New York Marathon canceled

Sad news!
I will not be running the New York Marathon this year. As the time drew closer, the process and cost involved in getting to NYC for the race (as well as the day before to get my race packet) were becoming very complicated. I am hoping to do a race in the spring, and perhaps New York will work out next year. I am disappointed, but I know I will enjoy the race more when things work out to make it happen.
In the meantime, I will keep running and build a solid base for the next race I decide to run.
This weekend I will definitely fit in a good run on Saturday, and the rest of the day will be spent preparing for my date night in with Nathan.
I told him I will cook something amazing for us to eat. I enjoy cooking so much, having the time to actually make an extravagant meal will be fun. Not to mention, save us some money by not eating out. :) I am making stuffed pork tenderloin, seasoned potatoes, and chocolate souffle. I am really excited about it. With Nathan in classes, we don't get the chance to plan much time together, so this should be fun. :)

So, I love this time of year, when all the apple and pumpkin recipes are floating around. A new one I wanted to to try was Mini Apple Crostatas with Caramel Sauce. I found it on Pillsbury's website. I found a homemade caramel recipe too. These were really yummy, and so cute looking.

The new pumpkin recipe I want to try this year is a Pumpkin Cake roll with Cream Cheese filling. My mom has made it before and it is absolutely delicious and pretty too. That one is soon to come. :)

French Silk Pie

I spent a long time trying to come up with a good French Silk Pie Recipe. True French Silk Pie has raw eggs in it, about 4, which is a lot. Considering the recent egg recalls, I was hesistant to try using raw eggs. So, I finally found a recipe that heated the eggs in a saucapan over low heat, just until warm enough to cook out any bacteria, but not enough to compromise the pie recipe. This particular recipe had heavy cream in it, so it was pretty creamy and absolutely delicious. I will definitely be making it again.

Look what I made!

Chicken and dumpling soup. Mmmm.

Time with our families in MN

Nathan and I finally went home to Minnesota at the end of August! I can't even describe how wonderful it was to spend time with our families. We spent the first 5 days with my family and another 5 days with Nathan's family. One of my brothers from California and my sister-in-law and niece were also visiting, which was fun. Plus my newest nephew was born 9 days before we got there, so it was great to see him. We were able to connect with a few friends, which was also great. We mostly just hung out with our families, which is exactly what we wanted. However, the time still went by too fast and we're back in Philadelphia now. Being back in MN made us realize how much we've missed it and how different things are from out here.
When we got back Nathan started classes at Westminster, which we are both really excited about. It helps us feel more purposeful in why we're living here and what we're working towards (with the grace of God to help us).
It is scary to be starting a phase in our lives that has so many unknowns. It is also scary to know that there will most likely be some very difficult things to deal with along the way. But we feel secure in that even though we might fail, God is gracious and faithful.