They're here!

Corrie and Amy arrived safe and sound this morning! Yippy! The passport control man did NOT want to let them in, but eventually they pursuaded him that they were NOT illegally immigrating and he let them in.
I kept them awake all day and we ended up walking down Ecclesall Road to the Botanical Gardens and then had a drink at Nonna's. It was an absolutely beautiful day for them to arrive! The drink over Snake Pass from Manchester was gorgeous. Though, on a side note, we did see a car that had driven off the road into a pond and was just sitting there with its nose in the water. No one was in it and it looked like they had just decided to leave it there.
Corrie and I made pizza while Dave and Amy played some Mario Kart. I sort of got Amy to eat vegetables on her pizza, so I feel like we're making progress!
I kept Corrie awake until 8pm when she went to bed and Amy stayed up and watched the X-Factor with us. They are sleeping soundly now.
Tomorrow we're heading down towards Warwick and Stratford. I'm really excited!

Beautiful Sunday Afternoon

It is absolutely gorgeous today! And I'm so happy I'm not at work and actually get to enjoy it.
We went to church and out to lunch with Kat, Chris, Clare, and Jenny and then came home and worked outside. I cleared out a bit of the garden and worked for quite some time to get a few giant parsnip out of the ground while Dave vacuumed out the car in anticpation of Corrie and Amy's arrival on Saturday. I think I might have caught a little bit of sun!
I've convinced Dave to go running in a little while and it's now time to enjoy a wonderful Sunday afternoon.
Oh, and the last of the audition show of the X-Factor is on tonight! I can't wait!

I'm a sucker for the X-Factor

At the moment, I cry every time I watch the X-Factor auditions. Seriously, I cried twice during the show last night. I'm pretty sure Dave thinks it pathetic, but he has told me it's okay since they are real people. And apparently it's okay to cry when the stories are real - fortunately, we haven't watched any sad movies recently. There are only 2 more audition shows before the live performances, so I should be okay after that. Luckily, Britain's Got Talent doesn't start again until next year, so I'll have a break from crying at reality television shows for a few months. I need it!

Food and Run Fun

I made whole wheat bread last week and it turned out to be the best loaf I've made yet! I like making bread, but it takes more time than I would like. I should convince Dave that we need a bread maker.


These are the first tomatoes from our garden. They were fantastic!


I also make a quiche and it turned out pretty well. It was a tomato and zuccini, but I think if I make it again I'll change it a bit.


The Great Yorkshire 10k Run was today and it went very well. I hadn't been training for it specifically, but I paced myself and finished in about 50 minutes. I'm going to check the official results tonight! This is post race in the Peace Gardens in the city center. The atmosphere at this run was really great! There were 8,000 people participating and then a load of people cheering us on. Everything was buzzing and that made it a lot of fun! There were also about 5 or 6 bands playing along the route! The music was uplifting and it was fun to see what the next band would be. All in all, fantastic!

Summer Foods

I love food in the summer! Everything is fresh and has so much flavor! This has become my new favorite meal: Baked Salmon, Corn on the Cob, and Brown Rice, Feta, and Broccoli Salad! Love it! The recipe for the salad is easy and it makes a really good lunch for the next day.

Brown Rice, Feta, & Broccoli Salad
Serves 2 - prep time is about 20 minutes
1 cup dry brown rice, cooked & cooled
A good handful of broccoli (and I added sugarsnap peas because they were on sale!) steamed and cooled
1/3 cup of pumpkin seeds, toasted
1 handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
1 handful of parsley, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
3 green onions, finely sliced
2 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP lemon juice

Once the hot ingredients cool, stir together along with feta, pumpkin seeds, herbs, tomatoes, and green onions. Drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

It's super easy and really good! Enjoy!