce on the top)

8. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, covered, or until warmed all the way through.  Serve with rice or couscous on the side!

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Hope you try the recipe!  It’s great and if you’re afraid of tofu, the taste of the texture, I swear this one makes it seem like cottage/ricotta cheese in there.

I’m sneaky like that!