After a weekend that went by remarkably fast, despite us actually having very little to do, I was bound to forget something come Monday morning. And today, that something was my camera cord. So, no pictures today, and subsequently my original plan for a post is out the window. But, I came across this little activity on a blog I follow, so I thought I'd give it a whirl!
All About Me ABCs
Age: 25
Bed Size: Queen
Chore You Hate: Doing the dishes. Especially after messy meals where there is all kinds of floating food particle stuff in the water. Thank goodness for dishwashers--I usually offer to load that while Darrell cleans the cookware that isn't dishwasher safe
Dogs: Definitely love them. My sister, however, hates them. So I guess that's one less houseguest we have to worry about once we get one?
Essential Start to Your Day: Breakfast. It's a must.
Favorite Color: Green. Which is unfortunate, because this time of year in the Midwest there is virtually NO green to be found
Gold or Silver: Silver for sure. I don't think I own a single piece of gold jewelry
Height: 5'6"/5'7"
Instruments You Play: I can work my way through a percussion section of a band pretty adeptly. I've also been known to rock out a few tunes on the piano (basic, 5th grade level tunes, but hey, it's something)
Job Title: Tutor. Coincidently, that's technically true at both jobs. It sounds much fancier on my resume though
Kids: Someday! And we'd both love to have somewhere in the ball park of four kids--so I'm sorta thinking we should maybe start in the next year or two. Maybe.
Live: Ummm...as opposed to die? Definitely going with Live
Mom's Name: Sherry (not Sherri or Sheri or Cherri or any other variation thereof that she's seen)
Nicknames: I go by Jess instead of Jessica, does that count? I had a few in college from my soccer teammates, but no one calls me those any more
Overnight Hospital Stays: None!
Pet Peeve: Poor grammar. I don't care if it's emails or texts or what--"I" is always capitalized, periods and commas cannot be neglected, and OH MY GOODNESS every computer and email system has a spell-check option--USE IT! When I find errors like this in professional, printed documents it always makes me highly agitated (for the record, I realize that I'm not perfect, but at least I make an effort)
Quote From a Movie: The only thing I really quote is the "Friends" TV show. And I quote that show All. The. Time. "Dude we are sooo gonna party" "Okay, dude alert" :-D
Righty or Lefty: Righty. But I've been known to bowl a mean strike with my left hand
Siblings: 2 by blood--older sister and younger brother, but I also consider Darrell's two sisters to be my siblings as well
Time You Wake Up: Between 6:15 and 6:30, which I don't consider to be too terrible
Underwear: Green today! (and that's all the details you need to know on that topic)
Vegetables You Dislike: This list has gotten significantly shorter since Darrell and I have been together. The only (common) vegetables I'll list--cauliflower and brussels sprouts--are really only on that list because I've never really tried them. Tomatoes could maybe go on the list as well--I certainly eat them, but the smaller the chunks the better. And don't even get me started on people who eat slices of tomato plain--ugh!
What Makes You Late: Forgetting stuff. I tend to do this a lot. Or my family. They've always been good at making me late
X-Rays: Never had any except at the dentist
Yummy Food that You Make: Sweets! I've come across and prepared a few disastrous meals, but my sweets usually come out a-okay! And whenever I'm looking to impress, I pull out my Great Aunt Rose's recipe for Sticky Rolls--it's always a winner at brunch!
Zoo Animal Favorite: Elephants! Too bad the Sioux Falls zoo is lame and doesn't have any.... Penguins and monkeys are usually the most fun to watch though. Oh, and meerkats! Our zoo recently got some of those and they were a hoot when we were down there last summer
Don't you feel so much closer to me already? Good. Now get back to being productive with your life
Tales of a South Dakotan married to a North Carolinian
Monday, February 28, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Pasta with Thai Peanut Sauce
Yay! A worthwhile post that isn't just a bunch of random ramblings! At least its more than just ramblings... I won't deny that it isn't still filled with randomness :-D
After a weeks absence from our kitchen, we were finally able to muster up the time to prepare an actual home-cooked meal. And clean. Which was very necessary. Because our kitchen looked like this:
After a weeks absence from our kitchen, we were finally able to muster up the time to prepare an actual home-cooked meal. And clean. Which was very necessary. Because our kitchen looked like this:
And this photo was taken after Darrell had already loaded up nearly half the dishwasher with dishes (you also can't see the four dirty pots on our stove...). You may think that two people who aren't home for meals and cooking would have a perfectly clean kitchen... But not us. Someone (I won't say who....) just had to do some baking before our trip (granola bars for snacks in the car!) and for an event at work. And let's face it, when the goodies don't get done until 10:45 at night--those dishes just aren't getting washed. Pair that with breakfast dishes and leftover containers, and you have quite full counters. And yes--that is my laptop on our kitchen counter. The ever-growing number of cooking blogs I read has resulted in a plethora of online recipes, so it just seems like an easy solution to read the recipe off the computer. Unfortunately, my computer is a little worse for the wear because of it (we had a major water incident a few months ago...), but we're hoping to replace this laptop sometime within the year anyway, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if it met an early demise (although not "early" early--this bad boy is seven years old!)
Anyway, onto the recipe. When we did finally have the time to get back into the kitchen, we pulled out a recipe that was a hit the first time we made it. The only modification we made the second time around was to add a little bit of shredded cooked chicken to the recipe just so that it made a more balanced main dish instead of a side. And yes--it makes a lot for two people, but I almost think the recipe is better as leftovers because the flavors have more time to come together. Without further ado, I give you:
Pasta with Thai Peanut Sauce
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 soy sauce
1 tbsp orange zest
splash of orange juice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp all spice
1 tbsp cilantro leaves (we omitted these)
1 lb thin spaghetti, cooked
Shredded, cooked chicken (if desired--we used about a pound)
Whisk together all ingredients except the cilantro, spaghetti, and chicken in a medium saucepan over medium head until smooth. Cook for five minutes, or just until mixture comes to a boil, stirring frequently. Pour sauce over hot spaghetti, toss until well coated. Mix in chicken. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.
Super easy, right? So easy, in fact, that I got home at eight and had dinner on the table by eight-thirty. ALL BY MYSELF. It was a very prideful moment for me. I had three different pots/pans on the stove, simultaneously cooking the pasta, chicken, and sauce. Which is why there aren't any pictures of the prep work.
Seriously, though, we've taken a real liking to this recipe. It's a great alternative to a traditional marinara or Alfredo sauce, and it doesn't leave the pasta overly saucy or too dry (which is hard to tell in the photo because we use whole-wheat pasta which actually ends up being the same color of the sauce). It's just enough to coat everything nicely and give it good flavor. You should really give it a try!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Church Confusion
Darrell and I currently attend the church that I grew up at in Sioux Falls. It's a nice church, we like it well enough, and it's one of the few churches in town that hasn't gone too contemporary for our tastes. But there's one major problem. The members of the church seem to be having a difficult time understanding that I no longer have the last name of my parents. Despite the fact that we got married at that church, which means that on the Sunday after our wedding our Pastor commented about how the flowers on the alter were from our ceremony and then said a prayer for us during the prayers (not that I was at church the morning after my wedding, but I know she does this after all weddings a members in the church).
The first incident was forgivable--we went to get our photo taken for the new church directory about three months after the wedding and when we walked in the church ladies who were checking people in exclaimed "Oh, so you're this couple! We were wondering who this Darrell and Jess was". We laughed, thought the old ladies were cute, and promptly forgot about it. Until about three months later (so we've been married six months at this point) when we agreed to help serve Communion. The person from the church who was organizing the volunteers called Darrell's cell, found a date that worked for us, mailed us a reminder, and printed our names in the bulletin. After church that day he comes up to me and says "I was so confused when you walked up to help with Communion! I knew I had called a Darrell and Jess, but when I saw you go up there I thought maybe there had been a change or something at the last minute. But then I realized that you ARE the same Jess just with a different last name!" This fact was very amusing to him--we just smiled along and nodded our heads in agreement.
Well, nothing had happened for awhile, so we thought maybe we were in the clear. How mistaken we were. Two weeks ago we signed up to be greeters at church (check it off the 101 in 1001 list!). As we were greeting members going into church, and after church while we were serving at coffee hour, we got at least five comments from members about how they had never made the connection that the couple "Darrell and Jess" was indeed, the "Darrell and Jess" that I was a part of. Mind you, I don't think our church has any other Darrells, or even any other Jessicas for that matter, so there aren't a whole lot to confuse them with. People even told us that when they saw our name printed in the church magazine saying that we were going to be greeters they thought it was new members. At this point the joke is starting to get a little old. Especially to Darrell--he joined the church over a year before our wedding, so in theory people should be familiar with him and his name, and then pair with that the fact that we arrive together and sit together EVERY Sunday--it should be a fairly simple equation. But it's not. And it gets worse.
Last week the new directories came out. Darrell and I were out of town so we didn't get a chance to get ours, but at dinner with my parents on Tuesday night we heard all about them. Apparently, in the photo directory segment of the directory, Darrell and I are clearly listed as a married couple, and my parents have my brother in their photo with them, which is also clearly stated. But in the back, where they have the addresses listed, I'm listed under my parent's address. Sure, I'm also there under the address that Darrell and I live at together--and with my married name, obviously. Under my parent's listing? I'm there with my maiden name. Despite the fact that I haven't lived at that address (as my main place of residence) for over four years--and the fact that I no longer have that name. On any legal document (birth certificate aside, obviously). Awesome. And I guess that goof just added to the confusion that was already brewing, because yesterday I got a letter from church addressed to "Jessica (maiden name) (married name)". Seriously?
I'm a little torn on what to do--part of me says that we should become uber-active so that everyone FINALLY puts two and two together... But part of me also doesn't want to do that because then we're going to have to deal with MORE "Oh, I didn't realize you were married!" "Oh, I didn't realize you were THAT Jess" comments until everyone DOES put two and two together. Ugh.
Disclaimer: I fully realize that this is a total non-issue. And I fully realized that I've blown it up into a way bigger deal than it actually is. I really didn't intend for it to get that snarky, but it just kind of came out once I got started. And I was kind of having fun with it so I didn't want to go back and change it. So, to any of my fellow church-goers (if there are any of you reading...doubtful), please don't take this insultingly. I'm merely over-exaggerating a comical situation.
The first incident was forgivable--we went to get our photo taken for the new church directory about three months after the wedding and when we walked in the church ladies who were checking people in exclaimed "Oh, so you're this couple! We were wondering who this Darrell and Jess was". We laughed, thought the old ladies were cute, and promptly forgot about it. Until about three months later (so we've been married six months at this point) when we agreed to help serve Communion. The person from the church who was organizing the volunteers called Darrell's cell, found a date that worked for us, mailed us a reminder, and printed our names in the bulletin. After church that day he comes up to me and says "I was so confused when you walked up to help with Communion! I knew I had called a Darrell and Jess, but when I saw you go up there I thought maybe there had been a change or something at the last minute. But then I realized that you ARE the same Jess just with a different last name!" This fact was very amusing to him--we just smiled along and nodded our heads in agreement.
Well, nothing had happened for awhile, so we thought maybe we were in the clear. How mistaken we were. Two weeks ago we signed up to be greeters at church (check it off the 101 in 1001 list!). As we were greeting members going into church, and after church while we were serving at coffee hour, we got at least five comments from members about how they had never made the connection that the couple "Darrell and Jess" was indeed, the "Darrell and Jess" that I was a part of. Mind you, I don't think our church has any other Darrells, or even any other Jessicas for that matter, so there aren't a whole lot to confuse them with. People even told us that when they saw our name printed in the church magazine saying that we were going to be greeters they thought it was new members. At this point the joke is starting to get a little old. Especially to Darrell--he joined the church over a year before our wedding, so in theory people should be familiar with him and his name, and then pair with that the fact that we arrive together and sit together EVERY Sunday--it should be a fairly simple equation. But it's not. And it gets worse.
Last week the new directories came out. Darrell and I were out of town so we didn't get a chance to get ours, but at dinner with my parents on Tuesday night we heard all about them. Apparently, in the photo directory segment of the directory, Darrell and I are clearly listed as a married couple, and my parents have my brother in their photo with them, which is also clearly stated. But in the back, where they have the addresses listed, I'm listed under my parent's address. Sure, I'm also there under the address that Darrell and I live at together--and with my married name, obviously. Under my parent's listing? I'm there with my maiden name. Despite the fact that I haven't lived at that address (as my main place of residence) for over four years--and the fact that I no longer have that name. On any legal document (birth certificate aside, obviously). Awesome. And I guess that goof just added to the confusion that was already brewing, because yesterday I got a letter from church addressed to "Jessica (maiden name) (married name)". Seriously?
I'm a little torn on what to do--part of me says that we should become uber-active so that everyone FINALLY puts two and two together... But part of me also doesn't want to do that because then we're going to have to deal with MORE "Oh, I didn't realize you were married!" "Oh, I didn't realize you were THAT Jess" comments until everyone DOES put two and two together. Ugh.
Disclaimer: I fully realize that this is a total non-issue. And I fully realized that I've blown it up into a way bigger deal than it actually is. I really didn't intend for it to get that snarky, but it just kind of came out once I got started. And I was kind of having fun with it so I didn't want to go back and change it. So, to any of my fellow church-goers (if there are any of you reading...doubtful), please don't take this insultingly. I'm merely over-exaggerating a comical situation.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Fitness Firsts
Well, after yesterday's awe-inspiring post, I figured things couldn't get much worse today. So I'll talk about going to the gym. Because everyone loves that topic. Although, to be technical, two of these "firsts" happened in the fitness room at the hotel we were staying at last weekend, so I suppose I'm a little misguided in calling this a discussion about the gym. But I digress.... On to the list of my recent fitness firsts (because lists are oh-so organized and make me happy):
1. Running at a speed of 8.0 mph (which is approximately a 7:30 mile). Granted, no way did I even get close to running a full mile at that speed, but I can honestly say I've never moved the speed up to that rate before. At least not while I was actively running on the treadmill (and yes, I am implying that I have been known to increase the speed of the treadmill belt while I was not actually running on it. So what).
2. Running in just a sports bra. While I can't honestly say that I've never done this, I can say that it's been ages. And I've certainly never gone running in just a sports bra in February before. But the fitness center at this hotel was located RIGHT next to the pool area, and despite the fact that the hotel didn't actually have a sauna, they kept the pool area heated warm enough that it could pass for one. I think I lasted all of seven minutes with my t-shirt. And then some awkward pre-teen boys came into the fitness room to talk to their mom--and decided they needed to stick around a get a workout in. Despite the fact that one of these boys looked like he lived on the couch. It was pleasantly awkward. But I suppose can take pride in the fact that I inspired some boys to be physically active, even if it was just for 15 minutes.
3. Going to the gym after a 12-hour day. Wednesdays are my dreaded 12-hour shifts (on a regular basis. Some weeks I have more thrown in just for fun), so I'm usually not getting home until 8:30. Well, I desperately needed to log some gym time this week--both Monday and Tuesday ended up being somewhat unexpected days off. So I bucked up at went to the gym at 8:30. And it was about as brutal as I thought it would be. I hadn't eaten since 3:30 (and that was just a measly yogurt), so I scarfed down a homemade granola bar on my way to the gym. Not so pleasant during a run. But I also don't run well on an empty--or nearly empty--stomach, so it was really like choosing the lesser of two evils. I don't think I'll be visiting the gym at 8:30 again--at least not without much more careful consideration about when and what I'm eating.
And what has been my reward for all this hard work? A handful of emails today from my mom about how important it is to ease into a spring fitness regime and the harms of too much endurance running. Awesome. Great positive motivation. I think she may be resenting the fact that she signed up to run the 5K with us in March... But that's just me
1. Running at a speed of 8.0 mph (which is approximately a 7:30 mile). Granted, no way did I even get close to running a full mile at that speed, but I can honestly say I've never moved the speed up to that rate before. At least not while I was actively running on the treadmill (and yes, I am implying that I have been known to increase the speed of the treadmill belt while I was not actually running on it. So what).
2. Running in just a sports bra. While I can't honestly say that I've never done this, I can say that it's been ages. And I've certainly never gone running in just a sports bra in February before. But the fitness center at this hotel was located RIGHT next to the pool area, and despite the fact that the hotel didn't actually have a sauna, they kept the pool area heated warm enough that it could pass for one. I think I lasted all of seven minutes with my t-shirt. And then some awkward pre-teen boys came into the fitness room to talk to their mom--and decided they needed to stick around a get a workout in. Despite the fact that one of these boys looked like he lived on the couch. It was pleasantly awkward. But I suppose can take pride in the fact that I inspired some boys to be physically active, even if it was just for 15 minutes.
3. Going to the gym after a 12-hour day. Wednesdays are my dreaded 12-hour shifts (on a regular basis. Some weeks I have more thrown in just for fun), so I'm usually not getting home until 8:30. Well, I desperately needed to log some gym time this week--both Monday and Tuesday ended up being somewhat unexpected days off. So I bucked up at went to the gym at 8:30. And it was about as brutal as I thought it would be. I hadn't eaten since 3:30 (and that was just a measly yogurt), so I scarfed down a homemade granola bar on my way to the gym. Not so pleasant during a run. But I also don't run well on an empty--or nearly empty--stomach, so it was really like choosing the lesser of two evils. I don't think I'll be visiting the gym at 8:30 again--at least not without much more careful consideration about when and what I'm eating.
And what has been my reward for all this hard work? A handful of emails today from my mom about how important it is to ease into a spring fitness regime and the harms of too much endurance running. Awesome. Great positive motivation. I think she may be resenting the fact that she signed up to run the 5K with us in March... But that's just me
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
....
Hmmm.... What to blog about today? I'd hate to skip a day and disappoint all of my faithful readers. I could always blog about one of the great recipes we've tried lately.
{drumming fingers}
Hmm. Can't seem to think of any. Guess that's what happens when it's been over a week since we cooked a meal at home. Maybe I could talk about the latest book I'm reading?
{head palm}
Right. I actually have to be reading a book in order to be able to discuss it. And five pages in doesn't really count (especially since I'm probably going to have to go back and re-read them since it's been well over a week since I've picked the book up). I suppose I could talk about sleeping in the guest bedroom last night because of Darrell being sick and having a bout of exceptionally loud (and phlegmy!) snoring.
{awkward silence}
Guess you probably don't want to hear about that any more than I wanted to sleep next to it. I'm fresh out of ideas then--maybe I'll have to change the title of this blog to "The Exceptionally Boring Lives of a South Dakotan Married to a North Carolinian". Because seriously, sometimes that just fits better.
{drumming fingers}
Hmm. Can't seem to think of any. Guess that's what happens when it's been over a week since we cooked a meal at home. Maybe I could talk about the latest book I'm reading?
{head palm}
Right. I actually have to be reading a book in order to be able to discuss it. And five pages in doesn't really count (especially since I'm probably going to have to go back and re-read them since it's been well over a week since I've picked the book up). I suppose I could talk about sleeping in the guest bedroom last night because of Darrell being sick and having a bout of exceptionally loud (and phlegmy!) snoring.
{awkward silence}
Guess you probably don't want to hear about that any more than I wanted to sleep next to it. I'm fresh out of ideas then--maybe I'll have to change the title of this blog to "The Exceptionally Boring Lives of a South Dakotan Married to a North Carolinian". Because seriously, sometimes that just fits better.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Mini-Vacation and ICE!
So, I haven't been posting because Darrell and I took some time this weekend to go on a mini-vacation. I had Friday and Monday off of work for President's Day, and Darrell took Monday off so we could have a three day weekend together. It was really nice to have a few days to just enjoy each other's company and relax--minus the fact that Darrell was sick most of the time. But I can't fault him for that, and besides, better him than me because he's a lot more of a trooper while he's sick. I get pouty and grumpy and don't want to do anything; he'll tough it out and do his best to put on a happy face (at least through all the sneezing and sniffling).
For our trip we spent Saturday night in Omaha with a friend from college, which was a good time (and late night!) as always. We always go out to places that aren't in Sioux Falls, and he never leads us astray in his restaurant or wine selections. Or when he cooks. He made a killer breakfast for us last time we were down there. But I digress. Sunday afternoon we drove to Des Moines where we had a hotel suite reserved, complete with wine and chocolates. We also had plans to do a fancy dinner, but neither of us were feeling that up to it. So instead, we decided to class up the local TGI Fridays--I was set on wearing a dress regardless of where we went!
After dinner we decided just to relax at the hotel (and sadly, not drink our wine. Apparently it's not a good combination with cold medication)--and learned an important lesson. Always make sure the hotel has a spa before booking a room there for a romantic weekend. Or at least get a jacuzzi suite. Epic fail. We settled for curling up at watching some TV. And Darrell must have really been feeling out of it because he let me watch TWO! episodes of "My Fair Wedding" on WE. It was awesome (for me). We then learned another important lesson when we went to bed--always travel with your own pillows. Neither of us slept well (stupid down pillows that feel like they are closing in around your face), and we both felt crappy in the morning because of it. So we grabbed a quick breakfast and decided to head home earlier than planned so we could get a good nap in before Darrell's meeting in Sioux Falls Monday night. One thing we weren't anticipating? Our garage door being frozen shut when we got home. Sounds totally awesome, right?
Allow me to explain. Last week we had WONDERFULLY warm weather (highs in the fourties!), which finally melted the snow and slush and ice and crap that has been coating our roads since November. Well, it turns out Mother Nature decided that our "spring" thaw had happened too soon, and struck with a vengence over the weekend. Thankfully, because we had travelled south (at least as "south" as Des Moines and Omaha can be), all we experienced over the weekend was a little bit of rain. Sioux Falls, apparently, was significantly worse--freezing rain (inches of it!) followed by snow. (And that isn't even the worst of this storm! Poor Minneapolis got nearly a foot and a half of snow--they're on track for the snowiest year ever!) The roads were fine for us driving home--until we got off the interstate. It's only five miles from the interstate to our house, and four of those miles we were driving on solid ice. Not enjoyable. And then when we got home, our garage door was frozen shut. Completely. Our front door was nearly frozen shut as well because it also faces north (which is the direction the wind was blowing out of during the freezing rain).
It didn't take too much work to chip away at the ice that had frozen our garage door shut, but once we got it open we realized a much more significant problem.
That, my friends, is a tennis ball showing you just how much solid ice we have on our driveway. So solid, in fact, that Darrell was able to take out the snowblower and clear the snow that drifted on top of it without any issue. We (briefly!) considered trying to chip it all away, but decided to save our backs and arms the pain. So instead, we now have a serious speed bump when we try to get in and out of our garage. And it looks like it'll be a week before the temperatures warm up enough to start clearing it away. So if you have any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them. In the meantime I'm going to curse the day Darrell and I decided to buy a house in South Dakota.
For our trip we spent Saturday night in Omaha with a friend from college, which was a good time (and late night!) as always. We always go out to places that aren't in Sioux Falls, and he never leads us astray in his restaurant or wine selections. Or when he cooks. He made a killer breakfast for us last time we were down there. But I digress. Sunday afternoon we drove to Des Moines where we had a hotel suite reserved, complete with wine and chocolates. We also had plans to do a fancy dinner, but neither of us were feeling that up to it. So instead, we decided to class up the local TGI Fridays--I was set on wearing a dress regardless of where we went!
After dinner we decided just to relax at the hotel (and sadly, not drink our wine. Apparently it's not a good combination with cold medication)--and learned an important lesson. Always make sure the hotel has a spa before booking a room there for a romantic weekend. Or at least get a jacuzzi suite. Epic fail. We settled for curling up at watching some TV. And Darrell must have really been feeling out of it because he let me watch TWO! episodes of "My Fair Wedding" on WE. It was awesome (for me). We then learned another important lesson when we went to bed--always travel with your own pillows. Neither of us slept well (stupid down pillows that feel like they are closing in around your face), and we both felt crappy in the morning because of it. So we grabbed a quick breakfast and decided to head home earlier than planned so we could get a good nap in before Darrell's meeting in Sioux Falls Monday night. One thing we weren't anticipating? Our garage door being frozen shut when we got home. Sounds totally awesome, right?
Allow me to explain. Last week we had WONDERFULLY warm weather (highs in the fourties!), which finally melted the snow and slush and ice and crap that has been coating our roads since November. Well, it turns out Mother Nature decided that our "spring" thaw had happened too soon, and struck with a vengence over the weekend. Thankfully, because we had travelled south (at least as "south" as Des Moines and Omaha can be), all we experienced over the weekend was a little bit of rain. Sioux Falls, apparently, was significantly worse--freezing rain (inches of it!) followed by snow. (And that isn't even the worst of this storm! Poor Minneapolis got nearly a foot and a half of snow--they're on track for the snowiest year ever!) The roads were fine for us driving home--until we got off the interstate. It's only five miles from the interstate to our house, and four of those miles we were driving on solid ice. Not enjoyable. And then when we got home, our garage door was frozen shut. Completely. Our front door was nearly frozen shut as well because it also faces north (which is the direction the wind was blowing out of during the freezing rain).
 |
| Our frozen-over front door |
 |
| Looking out one of our windows on the north side of the house |
It didn't take too much work to chip away at the ice that had frozen our garage door shut, but once we got it open we realized a much more significant problem.
That, my friends, is a tennis ball showing you just how much solid ice we have on our driveway. So solid, in fact, that Darrell was able to take out the snowblower and clear the snow that drifted on top of it without any issue. We (briefly!) considered trying to chip it all away, but decided to save our backs and arms the pain. So instead, we now have a serious speed bump when we try to get in and out of our garage. And it looks like it'll be a week before the temperatures warm up enough to start clearing it away. So if you have any suggestions I'd be glad to hear them. In the meantime I'm going to curse the day Darrell and I decided to buy a house in South Dakota.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Organization Overload
I've always considered myself to be well organized. And with that, I feel one also has to pay close attention to detail. Maybe I should have gone into interior design or architecture or something, but even since I was in middle school I've been very careful about planning and arranging things. When I would get bored with how my room was set up, I would measure all my furniture pieces, draw a very basic "blueprint" of my room--windows, outlets, vents, etc--and then sketch possibilities for the new arrangement until I found one I liked. I did this with our new house, as well. Once the cabinets were installed I began measuring them and mentally (and yes, there was a written list as well) filling them with items, being sure to keep items in their respective "groups"--baking, cooking, oils/vinegars, tableware, storage containers, etc. When we were debating what to put on one of our large, blank walls in the house, I diagrammed it on a piece of paper, being sure to indicate where the lamp and TV and other items overlapped with the wall space so that we could have a mini sketch board--and yes, everything was drawn to scale.
Why, you ask, am I bothering to share one of my little "habits"? Because I fear it's gotten out of control. Sometimes I find myself organizing things just for the sake of organizing them. No real tangible purpose, no real tangible application, and often, no real reason to go back and utilize the organization. But I do it anyway. Case in point. I have a list of books that I want to read. Sounds reasonable enough, right? Not my list. It's got over 500 books on it. It's organized alphabetically by the author's last name. I've got notes about genre next to the titles. There's a random number generator that picks for me the next book off my list (it's an Excel document). Do you know how many times I've actually used the random number generator to pick books off the list? Once. Mostly because I have such a stack of books that I buy second-hand that I feel like I need to read first since I already own them. And just when the pile starts to dwindle, Christmas or my birthday or a stroll past marked-down books happens and I'm right back where I started.
But that's not even the worst of it. Lately, I've been really into reading cooking blogs. And I don't just start following a blog from the day I stumble upon it. If I find one I like I'll go back and read all the old posts. And then, when I find a recipe I like, I save the website. I recently discovered the flaw in this system though; at work I use a Mac (love!) but at home I have a PC, which means I can't access the saved web files off my flash drive at home. My solution? Create a Google Docs document to store all of the hyperlinks (organized by type of food, of course). But then I decided that wasn't good enough, because the hyperlinks don't always include the full name of the recipe, which makes it hard for me to just look down the list and see what sounds good. So I decided to type the full name of the recipe next to the link. Then I figured that while I was doing that I might as well type some of the main/perishable ingredients; you know, so that way next time we have grape tomatoes to use up I can just go to my Google Docs, type "grape tomatoes" and have it match me with all the recipes that use that ingredient. And it gets worse. I'm having so much fun doing this that I also want to type up the names of all the recipes that we already have in our recipe box and list the ingredients for those so that all of our recipes are included in my searches. Odds that I'll ever use this document enough to compensate for all the time I'm putting into it? Not very good. Likelihood that I care? Not at all.
Got anything that you need pointlessly organized? I'm your gal! The more portable the better! (which, for the record, portability is the only reason my basement is as messy as it is. In my head I know where everything is going and I've already starting buying the totes for storage, I'm just not home enough to bring my ideas to fruition!)
Why, you ask, am I bothering to share one of my little "habits"? Because I fear it's gotten out of control. Sometimes I find myself organizing things just for the sake of organizing them. No real tangible purpose, no real tangible application, and often, no real reason to go back and utilize the organization. But I do it anyway. Case in point. I have a list of books that I want to read. Sounds reasonable enough, right? Not my list. It's got over 500 books on it. It's organized alphabetically by the author's last name. I've got notes about genre next to the titles. There's a random number generator that picks for me the next book off my list (it's an Excel document). Do you know how many times I've actually used the random number generator to pick books off the list? Once. Mostly because I have such a stack of books that I buy second-hand that I feel like I need to read first since I already own them. And just when the pile starts to dwindle, Christmas or my birthday or a stroll past marked-down books happens and I'm right back where I started.
But that's not even the worst of it. Lately, I've been really into reading cooking blogs. And I don't just start following a blog from the day I stumble upon it. If I find one I like I'll go back and read all the old posts. And then, when I find a recipe I like, I save the website. I recently discovered the flaw in this system though; at work I use a Mac (love!) but at home I have a PC, which means I can't access the saved web files off my flash drive at home. My solution? Create a Google Docs document to store all of the hyperlinks (organized by type of food, of course). But then I decided that wasn't good enough, because the hyperlinks don't always include the full name of the recipe, which makes it hard for me to just look down the list and see what sounds good. So I decided to type the full name of the recipe next to the link. Then I figured that while I was doing that I might as well type some of the main/perishable ingredients; you know, so that way next time we have grape tomatoes to use up I can just go to my Google Docs, type "grape tomatoes" and have it match me with all the recipes that use that ingredient. And it gets worse. I'm having so much fun doing this that I also want to type up the names of all the recipes that we already have in our recipe box and list the ingredients for those so that all of our recipes are included in my searches. Odds that I'll ever use this document enough to compensate for all the time I'm putting into it? Not very good. Likelihood that I care? Not at all.
Got anything that you need pointlessly organized? I'm your gal! The more portable the better! (which, for the record, portability is the only reason my basement is as messy as it is. In my head I know where everything is going and I've already starting buying the totes for storage, I'm just not home enough to bring my ideas to fruition!)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Please don't let the quality of my photography distract you from the deliciousness that is these muffins. I made these on Sunday morning before church because my sister and her boyfriend were staying with us, and Darrell and I had to rush out the door because we were leading Sunday School. So, needless to say, I didn't get around to taking a picture until 9:30 that night, when the only light available was the not-so-flattering fluorescent lights in our kitchen. But, for a better picture, check out this blog, which is where I got this recipe from (in addition to many, many others that I can't wait to try). She also has the recipe posted, but I'm going to include it here as well with a few revisions that we made.
Lemon Blueberry Muffins:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest (she calls for the zest of two small lemons, which Darrell thought would be overpowering. And I'm glad we cut it back, because they were still plenty lemony)
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat a muffin tray with baking spray then set aside. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in the blueberries. In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, oil, lemon zest and the lemon juice. Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture until blended; do not over mix. Spoon the batter into the muffin tray and bake for about 20-23 minutes. Let stand for about five minutes before removing from the pan to cool.
As I said, these were really good. I should give a disclaimer, though, that you shouldn't expect these to be like traditional blueberry muffins. Most blueberry muffins have a blueberry flavor in the batter in addition to the actual blueberries. But because this recipe uses frozen blueberries with lemon zest and juice, they are more like lemon muffins with blueberry pieces. I only mention this because it took Darrell a few muffins bites to get past this fact so he could fully enjoy them. And I also have to give him credit for pulling them out of the oven at exactly the right time (about 21 minutes), because they were perfectly done. The full dozen lasted less than 24 hours in our house.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentine's Day
Let's be honest. Valentine's Day was created by Hallmark. There is really no other explanation for it. And because I have a husband (and for five years prior to that, a boyfriend/fiance) who is very anti-Valentine's Day because of all the commercialism, we pretty much never celebrate (he argues that he doesn't like being told that he has to be romantic). Which is fine with me. Because by the time February 14th actually rolls around, I'm pretty sick of all the pink and red and love and gifts and articles that have been displayed ad nauseam for at least the month prior. In fact, for our first Valentine's Day, Darrell went out and bought one of the sappiest Hallmark cards he could find, crossed out all the romantic words, and replaced them with negatives and insults. Good thing we share a sense of humor. Although I do look forward to the post-Valentine's Day sales on all those delicious chocolates.
However, one thing that has become tradition around Valentine's Day is the Johnny Holm's Dance at the El Riad Mosque. We've gone the past four years (you have to be 21 to attend), and it's always a blast. Literally. They sell the place out weeks in advance (and capacity is around 1100), and everyone who is there is always out to have a good time (makes for some prime people-watching). This year was a little different because Darrell joined the Shrine unit (the Fife and Drum) that hosts the event, so he had to be there early, stay late (he didn't get home until 2:30 AM!), and work during the event, but he made sure to get away as often as he could to dance with me, especially when he knew one of my favorite songs was being played. Rather than narrate the whole night I figure I'll just post a couple pictures!
However, one thing that has become tradition around Valentine's Day is the Johnny Holm's Dance at the El Riad Mosque. We've gone the past four years (you have to be 21 to attend), and it's always a blast. Literally. They sell the place out weeks in advance (and capacity is around 1100), and everyone who is there is always out to have a good time (makes for some prime people-watching). This year was a little different because Darrell joined the Shrine unit (the Fife and Drum) that hosts the event, so he had to be there early, stay late (he didn't get home until 2:30 AM!), and work during the event, but he made sure to get away as often as he could to dance with me, especially when he knew one of my favorite songs was being played. Rather than narrate the whole night I figure I'll just post a couple pictures!
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| Macy (my brother's girlfriend), my sister Amanda, and myself |
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| Cupid makes an appearance every year (and unfortunately--or maybe intentionally--the photographer cut off Cupid's diaper!) |
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| I had to steal my busy worker away for at least one photo! |
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| Everybody loves a little Johnny Holms--I know it's not the best picture, but that dance floor is PACKED! |
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Saturday at Last
And eighteen hours later, my ridiculous week of hours at my part-time is over. Finally. And I get to officially kick back and enjoy it at a Valentine's Day Dance tonight. Of course, I made the mistake of running four miles today, plus Darrell has to work for part of the dance, so there might not actually be very much dancing, but it'll still be fun to relax.
But did you catch that?!? Four miles!! Granted, I walked a little bit in there, but I still put in 45 minutes on the treadmill. Which is something I honestly thought I'd never be able to do. My feet were burning by the end of it, and my legs are already starting to feel a little tight, but probably nothing I can't loosen up with a little dancing tonight :-D
I have a little bit of time before we leave though, so I wanted to quickly post the recipe for Cube Steak and Rice from the other day. There's actually a little bit of a funny story behind this one--it's a family recipe from Darrell, and shortly after we started dating we got into a little tif so I decided to call his mom and get the recipe from her to cook for Darrell. Let's just say I had never seen or cooked with cube steak before (I had no idea what it even looked like! Thank goodness for Darrell's mom being very descriptive when giving me the recipe), nor had I ever made sticky rice or any kind of a gravy.... But I must have done something right with the recipe because he stuck with me!
Cube Steak and Rice
1 lb beef cube steak
1/2 cup rice (not minute)
3 cups water (for the rice)
1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp butter
Flour
Vegetable Oil
Steak
Dip the steak in flour and fry it in oil. To make the gravy, add flour to the pan after the steak is done then slowly add water while constantly mixing to obtain desired consistency.
Rice
Bring the three cups of water to a boil with 1 tbsp butter. Add rice and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Add milk and the remaining butter; cook until most of the liquid is gone. (This whole process takes about 45 minutes, so start the rice before the meat.)
Like I said, it's a fairly "bland" recipe in terms of spices and additions, but when served with a nice colorful vegetable and a glass of red wine it's a classic!
But did you catch that?!? Four miles!! Granted, I walked a little bit in there, but I still put in 45 minutes on the treadmill. Which is something I honestly thought I'd never be able to do. My feet were burning by the end of it, and my legs are already starting to feel a little tight, but probably nothing I can't loosen up with a little dancing tonight :-D
I have a little bit of time before we leave though, so I wanted to quickly post the recipe for Cube Steak and Rice from the other day. There's actually a little bit of a funny story behind this one--it's a family recipe from Darrell, and shortly after we started dating we got into a little tif so I decided to call his mom and get the recipe from her to cook for Darrell. Let's just say I had never seen or cooked with cube steak before (I had no idea what it even looked like! Thank goodness for Darrell's mom being very descriptive when giving me the recipe), nor had I ever made sticky rice or any kind of a gravy.... But I must have done something right with the recipe because he stuck with me!
Cube Steak and Rice
1 lb beef cube steak
1/2 cup rice (not minute)
3 cups water (for the rice)
1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp butter
Flour
Vegetable Oil
Steak
Dip the steak in flour and fry it in oil. To make the gravy, add flour to the pan after the steak is done then slowly add water while constantly mixing to obtain desired consistency.
Rice
Bring the three cups of water to a boil with 1 tbsp butter. Add rice and simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Add milk and the remaining butter; cook until most of the liquid is gone. (This whole process takes about 45 minutes, so start the rice before the meat.)
Like I said, it's a fairly "bland" recipe in terms of spices and additions, but when served with a nice colorful vegetable and a glass of red wine it's a classic!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Word to the Wise
If someone you know is working in an office or organization that is facing serious cuts and potential layoffs, asking them if they are nervous about the security of their job is never a good idea. Especially when you know that person is more than likely at the top of the line to be cut if cuts do happen due to being last hired and working in a non-crucial (or at least not the most crucial) position. Chances are that person has already thought of that possibility, but is choosing to just ignore it until anything becomes official because worrying about something that he/she can't control is just a waste of time.
Just a little piece of friendly advice
Just a little piece of friendly advice
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Dragging
Day two of Hell Week is over and I'm draaaging. Yesterday ended up being even longer than I anticipated; my dinner event/meeting that was supposed to get over at eight ran until 8:30 (at least they were serving wine). And then I still had to run out to Barnes and Noble to pick up a book that Darrell and I have to read by Saturday for a book discussion. Thankfully it's only 144 pages, so it should be manageable. I've started reading a page or two whenever I get a chance and I'm already 21 pages in. Only 123 to go. By Saturday. Ugh. And I'm looking at not getting home until 8:30 again today and tomorrow. Ugh. At least my meeting for tomorrow morning got cancelled so I have a little extra time in the morning. I'll probably end up using that to get my reading done. Procrastination is a beast!
Update: Tack on four hours of work on Saturday morning. Stellar. Only one more week until our mini-vacation, only one more week until our mini-vacation, only one more week until our mini-vacation....
Update: Tack on four hours of work on Saturday morning. Stellar. Only one more week until our mini-vacation, only one more week until our mini-vacation, only one more week until our mini-vacation....
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Ups and Downs and Doughnuts
Well, Hell Week Day One is officially over. And I was all set to sit down last night and blog about how the first of many 12-hour days had gone really well and how the week was off to a great start.... And then my phone rang. Now, I love my little brother to death, but his time management? I'm not so fond of that. He calls me at 9:30 because he has an assignment due for his online Chemistry class at midnight and he needs help with it. Which is fine, I don't mind helping him, but when it's two hours before the assignment is due and he is trying to explain charts and graphs over the phone to me to have me help him interpret them... Well, it's a little trying. Thankfully, though, while I was getting marginally frustrated with my brother, Darrell was cleaning the kitchen and then surprised me with chocolate covered strawberries. So, I guess the night still ended on a high.
Today got off to a miserably cold start though--and I was cranky about it because I was hoping to get a late start. I'm pretty sure it's at least as cold as it was last week when all the schools in the area were closed, but there wasn't even a late start to be heard of from anybody. I think a windchill of thirty-five degrees below zero should warrant at least a little extra time under the covers (for teachers, at least. I'm fully aware that other professions have to go to work no matter what the windchill is).
As I alluded to on Sunday, I decided to start our week off by making doughnuts--healthy ones that aren't fried! Don't they just look delicious?
Of course, my intent to use them as a quick breakfast or easy mid-morning snack was pretty much defeated on Sunday, since we devoured nearly all of them that morning before church. Oh well--they're so good and totally worth it. I might have to make another batch next weekend (and then maybe show a little more self-restraint and not eat the whole batch....maybe). Here's the recipe (followed by a couple of my notes/modifications):
Doughnut Muffins
(I don't remember where I got this recipe from, sorry!)
Doughnuts:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine, melted
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.
Mix the sugar, margarine, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the muffin tins about half full. Bake until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
Coating:
1/4 cup margarine melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
While the muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup melted margarine in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip in the melted margarine, and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Cool and serve.
My Notes:
For starters, it's very important to watch the muffins closely while they are baking. I had a hard time telling if the tops where getting darker (I'm still convinced they didn't really darken at all), but when I finally pulled them out the bottoms were definitely overdone. So pay attention to the sides of the muffins as well as the tops to determine when to remove them from the oven. I also modified the toppings (as you can see from my picture). I didn't see the need to coat them in an additional 1/4 cup of margarine, so I only melted a tablespoon, and lightly brushed it onto the muffins I was going to top with cinnamon sugar. It allowed the coating to stick just fine. I also used more than 1 tsp cinnamon, but I'd say mix the two until you find a flavor/combination that you like (I prefer mine to be more on the cinnamon side than not). I coated them by putting the cinnamon sugar mixture into a bag with the muffins and shaking. I did the same for the muffins I coated in powdered sugar (no margarine coating necessary with these!), although Darrell and I agreed that the cinnamon sugar doughnuts were much better than the powdered sugar ones.
Here's to Hell Week Day Two--two hours down, only ten more to go until I'm home again!
Today got off to a miserably cold start though--and I was cranky about it because I was hoping to get a late start. I'm pretty sure it's at least as cold as it was last week when all the schools in the area were closed, but there wasn't even a late start to be heard of from anybody. I think a windchill of thirty-five degrees below zero should warrant at least a little extra time under the covers (for teachers, at least. I'm fully aware that other professions have to go to work no matter what the windchill is).
As I alluded to on Sunday, I decided to start our week off by making doughnuts--healthy ones that aren't fried! Don't they just look delicious?
Of course, my intent to use them as a quick breakfast or easy mid-morning snack was pretty much defeated on Sunday, since we devoured nearly all of them that morning before church. Oh well--they're so good and totally worth it. I might have to make another batch next weekend (and then maybe show a little more self-restraint and not eat the whole batch....maybe). Here's the recipe (followed by a couple of my notes/modifications):
Doughnut Muffins
(I don't remember where I got this recipe from, sorry!)
Doughnuts:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup margarine, melted
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup flour
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease 24 mini-muffin cups.
Mix the sugar, margarine, and nutmeg together in a large bowl. Stir in the milk, then mix in the baking powder and flour until just combined. Fill the muffin tins about half full. Bake until the tops are lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.
Coating:
1/4 cup margarine melted
1/2 cup white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
While the muffins are baking, place 1/4 cup melted margarine in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Remove muffins from their cups, dip in the melted margarine, and roll in the cinnamon sugar mixture. Cool and serve.
My Notes:
For starters, it's very important to watch the muffins closely while they are baking. I had a hard time telling if the tops where getting darker (I'm still convinced they didn't really darken at all), but when I finally pulled them out the bottoms were definitely overdone. So pay attention to the sides of the muffins as well as the tops to determine when to remove them from the oven. I also modified the toppings (as you can see from my picture). I didn't see the need to coat them in an additional 1/4 cup of margarine, so I only melted a tablespoon, and lightly brushed it onto the muffins I was going to top with cinnamon sugar. It allowed the coating to stick just fine. I also used more than 1 tsp cinnamon, but I'd say mix the two until you find a flavor/combination that you like (I prefer mine to be more on the cinnamon side than not). I coated them by putting the cinnamon sugar mixture into a bag with the muffins and shaking. I did the same for the muffins I coated in powdered sugar (no margarine coating necessary with these!), although Darrell and I agreed that the cinnamon sugar doughnuts were much better than the powdered sugar ones.
Here's to Hell Week Day Two--two hours down, only ten more to go until I'm home again!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
I Heart Weekends
Actually, I love relaxing weekends. Weekends where we don't have any major obligations, where we have the ability to control our own schedule, and especially where I can take naps in the middle of the day. Soooo nice. And after a brief work obligation Saturday morning, that's what this weekend was. We got home early Saturday afternoon and had a leisurely lunch, which consisted in part of this for me:
I'll admit that this isn't exactly my favorite movie, but I definitely think I understood it better than I did the first time we watched it. Plus we enjoyed the movie with some popcorn that we popped on our stovetop (super fun--thanks for the supplies Kristen and Ben!), so that made it even better.
If only this weekend didn't have to end..... I've got three twelve-hour days next week, plus a thirteen-hour day thrown in there just for fun, so I'm kind of dreading it. But hopefully I'll stay so busy that it'll fly by. Hopefully.
Oh, and by the way, GO PACK GO!!
Grilled peanut butter and jelly. Soooo good. And gooey. The key is making sure to put plenty of butter on the outsides of the bread so it flips easily (I never said it was healthy....)
Then after a nap for me followed by a quick run to the gym and grocery store (two actually, whoops! Sort of forgot a pretty key ingredient), we fixed a little bit of this for dinner:
Cube steak and rice. Yum yum. Although we realized last night as we were eating this that it is probably one of the most "bland" meals we cook, but it's a recipe Darrell has been eating since he was a kid, so altering it just really isn't an option. Which is perfectly fine, because the flavor it does have is oh so good. We just won't talk about the fact that it's smoothered in gravy. I'll have to post the recipe sometime, but not right now because I'm making doughnuts for breakfast and they'll be done soon!
Then, to top of our gloriously relaxing Saturday, we had a movie night!
I'll admit that this isn't exactly my favorite movie, but I definitely think I understood it better than I did the first time we watched it. Plus we enjoyed the movie with some popcorn that we popped on our stovetop (super fun--thanks for the supplies Kristen and Ben!), so that made it even better.
If only this weekend didn't have to end..... I've got three twelve-hour days next week, plus a thirteen-hour day thrown in there just for fun, so I'm kind of dreading it. But hopefully I'll stay so busy that it'll fly by. Hopefully.
Oh, and by the way, GO PACK GO!!
Friday, February 4, 2011
Eat, Pray, Love
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| http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/eatpraylove.htm |
What I enjoyed most about this book was how honestly it was written. It's a memoir, and it follows the author's journey to "find" herself. But the narration style of the author isn't all sugar-coated and self-protecting; she's honest about her mistakes, honest about the way she dislikes some of the things she's done, and often altogether snarky when having an inner dialogue. Who out there doesn't ridicule themselves in their head? Who hasn't, at times, called themselves a failure or looked for the easy way out? This is real life people. Granted, not everyone has the luxury of being able to afford a year-long trip to three different countries (as much as most of us would probably looooove to be able to do that), but that's a minor detail. I felt like the author took her "worldly" experiences and described them in a way that made you feel like you could recreate some of the same emotions in your own home. Or maybe I just feel that way because I have a tendency to get sucked into books. Who knows.
In all seriousness though, I really do feel like there is something in this book for everyone--whether you are looking for a little more pleasure in your life, a little more divine intervention, or just a little more balance. It's definitely one I'm going to hang on to and read again.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Snow Day (Take Two!)
That's right! Two snow days in a row! Although "snow day" is a little bit of a misnomer--we really haven't gotten any snow since the early release on Monday, but temperatures have been plummeting and winds have picked up, such that wind chills are currently at 30 degrees BELOW zero. Way ridiculous. So really, it's more like a "cold day"--but snow day just sounds much more pleasant.
Yesterday (as you can see from my lack of posting) was a total waste though. I majorly slept in, which I think was really beneficial for getting rid of this cold I have, but it just left me feeling lazy the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure I spent the majority of the morning on the computer (and most of that time on Facebook....whoops). I did have to go into work at my part-time job, so I decided to make something of my day and go to the gym beforehand. Where, I'm pretty convinced, my body is picking a fight with me about training for this 5K. First it was the cold, and then at the gym yesterday the toenail on my pinkie gouged a hole in the toe next to it. Not enjoyable. I'm contemplating going to the gym again today, but I might do something a little lower impact than the treadmill because my toe still hurts (lame excuse, right? I still got over a month to train though....that's my story and I'm sticking to it).
Today, though, I intend to be much more productive. By baking cookies. And then subsequently eating way too much cookie dough. Which will make me feel like I have to go the gym. And then, since I'm getting bundled up to go to the gym, I'll probably decide that there are things I "need" at Target just so I can go shopping. Although for any of this leaving-the-house business to happen I'm going to have to go blow the driveway. Maybe I'll just stay inside all day and keep baking cookies. Considering it feels 90 degrees colder outside than it does in our house, that might not be a terrible option. Minus the fact that Darrell and I don't need multiple batches of cookies to snack on.
Here's to hoping the temperatures make it above zero today!
Yesterday (as you can see from my lack of posting) was a total waste though. I majorly slept in, which I think was really beneficial for getting rid of this cold I have, but it just left me feeling lazy the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure I spent the majority of the morning on the computer (and most of that time on Facebook....whoops). I did have to go into work at my part-time job, so I decided to make something of my day and go to the gym beforehand. Where, I'm pretty convinced, my body is picking a fight with me about training for this 5K. First it was the cold, and then at the gym yesterday the toenail on my pinkie gouged a hole in the toe next to it. Not enjoyable. I'm contemplating going to the gym again today, but I might do something a little lower impact than the treadmill because my toe still hurts (lame excuse, right? I still got over a month to train though....that's my story and I'm sticking to it).
Today, though, I intend to be much more productive. By baking cookies. And then subsequently eating way too much cookie dough. Which will make me feel like I have to go the gym. And then, since I'm getting bundled up to go to the gym, I'll probably decide that there are things I "need" at Target just so I can go shopping. Although for any of this leaving-the-house business to happen I'm going to have to go blow the driveway. Maybe I'll just stay inside all day and keep baking cookies. Considering it feels 90 degrees colder outside than it does in our house, that might not be a terrible option. Minus the fact that Darrell and I don't need multiple batches of cookies to snack on.
Here's to hoping the temperatures make it above zero today!
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