Let hunting and holidays begin!

It's that time of year again where we all get terribly busy. Mike and I haven't been cooking much - if anything we have become lazy and been eating out - even I, the penny pinching queen has come to only want to break out a box of cereal and call it a meal.

So one evening some girl friends and I went out to Noodles & Co. for dinner - got the Med sandwich and a tomato onion salad thingy - quite tasty. My friend Kristy, who is 7 months pregnant, indulged in the most delicious looking bowl of macaroni and cheese I have seen in a while - so jealous LOL. Then went to Michelle's to hang out - we talked wedding since Michelle was getting married in the next week.

Mike and I took off to the wedding and Mike totally photo bombed in the car. I love this picture.

So Nov 10, 2012 my friend Michelle married her best friend Jake. They are cute, aren't they? Mike went with me, the sweetie. Neither of us are big fans of Catholic weddings and neither of us are Catholic - we don't judge though. Was a good wedding. Michelle was gorgeous and it was well done.Got a good workout with standing and sitting too.

So the best part about weddings is the party after the ceremony. Even better is when you go to a Catholic ceremony and then they have an open bar at the reception. God bless the Catholics :)

We enjoyed ourselves, the food was good, great mashed potatoes and veggies, the turkey and gravy to me were good too. Mike had the roast beef. He said it tasted good. They had hors d'oeuvres before the bridal party arrived, those were pretty tasty too. Little mini quesadillas and quiches. Yum, took forever to snatch any of the chicken skewers, but we got some.

He really is sweet...also has a sour side, kind of like a sour patch kid candy. :) I love him all the more.

So that is where Mike and I were that weekend.

We also went and saw the new James Bond movie, "Skyfall." Can I just say, AH-MAZE-ING! You must see this movie if you are any type of Bond fan. Of course I'm a bit fanatical and know too much, but in my opinion, it's better to be Bond obsessed than Twilight obsessed. Sorry ladies.

Then I was at Hyvee and found this magazine. DONE! Bought that and now know even MORE information about the movie than I did before.

So Mike also went hunting last Monday and got some delicious ducks. He does that a lot this time of year so that's another reason we haven't been blogging nearly as much. I should have him blog about hunting and share some of his pictures from the hunts here. Of course he told me one day, I was looking at dogs. LOL, yeah neither of us can afford let alone keep a dog at the moment. But I am all for getting a dog for pet/hunting purposes. We are dog people for sure. We both say, cats are evil. I mean really, think about it. At Halloween  cats are decorations. You don't see dogs being a scary decoration or considered evil. So yeah, dogs are better.

I have an armband for my phone,
this is what happens after 4 miles

While Mike hunts, what do I do? I run, run for what? For fun, health, and training for any and all upcoming 5k/10k/Obstacle races I have and will be signing up for. I'm excited for Warrior Dash in April - hoping I can sign up for Color Run in June, and then in September there is Tough Mudder and in October there is Rugged Maniac again, not sure I want to be that cold again though. Let alone go up that crazy hill at Snow Creek Ski Resort...that's insane!!!

So Mike loaned me his hunting hat one day for a run in the cooler weather. I think he prefers this look to my normal running hat (which can be seen in darker conditions at least ha ha, I'm not trying to hide on runs)

This is my normal hat, yes that's Tigger and it has ears. I love this hat. You can see it at night and it makes me and others smile. :) That's the point.

I finished running one day and this song started as I was walking to cool down, I felt pretty bad ass walking to this song. I love it. Makes you feel like you have accomplished something.

It is also hockey season for the CHL, at least. Since NHL is still in a lock out I have to get hockey somewhere and it's a good thing some friends of Mike and myself have season tickets that they are willing to share on occasion with us. :) I couldn't commit to season tickets this year. Just no. But I do enjoy a good game now and then.

We have cooked, at least a bit, we have to eat ya know. I have been making bread in my bread machine that I finally dusted off. That bread there is homemade, delicious, old school, white bread. Then I made eggs over easy with some spinach and cheese. Simple dinner but delicious and balanced. Then there was the frittata thing that sounded better than it tasted. Not by best attempt at dinner.

So then we have a beautiful sunset happening after work. Mike doesn't see the sun while at work due to working graveyard shift. So here is a beautiful sunset outside the office as I head home for a run.

Mike and I have cooked recently. Since neither he, nor I, will be really participating in Thanksgiving festivities (he has to work and I'm just not really participating) we made turkey breast and sausage stuffing the other night. OMG YUM YUM YUM!!!

Bought a turkey breast and Mike injected it with a jalapeno butter type sauce that kind of oozed out a bit but it definitely did linger in the meat. Then it was seasoned on the outside with seasoned salt. The stuffing was the Pepperidge Farm herb stuffing based with chopped celery, carrot, onion and mushroom and moistened with chicken stock. Then we got some Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage that was flavored with sage. We mixed up the stuffing, placed it on the bottom of the roaster pan, placed the turkey on top and roasted at 325 degrees F for about 2 hours, until the turkey was 165 degrees. Then we placed the stuffing back in for about 20 more minutes to crisp up. This was a delicious hit, totally hit the spot. Much like the sloppy Joe's and mac and cheese we had made Saturday. YUM!!

I looked at Mike at one point in the kitchen and said "holiday meals are going to be a big deal at our house aren't they?" He just kept cooking and said "Yes."

Man we rock at cooking. :)

I will end on an even warmer and fuzzier note. Mike and I are quirky, to say the least, and sometimes he does things that make me giggle uncontrollably in the car. Like this:

I am a bit nerdy, in comparison I guess. :) But it's the little things in life to be happy about and be thankful for.

So I know you all will go out and cook this week. Share what you will be having for Thanksgiving.

Are you trying any new dishes? Is this your first Thanksgiving cooking? Are you traveling? Share, we want to know.