Cowgirl Boots and Running Shoes

Showing you that a healthy lifestyle isn't boring, expensive, or complicated.

Blog

· Leave a Comment

An Apology to My Husband

Family photo

I owe an apology to my husband. I realized this the other night as I was rocking our new baby to sleep. I couldn’t help but think about how amazing it is that my body has grown and nourished three other bodies–our children.

One of our very first pictures together in 2006 when we first started dating.

But that didn’t happen without leaving a few changes to MY body. My body is slightly different now than it was 11 years ago when we first started dating. And I felt like I should tell my husband that I’m sorry:

“I’m sorry that my six-pack abs are replaced by my six-week postpartum belly. It is currently serving as a daily reminder that God chose us to to get to be parents to our newest miracle. The one I am feeding with this body. This body ...
Continue Reading

Share this post
Filed Under: Family

· Leave a Comment

Planned-Overs: Beef & Broccoli

Roast beef. An inexpensive cut of beef. I frequently make it in the crock pot but then what to do with all the leftovers?? At our house, we call them “planned-overs” and this is our new favorite way to use them: Beef & Broccoli. 

You really can use any slow cooker or oven-cooked roast beef recipe that you love. I usually modify Ree Drummond’s recipe, using my slow cooker ...
Continue Reading

Share this post
Filed Under: Recipe

· Leave a Comment

Chicken & Garlic Zucchini Parmesan

Craving fried chicken? Have zucchini exploding out of your garden? How about a healthy way to enjoy both?!

This recipe was created using a combination of a baked chicken recipe from my favorite cookbook–Fixate, and a very unhealthy Pinterest recipe that I “healthified” a bit.

It was farmer and kid-approved, so I hope it becomes a favorite at your house too!

Share this post
Filed Under: Recipe

· Leave a Comment

Andi’s Birth Story–Part II

BIRTH STORY

Be sure to check out Part I for the beginning of the story!

When I woke up on Wednesday the 12th to get ready for my LAST appointment at 40w6days, I was feeling some contractions and I felt a little different, but was by this point in denial that I was going to be able to have you without being induced. Your daddy went to work and I drove to Scottsbluff. Sitting there and being ...
Continue Reading

Share this post
Filed Under: Family

· Leave a Comment

Andi’s Birth Story–Part 1

I am sitting here, three days before your expected arrival date, being so impatient even though I know that I likely might not meet you for another almost two weeks (haha or so I thought!).

To kill time, I thought I would tell you a few memorable things about the past nine months. You are kicking away as I type, and it is the one thing I will miss terribly about being pregnant with you. But let me start at the beginning.

TTC

To no one’s fault but my own (and your ...
Continue Reading

Share this post
Filed Under: Family

· Leave a Comment

PostPartum Moms: I Stand with You in Unshowered Solidarity

Is there ever a time in your life when you are more in need of a shower than in the days immediately following the birth of your baby? Very few instances that rival it come to mind.

I am sweaty (thanks hormones). I am leaking breastmilk and keep soaking through the nursing pads. I lost count of how many times I have been spit up on today. And we won’t talk about the postpartum bleeding situation. Not to mention that another small, sweaty human always wants to be attached to ...
Continue Reading

Share this post
Filed Under: Family

· Leave a Comment

PiYo: Why I Love It!

I can’t believe it’s been almost three years to the week that I discovered my soulmate workout. At the time, I didn’t know it would become my soulmate form of movement. All I knew was that I needed something to ease me back into fitness after my second baby was born. I loved running, but I wanted to get my core strength (and my abs) back AND have something to compliment all that cardio.

I heard PiYo being described as low-impact (so perfect for my postpartum body—I wasn’t ready to ...
Continue Reading

Share this post
Filed Under: Fitness

· Leave a Comment

Beef Builds Beautiful Bodies

Beef builds beautiful bodies. Do you believe it? I do!

Pregnancy Cravings

Recently I was chatting with a friend, who is also pregnant, about our weird pregnancy cravings. They were ranging from pineapple to pastries to the classic pregnancy craving—pickles. I admitted that a strange craving of mine, from about the time the 24/7 nausea and vomiting subsided at week 15, has been grilled hamburgers and grilled steak.

But then I got to thinking—is it really that ...
Continue Reading

· Leave a Comment

Spicy Jalapeno Bacon Burger with Red-Ass Rhubarb Sauce

 

Since we’re friends, you probably know by now that May is Beef Month. But thanks to Kita, the mastermind behind the amazing Girl Carnivore blog (seriously, if you’re looking for recipes, beautiful food photography, and a girl whose sweet personality matches her spicy sense of humor, go check it out NOW!), it’s also #burgermonth.

This is an annual event dedicated to creating the most epic burgers ...
Continue Reading

Share this post
Filed Under: Recipe

· Leave a Comment

So God Made a Farmer–My Version

I could never write as eloquently as the late, great Paul Harvey. But if I could add a few things to his “So God Made a Farmer” speech, this is how it would go:

God said, “I need someone who will spend hours working a field, planting a crop, tending that crop, praying over that crop, only to watch it get completely destroyed by a hail storm. And then turn around and do it all over ...
Continue Reading