In Loving Memory of Bailey, our Little GSP

Posted in Bailey by Annie T

Matt and I lost our best friend last night. Our beautiful, energetic, vibrant, happy pup Bailey passed away very suddenly and we are heartbroken.

We first met Bailey when she was just a tiny 4 week old puppy. When we brought Bailey home at 7 weeks we quickly learned that in addition to being cute as a button she seemed possessed with never-ending energy. She kept us very busy that first year… I don’t think she ever let us sleep in past 8AM!

As Bailey matured we found ourselves adapting our lifestyle around her boundless energy and intelligence. We hiked with Bailey on a regular basis, did agility and nosework training with her, and bought a house with a big yard for her to enjoy.

In 2009 Bailey started competing in DockDogs. This opened up a whole new world for us – exciting new places, people, and experiences – and also gave us the chance to develop an even closer bond with our dog. We traveled thousands of miles and spent countless weekends with Bailey by our sides and I know that she loved every minute of it.

We told Bailey that we loved her every day and we meant it. The night before she died I remember going into the bedroom to get ready for bed and finding Matt kneeling down on the floor, snuggling Bailey’s soft ears with his face and whispering good night to her. We had no idea that that would be her last night with us but it comforts me to know that she clearly knew she was deeply loved by us.

We don’t know exactly what happened to Bailey last night. She was out in the yard before dinner as is her usual routine. She generally comes to the door when she is done hunting/playing/patrolling the yard but she hadn’t shown up yet so I started calling her. She didn’t come when called (which is also quite usual if she’s still absorbed in her squirrel-stalking!) but after calling for her a few times I got worried and turned on the back lights. Then I saw her, collapsed in the middle of the yard, a dark figure in the snow with the lights reflecting off of her jacket. I ran out in the yard and carried her limp form inside. We rushed her to the vet but she was gone.

Bailey lived an action-packed life and threw herself wholeheartedly in everything she did with 110% enthusiasm. She was only six years old and she brought joy to Matt and me for every single minute of her time with us. We loved her unconditionally and we miss her terribly.

In loving memory of Bailey
May 11, 2007 – January 30, 2014

Puppy Bailey

Bailey on her first car ride

Such a goofball

Leaping over the jump!

Bailey let me kiss her mid-hike

Bailey was such a funny puppy

Looking thoughtful

Matt and Bailey hiking

DockDogs at Lilypons

I was so happy to be holding baby Bailey!

Bailey with her world qualifier ribbon

Running with her frisbee

Wild ears at the dog park

Staring me down in the hallway

Pup profile

Making good eye contact

All tuckered out

Bailey

Such a happy pup!

Streching out of her house

Chewing that tennis ball SO HARD!

Bailey and Matt watching the rain

Now that’s one happy dog

Flying through the back yard

Bailey wan kenobi

Bailey at Harford County Fair

Bailey and her buddy, Hershey

Beautiful Bailey

Wild eared pup

“MY mulch pile!”

26Jan2014

White Bean Chili with Sausage and Chicken

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

It has been bitterly cold here in southeastern PA. We haven’t seen above-freezing temperatures in a week and the 14 inches of snow that fell last Tuesday still look fresh and powdery… no melting whatsoever! I’m not complaining, though. I’ll take extreme winter weather with lots of snow and cold over a mediocre, unexciting winter any year!

The cold weather means that Matt and I have been making soups, stews, and chilis almost every week. Right now we have a beef chili simmering on the stove that’s made with “real” dried beans that we had to soak overnight… first time I’ve ever done that! Tonight’s chili still has another hour or so to cook before it will be ready so I thought I’d use that time to post about another stew that we made a few weeks ago… white bean chili with hot sausage, chicken, bacon, and five types of peppers… yum!!

This white bean chili comes together really quickly… just under an hour from start to finish. That’s much faster than tonight’s beef chili which has been simmering for nearly 7 hours! (Can you tell that I am impatiently waiting for it to be done? I’m starving!!) Getting back to the white bean chili, I found that the “white” cannellini beans and navy beans were a nice change from the basic kidney beans and black beans that my chilis usually include and I definitely liked the combination of bell peppers, jalapeño, green chiles, and chipotles en adobo. Oh, and of course I thoroughly enjoyed the bacon and hot sausage… how could you not like that winning combination? 🙂

White Bean Chili with Sausage and Chicken (adapted from this recipe at Food52)

Chili Ingredients:
Olive Oil
5 slices Bacon, chopped
1 lb. Chicken Breast, cut into 1″ cubes
1 lb. Hot Italian Sausage, ground (or removed from casing)
2 Yellow Onions, diced
1 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, diced
1 Jalapeño Pepper, minced
2 – 4 oz. cans Diced Green Chiles
2 Chipotles en Adobo, minced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon Ground Coriander
3 tablespoons Cumin
1 1/2 tablespoons Chili Powder
3 tablespoons Mexican Oregano
3 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
6 cups Chicken Stock
1 – 15 oz. can Cannellinni Beans, partially drained
1 – 15 oz. can Navy Beans, partially drained

Garnishes:
Your choice of Sour Cream, Grated Cheddar Cheese, Fresh Cilantro, Lime Wedges, Avocado, and/or Tortilla Strips

Directions:
Heat a large (7-8 qt) stock pot over medium-high heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and brown the chopped bacon until it is just starting to get crispy. Add in the chicken and sausage. Brown the meat, stirring frequently, for approx. 12 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sausage is well crumbled.

Stir in the next seven ingredients (onion thru garlic) and saute until the onions are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the spices (black pepper thru Mexican oregano), stir well, and continue to cook for another 3 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture, stir, and cook for 3 more minutes. Next, add the chicken stock 1 cup at a time, stirring and scraping the browned bits off of bottom of the pot between each cup. Bring the chili to a boil then add the beans and stir well to combine. Reduce the heat and simmer the chili for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve the white bean chili in large bowls and top with your choice of garnish. We enjoyed our chili with sour cream, cheddar cheese, and cilantro and it was delicious!

Here are some of the other Chilis and Stews that we’ve been making lately. Enjoy and stay warm!
• Pozole Verde
• Pork and Green Chile Stew
• Butternut Squash and Turkey Chili

19Jan2014

Viva Las Vegas!

Posted in Race Recaps, Trips by Annie T

As I mentioned earlier today, Matt and I just returned from a week-long trip to Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite the fact that we were in Vegas for work (we go every January), we still managed to squeeze in lots of good meals and fun. We even went running! Here are some photos from the trip.

It was too sunny for Matt to open his eyes

Excalibur Castle

Me after our 3 mile run on Monday

Luxor Pyramid

Matt after our 3 mile run

Venetian Bell Tower

New York, New York!

Venetian Bell Tower

My brother and I ran nearly 7 miles to get a photo in front of this sign!

The most epic run of the trip (or actually maybe the most epic run of my adult running career?) was on Friday when my brother and I ran nearly 7 miles to see the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. The length of this run shows you how HUGE the Las Vegas Strip is. We were staying on the Northern end of the strip at the Palazzo and the sign is located at the southern end of the strip near McCarren Airport and Mandalay Bay. So the run to the sign involved us running on the sidewalk past several casinos… easy, right? Nope!! Not only did we run by casinos for 3 1/2 solid miles (that’s a LOT of casinos!), we also crossed 8 or 9 pedestrian bridges (3+ flights of stairs up and down for each) and got waylaid as we wove around construction sites (Vegas is always changing!).

It was totally worth the crazy journey once we got to the sign though. We were the only people there who had made the pilgrimage on foot and a group of friendly tourists took our photo for us in exchange for us taking theirs. We also saw Elvis and a taxicab full of reallllly drunk guys who told us that they had been awake for 48 hours (for the record it was about 8:15am at that point). Fun times!

All in all we had a great time in Vegas. Matt and I will be heading back in April for another work trip and I’m already looking forward to it!

Miles since last post: 75.3
Days since last post: 15
Avg. Daily Miles since July 18th: 4.86
2014 TOTAL MILES: 91.6
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Have you ever been to Vegas? What was your favorite attraction or activity?
Any running recommendations for when Matt and I return to Sin City in April?

19Jan2014

Pork and Green Chile Stew

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Hello there, blog world! It’s been a while since I’ve posted but that’s because Matt and I have been in Las Vegas! We were there all of last week and just got home late last night. Being home after a long work trip is definitely nice but I do have to admit that I’m already missing Nevada’s weather. Every afternoon the temps climbed into the mid-sixties and the sky was always perfectly clear and sunny. Here in Pennsylvania, on the other hand, we’re about to get hit with another “Polar Vortex.” Once that icy blast of cold air arrives tomorrow it’s going to stay below freezing for four days straight. Brrr!

Pennsylvania’s winter weather does have its benefits, however. Take for instance winter comfort food. I’ll bet a hearty slow-cooked stew tastes WAY better in 20° Pennsylvania than it would in 60° Las Vegas, right? 😉 I could actually really go for a nice stew tonight for dinner. We don’t have the ingredients on hand though so I’ll satisfy my craving by posting about this Pork and Green Chile Stew that I made last month. Doesn’t it look yummy?

I found this Slow Cooker Pork and Green Chile Stew recipe at Skinny Taste. It was extremely easy to make – just cube and brown the pork and simmer all of the ingredients together in a crock pot for 4-5 hours – and the cooked pork was tender and moist. Matt and I garnished our plates with cilantro, avocado and sour cream and these Mexican flavors added a really nice, bright finishing touch to the stew. For anyone looking for a good Polar Vortex meal, I highly recommend this!

Slow-Cooked Pork and Green Chile Stew (Recipe from Skinny Taste)

Stew Ingredients…
2 lbs. Pork Loin roast, trimmed of fat and cut into 2″ cubes
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
2 tablespoons All-Purpose Flour (or use a gluten-free flour for G-Free preparation)
1 medium Yellow Onion, diced
2 – 4 oz. cans Diced Green Chiles, drained
1-2 Jalapeño Peppers, diced with seeds and stems removed
1 – 10 oz. can Ro*Tel Tomatoes & Diced Green Chiles (not drained)
1/2 cup Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 tablespoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder

Other Ingredients/Garnishes…
Cooked White or Brown Rice
Sour Cream (omit for Lactose-Free)
Sliced Avocado
Chopped Cilantro

Directions:
Season the cubed pork liberally with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and add the cubed pork. Cook the pork for approximately 4 minutes or until browned on all sides. Gradually stir in the flour and allow the pork to continue browning for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Transfer the browned pork to a crock pot. Add in the remaining stew ingredients (onion thru garlic powder) and stir gently to combine. Cover and cook on high power for 4-5 hours or on low power for 8 hours. When done, stir the mixture and, if needed, add salt and pepper to taste. Serve the stew over rice and garnish with sour cream, avocado and cilantro.

4Jan2014

Athlete’s Closet January 5K

Posted in Race Recaps by Annie T

Matt and I ran the second 5K in the Athlete’s Closet Winter Series this morning. This race was special for two reasons… we had our first-ever spectators/cheering squad (my mom and stepfather) AND both of our brothers ran the race with us!!! Here we are at the finish… my brother Billy (#167), Matt’s brother Dylan (#145), me, and Matt. Yay for family running together!

Billy was the first finisher of our group (15th overall) with Dylan (17th), Matt (20th) and me (23rd) close behind. Matt’s time was 25:45 and mine was 26:19… much slower than usual but we had a good excuse… the roads were partially covered in snow and it was really, really cold out. It was a mere 1°F when we arrived at the event. ONE DEGREE!!! By the time the race actually started it had probably warmed up to around 10° but that’s still pretty chilly!

I knew it was going to be cold so I tried to plan my clothing accordingly. I was wearing SmartWool compression socks, Athleta’s Relay Tights, a thin Under Armour Twisted Tech T-shirt, Athleta’s Queen’s Luscious super-soft long-sleeve half zip, the Sugoi Firewall 180 Jacket, a head band, lightweight gloves, and a neck warmer from my mom that was made out of some sort of super-breathable tech material. All of that layering paid off because I felt good at the start line and got just hot enough during the race to unzip my jacket and long-sleeved shirt and put my gloves in my pockets. Oddly my toes went numb for the first mile or so but I’m not sure if that was from the cold or from my compression socks… I’ve never run in these socks before so I’ll have to do some investigating to figure out what was going on!

Today’s 3.1 mile course took us on the same route as the Athlete’s Closet December 5K. It was fairly hilly with a few big, slippery uphills towards the end of the race. I tracked the run on my iPhone with Runkeeper as usual but unfortunately I couldn’t get the “start” button to work at the beginning of the race. I ended up running the first several hundred yards looking at my armband trying in vain to push the stupid button with my “iPhone friendly” gloves (which, for the record, had been working fine up to that point!). I finally got it to work about .1 into the race after taking one glove off and licking my finger before tapping the phone screen Jeez! Maybe it was too cold out? All of this excitement resulted in my splits being a little messed up since I had to manually edit the course distance in Runkeeper afterwards. Oh well!

Overall today was chilly and not quite as fast as I was hoping for, but it was really fun to have our brothers running with us and to have our very own spectators. I figure if our family was able to survive today’s frigid temperatures they can survive anything! Hopefully they will join us again for the next 5K of the Winter Series on February 1st! 🙂

Miles since last post: 16.3
Days since last post: 4
Avg. Daily Miles since July 18th: 4.84
2014 TOTAL MILES: 16.3