feeling accomplished: my first 5K

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you know (well, a lot about me, but also) that I ran my first 5K on Sunday! You also probably know by now that my older sister was injured at the Boston Marathon bombings. It's been quite the journey over the past few months.

Our hometown friends wanted to put together something to honor Brittany and have a celebration, so they decided on a 5K race and a 1 mile walk - and I'm so glad they did! It was a fabulous day of support, sun, and accomplishments.

A lot of work went into the day - shout out to the event sponsors!

Lady of the hour

My goal for the race was to beat my dad who said he had been training and was going to come in before me (he talked a big game). Here is photo evidence of me achieving my goal:

The best part of finishing the race was seeing Britt on the sideline cheering us on. It was an interesting shift from exactly 3 months ago today when all of us were with her in the hospital cheering her on, and for me a little emotional. I'm not a runner by any stretch of the imagination, so at that point I felt like my legs were going to give out - but her cheers gave me an extra boost of energy.

This is my little sister Amanda, who makes me look like the little sister.

And a necessary photo of my handsome fiance

All photos were taken by my mom's friend, Mary

healthy snack: zucchini chips

I came across this recipe for baked zucchini chips and had to try it. They came out great, and I'm excited to make them again for a healthy snack.

Recently, I've decided to try new recipes and make more than the 5 things I know by heart how to cook well. These zucchini chips are a nice change of pace from office pretzels for the workday afternoon, and (bonus) they're healthy! 

The first batch I made were done in a frying pan with olive oil. They cooked really fast and were delicious. The next batch I made in the oven, as the recipe suggests. It took a while for them to cook, and the thinner pieces were done faster than the given time on the recipe. Next time I make these, I'll slice the zucchini thinner (and not have to wait the 2+ hours for the thicker pieces!).

With enough salt, you might be able to convince yourself that these are actually potato chips.