Pilgrim Cupcakes

For my high school swimmers' recent pasta dinner I made some fun Thanksgiving themed desserts! Here are the pilgrim hat cupcakes I made, inspired, of course, by Pinterest! 

I made regular cupcakes from a box and used store bought icing (I know! Can you believe it??) and then had fun with the tops! Once again, I'm here to tell you making things from a box is ok! Sometimes, that's all you have time for and all that is necessary - they're still delicious! Any ways... I used vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing and Funfetti cupcakes with yellow (vanilla flavored dyed yellow) icing. 

You need:

cake mix and ingredients to make it

can of icing

yellow icing for hat buckles

Keebler "Fudge Stripes" cookies

Reese's miniature peanut butter cups (I got a family sized bag to have enough for 4 dozen cupcakes!)

The yellow-iced cupcakes got "real" pilgrim hats - Keebler "Fudge Stripes" cookies upside-down with a Reese's peanut butter cup upside-down attached by a dab of icing! Then I used yellow icing to pipe on buckles!

Pilgrim hat cupcakes!

On the chocolate-iced cupcakes, the above cookie concoction looked silly. So I left out the cookie, and just added an upside-down peanut butter cup. 

Cute and delicious! 

For both, I used a yellow icing tube to pipe on the buckle! 

That's it! Really easy, really cute! 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

This Week's Ankle News

So this week because of the holiday I could only make it to PT once. I went bright and early yesterday morning to see Dave. My ankle is feeling a lot better after being mysteriously "compressed" on the outer side of my ankle/foot. I would say it's not at 100% like it was when I first started doing all of the crazy exercises, but much, much better than when it got compressed. So yesterday I got to walk in all four directions on the treadmill again. I didn't do any other exercises or jumps, but the treadmill felt ok. I did my stretches and had some manipulation done to my foot before icing and being hooked up to the stim machine again. As the day went on I was on my feet a lot. My foot was definitely swollen, but not more than usual. I think it's getting better!

Today I went to the gym with my sister to try going to Zumba. Dave said I could try it but that it might hurt to go side to side, which has been the biggest problem after this injury. Our biggest worry was that I would not be able to do a whole one hour class yet because I have not built my endurance back up. I decided to try the class today. And guess what? I did it!! There were definitely some moves that were hard for my ankle, and I can tell my right side is still weaker. But I was able to do almost everything in the class, and made it through a whole one hour class!! I can't even tell you how happy I am about this!!

Next week I have two more PT appointments. And this should FINALLY really be the end of physical therapy. But every time I think that, something happens... So keep your fingers crossed!!

I totally look like this girl on the left when I Zumba - I'm that good! ;)

Update: The Bad News

As you can see, my last post was written in the past tense... So things were going on wonderfully for about 2-3 weeks. I was definitely high on endorphins! And then came the bad news...

After pushing it hard for a couple weeks, high school swimming started. I spent time standing on a concrete pool deck everyday. I also joined Freedom again so I could work out before practices or swim after. About two weeks ago we had a Saturday practice where I worked out on my own (walking on the treadmill) and then I stood on the deck for over two hours. My foot hurt SO bad afterwards. And it didn't feel any better as time went on. I even noticed as I massaged my scars I could feel the outside of my ankle as if it was bruised. I couldn't massage one of the scars because of it.

I limped into PT last week and was so upset. I knew I wasn't going to be able to do any of the exercises I'd been doing. I was in pain. And I didn't know how long it would be to get better again. Dave looked at it, spent time manipulating it, and determined that I had compressed something on the outside of my ankle. It's still kind of a mystery how this happened. Basically, it should not have happened and we don't know why it did. It's an injury I got from doing these exercises, but isn't really related to my surgery. Weird. My main concern was how long this was going to take to get better. I'm tired of waiting to heal and am running very thin on patience!! I was supposed to be discharged from PT last week because I was doing so well. Instead I spent the week getting my foot massaged and manipulated (not as nice as it sounds, after an injury it hurts!),  hooked up to the stim machine and icing it down while elevated, and resting. I made an appointment for this week and the next. Yay! Not really...

Spending my time at physical therapy like this again...

Update: The Good News

Well I've been missing for a little bit - things have been absolutely crazy in my life. But here's a quick update on my ankle:

At the end of October I started to do more and more things at PT, and it was amazing. I could do it!! I walked directionally on the treadmill, did jumps, and started doing football drills for agility. I was running and grape-vining across the gym. I started jumping not only front to back, side to side, but also diagonally. It was amazing! I felt like everyday at PT I got an amazing workout in. I was on cloud nine! It felt so good to finally be working out again and to be able to do so many types of exercises after over a year of not being able to do any of these things. The only down side was, it was really telling how out of shape I've gotten in these past 19 months of activity restrictions. Oh my goodness - I was dying! But the feeling of now having the option to do some exercise, and some vigorous exercise, was amazing!!

Kindness: Loves

I've been wanting to write a post for a while now about my loves and how awesome they are, especially because they have been there for me during these past 18 months since I got injured. They're the only reason I'm doing so well on this journey with my ankle. And (at the risk of sounding like a total social worker) today my heart feels really happy and full of joy and love for my loves so here it is...

If you don't know what I mean when I use the word "loves," loves are friends. Often they are very dear friends, and I am lucky to have several of them. My loves have supported me and been there for me through both of my surgeries. I'm not even sure what I would do without them!

After my first surgery several loves visited me. My love Ellen drove all the way down from Philly just a couple days after my surgery. I was drugged up and out of it, so we mostly watched some episodes of How I Met Your Mother. It was awesome and just meant so much to me that she would go out of her way to visit me. She even brought me a bell for my scooter! My love Amanda also visited me and kept me company and ate lunch with me one day. Matt came and watched a movie and chatted with me when I was feeling a little better. When you can't leave the house on your own for a while and are home alone, a little company is the best gift in the world!

When it was time to try to leave the house last Fall, it was a really hard process. Every exit of our house has stairs, which were nearly impossible at times for me to navigate (even scooting on my butt or crawling on my knees - how do you stand back up again on one leg? It's not easy, I'll tell you that). Then my scooter/walker/crutches had to also make it down the stairs and out the door and into the car with me. It was SO much work for me to go anywhere when I couldn't walk. Just leaving the house was an arduous process, much less actually doing anything if I got out. My love Marcelle really helped me with getting out when I was going crazy. In fact, she deserves her own post sometime...

And then there was Deidre who helped me leave the house and get to physical therapy twice a week for several weeks before I could walk or drive on my own! Snickers always wanted to go with us on our adventures... We managed to get her to stay behind and made it to PT appointments, and even once all the way down to somewhere in Prince William County to complete paperwork so I would be able to coach when swim season started. Oh what adventures we had!

Loves who were further away sent me cards and packages. My love Nora sent me a good book to read while I wasn't able to do much else. Shannon and Terry sent me a package with movies and chocolate, one in the shape of a foot! Amanda sent me a game and homemade bread with a card before she came to visit me. I got cards from all over! And text messages, emails, fb messages, and phone calls were the best too! Loves took time out of their busy days to check in with me and see how I was doing.

Of course there's also my family. My mom who walked up and down the stairs multiple times a day when I couldn't, to bring me food and ice and whatever else I needed. My sister did the same when she visited and sat with me to keep me company many times. I remember the day my dad brought me dinner from Panera and added a special cookie for me. My Mimi and Gramps checked on me and brought me flowers after my first surgery. It was one of my Gramps' last outings ever before he died. After my second surgery Mimi made sure a get well card got to me and flowers with a balloon were on their way! My aunt is always checking in to see how my ankle is doing - I remember trying to talk to her when I had bad reception after finding out it was a tumor that caused the tendon to tear. I think I scared her that day! And Linda came right after my first surgery when I was in so much pain. She and John gave me an itunes gift card so I could have new music while I was sitting around and I remember having a huge Starbucks iced tea with her. She was ready to come sit with me after the second surgery when the rest of my family had plans, before my sister decided to stay with me instead.

All of these loves were simultaneously there for me and my family when we lost my Gramps last year in the midst of my recovery from my first surgery. The cards, love, and support came from all over. My aunt, mom, sister, and cousin made sure I could get up to the altar at church to do a reading at his mass and say the eulogy I wrote with them. Marcelle came down from Baltimore for the funeral that day. Linda brought food for everyone when things were crazy. Flowers came from Kim and Ms. GT... ;) Which gave us a good laugh when we needed it the most when we realized the flowers were of course from Kim and Rod and should have had the abbreviation MSgt. (At least I know it's not Ms. GT...)

These loves have shown me the greatest kindness. They are all very busy people who took the time to see how I was doing or make my day a little brighter when I wasn't doing so well. They are the reason I made it through a difficult recovery from a major surgery when at times I felt like giving up. I only hope I can do the same for them someday. And I hope that everyone can find these people in their lives and tell them how much they are appreciated, or be this kind of person for someone else in their time of need.

And I know I've missed a lot of people in this post - so thank you to everyone who has asked about my ankle or kept up with my blog, and provided encouragement along the way. There are really so many people who have shown me such kindness. I appreciate it more than you know!


My flower and balloon from my Mimi.



Oooo - look who Amanda sent me!



I Can Jump!!

Wednesday was the first day Dave decided to push me harder in PT, and it was awesome. I warmed up by biking for 5 minutes and then I walked on the treadmill 5 minutes in each direction. I was pretty proud of my walking, especially backwards and to each side. I didn't have any pain in my ankle. I thought it was over there, but when I got back to the PT room I stretched and then did JUMPING. And yes, I can jump now!! I jumped backwards and forwards, and side to side over a line. And I could do it. This was amazing to me because before I had the screw taken out I could barely stand on my toes. Now I can not only stand on them, I can jump (which requires a lot of work for your toes). It was amazing. I finished up PT that day by balancing on my bad foot and bouncing a ball back and forth to the PT intern. My balance on that foot sucks. I checked my left foot just to be sure I hadn't totally lost my ability to balance, but the left was fine - I could stand on just my left foot all day. So it's the muscles in my right foot that aren't there yet. Just to pass the ball back and forth three times in a row took forever and almost didn't happen, that's how bad my muscles are on that foot at keeping me balanced. I iced and had stim before I left.

On Thursday when I woke up I was a little sore, but honestly not as sore as I thought I would be after all that work (which was a lot for me after being on activity restrictions for SO long especially after this surgery). What actually hurt was my left knee. What?? I was a super-grump for a while that day, limping around, and I thought I was going to have to call Dave about it. I mean, why was my left knee hurting? It made no sense and it made me mad! But I tried to walk around a little more (I did a lap around two floors of our assisted living facility that day) and to my surprise, it got better. I didn't even have to take Advil or anything (the pain was that bad that I thought I would have to). And it hasn't hurt since.

Yesterday I did a bit of walking with my sister to run errands and things. I wore my (ortho approved) flip flops instead of Birkenstocks or tennis shoes, and I think this was a mistake. Towards the end of the day my foot got a weird cramp-like feeling in it. It was like the arch of my foot needed to be stretched, but was simultaneously kicked. It was weird and painful. Resting it at home helped and I've been stretching it out since. I guess it's time to put the flip flops away for now anyways... except for the pool deck. :)

Candy Corn Cookie Crunch

Halloween is just a week away! Here's yet another Pinterest win from Kelly's Fall themed housewarming party! I decided to go ahead and fast forward to one of the best parts of Fall, Halloween, for this one. But be warned, it is very sweet! Happy Halloween!

Candy Corn Cookie Crunch

1 lb. almond bark candy coating or white chocolate (I used meltable milk chocolate)
14 Oreos, broken into pieces (I used Halloween ones with orange filling)
1 1/2 cups pretzels broken (I used honey twist ones because that's what I had)
1 cup candy corn
1/2 cup peanuts
1/4 cup Reese's Pieces
1/2 cup Peanut M&M's (Fall colors)
Halloween sprinkles

Cover a cookie sheet with waxed paper or foil. Spread the broken pretzels, broken cookies, peanuts, and about 3/4 of the candy corn on the prepared cookie sheet. Melt the white chocolate or candy coating until smooth, according to package directions.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the pretzel mixture, spreading with a spatula if needed. Before it sets, sprinkle on the remaining candy corn, M&M's, Reese's Pieces, and sprinkles. Place tray in the refrigerator until set. Break into pieces and enjoy!



Before we broke it up. Looks sinful!

I recommend having something to mash things with before starting. I did not realize that my sister, who in all fairness just moved into a new house (which she owns!!) and is not as domesticated as me, has very few kitchen tools. Mashing things up without tools was difficult and messy (I put items in a Ziploc bag and mashed by hand).

As with many Erin creations, I used a little more of some things until it looked right to me. So feel free to modify the amounts to your desire. Also, it was hard to break apart at the end, but it also got melty if out of the fridge for too long. In the end, Amanda and I ended up using a knife to break it apart the best we could, and then put the pieces back in the fridge for a bit, and this seemed to work. Good luck and enjoy!