So Thankful--Day 2

Today, I'm going to talk about my Mommee. Yup. That's how you spell her name!

Mommee is the best! I love that she'll talk to me on IM while she's at work, and that I can call her and chat almost any time and about anything. If I'm having a bad day, a good day, or just a day, Mommee is there. Even when my honey is in class and he's not available, I can at least tell Mommee "Hi!"

My Mommee is so supportive! When something bad happens, she's there for me. Even though she's in Utah and I'm in California, she's still there for me. (Hooray for instantaneous communication technologies!)

She's been there for me as I worked on losing weight and showed me a website where I could find nutritional information for just about any recipe! She cheered with me whenever I'd hit a milestone, and took me shopping for some new "skinny" clothes the last time I visited!

She also always makes sure that when I come to visit, I have everything I need (and more!). She feeds me and washes my clothes and EVEN IRONS MY SHIRTS for me! (I know--AMAZING!)

I love you, Mommee! Thank you for everything you do for me!

Thanksgiving Week

My sister started a thing on her blog where she's talking about something she's thankful for every day this week. I'm a copy-cat, so I'm going to do the same thing. She can just deal with me stealing her ideas! (Love you, girl!)

Today, I am thankful for my little sister, who sends me tissues in the mail, makes me jealous of her cuteness, and sometimes gives me a hard time. She came to visit me earlier this year, and I loved it--even if it meant I got to be a taxi service part of the time! She's adorably cute and very intelligent, as well as a hard worker. She is the one I can get fashion advice from, because she always seems to know what's "in."

For my birthday, she sent me a CD of relaxing songs. (I guess she thinks I'm always stressed out or something? lol) I love it, and if I wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep, I put on my iPod and listen to the music.

I also love how she'll call me sometimes just to chat or to sing "Happy Birthday" or to ask me a cooking question. Every time she calls to ask me something, it makes me feel special!

Love you, girl! When I visit in January, we should go shopping! I still need to work on my wardrobe!

Allergies...

So, I've been having some issues with allergies--mostly congestion--lately. As in, there are days I can't breathe through my nose type allergies. Since I didn't have as many allergy issues in Utah, I'm guessing it may be mold. Ah, the joys of humidity.

So, I talked to my doctor about it when I had my annual physical this last week. She gave me a prescription for Allegra-D (which has no generic), but the insurance won't cover the prescription and it would cost me over $140 for 30 pills. Insane. So, I tried Claritin-D (the generic version of it, at least) which is supposed to be similar in the way it works. I haven't noticed much of a difference. I guess my nose is a little less stuffy and a little more runny, but I don't know.

So, I guess I'm going to have to contact the doctor again and try to figure out what I should do next. I'm really tired of being stuffy all the time--and it makes people think I'm sick, which I'm not. (I've had it for about a month--no cold lasts that long!)

Hubby <3

My husband is amazing. One of the things he does is he'll look at me and just smile, then say "I love you. You're beautiful." I love it! He gets this look in his eyes that lets me know he really thinks it, too.

He also takes care of me and frets over me. Once, when I wasn't feeling well (turned out I was dehydrated and hypothermic from a walk we'd done in 90+ degree weather--long story), he paced the living room waiting for his dad to come and help him give me a blessing. He couldn't sit still and kept pacing to the window to see if his dad had gotten there yet, then coming back to where I was sitting on the couch... Even though I felt terrible, I thought it was adorable!

He loves being near me and just touching me. He'll sit next to me on the couch and put his arm around me while he plays a computer game, or play with my hair as I lay with my head on his lap.

When I worked in retail and was on my feet all day, there were a couple of times when I'd come home and just crashed. He would come over and take my shoes off, then start rubbing my gross, sweaty feet--if that's not love, I don't know what is!

I love to make things and work with my hands. Even though he doesn't really share those interests, he loves to see what I've made and admires them. He even likes to show them off to people and brag about them, which I can be too shy to do!

When he heard this song on the radio, he loved it. I think it describes the way he feels about me perfectly!

30 Pounds

In January, I realized I needed to lose weight. At 5'4" and nearly 170 pounds, I was overweight and bordering on obese. I was at risk for Type II diabetes, and wasn't happy with how I looked or felt. So, things needed to change.

I started eating more carefully--watching my carbohydrate intake, eating more vegetables, and having smaller portions. At first, I hated it. I was hungry, and CRAVED sugars and other carbohydrates. It was hard. I also started walking more, aiming for around 10,000 steps a day (which I sometimes got higher, other times lower, and measured by borrowing my hubby's pedometer).

But, I soon started seeing the numbers on the scale go down. Two pounds one week, nearly five pounds another. Then, one day, I pulled on a pair of size 12 pants and noticed that they were so loose I could pull them off without unbuttoning them! To celebrate (and because I knew I wasn't done yet), I went down to Goodwill and got a pair of size 10 jeans--the first I'd owned in a couple of years! Then, one day, I went in to Goodwill and tried on a pair of size 8s--and they FIT. AMAZING!! I couldn't remember when I last wore size 8 pants--probably in High School or the beginning of college!

In six months, I lost 30 pounds--which is HUGE! I was so thrilled! I have now steadied my calorie intake and such so that I am not losing anymore. I still watch my weight and weigh myself often. I'll sometimes gain a pound or two, then I watch what I eat more carefully and go for more walks.

I look at pictures from when I was in Utah in January, then look at my reflection in the mirror, and there is such a huge difference, in my face as well as the rest of me!

I have a growing pile of clothes that I don't fit in anymore, but haven't gotten rid of yet. I'm thinking I'll see if I can sell them to Plato's Closet or something, then donate the rest to Goodwill or see if somebody in my ward wants them. I should do that soon, as part of the weight-loss mind-change process--I don't need those clothes anymore, because I will never be that big again.

I like to look at myself in the mirror more than I did before--my closet doors are mirrored, and I used to avoid it. Now I'll look and say "Wow! I'm skinny!"

Yesterday, I was at Walmart and saw some khakis, and thought "I wonder..." So I grabbed a size 6 and went into the dressing room. I pulled them on... and they fit! I was thrilled! The last time I remember wearing a size 6 was when I was in middle school! Of course, I had to buy them. And all day long, I kept telling my husband "I'm skinny!"

The one thing I'm having trouble with is remembering that I'm so much smaller. I sometimes look in the mirror and go "Is that what I look like?" because, in a part of my mind, I'm still a size 12. I go places and will think something about my weight--then remember, that's not me anymore. People aren't going to look at me and think I'm fat. People won't even make note of what size I am, really. I do, however, get a little bit of a high when looking at clothes, then pushing past the size 12s and saying to myself "I'm smaller than that. I'm not that size anymore."

Homeward Bound--My Walk Pt. 2

I started walking home along the beach, and saw a lot of neat things. The waves were coming in and creating mist, and there were very few people--and the people there were tended to be jogging.

I love how this paw-print looks like it's coming out instead of being an imprint in the sand (which it was).

We recently had some rain, which came with rain and high waves (some people even were swept out to sea--sadly, one woman died.) This is a kelp holdfast that was washed ashore! Pretty impressive--it's hard to tell the size from the photo, but it was maybe as long as my arm.

I was even lucky enough to find some shells! This one was the largest. I brought them home with me. :)

I saw several of these sad little dead sunfish--I remember they told us at the aquarium once that their fins are one of the few parts of their bodies that predators can eat, so they'll end up dying fin-less. The ones I saw were actually small, as sunfish go--maybe a foot long.

I also found many jellyfish--the first time I've ever seen them washed ashore. They really do look like jelly!

I nudged a couple with my foot (which actually gave me the willies!), then texted my husband to tell him I'd done so. He said "If there's no pictures, it didn't happen." So I had to find some more to nudge.

And I even took some video! Pretty good proof, I think!

Down To the Boardwalk-- My Walk Part 1

Yesterday, I decided to go on a walk, going up toward Seaside instead of down toward Pacific Grove, which is the way I usually go. There was a boardwalk near the Naval Post-Graduate School that I wanted to investigate--and I took my camera along to take pictures along the way! In fact, I took so many pictures, I decided I'd better divide the post up into two parts.

The first part of my walk, I headed down toward Fisherman's Wharf--because it's close by and it's a good place to get onto the coastline trail. :)

I didn't go down the touristy part of the wharf this time--been there, done that, and wasn't really interested in it. Besides--I had a goal, right?

There are a lot of boats by the wharf (no surprise there), some of which people actually live in (we used to know a family who did, before they moved to their next military posting).

I walked down the path, and soon reached what the locals know is the true Fisherman's Wharf--the place where fishermen actually work and take out their boats from (and raise abalone for the restaurants nearby). I walked down the wharf, saw several fishermen fishing off the sides, some with fishing poles, but one with some line and an old energy drink can. (I wonder if he ever catches anything that way...) I also saw a commercial type fishing boat or two.

Then, I continued down the path. Apparently, this is not the time of year to go swimming in our cold cold cold ocean (though some people obviously didn't care about bacteria).

"Are you sure this water's sanitary? What about bacteria?" (Tantor, in Disney's Tarzan)

There are a lot of protected dunes in the area, and a ton of these cool-looking trees.

The trail is built where the train tracks for the fisheries used to be--and still are... kinda.

Obviously, the tracks haven't been used in years.

This is one of the oddest sights I saw. We live in an area with palm trees--it is the California coast, after all--so what is the reasoning behind THIS?

Now, since it's hard to see the detail in that picture, I took three others:

Fake palm trees??? WHY???? I really am mystified by this one!

Finally, I reached... THE BOARDWALK! WOOHOO!

I climbed the steps and found... the ocean! (Surprise, surprise!)

So, I decided to walk home along the beach! Pictures from that are to come!

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday was this last Tuesday! Yay! This means I got to feel spoiled and get presents! Woohoo!

In the morning, before my man went to work, I opened the gift my in-laws had sent me.

Aren't they cute? SOCK MONKEY STAMPS! Woohoo! :) I'm gonna have some fun with them! :D

Then, hubby went to work and I goofed around for a bit. For lunch, I picked him up and we went to International Cuisine. He had the Monterey Chicken, and I had the Greek Combo Platter. So yum! Except for the Dolmas... I still don't like them. (I tried, but... yuck.)

When hubby got home from work, I opened more gifts!

First, the gift from my baby sister! :D

She made me a CD of 16 cool and relaxing songs. I love it! I'd heard four or five of them before, and some I'd never heard of. It's now on my iPod in its own playlist so I can listen to it anywhere, anytime. :D

My man got me three packages of FIMO--red, green, and purple! Yay! :D I've already been having fun with it, and the clay I'd purchased earlier in blue and translucent.

He also got me an oven thermometer so I could check the oven temperature, but he let me open it about a week early so I could bake clay. (Good thing, too--turns out the oven bakes about 25 degrees too hot!)

His last gift to me was an apple peeler/corer/slicer--something he's been wanting to get me for a few years, but always had trouble finding around the time of my birthday! Now I can make totally awesome pies with less effort!

My parents totally surprised me with the now out-of-print and wonderful Lion House Recipes cookbook. Yes, there's another book of recipes in print--Lion House Classics--but they CHANGED THE RECIPES. At least some of them--like apple pie. (The old one is awesome, the new one is gross.) As I discovered when I looked inside the cover, my parents, me, and my brother gave this to my grandparents in 1986 (before my baby sister was born). So, it was kinda like getting it back!

They also sent me what is probably THE COOLEST COOKIE CUTTER EVER. Yes, that is a BYU cookie cutter. It rocks. Now I need to make cookies!!!!!

My parents also sent me birthday money, and so did my maternal grandparents! Yay! I used it last night to buy THIS:

Yes, it's purple. Yes, it's a camera. Yes, it's awesome. And yes, it's the reason for the huge number of photos in this post. 14 megapixels, 5x optical zoom, purple goodness! And I had enough to get a 2 GB SD card, too! Now I have more than a cell phone camera! AWESOME.

So, yeah. I had an awesome birthday, was spoiled rotten by my husband, got several phone calls, and my sister and her roommate sang to me out of tune.

I'm not OVERLY paranoid...

Just paranoid in a healthy way!

When it comes to food, I have a bit of a Hippocratic Oath--"First do no harm." The food tasting good is secondary to it not killing anybody or making them ill. This means I wash my hands any time they get near raw meat, will never process my own meats or vegetables (ACK! BOTULISM!), and won't let anybody eat things with raw eggs (like cookie dough... unless I make it with the Egg Beaters things that have been pasteurized).

Here's why I mention this:

A few months ago, I got an e-mail from my LDS ward about steam canners and where to find them--apparently, at an Enrichment Night I forgot about (oops), they talked about canning jam... using a steam canner. I immediately went "OH NO! NOT THE UNAUTHORIZED, UNTESTED, NOT RECOMMENDED OR APPROVED STEAM CANNER!" And then I sent an e-mail with a link to USU's extension page talking about steam canners and such.

Then, I get an e-mail talking about the upcoming "Super Saturday" activity, where there will be crafts and things. One of the items was described as this:

Cake in a Jar

Bake a personal sized cake in a jar - the seal will keep it good for up to a year! Great for a gift or a lunchbox treat.

Is this SAFE? Am I freaking out for no reason? I don't see how you could POSSIBLY process CAKE. If you can't process pureed pumpkin (which you can't, by the way--don't even try it!), I don't think cake, as a non-liquid item, would process well. And a year? Just doesn't sound like a good idea.

What do you think? Am I freaking out over nothing here, or do you think they're simply valid concerns? My hubby thinks it's valid concerns, but then, he's been married to me for 5 1/2 years, so I don't know if that's accurate or he's just used to me being paranoid about these things!

UPDATE 10/24: USU Extension says NO to canning breads and cakes. I'm not crazy! Yay!

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/newsletter/Food_Safety_Bulletin_No__008_(2007).pdf

Happy Birthday to YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

As of about 4 hours ago, at the earliest point in the International Date Line, it became my wife's (the creator and main author of this blog's) birthday. I asked her to add me, so that I could post occasionally, to keep the blog a bit more active, and then I go and do a thing like this... Do you think she expected anything?

Well, anyway, Happy Birthday, Honey!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

My Daddy is My Fav'rite Pal!

Happy birthday, Daddy! I won't say how old he is today, but next year his age will start with a 6 and end with a 0.

My Daddy is wonderful. When I was little, I said he was "big and strong and can do ANYTHING." Now I know he's "Big and strong and can do ALMOST ANYTHING." Still an amazing guy!

My dad is a fix-it, work-with-your-hands kind of guy. He has a shop in the garage, and builds model sailplanes and things for the house. Recently, he built cabinets for the downstairs kitchen and bathroom in their house, as well as shelves for the food storage room. He's also built a really fancy roll-top desk (I saw Norm make one on The New Yankee Workshop, and Dad's is so much better--really), a turning bookshelf, bed frames, bed side tables, and on and on. He's amazing!

Dad's favorite airplane is a P-38 Lightning. It makes me happy, because it's easily identifiable and I can always tell what it is. (Thanks, Dad!) Every time I see one (or rather, a picture of one), I think of him!

Daddy also likes cars. Especially yellow cars. When he was in college, he had a bug, and he had the shop paint it the brightest yellow they had. (He never had any problems with forgetting where he parked!) He wanted a yellow BMW Z3, but they stopped making Z3s. Then he wanted a yellow Mini Cooper, but they stopped making yellow ones this year. Yellow Ferarris are always on the list, however. Mom gave him a small one for Christmas one year. (Really small...) Vroom vroom! If Honda made yellow as a standard color, he would probably have a yellow car right now. He loves Hondas. Mom can have any car she wants--as long as it's a Honda. It's all his fault I have a Honda Civic right now!

Daddy likes to fix things. He analyzes things and turns the problem around and around until he can figure it out. He knows what kind of glue is best to glue things together--super glue, epoxy, wood glue, hot glue... He fixes things the right way the first time, so there's no need for duct tape!

I love my Daddy. I'm glad he taught me things like always keeping promises (because that's what a promise is), working with my hands (even if I may choose a different medium from wood shop), art (even if his favorite is photography and I do more drawing), how to use a computer and do desktop publishing (which has been an awesome help in my life), and managing money (get out of debt!). I know I can go to him for advice and he'll always give me an honest answer (you never have to wonder what he's thinking!)

I love you, Daddy! Happy birthday!

General Conference

This weekend is General Conference, which, for many reasons, is the time I seem to feel the most homesick.

My family has several traditions with General Conference, and the one I miss most is "Girl's Night." My mom and sister and I used to all get together during the Priesthood session, get Chinese take-out, and watch chick-flicks. The other sessions, we would spend back and forth between my family and Dale's family. It was a good time to be together enjoying each others' company.

Here in Cali, things are different. We watch conference on the computer (hooray for live streaming!), and when my man goes to Priesthood session, I'm left home alone. I got Chinese food the first time (he had a men's only pot-luck), but it was so disappointing, I didn't do it again. (I haven't found any really awesome Chinese food out here yet.)

And now, it's upon us again. I miss you, Mom and Dad and sis and bro-on-a-mission, as well as my mom-in-law, dad-in-law, bros-in-law, and sis-in-law (etc.).

Ode to My Peach

Oh, fuzzy friend,

how I await you every fall!

I select you lovingly

from among your friends,

then take you home,

and bathe you tenderly.

Your red and yellow skin

hints at the flesh within!

The first bite--heaven,

Juices, running down my chin.

But, too soon, you're gone,

leaving only a dark, wrinkled pit behind.

Magic

Moms are magic. There's no other explanation! How else could my mom, from two states away, have done the following?

1. Given me sympathy and advice for my backache
2. Helped do the dishes
3. Made me feel awesome for having said dishes done (!)

See? Magic. I don't know if the magic was an innate ability that blossomed when she had children or if it was something that came with the eyes on the back of her head when we were born, but it's pretty awesome!

Thank you, Mommee!!!

Also, thanks to my wonderful husband who has been fixing food and caring for me and helping me while I've been mostly laying about. You're wonderful, honey!!

If it's not one thing...

So, last week, I had a nastybad cold. I couldn't breathe, which meant I also couldn't sleep. Or think. Or eat. Plus I just felt nasty.

Well, I finally got feeling better, and had to catch up on all the housework that I was unable to do while I was laying on the couch feeling sorry for myself. I did the dishes a little at a time while I started feeling better, I made cookies for the 11-year-old boy scouts, and I even made six loaves of bread--4 of which are pretty loaves of dough in my freezer at the moment.

So, yesterday, while my man was at work, I decided I was going to surprise him with all I would manage to do. I sorted the laundry, which I was going to do when he got home and I had the car (since he had class). I did all the dishes that were left. I put things away. I cleaned the counters, the stove (including all the removable parts of the burners), and the microwave. I put the rug in the laundry. Things were going well, and I was going to have time to spare before my guy got home, where I'd do other awesome wife-y things.

Then, I started to sweep the floor.

That, apparently, was my downfall. I started to sweep and felt a little twinge in my back. "Ow..." I thought, and kept sweeping. Then... "OW!" More pain. I bent over to pick up a pushpin from the floor... and could hardly stand up. I tried once again to sweep (I was DETERMINED to get that floor swept), and had to give up. I put the broom away (for some odd reason), left the pile of dirt on the floor (there was NO WAY it was going to get taken care of at that point), and painfully made my way into the living room. After a sad attempt to get onto the futon, I managed to lower myself onto the floor in a somewhat laying-down position. I was able to text my man to inform him that I'd need some major help when he got home (as well as a major dose of ibuprofen), and the remote was within reach, so I watched some Dr. Phil while I waited for him to get off work.

So, I'm still in pain. I'm still dosed with ibuprofen. I'm still laying on the futon. My man was wonderful enough to make dinner the last two days, help me do the laundry today (it hurts to bend over or lift anything), and is making me lay on the couch until I get better. (Not that that last part is hard--it's about the only position that doesn't hurt a ton.) I'm sure church tomorrow is going to be interesting--three hours of sitting, two of that on a hard piano bench. Yikes. (Maybe I should take a pillow... would that be weird?)

I still have no idea what I did to myself. All I can figure is housework is dangerous! I should probably never clean the kitchen again, just in case.

The Flames! The Flames!

We recently got a little gas grill from Walmart for $25. We've cooked some cheap steaks on it a couple times, and decided that we'd use it to cook something a little different: Chicken. We had some chicken leg quarters in the freezer, which we thought would be yummy grilled, so I got to work. Dale set up the grill, and we warmed it up, then I put the chicken on and turned down the heat. 10 minutes later, I looked out the door onto our porch and saw... flames. Uh-oh!

I thought at first that they wouldn't be too bad, maybe just some small flare-ups. Then I opened the grill. AAAH! As my man rushed to help, I hurriedly turned off the gas, then got the tongs and a pie plate. He carefully removed the charred chicken from the flames into the pie plate, which helped the flames considerably. We then closed the grill and waited. It didn't take long for the flames to go out completely.

While we waited for the grill to be "safe," we thought over this a little. I think it had to do with several things:

1. Our grill has one burner. There is no such thing as "indirect heat."
2. The "drip pan" is actually the bottom of the grill, so the fat from our steaks added with the fat of the bone-in, skin-on chicken made a bad combination.
3. I apparently need to clean out the grill after EVERY use.

Luckily, we didn't have to use the nearby fire extinguisher. The flames died out fairly quickly by themselves, and (other than some peeling paint on the outside) the grill seems fine.

While we let the grill finish cooling, we went to Burger King for dinner. It was nice--no flames.

Cooking Troubles

So, I wanted to make some carrot cupcakes (even though my husband thought it sounded odd). I had a cake mix, I had pre-made cream-cheese frosting (it cost about as much as buying cream cheese), so we decided to do it on Sunday. We borrowed a cupcake pan from my cousins who live down the street, and started getting out the ingredients. Cake mix--check. Vegetable oil--check. Water--check check. 3 eggs-- *facepalm*. We only had 2 eggs.

Well, that put an end to that plan. So, I figured I'd just make them Monday, while my man was in class. I went to the store and bought eggs and milk, then returned home and pulled out the ingredients. Cake mix, oil, water, 3 eggs... all good. Time to line the pans! I pulled out my cupcake papers and... only 15 papers. The cake mix makes 24 cupcakes. *doublefacepalm*

Off to the store again. I hoped I could just walk down to Walgreens and get some... but no luck there. So, I walked back home and got in the car, drove to the grocery store, and got some papers. Drove home, made the cupcakes, and cooked them.

They're now cooling. They better be worth all this trouble!

Jesus Said Love Everyone...

I'd like to tell two stories I saw on the news about different Christian preachers.

Preacher #1:

Wanted to burn several copies of the Koran, the Muslim holy book, in "remembrance of 9/11." He also said "Islam is the devil."

Preacher #2:

Welcomed a Muslim Center in his area with open arms, saying "Jesus said to love our neighbor."

Now, pop quiz: Which one is acting more Christian?

Thankful

I just wanted to list a few of the things I'm thankful for this week:

• A husband who sometimes will just look at me, smile, and say "You're so cute. I love you!"
• That I'm living in a place with natural air conditioning.
• My awesome visiting teachers (who I had a delicious breakfast with this morning!)
• The 3 (ish) years I cooked dinner for my grandparents after I got married.
• My husband who, when I'm freaking out over a week of bad dreams, will read me to sleep, then stay in bed on a Saturday morning and wait for me to wake up.
• A good night of sleep after a full week of bad nights.
• My giant bunny rabbit, Bumper, who I can blame everything on.
• A husband who thinks I'm beautiful, even when I'm sure I'm not.
• A cell phone that keeps me in touch with my entire family, whether they're two states away or just at work the next town over.
• Libraries that let you borrow movies, CD's, and books--for free! (I continue to insist that the library is "The Happiest Place on Earth.")
• That my wonderful mother taught me how to cook, so that I can look in the cupboards, take what I have, and make a meal out of it. (Thanks, Mom!)
• Ice Cream. Because I'm always thankful for ice cream.
• Steak, which we've grilled TWICE this week with awesome results. (Oooh... beef. I have missed you.)

Sorry... I'm so lame.

So, I haven't blogged in a long time. But today I'm (again) resolving to work on being better and post more often... (Sorry, Mom!)