It's always the challenge of the future, this feeling of excitement, that drives me.
-Yoshihisa Tabuchi


ahhhhhhhhhhhh the tri's already this weekend!!! where has the time gone? i swear it feels like just a few days ago when i changed my blog title=P. i'm a bunch of nerves right now. well i've been like this ever since i got my confirmation email 2 weeks ago. oh goodness, what's wrong with me. i don't think my nerves have ever been this bad. i was nervous for the marathon, but i don't think i got this anxious, squeamish feeling like i have now. as i type, my stomach's already starting to jump and i can feel my heart racing. calm down...breathe...it'll be fun!

since i don't own a wetsuit, i borrowed one for the week from one of our tri group's sister store. figured i might as well be comfortable in the same wetsuit brand that i trained the past 3 lake swims in. man..i'm so freaked about the bay swim that i took a vacation day on wednesday just to practice open water swimming around long beach. hubby was nice enough to take the day off with me and help me get through it. you'd think that after 3 lake swims i'd be comfortable right? wrong. once we got into the bay my heart was pounding, my arms started feeling really tight in the wetsuit, and i wanted to just run out of the water already! haha, what a wuss=/.

so, after about 10-15 mins of just trying to get my breathing steady under water and getting acclimated to the cold water i finally got the cahones to go the 1/4 mile out. husby would wait for me after every buoy so it was good practice for my sighting to swim straight, but it was also a HUGE help in relieving my panicky mood. and it is true, the wetsuit keeps you afloat. though i know this, i still panic. but i got through the first practice run! and after a minute of resting, we swam our way back for another 1/4 mile. yay! haha i think hubs was more excited for it than i was-he was so proud of me=). i was relieved i got through it, and yeah i was happy i swam it all..but i just kept getting the nagging feeling that well..i only got through it bc i knew lou was watching out for me the whole time. come sunday, he'll be in a totally different wave time than me.=(. haha i'm such a baby! but really, my fear for open water is bad. and i'm grateful for these practice swims w/ hubby to get me used to the feeling. after work today we'll have one more trip to LB again to swim w/ the wetsuit. time to suck it up.

i'm so excited! i'm so scared! hahahha...LET'S DO THIS!!!

here goes recipe #3. one of my favs from miss giada. so easy to make and mighty tasty.

Fusili w/ Spinach and Asiago cheese

Ingredients

• 1 pound fusilli pasta - to get a little bit of healthy added too, i usually use the barilla PLUS pasta which has protein, omega 3's (gotta get your omega 3's!!), & fiber. but any fusilli pasta tastes great w/ this dish=).
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced - well you should know i love me my garlic, so i always add an extra clove or two..
• 1 (9-ounce) bag fresh spinach, roughly chopped - it may look like a lot of spinach, but y'know greens wilt up fast! so i add an extra bag for more veggies.
• 8 ounces (1/2 pint) cherry tomatoes, halved - since i'm usually shopping at costco, they don't always carry cherry tomatoes. i've substituted grape tomatoes and it still turns out yummy!
• 1 cup (about 3 1/2-ounces) grated Asiago -nothing wrong w/ adding a little more cheese too if you want. but if i add more cheese than i save a little more of the cooking liquid (mentioned in directions below) too just to balance things out 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

-sometimes i add strips of grilled chicken to the pasta. just lightly seasoned w/ olive oil, garlic powder, salt, & pepper. yum yum!

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, warm olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the spinach and tomatoes and cook until the spinach wilts, about 2 more minutes. Add the cooked pasta and toss. Add the cheeses, salt, pepper, and the pasta cooking liquid and stir to combine.

Transfer the pasta to a serving plate and serve. (serves 4)

Enjoy!!!

One way to keep momentum going is to have constantly greater goals.
-Michael Korda


hehe notice the new blog title? okay not new, just minus 1 word - study!!!!! test is done, yahoo! well at least for the time being. results come in in about 10-12 weeks...so i'm hoping and praying that i passed. it's the last part i need to finally pass this whole yucky exam. now it's just a waiting game. man, i was so stressed out all of last week trying to cram in these practice exams. i kept wishing i had just 1 more week to study, haha but when have we not said that when it's crunch time? well anyways, at least i have some free time now. i've felt like a hermit lately=P.

so with the test being over, now i have a pseudo-life back! hehe just pseudo bc i still have the triathlon to train for. we had our mock triathlon yesterday, so today i feel drained. ha, both mentally & physically. though i didn't get to really practice my transitions since we were short on time and started late w/ our lake swim. we pretty much were on our own after the swim, so i made sure that i finished all 3 sports even though the training session had finished. husby was there as a "swim angel" and he biked with me too. swim angel? heheh yeah, they're more experienced swimmers who volunteer to help us..hmm less skilled swimmers, get through it all and just watch and make sure everyone's okay. though lou was kinda iffy about the name, haha he much prefers to be called a swim guard or something. hahaha. though i'm still not too confident in my swimming, i've learned to love the side stroke when i'm getting winded from freestyle. there were times where i though i was doing well, then someone accidentally slaps my foot while they swim or i'm really close to someone else's legs kicking and then i just freak out. geez, i can only imagine how much more crazy hectic it'll be in the actual tri. i'm really freaked that someone's going to swim over me or i'll get kicked in the face=/. ehhhhh need to stop psyching myself out!

and the bike...ayeyayyay! we made a wrong turn since a lot of the streets weren't labeled and lucky me got to experience my first ever treacherous uphill bike. yuck. my legs were on fire! though i grumbled and might've given some 'tude to the hubby=P..he stuck w/ me and encouraged me to keep going. thank goodness for moral support! finished the climb and after we found our bearings, we were off on the right bike route-phew. and the run..oh the run. as much as i'd like to say that i'm an experienced runner...my legs were SO SO tired from the swimming and biking. but i trudged along. though running by myself, it was nice to see the chalk writings on the trail from our training group. that helped encourage me to keep going. afterwards i was pooped! knocked out for a few hours and just felt so tired. man, and this wasn't even a real tri=/. 3 more weeks...3 more weeks of training and motivation and conquering the swim. let's do this!

so hopefully with a few more hours freed up during the week..i can get back to the regular routine. cooking again - man it felt like we've had takeout more times these past few weeks then we've had in all of last year. okay exaggerated..but i really missed the times when we had home cooked meals. i can only take so much of eating out for lunch & dinner! hehe so i think my recipes should hopefully be more frequent now. hadn't had time to be consistent w/ them bc i wasn't able to cook so much and my brain wasn't in the cooking game. so yay, back to cooking, and woohoo back to baking! and i hope i get more time for crafting again. oh and the big one is, i finally have time to finish researching for our peru vacay! yaaaaaay i'm so excited!!!!