2013...

2013...C and I are referring to this as the "year of running". Remember those goals I was tossing around? Well, it turns out that running a full marathon with my cousins made the list this year. Chicago Marathon, October 13th, we'll be there. In preparation for this event, we ran two half marathons in the first half of the year and have spent the last 8-10 weeks sloshing our way through the marathon training program. This week will be the longest run we've ever done...15 miles. Of course, that will be trumped by next week's 16 mile run, so it's all relative at this point.

As always, work is crazy. C is traveling for business off and on; nothing like the months he spent in Dallas, thankfully. I'm preparing for a work trip over to Copenhagen in a few weeks. This will be the first of 3 or 4 trips total over the next 4 months. And of course, we're both working hard on various other projects at work.

Spending hours per week running and a few days a month traveling for work? Why not get a dog? Yes, it's true, the G-family is in the market for a dog. But we don't have time for a dog? But Mel, you don't even like animals? As it turns out, C loves dogs, and I love my husband, so here we are. I keep sensing a replay of Marley and Me, of which the only thing keeping me moving forward in this whole thing is that at the end of the day, no matter how terrible Marley was, they still loved her. Apparently dogs are joyous. That remains to be seen. I'm praying for a low/no-shedding, low-energy, chill dog that comes housebroken and doesn't bark. Which one is that?

So that's our 2013 so far. We have a few more months before our marathon, which hits just before my work projects will really pick up steam and then we'll be sliding into the holidays. I have no idea where 2013 went, but it started off like no other year for us and has continued down that path. I'll try to write more, because really, I do like to write. But please don't give up on me if it's 2014 before you see me again. It's a real possibility at this point.

One More Week...

...says the guy who told me two more weeks three weeks ago.

Sometimes I'm not the world's best wife:

1. I have never cleaned our bathroom-it's C's job and I would rather wait an extra week or two to make him do it than me just do it myself. 
2. I fail at domesticity, like last week when I completely burnt a whole pot of rice.
3. I'm "forcing" C to give up chocolate for Lent because I'm giving up chocolate for Lent. This means he's sitting here eating marshmallow puff straight from the container for dessert. Life's tough.

But when it comes to checking C in for Southwest flights, I excel. I take this job seriously. I set alarms so I don't forget. I get spots like A22. 

With any luck, this will be the last week C spends in Dallas. I'll have my running partner back soon. I'll have my bathroom cleaner back. I'll have my sous-chef back. It's an exciting time around here!

India

C and I came home from India four weeks ago. I know it's taken awhile to get this post going, and I really have no excuse as to why. Honestly, C still lives in Dallas 4 days a week so my weeknights are pretty tame. At this point my excuse is just laziness. It's many hours of watching Dawson's Creek on Netflix instead of blogging. It's the hours I spent reading Breaking Dawn so I can officially rid myself of the Twilight saga. It's pinterest. Enough said.

During my freshman year of college, I made a list of places I wanted to visit in my lifetime. Shortly after that, I spent a semester studying abroad in Germany and had the opportunity to cross a lot of places off my list. Over the past few years, I've been able to cross off a few more through work and personal travel. However, the list has grown as C and I toss around our own travel ideas and goals. India has been on my list since day one, but I honestly never thought I would have the opportunity to go. We were so blessed to be presented with an opportunity this summer when our friends informed us they would be moving there for a work assignment. They were only staying for six months which left us limited dates to schedule it and a short planning time. However, after sleeping on it that night, C and I decided we would never have a chance like this again. We were going to India.

India was an experience different from any others I've had. There were some major cultural hurdles that we had to overcome to really enjoy our time in India. These started at the airport in Chicago. We quickly became frustrated over the lack of organization, lines, and general respect for others as we waited to get our tickets for the flight. At that moment, we knew we had to let go of all we are used to and just go with the flow if we were going to enjoy ourselves at all.

We were blessed to have our good friends there to greet us as we landed in Bangalore. They spent the next 5 or 6 days with us in Bangalore and Goa. Having them there for advice and general knowledge about getting around was a HUGE help. We were heading to Delhi on our own for the last four days and were a bit nervous, but thanks to them, Delhi was a breeze!

Our trip was short considering all we were trying to fit in, but we were definitely ready to get home by the end. We spent about a day and a half in Bangalore, which was a nice transition. Our friends have a driver so we were able to see Lal Bhag and the Bangalore Palace, have Mendhi done (after an hour or so of searching for a place) as well as eat some good food and catch up on some of our missed sleep.

From Bangalore we hopped a plane to Goa, a coastal beach area. We spent about four days in Goa, including New Years Eve and New Years Day. Our mornings were usually spent doing some sight seeing and then the afternoons were spent at the beach. One of my favorite things of the whole trip was the Spice Farm tour we went on while in Goa. Indian's believe heavily in the healing power of spices. We learned that pretty much any spice can cure anything if you eat it or rub it on your skin (in a downward direction-away from the heart) twice a day for 3 months. Truth.

From Goa we flew to Delhi (via a confusing stopover/hopover in Mumbai) and spent the next four days visiting Delhi and Agra. We arrived in Delhi late in the night and got up bright and early the next morning to meet our driver for our trip to the Taj Mahal. A coworker of mine helped book a driver for us to go there and back in the same day. It made for a long day, but we were glad we did it this way instead of spending the night in Agra. The Taj was as impressive to see as it looks in pictures. Our driver picked up a "tour guide" on the side of the road as we entered Agra (a sight that was a bit scary to us at first, but again, our mantra of "just go with it" kicked in). The tour guide was really nice and super informative, even if he was trying to screw me out of money and take me to stores/restaurants that paid him commission. He took a lot of pictures for us which meant C and I actually came home with a few pictures of both of us together!

We spent three days sight seeing in Delhi after the Agra trip. We probably could have fit it into two days, or tried to see more stuff, but it was nice not to feel rushed or have to get up too early. This was supposed to be a vacation after all....

Overall we really enjoyed ourselves. We had a lot of great food, and some OK food, but really nothing bad. We never got sick or had any issues with the food or water. We didn't ever really feel unsafe or insecure about our surroundings (okay, maybe for a few minutes in Old Delhi--it was kind of sketch.). We even rode a few rickshaws and lived to tell about it! While we don't have plans to go back anytime soon, or ever probably, we were glad we went and enjoyed all that we experienced.

Check out the pictures below of our trip. I tried to post one picture of each highlight or major site we saw during the trip.

Getting Mendhi in Bangalore

C at the Spice Farm tour in Goa

Dona Paula in Goa

C and I ringing in New Years on US Time (it was 11:30 a.m. already in Goa-oh, and 95 degrees!)

Taj Mahal-Agra

Lotus Temple-Delhi

Qutub Minar-Delhi

Dilli Haat-Delhi

Jama Masjid-Delhi

Red Fort-Delhi

Humayun's Tomb-Delhi

India Gate-Delhi

Another New Year

If I made new years resolutions, I probably would have failed at them already. It's January 23rd and I've already eaten too many sweets, skipped a few workouts, and neglected the stack of dishes in my kitchen because I despise unloading the dishwasher.  But let's focus on the good. The healthy food choices I did make. The workouts I did follow through with. The fact that my dining room floor finally got mopped after being on my to-do list for two months. These are the things victories are made of. 

I'm still sorting through my goals for the year, personally, professionally, and financially. Mostly at this point I'm just trying to make sure all my bills are paid on time, because life's routine is just off right now. And since C is still in Dallas every week, I work through these things while watching Dawson's Creek on Netflix. It seems like the grown up thing to do. 

C and I got back from India just over two weeks ago but I feel like know we're still playing catch up. Preparing for the holidays and our trip left little time for much else. In all, our holiday season was really good. We got to spend some time with both families over the Christmas weekend and then rang in the New Year in India with some good friends. Now I'm just feeling pressure to get things organized for the coming year. 

I'm happy to report that the few goals I set for myself last year were mostly met. I read 15 books, ran my second half marathon, and we found a church that we like. We still haven't started attending on a regular basis, but we found a place that we are both happy with for now at least. My last goal was to register for the CPA exam. I failed. Or I changed my mind. I'm not really sure which. This still weighs heavily on me, but so do other professional development possibilities. My job changed a lot last year and it has me thinking through what my best options are for continued development. So I put a hold on the CPA thing until I make a decision. 

So here are the things fighting in my brain to make the 2013 goals list:

1. Read 20 books (This makes me nervous, but I think I can do it. My friend R reads 50 books a year!)

2. Figure out a career development plan

3. Keep Traveling! (Austin, Vegas, Mexico, NYC, SF/Napa Valley, Canada..the list goes on)

4. Update my wardrobe (I know this sounds crazy, but I mean this in the sense that I make smart choices about what I buy and buying quality rather than crap)

5. Save money (this conflicts with #3 and #4, but C and I have some savings goals we're working towards)

6. Run a half marathon with my cousins

7. Run a full marathon with my cousins? (This is really C's idea)

8. Do a mud/obstacle run (Warrior Dash, Mud Run, etc.)

9. Send more birthday cards

10. Blog more

11. Do random acts of kindness for C more

12. Get organized! (read as: Clean out the office)

13. Learn to sew and actually do it!

14. Get more involved in Kansas City groups and issues

15. Make our wedding album (this one should really make the final list. It's been over two years since our wedding.)

So that's the list. Maybe I can do all the things, but I think I should really narrow it down to about 5 items to focus on. As my uncle reminded me last night, if you set the expectation low, you can only please people when you exceed it! These are words to live by. 

Twilight and single life

What's a girl to do when her husband is traveling for work and leaving her home alone? Read the Twilight Saga of course. Oh, and hack into said husband's Netflix to order the movies. Despite the all around horribleness that is K-Pat, I'm pretty sure I'm going to rate all movies with 5 stars just to screw with C's netflix suggestions. Dawson's Creek...also 5 stars.

For the past 3 weeks I've been living the "single" life as C is traveling for work. With all this free time I've been able to get back into my routine of working out a bit. Our old trainer at the Y was a little shocked to see me. I've also completed 90% of our Christmas shopping, wrapped all the gifts, hung curtains we bought back in May, read 3 Twilight books, and watched 2 Twilight movies. Oh, and let's not forget impromptu family togetherness time at McDonald's while my parents were in town and a visit to my Grandpa last weekend. My single life is riveting.

Can we talk about Twilight for a minute? I mean, have you read these books? How on earth did these become so popular? They are terrible! I get that it's a somewhat compelling story despite any ounce of reality. That's what keeps me reading. But seriously, these are some of the worst written books I've read. People give Kristen Stewart so much flack for being a horrible actress, and she is. But really people, she didn't have much to go with on this one. And the movies? Are you kidding me Hollywood? I'll admit that New Moon was about 100 times better than Twilight in production quality alone. Also, at least the music is good enough to tell me how I'm supposed to feel in that moment since the actors can't seem to portray any emotion whatsoever. But guess what, the actors are supposed to play kind of an important role. Don't you think you should have cast actors with some ability to act? This is one of those times when I'm going to have to say that pop culture has failed me.

Okay, rant over.

I cannot believe Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. I am looking forward to having more than 4 hours to spend with C. I'm looking forward to more family togetherness time in general. Although I was ready to have my sister move out of my house, and she only lives about 15 minutes away, I still miss seeing my nephew as much as when he lived here. Why is the happiness of a 3-year old so darn contagious? It's impossible to stay mad at this kid, even when he spits food out...on your lap...on purpose.

Due to all the travel C and I have been doing for work this year, it turns out we really haven't taken many pictures together. Which means, we aren't sending out Christmas cards this year. I'm pretty bummed about it; but also, my Scroogy side is okay with it. I still hope I get all the wonderful cards from our friends and family, but if not, I understand that sometimes life takes priority over Christmas cards. We'll try to be better in 2013.

Mental Pep Talks and Chocolate

I have been more productive tonight than every night of last week combined. Trying to be productive in an empty house takes at least 5 mental pep talks and 3 pieces of chocolate. It's a formula I've worked out. To be fair, my "evening" started early today as I left work at 3:15 to go to a doctor's appointment.

1. Got my tetanus shot. It turns out my last one was in 2000. Who knew? This is my third shot in a week. I'm becoming a pro.
2. Had my wedding ring cleaned and inspected. This was a bonus to-do item as Shane Co. is next door to my dentist's office and my dentist called and asked me to push my appointment back 30 minutes. Now my ring is sparkly. PLUS they gave me a little inspection book I can keep in my wallet so I don't have to bring my paperwork all the time. Why did they not have this sooner?
3. Got my teeth cleaned. No cavities for this girl. I also found out today that my dentist no longer works at the office. Don't you think they would send out a letter to clients letting them know there's a new dentist?
4. Went Christmas shopping and actually bought gifts. I've done a few other Christmas shopping trips where I haven't found anything I was looking for, so this was a good trip.
5. Two loads of laundry completed.
6. Dishes - this one took serious pep talks, even if it was mostly a cutting board and a knife. Yup, this girl's eating salads for dinner this week. Reason one: She needs to get back in shape. Reason two: She really doesn't want to do anymore dishes than necessary. It's mostly reason two.
7. Paid C and I's property taxes for 2012.
8. Went through an old stack of mail, sorted everything and actually put it all where it goes!
9. Put up our December calendar. This is a big deal. I haven't put up a new calendar since September.
10. Blogging!

Unfortunately in my haste to leave the office today for my appointment, I left my to-do list at work. I'm not really sure how many of these things were on that list, but I promised C I would be more productive this week and I think this counts. Last week, while he was gone, I did nothing but read Twilight all week. I'm still reading the series, but trying to minimize it to 2-3 hours per night. Speaking of....

I hope you all are finding time during the holiday season to slow down, enjoy yourselves, and remember the meaning of Christmas (or whichever holiday you celebrate).

Tis the Season for a monthly update!

It's time for my monthly update on here and my monthly apology for being so absent. I have plans to get at least one or two more updates in before Christmas, I promise! Here's the highlight of what's going on in our lives right now:

1. My Spain Travel is done. I think. Of course my work could always ask me to go back, but we launched our project and it's pretty successful so far, so we are all happy. I am just happy to be home for awhile. As an added bonus, I had some great travel partners this last trip that did a lot of sight seeing with me over the weekend. Here's a sneak peak and I promise to dedicate a post to Spain pictures soon!

My travel buddies at Park Guell overlooking Barcelona. Not the best picture but a great group to travel with!

2. Unfortunately, I am finally home and now C's travel schedule for work is picking up immensely. Here's hoping we can both be home at the same time soon! On the bright side, I'm using these nights alone at home to to catch up on my reading. I may reach my 15 books this year goal after all!

3. My sister and nephew have moved out, which means my house is nice and quiet again. I loved having A around, but I'll admit it's so much more peaceful coming home after work to a calm house.

4. I'm getting back in shape. After a few months of eating what I wanted and general laziness, my clothes stopped fitting. Thank God for that wake up call. While the scale hasn't really climbed more than a couple pounds, I can tell I've lost a lot of muscle tone and definition. C and I are back on our normal eating routines and getting back into our exercise schedule starting this week. Maybe I'll even do some of those exercises I have pinned on pinterest. Maybe....

5. On a sad note, my grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. She fought hard for three long and painful months, but she just couldn't fight any longer. She was an incredibly kind, caring, and spunky lady. Our hearts are broken and she'll be missed by all of us, but I'm comforted knowing she's in a pain free place now. Please continue to keep my mother and grandfather in your prayers. Losing a mother and wife after 67 years of marriage has been devastating.

My beautiful grandmother. This was taken about 2 months ago when she first got home from the hospital after about 3 weeks of being away. She was so happy to be home. 

My Absence

If you've wasted your time checking out my blog lately, I apologize. I've been absent. It turns out that things get really busy and no matter how much I want to take the time to write a bit, it just doesn't happen. Here are some things that have been going on in my life lately. This might help explain why I've been so absent. It might not. Take it or leave it.

1. My sister and (almost) 3-year old nephew have been staying with C and I for about 3 months. Life with a 3-year old is so much more than I ever imagined. I'm not committing to whether it's a "good" more or "bad" more.

2. My grandmother is not well. Please pray for my amazing mother who spends every weekend driving 2 hours each way to be with her and help ease some of the load from my grandfather. Please pray for my Grandpa to get some rest through all this. And mostly, please pray for my Gma's comfort and peace as she goes through this time.

3. I'm going back to Spain next week. Our project is (hopefully) coming to a close, which means one more trip to Barcelona. Please pray that my nephew doesn't destroy my house and my husband actually eats more than fast food while I'm gone. :)

4. A co-worker is out of the office for the entire month of October, and I'm his back-up. I love being busy at work, but this is getting a little crazy.

5. My neighbor's dog is barking loudly at 11:00 at night. Okay, so this isn't an ongoing problem, but it's a little more than annoying given the time and the fact that he rarely barks this late or is even outside right now.

6. C and I are going to India! We booked flights this past weekend. We have our Visa's in hand. It's happening. And if I thought planning a trip to France last summer in only 5-weeks was stressful, it's nothing compared to trying to book a trip to India. Luckily we have a little more planning time, but not much.

7. I've begun volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Kansas City. I have filled out my paper work and completed my interviews. Now I'm just waiting to be matched with a kid. So excited to see what God has in store for me and my little!

So that's my top 7 list of things going on in our life. I'll try to post once in awhile, but with the holidays coming up and no end in sight on the majority of things keeping us busy right now, my absence might be a little while longer. Please forgive me. And if you're the praying type, please remember to keep my Grandparents and mother in your prayers.

Thank you for being a faithful reader even when I fail you.

High Five for Friday in Barcelona!

1. I'm writing this from Barcelona! This is my 3rd trip this year and although my site seeing was next to nothing this trip, I did get to do a little window shopping and enjoyed some delicious meals with great views.

2. This week has been extremely productive. We got through everything on our agenda this week and training went very smoothly all things considered. It's so nice leaving here knowing I accomplished what I wanted to.

3. I get to go home tomorrow. This is for reals. I've been here a week and I'm really just ready to go home, eat a salad, and sleep in my own bed next to my husband. In approximately 10 hours I will be in a taxi on my way to the airport. Perhaps I should be packing instead of writing this....

4. The internet is working! My morning started with an alarm going off in the hallway of the hotel and then the internet not working when I logged on to Skype with C. In our Barcelona office, the power goes out when it rains more than 30 minutes at a time. Life is a little crazier here and I learn every day to cherish the small victories.

5. I found Mexican food near our hotel. I didn't eat there tonight, but I now have some fresh restaurant choices and possibly some mexican-like food when I come back at the end of October. That will likely be a 2-week trip so I'm really going to need a lot of options...

What's your high-five for Friday? Be sure to link up with Lauren!

High Five for Friday!

I figured the Friday after a 4-day week is the perfect day to post my first High Five for Friday, linking up with Lauren at From My Grey Desk!

1. My weekend ahead has no official plans booked. This is rare. Despite a growing To-Do list (currently 11 items), I might actually have time to relax a bit. I like to add menial tasks or errands to my To-Do list. It makes me feel really productive when I get to cross them off the list.
2. I had 0 meetings at work today, which meant I had time to get some lingering projects done. I love being able to leave on a Friday afternoon with my inbox mostly cleaned out from the week. 
3. My blog reached 5,000 views today! Woo hoo! 
4. Grocery shopping at Walmart is approximately 500 times less stressful on Friday evenings than it is at any time on Saturday or Sunday. My groceries for next week are purchased and grocery shopping is officially crossed off my list. Life is good.
5. And finally, Friday nights are better with 30 Rock on Netflix streaming and a bottle of red wine with the guy I love. Thanks to C for hiding out in our room with me to get a little quiet "us" time. 

    Post your own High Five for Friday post and be sure to link up with Lauren! 

Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead

Today C and I got to spend the whole afternoon babysitting our nephew A. Since it rained all day Friday and Saturday and he was stuck inside, we decided we needed to get him out of the house. A loves animals so we took him to the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead in Overland Park, KS. He was excited. Aunt "Sissa" and Uncle C were just glad our house wasn't being destroyed for a few hours. It was definitely worth the $2 per person admission fee. 

A can't really read, but he likes to think he can. He got to "read" a book at the one-room school house. 

This was supposed to be his "happy" face, but I'm not sure it was successful.

For $1 he could get a bottle and feed the baby goats. The goats tried to eat his shorts for free, but he wouldn't let them. 

For 25 cents, we bought some food to feed the ducks. 

For another 25 cents we got to buy food to feed the "big" goats. This kid is fearless. 

Overall the day was really fun. I wish it had been a little cooler, but everyone really enjoyed themselves. A enjoyed his time seeing all the animals and playing on the various playgrounds. He even met a nice little 6 year old to help him navigate his way through the playground. He colored some fake money in the bank and got to put it in the vault for safe keeping. And he got to go down some big slides attached to a barn. 

The Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead was a great value for the money. I had always heard about this place from coworkers with little kids but hadn't had a reason to go until now. It was much better than what I expected and had tons of activities. We'll have to take him back when it opens next spring so he'll be able to do the pony rides and tractor rides (you have to be 3 to do those activities). The farmstead is open until the end of October so be sure to check it out if you're looking for an afternoon of family fun!

Life with a toddler

A 2 and a half year old monster moved into our house today. He immediately pulled every toy out of his toy chest and threw it on the floor. Then he refused to eat his dinner while acting out scenes from Toy Story. After a LONG walk (about a mile), he came home to have a little ice cream, take a bath, and is now sitting on my lap watching Despicable Me on my sister's Kindle Fire. Yes, I'm typing this with him sitting on me. This is life with a toddler. C has no idea what he just got himself into.

I will admit that my initial goal was to just run him around a bunch and wear him out. Unfortunately, I think I'm the one that got worn out. Well played little guy, well played.

Other happenings around here:
1. C had a dinner with his thesis group last night, which meant I had dinner with 10 physicists, a chemist, and the thesis professor's 12-year old daughter. Physicists are exactly as weird an awkward as I thought they were.

2. My grandmother had another break in her hip and after a long weekend at the hospital is now at home with the help of hospice. It's been a long couple of weeks but her spirits are much higher now than they were a few weeks ago, so we just keep praying for her comfort. My mom is amazing and worked really hard this weekend to help get her in a wheelchair and outside some, so she was pretty happy during my visit this afternoon. Prayers are still very much appreciated.

3. I'm traveling back to Spain in a few weeks which mean work is as busy as ever while we prepare for our visit. In addition to work, I'm trying to keep our house picked up and clean so it's not overwhelmingly dirty when I come back from my trip. I'm starting to understand why people hire maids.

4. My nephew is seriously pretty hilarious. As exhausting as it is to chase after and "control" the uncontrollable, he says really funny stuff and his vernacular is impeccable at times. It has been awhile since I've been around toddlers and I'd forgotten how creative they can be.

5. I got to meet a beautiful little girl named Harley Jo today. Isn't that such a cute name?!?! She's the newest addition to my cousin's adorable family of (now) 4, only 2 weeks old. She let me hold her while she slept soundly for probably an hour or so. So peaceful.

Back to School Update!

Since I've seen a million back to school photos on facebook today, I thought it was time for an update. I guess this the signal for the end of summer.

I'm starting  to realize that no matter how much I avoid it, ignore it, or wish it not so, life will always be hectic. I like to say things like "Life has just been crazy busy lately"...but the truth is, life has been crazy busy for the past few years and I don't see that changing.

So that's it, I'm accepting the fact that life is busy. And that's okay. Sometimes weekends aren't busy, so that makes life seem a little less busy for a brief moment.

And let's be real, I don't know how many facebook status updates I've read complaining that people are bored or looking for something to do. I guess I'm just thankful I'm not so bored that I update my facebook status 10 times a day. I was bored enough last night to "reorganize" some of my pinterest boards, but that was in between baking batches of cookies. (I'm super productive, don't you worry).

Here are some things going on in our house right now:
1. My sister has moved in with us. It's an adjustment for all 3 of us, but so far my sister and I have not punched each other, yelled at each other (except last night when she ate one of the cookies I told her not to eat) or locked each other in a room. So I'm figuring that's a success.

2. My grandmother fell and broke her hip 2 weeks ago. It's going to be an extremely long and painful recovery, but she's in a nursing home now and while some days are better than others, we have high hopes for her healing process. Prayers are much appreciated.

3. C and I have had some great weekend trips this summer, including a trip to a friend's wedding in Fort Smith, Arkansas (C's first trip to AR) and a trip to visit some dear friends in Springfield. Photos to come!

4. C and I have cooking club this weekend! It's been about 6 weeks since the last cooking club gathering so we're pretty excited. This will be bittersweet though as this will be the last cooking club for some dear friends of ours that are moving away for about 6 months. While 6 months will go by very quickly, it will still be sad not having them around. Here's hoping we can plan a trip to go visit them!

5. Work continues to pick up for C and myself, including additional travel. It looks like I'll be heading back to Spain probably 2 more times this fall while C has various trips around the US planned. I have no doubt this fall will go by extremely quickly and Christmas will be here before we even realize it!

6. (With any luck) C begins his last year of graduate school next week. We are still hoping he can complete his thesis work in time to graduate next May, which will put him on the 5-year program....only 1 more year than his Undergrad took! I don't think he'll know what to do with himself after that, but I'm sure I can find some projects around the house for him to work on. ;)

Closing Ceremonies

As I sit here watching the Olympic Closing Ceremonies, I have to admit, I'm ready to move on from the Olympics. They were wonderful, and everything I had hoped they would be. But it seems my Olympic fever is all burnt up. After 2 weeks of non-stop Olympic coverage I am ready to clean my house, do my laundry, and maybe even get to bed before 11:30. These are real life things that aren't being done around my house.


I didn't get to blog about as many "international" meals as I'd hoped but I promise we have been eating a variety of ethnic cuisine in this house as well as some not-so ethnic cuisine. Life is a balancing act.

Check out this homemade French Bread. Congratulations to France and their 34 medals!

We supported Mexico with these taco lettuce wraps found here via Pinterest. True Mexicans love turkey taco wraps, don't worry.  

I hope you all have enjoyed the Olympics as much as we have. Perhaps now that we must experience life sans Olympic coverage, we can use the motivation we gained watching the Olympics to get back into a normal workout routine. Or perhaps we'll just spend our extra time catching up on all the other neglected shows on our DVR. I'm getting a little anxious to know what's happening in Falling Skies. 

What was your favorite Olympic moment? What will you do with your time now that you aren't watching the Olympics?

1. Favorite Olympic Moments: Fab Five wins Gold!, Mo Farah wins 5k and 10k (I know he's not an American, but his races were awesome AND he trains here in the US!), US Women's 4x100m relay take Gold (and break the record by a half a second!)

2. My time fillers: Perhaps it's time to start that wedding album. C and I are coming up on our 2nd anniversary after all.  



Olympic Pizza

Two years ago, C and I found ourselves at my parents house for a weekend visit during the Winter Olympics 2010. My sister, her husband and their son were living with them at the time so it was a full house. We thought it would be fun to do homemade pizza for dinner, and thus was the start of Olympic Pizza.

2010 Olympic Pizza

This year, C and I decided to recreate Olympic Pizza, and a tradition is born. This is the first tradition C and I have "started" for ourselves, so I'm pretty excited about it. This is going to be a great tradition to experience as our family grows over the years. Feel free to make this your own Olympic tradition, too!

Our Olympic Pizza is made with a premade thin crust by Pillsbury (the refrigerated canned kind). We topped it with a little garlic olive oil, pizza sauce, black olives, bell pepper, leftover diced tomatoes, and turkey pepperoni.

2012 Olympic Pizza

Fab Five takes Gold!!!

Have I mentioned how much I heart the Olympics??? We have watched non-stop Olympic coverage since Friday night in this house. And tonight, we got to see some great swimming races, including watching Michael Phelps become the "most decorated" Olympian ever. 19 is a lot of medals. But even more exciting (for me at least) was watching the Fab Five Women's Gymnastics team win GOLD!! I have extremely fond memories of watching Shannon Miller win Silver and Bronze in 1992, after which I immediately signed up for gymnastics. Unfortunately for me, I was already an overweight 7 year old, which isn't exactly the making of a gold medalist.

Then in 1996 I sat glued to the television (my gymnastics "career" long over by this point) watching the Magnificent Seven take GOLD! I probably cried that day. True story. In fact, I may have cried twice, once when Kerri Strug landed her vault one-legged, and then again when they officially won. I didn't cry today, but my heart did swell and it was truly enjoyable to watch Jordyn Wieber do her whole floor routine with a smile on her face.

In the spirit of the Olympics, C and I have continued our World Food Tour. This week we've been supporting the Asian countries, with Sushi one night and Indian Food for lunch on Sunday.

Sushi Haru is a little sushi restaurant near our house. We drive by it frequently but have always been scared to try it. Sushi restaurants aren't really something we generally try on a whim, without recommendations. After seeing some good reviews on Urbanspoon we decided to check it out and are glad we did. Prices were pretty average for sushi and everything we had was good. C even said he would go back, and he's definitely not sushi's biggest fan. I'm just really excited to know there is good sushi so close to home!

My and C's first date was a cooking class where we learned how to cook Indian food. That was almost 4 years ago and we haven't eaten Indian food since. While we like it, we just don't think about eating it very often. There are a number of Indian restaurants in the Kansas City metro area so we poured through some reviews before settling on the lunch buffet at Chilli n' Spice in Overland Park. While we almost never eat at buffets, we do prefer a buffet when we eat Indian food so we have an opportunity to try many different things. Overall the experience was good. It's a pretty small restaurant but the food was displayed well, hot things were hot, cold things were cold, and they brought us an entire pitcher of water when we sat down, which I especially appreciated. I can't say we'd be back just because it wasn't that close to our house, and let's face it, it'll probably be another 4 years before we go out for Indian food again.

Pictured below: Lentil cake (donut looking thing), rice, cheese cubes cooked with spinach, naan, cauliflower breaded kind of like sweet and sour chicken, eggplant cooked in a spinach sauce, and a rice cake. Sorry I can't remember the actual names of the dishes!



Germany Style Soft Preztels

Olympics are in full swing and we are loving it! Friday evening we watched the Opening Ceremonies with some good friends. Overall I thought the ceremonies were pretty good. There were a few parts that were a little odd, like the swing dance to celebrate the National Health System, or the dancing through the ages where giant Kiss heads were featured. But overall, it was entertaining.

 

I would like to give the worst dressed award for the Olympic parade of athletes to Germany. There were many crazy outfits throughout the parade, but Germany's just seemed so far off the mark. It didn't fit with their culture or the colors of their flags. I mean, seriously, what's with the bubble gum pink and baby blue jackets?

photo from msnbc.com

Despite the worst-dressed award, I kicked off my Olympic culinary adventure this weekend with German Style soft-pretzels. I have been wanting to make soft pretzels ever since I found this recipe on Pinterest. I actually ended up using a different recipe for the pretzels, but made 3 different kinds, which included the ham and cheese bites. So I think I can count this as both an Olympic post and actually making something off pinterest. Yay!

 

The recipe I used for these pretzels can be found at Kitchen Trial and Error. My pretzels did not stay together well during the boiling step, so I had to reshape them a bit. Also, I really didn't want all big pretzels, so I opted to make about half the dough into pretzel bites. Otherwise, I had no issues following this recipe. The whole process was a bit messy, but overall pretty simple.

Before boiling

 

After boiling, I tried to put them back into pretzel shape

Straight out of the oven!

The beginning of the ham and cheese pretzel bites. The idea was to stuff the bottom third with ham and cheese then roll them closed and cut them into bite size pieces. However, I didn't roll tight enough and they kind of fell apart after cutting. 

They were molded into pretzel "balls" filled with ham and cheese since it was obvious the ham and cheese was not going to stay in them as they were after cutting the long dough. These were delicious!

All 3 Varieties

• Pretzels with salt (in both the twisted shape and pretzel bites)
• Pretzels with cinnamon and sugar
• Pretzel bites stuffed with ham and cheese

Summer posts are few and far between

Work is busy this week, so I'm thankful for a quiet night at home to myself. C is out for the night, which means I get a few hours of quiet time to blog, look through old photos, and generally do whatever I want. Consequently that meant doing laundry as well. Let's face it, even quiet nights at home can't ignore chores that need done.

Summer has been busy, but in a relaxing way. We kicked off our summer with a trip to Portland and haven't stopped moving since. We were blessed to find 4 weekends this summer to go to the lake and enjoy some time in and on the water. With the heat wave in the Midwest (can you really call it a heat wave when it's been over a month?), and the severe drought conditions, I'm grateful for the pool and lake. The rest of our summer weekends are starting to pick up with activities and events, which means less lake time. I just hope the end of summer brings some cooler weather with it.

 To Do lists have been pretty non-existent around our house this summer. There are things that need fixed, cleaned, upgraded, etc. but summer relaxation is key. In addition to the lake time, we were able to go to Shakespeare in the Park this year, as well as spend the 4th celebrating both Independence Day and a dear friend's birthday. We participated in the Color Run Kansas City. We spent an evening at a winery with my parents. And we have been to farmers markets. I have even baked a cherry pie. I would definitely call this summer a success. 

That all being said, I vow to start blogging more again. I have a really cool idea (at least I think it's cool) to make recipes from around the world in honor of the Olympics. The Olympic Opening Ceremony is Friday and C and I are completely stoked. We heart the Olympics. I've already told C to make sure we had plenty of space on our DVR because I'm recording...everything. Okay, maybe not archery, handball, or weightlifting. But everything else is fair game.

So join me in making some of your favorite international foods to celebrate the Olympics in culinary style. Or feel free to suggest food items you'd like me to make. I have a few recipes lined up already but am totally open to suggestions! What's your favorite all-American recipe?

 Also! I'm hoping my pictures start getting better because C bought me the Canon Rebel T4i pictured below for my birthday! Isn't he just the bees knees? :)

I'm crafty

Like many of you out there, I have a love for pinning recipes, workout plans, and DIY projects. Somehow I find plenty of time to peruse Pinterest but never seem to find the time to actually make anything I pin. Today that changed.

There's Color Run fever in Kansas City this weekend. (Thank you pinterest for teaching me about the Color Run!) C and I are running in it tomorrow morning and I have to wear an all-white shirt. Conversely, it's approximately 100 degrees here in KC and just thinking about wearing a normal t-shirt tomorrow made me start sweating. I'm sure most of you have seen the DYI Tank Top pins made out of old t-shirts, so I thought this was the perfect time to give it a shot. I used this post because it didn't require any sewing.

I started with my plain Garmin shirt. This shirt is given to employees at orientation and I think I've worn it approximately never in the past 3 years. This seemed like a good shirt to experiment on.

First I cut off the sleeves and collar, being sure to stay close to the seam.

Next, cut about 1.5-2 inches further down the neck line. Cut the sleeves starting about 1.5 inches from the neckline at an angle to the bottom of the sleeve holes. I then turned the shirt over and cut in another inch or so into the back so it gathered a little easier.

I didn't get a picture of the final step, but cut a 2 inch x 8 inch strip from the sleeve scraps and tug on the ends a little so the cloth curls. Gather the back and wrap the cloth around a few times and tie into a knot to hold.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. And at least I'll stay a little cooler tomorrow morning!



26 Before 27, Final Update

My birthday is Friday and it turns out I didn't accomplish my list. But!--I do think I got a lot accomplished this year, even things that weren't on the list. Plus, now I've got a few items to start out my 27 Before 28 list! I've had an incredibly blessed 26th year and am excited to see what 27 has in store.

1. Go to Chicago (check! We went over Thanksgiving.)
2. Find a church (check! We haven't been much, but I do feel confident that we found a church we both like)
3. Learn to sew (Does getting the sewing machine out of the box count? I have high hopes for this next year! If someone knows how to sew they are welcome to come teach me.)
4. Run a 10k (check!)
5. Cook all the printed recipes in my recipe folder (Between TheKitchn and Pinterest, there are just too many recipes. This won't make next year's list.)
6. Blog 30 days in a row (check!)
7. Read 10 books (check! Check out this post to see what I read)
8. Ride my bike more (check! Um, we rode a few times. Which was more than not at all)
9. Bake a pie from scratch (check! Cherry Pie was made this weekend and it turned out great.)
10. Pay off my Graduate School loans (check! We also paid off C's car this month so I'm pretty sure that counts as an extra item.)
11. Begin half marathon training (check! I ran TWO half marathons this year! That's like a WHOLE marathon!)
12. Plant a full garden (check! So far we've only gotten peas, basil, and sage from the garden, but it's looking great!)
13. Refinish the landscaping on the side of our house (I spent about 2 hours clearing out the trees and overgrown bushes this weekend, but we're a few weeks away from getting the landscaping completed. This goes on next year's list.)
14. Frame wedding posters (Nope, still hasn't happened.)
15. Make wedding album (Again, this hasn't happened. I swear I love my husband, but I don't love our wedding pictures, so my motivation is lacking.)
16. Spend the afternoon at a winery (check! I'm pretty sure I'm adding this to next years list anyway just so we can spend more time at wineries.)
17. Go someplace new (check! This year I went to Southampton, UK, Barcelona (twice), Milwaukee, Portland, and New Hampshire. It's been a busy year.)
18. Bake bread from scratch (check! I made French Bread this weekend. It was impressive.)
19. Make homemade ice cream (check! Our ice cream maker has a semi-permanent home on the kitchen counter now.)
20. Go on the Boulevard Brewery Tour (check!)
21. Visit the Nelson-Atkins Museum (We had intended to go this past weekend, but there just weren't enough hours in the day. This will make the list for next year.)
22. Take a day off, for no reason (check! I slept in, I cleaned a little, I shopped, I drank a frappuccino. It was great.)
23. Join a group/do more community service (I'm thinking Junior League or Big Brothers/Big Sisters) (I didn't get this accomplished and it's been weighing heavily on me lately. This is definitely on next year's list.)
24. Watch The Godfather (just something I've never seen but have wanted to) (check! We watched all 3.)
25. Read a non-fiction book (looking for suggestions) (check! I read Me Talk Pretty One Day, by David Sedaris. Hilarious!)
26. Take one week off from facebook (check!)