So, it is apparent that I have become one of THOSE people.  Consistency is not one my strong points.  I feel like I am in confession…It has been nearly 3 months since my last blogpost.  You may be curious what I have been up to.  I have continued working on cooking.  My health and fitness is still something I am working on.  This summer has been full many adventures, 4 weddings, vacation, and much much more.  I have been trying to enjoy the last few glorious days of amazing summer weather to the fullest.  I have tried to not spend as much time in front of a screen.  Here are some pictures from the summer.

Jonathan and I on the beach of Lake Michigan, visiting some family friends.

My favorite summer memory. Singing together with my grandparents, aunt and uncle, and mother with the player piano.

Watching baby chicks just after hatching at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago

Butcher, Baker, Candlestick Maker??? Ok, so rather it was the professor, the computer programmer, and the investment banker grilling out at our church small group gathering.

On the go! We put on too many miles on the Jeep.

Fitness challenge members of ACR Fallgold at the kickball tournament in August.

Searching for buried treasure? Ok maybe just finding a geocache.

Jonathan finds a geocache. We geocached all day on Labor Day around Stillwater, MN.

Thanks for reading!  I promise to be more consistant with my entries in the future.

Taking a walk around Lake Valentine at Bethel Univerity during our engagement photos.

A running joke amongst my married friends had been regarding how difficult it is to get your sweetie to take a walk with you after you say I do.  We all agree that walking appeared to be an important part of getting to know each other and spending time together during the dating years.  In fact, Jonathan proposed to me on one of our walks.  Fast forward a few years and I think I can count on my hand the amount of walks we have gone on since getting married.  That is until recent days.  We have begun geocaching.  If you haven’t heard of geocaching, it a sport centered around use of handheld GPS navigation devices.  It is like a treasure hunt, and we are hooked.  I have never seen my husband so thrilled to get outdoors to take hikes, walks, and bike rides.  I asked him why all the sudden the change of heart and he responded by saying, “Well,  now I have a purpose for walking.”

To begin geocaching, we just used the maps feature on our iPhones.  You can enter the coordinates of a cache after you have a username on geocaching.com after searching the area you want to go.  The thing I have been amazed at is the number of areas so close by.  We have found the maps feature is only so accurate and gives you a larger area to search.  We now have a handheld GPS with a built in compass that is far more accurate and brings you to about a 10 meter range of the cache.

An example of a geocoin. The goal of this coin is to get as close to the World Trade Center site as possible.

So you may be wondering, what is in a cache and what does it look like.  Sometimes you find a small jar, or a toolbox or another container.  The cache is usually camouflaged with paint and hidden in a tree or something similar.  There are clues for many of the caches that can help you with where to look.  In the container is usually a small notebook to mark your name and date you found it, as well as several other items you can take.  It is common practice to bring something small to drop off and take something small from the container.  Many people make their own “coins” or buy special geocoins that have a special destination.  You can go on the geocaching website and enter the code on the geocoin to find out the desired destination of that coin.

Well, here you have it.  A purpose for walking.  If you are one of the many women with difficulty to get your husband to take a walk with you, I invite you to try this!

Jonathan and I at a cousin’s wedding in May 2009

I plan to go over many things in this blog.  Currently one of the primary focuses in my life is to get fit and healthy with my husband Jonathan.  We have proudly declared this summer to be “The Summer of Health”.  I have been enjoying cooking creatively over these past few weeks.  My husband has joked more than once that I should title this blog “Cooking for my picky husband”.   This man would be happy as a lark to live entirely on pizza and Italian beef sandwiches. I have been proud to say that I have prepared creative things that we both have enjoyed in recent months.  Here is a recent cooking adventure.

Following a very long bike ride around Elm Creek Park Reserve with Jonathan, we stopped to get some delicious fresh fish and scallops.  I was so surprised at how easy and fast it was to prepare.  We both loved this meal.  I promise to take more pictures of things being prepared in the future!

I found removing the skin of a fillet of halibut to be more difficult than anticipated.  I just could not bring myself to prepare it with the skin on.  I had my husband do this part, after he looked it up on a website like this one.  After that I seasoned with kosher salt and lemon pepper.  I heated a large skillet to medium high with some olive oil and seared one side for about 6 minutes then flipped and grilled the other side for about 30 seconds.

The inspiration to try scallops was from a March article in Martha Stewart Living.  I used this recipe for the scallops and sauteed spinach although I skipped on arugala and substituted olive oil for safflower oil.  They were very easy as well.

For the brussel sprouts, I steamed them first then sauteed them in a little olive oil then sprinkled Argentinian parmesan cheese.

Here is the final product!