Confession

I have a confession.

My sweet neighbor was nice enough to take care of some things at our house while we were in Idaho last week. As a thank you, I made her my favorite brownies. Unfortunately, we ate them all before I took them over to her. They're that delicious.

I have another confession. When I say "we" ate them all, I really mean I ate them all.

What good is loosing 20+ pounds if you can't enjoy putting it all back on??

Here's the recipe. I believe it is from the BYU Creamery. They are so fudgey and yummy. Try them. Don't plan on sharing.

BYU Mint Brownies

Brownies:
1 cup butter
1/2 cup cocoa
2 Tbsp honey
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups flour
1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mint Icing:
5 Tbsp butter
dash salt
3 Tbsp milk
1 Tbsp corn syrup
2 1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
green food coloring

Chocolate Icing:
6 Tbsp milk
6 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chocolate chips
dash vanilla

Brownies-Melt butter and mix in cocoa. Allow to cool. Add honey, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Add nuts. Pour into greased 9 x 13 pan. Bake at 350 for about 30 mins. Cool.

Mint Icing-Soften butter, add salt, corn syrup and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth and fluffy. Add mint extract and food coloring. Mix. Gradually add milk until slightly thinner than cake frosting. Spread over cooled brownies. Put in freezer to stiffen frosting.

Chocolate Icing-Combine milk, butter and sugar in saucepan. Bring to boil. Allow to cook at rolling boil for 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips and vanilla and stir until melted. Cool slightly and pour over brownies.

Ragnar 2011

This isn't about my kids and the latest cute thing they did. It isn't about our most recent trip to the zoo or park or bounce house. It isn't about anything...but ME! Me, me, me! And how awesome I am! Bear with me for a minute or two while I brag about my most recent triumph, m'kay?

Several months ago a group at my office was forming a team to run the Ragnar Relay. If you're not familiar with this race, it's a 192 mile relay race starting in Logan and ending in Park City. It goes over 5 mountain passes. While beautiful from the car, it's absolutely terrifying when on foot. For me anyway. Every year XanGo (the awesome company I work for) forms and sponsors a team. And every year they ask me if I'm interested. And every year I tell them they're crazy. "No, I don't want to run insane distances and get no sleep and kill myself running up those mountains. Not my idea of fun, thank you very much". For some reason this year when they started asking, I actually considered it. Not sure why the change of heart. I wanted to get into shape and I knew this would force me to exercise. But I'm not a runner, never have been. I don't know what came over me, but when they asked, I agreed.

The training started slow. I just walked for 20-30 minutes a few days a week. The sad part....I got sore from walking!! I was so out of shape. Eventually I started adding short runs into my routine. I'd run for a minute or two, then walk several minutes, then run again. I very slowly started increasing my running time and decreasing my walking time until I could run for 30 minutes consistently. But I had many obstacles along the way. First was the horrible side stitch I'd get while running. So bad I couldn't stand up straight. I pushed thru and eventually that went away. Then I started having problems with my ankles. I was expecting this...I've always had weak ankles. I tried to convince myself that I could push thru the pain and eventually they'll strengthen and I'll be okay. But they got worse and worse to the point that I couldn't walk without a limp, let alone run. I was devastated. I felt so defeated. I quit running for two weeks to let them heal. I went to the running store to ask for advice. They suggested shoe inserts. They were pretty expensive but I was determined so I bought them and went back to training. And it worked!! I was stoked! So from there I just kept adding distance and worked on increasing my speed. Before I know it I was running 5 miles at a10 minute/mile pace. This isn't too impressive to the avid runner but it was so exciting for me. I do have to admit, I've never loved running. I still hate it. But the sense of accomplishment when I'm finished with a good run is so worth it. Shin splints and all.

Race day finally arrived. We had to be at the starting line at 5 A.M., but it's two hours away which meant we had to be on our way by 3 and that meant I had to be up by 2! I was so nervous about the race and so nervous about sleeping thru my alarm that I hardly slept at all. Maybe about an hour and a half. I was exhausted going into the race, how was I possibly going to finish it? Luckily adrenaline kicked in. My first leg of the race was UPHILL FOR 5 MILES!!! I'd trained running hills but never for that distance. And it turned out to be even steeper than I had anticipated. But the excitement of the race really kept me going and I finished at a 10.5 minute/mile pace. Way better than I had expected. I was pumped! By the next leg of the run absolute exhaustion had set in. It wasn't as steep of a run but it was hot outside. I gave everything I had and actually did pretty well. But my body had given all I had to give. I had never felt exhaustion like that, more from the lack of sleep than running. And I still had to run again. I didn't know how I was going to do it. I had a few hours to eat and try to sleep. I slept on the van bench for about two and a half hours before we were off again. The sleep definitely helped. I was still tired, but not as bad as I had been. Luckily my last leg of the race was downhill so I just let gravity take over and ran fast. The finish line was the most welcoming sight my eyes had ever seen. YEA!! I actually did it!

I called Mike on my way home to tell him that I HAD TO SLEEP! I felt bad cause I missed him and the kids so much, but I knew if the kids knew I was home they'd be all over me and I'd never get any sleep.  Being the great husband that he is, he took the kids in the basement so I could sneak in and shower and lay down for a nap. I had only slept about 4 hours the previous two nights, not to mention all those miles I ran. I fell fast asleep and didn't want up until 8 hours later. I couldn't believe I slept all day. I got up and hung out with the fam for a few hours, and some dinner and wondered if I'd be able to go back to sleep that night. Sure enough I was asleep again in no time and slept for another 9 hours. If felt so good to finally be rested! I woke up to some seriously sore muscles but they didn't last long. My knees still aren't back to normal, a week after the race but they're getting better every day. I think I'll try running again tomorrow.

All in all, it was a great experience. I hope Mike can join me next year. I'm afraid of getting out of shape again with no race to keep me motivated. We'll see how that goes. I'm hoping to sign up for some sort of race in the fall to keep me going.

Here's a pic of me and my awesome teammates. They were so much fun, even after being stuck in a van with them for about 30 hours, I still consider them friends! I was the only rookie in our van and they were so patient and helpful. I was lucky to have them! Keep in mind that in this picture I had not showered, put on makeup or hardly slept in a day and a half. And I was all sweaty and gross.

Looking forward to Ragnar 2012!!

Random Pictures

Some random pictures for your viewing enjoyment!

Herbert Happenings

There are been so much going on the last few months at the Herbert house. It's about time I update my blog! We've had an incredibly busy (but fun) Fall and Winter.

Warning.....TONS of pictures.

I took Haylee to Thanksgiving Point's Barnyard Boo. She got to ride a pony, get her face painted and a bunch of other fun stuff. She loved it, I think the pony was her favorite.

 Haylee got into my eye liner. She was pretty proud of herself.

 The whole family went to Hee Haw Farms. The kids had so much fun, I think it will be a new Fall tradition. They have a petting zoo, corn maze, huge slides, hay rides and all sorts of fun stuff. We were there for a few hours and they didn't want to leave.

 Gage has no fear, he would walk right up to any animal and tackle it or try to ride it. He was in heaven.

 My little jungle animals. For Halloween Haylee was a tiger and Gage was a monkey. So cute! They went trick or treating at my office and to two different trunk or treats. They were so beat they didn't even want to trick or treat around the neighborhood. Plus, Haylee bit into a sucker and got a horrible tooth ache...

 Making Halloween Cookies

 Haylee at her first visit to the dentist (to fix the tooth ache she got on Halloween). She had so many cavities we've now been to the dentist four times, but we're finally done. She actually loves to go so it wasn't too bad.

 The first snowman of the year (I did put mittens on Gage but he kept taking them off)

 My little cutie pie helping me decorate the Christmas Tree

 Haylee said she's a Ninja Elf....I dunno...

 Turn my back for just two minutes and there is popcorn from one end of the house to the other!

 Christmas Eve, making cookies for Santa

 My handsome boys

 Decorating her gingerbread man

 The kids writing their letters to Santa

 New Christmas Eve jammies

 Christmas morning...maybe a little too early for Gage

 Opening presents....Mike said he got the nerf gun for Gage but I know better!

 Haylee opening presents....she was so spoiled this year!

 Zhu Zhu pets were a hit with both kids. Funny how the cheapest presents got the most attention!

We had a great Holiday Season but missed our friends and family in Idaho. Wish we could see everyone more often. Hope your holidays were as great as ours!

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

It took me FOUR HOURS to put up and decorate. It took the kids 30 minutes to wreck the bottom three feet.

Gage's trip to the E.R.

 A couple of weeks ago I blogged about Gage's birthday and what a fun, but CRAZY kid he is. The very next day, his craziness got the best of him. We were all in the theater room trying to spend some time with Mike while he watched his football game. Gage was falling backwards into the humongous love sac. He was having fun and giggling, but then he missed it and fell and smacked his head on the corner of the stair. It's carpeted so I didn't think much of it. I thought he was still laughing for a second but then realized he was crying to I picked him up and blood was gushing from his head. So we ran upstairs and tried to clean it up but it was really deep and the bleeding wasn't stopping. So we jumped into the car and headed for the E.R. He was a trooper until they put him in a straight jacket to stitch him up. He kept screaming at the doctors "Go Away" and he cried and cried. It broke my heart. But, as soon as they were done he got a sucker and all was well again. He had the stitches for five days and I can't believe how well it's healing. You can hardly even see it anymore. I wish he had learned a lesson and would slow down a bit, but he's crazier than ever. I guess that's what we love about him.

Not-So-Terrible Twos

 

Gage turned two a few weeks ago. We had a fun birthday with him full of presents, balloons, cake and a trip to the zoo. He was awesome the whole day.

Gage had a rough start into this world. He was such a difficult baby, but he's turning out to be a super fun kid. He's SUPER cuddly. He gives great hugs and kisses. And when I sit next to him he leans over and rubs my arm and looks up at me with the cutest little grin. He loves to be my helper and pick up toys. He loves to watch cartoons, especially Tom and Jerry. He acts out the cartoons as he watches them and it's a total crack up. He's all boy, he loves cars and balls and trucks. He's crazy busy all the time but rarely gets into trouble. Even though he's small for his age (10th percentile for height), he's got a big personality. He loves to climb and run and jump and keep the whole family busy trying to keep him safe. And on top of everything else, he's super handsome. Watch out ladies!

Haylee was the cutest little party planner. For weeks before his birthday she started planning his surprise party. It was all she could talk about. So on his B-day she sent Daddy and Gage down to the basement so we could put out the presents and decorations. Then we hid and jumped out and yelled "Surprise!" when he came upstairs. I don't think he really cared, but it sure made Haylee happy and I thought it was super cute.

 

p.s. Anyone have any tips on getting rid of the pacifier? I'm too chicken to just throw them all away!