One Thousand Gifts

I'm not even halfway through this book and I already love it. It took me 10 or 20 pages to get used to the author's writing style. It's different but very poetic- I like it. It's helping me to view the world and my life a little differently.

This morning Jonah missed the bus. He looked sideways at me to gauge my reaction. The sink was FULL of unwashed dishes, confetti all over the floors (courtesy of Lucy), Daniel still in bed. I was no where near ready to host the playgroup that would be starting in less than 2 hours... but words from the book were fresh in my mind from the night before. I quickly told him I was glad to drive him to school so we could have a few more minutes together... and realized I meant it.

The bayou by our house was filled to brimming with fog, the moon a sliver and the sky turning pink. Breathtaking. We talked about condensation and his classes. It was 5 minutes that could have been hurried and ending in curt waves. Instead there was just a sweet peaceful feeling as we said our good-byes. Defnitely a better way to start the day. Recommended reading? Definitely.

Marinara Miracle

Emily gave me Giada's marinara recipe a few months ago and I am seriously in love. So simple and so delicious. Most pasta sauce from a jar tastes blah to me and the good stuff is way too expensive. So here is the solution: About once every 6 weeks make Giada's recipe (doubled). Freeze a bunch and you will have it on hand. We have pasta, bread and salad every Monday. The kiddos all love this meal and it is easy to prepare. If you buy a #10can of diced or crushed tomatoes you save even more money (these cost $2.79 at Costco).

Ingredients:

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 small onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 stalks celery, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 #10 can crushed or diced tomatoes plus 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
4 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. I don't chop everything super small and so at the end I use my immersion hand blender to blend it up right in the pan.

Freeze remaing sauce in tupperware for future fantastic meals. We love this dinner with Artisan bread and a basic salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing. (I just started making this because I'm sick of throwing away salad dressing from the store). Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup olive oil
3 T Balsamic vinegar
few shakes of salt and pepper

Running

Welp! It's 8 months later and I'm still running. I cannot believe it. Really. I remember back in college when I worked at Great Harvest. A lot of my coworkers and our customers were runners and they would always be talking about it. I thought they were braggy and sadistic. :O The few times I had tried running were pretty much torture. Then I decided somewhere along the way that running couldn't possibly be good for you b/c of all the stress it causes on your joints, not to mention that juggling of your organs part.

I had no intention of ever running as a hobby or even for exercise but it has honestly become a huge happy part of my life. I really can't believe it. And now I totally get why people talk about it so much! It's a little bit life changing!

It actually started right after Lucy was born when a few friends and I decided to walk 3 times a week. We would walk for about an hour in the morning and then let our kids play at the park. I got to know several awesome women from church and really looked forward to our time together. Actually as a side note, this is when I stopped hating Texas. Coincidence? :O

Anyway after a year of walking, a couple of my buddies moved away and a couple more had babies. But I also found that walking was making me restless and I was sort of fighting the urge to run. So I started run/walking with the boys to school. It was okay and I liked that I was working out while getting my kids where they needed to be. I'm all about consolidating.

Then two things happened. The first was that I read some of the book "Born to Run." Not sure if I even believe all his crazy adventures and not sure I have any interest in trying the five finger shoes. BUT... he reminded me how much I loved running as a kid. I mean, I loved it! My best friend Cheryl and I were the only girls in elementary to not join the safety patrol because we could not bear to miss recess. Ever. We played with the boys every day and I wasn't even really boy crazy yet! Games like Jailbreak, Cops and Robbers and tag of course. The book also stressed that running is very natural for humans and we're designed for it. I serioulsy had not sprinted as fast as I could in years and I wanted to feel that again. So then my awesome friend Jen told me I needed to get serious. So I did my first 3 miles ever. It was horrible and took me 37 minutes. But I was proud of myself for making it. I started running 3 times a week with a longer run on Saturdays and was amazed at how much easier it got with each run. About half the time I run with friends and it's so great to talk and laugh while we're getting some exercise.

I've also decided that I am not a treadmill person. Tried that a few years ago and detested it. Running outside makes all the difference. I'm a nature nerd and love looking at the trees and flowers or stars and sunrises. It puts me in a great mood. I kept thinking all summer long that I would probably stop running in the ridiculous heat and humidity but I really didn't want to. This was maybe the hottest Texas summer ever so I pretty much had to run at 6am or 8pm but that actually worked out. It will be so strange to run in cool weather. I'm thinking I'll like it. :) I also think it's sort of interesting to map out different trails and time myself to see how fast I can go. I'm not fast btw. The other thing I love about running is that I get a serious high afterwards. Yes I'm sore but I feel great and motivated.

For the first month I had some aches and pains. My IT band gave me a little trouble but two things seem to work for that. 1) I stretch it out using this big tube pillow that Curtis uses for his back and 2) I have to run 3 times per week. If I let 5 or 6 days go by without running my whole body complains. The good news about that is that it's helped me to stay consistent- which is pretty much a first as far as exercise goes for me.

So long story longer I'm signed up for a half marathon in a few weeks. I'm pretty nervous b/c I don't want to feel the pressure of everyone watching while I run... but I'm going with a bunch of cool girlfriends and my BF, Lou from high school is gonna be there too. We are so excited to just talk and catch up! I'm following the Hal Higdon Novice to Half Marathon plan and just did my first 9 mile. It went great. I cannot believe it! I've found that if I drink and eat really well the day before, get a decent sleep and have a banana with peanut butter before the run it goes very well. I also bought some energy fruity snacks and eating those halfway through gave me some energy. Haven't figured out the best way to carry water yet. Working on it...

Someone asked me if I was still in the honeymoon phase of running. That sort of bummed me out b/c I'll be sad if I just stop liking it one day. But three of my good friends here have all been running for years and said they all still love it! So there's hope. Wish me luck on the race. :)

That time again!

I can't believe General Conference is here again. As I get older I appreciate this wonderful weekend more and more. Sitting through 8 hours of church talks doesn't sounds appealing at first but the messages are so uplifting and hopeful we end up feeling rejuvinated. I am so grateful to live in a time and place where I can easily hear God's prophet speak!.

Some things that help our family through the weekend:

1) Good food. Popcorn and apples, fruit smoothies, a huge veggie plate with hummus and Red Hot Blues (yumma), M&M cookie dough, and ribs for dinner (this is my kid's all time fav). I bought the ingredients to make ice cream and if we are champions we'll get on that!

2) Conference coloring and writing. Some years I am really cool and make each kid a folder with some great printouts. Some years we just have paper and colored pencils. I even like to color while listening

3) A comfy space to watch and listen. This year we got rid of cable but we are able to watch it on our computer upstairs. Beanbags, pillows and blankets help us stay comfortable while watching and allow for that inevitable conference nap. :O

4) For the last few years we have invited friends over to watch the last session on Sunday and then stay for dinner. We have been really suprised at how well behaved the kids are (especially if you invite someone they don't know as well) and it's just fun to have some company (helps curb the Sunday afternoon nap as well!). This year we are going solo since Isaac has a fever and was throwing up yesterday. dang!

The End.