Must. Be. Better.

Now that I've successfully gone three whole months without a single blog... I have so much to say! :o)

Jonathan and I both ended up getting brand new mountain bikes! I've lovingly named my bike Sylvia... because she's both sleek and beautiful.

We've been going pretty much every weekend- especially now that Boulder has opened VALMONT BIKE PARK!!!! A mecca of fun and entertainment, which regularly makes me feel like a child on my lunch break, let alone on my Saturday mornings! I've noticed a huge improvement in my bike handling abilities and have become so much more comfortable on my new best friend!

Purchasing several thousand dollars of bikes can definitely put a damper on a budget. Therefore, what better opportunity to broaden our horizon than with homemade cooking? I learned how to make homemade pierogies (an underrated delicacy of my homeland: Pittsburgh, PA!) and made about 100 in a 24 hour period. The secret? Sour cream. Put sour cream in the dough to keep it moist and in tact during the sealing process. I didn't use a secret family recipe or anything, but I did use this recipe: http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/recipes/r/pierogies.htm - The first batch came out a little thick, but once J and I discovered how thick to make them, they were perfect!

One thing to know is that I am addicted to hot sauce, especially Sriracha. So when Randy Clemens came out with The Sriracha Cookbook - I was ELATED! When the booked arrived at my house last month, I had never been so pleased! The book is so much more than just "add Sriracha to whatever" - but puts delicious twists on everyday favorites. First we started with the chilaquiles- a Mexican breakfast- which was amazing! We followed the chilaquiles with many other recipes such as deviled eggs, tikka masala, baked mac n cheese, pulled pork... and BUTTER... yes, Sriracha butter is a real thing and it is 100 percent delicious! J has limited my Sriracha cookbook recipes to about one a week... and I have to respect his wishes, but still put the hot sauce on 99.9 percent of my meals anyway!

Four months ago I started the C25K running program. I was physically forced to take a two week hiatus due to some major knee issues. This past Saturday, I successfully completed 5k. It took me 45 minutes... and I walked the last .4K, but I did it nonetheless. After the 5k, we biked 14 miles to Stapleton for an afternoon at the pool and many deserved beers! Granted, I still snooze most mornings when my alarm goes off at 5:25am, but I've decided that the dedication to running is going to take me a lot longer than the four months it has taken me to get here.

Hopefully it won't take me 3+ months to post my next blog... here's to hoping... Happy Fourth!