Just a Branch on the Vine...

Rudolph is a girl

2012-01-25T17:38:00.002-06:00

Well, according to my two year old nephew, Rudolph is a girl.

Background:

When I visited back in November, Carter decided that I had to read him "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" about 50 times a day. Not kidding. I can't tell you how many times we sang the song. So for Christmas, I decided to send him a stuffed animal Rudolph.

My sister keeps telling me that he takes it EVERYWHERE. He calls it "my baby, my favorite baby". But he also calls it "her" - "Her name Woo-dolf".

Here's proof - cell phone video, so forgive the quality. I do want to point out one thing...after Monica asks him if it's his favorite toy and he says "yes", the next thing he says is "Nana gave me Woo-dolf". Nana. NANA. Kid cannot remember that I am SISSA. Apparently, when Monica corrects him, he agrees with her that Sissa got it for him. Then he says Nana again. Oh well. I find it pretty funny :) And seriously, how cute is he?

Ugly food

2012-01-22T18:26:00.003-06:00

This is hands down the ugliest food I have ever made.

The recipe was called "Vegetarian cabbage rolls". But it really left a lot to be desired - they said to boil the veggies that go in the filling - gasp - I sautéed them instead (hello, flavor!). I used red quinoa instead of the bulgur (since bulgur has gluten in it) and decided to use the red cabbage I had on hand.

Before stuffing...red cabbage, when boiled, apparently goes all blue-green-mottled purple...not exactly appetizing. Next time, I stick with green cabbage. The filling is zucchini, orange bell pepper, baby portabella mushrooms, garlic, and red quinoa with thyme, basil, and marjoram. I think next time I may try ground turkey in them...

See? Ugly stuffed cabbage rolls...and I do not get how one is supposed to roll cabbage either, so mine are more like cabbage burritos/tacos that I placed strategically in the pan so they would look like rolls for the picture :)

Topped with a tomato/sriracha sauce I came up with...that wasn't bad.

In general, they are pretty tasty, as long as you don't look at them. Not sure if I am a fan of marjoram though...that was a new spice for me. I would try this recipe again, but with some more tweaking.

Mirror!

2012-01-21T12:03:00.004-06:00

I've been searching for a mirror for my dining room. Here are a couple that I was eyeing:

This one is from World Market. It has a mercury glass look that I love. But it's $200, which is more than I wanted to spend

This beauty is from MadeGoods - they only sell their items to home decorating stores. They gave me the stores in Houston where I could order their products, but after all that emailing I still couldn't get a price out of them...home decorating store more than likely equals out of my price range, so this one remained on the "drool over" list.

I happened to go into Marshalls HomeGoods the other day and checked out their mirrors and lo and behold found a perfect mirror, for only $40! How excited was I?

It's got this great mercury/bronze/metal-wirey thing going on.

And here you go (it's actual level, that was a proud moment). Now to find a vintage-y cabinet to sit on the left hand side of the mirror for some dining stuff and to add a few more things on the wall - needs some color pops and blue is what I am going with.

Flourless cupcakes?

2012-01-19T16:43:00.003-06:00

I found a recipe for flourless chocolate cupcakes.

I like the simplicity of this recipe - just a handful of ingredients.

Note to self - if I plan to do more of these "flourless" recipes, I really need to invest in a better food processor. My itty bitty black and decker one just about died trying to get the chocolate and almonds to a "consistency of coarse sand"...the mixture ended up more like semi-fine gravel...so I was a bit worried on how they would bake...

Ready to go in the oven (see the 'gravel' in the center of each cup? - that's why I was worried)

And the result - not bad at all. Even my roomie liked them. They are incredibly rich and definitely didn't need frosting, but thankfully the texture ended up being nice - not too gravelly. I would make these again - maybe in a mini-size, since they are so rich...

Art Project

2012-01-17T20:20:00.005-06:00

I'm hooked on Pinterest (a virtual bulletin board where you can pin all sorts of ideas) and I found this artwork on there and decided to make my own.

"It is Well with My Soul" by Horatio G. Spafford is one of my favorite hymns and has come to mean even more to me over the past year and half, so using it in some art is a perfect addition to my home.

I started with a 11 X 14 canvas that I got on sale at Aaron Brothers (2-pack for $7!). All the other supplies I already had (finally a good use for all the sample cans of paint I have!)

All yellow!

Using my Cricut, I cut out the letters and fixed them with temporarily removable adhesive. The blue color I wanted was actually in the form of spray paint. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I should have just spray painted the canvas, but I wanted brushy strokes on the canvas and for some yellow to show through, hard to achieve when just spraying. So, I sprayed the paint into a plastic container so I could dip the brush in it...

That was messy (my nails are still blue-ish)

But it worked! Although, the temporarily removable adhesive was definitely temporary, and the letters moved with the brush...so a lot more blue showed up. Easily fixed by hand brushing some yellow in...

And voila! Finished product. I love it :)

(that nifty metal robot was an awesome Christmas present from my roomie...I named him something, but I don't remember what it was...)

Thank you Pinterest!

Oh here are the words to the hymn in case you are interested:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
- Refrain:
  It is well, with my soul,
  It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

2012 Olympic Marathon Trials

2012-01-14T13:34:00.005-06:00

Early this morning, my running buddy Lisa and I drove up to downtown Houston to watch the 2012 Olympic marathon trials. I was so excited to all of these amazing runners that I have read about for the past 4 years in person!

We got a great location to watch and the course set up was perfect for spectating. These are amazing athletes. Meb Keflegzighi placed first in the men's race and averaged a 4:55 min mile. ::jaw drop:: That's INSANE. Double that and that's my pace...on a good day! The women's winner, Shalane Falagan averaged5 a 5:33 mile. I am in awe.

Here are a bunch of pictures:

All ready to cheer on the Olympic hopefuls!

As I was trying to take a good picture of the starting line, this really annoying guy leaned into my photo...and then I realized it was my friend Brian (I visited him and his family in India)! I couldn't believe I ran into him and his oldest son, Corbin, in a mass of thousands of people!

The men, just before the gun

The women waiting for the "Set" call

Our Olympian men! I was so thrilled to see Ryan Hall (left) run past several times. He is such an amazing runner and gives God all the glory!

I love this picture - the 3 women Olympians comforting the 4th place woman, who actually led for part of the race. I love the sportsmansship and true camaraderie.

Our Olympian women!

Truly an amazing event to witness! Go USA! :)

Anoint me

2012-01-10T09:25:00.006-06:00

Love this from Susannah Spurgeon's "Free Grace and Dying Love":

(Inspired from Psalm 92:10 "you have poured over me fresh oil")

"Anoint me for service, Lord, in all I do for you, either directly or indirectly, there may be manifested the power of the Holy Spirit, and the wholehearted earnestness which only he can supply.

Anoint me for sacrifice, so that contrary to my sinful nature, self may be overcome, and bound, and crucified, that Christ alone may reign in my mortal body.

Anoint me for suffering, if so it be your will, that I may praise you as I pass through the waters and the fires of affliction.

Anoint me for intercession, Oh my father, that for others, as well as for myself, I may plead with you, and may prevail."

Yes, anoint me Lord.

My new running style

2012-01-08T20:16:00.005-06:00

Remember how I said I was going to re-train myself to not subconsciously shorten my stride when I run so my IT band would behave (if not, read here)? (by the way, may I add that it's very difficult to unlearn something you learned subconsciously?...)

I'm pretty sure this is what I look like when I try to lengthen my stride (it's only a 7 second clip and you will still get my point with mute on)

I feel all off balance and floppy and, well...Phoebe-ish.

Good news though, I just got back from a 2.3 mile run, and I just ran and told myself to run natural and the IT band behaved pretty well. A little sore now, but before Christmas, I could only make it about 0.8 miles. That's improvement!

First attempt

2012-01-07T21:46:00.004-06:00

First attempt at gluten free baking that is...everything I have baked prior to this has been from a mix. So I chose a simple recipe to start - it had 5 ingredients: almond flour, agave nectar, coconut oil, vanilla, and salt.

I made these for Christmas (hence the snowflake and star shapes). I wouldn't use this recipe for roll-out cookies again - the dough is incredible sticky and fragile. I had to reshape every cut out once I put it on the cookie sheet. I ended up rolling the remaining dough into small balls and flattening with a fork - still tasty! Sprinkled the cookies with powdered sugar. I'm calling them Almond Cookies :).

Ready to begin the tedious process of transferring the cut outs from the parchment paper to the cookie sheet

Baked!

I made a run to Whole Foods today to get some coconut flour and white rice flour. I have two recipes I want to try: Lemon Yogurt Cake and Flourless Chocolate cupcakes. Oh yum.

Book Review!

2012-01-02T09:36:00.005-06:00

Ah the first book review of the new year!

The Greener Grass Conspiracy by Stephen Altrogge

This book is about how we always think the grass is always greener on the other side. If we can just get out of our situation, things will be better. This is a book that I am reading twice. The first time, I couldn't put it down. I like to underline and make notes in books like these, but I couldn't because I was too anxious to turn the page! The author is hilarious - he writes with a sarcastic, self-effacing voice that shows that he is learning contentment even as he writes the book (truly, he and his wife were house searching during the time the book was written so he adds little "lessons learned" throughout the pages). The meat of this book is centered around this statement:

"The truth is, biblical contentment can't be learned unless something else is unlearned. Contentment can't be put on without first ripping something else out. The only way to grow in contentment is to undergo the process of identifying and destroying the idols in our lives. This always hurts, but the results are wonderful"

And his definition of idols (as side from the ones he says are in Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark :) ), is that the act of idolatry is loving anything more than God.

Throughout the book, Mr. Altrogge addresses contentment in trials, in everyday life, discusses complaining - each smacking you with conviction and a new awareness of the words that come out of your mouth or the thoughts that flit through your mind - and directs you to the only place where true joy can be found - in Jesus Christ. Excellent reading.

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins

I really can't say enough good things about this trilogy. I read almost the entire first book on the plane ride from Houston to Phoenix. I'm a fast reader, but even that's a bit ridiculous. I could not turn the pages fast enough. The writing style is fantastic, told from the main character, Katniss Everdeen's, point of view. Throughout the trilogy, I actually gasped at a couple of points, surprised by some plot twists (oh yeah, and did a little arm pump towards the end when I guessed something correctly :) ). This triology is based on a Dystopian world - i.e. opposite of perfect (Utopian). It's set in the future. The US is no more, but is now a Capitol surrounded by 12 districts. Years ago, the districts rebelled against the Capitol, lost, and now, as a reminder that they should NEVER rebel again, the districts must participate in The Hunger Games. A forced "Olympics" of sorts - 1 girl and 1 boy (aged 12-18) are randomly selected from each district to compete. And it's a battle to the death. There, now you've read pretty much what they tell you in the movie trailer for the first book. If you ever read Anne McCaffery's "Freedom" series, you will enjoy these books. If you haven't, you will enjoy these books. Bottom line, you will enjoy these books. Read them. (please :) ).

Gluten free - 1 year

2012-01-01T10:18:00.005-06:00

Hard to believe, but it's true. I've been eating gluten free for an entire year.

Now remember, my definition of gluten free does not include sauces that might have vinegar, items with modified food starch, etc - I call these things "minor gluten" and don't try to avoid them. I do avoid major gluten items, like pastas, cookies, crackers, breads, etc that have regular wheat flour/gluten in them. I am thankful that I don't have to be strict gluten free like someone with Celiac would have to be.

Eating gluten free hasn't done what I hoped it would do - I wanted it to help with reducing inflammation in body in hopes that my flares would be less painful. Well, not only were my flares painful this year, but I had my longest one ever since being diagnosed. Disappointing, yes, but there still is a glimmer of gluten free hope.

I have solid evidence now that my G.I issues are gluten related. How do I know? In December, I started slowly reintroducing gluten. I ate a piece of zucchini bread. No problems. I waited a few days, ate another piece of bread. No problems. Then I went a bit crazy while putting a goodie plate together for some friends and ended up eating two pieces of zucchini bread and a piece of poppy seed bread. Oh, did I pay for that. Horrible stomach cramps and let's just call it other G.I. issues. Even days later, I wasn't processing food like I normally do. So, I stopped with the bread experiments. When I got to Arizona, I munched on these awesome non-gluten free crackers my mom makes. They are addicting. And I over did it. Thankfully, the reaction wasn't as violent, but my body definitely wasn't happy. So, the great thing about this discovery, is that I can cheat when it comes to gluten, as long as it is in small amounts. This means, I can have a cookie that someone brings into work... A cookie (not 3). I can have a small piece of cake to celebrate someone's birthday.

So, I plan on smartly implementing the cheating plan and maintaining my gluten free diet because of the benefits that I have seen. I am calling my gluten free experiment a success, despite not getting the desired results.

Ode to IT band

2011-12-18T13:51:00.003-06:00

It's always gotta be something right? :)

Before the Turkey Trot 10k, both of my knees were giving me some problems, they would hurt under the kneecaps after a run. After the Turkey Trot, my knees were yelling loudly me...it was like ground glass under my kneecaps and the insides of both knees were hurting. It went away after a few days. At the Reindeer Run 5k, the outside of my right knee started hurting after 1 mile. I finished the race, but was hurting pretty bad and gimping around at our traditional Starbucks stop. I had just started using a new running shoe (Brooks Ghost) - I loved them, but started wondering if they were the cause of the knee problems, because, thankfully, I've never had any knees issues (well, until I hit the 11 mile distance mark :) ). I went back to the running store and exchanged the Ghost for my usual Mizuno Wave Riders and went for a run - and was greeted with sharp pain down the side of my right knee. That's where the illiotibial band is...I rolled it out and iced it, but was still hobbling pretty badly the next day so it was off to my awesome chiropractor/PT inflictor, Dr Alice.

After chatting with her some about the knee pain, I think we've determined what the problem is: I've changed my stride when I run. I've subconsciously shortened my stride to reduce the impact/jarring that my back experiences when I run. Go figure. And it's affecting my biomechanics - hence the knee and IT band pain (but, no back pain!). So, the good news is, I can keep running - I'm not damaging anything, it's just going to hurt like the Dickens (where did that saying come from?) until I can retrain myself to not worry about my back hurting and just run like I used to run. I find the whole situation kinda funny, apparently there always has to be something wrong with me...but it keeps me humble and depending on God, so I'll keep welcoming the challenges. Oh and my knee is an awesome purple-y gray color now from the bruises inflicted by Dr. A (I told her my IT band hated her, and she just grinned at me and said that it would like her later. Whatever. Oh the pain of PT). But seriously glad to have Dr A to help me through all these bumps.

Finished projects!!!

2011-12-10T16:59:00.004-06:00

My dining table arrived this morning!!! Here I am testing it out with the two rugs I bought:

Espresso/flax (it's not black and white) rug from West Elm

The Yasmin rug from Z Gallerie (sorry for the different angle- but you can see what the table looks like)

And the winner is...

Chevron rug!

Now, I initially was going to Anthropolgize some chairs I bought - intended for this table. I realize now they won't work - but they will work elsewhere...so, I'm on the hunt for some chairs - I want them mismatched - and definitely at least one ghost chair among them...stay tuned!

The shelves are up and after almost two years in boxes, my beloved books are on their shelves. I still have another bin to put up and I haven't started organizing them yet (yes, nerdy) But my room feels so much more ME now. :)

Turkey Trot and Reindeer Run

2011-12-03T12:01:00.004-06:00

It's just SO awesome to post about races. I am incredibly thankful to be running again.

My running buddy, Lisa, and I did the Turkey Trot 10k (6.2 miles) on Thanksgiving morning. This was an interesting race for both of us, because neither of us really trained for it. I had only run up to 3 miles due to joint issues and a sinus infection, and she hadn't worked out since she finished her Half-Ironman three weeks prior (so, really, I was the one who hadn't trained...she definitely was ready for it :) ).

Two days before the race, I went and bought new running shoes because I couldn't stand my current ones - they were too stiff around the ankle, and I was finding that any distance over two miles was really starting to hurt. I figured running 6 miles in new running shoes couldn't be any worse than running in the horrible contraptions of Mizunos I had...and I was right...the new Brooks Ghost felt great (although, now I think they hate my knees...might be back to the revamped Mizunos...). We ran the entire thing (me giving my hips and knees a pep talk around mile 5.5) and averaged a 10:51 mile. Not bad for no training! :)

Post race, warming up with some coffee

Today was the Reindeer Run 5k. This was my debut-back-to-running race last year, where I was only able to run the last mile. Today, I ran the entire thing and averaged a 10:16 mile! My awesome running buddy was sweet to remind me today, when we hit the point where we had starting running last year "remember this time last year?" :) Yeah I do. And I am so thrilled to be feeling better and staggered by how much I have grown spiritually and emotionally during the past year and a half. It's been tough, and I still take it one day at a time, but God has been faithful throughout.

Pre-race photo, sporting our now traditional socks and antlers :)

Coming soon to a dining room near you...

2011-11-27T15:13:00.003-06:00

It's time. Time to start putting a dining room together. The table I've been eyeing for awhile was on sale this weekend (priced even lower than the one on craiglist that I ran across!), so I ordered it. And then ordered two rugs and will see which works better. And then, scored some awesome tabletop decor as well. Can't wait to post pics of all of this assembled in my dining room :). Stay tuned!

This is the catalog picture of the dining table (Restoration Hardware)

Close-up of the table - it's made from reclaimed elm wood doors (so you still see the hinge marks, love that!) and steel

Rug option 1 (Z Gallerie) (this rug is actually blingier in person - pearly white and gold with beige)

Rug option 2 (West Elm). I heart chevron patterns. But this might be too bold. We'll see.

Found two of these on the Anthropologie sales table!

House Projects and Parents' visit

2011-11-25T21:40:00.001-06:00

My Mom and Dad came to visit me for 5 days in October and it was awesome! Not only did we have fun chatting, watching movies, and seeing a bit more of the area, but they gave me some elbow grease and we got a TON done around the house...including the first project I ever started at the house!

But first, their trip couldn't be ALL work, so we went to Brazos Bend State Park and I introduced them to some alligators. It was a gorgeous day and we had a blast having a picnic lunch and playing Uno.

Me and the 'rents

THEN it was time to put them to work. Seriously, though, such a blessing to have them help out on some projects I've been putting off...like finishing the chair rail I started in the entry way over a year ago. They bought me a miter saw (drool!) for Christmas and I was having some serious issues getting the stand to balance properly (wobbly stand = poor cuts).

Dad working out the kinks in the stand while Mom worked her magic in the front yard weeding and tidying it up.

Perfect fit! I didn't even need to caulk it. My mom laughed at my Dad and I 'cause we were all sorts of high fiving each other over our awesome cutting job. :). Oh and I did paint it of course.

Mom making a REAL curtain out of the piece of fabric I just had draped over a curtain rod...

I'm doing these wall/bracket shelves for my massive amount of books. I couldn't do the drilling 'cause of my swollen hands/fingers, so Dad came to the rescue (he let me argue with the stud finder...it's a little unnerving revealing the building flaws/inconsistencies when you use one of those things...).

Today, I finally got around to starting the staining process for the wood we bought for the shelves while they were visiting - I wanted something chunky since 1) it would span about 4 feet and 2) I have a lot of books and 3) I wasn't going with fancy wood, just pine. I hand-sanded and then stained, I did not condition the wood because I wanted the stain to look less perfect (trying to match the vintage furniture I have in my room - bring on the blotchy streaks!)

First four shelves up! Two 12-foot boards will be on the top two brackets (uh, one set of brackets is missing 'cause I need to buy more). So two shelves will go right over the door. The stain came out decently, not a perfect match to the furniture though. I had a water base stained mixed called "American Walnut" but it didn't come out as orange/vintage-y as the sample. Still, it will work for now, I may restain with a more orange tinted stain later. I hope to finish staining the rest of the shelves this weekend and FINALLY unpack the 5 plastic bins of books that have been sitting around since I moved in.

Thanks for all the help Mom and Dad!

Nephew time!

2011-11-15T23:11:00.004-06:00

I took another trip to see my sister and her family in Boise. We had a great time (as usual)! Carter is starting to talk a lot, but I still had a bit of trouble figuring out what he was trying to say. For instance "coo-pitt" means "too big"...took me about 50 times watching him trying to cram a Hot Wheels car into a little house with him yelling "Coo-pitt! Coo-pitt!!" before I was like, "Ohhh!" Lightbulb :). (He also insisted on calling me "Nana" (um, yeah, not a Grandma, kid!) - which my sister found hilarious and I did not. After about a day, he finally got around to calling me Sissa. Whew.

After I arrived back in Houston, I got a phone call from him and he said "Sissa, I yuv yew TOO much". Awwww :)

Carter also likes trucks and tractors. However, any type of construction-related vehicle is a tractor to him, much to the frustration of John Michael, who knows ALL the proper names.

Sample of a conversation while we were running errands:

C: "Tractor!"
JM: "No, that's a digger Carter"
C: "Tractor!"
JM: "No, DIGGER."
C: "Tractorrrrrrrr!!!"
JM" DIIIIIIIIIGGER!!!!"
C: "Tractor"
JM: "Carter, we are not going to have this conversation right now".

Monica and I were cracking up at John Michael's last statement (she says that to him quite a bit - he might have a bit of an argumentative streak in him ;-) )

Sporting Sissa's glasses :) I can't believe this kid is almost 5!

It has become a John Michael-Sissa tradition to make faces while in the car. John Michael decides which face we are going to make and Sissa takes the picture

.
Not sure what I am going to do if Monica and John ever get rid of this chair! It's fun to use it for our Photo-with-Sissa op each time I visit.

It was indescribably sweet to sit down on the couch and in less than 10 seconds, have both boys snuggled up against my sides (or arguing over who got to sit in my lap), John Michael insisting on holding my hand as we grocery shopped (and also insisting on "walking on" Sissa's feet - you know, where you stand the kiddo on your feet and they walk "big" steps?), and Carter randomly dropping whatever he was playing with to throw himself around my knees and give me a hug (or if I was sitting, hug-tackle me). I love those boys. SO SO SO much. I won't get to see them until March, when we will be celebrating my Grandma's 90th birthday, so I am glad I had a longer trip this time. Good times.

Fall Decorations 2011

2011-10-15T16:40:00.004-05:00

Here are my fall decorations...just a few touches to remind me that even though it's 88 degrees outside...it really is mid-October :)

Welcome to my fall house!

New wreath (yay 60% off sales at Joanns!)

Same as last year, Autumn Leaves candles and fall foliage

Sorry for the dark picture - fall foliage in the wall vases with mini-corn husk thingies...

Breakfast nook centerpiece

Kitchen sink decor - fall foliage and gourds

Guest bedroom: Progress

2011-10-08T18:37:00.004-05:00

Well, the parents arrive in about 1.5 hours. I wasn't able to get all the guest room items taken care off, but it's definitely a HUGE improvement.

The biggest frustration (thus far!) was the painting. I used some paint (Silver Drop) that I bought back in February. I ran out and went to Home Depot to get some more...when I brought it home, even though the labels were identical, the colors were very off...turns out they mixed it incorrectly back in February. What followed was four different trips to Home Depot and me speaking with two different managers to convince them it was their mistake and they should give me another gallon of the Silver Drop to compensate for the incorrect one...I did manage to convince them, but I lost a lot of "get the room ready" time in the process and had already spent almost 7 hours painting...in the wrong color. So the parents will enjoy 3.5 whiteish (not Silver Drop) walls. At some point, I'll repaint with the 2 gallons of Silver Drop I now own.

I did order a white sofa slipcover from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, but wasn't happy with the quality or color of it, so it's getting returned...at some point I'll get a sleeper sofa in here that actually matches, but for now, the sturdy Lazyboy works well.

Guest bedroom - Progress

Close-up of the frames...yay scrapbook paper

Absolutely thrilled with the lamps and counter stools!

All ready for Mom and Dad!

A couple of things - those pillows from my other post run about $40-50 a pillow! No way am I paying that much...so I plan to create a few of my own (or hawk the CB2 website until they go on sale :)). Also, my mom and I will tackle the curtains (I have the curtains and the paint, just wasn't able to get to them) this week, so I'll post pictures of those.

Whew. I'm beat :)

Running Brain

2011-10-02T19:57:00.003-05:00

I surprised myself today...I forgot how weird my running brain thoughts are...

I was running here today:

Seabrook Trails

I love these trails. It was my first running spot when I moved to Texas and I've pounded a lot of miles out on those trails. But I digress...Running Brain.

So as I am running along this afternoon, I head into a more densely wooded area and was saddened to see the state of the woods due to the severe drought here...the trees actually looked thirsty.

Here are the thoughts that Running Brain was outputting:

"Hmm, the human body is made mostly of water"...
"What if the trees smell me as I am running through them"...
"Would a root shoot up from the ground and stab my leg like a straw?"...
"Wait, it would just get blood and that's salty and counterproductive to quenching thirst"...

LOUD NOISE IN THE BUSHES

"Oh no! Now the rabbits are after me!"

Yes, scary, I know. I managed to control any thoughts on thirst-crazed rabbits chasing after me...and Running Brain settled, until I saw the usual alligator warning sign and started planning for how I would wrestle the alligator that was probably about to jump out of the bushes at me (how it would manage to jump, I don't know...I don't seem to have a lot of control over Running Brain).

Hey, at least it makes the miles go by fast :)...maybe Running Brain is just glad to active again...

Mission: Guest Bedroom

2011-09-25T16:20:00.004-05:00

My parents are coming to visit in two weeks. The guest bedroom (the sofa is a sleeper sofa), which is actually more office-sized, as my roommate occupies the second bedroom in the house, currently looks like this:

I know, right?

So besides giving those ceiling fans a ride to Salvation Army and putting a lot of that stuff back in the closet (which is strategically packed to the brim with old college stuff I have yet to go through - (sad, yes) - luggage, and Christmas decorations), the room needs some character. I'm currently sitting on a gallon of paint called "Silver Drop" - it was supposed to grace my bedroom walls, but I ended up going a different direction and I don't want to waste it. So here's the mood board I put together for the guest bedroom:

1. Silver Drop from Behr - I already own this...the rest of the paint colors are just to give you a feel for what I am going for in the room

2. Jumping on the chevron pattern fabric bandwagon ... I think I am going to go with wider chevron stripes (similar to this, but not as wide, I'll find a happy medium), andI found several online tutorials for how to paint your own chevron curtains (I plan to use some plain white grommet curtains from IKEA)

3. Throw pillows from CB2...I have a gift card from a returned purchased...definitely could come in handy...and I'm loving the question mark pillow...it's called "huh?" :)

4. These are actually counterstools on Overstock, but I thought they would make great end tables/nightstands on either side of the couch.

5. Frames from Pier 1 (I already own these, thanks to a gift card :) ) - I think I will put yellow flowers in the center

6. These lamps are on sale at West Elm right now...I think I might just go ahead and buy them, since they are SUPER on sale.

7. Not pictured, but I want to get a white couch cover for the sleeper sofa...otherwise, ick, major color clash!

We'll see how far I get in two weeks...stay tuned...

Recent literary delights

2011-09-24T11:36:00.004-05:00

I just finished another trio of reads. Starting with my favorite of the trio:

Unbroken by Lauren Hillenbrand

I finally got my hands on a copy of the book and pretty much devoured the thing when I flew to San Francisco. THIS BOOK IS AMAZING. First off, I am a huge fan of Lauren Hillenbrand. Her "Seabiscuit" was absolutely fantastic and I had no interest in horse-racing whatsoever when I picked it up...I still don't really, but she made me appreciate it, I wasn't bored, and felt I "grew" from reading it. "Unbroken" is non-fiction, a true account of Olympic runner, Louie Zamperini, and his experience in WWII. Louie was a bombardier on a B-24 Liberator that crashed into the ocean. He survives for over 40 days in a rubber raft, in which in and his surviving comrades float thousands of miles into Japanese territory. He's captured and spends time in several Japanese POW camps. I write this all mater-of-factly, but Ms. Hillenbrand pulls you into what Louie is experiencing...you smell the gasoline and the alkaline smell of salt water, you feel the stillness and the chaos that Louie describes...I was a bit afraid I was going to fall asleep that evening and dream of war (I didn't, thankfully, but that is truly how vividly this story is told).

I won't lie, there are some tough parts in this book. We are talking about war and POW experiences after all...they are hard, horrific, and staggering, and my mind can't wrap itself around the cruelty that humans are capable of. However, this book (I am getting goosebumps as I type this) centers around the resiliency of human life, overcoming the odds, determination, focus, and finding the good in the small things, when all else seems lost. It is an amazing work of writing and I didn't want the book to end. Lauren Hillenbrand brings history to life on the pages - I am now so much better versed in the Pacific aspect of WWII and I feel like I actually know some of the soldiers that fought in it. Well done Ms. Hillenbrand, well done. 47 thumbs up on this one.

Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret - by Dr. and Mrs. Howard Hudson

Hudson Taylor was one of the first Christian missionaries to enter central China and this book is his autobiography, written by his son. I had heard Mr. Taylor's name referenced on several occasions, but was not familiar with the work that he did. I was astounded reading about the trust Mr. Taylor showed in God through severe trials. He truly left everything to the Lord. As a believer, who trusts her life to God and seeks to honor and give Him glory in everything she does, I still struggle with trying to take back control of certain areas of my life, rather than handing it over to God and letting Him lead me...it's a daily battle. Mr. Taylor had an amazing capacity for looking at an issue, trusting it to God's sovereignty, and then praying for direction and guidance, and moving forward, rather than stewing or being anxious.

One excerpt that particularly challenged me was the following:

"Take time. Give God time to reveal Himself to you. Give yourself time to be silent and quiet before Him, waiting to receive, through the Spirit, the assurance of His presence with you, His power working in you. Take time to read His Word as in His presence, that from it you may know what He asks of you and what He promises you. Let the Word create around you, create within you a holy atmosphere, a holy heavenly light, in which your soul will be refreshed and strengthened for the work of daily life"

Very convicted on being still before God and waiting on Him. Very good read.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

This is a fiction work that tells the story of twin brothers growing up in Ethiopia and the chain of events that start from before they are born that shape their lives and paths decades later. Truly well written, Mr. Verghese characters are so real that I had to remember that this was a work of fiction, not non-fiction. I appreciated how Mr. Verghese intertwined the fictional lives of the characters with real historical events and issues that took place in Ethiopia - historical events and issues that here in America, we glance at in the news, or realize we never even heard about it and I now have a new appreciation and understanding of the struggles of other nations. The only aspect about this book that I didn't like was the sensuality. I really don't want to read about the thoughts 13 and 14 year old boys have about women. I know it happens, and Mr. Verghese was making his characters real...I just don't want to read about it, and that's just me. The writing style, flow, plot development and characters were all phenomenally well done.

San Francisco - Final post - Boats and crab

2011-09-18T18:53:00.006-05:00

I also really like boats...I've read a lot of books that take place on clippers and schooners and stuff like that and love the history behind these beauties. We took a tour of this schooner that was in service for 50 years! From sailing around South America to England, to Australia for lumber shipping, and to Alaska for a salmon cannery, this boat has some great history and once again I was blown away by the excellence of the displays, information, and videos. National Parks Service rocks!

The schooner, Balclutha

View from Balclutha

Oh, it's NOT naptime?

A mockup of supplies in the middeck hold thingy place (yeah...that's nautical terminology for you...)

I'm a natural, dontcha think? :)

I was told I couldn't come to San Francisco and not partake in a Dungeness Crab dinner...so who am I to argue with San Franciscan expectations?

Dinner: before

Dinner: After

It was so incredibly tasty! And we wrapped up dinner by swinging by Ghirardelli's again, where I got a caramel-sea salt hot chocolate...and then preceded to enter a sugar -I never-want-to-eat-chocolate-again-coma after drinking only HALF of a SMALL size. I never thought I would be bested by chocolate ::hangs head::

As you can see, it was a FUN trip and I really enjoyed the city. Hope I get a chance to visit again and see more of the sites/museums/theaters.

San Francisco - Part 3, Aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, GHIRARDELLI'S!!!!

2011-09-18T18:37:00.004-05:00

We pretty much spent part of every day somewhere on the Wharf, but here are some actual pictures...

Tima's sister, Katrina, her aunt, and her mom excited for the Aquarium

Beautiful jellyfish

More jellyfish...totally unrelated to the jellyfish in the aquarium, I recently ate a raw jellyfish as part of a scavenger hunt "Survivor-esque" gross food eating challenge. It was...different.

Fisherman's Wharf

Lunch from the walkabouts...2/3 meals per day were seafood. Pretty sure I've hit my mercury limits for the year :). SOOO worth it.

Source of my shrimp cocktail

Seriously folks, this was the highlight of the trip for me. I LOVE GHIRARDELLI CHOCOLATE. Especially their dark chocolate peppermint bark that comes out during the holidays (hint hint to anyone reading this blog who sees me around the holidays...just sayin')

I think this picture is missing something...shouldn't there be an Oompa-Loompa standing around stirring?

San Francisco part 2 - Alcatraz and Lombard Street

2011-09-18T18:20:00.007-05:00

Of course, Alcatraz was a must-touristy-thing-to-do for our trip, so after Golden Gate Park, we hopped on the boat for Alcatraz

Bay Bridge from the back of the boat

The city

Alcatraz!

Father and son bonding time...in jail...

Not quite a 5-star hotel...

Checking out solitary confinement. The audio tour they have set up is very impressive. It was informative, not boring, and the perfect length. Well done National Park people.

The view from Alcatraz to the shore...roughly the end point for the Alcatraz Triathlon (different from the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon since you don't have to qualify for it, anyone can sign up). You jump off the back of a ferry at Alcatraz and swim to shore for the swim portion of the tri. I hope to swim this some day...and not drown...or panic...or freeze...or get eaten by a shark ( I KNOW they are there, despite what marine biologists might say).

Driving down Lombard street. Crazy amount of tourists here...and it was 8 in the morning! There was no way to get a really good shot without getting out of the car (not an option at the time) so I bought a postcard...an old postcard apparently based on the circa 1985 cars driving down Lombard :)

San Francisco Part 1 - Sonoma and Golden Gate Park

2011-09-11T17:47:00.006-05:00

A year ago, my best friend and her hubby visited me and we decided that we should take a trip to San Francisco...a year later, with their 9 month old cutie, Aiden, her Mom, aunt, and sister, we ACTUALLY took the trip (seriously, how many times have you told someone "oh we should really do this/that and nothing comes of it? So thankful this worked out).

It was a great, albeit short, trip. I am too lazy to create an album, so enjoy scrolling :)

It was an orange streetcar...of COURSE I took a picture.

Inside the Ferry Building

Pics of the Farmer's Market inside the Ferry Building ( I love how funky Heritage tomatoes look)

This sign just made me laugh. Way to just tell it like it is :)

Part of the Bay Bridge as we waited for our Wine Country Tour shuttle

We drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped for a brief (very brief) photo op...only day the fog cleared to see the top of the bridge.

First official wine-tasting experience in Sonoma

Grapes...er..vineyards...

Aiden was a trooper the entire trip, I was amazed by how well he handled all the time in his carseat/stroller

Although, sometimes, you just gotta play in the grass!

Oldest vineyard in Sonoma

Hello foggy San Franciscan hills

Palace of Fine Arts - leftover from the 1915 Exposition (kinda like a World's Fair...after reading about the Chicago World's Fair, I've become a bit nerdy regarding Fairs of these type...I love how intricate the buildings are - amazing that this was built for a FAIR. )

Bundled up to enjoy the Children's Park at Golden Gate Park.

I HAD to take a picture of this. I am a huge fan of Doctor Who and fortunately, so is Tima's husband, Mark, so he joined in my enthusiasm for finding this "police box" in the park. Tima patiently waited while Mark and I took several shots of this. Yes, we are true fans :)

Needles

2011-08-25T17:14:00.000-05:00

After almost a month of some serious fever-running, poor-sleeping, joint-swelling, flaring, I decided to try out acupuncture while my doc and I are waiting for some labs to come back. I did my second session yesterday.

And there has been improvement :)

Since the first session last week, I have slept all the way through the night (yay for no more waking up hurting!) and even though I am still running a fever a couple of times during the day, I am no longer CONSTANTLY running a fever, and the temp is lower. So yay for progress!

I am going to do one more session next week - we are hoping that my joint pain starts to go away too. If it doesn't, next week's session will be more localized on the joints causing the most pain.

I'm going to a different acupuncture place than I did for The Back and I like this place much better. Acupuncture doesn't hurt, but it can have its uncomfortable moments (like realizing you have 24 needles stuck in your feet, legs, hands, arms, stomach, and collarbone), you do feel the prick of the needle, especially since she is using a larger gauge needle for me (I think it's because of how much inflammation I have...), but after the needles are in, I get to lie in a spa-ish room with nice music for about 45 minutes. I totally nap :). For the most part, I don't feel the removal of the needles, but I do bleed a bit for some of them, and I have had two small bruises form. All in all, I don't mind acupuncture, and I am thankful that it is working!

One interesting tidbit, with my flares, my appetite goes all weird, as in, I don't have one. So when I saw her yesterday, it was already past lunch time and I hadn't eaten yet since I wasn't hungry. She pushed on a spot on my inner ankle and asked, is this tender? Oh, it was. JAB. Needle in. And my stomach started growling!!! Apparently, that particular spot is connected to my spleen and my stomach. Who knew!? And when she put in the one in my stomach, more growling! (granted, my appetite is back to its lowness state today, but don't worry, I am making sure I eat enough :) ). Anyhow, I just found that interesting.

Living room updates

2011-08-14T18:09:00.006-05:00

Two more living room projects tackled: a new ceiling fan and adding the additional pops of color to compliment my Soviet propaganda poster that I mentioned here. However, the ceiling fan project isn't quite finished. Turns out, I have a defective ceiling fan - the motor grinds something awful, so it will soon come down and be shipped back for a replacement. However, I do LOVE it and glad I took so much time to find the right one for the space.

Before

After!
Notice the pops of blue and yellow? (Big thanks to Erin W. for the pillow recommendations from CB2!).

Close up of the fan (Please note, I didn't mean to match the fan to the propellers of the B-36 on the wall...but, apparently I subconsciously did exactly that!)

Kiddos

2011-08-14T17:39:00.009-05:00

In July, I went back to AZ to meet my friend Lynn's new little addition, Brooklyn, and I also got to spend time my my bestie, Tima, and her little guy Aiden. I grabbed some pictures from their pages (since I didn't take any, how bad of an auntie am I!?) It is so much fun watch your dear friends become and be mommies :)

Brooklyn

Lynn's kiddos - Roman and Brooklyn

Aiden giving kisses

Me and Aiden

Practicing what Aiden's learned at swim class

This picture just makes me laugh a lot. It may become my new desktop.

Beautiful family. And I have this EXACT same picture - but with me and my parents :) (with cactus in the background too!)

Dust and Water

2011-08-13T18:26:00.001-05:00

My friend Jessica and I are reading through John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress". It was written in 1678, so the language brings a few challenges at times, but the descriptive illustrations are as applicable today as they were back then. I was floored today when I read about the room.

The main character, Christian, has a conversation with Interpreter while they are standing watching a man try to sweep a horribly dusty room. The room just gets more and more filled with dusty clouds as the man tries to sweep and clean, to the point that Christian starts coughing and has trouble breathing. Then a door to the room opens and a woman walks in and lightly sprinkles the room with water, and begins cleaning. The water, of course, settles the dust so that it can easily cleaned up. I'm going to summarize Interpreter's explanation of this to Christian, but I've copied the passage below and encourage you to take the time to read it because it's so good.

Interpreter tells Christian that the room is a man's heart and the dust is his sin. The act of sweeping is the Law (Old Testament and if you allow me the extension, our human methods of trying to better ourselves), the Law reveals dust but cannot clean the dust, it just moves it around to different piles in the room. The water that was sprinkled in the room is the Gospel, it clings to the sin, nullifies it, and is easily cleaned up, leaving the room fit for Christ to inhabit.

What a great reminder of the work of the Gospel in my heart! I was dusty and now I am not! And yet, the Gospel continually cleanses me, sweeping out those dust bunnies that collect, as He continues to grow me to be more like Him.- I can't cleanse myself from sin, but God can and I am so thankful for His grace.

Actual passage:

"The parlour (room) is the heart of a man that was never sanctified by the sweet grace of the Gospel; that dust is his original sin, and inward corruptions that have defiled the whole man. He that began to sweep at first is the Law, but she that brought water, and did sprinkle it, is the Gospel. Now, whereas thou sawest that so soon as the first began to sweep, the dust did so fly about that the room by him could not be cleansed, but that thou wast almost choked therewith, this is to show thee that the Law, instead of cleansing the heart (by its working) from sin, doth revive, put strength into, and increase it in the soul, even as it doth discover and forbid it, for it doth not give power to subdue.
Again, as thou sawest the damsel sprinkle the room with water, upon which it was cleansed with pleasure: this is to show thee that when the Gospel comes in the sweet and precious influences thereof to the heart, then I say, even as though sawest the damsel lay the dust by sprinkling the floor with water so is sin vanquished and subdued, and the soul made clean, through the faith of it; and consequently fit for the King of Glory to inhabit"

My new toy!!!

2011-08-05T16:01:00.004-05:00

The trainers ready to be distributed (minus mine)

It's a trainer!!!

No, not like "hey I hired a personal trainer". A bike trainer. I can now ride my bike indoors!

All thanks once again to the most awesome of awesome bike stores who is willing to negotiate with me (like with my bike, and my cycling shoes, and my bike rack).

Six of my coworkers/friends also wanted to invest in a trainer. So when I took my bike to the shop for a tune-up (and to adjust my bike computer), I told the owner that I wanted to talk to him about purchasing a trainer. He asked me which one I wanted. I told him the Magneto and that I wanted 6 of them. And I asked what kind of a deal we could work out. He did a quick search online to find out the retail price and gave me an offer. I counteroffered $15 lower and he accepted it! I ended up getting each of the trainers for $100 off the retail price!!!! And two climbing blocks for 50% off! (I can put the climbing block under my front wheel and it's like I am instantly riding up a hill...oh joy...)

Putting it together

Ready to ride!

Gone are the fears of weekday rides in rush hour traffic. Of not being able to ride due to bad weather. I can just hop on my trainer and still get in a good ride (in fact, many pro triathletes do most of their week day rides on a trainer and save the long weekend rides for the real road). Can't wait to try it out!

Ode to Flare (up)

2011-08-05T14:38:00.005-05:00

(Nerd sidenote: thought this picture was appropriate cause of all the recent solar weather :) )

Flare-up. Or as most auto-immune disease sufferers say: a flare.

Flare-up (compliments of Webster)

1: a sudden outburst or intensification

2: a sudden bursting (as of a smoldering fire) into flame or light

Autoimmune diseases are interesting creatures. They vary incredibly from patient to patient. One can test positive for one disease and negative for another, yet still have symptoms of that disease. New symptoms can pop up and symptoms can disappear completely. A large majority of people with autoimmune symptoms thankfully live a large portion of their lives with minimal symptoms and then a flare occurs and you're just miserable.

When it comes to sharing about my disease, I always think: "should I really post this, is is too much information?".

But after realizing that I would tell everything that I post to anyone who asks (this isn't a secret!), I post:

1) To share what God teaches me through my disease
2) To help myself process what I learn through each up and down
3) To help people understand autoimmune disease better
4) To attempt to encourage those who are suffering, or who know someone who is suffering

I haven't had a flare since last fall (it was a LONG flare, but settled by January). However, I've been flaring for almost two weeks now. For me, a flare means my joints hurt, I run a low grade fever almost constantly, I start feeling worse as the day grows later and I have no energy. For me, which joints are affected changes from day to day. For this flare - it has been my fingers, wrists, toes, ankles, and shoulders (upper back), with a dose of my SI joints thrown in every few days or so. Flares can last days, weeks, months. It is always different and you never know exactly what to expect or when your immune system is going to start behaving again.

I am thankful that my flares only worsen in the evening, which means I can still be productive at work and feel fairly normal until about 4pm (woot for being a natural morning person!). I've found morning workouts are okay as long as they are not too intense and I stagger them every other day; in fact, they help work out some of the joint stiffness. I crawl into bed around 7 or 730pm because usually I am hurting so bad by then that it takes awhile to fall asleep and I usually wake up during the night hurting. I curtail evening activities, because while I have gotten pretty good at pretending I feel okay so I can still have a decent social life during flares, it does take a lot out of you!

For this flare, my rheumatologist put me on some oral steroids for two weeks (IV steroids didn't work last time and we're still not sure if my usual steroid injections helped in making my back go all wonky). Four days into the steroids, I've seen a slight improvement...not as great as I would have hoped. The next step is tweaking my immuno-suppressive meds - according to the doc I still have a lot of wiggle room. But we just tweaked them last year too...I don't like it when my body destabilizes so quickly. Silly body.

I've noticed during this flare, that I am handling it better spiritually and emotionally. Trusting God more, not getting as frustrated when I have to cancel hanging out with a friend 'cause I just don't feel like putting on a smile-mask anymore. Taking one day at a time and doing what I can each day. Now, I am not perfect. Oh no. Believe me, there have been some tearful nights lately where I just HURT and I am sick of the struggle. But God is good to remind me that there is a reason for all of this (of course, He hasn't revealed that yet, but there is still peace in the thought :) ). I am learning so much about Him. He doesn't give me more than He and I can handle. And His plan is more incredible than I could ever imagine. So I focus on that when I start hurting really bad (and then pray to fall asleep REALLY quickly ;) ).

So, here's to this flare ending shortly. Don't take good health for granted. Do what you can.

Swim breakthrough? Mayhap...

2011-07-30T09:10:00.004-05:00

I'm hesitant to blog this, because it was only one workout, but it was the first time in a LONG time that I finished a swim workout not completely disgusted with the sport of swimming (I'm telling you, it's a love-hate relationship).

I did my 300 yd warmup. I have a race in a couple of weeks and the swim is 300yds. So I decided to time it...so much for the warmup :). I did it in 6:40, which is just a tad over 1:06 per lap. A pretty decent time for me. I did my drills -I've been really focusing on my rotation in the water. I am more comfortable rotating to my right than my left and I think that's causing some issues in my stroke. I have no idea how many yards of drills I did, I was just trying to create muscle memory by repetition. Then I started stroke count lengths (remember, a lap is one circuit of your lane, a length is just down to one end). The fewer strokes I use during one length means that I am swimming efficiently (i.e. gliding and not wasting energy by moving my arms too much). My stroke count has consistently been between 26-28. That's high.

I pushed off from the wall and started counting strokes (every time a hand enters the water, that's a stroke). I focused on rotation, high elbows, hand entry - all the stuff I have been drilling). I reached the wall...at 21. What!? WHAT!? 21? Fluke. Got to be. I turned around and headed back. 21 again. And again. And again. For at least 300 yds I hit 21 strokes on every length. And celebrated each 21 with a little "oh wow!" or "oh cool". Out loud. Pretty sure the rest of the pool thought that the girl in the purple swim cap was just a bit too excited about making it from one side of the pool to the other. I timed a couple of laps and I was going at a 1:05 pace. That's a big difference from my 1:12 pace a few weeks ago. I tried to speed up my pace but my stroke count quickly increased, so I obviously don't have the whole balance between stroke count and speed down yet.

I hope it sticks :). And what a blessing - here I have been whining and complaining and feeling like I have reached the end of my rope with swimming and I get this little glimmer. Thanks God.

More books!

2011-07-30T08:33:00.004-05:00

1) Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (#2 in the Maisie Dobbs series)

I stumbled up on this book in Half Price Books when I was stocking up for my trip to Moscow. It's a mystery and the first few pages read like an Agatha Christie (LOVE) so I bought it. I didn't realize it was the second in the series, but I didn't feel like was missing out on anything. This was a great book and I intend to read the rest of the series. Maise Dobbs is a detective/psychologist in England just after World War I. She was a nurse during the war and has her own memories to fight as she works to help others. This particular mystery revolves around Maisie's client, Mr. Waite, who wants her to find his 30-something daughter, Charlotte, who has decided to run away from home and the tight leash he keeps on her. Throw in a few murders of Charlotte's friends and Maisie is afraid she won't find Charlotte in time. The plot was sufficiently intricate, mixing in colorful and likeable characters, the feel of 1920s England recovering from a horrible war, mystery, and suspense. Great read.

2) The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

After seeing this book recommended on several blogs, I decided to give it a shot.

This book almost got it's own post because it is absolutely incredible!!! I can't wait for more of Ms. Skloot's writing, because she is talented! This is a true story of Henrietta Lacks who had her cancerous tumor cells harvested in a time (1950s) when it wasn't required to get patient consent for...well...anything. Her cells never stopped dividing (hence the term "immortal") and that fact allowed scientists around the world to use them to advance medicine to mind boggling levels. Modern vaccines? Modern culture techniques? Thank Henrietta. And that's what this book is about, Henrietta. Her cells (called HeLa) are so well known, but she is not and that is what Ms. Skloot set out to rectify. And rectify she did. This book is wonderful balance of personality and warmth and science and hospitals. Her rich character descriptions of Henrietta and her descendants, her descriptions of American medicine in the 1950s-70s (the good, the bad, and the extremely disturbing and ugly), the honest and transparent emotions of the Lacks family as they learned of what their mother's cells have done for science, it's just a solidly written book. Don't let the cell talk scare you away, it's well balanced and explained incredibly well in layman's terms - you'll find you've learned about cell biology before you realize it, but more importantly, you will know the Lacks family. Read this.

3) The Long Run by Matt Long

My friend Erin V. recommended this book to me. It's a true story of New York firefighter Matt Long. He's a runner and triathete and one morning while he was cycling to work, a city bus made an illegal turn and crushed him. And he lived. His story is inspiring and real. That's what I loved about it the most - the realism in this book. Mr. Long didn't cut out the gory details (his descriptions of his injuries had me reading one handed - one had on the book, the other over my gaping-in-shock-mouth). He is real in his descriptions of the vulnerability and humiliation he experienced during rehab, the mental struggles involved in dealing with new physical limitations, and the vast hurdles that were set before him to overcome. Inspiring.

The roof...the roof...the roof leaks?

2011-07-30T08:09:00.005-05:00

Yup. Well, rather, it did.

This has been an ongoing issue for just over a year. I discovered the first leak last July (the roof was replaced a bit after Hurricane Ike, so it's just over two years old - it definitely shouldn't be leaking yet). My awesome realtor tracked down the company who did the roof, they sent some guys out - who sealed the old gutter holes they had left unsealed (heavy rain-fills gutters-rain goes into unsealed gutter holes-leaky roof). My neighbor and I had taken care of another more minor leak earlier last July - I climbed into the attic and sealed around a vent and he climbed on the roof and sealed it there - and then informed me that they had used kitchen tile sealant (the white stuff) instead of roofing sealant (the black stuff). I should have known then it wasn't the end of the leaking problems.

The gutter hole leak did some decent drywall damage in my bedroom, so I filed the claim with the roofing company since everything was still (thankfully) under warranty. Then I got sick and about 6 months went by before I was able to follow up with it. In January, I started what ended up being a 7 month process of trying to track down someone who could help me. The company is called Aspen Contracting and they subcontract out to smaller companies all over the country. After months of their subcontractors not calling them back, or sending out a painting crew to my house instead of a drywall crew and me refusing to let them just paint over the damage, I finally reached an awesome woman in their main office, Kathi. After I took about 15 minutes to recount everything that had happened (I kept a log of all the calls that I made to the company and who I spoke to), she flat out interrupted me and said "honey, we are going to fix this". After several calls to their non-responsive subcontractors in this area, she finally gave up and told me to find my own contractor, fax her the quote, and she would write a check. I did and she did and the money is sitting in my account ready to pay the contractor who is coming on Wednesday to fix the damage.

Oh, but it's not over yet :). During the month of June/early July this year while I was working with Kathi to figure something out, another leak developed in my living room. We hadn't had rain for months (literally) so I am so glad this happened when I was in discussions with the company. I emailed Kathi and she told me to have my contractor come out and take a look and then send me the quote. It ended up being cosmetic and due to rain blowing in through a vent, so easy fix. AND THEN (oh yeah, it goes on), my housemate reported there was a leak in her bedroom. So I told Kathi and she sent out a great (they drove from about two cities away to get here) crew who did a full inspection of the roof, found two leaks, sealed them, tested them, the seals failed, so they ended up replacing two of the attic fans and the flashing around the fireplace. Right before the storms stirred up by Tropical Storm Don started coming through. And I am happy to report, a ton of rain and no leaks!

Throughout this process, I have been very thankful that it has gone so smoothly. You may think that all that I just wrote above isn't the textbook description of "smooth" but you and I both know that it could have been a lot worse. My biggest fear was that I would have to get legal on them and I really didn't want to do that, so I am thankful God answered that prayer. And also that Kathi works at Aspen. And that the company has been handing over money to pay for all the repairs (yes, that's what they should be doing, it's just nice that I just haven't had to argue with them about it or even ask).

Bottom line though, if you need roof work, don't go with Aspen Contracting. Their main office is competent and professional, but the three subcontractors I had to deal with initially were decidedly not. So until Aspen Contracting subcontracts out with some reliable companies, avoid them.

Nephewisms

2011-07-27T17:02:00.002-05:00

I got a text from my sister today. She had taken the boys to the library and apparently John Michael ate too many beans this morning, because he was tootin' all over the place. When Monica told him that he needed to learn to control his gas when they are in public, he looked up at her and responded:

"Mom, this is the way God made me and I can't do anything about it!"

Pretty sure Monica broke the "quiet" rule in the library after that :)

Last launch of the Space Shuttle

2011-07-24T21:40:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay on this post - I had technical difficulties with the video I took of the launch. I gave up and posted the footage from NASA of the launch.

I cannot believe I had the privilege to witness the last launch of the Space Shuttle.

My friend Lisa entered the lottery they had here at work for passes to park on-site at the Kennedy Space Center and she received a Turn Basin parking pass - about 3.5 miles from the space shuttle launch pad. And she invited me and two other friends to go with her. An 18 hour drive later, we were in Vero Beach, Florida and ready for the launch!

Launch was on Friday, July 8th at 11:26am. So we decided to leave our hotel at 4am just to make sure we got there in time :). They were expecting about 750,000 people, so we didn't want to get stuck in traffic. Since we were so early, there was minimal traffic and we had no issues getting on-site as we all had our work badges with us (which meant we also got free entry into the KSC Visitor Center later that day to buy more souvenirs :)). We were parked at our site by 6:30am.

Driving past the Vehicle Assembly Building (where the Solid Rocket Boosters and External Tank are attached to the Space Shuttle)

Atlantis - 3.5 miles away

We arrived so early, that the security wasn't yet setup around the press area, so we walked over to the official countdown clock and took some pictures.

Go Atlantis!!!

See the silver van/bus on the left hand side? That would be the AstroVan taking the crew out to the launch pad.

About 5 minutes prior to launch, my hands got all sweaty and my heart was beating fast. We were all laughing at how incredibly nervous and excited we were. My hands were literally shaking. And then, 31 seconds prior to ignition, I heard "failure" over the loud speaker. The crowd groaned and silence followed. It turns out the arm that has the vent cap (covers the tip-top of the External Tank) was showing data that made it look like it had not rotated away from the Shuttle, so they had to confirm with cameras that it was out of the way of the Shuttle. Talk about hair raising, stomach in throat moments. The launch window is only about 5 minutes long , exceed that time and it would have to be scrubbed and attempted the next day.

Launch Video

The launch control team did a phenomenal job and Atlantis launched only 2 minutes past her official launch time of 11:26am. I was able to see a launch last May, just before sunrise and was amazed by how bright the Shuttle is as she ascends. However, this time I was BLOWN AWAY by how bright she was in broad daylight!!! She had barely cleared the pad when I was overcome with emotion, not believing I was witnessing the last launch of a Space Shuttle. Ever. My hands shook as I held my little point and shoot camera to the side to try and capture the launch in video and tears streamed down my cheeks. It was over too quickly. My friends and I just stared at each other, cheeks wet with tears, trying to wrap our minds around what we had just witnessed. Discovery and Endeavor each put up a fight on their last launches, technical issues causing delays on both launches. Atlantis went out a graceful lady. Accepting of her fate and with a show I will never forget.

There was a low cloud ceiling so we were only able to see her for about 30 seconds, but after Atlantis left our sight, we could see the shadow of her plume projected on the clouds...and hear her!

We were there.

The end of an era. But not the end of the American space program. With the International Space Station, we will maintain an American presence in space until at least 2020.

Shadow Creek Ranch Sprint Triathlon

2011-07-22T17:20:00.001-05:00

So, this is the only picture I took of this race. It's of my shirt :)

The day before this race, I tweaked my back...adding air to my bike tires no less. It went something like this: Front tire: pump, pump, pump, pump. Done. Back tire: pump, pump, pu-OH MY GOSH THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY BACK!!!! Yeah, it was hurting to bend at the waist...as in the motion that you use on the bike to lean down to grab the handlebars (and aerobars). So, I stretched, and iced, and popped some muscle relaxers. Rinse and repeat that series throughout the day. The back was feeling better by evening, so I went to sleep thinking, "if I wake up and it feels better, I am doing this race until The Back tells me to stop". And praise the Lord, when I woke up, the back was at about 85% (pretty much normal these days, although, I've been hitting about 90% lately). So I jumped in my car and headed to the race.

My stats:

Age group (30-39): 19/31

Swim: 12:57 (slow, but only 50 sec slower than my pool time, which shows how nice the open water swim was)
T1: 1:55
Bike: 48:08 (16.8mph average)
T2: 1:14 (one of my longer T2 transitions because I forgot to lay out my Endurolyte capsules (salt pills) and had to dig them out of my bag)
Run: 36:04 (11:16/mile pace) - eh, I was just glad my face didn't explode away from my skull. It was so hot.

Total time: 1 hr 40 min.

The Story:
I met my friends Erin V, Rick, and Lisa L in transition, and we walked down to the swim start. This was the first time I was doing a swim where it was a point to point swim (ie, we started the swim in one spot and exited in another spot). What this meant was a glorious straight stretch of swimming with no buoys (and swimmer congestion) to swim around. As we waited for the swim to start, we were "treated" to a surprise shower of the ground sprinklers. Apparently, someone forgot to tell the park to turn them off that morning :). Despite the heat and humidity, 400 triathletes found themselves shivering at the swim start. Good times.

Swim (77 deg, 90% humidity)
The airhorn blasted and off we went, water churning. It was actually one of the less hectic open swim starts I have done, so that helped me get into my pace (my SLOW pace) quickly. I only finished 50 seconds slower than my pool time, so the open water craziness at swim start wasn't too bad (for comparison, my last tri swim time was 3 minutes slower than my pool time). I have so much room to improve in this area.

Bike (81 deg, 82% humidity, heat index, 86 deg)
The bike was pretty decent. However, I hadn't ridden my bike in 3 weeks and hadn't done an actually brick workout (bike then run - I did do two 'pseudo' bricks: after a 45 minute spin class, I ran 2.5 miles) so I was cautious on how much I pushed it on the bike, I didn't want to blow up on the run. I definitely could have pushed more.

Run (86 deg, 72% humidity, heat index, 92 deg)
The theme of the run was "hot, hotter, holy moly it's hot". There was no shade on the concrete trail that we ran on for 3.2 miles. I ran with Gatorade, something I have found key for me to do so I don't overheat (too much :) ) on the run. I also took an Endurolyte capsule. Endurolyte is a brand of salt pills - they are supposed to help you not to overheat. I forgot them on the bike, so I think if I would have taken one on the bike and then on the run, it would have been a bit better. I did have to stop and walk a couple of times, not because my muscles were tired, but because I was seriously afraid I was going to do damage to my skull as the top of my head felt ready to blow off. HOT.

Thoughts:
I did not feel ready going into this race. Due to some other medical issues I had earlier in the month, I hadn't put in the training time I wanted to. However, after the race, my muscles felt great, so that tells me I did have the training. Now, I need to up my training so I can start getting faster. My back did GREAT during the race. It did AWFUL after the race. By the time I drove home, it was starting to tighten and by late afternoon, I could barely walk. I stretched, iced, rested, and eventually popped a muscle relaxer and a Vicadin because it was THAT bad. Thankfully, when I woke up on Monday, it had calmed quite a bit and I could walk without the "granny stoop". My chiropractor got me in at 9am and PTed me up. By the end of the day, things were much better. I've had to use the back pillow all week for additional support, but my run this morning went well (no back issues all day), so I am so pleased with how quickly the Back bounced back. Thank you Lord! But still, I'll take one day at a time. One race at a time. And be thankful for what I CAN do and for what He allows me to do. By the way, this race happened to be one year TO THE DAY from when I went to the ER initially for my back pain. How great is God? He has taught me so much about myself and my walk with Him, my position before Him. I would NOT trade in the past year for what I have learned. And that my friends, can only be typed because of His grace. Thank you God.

Confessions of a Swim Slacker

2011-07-12T17:21:00.004-05:00

Hi, I am a Swim Slacker (i.e. not me in the above photo :) ).

See, I love swimming. My mom always says I could swim before I could walk. I have always enjoyed the water, be it pool or ocean. One would think with such a love of water and a decent introduction to swimming (my mom was a lifeguard and on the swim and dive teams in high school so she taught all of us kids to swim in early childhood) I would be a decent swimmer. So.not.true. (and not Mom's fault, by the way :) ).

Okay, I am not a bad swimmer exactly. I had one of my co-workers who has raced several Ironman triathlons come out and critique my swimming. His summary was that I have a technically decent stroke and a strong kick. I just don't glide. Gliding is important in swimming because it means you go faster and waste less energy getting where you are going.

So, I am a slow swimmer. And it bugs me. I wish I could hop in the water and Michael Phelps-out all my swim training sessions, but that isn't happening soon (okay, EVER :) ).

Why am I taking all this time to let you know my swimming woes? 'Cause the sad truth is that if something doesn't come easily to me or I don't see myself improving, I don't want to do it. And swimming fits right into this category. I want to be instantly good at swimming, without the work and effort required to improve (::rolling eyes at myself::, oh Melissa, you are so logical).

Anyhow, now that the cat is out of the bag publicly, that means I am accountable (in my head at least, maybe you all don't care, but I am going to PRETEND you care) to truly making an effort to improve my swimming. Up until this point, it's been half-hearted: I did correct my hand-entry position into the water (thanks to Ironman Coworker who warned me I could atrophy some arm muscles if I kept up my "Melissa-esque" hand-entry position). The correction has stuck and has definitely helped. I am also doing all of the drills he told me to do.

I swam 500yds today because I have a race this weekend and the swim is 500yds. And today was the first time since last year that I swam 500yds in a row. And it was slow. 12:06 to be exact. That, my friends, is 1:12 PER lap. ::heaving sigh::. I am slow.

So, I need to swim more. Three times a week is my goal. Now that I am back in town for a decent chunk of time, I think that will make it easier to stick with that goal. And I am going to create a new swim training plan, borrowing heavily from a swim article that was in the latest issue of Triathlete magazine.

God has allowed me to start training again so I'm going to do my part and glorify Him in my training and not whine about how slow I swim and rather, be thankful that I CAN swim.

It's time to shake this Swim Slacker attitude ::focused determined face::

Score!

2011-07-12T16:41:00.003-05:00

Remember in my last post I mentioned that I wanted to read some of Churchill's memoirs of WWII, but wasn't willing to tackle all 6 volumes? Well, last week I was perusing the bookshelves in Half-Price Books in hopes of snagging a copy of Lauren Hillenbrand's latest book ("Unbroken"). I was unsuccessful. However, my disappointment was short-lived because I found this beauty: an ABRIDGED version of Winston Churchill's Memoirs of The Second World War for $6.98!!! Oh happy day! So I bought it. And it's only 1000 pages. ;-)

A couple of books

2011-07-04T11:57:00.001-05:00

No, this is not turning into a book review blog -I've just had such a streak of great reads that I feel compelled to force my book-nerd excitement on you all :)

Two things inspired me to learn more about Winston Churchill -
1) Reading "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society", which takes place in England, post WWII.
2) Nerd moment - an episode of season 5 Doctor Who that takes place during the Blitz and features Churchill.

I started thinking about how much I don't know about this man, who played such an important role in history. After putting out a few feelers, my friend and history buff, Lindsey, recommended this biography to me. I was surprised by how short it was (I mean, biographies are usually tomes right?) - this was only 160 pages. From the start, I wasn't a fan of the writing style. It felt rushed, as though Mr. Johnson wanted to keep the book to 160 pages and was going to cram in as much information as he could. The flow of the book was choppy, jumping from Churchill fact to Churchill fact, but not so much so that it made me want to stop reading. I did learn a lot about Churchill and I appreciated how both Churchill's flaws and successes were discussed in the book. He was a person, not perfect. I discovered that Churchill was a prolific writer and I would like to tackle one of his tomes (yes, tomes is the apppropriate descprition for his books- for example: "The Second World War" consists of 6 volumes and 5000 pages!) in the future. Because of the nature of "cram everything into a 160 pages" of this book, some of the topics that I was interested in (specifics about the Blitz and Churchill's role) were glossed over and considering the length of "The Second World War" I think it will cover all and more of what I want to know :) (although I don't plan to read all 6 volumes). So, overall, good intro to Churchill.

"The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin was also recommended to me by Lindsey.

Summary: A man, Sam Westing, dies in a mansion. Sixteen people living in an apartment complex next to the mansion receive letters summoning them to the mansion. Upon arriving at the mansion, these sixteen people are told that they are they are heirs, but only if they can solve who killed the man - the catch? It's one of them. The one who can figure out "who dunit?" is the true heir...of 200 million dollars. The group is broken into teams of two and each team is given four clues. The book is all about them trying to piece together the clues so that they can win the grand prize. Excellently written and a fun read, this young adult mystery kept me guessing until the end - lots of twists and turns, with a few surprises through in for good measure. "The Westing Game" is well-deserving of the Newberry award it received in 1979.

It's a table!!!

2011-06-25T14:55:00.004-05:00

Remember the table on this post?

I finally got around to sanding, priming, and painting it!!!

All set to break in my DeWalt orbit sander (that I have had for over a year). I ended up not having to use the ear plugs because this is a super quiet sander!

All sanded! I only used the orbit sander on the table top. Had to use good old fashioned sheet sandpaper and elbow grease on the rest, but it didn't take long at all to remove the varnish.

Following furniture painting instructions from Young House Love, one of my favorite DIY blogs, I used an oil based primer (Behr's). Unfortunately, there was a bit of Young House Love tutorial fail during this process. They said I could apply the primer with a brush or a foam roller, recommending the roller for beginners. So I foam rolled. And this resulted in air-bubbles in the primer. Now, I have never used oil based paint/primer/anything before, so I thought it was odd, but also thought "well, maybe this is how it is supposed to be". When searching the tutorial for what sheen of paint to use, in the comments section on their painting post, I saw several readers complaining about the foam roller leaving air bubbles. The YHL crew apologized, admitting they had never tried the roller, they stick to the brush method, and said they would update the post. Don't get me wrong, I heart this DIY couple a ton, but a bit of a fail - the update was never made and my table was now texturized. Oh well. I let it dry for 2.5 days, since it was pretty muggy out.

Finished product (almost!)

I applied two coats of Behr's "Popped Corn" (one of my favorite whites out there). I applied the first coat with a super smooth foam roller but still experienced the air bubbles, so I caved and began the meticulous job of using a brush and avoiding brush strokes. It came out pretty decently (you can just barely see the texture) and I am happy with my first adventure in furniture painting! Only step left is to put a coat of polyurethane on it to help with food spills/stains, but I will get to that later this week.

Welcome to my breakfast nook, Table. I think you and I are going to be friends. Especially after I dress you up with a fantabulous round rug I am getting from Anthropologie! :)

Awesome timing

2011-06-11T21:33:00.004-05:00

This is a belated post because I finally found the song that I wanted to blog about.

After leaving Kearney, NE after my grandparents' funeral, I had to take the rental car back to the airport I was flying out of, a three hour drive. I was having a teary drive, it had been a hard week and need some turns to distract me. It was slim pickin's among the available radio stations that weren't country or static, and then I stumbled upon a station that was coming through loud and clear and I heard this song. After the song finished, the station faded out (and afterwards was intermittent). I lost it. It was so perfect - it brought comfort that God was near during my grief and also affirmed all of what God has been teaching me the past 10 months with my back. I wanted to share it with you:

Blessings by Laura Story

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

(Chorus)
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if the thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

Chorus

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

Chorus

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

Color branching...

2011-06-04T10:17:00.005-05:00

Color branching as in branching out with the colors I have going on in my living room. I love the green/orange/white theme, but it's getting a bit matchy for me...so I bought this Soviet space propaganda poster in Moscow to start branching out with colors:

See it in the corner there?

Roughly translated, it reads "Courage, work, Soviet-people thinking, Glory!" And has Yuri Gagarin (first human in space) on it and the date of his history-making flight

I'm thinking of adding some pillows to the couch to tie in some of the blues and yellows in the poster (you can see it already has the green and orange). Nothing too big or bold, otherwise it will look like you just walked into a box of crayons, but just enough to break up the matchy-matchy scheme I have going on...stay tuned!

Book droolage...

2011-06-03T11:57:00.001-05:00

I have to dedicate an entire post to this book. That's how much I liked it.

"The Devil in the White City" is comprised of two different historical events that are intertwined: the Worlds' Fair in Chicago, 1893...and the serial killer, H.H.Holmes.

True to his other books, Mr. Larson mixes historical fact with personal accounts (gleaned from letters and circa 1890 newspapers), recreating 1890s Chicago so vividly that you can almost smell the coal smoke and the Union Stock Yards. If you are like me, and completely oblivious, besides the name, of the Worlds' Fair - I highly encourage you to read this book. This Fair was beyond anything the world had ever seen at this point and how they accomplished it on such a short timeframe and in such grand scale...it completely boggles my mind. They built an entire city in 2.5 years time that by the end of the fair (it was open for 6 months), nearly 1/2 of America's population had visited ::jaw drop::

A couple of interesting trivia points from this book:

Elias Disney, Walt Disney's father, was a carpenter who worked on the Worlds' Fair buildings and his stories of the park, it's beauty and magical feel, inspired Walt...hmm, wonder what Walt went on to build? :)

The Ferris wheel was created to "out Eiffel Eiffel". In 1889, Paris hosted the Exposition Universelle, and it was for that Exposition that the Eiffel Tower was built. America needed to create something to rival France's tower...and thus, the Ferris wheel was invented.

Shredded Wheat and Cracker Jack were introduced at the Fair.

The whole point of the fair was to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' voyage. And prompted the President to create Columbus Day, October 12th.

I think one of the reviewers on the back cover states it best " So good, you find yourself asking how you could not know this already".

Phenomenal book.

Books

2011-06-01T06:19:00.006-05:00

Here are some books I have recently read:

1) Issac's Storm by Erik Larson

This is a non-fiction book about the huge hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. Excellently written - it reads like fiction, not non-fiction. It was weird reading this book and knowing exactly the area that was being described, having been on those beaches and walked those streets (I live about 30 miles from Galveston). And having experienced the aftermath of a hurricane (thankfully not as deadly as the 1900 storm) made the book more personal. As the storm gets closer and closer to Galveston, the intensity and suspense in book grows, I found myself reading faster and faster :). I was almost shouting out loud at some of the characters as they made life and death decisions and was astounded by how far meteorology has come since those times. Mr. Larson manages to jam-pack his works (I'm currently reading his "The Devil in the White City" right now - about the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and can't wait to read his new one "The Garden of Beasts - Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin" that recently came out) not only with historical trivia, but with personal accounts from those who lived in that time. It doesn't read like a history book. Love this author!

2) Radical - Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream - by David Platt

I think every Christian should read this book. It was a big lightbulb moment book for me, challenging and convicting in several ways. I don't think I can do this book justice in a review, but the long and short of it is a challenge to look at your faith from what the Bible tells us to do and not manipulate it to fit what our culture tells us to do. Convicting.

3) Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Easily the weirdest book I have ever read. It was disgusting. It was fascinating. Mary Roach gives the detailed history of cadavers and their use in research - from the early days of grave robbing and apothecary uses, to modern time anatomy lab, car crash and land mine research, and she does it, like several other reviews have noted, in a humorous and yet respectful way (I especially appreciated her chapter on organ donation). Her writing style, like Erik Larson, reads like fiction, rather than a dusty old history book. She mixes in run of mill historical facts with some sensational trivia about cadavers. If you have a sensitive stomach, I wouldn't recommend this book - there were definitely some "ewww" factors to this book. But if you are looking for an interesting, outside-of-box, gross-your-friends-out-with-some-morbid-factoids, gaining an appreciation for all of those scientists and doctors out there who work with cadavers to make our lives better book, then you should read this book.

4) Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

I read this on the flight back from Moscow. This book was well written, I like Sara Gruen's style. The story is told in past and present - an old man reflecting on his experiences in the circus. The chapters that take place in the present were heart-wrenching (I got teary) as the main character, Jacob, candidly expresses his opinions of aging and assisted living and I enjoyed learning about circus life, the lingo and the social hierarchy that exists. Some of the harsher scenes in the book (sensual and animal abuse) were a bit much for me though and I found my skimming (and at times skipping!) some parts. I'm glad I read this book for the historical perspective it provides on circus life, but I found the main plot to be pretty run-of-the-mill and "been there, done that".

Last day...

2011-05-30T13:39:00.005-05:00

Today I worked my last super short (3.5 hours :) ) shift, watched Endeavour undock and flyaround the ISS, and then headed back to the hotel, where I met up with Erin and we headed out to take the Moscow River Boat ride. It had been 6 years since I last did the boat ride here, and Erin never had, so we figured it was a good excursion. After just a little difficulty finding the "kacca" (ticket booth), we bought our tickets and boarded the boat

Excited for our boat ride!

Some sights along the way - Red October Candy Factory

Christ our Savior Church

The Kremlin - river view

One of the Seven Sister Stalin buildings

After some miscommunication between us and the boat captain (well, no communication really, just gesturing...we thought we had paid for a round trip ride). Apparently, we did not pay for the round trip boat ride, so we got off the boat and started walking back in the direction of Red Square. The nice thing about Moscow, is that as long as you know where the nearest metro is, or can see one of the many familiar landmarks, you are never lost. We found a place to eat lunch and then attempted to find Gorky Park. Alas, the only metro stop that I knew of to get to Gorky Park was closed. We could have attempted another stop, but that had the makings of wandering around for a good hour until we stumbled upon the park, so we decided to head to Arbat street to finish some last minute shopping. Arbat had some new things to show us. Such as this:

Texas Chicken. We think it's actually Church's Chicken. Maybe "Church's" wouldn't draw Muscovites and "Texas" does? Interesting.

And this:

I am saddened that Moscow understands the necessity of having a Dunkin' Donuts within its boundaries and Houston does not (okay, I think there is ONE on the waaay north side of town).

We then headed back to the hotel in time to meet the rest of our coworkers for a big meal celebrating the end of the mission (salad, borsch, and creme brulee, YUM). It's been a good trip.

Tsaritsyno (Царицыно) Palace

2011-05-27T10:14:00.005-05:00

After work today, I went with two of my coworkers to Tsaritsyno Palace. This was my first time there, so it was fun to see something new! The gardens were beautiful...it is tulip season here... we walked around for a good hour and a half I think, snapping pictures, gasping in pain (awe, wonder) as Muscovite women navigated the garden paths in 5-inch stiletto heels, watching brides have their pictures taken...

This is what you see when you first walk in the gates...up on the hill, hidden behind the trees is the palace, which was built for Catherine the Great

Pink tulips!

Yellow and dark maroon tulips

See the palace towers peeking over those trees?

Tsaritsyno Palace

Bread Gate

These guys were the architects...giving them a high five for a job well done

Church of St. Nicholas

I call this "the wedding cake building with lots of white stuff on it". Technical architectural verbiage Melissa-style.

Big bridge

There were a ton of paths through this park and I saw two gals running through it...I would LOVE to grab my running shoes and have a nice run through this park...but not sure if that will happen on this trip...that whole work thing gets in the way sometimes ;-).

Russian bread...sorta

2011-05-26T11:09:00.004-05:00

If it's made in Russia out of an American mix, does that count? I find it kinda funny that I have to travel almost 6000 miles to finally tackle the gluten-free baking projects I've been wanting to test out, but better late than never.

So maybe pictures of making bread in my hotel/apartment room aren't exactly what you think I'd post when in Moscow, but hey, I get by with what I have :)

No measuring cups. So I used a 16oz waterbottle to see where the 2 cups of liquid measured out in a coffee pot (no real coffee here either, filters are very difficult to find, so I just do instant). The recipe called for 2 eggs, some oil, and then add water to make 2 cups of liquid...hence needing to know where the 2 cup line was on the coffee pot

The recipe also said to use a breadmaker or a standmixer. I interpreted that to say "stick your hand in the bowl and "hand-mix" for 3 minutes".

All mixed (yup, another fabulous Pamela's product)

Here, the dough is resting

Oh yeah, totally squealed excitedly when I walked into the kitchen and the dough had actually risen!

It said to bake in an oven. I suppose the toaster oven will suffice (sidenote: I was deathly afraid the bread would suddenly burst into flames so I kept checking it every 2 minutes...at least it felt like it).

Voila! Gluten free sandwich bread. And this stuff is downright tasty. And it's keeping really well in the refrigerator...no funky gluten free grainy texture yet...

Out and about...finally!

2011-05-24T09:41:00.004-05:00

I switch to the morning shift today and was feeling pretty wide-awake after work, so I decided to mosy on down to the metro (subway) and hit up a few of the usual sites. I was excited to see that I could still navigate the Moscow metro, after all, it has been two years since I used it last :)

Love how they captured the Russian flag with these pansies. Appropriately patriotic for being just outside the wall of the Kremlin

This is always a mandatory picture - St. Basil's Cathedral

As is this...except for the fact that the guy didn't frame it right ::sigh::

St. Basil's, Lenin's tomb, the clock tower, and part of the Kremlin wall- money shot :)

The Bolshoi Theater - alas, they are all sold out for ballet tickets for the month of May. I checked.

Still my favorite - the old KGB building.

Working in the HSR in Moscow Mission Control

2011-05-23T01:56:00.004-05:00

HSR stands for Houston Support Room. This room is staffed with NASA folks from the Houston Support Group (HSG) 365 days of the year (or pretty close to that). During mated missions (when the Shuttle is attached to the Space Station), my group sends two people over to help out. This is because mated missions can be extremely complicated and tricky from an attitude control perspective and from a paperwork exchanged between my group and our Russian counterparts perspective. We found it to be necessary to send two people out (working a shift apiece) to be able to interact face-to-face with our Russian counterparts and explain issues that come up, answer any questions, and do some of the digging around for information that the on-console team would normally take care of, but have their hands full with Shuttle stuff. We are basically an extra pair of hands (and maybe part of a brain :) ) for the on-console team.

The afternoon shift getting ready to head out...this was Sunday, which is jeans day...normally we are dressed in our professional best :)

Erin and I during shift handover

Doing some plan reviews

Gluten free in Moscow

2011-05-23T01:39:00.003-05:00

So since I am still eating gluten free, I brought an entire suitcase full of gluten free food with me to Moscow (small suitcase) and figured I would supplement with produce and dairy here. I brought several Pamela's Products mixes with me and tried one of them the other day

I borrowed some muffin pans from one of my coworkers, Carla, who stays here for months at a time and therefore has lots of domestic goodies...like muffin pans. I then borrowed my fellow group-mate's, Erin, who is here supporting the mission as well, room key, because my room does not have an oven (this required her to knock on my door at 445am before heading to her shift to hand me her key).

After looking up what 350F is in Celsius (~176C in case you were wondering), I put the chocolate-ly goodness in the oven:

27 minutes later...(not the 16-22min later on the bag)...out popped these:

I sprinkled them with some sugar and voila! Gluten free chocolate cupcakes the easy way (i.e. out of a mix):

They were pretty tasty and my coworkers seemed to enjoy them (they disappeared pretty quickly). Another score for Pamela's Products!

Farmers Market

2011-05-23T01:33:00.002-05:00

I have been such a slacker since I got to Moscow. I've actually adjusted pretty decently to the time change...however, that's probably because I am sleeping about 11 hours each night! This leaves little time for me to get out and about before my shift starts at 1pm. However, the other day, I managed to drag myself out of bed at the early hour of ::ahem:: 9 am and meet up with one of my coworkers to go to the local farmers market. I wish the farmers markets in Houston looked like this - I would do most of my grocery shopping here...I didn't take any pictures because my hands were full of bags, but here are the fruits (and veggies) of my shopping trip. Yum.

Grandma

2011-05-15T22:55:00.004-05:00

Grandma, Carter, and I on a post-dinner walk, laughing it up, the day before Easter

This is a long post. Because I need it to be.

As most of you know by now, my trip to Nebraska to attend my Grandpa's funeral didn't go as expected. We ended up having a joint funeral for both Grandpa and Grandma.

The memorial service for Grandpa was supposed to be on Easter Sunday. Grandma didn't come back from her walk. After several search parties, a police officer directed my uncle to the hospital, where a woman had been taken earlier that morning who matched Grandma's description. It was Grandma.

She had had a heart attack in the grocery store parking lot (she was planning on buying strawberries for our breakfast). Now, Grandma was insanely healthy - she hiked the Grand Canyon every year (and had a trip planned for this year) and rode her bike 5000-6000 miles every year (and she was 77...seriously...HEALTHY). There was nothing wrong with her heart...except she had just lost my Grandpa. Her heart literally broke. The attack was, in terms of heart attacks, a "minor" one, the doctors expected a full recovery. After some sad moments by Grandma's bedside as she expressed her desire to "be with Bob", she started rallying, talking, and joking...I chastised her for causing so much drama (don't worry, she laughed :) ). My siblings and I left the hospital shortly after 10pm on Easter to head back to our hotels. Each of us had had a conversation with Grandma, and told her goodnight. She and I shared some particularly sweet words.

At 1am, my phone rang. Grandma's pressures were dropping (she was DNR) and we needed to come to the hospital immediately. When I walked into her room, I wasn't sure I could stay there. She was hurting. The awesome nurses (really, incredibly kind and thoughtful staff) made her comfortable with some morphine, and we (my parents, siblings, aunt, uncles, and cousins) surrounded Grandma, holding her hands and patting her arms, telling her we loved her. And then she was gone. I've never seen someone die before.

Thus began a week of "someone pinch me because this can't be real".

It was pretty awful. Still is, truth be told.

I'm doing...okay. As my aunt put it, "we are all looking at what happened out of the corner of our eye...no one wants to stare it in the face". Well put. I am fully aware that I am in the whole pretending none of this happened, everything is still perfectly normal phase of grieving.

Still can't believe that the letter I received from them the day after Grandpa died is the last letter I will ever get from them (I've written them fairly regularly since I was 10 years old).

Words cannot sufficiently express how thankful I am that I had a good relationship with both Grandpa and Grandma. And that I got to spend the Saturday before Easter with her, laughing and talking. And that our last words together were so sweet.

When I was little, I told Grandma I wanted to learn how to cook. She and Grandpa bought me The Joy of Cooking (yeah, a 700 page cooking book for an 8 year old :)...I still have and use it ). She then helped me plan a three course meal, helped me grocery shop for the ingredients, and then helped me prepare and serve it to my family and my Uncle Mike's family
She taught me how to roll out the perfect pie crust
I vividly recall her teaching me how to address an envelope
She introduced me to the "The Pirates of Penzance" and organized plays for my cousins and I to act out for our families
When I started learning Russian, she thought that was "cool" and learned along with me. We wrote letters to each other in Russian. It will be weird to go to Moscow this summer and not stop in a bookstore to buy some books to take back to her
I showed up at their house three years ago during the Christmas holidays and asked her to teach me how to quilt. When I was at my uncle's house, I slept under the quilt that contained my first stitches ever quilted, stitched as she watched and instructed me
Grandma and Grandpa loved to read. They volunteered at the local Book Barn in Tucson and would always have a pile of books to send home with me. Our letters were filled with different book recommendations

Grandma and I had a good thing between us and I am grateful to God for that...

Love you Grandma, and thank you for the memories.

Tri Girl Tri Super Sprint

2011-05-08T20:09:00.005-05:00

Wahoo!!! I am back in the tri saddle and it feels GREAT!!!

Lisa, Erin W., Pooja, Erin S, and me at the start line...getting nervous

It's been a long road getting back here, and the journey probably isn't over. I just take one day at a time and today was a good day. Thankful to God for the work He has been doing in me, and the people He has put in my life to help encourage me and to help my body to heal (big shout out to Dr. Alice!).

I raced the Tri Girl Tri Super Sprint this morning (200yd swim, 8 mile bike, 2 mile run) with 5 of my friends (who also happen to be my coworkers as well). It was so much fun hanging out with these ladies and doing this race together!

My stats:
Swim 7:17
Transition 1: 2:18
Bike: 28:33 (16.8mph average!)
Transition 2: 1:16
Run: 20:20 (10:10 mile pace!)

Total: 59:46

My goal was to finish under an hour and I did! :)

Swim gear has been donned...almost go time!

Do you see me? Yeah I grinned like this through a LOT of the race! It felt so great to do this again!

My swim time wasn't what I had hoped for, but I did it. Time was 7 min, 17 sec. Open water is so different from the pool (for comparison, my pool time for this distance is 4:31). There's the people, the freak out factor, the choppiness of the water factor...it's a whole different world from the pool.

Coming in from the bike

I hadn't been on my bike in over two weeks, so I was a bit nervous about it, but kept a good pace, a lot of that due to the lack of wind :)

Finishing the run

The run went well, even sans Garmin ;-). I started out too fast as usual, but tried to really listen to my body, and got into a comfortable rhythm. It always amazes me how much faster I can run during tris (during my 5k a few weeks ago, I averaged a 11:10 pace, during the tri - 10:10)

Tri Girls!

I finished. And that is a huge milestone. But what makes it even better is that I finished well and with a bunch of my friends. Extra blessings just heaped on me. Wow.

Next tri? I'm looking online now for a good race :)

Grandpa

2011-04-23T05:50:00.000-05:00

My Grandpa died this week.

I am sad.

He was a great man. When I went home to AZ for visits, I had lunch with him and my Grandma. Over coffee we talked about everything - religion, space exploration, politics, travel, and my favorite - his stories of my Dad, aunt, and uncles, growing up on a farm in Nebraska and his stories of him and his siblings growing up. He would laugh over the long-past antics of two generations of childhood to the point that tears would be streaming down his cheeks and he could barely finish the story for his laughter.

I still cannot believe he's gone and that we won't have another coffee time when I go home over Memorial Day weekend.

I am thankful that I knew him - knew about how he grew up and stories from his childhood. Knew how he raised he kids. Knew that he loved me very much. And that I loved him back.

Miss you Grandpa.

Preparing for Easter

2011-04-17T07:37:00.004-05:00

My friend Jessica and I have been reading through this book over the past couple of weeks. It's a book that Nancy Guthrie compiled from various sermon excerpts, from pastors such as Augustine, Luther, Owen, Sproul, Mahaney, Edwards, and Keller, to name a few. The sermon excerpts focus on Easter and the work of Christ on the cross (Ms. Guthrie has a similar compilation in "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus- Readings for Advent" in preparation for Christmas- which is fantastic).

The book has 25 readings and we backed that out from Easter for when to begin reading one-a-day. This book has been amazing, convicting, renewing, and oh-so-focusing on what Easter really means. The other night, Jessica and I easily spent a half an hour going back and forth, each sharing a particular excerpt that was particularly encouraging/jaw dropping/convicting. Here are a couple of my favorites:

In the excerpt "The Silence of the Lamb" by Adrian Rogers, he addresses why Jesus was silent before Pilate and his accusers. Why didn't he defend himself?

"The Bible teaches us that when Jesus Christ took our sin, he took all of the punishment that goes with that sin. A part of that punishment is shame. Had Jesus defended himself and protested his innocence, he would have suffered no shame, and that would have left us guilty. Jesus could not prove himself innocent and then die in our place the shameful death that we deserve. Thank God that Jesus was willing to be counted a sinner before God, that we might be counted as righteous before God!"

In "Gethsemane" by R.Kent Hughes, he speaks on Jesus being arrested in Gethesemane and how that this wasn't a surprise to the Lord. He knew who was to betray Him, He knew that he was to be arrested. Gethesemane is in actuality a beautiful example of God's sovereignty and faithfulness (sorry for the long excerpt, but it is SOOO good!):

"The surroundings of Christ's final hour clearly display his sovereign control. The intensity of his agony and he sovereign resolve to bear it, his control over his captors, his protection of his own, his grace to the wounded, all proved he is an omniscient, all-powerful God. Christ was in control when life was falling in, when things looked the worst.

How does this related to us? Though Christ's Gethsemane was infinitely beyond human experience, Gethsemanes are part of believers' lives.

Gethsemane was not a tragedy, and neither are our Gethsemanes. This does not do away with the woulds of affliction in this life, but it is encouraging to see that behind human tragedy stands the benevolent and wise purpose of the Lord of human history. Life may be dark at times, tragedy may come, and at times the whole world may seem to be falling a part. The wheel may appear ready to crush us. But this is not the end. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28), even in Gethsemane."

Wow.

I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book for those of you who want to focus your heart and mind on the Easter (or Advent) season from a Biblical perspective. So thankful for resources like this!

Garmin- FAIL...at least for now...

2011-04-16T18:18:00.004-05:00

My superwoman watch is broken. ::pausing for cries of "oh no!":: Yes, yes it's true. My trusty Garmin 310XT has decided it does not want to be a GPS unit any more and only function as a stop watch. Gone are the days of it acquiring satellites...now it only mocks me with the status bar creeping towards 100%, only to jump back to the beginning and start over again. The Garmin customer service people have been great though- on the phone and via email. Unfortunately, all their ideas thus far have not panned out...Master reset?- fail. New software upload? - fail. I think I may have to send it in...one colleague at work quipped "looks like you have a master antenna failure" (note: this is a truly nerdy and hilarious NASA-esque comment, but I am not going to expound on what it means because 1) you all would fall asleep 2) you would not find it as hilarious as the group of us did when he said it and 3) explaining it will just make me more nerdier than I already am :) ).

Aww, see how excited I was a year ago about my new superwoman watch...when it was working perfectly? Ahh ::memories::

Now I must rely on ::gasp:: a regular stopwatch type watch and actually listen to my body whilst running rather than on my beloved gadget that could pretty much calculate every drop of sweat I sweated.

::disclaimer- yes, this is meant to be a lighthearted, self-deprecating post, spurred by my fleeting sense of loss and panic when it first died...and then the next thought of exasperation "oh good night Melissa, it's JUST a watch". Just in case you all thought I needed to be prayed over and spoken to about idols ;-) :: Oh technology.

5k!!!

2011-04-16T10:01:00.003-05:00

I ran an entire 5k (3.1 miles) this morning!!! The furthest I had run since The Back was only a little over 2 miles...so I was definitely in unknown territory this morning! I did the Yuri's Night (Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space- the 50th anniversary of his flight was this past week) 5k. It was in a great park on both paved, grassy, and dirt paths. The grass was a little challenging for me- the bumpy terrain jarred my back quite a bit. There was a decent short hill and I had to walk/run the descent cause my feet were landing too hard and jarring me too much. I tried to pick up the pace during the last mile, but The Back wasn't having that, so I decided to just be thankful that I was going to be able to finish the entire distance. My friend Jessica happened to be doing the race too, and she's also overcoming an injury, so we ran together. It was a gorgeous cool morning for a run and the race vibe was laidback and fun. I would definitely like to do this race again next year.

This morning, when I woke up, I prayed "God, I am going to run as far as you will let me". And 3.1 miles and 34 minutes later, I crossed the finish line, having run the entire course :). Praise Him.

Post race shot with my running/training buddy Lisa (she finished in 29 minutes!)

Boise!Boise!Boise!

2011-04-14T18:59:00.004-05:00

That would be where my sis and her family lives...which includes the two cutest and bestest nephews EVER. I saw them at Christmas, but hey, it's been a few months...time for some auntie time!

Laughing at something...

It's a Carter!

Look at me Sissa! I'm going UP the slide!

Yeah, I am ridiculously cute and I can't say "Sissa" quite yet...it comes out either "Sis" or "Sissy" :)

John Michael's preschool class just finished studying space. Here he is with his teacher introducing "Sissa" :) to his classmates. I had a ball answering their questions and listening to their stories (For instance, one little girl asked "Can you have pets in space?", so I spent a few minutes talking about the animals/insects we have had in space. This was followed by at least 5 different hands being raised in the air...each to tell me about THEIR pet that they have at home :)

I was one of their "stations" in class that day. Here the kiddos are looking at space pictures.

Sorry for the rice cake smiles, but these guys needed a snack before taking me to the airport. Love these guys!

It's incredible, really....

2011-04-08T18:10:00.001-05:00

Incredible how amazingly adaptable the brain is. Bear with me here...I'll get to the incredible part, but a little background first...

My workouts over the past two weeks have included 1.5-2 mile runs, over 500m swim workouts, a two-workouts-in-one-day morning swim/afternoon run, a brick workout (6.5 mile bike/1 mile run), and a spinning class.

Oh yeah, and I signed up for my comeback triathlon at the beginning of May, Mother's Day actually, - a super sprint distance of 200yd swim, 8 mile bike, and 2 mile run.

And I am doing a 5k next week, with the goal of running as much of it as possible.

I am feeling good. But it is a different type of good than I felt a year ago. My body has a new "good".

My back still hurts. It's usually just a small nagging ache and sometimes (rarely these days) a sharper-suck-in-your-breath-quick kind of pain.

This is where the brain is incredible...it's adjusted my pain tolerances. These days at work, I rarely am aware of my back (unless I have to stand for a long time or sit for awhile without my lumbar pillow). That's AMAZING. I could be constantly aware of my back, constantly aware of it not "feeling right"...I imagine that would make me very sad and not much fun to be around...(at first, because I've seen God's grace in my attitude the past 9 months and know that He would bring me around eventually :) ). I am SO grateful to God for designing our brains to adapt to uncomfortableness so that we can still enjoy life. I'm overwhelmed by the mercy in His design. And yes, there may be days ahead where I will have trouble remembering this mercy and be constantly aware of pain, but not today. Today I am going to marvel at the design of my God (and pray that on that day when I am hurting and having trouble remembering, that one of you will remind me of this post!):

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14

More than 3 months gluten free...

2011-04-08T17:37:00.003-05:00

Crazy how fast three months goes by...

Yup, and still eating gluten free. I've decided to stick with it as much as possible. As much as possible meaning staying away from things that obviously have gluten (things with wheat flour) and not really paying attention to things with modified food starch, vinegar, "natural and artificial flavors." Although, it is hard to break the habit I started with reading food labels...I keep finding myself grabbing a product from the grocery store shelves and turning it over to read the ingredient list.

I like the gluten free diet because:

1) Some GI issues I had that I thought were related to my meds have completely disappeared
2) I've found some great new ways to eat more veggies
3) I feel better...healthier in my "insides". Weird description, I know, but hopefully it makes sense.
4) I can do it - it hasn't been a hardship for me to switch to gluten free. I thank God for the easy transition.

Do I miss bread? Every so often...but then I think, "but I feel better not eating it"...and then I don't miss it so much :)

Craigslist scores again!!!

2011-03-31T18:16:00.004-06:00

Let me just say that I think craigslist is fantastic. To date, I have spent $745 dollars and have bought the following:

Mid-century couch - oak (it weighs like 4 bagillion pounds)
Mid-century dresser - solid wood body and dovetail joints in the drawers
Mid-century end table - teak
Oak dining set
West Elm parsons desk - not so much real wood as ORANGE :)

Isn't that awesome? That's a crazy amount of furniture for under $800...especially since I like the mid-century vintage look, which seems to be popular these days, carried at designer type stores, and WAY out of my budget (at least for the solid, real wood pieces that I prefer).

I have been searching for almost a year for a 42" round pedestal table for my breakfast nook. It has to be 42" because well, otherwise people would need to sit around it without chairs and that's just not very comfortable. And it had to be white. I looked at buying a new one, but 1) the legs were too skinny 2) the table tops were too thin and 3) all the reviews said they were more off-white than white, so I would still have to paint it.

I'd been emailing this gal for two weeks to try and pick up her table, but our schedules never aligned...and then voila! earlier this week I found a different one (thanks Lord!)...10 minutes away and for HALF the cost of the other one! And it only came with 3 chairs, which was good because I really just wanted the table...I'd already bought chairs like a year ago :)...which means less room to take up in the garage with 3 instead of 4 of them. Handy for emergency seating uses though...

So, $75 oak pedestal table + $15 of paint and some elbow grease instead of $219.00-$499 off-white table +$15 of paint and elbow grease...to use a YHL phrase, "Yes please!" :)

Here's the before...we'll see how motivated I am this weekend to sand it and paint it white...

A REAL table...I've been using a card table for the last year...I'm pretty sure my generous and gracious friend Lindsey has forgotten that it actually belongs to her and not me ;-).

Cricut 101

2011-03-19T13:46:00.004-06:00

A year and a half ago, my friends Erin and Lisa and I waited at Walmart for 3 hours on Black Friday to score awesome deals on a Cricut machine.

Cricuts are basically personal die-cut machines- you buy software cartridges to cut out specific shapes- they are incredibly handy for scrapbooking, invitation making, decorations etc. They also have quirks/tips/inside scoops that none of us have quite figured out - what's the best way to make this design or do that? So our friend, Cassaundra, who is a Cricut/scrapbooking/card making extraordinaire, came over for a Cricut 101 lesson this morning.

Great info and a great time with these ladies- my head's already full of new ideas on how to use the Cricut for some home decorating projects... stay tuned!!!

Our "teacher", Cassaundra, Lisa, and Erin

Copycat

2011-03-19T13:43:00.001-06:00

Apparently Pottery Barn had the same idea as me...just came across this today. Mine's better...it has 6 props... ;-)

GU is gluten free!!!!!

2011-03-12T08:02:00.003-06:00

Random, I know, but I seriously did a happy dance in front of some coworkers when I discovered that GU is gluten free. I wasn't looking forward to making my own energy gels. Go GU!!!!

There is something on my wall...

2011-03-12T07:42:00.005-06:00

A picture!!!! of a Convair B-36 Peacemaker.

Yes, I have finally hung something on the wall of my living room.

There's a saga to it...of course there is, it's me who's typing this right?

It started when I took a picture at the Pima Air and Space Museum over a year ago. I decided I wanted to put it on canvas and put it over my couch. After editing the photo, I sent it to a canvas place. They emailed me back and said that the resolution wasn't high enough for the size I had requested, so I had them send it out anyways...yeah it was too small and got swallowed up by the wall. Yay for 100% money back guarantee and no shipping costs for returns!

I was bummed about the resolution, I must have had my camera settings on something different. So this past Christmas, I meant to go back out to PASM and take another picture with the right settings. I never got around to it.

See, saga right? A few weeks ago, I pulled up the photo file and was thinking "this resolution really should be sufficient...I am getting a second opinion". So I sent it off to Canvas Pop...and they had no issues with the custom size I wanted! And a couple of weeks later...voila! Wall art! :)
I am thrilled with how it looks, the resolution is great - the only slight graininess is what I put there via editing. Highly recommend this company.

Yes, I know that ceiling fan is hideous. It's being replaced hopefully soon. Apparently, I am very particular ( read: picky) about ceiling fans.

Progress

2011-03-07T18:52:00.003-06:00

I'm continuing to make progress with my health and my back. My stomach and inner ear are handling the new dosage of the immunosuppressives well (they initially made me super queasy and my head all foggy). I'm definitely starting to stabilize- a long-sought answer to prayer!

This past week I completed 4 workouts:

Tuesday- run 0.75 miles, walk 2.1 miles, run 0.25 miles
Thursday- walk 1 mile, run 1 mile
Saturday- 800m swim workout
Sunday- 10 mile bike ride

The back handled it all pretty well. I definitely could tell it was getting used to the activity. I woke up this morning with sharper than my new normal pain, which made leaning over to eat my awesome flax cereal a bit of a challenge, but I spent some time stretching it out and over the course of the day, it feels back to "normal". I don't think it liked the "back-to-back" (is that a pun?) workouts, so that was a good thing to learn. I'll be careful to space out my workouts for awhile...gotta give the body time to adjust.

I am planning on signing up for a super sprint tri the first week of May. The distances are 200yd swim, 8 mile bike, and 2 mile run. Before I do that though, I want to do a short brick (bike, then run) workout to see how the back handles the loading. I'm a few weeks away from attempting that though...

In the meantime, I've signed up to volunteer at two upcoming triathlons. I'm doing body-marking (writing folks' race numbers on their arms and legs) at the Kemah tri in April (I raced this last year) and my training buddy, Lisa, and I signed up to help out at one of the bike aid stations at the Texas Ironman in May.

I am really excited about volunteering at the Texas Ironman. I figure watching an Ironman in person will just make me want to do it more. Oh yeah, I have the heart of an Ironman...not sure about the body, yet, but we'll see what it will let me do. It and God of course. Anything that I can accomplish physically is a direct testament of God's grace in my life, because my doctor says "you really shouldn't be able to do that" (when it comes to running and triathlons). So to Him be the glory. And I will be thankful for whatever progress I make, remembering the past 8 months and how walking without grimacing is a victory in itself.

Food bits

2011-03-07T18:40:00.003-06:00

Food bit #1

Mashed cauliflower yumminess.

I steamed a medium head of cauliflower (using my rice steamer and the veggie tray that came with it)- made about two cups of cauliflower (roughly, I forgot to measure). I threw that in the blender with a 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (a tip from either Runners World or Triathlete magazine), about 1.5 tsp of butter (I use I Can't Believe It's Not Butter...), some sea salt, a healthy dose of coarse black pepper, and some freshly chopped chives, blended and voila! Creamy yumminess with a bit of tang from the yogurt...very similar to mashed potatoes. Add a side of roasted brussel sprouts and that was my dinner for tonight. My tummy is happy. :) (and only 30 minutes from start to eat!)

Food bit #2

Several of my sweet friends blessed me with these for my birthday! My goal this week is to pick out a recipe from each to try next week...

Food bit #3:

Whole grain quota solved! This cereal provides your entire day's worth (FDA recommends 3) of whole grains...in ONE seving. 3/4 cup. It's decently tasty...definitely "whole grainy". I've paired it with 1/2 cup skim milk and sliced banana. This morning, I zapped the milk and cereal, and then added the banana for a warmer breakfast. Tasty!

Tales of Veggies

2011-03-03T20:08:00.006-06:00

I was going to say "Veggie Adventures" but I thought that would really be pushing the whole "adventure" theme :)...and "Veggie Tales"...well, self-explanatory.

For the month of February I made it an unofficial goal to make sure I ate at least 3 servings of fruit and 3 servings of vegetables a day. I've never really paid a lot of attention, because I do eat a fair amount of fruits and veggies (this happens when you don't eat a lot of meat), but I wanted to see how I measured up. I didn't do too badly...especially after I looked up what counted as a "serving" and realized I was eating about 1.5 times that for each of my "servings" :). I'm definitely more deliberate to include fruits and veggies now when planning out my lunches and dinners.

The veggies in my fridge right now: cauliflower, red cabbage, brussel sprouts, carrots, mixed greens, red kale, green kale, and asparagus (I usually have zucchini and sweet potatoes too). Did you know that brussell sprouts have more vitamin C in them than oranges? I use fresh vegetables mostly and eat them raw or braised/baked/roasted...boiling leeches out a lot (but not all, so it's definitely better than not eating veggies at all!) of the nutrients.

For fruits, it's mostly tomatoes, apples, bananas, grapes, and oranges, with some blueberries thrown in (picked from last summer!), and the best snack food invention, Clif Kids Fruit Twists (no sugar added, all natural, and it's one serving of fruit!). I'm looking forward to spring/summer fruits!

Next up is working on the whole grains. Before gf, this was definitely not a problem. I LOVE whole grains...but now I can't eat a lot of them, so I need to balance that part of my diet a bit more.

What are your favorite fruits and veggies to eat?

Red and green kale salad with red cabbage and roasted asaparagus and brussel sprouts
(both the salad and roasted veggies were tossed around in about 1tsp olive oil, a bunch of apple cider vinegar, sea salt, and coarse black pepper)

CA Adventures - Part 2

2011-03-03T20:00:00.000-06:00

Angie dropped me off at my cousin, Shannon's, place in Hollywood. I haven't seen her in four years!!! She was at work, so I hung out with her boyfriend, Miles, during the afternoon. We had fun "shopping"...going to this store called Opening Ceremony (literally clothing worn for movie openings) and making fun of the outrageous clothing. I was ::this:: close to buying this crazy construction cone orange wool coat that was worn for the movie TRON....really... ;-).

Both Miles and Shannon work in the entertainment business...it was fascinating hearing about their jobs (record label company, reality TV shows, etc)...so very different from the world I live in. They have a super cute apartment right off of Melrose Place and they were kind to let me crash on their couch for a night. We went out for dinner and got an odd look from the waitress as I was asking questions about what was gluten free, Shannon was asking questions about what was vegetarian, and Miles was all about the meat :). Good times. Of course, I completely forgot to take any pictures.

On Sunday morning, they drove me to Irvine to meet up with a couple, Nate and Anne, who used to attend my church. They currently go to one of our sister churches, so it was a lot of fun worshiping with "family". Afterward, we hit up Trader Joes to take some food over to one of the church member's homes for lunch. Nate is a fellow gluten-freer- and Anne has been a huge help to me, recommending foods and recipes via email, so it was great having them point out new foods that I could eat.

I couldn't go to CA without seeing the Pacific at least once, so we drove down to Huntington Beach. I actually saw Catalina Island from the shore- it's never been clear enough for me to see it, so that was a treat.

Even more of a treat (since my world centers around food I can eat these days :) )- going over to Nate's parents house and his aunt having made a smorgasbord of gluten free treats. Including cake pops. I ate...A LOT.

Nate and Anne have a cozy little apartment (a "back-house" to a main house) and they are doing a great job of making it into a home (they have only been there a few months). Anne has done some pretty brilliant stuff with an old trunk she found. Again, another great couple who allowed me to crash at their place and enjoy their hospitality.

Nate and Anne

All in all, a great, wonderful, laid back trip.

CA Adventures - part 1

2011-03-01T13:11:00.005-06:00

After meeting lil Brady, I headed west...far west, like...7 hour flight west...to sunny...and by sunny, I mean cold-rainy-freezing, California.

Again, for some reason I booked a flight that had a stop in Denver...in February...but thankfully good weather prevailed and there were no delays.

I landed at LAX and my friend Angie (remember her, she and her husband housed me during all my hurricane evacuations thus far) picked me up and we noshed on some amazing healthy CA fare:

It looked prettier before I started eating it, but it's a kale and red cabbage salad with blackened tempeh. Tempeh is the amazingly delicious result of culturing and control-fermenting soybeans until it makes a solid "cake". This is thin cut into strips and cooked. Pretty much tasted like a soybean cake. Super yummy.

We grabbed a hotel in Anaheim (since Angie and Andrew live pretty far from our intended destination the next day and Angie's mom had a free hotel stay that she kindly gave to us) and woke up early to go to...

Disneyland!!!!

I love love LOVE this place. And it's becoming sort of a tradition with Angie and I (this was our third time going together). I was a bit nervous about how the back would hold up with all the walking and rides, but it did phenomenally well! Thank you God! We alternated motion-y rides (like Indiana Jones) with non-motion-y rides (Pirates of the Caribbean). Angie and Andrew birthday-surprised me by having already purchased my ticket! And it included a park hopper pass to California Adventures! I had never been there before and there were two things I was told I "must see": Soarin' California and the musical of Aladdin (my ALL TIME favorite Disney cartoon). Both were awesome (the musical was really impressive- about 45 minutes long, hilarious, and awesome special effects).

The library from Beauty and the Beast in California Adventures. You can determine which Disney character you are most like. Apparently, Angie is like Mulan and I am like Jane (from Tarzan). Interesting.

Warming our hands at the Disney fireplace :)

It was downright chilly the entire time we were there, interspersed with rain, which always abated...mostly. We didn't have umbrellas...so when the rain decided to downpour at 9pm...we called it quits...but still managed to get in a solid 13 hours of the Happiest Place on Earth :)

Posing like Buzz and Woody (except the camera was zoomed in too much and you really can see what THEY were posing like, but believe, me, we look JUST like them)

(I did avoid Space Mountain and the roller coaster in California Adventures, but the back did great on the Thunder Mountain coaster- love that ride).

Mad as a Hatter :)

Disneyland has a 4 page, front and back printed, gluten free menu. It was awesome! I could eat so much stuff there and everyone was really helpful (although Angie started calling me high-matinenance every time a manager stepped out to speak with me before preparing my food). But seriously, I had a grilled chicken sandwich and a BUN (gf of course!) for lunch and an awesome veggie enchiladas for dinner. And ice cream. But not for breakfast, because apparently Disneyland doesn't believe in selling ice cream at breakfast time. Odd, no? Oh well :)

PA Adventures

2011-03-01T13:01:00.004-06:00

Last week I traveled to PA to visit my friends Jana and Scott. Their first kiddo, Brady, arrived in December and this was my first time meeting him.

For some reason, I booked a flight with a layover in Chicago...in February. Not sure what I was thinking, but even though it was snowing in Chicago, I had no issues with my flights, thank you Lord!

It was a lazy two days of hanging out and enjoying their new addition :)

I'm a big fan of his shirt :)

The little cutie-pie talking to his mama after a feeding

Blog bits: steam mops and coffee

2011-02-21T09:27:00.004-06:00

Two stories that can't stand on their own as a whole blog post:

Steam mop:

Last weekend I went to the Texas Home and Garden Show. It was a let down. Unless you are about to completely gut your current home and renovate, you won't find the booths much help. There were no painting/decorating booths, nor landscaping idea booths. There were, however, a bagillion and three granite, roofing, flooring, new AC unit, radiant barrier, type booths. Oh well, good thing my friend and I used the groupon deal and got in for $5. :)

Just before we were leaving, we stopped at the booth for steam mops. Most of you have probably heard of the Shark, which is a pretty popular steam mop. The point of a steam mop is that it uses steam to clean- you don't dunk the mop in water and scrub at the floor. The steam loosens and removes the dirt and also disinfects due to the high temp of the steam.

With my back, mopping isn't much fun. I can do small spaces, but the kitchen can be a challenge for me with the rag mop that I currently have. Thus, I was planning on purchasing a steam mop, or rather the Shark.

The guy at the booth caught me eyeing the mop and asked me if I had any questions. I asked him what made his mop better than the Shark.

Apparently, with the Shark, you have to pump it to get the steam going. Exactly what I didn't want...this mop, you just fill it with water, hit the power button, and go. So after watching a pretty impressive demo, I bought the steam mop.

I love it. It is easier to use and my hardwoods and tile look great. Haven't tried it on carpet yet, but I am assuming it will do just as great a job. And my back likes it too. Yay for steam mops!

Coffee:

I bought new coffee last week. Seattle's Best is now selling their stuff in the grocery stores. I've been to several Seattle's Best coffee shops and always liked their coffee.

Their coffee-in-the-bag smells.

Coffee is supposed to smell good when you open the bag. Otherwise, all those Folgers commercials are lying. I opened the Seattle's Best bag and lowered my nose, breathed in...and ::coughwheezehack:: Eww. It smelled coffeeish...but not to where you want to keep inhaling that awesome freshly opened bag of coffee scent. The coffee tastes just fine...if you can get over the smell. (My poor co-worker on-console had to put up with a week of me whining about my stinky coffee every morning when I came in to get handover from him...he said it smelled good, which is why the remaining bag of coffee will be sitting on his desk soon).

So needless to say, I am back to my usual Dunkin Donuts coffee. And it smells heavenly.

On The Occasion Of Turning 30...

2011-02-20T17:56:00.005-06:00

The above delicious culinary creation is a cake my friend Erin made for me. Gluten-free almond cake with a lemontastic flavor. It was AMAZING. I had it with my coffee for breakfast this morning. (My roomie also made two beautifully decorated cakes for some friends I had over today, but alas, neither of us took pictures!).

So...the big 3-0.

Eh.

I haven't been looking forward to this birthday. I don't like the fact that I haven't been looking forward to this birthday, because it seems so cliche to think like that, but well, that's the honest truth :).

I think it's because I am not where I thought I would be in life when turning 30.

However, I have also gotten to do things in life that I never thought I would do before turning 30. Like the following:

1. Work at NASA
2. Travel to Russia (multiple times) and India (not your normal go-to places)
3. Buy a house
4. Run a half-marathon
5. Be a triathlete

and the most important "not expected"...stepping back and seeing how many amazing, inspiring, and encouraging friends and family that I have in my life.

I am incredibly blessed by the people God has put into my life to support me, make fun of me (in a good way :) ), correct me, cheer me on, make me laugh, listen to me cry, roll their eyes at me when I am being a drama-queen, pray for me, and encourage me. God has used them to help make me into the woman that I am today. And for that, I am thankful.

So if the next decade is anything like the last has been...

Welcome 30.

Birthday flowers from Erin V., Irma, and Pam :)

Gluten free - week 7

2011-02-20T17:09:00.006-06:00

I'm getting so used to this diet, that I don't have a ton to share every week, so I am saving gf nuggets until I have enough for a decent post.

So many people have been asking me if I have noticed a difference, so I figured I owed you all a status :). So, as a refresher (in case you are just tuning in), the reason I went on this diet was to see if I noticed any reduction in the symptoms of the autoimmune disease that I have.

My rheumatologist and I have been tweaking my meds during the time that I have been on the gf-diet (started tweaking about 1 month after being gf), but in general, I have noticed no drastic changes in how I feel. I am slowly feeling better (more energy, less pain, etc), but it's the normal trend from coming out of disease flare. I wouldn't associate it with going gf.

So, right now my plan is to finish out the 3 months of strict gf. Then, I will reintroduce the minor gluten items (those with natural flavoring that has gluten- sauces, dressings, etc). I will continue to avoid the "heavy hitter" gluten items- bread products, crackers, pretzels, etc. Because, studies show that gluten and inflammation are linked and anything I can do to reduce the amount of inflammation in my body I am all for and this will sound weird, but eating gf makes me feel... cleaner...like my insides aren't as heavy...see, I told you, sounds weird. Not sure how else to describe it. Besides, I really have found such good substitutes that I like the taste of that I almost don't miss bread. Almost :). And I am thankful to have the option to do a "modified gf diet"...those with Celiac cannot.

Here's my creation from this week:

These gf tortillas are actually pretty tasty. WHEN HEATED. They are ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING cold. I mixed some organic black beans, corn, and chipotle roasted diced tomatoes (all gf), half a slice of muenster cheese (all I had left in the fridge) and threw it on the gf tortillas (a nice change from corn tortillas, because I am not a huge corn tortilla fan), with some spinach and zapped it until heated. Pretty tasty.

Painting!

2011-02-06T19:59:00.007-06:00

I've started painting my bedroom. I'm really loving how it is turning out. Three walls are being painted a dark gray, Behr's Creek Bend. The remaining wall is going to be getting some awesome vertical stripes (Behr's Moonshine and Silver Drop) and wainscoting (to be painted a truly brilliant blue color). What's interesting about the dark gray is that right now...it looks slightly purple, but in daylight, it's definitely gray. Might need to switch out the lightbulbs I am using...

I've got two walls painted the dark gray (I'm waiting on the 3rd because I need to have some drywall work done...no use in painting it twice...) and I tested out the stripe technique in the mini-entry way into my bedroom. I plan to use bigger stripes on the actual bedroom wall (what you see is 6" and 4.25" stripes, with a wider white strip to encompass the light switch). I plan to do 8" stripes on the main wall.

I'm becoming a master taper, that's for sure! Here are some sneak-peek pictures...I'm thinking this might take me another week or two to finish up though...so don't hold your breath :)

Taping for the white stripes

Voila!

I didn't show the gray stripe taping, but you get the point. Here's the final product...yeah gotta touch up the darker gray wall...got paint on my fingers and then fell into the wall :)...also need to touch up the corner...that will come at the very end.
(Disclaimer: yes, the calendar you see is a Year of Mustangs...as in the car, and no, I do not like the year for February. ::shudder::)

Gluten free - 1 month!

2011-01-30T18:18:00.004-06:00

Wow, has it really been a whole month of gluten free? Yes, yes it has.

And it is going well.

I went to three restaurants this week:

The Egg and I- super helpful staff who answered my questions and came out to the table to tell me how they were preparing the frittata I ordered.

BJs- love their gf pizza!

Ruggles Green- it is a really good thing I don't live closer to this place because I would eat there every day. Amazing gf fish tacos and they have a pretty decent selection of gf items as well.

This week I focused on cooking more meals:

Quinoa with yellow-curried apples, green beans and tofu. The lead-in picture to this post. Probably sounds weird but it was super yummy!

Quinoa pasta with organic chicken, sauteed in Annie's Tuscan dressing

Baked tilapia with roasted mushrooms and asparagus

Each of these took maybe 40 minutes top to prepare and cook and made about 3 servings apiece, so plenty for lunches and dinners.

Oops...gotta go pull out my baked chicken with roasted sweet potatoes and mushrooms from the oven, that's my lunch for tomorrow :)

Rollercoaster

2011-01-30T17:52:00.004-06:00

That's what this week has been, a rollercoaster.

Now if you had asked me how my week has been on Friday, I would have said GREAT. So, apparently, it was a very unsymmetrical rollercoaster...

I got in 3 great workouts during the week:
Monday - 4 mile walk
Tuesday - 600m swim
Wednesday - 3 mile walk and 10 minutes on the elliptical
Took Thursday and Friday off 'cause I had some long work days and evening plans

I introduced short running periods of about 1 minute every 3/4 mile or so and my back was doing well. Still the ever present "hi, I am your back and I am not normal", but nothing awful.

Then yesterday, I went on a walk...I wanted to go 5 miles. I started out at a slower than normal pace, due to the distance and wanting to up the amount of time I was trying running (from 1 minute to 2 minute). About a half a mile in, I knew it was going to be a rough workout...my hip joints were stiff, oh hello Disease...back was okay though. I ended up doing 4.3 miles and was a bit gimp on the part home (and walking SLOWLY). The back really wasn't bad, it actually felt pretty good on the runs. It was just my whole body. Why can't my body listen to what my mind and heart want it to do? Dumb body needs to grow some ears...oh wait...

You see, I had this somewhat secret goal of walking the Galveston Mardi Gras Half Marathon on February 20th...which just happens to be my 30th birthday. And I came to the realization yesterday that it is just not going to happen at this time. I can't make it through 5 miles without being pretty uncomfortable. So...disappointment city.

It happens. I know. And I can think about the fact that I still locomoted 4.3 miles...that's pretty good considering the past 6 months and yes I am happy about it...if it wasn't for that thorn-in-my-side-not-meeting-my-goal-of-walking-the-half-marathon.

So I am working through it. Me and God that is. Tough questions being asked, tears being shed, learning a new level of being patient and waiting on Him. Thinking about the "short term" makes me want to cry...but thinking about the "long term"... I know He is working this for His good and He will be glorified and I will learn a WHOLE lot in the process.

Sometimes the process has it's stinky moments....

One step at a time...Philippians 3:14

Gluten free - week 3

2011-01-22T07:45:00.003-06:00

No huge gf epiphanies this week. Feeling like I am getting into a good pattern. Recognizing how important it is for me to carry a gf granola bar or some nut crackers in my purse/keep at my desk at work, in case my schedule changes unexpectedly and meal-time is delayed...can't just swing by a Sonic or Quiznos for my dinner anymore.

My favorite meal this week is just a twist on an old-fall back: bean burritos :)

Using white corn tortillas, organic fat-free refried black beans, gf green chile sauce, fresh spinach, and a bit of cheese, I can easily whip up two burritos and zap them in the microwave.

The twist of course, is the corn tortillas and gf green chile sauce. I have never been a huge fan of corn tortillas...but I am working on it...

I had a movie night last night with some girlfriends and while I can't eat microwaveable popcorn (and alas! I have yet to find an air-popper that isn't possessed and insists on spewing popcorn EVERYWHERE except the bowl), I CAN eat Pirate's Booty- it's puffed rice and corn! Score!

A Way with Words

2011-01-22T07:36:00.002-06:00

I am reading this fantastic book called, A Way with Words, by Christin Ditchfield. I heard about it through Carolyn McCulley's blog after she sang it's praises.

This book discusses our speech, how women speak WAY more than men (okay, so that wasn't new information :) ), and how we need to be so very careful of how we use our words.

So far this book has been extremely convicting and practical. The author uses both real-world examples and Biblical examples to describe how we, specifically as women, can use our words to manipulate, encourage, tear down, show kindness, and alienate.

She quotes many historically famous women, some I have heard of (Sojouner Truth, Eleanor Roosevelt...) and some I haven't. My favorite quote so far that really struck a chord:

"The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment" - Dorothy Neville

I highly recommend this book...and I am only on chapter 2!

Gluten free - week 2...and Dallas

2011-01-17T20:34:00.003-06:00

Figured I would roll two posts into one, since I kinda forgot to take pictures (well, I took two...of food :)) of my trip this past 3-day weekend to Dallas (really, Granbury) to visit my friends, the Frazier family. It's so awesome to not have to fly for 22 hours to visit them :) (Houston to Dallas = 44 minutes). Anyhow, it was a great time of catching up (pretty sure Colette and I talked the entire time :)) . Good times. We baked gf dark chocolate chunk cookies, compliments of Pamela's Products mixes (substituted applesauce for the butter). They were a bit chewier than your normal chocolate chip cookies, but I liked them, and so did Colette (Brian tried one I think, not sure what he thought though...). And only 6g of sugar per cookie!

Week 2 of gluten free went well. I tried out three different restaurants (Thai Cottage, BJs, and Jason's Deli). BJs was my favorite, with some pretty phenomenal gf pizza (I topped mine with artichoke hearts and mushrooms). But the others were tasty too (veggies soft spring rolls (TC) and a sandwich with gf bread (JD)).

My biggest realization of gf this week is that calorie counting is a bit different and that gf foods have a higher fat content than I am used to eating. Now, I pay attention to how many calories I eat because I am a triathlete...that is, when I am not on the injured train ;-)...I have to make sure I eat enough to replenish what I burn off during training workouts. The habit has stuck, which I figure isn't really a bad thing...as long as counting doesn't consume me, so I'm not very exact in my counting, just giving myself a rough idea. Anyhow, I discovered the higher than expected calorie numbers when toasting some prairie bread I bought at Whole Foods. Each slice was 160 calories!!! Now, this is because most gf stuff is made with some type of nut flour- which means higher calories and fats...but it's the good fat, so that does make it better...still, that makes for a hefty sandwich if you're just looking for a light snack! It's a bit of an adjustment for me, seeing numbers like those on what I am eating. For instance, I was estatic to score some Thai-brand microwave meals for $1.80 apiece at Kroger. Sweet! Until I got home and actually read the nutrition label- 520 cal and 66% of my daily sodium! Yikes! All for some peanut thai noodles, with no veggies or really not much nutrition in general. Bad Melissa. I will say, that Amy's meals are awesome and definitely worth the extra cost- all organic ingredients and very well balanced nutritionally....definitely more "clean eating".

So, I've decided to avoid pre-made meals as much as possible (I only allow myself to buy two Amy's meals per week, just for those "I'm-so-tired-it's-a-challenge-to-even-push-Start-on-the-microwave" days). Hence why I have some spinach and mushroom gf risotto and sauteed asparagus and zuchinni on the stove right now... looking forward to lunch tomorrow :)

Airport snack- almond crackers and gf pretzel sticks

Gluten free - 1 week

2011-01-08T18:16:00.004-06:00

Gluten free (gf) for one week...done. Even managed to make some gf chicken noodle soup for a few sick days this week (rice noodles and gf chicken broth, with some tasty toasted flax seed bread)

My meals this week consisted of some combination of the below:

Breakfast- coffee and a bowl of gf steel cut oats
Lunch- quinoa/corn pasta with gf sauce, veggies, cheese sticks, Blue Diamond Nut Thins (yum!), fruit (I've also found some tasty Amy's gf meals that work in a pinch too)
Dinner- similar to lunch, braised red cabbage and portabella mushrooms with feta, cottage cheese, eggs, gf chicken nuggets (tasty and healthy too!), chocolate soy milk, fruit, gf soups with toasted flax bread, veggies (zuchinni, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes)

At some point I plan to make mini-turkey meatloafs with the new gf breadcrumbs I bought today, but I generally don't eat a lot of meat. I do beans as well, but this week was weird due to the sick thing...I pretty much went for "no work required" for what my meals consisted of :). In general, I think this gf diet will be very doable, it hasn't been a huge change from my normal eating habits...so far :)

The biggest challenge that I have encountered so far is going to be finding sauces that I like...my recent foray into gluten free ranch salad dressing and BBQ sauce weren't very successful. And finding a good protein bar...I love my Odwalla bars, but alas, however natural they are, they still include gluten, so I am now on the hunt to find a bar that is natural, has decent protein, doesn't taste like cardboard, and is wallet friendly. I may just end up making my own bars...I've found a few recipes online that look pretty tasty.

My friend Erica came with me to Whole Foods today to point out some tasty gluten free products (like some yummy pretzels!). Between this store, two local grocery stores (Kroger and HEB), and some online ordering, I think I'm pretty well covered for groceries, with many options to choose from.

A kind co-worker, who I have never actually met, left a bag of Pamela's Products Bread mix (I have yet to try it) and the most amazing flour called "Better Batter" on my desk the other day. You can use BB mix as a cup for cup substitute for whatever you normally use in recipes. And I did. And my zucchini muffins came out just as tasty as my usual recipe :D. And probably a bit healthier due to the chia seeds I added for a protein, fiber, and Omega-3 boost.

Gf Zuchinni Muffins

Aqua shoes!

2011-01-04T15:01:00.004-06:00

I took advantage of end of the year sales (woot!) and bought a pair of AQX aquatic shoes for my aquajogging. There are a lot of good shoes out there for aquajogging, but these are the only ones that I found that are designed to increase your drag in the water, which means a harder workout...and you all know I love a challenge :). Now, if I could just kick this cold so I can get in the pool and try them out...

Definitely increasing the nerd factor by adding these to my aquajogging getup ;-)

Tucson times

2010-12-28T18:26:00.006-06:00

I forgot (read: was unable to locate) my camera cord before heading to AZ, so you'll have to deal with the pictures I have taken on my phone...which actually aren't too bad...yay EVO! I am having so much fun with my nephews and getting to hang out a lot with my family. I would have more pictures of Carter, but I am usually holding him. Apparently, he's quite taken with Aunt Sissa...no complaints here :) Good times!

Uncle Bobby caught in the act of beating up on John Michael

Carter chowing down and flirting at the same time. Kid has talent :)

Blowing out his number 4 candle

Apparently sitting on a just-got-woken-up-by-my-adorable-nephews-Sissa is a lot of fun

Monica and I left John Michael and Nana to make cookies and this is what we returned to...

Wearing Sissa's hat

On the "milk truck" at Shamrock Farms

Going Gluten Free

2010-12-23T12:47:00.003-06:00

Yup, I am. Starting on Jan 1st, I am going to go gluten-free for 3 months.

Why? I've been doing a lot of research and talking with a doctor or two and studies are showing that inflammation and gluten are related. Autoimmune diseases come with lots of inflammation- a friend of mine, and a doctor, has RA and eats gluten free and has had positive results- less pain, fewer flares, etc. I don't have RA, but my disease is in the same family, so I figured, hey it doesn't hurt to try it! And if it helps, WAHOO!!!! From what I've read, you need to be gluten-free for about 3 months to see any affects, and if it works, well just call me Gluten-Free For Life Girl. :)

So I am researching away right now, finding recipes, making meal plans... If you have any good blogs, cookbooks, websites that you recommend for gluten-free please let me know. Since I don't eat a lot of meat (and NO beef), gluten-free vegetarian recipes would be even better!

I plan to do a gluten-free status post once a week to let you all know how it is going.

Girls Group Christmas Party 2010

2010-12-13T19:21:00.003-06:00

Photos compliments of Allyson, who is launching her photography career :). Check out her blog here. We had our Girls Group Annual Christmas Party and it was FUN :). Love my girls and so blessed to have them in my life.

Games!

Gift exchange

Wreath :)

Vault of Torture

2010-12-09T18:33:00.008-06:00

I really really really wanted to call this blog "Ovary Crunchers" but thought "hmm, is that really appropriate?" So I made it the first line of my blog instead :D. Read on, you'll get to it...

I had a, we'll call it "back episode", on Tuesday. And to start off, NO, it was not related to my running a mile on Saturday. How do I know? 1)Unless running can cause joint inflammation in one's left hand as well as the back, this was totally related to the fantastic action of my white blood cells attacking my connective tissue (ie my disease) 2) I have been running for the past month, for comparable durations to what I did in the mile, and never experienced any issues- these running episodes were in addition to 3-4 workouts per week (stationary bike, elliptical, aquajog/swim) that I have been logging, so I really don't think the running caused this. However, I will of course, continue to pay meticulous attention to every minute sign that my body throws when I start running again. Believe me, this gal does not want to be on the active lifestyle sidelines.

That being said- I woke up on Tuesday morning unable to bend my fingers on my left hand (an occasional occurrence for me, so that didn't worry me). However, my inability to stand without seeing stars and triggering my gag reflex from the pain did worry me. I crawled to the medicine cabinet (praise the Lord I keep the potent stuff in a lower drawer), downed a Vicadin (hate that stuff) and a muscle relaxer and proceeded to sob myself into a drug induced stupor. (Big thanks to the roomie who worked from home in case I needed something- thankfully no bonding moments with a bedpan were required of her). By the afternoon, I could hobble fairly well and I continued to improve into the evening.

Of course, once I could speak without drug-induced slurring, I called my awesome chiropractor/PT inflictor to schedule a torture, er, PT session the next day.

On Wednesday, I was THANKFULLY able to move around pretty well, some limping and I was doing the whole stand-up-like-an-old-lady routine (no offense meant to the elderly out there). I headed to the Vault of Torture, or more commonly known as my chiropractor/PT inflictor. Where I proceeded to regress to my pre-run-by-two-months-PT-treatments of...you got it, OVARY CRUNCHERS.

What are ovary crunchers? The most hated of all hated PT therapies (Dr.A, if you are reading this, I am very thankful for all your help. Really.). My chiro has me lay on my side on the torture table and she proceeds to grip my side with both hands as hard as humanly possible and dig her fingers into my belly, attempting push my ovaries through my lower vertebrae in the process. Whilst my ovaries are being crushed, I then have to swing my leg up, and then as back as far as I can go without passing out, and then down. This HURTS. Tears are shed. Why must I do ovary crunchers? Well, apparently, when my body experiences the Big Bad Inflammation, it goes into self-defense mode (i.e. every muscle in my body attempts to curl up, fetal position). One of the most trouble-causing culprits is the psoas muscle (red arrow is pointing to it below).

It's a big tough muscle and mine is SUPER tight (it's like its trying to get away from the inflammation...smart muscle). So ovary crunchers are pretty much the only way to get at the muscle (since it's buried behind things...like my organs) to stretch it and get it to behave. Along with some other contortionist-like stretches that are part of my now vast PT stretch repertoire.

So there you have it. Right now, I feel like I did about oh, 2 months ago. Not quite ready to walk a speedy walk, but not far off. I am super estastic to see how quickly my body has bounced back this time and I pray that this will continue. And that this back inflammation does not become part of my standard tool bucket of disease symptoms. Thanks for all your prayers!

Thanks!

2010-12-09T18:30:00.002-06:00

Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying for me, encouraging me through emails, texts, and notes. I am so thankful for your friendship and appreciate your words. You all ROCK! :)

I.RAN.

2010-12-04T11:20:00.006-06:00

Reindeer Run 2010

Surprise! :) :) :)

You read the title correctly. Read on for the whole story…

I started “running” again on Nov. 7^th, 3 months and 3 weeks from the day I spent in the ER sobbing to the doctor about the scary back pain I was experiencing and that started a bazillion doctor visits, scans, weeks spent laying on my back, PT sessions, lots of tears-grimaces-winces-groans, baby steps, small flickers of light…you get the point…on with the story.

On Nov 7th I was on the Seabrook trails and feeling good, so I upped my pace and put more weight on my footfalls…not even sure if you can call it jogging, let alone running…I did that for 10 seconds. It felt the same as walking (i.e., still felt that dullish right side back pain, but it didn’t get worse). A bit later, I did another 10 seconds, with more weight on my footfalls. Felt the same as the first 10 seconds. So then I did two 30 second jogs about 15 minutes apart. Oh wow did it feel AMAZING to move my legs like that again! And yes, I told my chiropractor/PT inflictor and she approved :).

Here are the walk/run combos I have logged since Nov 7^th:

Walk 1 mile, run 30 seconds, walk 1 mile, run 30 seconds

Walk 1 mile, run 30 seconds, walk 1 mile, run 45 seconds

Walk 1 mile, run 1 minute, walk 1 mile, run 1 minute

Walk 1 mile, run 2 minutes , walk 1 mile, run 3 minutes, walk 1 mile

Walk 1 mile, run 2 minutes, walk some more, run 2 minutes, walk some more, run 2 minutes (total 3.1 miles)

Walk 1 mile, run 2 minutes, walk some more, run 3 minutes, walk some more, run 2 minutes (total 3.1 miles)

Walk 1 mile, run 5 minutes!, walk 2 miles

Walk .25 miles, run for 7 minutes, walk, total 2 miles

Walking .25 miles, run for 9 minues, walk, total 2 miles

And TODAY, walk 2 miles, run 1 mile :) (~11:30 pace)

I bawled tears of joy during the first 3 minute run I did. Bawling and running with a HUGE grin on my face and chanting “thankyouLordthankyouLordthankyouLord”.

(followed by a quickly squashed mental wail of “oh my gosh I have completely lost my cardio fitness…being honest here :) ).

The walking was done at a pretty decent clip, 15:15-16:00 minute pace, with the runs at a slow-for-my-usual-pace of 11 minute/mile. In each of these combos, when I start running, I feel the same “not quite right” right back pain feeling- it’s not truly painful, just annoying. Then, as I have increased the run durations, the feeling almost goes away, and I feel pretty much pre-July normal.

So this morning, my running buddy Lisa, who had said she would walk this race with me, actually got to RUN the last mile with me, and I crossed the finish line…RUNNING… ::INSERT BIGGEST GRIN EVER::

I. RAN.

Thank.You.Lord.

Christmas Decorations 2010!

2010-11-28T15:48:00.004-06:00

I was nervous this Christmas decorating season...a whole house to decorate...and my puny lil pile of Christmas decorations leftover from my apartment ::gulp::

Have no fear, Black Friday is here! I scored some great more-than-half-price-off decorations and a great Christmas tree. Along with some creativity (fishing line, hooks, 1/2 price fabric, and festively wrapped cardboard boxes), I think I achieved the festive, yet-non-Griswoldesque look I was going for. The outside of the house leaves much to be desired, only a few poinsettas and a wreath, but next year folks, next year there will lights.

So here you go, Christmas Decorations 2010 in all their holiday beautifulness :)

Snowflake mobile over my couch! (fishing line, screw-in hooks and glittery snowflakes)

Fireplace

Breakfast nook

Christmas tree!

Festive wall vases

Behind the kitchen sink

Presents on top of the cabinets

I love my new elf candle holders from CB2!

The Vet

2010-11-27T10:07:00.003-06:00

I loathe traveling anywhere with my cats. I really really do.

Why? Short answer (some of you have heard the full tales):

Bacon pooping in his carrier and prompting an immediate pull-over-at-nearest-gas-station-and-try-not-to-breathe-until-you-get-there response

Eggs screaming (yes) so much that I let her out of her carrier and she then proceeds to crawl from the backseat, over the drivers seat and my shoulder, down my front, trying her best to wedge herself between the gas and brake pedals.

Bacon ripping a cardboard carrier (stupid idea) airhole enough to push his head through, and then toppling face first from the seat to the car floor.

So, I was not looking forward to traveling the 15 minutes to the vet with both of them in my car. The reason for the vet? Nothing serious- just been awhile since they had shots and they are both fat and I need help getting them to lose some weight.

Claire attempted to help me get them in their carriers on Wednesday, but it was an epic fail when Bacon rocketed out of his carrier before she could slam the door shut and hid under my bed. The vet graciously rescheduled me for Friday.

Yesterday, I pulled out the big guns and had my friend, Moose, come help me. She's great with cats.

The cats ended up in the carrier, but not before Moose almost got her hand amputated by Bacon's flailing front legs and the mattress and boxspring on my bed were removed to actually get Bacon out from under the bed. When I closed the door on the last carrier, Moose looked at me and said "Wow. I have NEVER seen cats struggle so much. That was pretty bad". Finally, the reason for my loathing-traveling-with-my-animals has been recognized by somone other than me.

I drive the 15 stressful, ear-drum splitting minutes (my cats scream, they really do) to the vet. At which, my cats proceed to demonstrate that they are not really domestic house cats but sabertooth tigers that were undiscovered, spitting, growling, cowering in the most inaccesible corner in the office, etc. The only way to get the blood, give the vaccines, shave Eggs, etc was to sedate them. Both of them. Seriously, who has cats that need sedated for a CHECKUP!? ::raises hand:: So I leave them for a few hours in the very capable hands of the vet...who has been laughing through the Eggs and Bacon Show, whilst I am practically in tears and horribly embarrassed by their uncharacteristic behavior.

3 hours later and my holiday money now spent at the vets, I bring home two yowling and seriously ticked off cats who, even though it's almost 24 hours later, are still hissing at me whenever I walk past them, but it's okay if they bite me, because they've been vaccinated.

I just can't wait to see how they handle this diet food. I'm afraid I'll wake up one morning missing a big toe because Sabertooth Bacon (or Eggs) has nibbled it off...

Gotta love dreams

2010-11-21T18:52:00.003-06:00

I had a dream last night that I was competing in a triathlon...after I ran a half-marathon. Apparently, I am an over-achiever even in my dream state.

'Course, I didn't end up doing the triathlon, 'cause I hadn't finished packing my transition bag the night before and my bike tires weren't pumped up since it had been sitting in the garage for the last 5 months...and I was stressing out about being able to get out of the transition area before they closed it and was freaking out to my running/training buddy Lisa about it...this is the second triathlon dream I have had since being sidelined and the location of the tri was the same...some random lake in the middle of the woods...it's quite a pretty locale with a smooth-as-glass lake that looks fun to swim...

This is what happens when you cheer on a friend who is running a half-marathon with your running buddy earlier in the day and then talk about marathons with friends over dinner...and you are currently experiencing a moratorium on tri-ing/running. ::chuckle::

Least I can run/tri in my dreams, right? :)

Just call me Harry...

2010-11-21T18:44:00.004-06:00

Yes, minus the electric blue spandex running pants that "Harry" sports in a speed-walking scene in the movie "When Harry Met Sally", that's me....bent elbows and everything...although I do hope my hips don't rock as much as his did because that CAN'T be good for anyone's back... (I know that's random, but I remember thinking how...well...dorky he looked speedwalking...oh how the proud must fall :) )

Stronghold

2010-11-07T17:10:00.005-06:00

I've recently started reading through Psalm 27 and I am breaking it down verse by verse and spending time thinking about, praying about, and writing about what each verse means. It's been incredibly fruitful and I love what God is teaching me (or reminding me of!). I'm not going to share my thoughts on each verse, but will trying to give you a sampling. I'm using the ESV Bible.

"The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"- Psalm 27:2

From Merriam Webster: "A stronghold is 1) a fortified place, 2) a place of survival or security, and 3) a place dominated by a particular group or marked by a particular characteristic

Where to start....

A fortified place is a place that has been added to, built up to provide extra protection. Everything around me can fall apart (by the way, I'll write more about this with my thoughts on verse 3...) but if I stick near to God, the stronghold, the fortified place, I will not be shaken, or rather, the important stuff won't be shaken (i.e. the fact that I belong to Him) because face it, we're human and stuff does shake us up. Praise God that He doesn't move.

A place of survival or security- for me, the thought of trying to draw one breath without God is, mind-boggling. I know I "did it" at one point- before He, in His grace and mercy showed me my need of Him, but I could not imagine going through every day life, let alone hardships, without Him. It points back to the "fortified" part- He is stable. This world is not. I can mercifully seek Someone who is stable and I know He is there and that my hope lies with Him. Eternally.

A place dominated by a particular group or marked by a particular characteristic- I want to be marked as a woman who loves the Lord (that's the particular characteristic)- that every action, word, and thought is saturated with Him, that people see Him through my actions and words. I fall very short of this mark, but it's a process, and I pray that my desire to honor Him in everything will only increase through the years.

Race

2010-11-07T07:29:00.002-06:00

I signed up for a race.

The Reindeer Run/Walk 5k. The first race I ever did three years ago. This year, I'm going to walk it with my running buddy, Lisa, who is awesome.

I'm just a bit excited to sign up for a race again. Just a bit.

::imagine 50 million ginormous grins right here::

See told ya, just a bit.

Small touches

2010-11-06T11:14:00.006-06:00

Just a few small things I've been doing around the house:

1) White spray paint is awesome

A $3 can of spray paint goes a long way. I painted these frames to better fit in with my color scheme. And "Harriet" got a white coat as well. My roommate, Claire, bought one of these wire blackbirds from CB2 (his name is Horatio) and I liked it so much that I bought one too (Harriet)

White frames

Harriet and Horatio

Harriet's perch

2) Light fixtures!

Irma's husband, Jonathan, came over today and spent 2.5 hours hanging several light fixtures that I had purchased. Amazing what a difference it makes!

Perfectly nice Tuscan style, but not me.

Hehe, much more me :)

Again, nice Tuscan style, but not the look I am going for

Sleek, modern pendant (sorry for the different angle). Ah, now for a dining table!

From bare bulb in the closet-turned-office to funky flower fixture :)

Workouts this week!

2010-11-06T07:35:00.002-06:00

Oh yeah, that's right, I am posting about my WORKOUTS THIS WEEK!!!!! ::happy dancing::

Monday- had PT and my chiropractor said not to come back this week. Yup, you read correctly, I'm trying only ONE PT session per week. Thank you Lord!

Did a two mile walk Monday evening and it hurt. A lot. I stepped off of a curb too hard and jarred my back so strongly that I exclaimed outloud and grabbed my back. But after some ice, it felt back to its usually "hi, I'm Melissa's back and I like to make my presence known but I'm getting less stubborn about it" feel.

Wednesday- 4 miles on the recumbent stationary bike and a 1 mile walk. Felt pretty good.

Thursday- 2o minutes on the elliptical (first time I have done that! The back didn't hurt AT ALL) and a 1 mile walk...felt the walk, had to slow the pace.

I plan to aquajog today.

And all of this with only ONE PT session this week. Considering I've been doing 2 sessions a week for the past 3 months, this is a HUGE deal. So thankful to be moving in the right direction, ha, just thankful to actually be moving! :)

Cleaning supplies?

2010-11-06T07:22:00.005-06:00

This is a pretty random post. I've been trying to stick with "green" cleaning supplies as much as possible. I started with the Greenworks brand when I first got my house- but it turns out I am not a fan because it leaves a sticky residue (sticky floors are not fun).

I recently switch to using Meyer's products (cleaners and laundry detergent). I LOVE this brand. They smell SOOOO good.

Basil scent for laundry, floors, and bathroom. Lemon verbena scent for kitchen

The laundry detergent is a great deal too. I thought at first "this is going to be pricier" but when I looked at the numbers- nope. Most all natural laundry detergents that are good for H.E (high efficiency) machines are expensive (usually around $9-11 for ~26 loads). Meyer's (purchased at Walmart): $7.98 for 32 loads. Not a huge price difference, but it still counts!!

If you're using natural cleaning supplies as well, what do you recommend? And yes, I know that you can mix vinegar and stuff like that, but 1) I'm lazy and 2) it doesn't smell as pretty :)...still, Id be interested to hear suggestions.

Fall decorations

2010-10-31T07:03:00.005-06:00

I've never decorated for fall, but I've been to a few of my friend's houses recently, and I just love their fall decorations (Irma...Megan...Jessica...) so I decided to get into the spirit of things, small scale :).

Gourds, pumpkins, and fall foliage around the kitchen sink (I have another bowl of gourds on the coffee table too)

Fall foliage and Yankee Candle's "Autumn Leaves" candles
(can't thank Lisa enough for introducing me to that scent)

So, like I said, small scale. But the decorations make me smile. :D