Happy Halloween 2013!

Posted on November 12, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

I love holidays! For the past five years, I have been cramming the holidays down my husband’s throat! 🙂 Mike isn’t one to celebrate them, but since we have been married he has been a good sport about it. This year we had to continue the holiday extravaganza because now we have a kid to share it with!

There are so many awesome things to do in Las Cruces around Halloween! And we had to dress the part for all the things we did!

Of course we had to bust out with Barney’s hot dog costume, just so I could get a good laugh. He looks so ashamed..

So then I put him in this monkey suit to make him feel even more ashamed!

Speaking of costumes, Mike’s mom was able to make a “Little Peck” (Olivia’s nickname since she has been in my stomach) costume to dress her up in!

We gave it a little try on the trunk or treat we took her to…it was a little too late at night to have too much fun.

We went to the Mesilla Valley Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch too. Love that place! I look forward to it every year!

Olivia had a good time hanging out with family and going on the hay ride.

Not to mention, Dad had to take her down the slide for the first time. (No reaction by the kid!)

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with my family and spending Christmas here with Mike’s family! Happy Holidays!

The Return of the River Dog

Posted on July 2, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

The Rio Grande has been dried out for winter and I was worried that they were not going to release any water from the dam. Usually it is in May when you see the river build up, but this year they waited until June because of the drought situations.

Of course, we had to take Barney down the river! He has been a little neglected lately because of all of the craziness of the baby, so we had to pamper him with his two favorite past times….frisbees and water.

river2 ‘

I love this time of year with the beautiful summer sunsets! What a silly jumper!

There were families taking pictures and people on picnics while we were playing. Barney was putting on a show for everyone. A photographer came around and asked if he could take pictures of Barney while he was jumping. You know how we love our pictures!

Silly dog.

A Day At The Park

Posted on March 24, 2013 by thefasteryoupedal

The nice thing about this time of year is that we are starting to get out of the winter slump. Thankfully, we live in a town where we don’t get crazy, snowy winters. We have major wind, but on some days you will get the perfect Las Cruces weather, which is the reason why Las Cruces is one of the “Top Ten Places to Retire”.

http://www.lascrucescvb.org/las-cruces-named-a-top-10-sunny-city-to-retire-by-aarp/

And we had one of those days the other day, so Mike and I headed out for a little frisbee playing (courtesy of a frisbee-obsessed hound) and some walking for me. (I have been told to do 20-30 minutes of cardio a day…not counting the million steps I take walking around my classroom all day!)

Every fall the Rio Grande is dried up to preserve water for the irrigation needed in the spring. It is kind of sad because I guess the water levels are pretty low here, so I am curious to see how high it gets when they release the water again.

There is something about the outdoors with your family that makes everything better. It’s so fun to go on “family dates” to the park.

Doesn’t he look like a little kid ready to go to Disneyland??

Las Cruces Road Race

Posted on November 2, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

A month ago the Zia Velo team went on a Saturday ride along the Las Cruces Road Race route. Mike did the whole thing with them and I went along for the last part of the ride. I was glad to be able to at least know where they went when it came time for the race this weekend because I became the designated photographer for the whole thing.

Mike and I were laughing because on Jason McClure’s bike (that Mike is borrowing) it has the words “Daddy is the best”. So fitting in many ways.

At the beginning, they rode up Dripping Springs towards the new high school. It is such a smooth road with a gradual incline (it is also the same road we do the Turkey Trot on too).

The crew was yelling spontaneous things like “Liz + 1” and “Stalker” at me the whole time, but I was trying to get some good shots!

I like this picture because Mike is waving at me. You can hardly see it, but it makes me laugh.

My favorite part of the ride is the part that passes the pecan orchards and heads over to Stahlman Farm. I LOVED the weather mixed with the view too. Couldn’t have asked for a better day to do it.

Matthew Busche who rides for Team Radioshack came along for the race as a tribute to his hometown. Mike was able to get a picture with him and we sat with him at lunch and chatted it up for a while. Nice guy!

Also, in honor of Barney’s birthday I took him on part of the route and this is what he was acting like:

What a beast.

Hiking and Biking The Ocho

Posted on October 17, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

So I have been taking it easy the last couple months now that school has started (stay tuned as to why I haven’t been racing…I’m sure you can guess!). So I decided to go on a hike while Mike biked the Ocho course. Love that course! I love how it has an awesome, long, drawn-out climb, and then once you get to the top….it’s all downhill from there!

I could barely geta hold of Mike on the downhill because of his super speed down the hill!

Meanwhile, Barney and I decided to take a stroll, and of course had to play a quick game of fetch.

We then proceeded to go the top of the hill and see what was on the other side. Since it was close to sunset, we heard a pack of coyotes VERY nearby. If any of you know me, I am insanely afraid of them, plus add the fact that my dog is miniature in size and well…we booked it!

It was nice to get a little jog in on the hike to make it feel somewhat worthwhile. I can’t wait to get back into the exercise routine again.

P.S. Here is Barney’s Halloween costume this year:

Trying Out Pinterest Recipes

Posted on July 19, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Like I said in my previous post, my sister showed me some great recipes on Pinterest that I really wanted to try out. I really want to take advantage of the fact that I am not working right now, so I am teaching myself how to cook and bake. It is so fun!

These “Zucchini Chips” were great! All you have to do is put some olive oil on them, and add a mixture of panko bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and a little parmesan cheese. Bake for 22 minutes on 400 degrees…and deliciousness! The link is found here:

http://bakehouse.squarespace.com/home/2011/7/20/zucchini-parmesan-crisps.html

Then I decided to try another recipe that caught my eye because of my HUGE love for chinese food. I don’t live in a town that has PF Changs or Panda Express, so I had to bring the sweet and sour chicken to my kitchen.

It is VERY filling! So you don’t need much of it, which is a good thing. It is around 300 calories per serving so if you portion it right, then it’s not too bad. You don’t have to use all the cornstarch and egg too so it helps to lighten it up. It’s a little messy to prepare, but I give it two thumbs up! Here is the link:

http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html

I don’t know about you guys, but this month brings a lot of entertainment to the household! The Tour De France has been played non stop, especially when there is a certain biking addicted husband in the house. We’re not gonna lie, it’s not as exciting this year since Cadel Evans fell back and Contador (the villain) is not here this year, but it’s been fun watching the drama unfold. Go Wiggins!

“I sure do like this Tour De France! Now buy me a bike…”

We can’t be too sad when it ends because the Olympics thankfully will take over! 🙂

Question: Are you keeping up on the Tour this year? Any opinions about this year’s tour?

We Meet At Last!

Posted on June 19, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

Barney has this routine every Sunday when we drive over to Mike’s parents house. He will be perfectly normal until we hit the dirt road that turns off to their house. Then he starts yelping like a hyena. Near the road, there is a farm house with a dog that runs up and down the fence. For some reason Barney gets extra loud and irritated at the dog. Mike named the dog “Red” and every time we get near, Mike will say “You’re going down Red!” and Barney starts acting up, as if he knows the dog’s name is Red too.

Red and Barney have never formally met, occasionally passing by each other. While playing in the irrigation ditch, Red made an appearance. And they met face to face.

It was a lot less dramatic as I thought it would be. Red growled, but Barney didn’t find it as entertaining to bark at him when he wasn’t in a car driving by.

Anyway, I have two products that I’ve tried that are really good! I highly recommend them. One is the Jamba Juice smoothie mix in the frozen food section. We don’t have them here and I miss drinking them while walking around BYU campus. Add some juice and you got some awesomeness.

I like to drink it for breakfast, but it would be good for a summertime treat too.

Another product is the Alternative Bagels. The are low-calorie, whole wheat, and have a lot of fiber!! I usually just warm it up briefly in the microwave instead of toasting it and it tastes like a pretzel. Good stuff!

You can find them in the refrigerated section at Walmart or Albertsons. Off to work!

Handsome Beast.

Posted on May 5, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

I have been trying to practice taking pictures because I requested a camera for my birthday that I can use for blogging, school work, classes, etc. The only problem is that besides biking, there really isn’t much to take pictures of. So of course, I have to use Barney as my model and boy does he ham it up.

Isn’t he such a handsome man?

First Entry On The Blog!

Posted on April 7, 2012 by thefasteryoupedal

This picture is a year old but I thought I would post it anyway, since our dog is not getting any bigger ( I took him to the vet yesterday and pretty much he is going to stay at his 61 pounds). I blame it on his parents and Mike. His parents are 60 and 80 pounds, which is highly unusual for a labrador retriever. As for Mike, he was the one to choose him. He liked that he looked fiesty.

I am totally teasing about the blame. We would not change anything about our precious Barney! (Can you tell from all the pictures posted??)

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Easter. I am so grateful to be able to have this holiday and to remember the true meaning of it!