New favorite recipe, blood pressure, and hiking pictures :)

Recipe

So, I first wanted to mention the dinner I had last night that was OUT OF THIS WORLD delicious and SUPER nutritious.

Chorizo-kale-sweet potato soup.

I wish we had leftovers.

First we softened the chorizo and an onion in a big pan, then added diced up sweet potato for ten minutes to continue softening.

We de-stemmed the kale and added it to the pan, covering everything in chicken broth. Spiced it up nice and let it cook till the kale was not bitter anymore.

Done. And soooo tasty. This meal was SO simple (though it took about 50 minutes total to cook everything, there was very little prep work to do. Highly recommended. Just think about the ingredients... the kale and sweet potato are basically "super" foods! I felt great after dinner :)

Blood Pressure

So I had a doctor's appointment last Friday, before I went hiking. And for the first time, I cared about what my blood pressure reading was. I literally never paid any attention when they took my pressure before, thinking I was too young and who cared? But I am 30 now. I am in this healthy lifestyle for the long haul. I want to know my body is functioning well.

My pressure was 104/62. I asked what it meant. She said it was great! Completely normal and healthy. I looked it up later online, just to learn what systolic and diastolic meant. One chart said that the diastolic number (62) fell in the category of "Children and Athletes."

And I smiled and smiled and smiled. I loved to just see that word described me scientifically!

I told Chris about it and he said, "Well, you are an athlete. You ski and hike weekly, and during the week, when you aren't doing those things, you are training for them at the gym."

And I realized, it is true! I am always active, and I do these activities well. I prepare for them at the gym (I always think about climbing mountains when I am there.... what strength exercises or cardio can prepare me best).

So this leads me to my next part of this post...

Hiking Pictures

I felt better than I ever have on this past hike. STRONG. I kept up and sometimes exceeded one of our friends that came with us who is super, super fit. I wasn't tired after 9 miles. My muscles weren't exhausted. They had prepared for the weekend and WOW, did it pay off. I was ecstatic every time we reached a new summit (we hit three High Peaks).

Smiling ear to ear all day, even during the scary parts.... and wow, was there a scary part. There is a cable down the backside of Gothics because it is so steep, it is hard to just walk down. The scariest parts were the slopes right before and after the cable, because they were steep too! I was glad for my upper body work at the gym, because it helped me hold firm to the rope!

So without further ado, here was my weekend:

Squeezing through tight places!

This is me not generally liking this kind of open cliff!

Snow on the top of the mountains!

Panoramic view of the High Peaks region in the Adirondacks

Me and Chris on the top of Gothics

Another "couple" shot

Basin Mountain seen from Gothics

Me conquering another fear, doing the cable route down the back of Gothics!

Stairs put in on a steep section of the Orebed Slide

 So that was my Saturday :) The Friday before was spent in a lean-to by myself for the afternoon while the boys went on a (in my opinion, stupid) slide hike. It rained and the lean-to was next to a river and I had the most beautiful, restful, almost-drugged out blissful afternoon of my life. I read a book and napped and listened to the forest.

We spent a lovely Sunday getting our lives together and the week planned.

And here I am!

Namaste, friends!