Oh, another day...I can't wait for the weekend. Not that we have anything super exciting going on, but just not being at work for two whole days will be wonderful. Working at the bank was kind of a bummer because I'd have to work Saturday's a lot. It's only half a day, but it still makes you feel like you never left work at all. I talked to a friend who still works there yesterday and they hired a girl for summer help. I've officially been replaced now. :)
I just had to run an errand up to Walker for my boss (who is also my uncle) and I stopped at the cabin in Hackensack on my way back to check out the lake. All the ice is out (finally) but the shoreline is disintegrating. We lose more and more every year. It's not gently sloping, either. The ice pushes it up so it's kind of a drop-off now. The neighbors have rocks lining their shoreline and my mom keeps talking about it but she never gets that far. Maybe this summer. It was really chilly up there with the wind blowing off the lake. Hopefully we can get the dock in soon. Darren said he and my uncle could probably do it, so we'll see how that goes. Normally we pay someone but he went out of business a couple months ago. I'll probably get recruited into helping. Last year I had to help put in my uncle's boat lift...with my clothes on. I'll be more prepared this year. I can't wait for summer! This will probably be my last summer to be at the lake for a while so I had better enjoy it! Well, who am I kidding, I haven't had a summer off since I turned 15 and got hired at the bank...and actually even before that I worked part-time at Scamp from the age of 10. My parents believed in good old fashioned hard work, apparently. Anyway, next summer we'll be in the cities so it won't be the same as living in Backus.
So dinner last night was very tasty. I did have a couple problems...putting the focaccia bread in the machine at lunch running it on a delay didn't work well. It didn't get mixed up right and was lumpy. I'm not sure if it was the delay or the little mixer thing wasn't working right, so I'll probably have to try it again. Also, the twice-baked potatoes overflowed a little bit. They still tasted really yummy though, so I guess that's something. I have no idea what would make them overflow. I maybe scooped too close to the skin; they weren't the most stable of things and if they tipped a little the insides could have run. Oh well, lesson learned there. The shish-kabobs were DELICIOUS. We used McCormick Grill Mates Chipotle Pepper marinade (it comes in a packet like taco seasoning) and let the meat marinate for almost 24 hours. It was so good! I'm excited for the leftovers tonight. Yummy!
Tomorrow Darren and I are going to Brainerd with his grandparents to get seeds for our garden. He's so excited about it where I could more take it or leave it. But it will be fun to grow our own food; I'm just not excited about the amount of work it will be. Especially when it's hot out and we would rather be up at the cabin. Saturday he's going archery shooting with Troy and Troy's dad so I'm going to go visit Tina for a bit I think. I told her I'd come and help her tidy up her house since she doesn't have time for much of anything right now but she said I wasn't allowed to clean for her. So now I'm thinking maybe I'll bring her something she can heat up quick for dinner. The only problem is she's a way better cook than me...and she doesn't like beef, which is what most of my recipes consist of. I was thinking either chicken enchiladas or chicken fettuccine alfredo. Although she usually makes her own alfredo sauce and I use the stuff from the jar. So we'll see. I can make her some of the focaccia bread, too, because I know she'll like that. Saturday afternoon is Darren's sister's prom so we're going to go see her at grand march. The weekend is going to go by so fast again...
About Me
- Alaina
- I have two kids - a girl and a boy - and live in north-central Minnesota, land of snow and ice. Well, for 9 months of the year, that is. I work full-time for a local government, and on my "free time" I enjoy cooking, baking, hanging out with my kiddos, and RELAXING.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
wednesday weight-loss
Just about forgot Wednesday weight-loss...
Good news today. I was down 1.6 pounds from last week. I'm 9.7 pounds away from my goal. I spent some time this morning looking over my weight-loss journal. I've lost 33.3 pounds since I started over two years ago. Yes, I lose weight that slowly. But I've had a lot of setbacks along the way, and I'd say I'm only marginally devoted to it the majority of the time. But I'm hoping by August 19, which is 16 long weeks from now, I can lose those 9.7 pounds and FINALLY be at the weight I've been aiming for for two years. Kind of a bummer that I was within four pounds and gained some back, but I guess you live and learn from that. Anyway, I only need to lose a little over half a pound every week to get there. It's not the first time I've tried this...but hey, it has to happen some time, right??
I've kicked up the SlimFast to breakfast and lunch. I've been drinking it for breakfast off and on for about seven years and have tried doing it for two meals a day before. I bought some meal bars and plan on doing those for lunch with my "favorite 200 calorie healthy food". Today that consisted of one piece of multigrain bread, a small slice of pepperjack cheese, a slice of turkey, two pickels, and mustard. But you know what, I actually felt satisfied when I finished. SlimFast does recommend a morning and afternoon snack as well. I don't have any of the snack bars so I might have to get some of those. Usually I just eat fruit in the morning around 10:00 and in the afternoon if I get hungry I have a 90 calorie granola bar. I wish fresh fruit wasn't so expensive. I eat a lot of cantalope and apples but I wish I could have more strawberries and pineappple. I love pineapple. I'll get some next time it's on sale. :)
Good news today. I was down 1.6 pounds from last week. I'm 9.7 pounds away from my goal. I spent some time this morning looking over my weight-loss journal. I've lost 33.3 pounds since I started over two years ago. Yes, I lose weight that slowly. But I've had a lot of setbacks along the way, and I'd say I'm only marginally devoted to it the majority of the time. But I'm hoping by August 19, which is 16 long weeks from now, I can lose those 9.7 pounds and FINALLY be at the weight I've been aiming for for two years. Kind of a bummer that I was within four pounds and gained some back, but I guess you live and learn from that. Anyway, I only need to lose a little over half a pound every week to get there. It's not the first time I've tried this...but hey, it has to happen some time, right??
I've kicked up the SlimFast to breakfast and lunch. I've been drinking it for breakfast off and on for about seven years and have tried doing it for two meals a day before. I bought some meal bars and plan on doing those for lunch with my "favorite 200 calorie healthy food". Today that consisted of one piece of multigrain bread, a small slice of pepperjack cheese, a slice of turkey, two pickels, and mustard. But you know what, I actually felt satisfied when I finished. SlimFast does recommend a morning and afternoon snack as well. I don't have any of the snack bars so I might have to get some of those. Usually I just eat fruit in the morning around 10:00 and in the afternoon if I get hungry I have a 90 calorie granola bar. I wish fresh fruit wasn't so expensive. I eat a lot of cantalope and apples but I wish I could have more strawberries and pineappple. I love pineapple. I'll get some next time it's on sale. :)
twice-baked potatoes
We went over to Troy and Tina's last night and I got to meet Tanner James. What a precious little boy. I can't believe how tiny he is! It was fun to catch up with Tina and hear about her past week with the baby.
Afterwards we went out to the Salty Dog for dinner with Pat and Shelly. By the time we got home it was going on 8 o'clock. We cleaned up around the kitchen a little and got some stuff ready for dinner tonight, watched an episode of Friends, and went to bed. It was so hard to get up this morning! I was going to get up at 6 and get the downstairs bathroom cleaned before work but I slept in until 6:30. I got the bathroom cleaned over lunch, though, so it all worked out. I also got the focaccia bread in the machine and the potatoes in the oven with both on timers so they'll be ready to go when I get home.
I love the timer on the oven; so handy. The potatoes have to cool off before I can scoop out their insides and mix them up, and then they have to go back in the oven for 30 minutes, so they're kind of putsy. But SOO delicious. Tina's recipe wasn't really a recipe because she's one of those people who just tosses things into a pot and it turns out amazing, so she kind of had to guess on the recipe she gave me. I checked in my Betty Crocker cookbook and found this one. It's pretty much the same as Tina's only she adds 2 or 3 strips of crumbled bacon, parsley, and a clove of garlic, so I'm going to do that, too. I don't have any chives so I'm just going to skip them...hopefully they won't be that important.
Afterwards we went out to the Salty Dog for dinner with Pat and Shelly. By the time we got home it was going on 8 o'clock. We cleaned up around the kitchen a little and got some stuff ready for dinner tonight, watched an episode of Friends, and went to bed. It was so hard to get up this morning! I was going to get up at 6 and get the downstairs bathroom cleaned before work but I slept in until 6:30. I got the bathroom cleaned over lunch, though, so it all worked out. I also got the focaccia bread in the machine and the potatoes in the oven with both on timers so they'll be ready to go when I get home.
I love the timer on the oven; so handy. The potatoes have to cool off before I can scoop out their insides and mix them up, and then they have to go back in the oven for 30 minutes, so they're kind of putsy. But SOO delicious. Tina's recipe wasn't really a recipe because she's one of those people who just tosses things into a pot and it turns out amazing, so she kind of had to guess on the recipe she gave me. I checked in my Betty Crocker cookbook and found this one. It's pretty much the same as Tina's only she adds 2 or 3 strips of crumbled bacon, parsley, and a clove of garlic, so I'm going to do that, too. I don't have any chives so I'm just going to skip them...hopefully they won't be that important.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!
I've had this blog for one year now. That's so crazy. I can't believe how much has happened in the past year! I was looking back at some of my first posts and I could remember writing them like it was yesterday. A year ago today I was almost done with my junior year of college and Darren and I had only been engaged for a couple months. Now we've been married for three months and I'm only 17 credits away from graduating with a BS in Accounting! So crazy how those four years of college flew by. And so scary thinking about what on earth I'll do when I graduate...
Speaking of fall semester, I got all registered for my 13 credits of day school last week. Business Information Systems, Income Taxation, and Advanced Accounting, here I come! All Tuesday/Thursday classes so I'll only have to be on campus two days a week, which is nice. Oh, and I have that 1 credit follow-up to my internship, since I'm taking it for 0 credits right now to save on tuition. But that isn't really a class, more like a formality where I have to turn in the paper I've written about my internship. Today I registered for my capstone Christian Thought class through distance education. I love DE...so much easier than day school. I think that class will be pretty easy, except for the monster of a paper (14 pages!!) I have to write at the end of it detailing how I integrate my faith and my major. I could tell you in a paragraph, but I guess I'll have to stretch that bad boy out. At least the class is with a professor I've had twice before (once for DE Christian Theology and once for day school Life of Christ), and he's a really great professor and SOOO easy. BIS will be a snap, too, so the only real classes I'll have will be my accounting ones, and after three years of Elfstrum I think I can handle them.
Last night Darren and I stopped at my mom's to feed the animals for her and pick up the mail while she's on vacation. We went home and had our burgers and leftovers and watched Seven Pounds. It was pretty good, if a little predictable. We knew exactly what was going to happen about halfway through. I mean, exactly. Warning: You should skip the rest of this paragraph now if you haven't seen the movie and don't want it ruined for you. I even predicted he was going to kill himself with his jellyfish! But what a way to go. We still don't really get the title...Seven Pounds. I get the seven (he killed seven people in a car accident), but what's with the pounds??? Maybe a little research is in order. Okay, figured it out. It's referring to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and the phrase "a pound of flesh." Apparently there's supposed to be some relation between donating organs and paying your pound of flesh...I guess I get it.
Okay, safe the read the rest now. Tonight we're going out to Troy and Tina's to see the baby quick. I think I'm going to make tacos for supper; they're nice and easy. We haven't had them for a while and I loooove tacos. Oh, this day is dragging by already...I've played so much free cell lately I even dreamed about it last night. Now is that sad or what??
Speaking of fall semester, I got all registered for my 13 credits of day school last week. Business Information Systems, Income Taxation, and Advanced Accounting, here I come! All Tuesday/Thursday classes so I'll only have to be on campus two days a week, which is nice. Oh, and I have that 1 credit follow-up to my internship, since I'm taking it for 0 credits right now to save on tuition. But that isn't really a class, more like a formality where I have to turn in the paper I've written about my internship. Today I registered for my capstone Christian Thought class through distance education. I love DE...so much easier than day school. I think that class will be pretty easy, except for the monster of a paper (14 pages!!) I have to write at the end of it detailing how I integrate my faith and my major. I could tell you in a paragraph, but I guess I'll have to stretch that bad boy out. At least the class is with a professor I've had twice before (once for DE Christian Theology and once for day school Life of Christ), and he's a really great professor and SOOO easy. BIS will be a snap, too, so the only real classes I'll have will be my accounting ones, and after three years of Elfstrum I think I can handle them.
Last night Darren and I stopped at my mom's to feed the animals for her and pick up the mail while she's on vacation. We went home and had our burgers and leftovers and watched Seven Pounds. It was pretty good, if a little predictable. We knew exactly what was going to happen about halfway through. I mean, exactly. Warning: You should skip the rest of this paragraph now if you haven't seen the movie and don't want it ruined for you. I even predicted he was going to kill himself with his jellyfish! But what a way to go. We still don't really get the title...Seven Pounds. I get the seven (he killed seven people in a car accident), but what's with the pounds??? Maybe a little research is in order. Okay, figured it out. It's referring to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and the phrase "a pound of flesh." Apparently there's supposed to be some relation between donating organs and paying your pound of flesh...I guess I get it.
Okay, safe the read the rest now. Tonight we're going out to Troy and Tina's to see the baby quick. I think I'm going to make tacos for supper; they're nice and easy. We haven't had them for a while and I loooove tacos. Oh, this day is dragging by already...I've played so much free cell lately I even dreamed about it last night. Now is that sad or what??
Monday, April 27, 2009
the weekend and cooking
Okay, I know I just changed my blog background again, but that crazy colorful one was getting to me. I thought I could handle it...nope, too much color. I really, really had to stop myself from putting up a patriotic one (I'm saving it for summer) so I found this simple black and white one instead. Gotta love classic black and white...it's my fave, for sure.
Darren was gone most of the weekend for drill. I spent almost all of it on my butt on the couch watching movies and Alias. It was fun. Oh, I also made this really delicious focaccia bread. It was so good. I highly recommend it. I used the dough cycle on my bread machine and then popped it in the oven when that was done, but I'm pretty sure it can be made totally by hand, too. I think next time I'll put on a little more garlic salt; there didn't seem to be quite enough. And I didn't have fresh rosemary so I used squished up rosemary leaves. Don't ask me what the difference is... Anyway, Darren got home yesterday around noon or so and we went and saw 17 Again with his parents and sister. I really wanted to see it and I wasn't disappointed. It was cute and pretty funny. Afterwards we went to his parent's for dinner and his sister's bday party. We had a good time and came home and crashed on the bed. It was hard to get up at 6 this morning...well, actually the alarm went off at 5 stinking 45 because Darren was going to get up early. He let the alarm snooze until 6 and I finally gave up on sleep. It was worth it though, because I got the bathroom cleaned before work this morning. I should have cleaned on my lunch break, too, but I was feeling so accomplished I sat and watched an episode of Alias.
We're having burgers for dinner tonight with leftover baked beans and suddenly salad. Sometime this week I hope to have Darren's parents and sister over to have shish-kebobs and Tina's amazing twice-baked potatoes and broccoli salad (thanks for those recipes Tina!). Can't wait to see how they turn out.
Darren was gone most of the weekend for drill. I spent almost all of it on my butt on the couch watching movies and Alias. It was fun. Oh, I also made this really delicious focaccia bread. It was so good. I highly recommend it. I used the dough cycle on my bread machine and then popped it in the oven when that was done, but I'm pretty sure it can be made totally by hand, too. I think next time I'll put on a little more garlic salt; there didn't seem to be quite enough. And I didn't have fresh rosemary so I used squished up rosemary leaves. Don't ask me what the difference is... Anyway, Darren got home yesterday around noon or so and we went and saw 17 Again with his parents and sister. I really wanted to see it and I wasn't disappointed. It was cute and pretty funny. Afterwards we went to his parent's for dinner and his sister's bday party. We had a good time and came home and crashed on the bed. It was hard to get up at 6 this morning...well, actually the alarm went off at 5 stinking 45 because Darren was going to get up early. He let the alarm snooze until 6 and I finally gave up on sleep. It was worth it though, because I got the bathroom cleaned before work this morning. I should have cleaned on my lunch break, too, but I was feeling so accomplished I sat and watched an episode of Alias.
We're having burgers for dinner tonight with leftover baked beans and suddenly salad. Sometime this week I hope to have Darren's parents and sister over to have shish-kebobs and Tina's amazing twice-baked potatoes and broccoli salad (thanks for those recipes Tina!). Can't wait to see how they turn out.
And the "Creep of the Day" award goes to...
...the freak who just called me. Here's a paraphrase of our conversation:
"Good morning, Scamp Trailers." -me
"Oh, what company is this?" -creep
"Scamp Trailers."
"Oh, girl, I've just got everything wrong today. You mean this isn't the International Dance Studio?" (And just so you can picture his voice: think of someone who is gay, creepy, and hitting on you at the same time...ick!)
"Nope, this is Scamp Trailers." (I'm still trying to give him a chance, mistake #1)
"Oh, isn't this 947-4932?"
"Yes it is, but this is a trailer manufacturer."
"Well does this happen a lot?"
"Nope." (And by now I'm getting pissed because he's freaking me out with his gay man-voice and unwillingness to hang up, which I should have done, mistake #2)
"So you won't be offering any aerobics classes today?" (This is where I wanted to give him a piece of my mind but didn't, mistake #3)
"Nope."
"Well a girl as pretty as you should start teaching areobics classes." (Okay, freak, you can't see me...)
"This is Scamp Trailers."
"So if I tried to get my wife in a class you couldn't do that?" (What moron would marry you??)
"No, we make trailers."
"So my wife is just going to have to stay fat?" (And by now I'm so ready to hang up on him)
"We make trailers." (I think he got it by my tone because he hung up then. Sicko.)
"Good morning, Scamp Trailers." -me
"Oh, what company is this?" -creep
"Scamp Trailers."
"Oh, girl, I've just got everything wrong today. You mean this isn't the International Dance Studio?" (And just so you can picture his voice: think of someone who is gay, creepy, and hitting on you at the same time...ick!)
"Nope, this is Scamp Trailers." (I'm still trying to give him a chance, mistake #1)
"Oh, isn't this 947-4932?"
"Yes it is, but this is a trailer manufacturer."
"Well does this happen a lot?"
"Nope." (And by now I'm getting pissed because he's freaking me out with his gay man-voice and unwillingness to hang up, which I should have done, mistake #2)
"So you won't be offering any aerobics classes today?" (This is where I wanted to give him a piece of my mind but didn't, mistake #3)
"Nope."
"Well a girl as pretty as you should start teaching areobics classes." (Okay, freak, you can't see me...)
"This is Scamp Trailers."
"So if I tried to get my wife in a class you couldn't do that?" (What moron would marry you??)
"No, we make trailers."
"So my wife is just going to have to stay fat?" (And by now I'm so ready to hang up on him)
"We make trailers." (I think he got it by my tone because he hung up then. Sicko.)
Thursday, April 23, 2009
yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Last night Darren had batting practice and then had to get his hair cut for drill this weekend so he left home right after dinner and didn't come home until 9:45. I'm pretty sure I talked to him when he came home, but I was in Tylenol PM induced coma and I don't remember much from 9:15 last night until 6 this morning. It was nice getting up so early. I worked out, vaccumed and dusted the living room, dusted the china cabinet in the kitchen and the table in the entry area, and vaccumed the rug by the front door. And I was earlier to work than usual. I can't say early to work, because I'm never early...more like today I was less late than I normally am. But considering it's so slow here that I'm getting paid to type this blog right now, I can't honestly say that anyone really cares. I did read online yesterday that hitting the snooze button is really bad for you. Apparently really super short bursts of sleep actually makes you more tired. I guess I can see that. I never used to hit the snooze button until I got married, which also makes sense since I read today that single people get more sleep than married people. Anyway, getting all that cleaning done this morning was great. All I have left for the week is to sweep the entry area and kitchen and wipe down the kitchen counters. Although all the grooves in the tile turn a minor sweeping job into a 10 minute project. Note to self: never have tile floors. They look nice, but definitely not worth it. I am learning quite a few things I don't want in my house from living out at Blair's.
I sold a bunch of books to this company in Grand Rapids (for $68, yay!) and I had to ship them today. Forty-seven pound box + two-inch glorified flip-flops = disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately it didn't. I already had my daily dose of bad luck this morning when my hair dryer crapped out on me. Just round-brushing away and pouf! there she goes. I swear I saw a little piece fly out of it but I couldn't find it anywhere. I was just thinking about a week ago how long that hair dryer had lasted. I'm pretty sure I got it in high school, so it was a good one. I'll have to buy another one in Brainerd tomorrow.
Speaking of Brainerd tomorrow...I have to go to the gynecologist. Bleh. I was going to ask my friend (Tina) who just had a baby who she sees because she really loves her gynecologist, plus the gynecologist I normally see is all the way down in the cities. I was supposed to call Tina on Sunday and ask her but I forgot and then she had the baby on Sunday night. I did talk to her Monday when she called to tell me but I didn't feel like saying, "Congratulations! Who's your gynecologist?" I haven't been able to get a hold of her since then so I said screw it, I'm just going to call the stinking medical center and they can give me whoever they want. And you know what? It was a piece of cake and I got in at 9:45 tomorrow so I really wish I would have done it sooner. Oh well, live and learn.
Anyway, I'm going to do a little shopping while I'm down there, I think. There's a couple things we need--a Brita water pitcher being top of the list; I can't stand much more poison water--plus some groceries. I also have birthday money (yay!) and I think I'm going to get a pair of capris. I wanted a green purse but I looked online at Target and they were all ugly. So I'm not sure what else I'll spend it on. Darren's parents gave me a gift card for Christmas Point and I'm really excited about that. Love that store. Oh, I was going to order some Pampered Chef stuff but I'm supposed to have 10% off for a year since I did a wedding registry with them and I can't figure out how to make it work online. I emailed my consultant like a week and a half ago and she still hasn't emailed me back. What is with people not responding to my messages lately? I'll probably have to call her...maybe I'll do that when I'm done with this. Hmm...which will probably be right about now.
I sold a bunch of books to this company in Grand Rapids (for $68, yay!) and I had to ship them today. Forty-seven pound box + two-inch glorified flip-flops = disaster waiting to happen. Fortunately it didn't. I already had my daily dose of bad luck this morning when my hair dryer crapped out on me. Just round-brushing away and pouf! there she goes. I swear I saw a little piece fly out of it but I couldn't find it anywhere. I was just thinking about a week ago how long that hair dryer had lasted. I'm pretty sure I got it in high school, so it was a good one. I'll have to buy another one in Brainerd tomorrow.
Speaking of Brainerd tomorrow...I have to go to the gynecologist. Bleh. I was going to ask my friend (Tina) who just had a baby who she sees because she really loves her gynecologist, plus the gynecologist I normally see is all the way down in the cities. I was supposed to call Tina on Sunday and ask her but I forgot and then she had the baby on Sunday night. I did talk to her Monday when she called to tell me but I didn't feel like saying, "Congratulations! Who's your gynecologist?" I haven't been able to get a hold of her since then so I said screw it, I'm just going to call the stinking medical center and they can give me whoever they want. And you know what? It was a piece of cake and I got in at 9:45 tomorrow so I really wish I would have done it sooner. Oh well, live and learn.
Anyway, I'm going to do a little shopping while I'm down there, I think. There's a couple things we need--a Brita water pitcher being top of the list; I can't stand much more poison water--plus some groceries. I also have birthday money (yay!) and I think I'm going to get a pair of capris. I wanted a green purse but I looked online at Target and they were all ugly. So I'm not sure what else I'll spend it on. Darren's parents gave me a gift card for Christmas Point and I'm really excited about that. Love that store. Oh, I was going to order some Pampered Chef stuff but I'm supposed to have 10% off for a year since I did a wedding registry with them and I can't figure out how to make it work online. I emailed my consultant like a week and a half ago and she still hasn't emailed me back. What is with people not responding to my messages lately? I'll probably have to call her...maybe I'll do that when I'm done with this. Hmm...which will probably be right about now.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
wednesday weight loss...and other things
MUCH better than last week. (Yay!) I'm down 2.8 pounds from last Wednesday, which wasn't actually too surprising since the quicker I pounce on a weight gain the faster it goes off. So buh-bye Easter weight and on to Grand Cayman weight. I've been diligently Turbo Jamming my butt off and my hip flexors are paying for it (yeah, that's right, I know my anatomy). I'm thinking maybe I'm a little too crazy during the kicking sections. It's hard though, because it goes so fast I feel like I have to kick hard to keep up. I'm really enjoying the Cardio Party Mix 3...50 minutes of fun, let me tell you. Usually about ready to fall over dead 30 minutes in, but highly effective. I always feel really good about myself by the time I finish. And actually it's better than mixes 1 and 2. There are better combos and the music is way better. Plus it's my newest one so I'm not sick of it yet. When I can tell you what Chalene is going to say before she even says it, and I know when her little followers are going to mess up, you know I've done that workout way too many times.
On to bigger and better things. Or maybe worse things. Last night I broke our Brita water pitcher...by slamming in on the counter. And of course it was full so water went everywhere and I massacred my finger when the plastic shattered. What can I say, sometimes Darren makes me sooooo angry... And now I'm angry at myself because we'll have to buy a new one, and they aren't cheap. Plus I'm stuck drinking semi-poisonous, nasty-tasting water until we can get to Brainerd again. It's unfortunate I never think of good Bible verses in the midst of my anger: always afterward. I'm committing Proverbs 14:29 to memory this very second. "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly." (NASB) Definitely learned my lesson.
The garden work is starting. Yesterday on my lunch break we got some of my grandpa's cow manure delivered and Darren shoveled it around last night. Hopefully the veggies will grow nice and big with all those yummy nutrients. And if you think cow manure is something to freak out about, you can't even judge it until you've smelled turkey manure. Talk about disgusting. That smell just permeates your life for a good three days. We're going to go get seeds with Darren's grandparents sometime soon, I believe. Tina says to wait until June 1st to plant but we might get a little jump on it because we won't be here through late summer/early fall.
Speaking of Tina, I still haven't seen her baby yet. I did get to see his picture though and he's a little cutie. Hopefully we'll get out to see her and the baby sometime this week. She and I were originally planning on going to the Co-op this Saturday but I think it might get postponed now. I'm kind of sad because I really needed some spices. Plus with Darren having drill Friday-Sunday I'll be all lonesome. I am going to an all-you-can-eat-spaghetti softball fundraiser Friday night for my brother's summer team with some relatives, so that will be something, at least.
Everyone who works out in the shop is getting off of work now. I still have two hours...bleh.
On to bigger and better things. Or maybe worse things. Last night I broke our Brita water pitcher...by slamming in on the counter. And of course it was full so water went everywhere and I massacred my finger when the plastic shattered. What can I say, sometimes Darren makes me sooooo angry... And now I'm angry at myself because we'll have to buy a new one, and they aren't cheap. Plus I'm stuck drinking semi-poisonous, nasty-tasting water until we can get to Brainerd again. It's unfortunate I never think of good Bible verses in the midst of my anger: always afterward. I'm committing Proverbs 14:29 to memory this very second. "He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly." (NASB) Definitely learned my lesson.
The garden work is starting. Yesterday on my lunch break we got some of my grandpa's cow manure delivered and Darren shoveled it around last night. Hopefully the veggies will grow nice and big with all those yummy nutrients. And if you think cow manure is something to freak out about, you can't even judge it until you've smelled turkey manure. Talk about disgusting. That smell just permeates your life for a good three days. We're going to go get seeds with Darren's grandparents sometime soon, I believe. Tina says to wait until June 1st to plant but we might get a little jump on it because we won't be here through late summer/early fall.
Speaking of Tina, I still haven't seen her baby yet. I did get to see his picture though and he's a little cutie. Hopefully we'll get out to see her and the baby sometime this week. She and I were originally planning on going to the Co-op this Saturday but I think it might get postponed now. I'm kind of sad because I really needed some spices. Plus with Darren having drill Friday-Sunday I'll be all lonesome. I am going to an all-you-can-eat-spaghetti softball fundraiser Friday night for my brother's summer team with some relatives, so that will be something, at least.
Everyone who works out in the shop is getting off of work now. I still have two hours...bleh.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
April 21
Five years ago today I was standing in the cemetery. We had received a call from the sherriff in North Dakota a week prior--the day I celebrated my 17th birthday--saying someone flying over the lake in an airplane had seen my dad's body. It's amazing how well I can remember something that happened five years ago. I know exactly what I was wearing: black dress pants, a black shirt with white swirls, and black strappy dress shoes that hurt my feet, which I still own. I remember I had gone to school that morning, like it was just another day. Only six months after my dad's death and already life had become "normal" again. My brother, sister, and I left school around noon for the burial. It was a closed casket, for obvious reasons. There was a little tent and some chairs around the gravesite, and it was warm and sunny. My aunt read a poem, Pastor spoke some words of reassurace. We didn't have a gravestone yet because the people at the company in India were on strike. There weren't very many people there; they had already paid their respects six months earlier at the memorial service. We called it that because we didn't have his body, so it wasn't really a funeral.
In stark contrast to the memorial service, I remember few tears on the day of the burial. We had already accepted what had happened. At the church after the internment we had a light lunch and sat around talking. I remember laughing with my family as we planned our first Eveland Family vacation to Hawaii--all 17 of us. It's amazing how life changes in 5 years. Every year I remember this day. Every year I am astonished by the things that have taken place, yet excited to see what the next year will bring.
In stark contrast to the memorial service, I remember few tears on the day of the burial. We had already accepted what had happened. At the church after the internment we had a light lunch and sat around talking. I remember laughing with my family as we planned our first Eveland Family vacation to Hawaii--all 17 of us. It's amazing how life changes in 5 years. Every year I remember this day. Every year I am astonished by the things that have taken place, yet excited to see what the next year will bring.
Monday, April 20, 2009
weekend fun
It was a busy weekend, but fun. We went down to the cities on Thursday night to do some apartment hunting on Friday. We found two places we're going to keep looking at. One is called Hillsborough Apartments of Roseville and the other is Centennial Commons. Hillsborough is nicer and larger, but Centennial Commons is still pretty nice and considerably cheaper, so it'll be a tough decision. I am kind of excited to move down there. Not to be in the cities, but just because it will be nice to have our own place. Right now we live in my step-father's house for dirt cheap so that's REALLY nice, but it feels like nothing really changed since we got married. I'm ready for some adventure. :)
Saturday Darren had a 3D bow shoot in Walker and then Saturday night we went over to Tina and Troy's for dinner. She made some DELICIOUS food so I got the recipes from her and I'm excited to try them. We had shish-kebobs, twice baked potatoes, broccoli cole slaw, and rolls. It was yummy. And I made this cherry custard pie for dessert that I was fairly impressed with. Darren and I are really excited to try out our own skewers now. Yesterday we slept in and were really lazy most of the day until Darren's parents came over for supper and games. We always have a ton of fun playing games with them.
And, best of all, my best friend Tina had her baby last night! She called me this morning and told me that she had a boy, Tanner James. It was so funny since we saw them Saturday night and she was saying how she felt really great but didn't think the baby would be coming for a while. :) She got the boy she wanted, so I'm happy for her. Can't wait to see him! I checked the hospital website but there isn't a picture of him up yet.
No big plans for tonight. It's been chilly lately so we're kind of bummed since we wanted to get some yard work done. Hopefully it will warm up soon. Darren has a Friday-Sunday drill this weekend so that stinks, but at least it's in Ripley so we won't have to pay for a hotel up in Hibbing. Maybe I'll be able to get some outside work done this weekend.
Saturday Darren had a 3D bow shoot in Walker and then Saturday night we went over to Tina and Troy's for dinner. She made some DELICIOUS food so I got the recipes from her and I'm excited to try them. We had shish-kebobs, twice baked potatoes, broccoli cole slaw, and rolls. It was yummy. And I made this cherry custard pie for dessert that I was fairly impressed with. Darren and I are really excited to try out our own skewers now. Yesterday we slept in and were really lazy most of the day until Darren's parents came over for supper and games. We always have a ton of fun playing games with them.
And, best of all, my best friend Tina had her baby last night! She called me this morning and told me that she had a boy, Tanner James. It was so funny since we saw them Saturday night and she was saying how she felt really great but didn't think the baby would be coming for a while. :) She got the boy she wanted, so I'm happy for her. Can't wait to see him! I checked the hospital website but there isn't a picture of him up yet.
No big plans for tonight. It's been chilly lately so we're kind of bummed since we wanted to get some yard work done. Hopefully it will warm up soon. Darren has a Friday-Sunday drill this weekend so that stinks, but at least it's in Ripley so we won't have to pay for a hotel up in Hibbing. Maybe I'll be able to get some outside work done this weekend.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
wednesday weight loss
Oh man oh man. I think Easter and my birthday just about did me in. It's just to depressing to talk about my weight right now, so I'm going to take a pass on this week. Ugh.
So my fancy new phone can create a post on here. I just tried it but it didn't work out too well. There was a character limit so my post ended up being three posts...not quite what I had in mind. I can also post via my new gmail account (the new phone FORCED me to get one...I don't think it will even work without it...but that's Google for you) so maybe I'll try that next. The internet is finally working on it, after three calls to TMobile. It's a lot of fun. Darren was using it last night to read up about tapping trees. He was really excited to do that this year but it's not working out well. He thinks he started too late because he hardly gets any sap. So probably not maple syrup this year.
Today is my payday, fortunately. We need to build up our savings again after we spent a lot of money in Grand Cayman. Darren gets paid on Friday, so that's good too, although I think it's going to be a wimpy one since it's over when we were gone. I've been trying to be really good about keeping a budget so we can see where we spend our money. (It's not that restrictive kind of budget, more like a tracking type of budget...probably shouldn't even call it a budget.) Darren makes fun of me, of course, but I think it's really helpful.
Darren is on fire watch today and then batting practice after that so he won't be home until pretty late. That's okay because I need to workout anyway...I told myself the workouts would be bumped up to every morning and every possible evening until I lose all this Christmas/Grand Cayman/Easter/birthday weight. I've gained about 7 pounds since fall semester ended so that's not good--3 at Christmas, 2 on the trip, and 2 over the last weekend (isn't that HORRIBLE??!). It's amazing how just a couple pounds here and there can add up to 7 pounds. I wasn't too worried about Christmas, and I saw the Grand Cayman weight gain coming, but Easter just threw me for a loop. So it's time to get back on track. Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be a weight post so I'm going to move on to something else.
I've been using ApartmentFinder.com and Rent.com to search for some apartments. Darren and I are heading down tomorrow night and then we'll look at some on Friday. He also has to meet with his professor at the U to get some of his classes lined up. Hopefully that won't take long because we have a lot of apartments to check out and we want to come home Friday night. I really hope we find something tomorrow. Darren is so worried about living in a "safe" neighborhood so then everything is more expensive with less space. I just want to have room for things, but he doesn't seem to worried about that. There are a couple I think look promising, but we won't know until we go and check them out. Probably the one I like the least on paper will be the one I like the most in person. You never know... :)
So my fancy new phone can create a post on here. I just tried it but it didn't work out too well. There was a character limit so my post ended up being three posts...not quite what I had in mind. I can also post via my new gmail account (the new phone FORCED me to get one...I don't think it will even work without it...but that's Google for you) so maybe I'll try that next. The internet is finally working on it, after three calls to TMobile. It's a lot of fun. Darren was using it last night to read up about tapping trees. He was really excited to do that this year but it's not working out well. He thinks he started too late because he hardly gets any sap. So probably not maple syrup this year.
Today is my payday, fortunately. We need to build up our savings again after we spent a lot of money in Grand Cayman. Darren gets paid on Friday, so that's good too, although I think it's going to be a wimpy one since it's over when we were gone. I've been trying to be really good about keeping a budget so we can see where we spend our money. (It's not that restrictive kind of budget, more like a tracking type of budget...probably shouldn't even call it a budget.) Darren makes fun of me, of course, but I think it's really helpful.
Darren is on fire watch today and then batting practice after that so he won't be home until pretty late. That's okay because I need to workout anyway...I told myself the workouts would be bumped up to every morning and every possible evening until I lose all this Christmas/Grand Cayman/Easter/birthday weight. I've gained about 7 pounds since fall semester ended so that's not good--3 at Christmas, 2 on the trip, and 2 over the last weekend (isn't that HORRIBLE??!). It's amazing how just a couple pounds here and there can add up to 7 pounds. I wasn't too worried about Christmas, and I saw the Grand Cayman weight gain coming, but Easter just threw me for a loop. So it's time to get back on track. Anyway, this wasn't supposed to be a weight post so I'm going to move on to something else.
I've been using ApartmentFinder.com and Rent.com to search for some apartments. Darren and I are heading down tomorrow night and then we'll look at some on Friday. He also has to meet with his professor at the U to get some of his classes lined up. Hopefully that won't take long because we have a lot of apartments to check out and we want to come home Friday night. I really hope we find something tomorrow. Darren is so worried about living in a "safe" neighborhood so then everything is more expensive with less space. I just want to have room for things, but he doesn't seem to worried about that. There are a couple I think look promising, but we won't know until we go and check them out. Probably the one I like the least on paper will be the one I like the most in person. You never know... :)
Monday, April 13, 2009
birthday
I turned 22 today. Weird that I'm that old. Seems like I'm 20. I'm a pretty low-key person so tonight it's just me and Darren eating Holiday pizza on the couch watching TV. We are going to make mudslides, and that's about as crazy as I'll get.
Darren got me a super sweet TMobile G1 phone for my birthday. It's really fun, except the internet won't work on it so I have to call TMobile as soon as I'm done with this. I was supposed to call them after I found mudslide recipes but I forgot...oops. Anyway, from my mom I got some kitchen stuff I had asked for. I also got some money from my grandma which I'm going to use to buy a dressy spring/fall coat. I don't have one and I'm tired of wearing the North Face to church. Haven't opened my present from the in-laws yet but Darren's grandparents got me a gift card, so that was really nice.
Easter went well. We were pretty busy and up at the crack of dawn for the sunrise service, so it was a long day. I'm still really tired from it. I could go for some Caribou right about now, but I might have to settle for a Diet Pepsi Vanilla. Not the same.
Darren got me a super sweet TMobile G1 phone for my birthday. It's really fun, except the internet won't work on it so I have to call TMobile as soon as I'm done with this. I was supposed to call them after I found mudslide recipes but I forgot...oops. Anyway, from my mom I got some kitchen stuff I had asked for. I also got some money from my grandma which I'm going to use to buy a dressy spring/fall coat. I don't have one and I'm tired of wearing the North Face to church. Haven't opened my present from the in-laws yet but Darren's grandparents got me a gift card, so that was really nice.
Easter went well. We were pretty busy and up at the crack of dawn for the sunrise service, so it was a long day. I'm still really tired from it. I could go for some Caribou right about now, but I might have to settle for a Diet Pepsi Vanilla. Not the same.
Friday, April 10, 2009
bleh
Work has been duller than dirt today. My goodness, it's been slow. It doesn't help that it's Friday and I'm just sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for the weekend. The whole fam is coming up this weekend so it should be a good time. My mom has a condo down at Causeway this weekend so I think we'll spend some time down there in the pool. I know this weekend will just fly by and then it'll be back to work on Monday already. Oh well, at least I have a good job, even if it is slow sometimes. I guess I could dust my desk off if I got desperate enough.
Oh, I thought of something I can do. Okay, short post today. Everyone have a Happy Easter!
Oh, I thought of something I can do. Okay, short post today. Everyone have a Happy Easter!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
wednesday weight loss
So in lieu of my 8 week countdown to Grand Cayman recording my weight loss, I decided to just have a regular (non-countdown) weight loss post every Wednesday for two reasons: One, I'm not going to Grand Cayman anymore, and two, hopefully this will continue to motivate me.
So I gained about two pounds in Grand Cayman. Not the most I've ever gained on a vacation, so I was happy. (Carnival cruise 2005: SEVEN pounds...it was all-inclusive. Ironically, this was right after I had lost a bunch of weight in high school...probably about 15 pounds, and I was so depressed about it I never recovered. I kept gaining weight until sophomore year when I finally started losing it again--35 pounds, yay!--which leads me to today.) Anyway, so now I'm back up there where I was at the end of last summer, which stinks. But in my experience vacation weight goes off pretty quickly if you attack it fast, which will be difficult with Easter and my birthday. If there's one thing I've learned the hard way it's to not let a small weight gain stop you from losing weight (see above cruise story). I should take my own advice: I still haven't lost my Christmas weight. I'm currently up about five pounds since the end of the school semester in December, so that means I need to lose 10 pounds to get to my long-held goal...seriously, it's been my goal for officially two years now since March 2007 was the beginning of the weight loss. And I've been SOOOO close. Dang you, last five pounds...
So I gained about two pounds in Grand Cayman. Not the most I've ever gained on a vacation, so I was happy. (Carnival cruise 2005: SEVEN pounds...it was all-inclusive. Ironically, this was right after I had lost a bunch of weight in high school...probably about 15 pounds, and I was so depressed about it I never recovered. I kept gaining weight until sophomore year when I finally started losing it again--35 pounds, yay!--which leads me to today.) Anyway, so now I'm back up there where I was at the end of last summer, which stinks. But in my experience vacation weight goes off pretty quickly if you attack it fast, which will be difficult with Easter and my birthday. If there's one thing I've learned the hard way it's to not let a small weight gain stop you from losing weight (see above cruise story). I should take my own advice: I still haven't lost my Christmas weight. I'm currently up about five pounds since the end of the school semester in December, so that means I need to lose 10 pounds to get to my long-held goal...seriously, it's been my goal for officially two years now since March 2007 was the beginning of the weight loss. And I've been SOOOO close. Dang you, last five pounds...
Nothing too exciting going on lately. Last night and Monday night Darren watched the Twins while I cleaned, exercised, and made a list of books I'm hoping to sell to this company in Chicago or something. But more about that another time. Tonight we're going to Brainerd to get some groceries, stop at Target, and take new pictures for my passport. Passport replacements are spendy...ugh. Speaking of spendy...the head gasket in Darren's truck is broken, and that's why it's overheating all the time. We took it to Houston Ford and they told us there's about a million other things wrong with it they'd be happy to fix for about $3500. Um, no thanks. That's almost as much as he paid for that thing! So we're going to take it to Ben because he's way more reasonable and I think we're only going to fix the things that absolutely need fixing. But MAJOR bummer. The head gasket alone will still be over $1000, and that HAS to be fixed. So Darren was really crabby about it all last night. Stinking auto mechanics charging an arm and a leg...
This weekend the whole fam is coming up for Easter so that will be mucho beuno. (I don't really know any Spanish...maybe I should say tres bien??) Plus my mom has a week at Causeway in Nisswa so we'll be having some pool fun with all the cousins this weekend. I'm excited for it. We're doing Easter dinner with my grandparents/family and then supper with Darren's grandparents/family. (I should say lunch and supper, because Darren vehemently informed me the other day that lunch can only be called "lunch" and dinner/supper were synonomous.) Going to be SOOO much chocolate this weekend...so much for losing weight. Which reminds me, I'm supposed to have my wednesday weight loss post...okay, after this one.
My birthday is on Monday and Darren said he's really excited about the gift he got for me, so it must be something good. :) I can't wait to open it. I love surprises. Plus I don't know what my mom is getting me either. Yay. :)
This weekend the whole fam is coming up for Easter so that will be mucho beuno. (I don't really know any Spanish...maybe I should say tres bien??) Plus my mom has a week at Causeway in Nisswa so we'll be having some pool fun with all the cousins this weekend. I'm excited for it. We're doing Easter dinner with my grandparents/family and then supper with Darren's grandparents/family. (I should say lunch and supper, because Darren vehemently informed me the other day that lunch can only be called "lunch" and dinner/supper were synonomous.) Going to be SOOO much chocolate this weekend...so much for losing weight. Which reminds me, I'm supposed to have my wednesday weight loss post...okay, after this one.
My birthday is on Monday and Darren said he's really excited about the gift he got for me, so it must be something good. :) I can't wait to open it. I love surprises. Plus I don't know what my mom is getting me either. Yay. :)
Monday, April 6, 2009
Home again, home again, jiggity jig...
Well, we survived. Grand Cayman (the locals say Cay-MAN, not Cay-men, apparently) was pretty awesome, but it's always nice to be home where people speak real English, a gallon is actually a gallon, and Honey Nut Cheerios are NOT five dollars a box.
Some things I learned from Grand Cayman:
-Fire trucks only have blue lights. I know because I stood next to one at three FREAKING thirty in the morning while my hotel was on fire.
-$9.99 large pepperoni pizzas at Domino's are just as good in Grand Cayman as in the US, and are well worth an hour-long car ride...going 40 mph
-Prices are in US Dollars. Or Cayman Islands Dollars. Who knows until you pay?
-Just because something is advertised as, say, a pirate cave, does not mean you will get to see an actual pirate cave. You may end up visiting a petting zoo for rescued animals.
-The speed limit of 35 kph means everyone else on the island will drive either 65 kph or 15 kph.
-Even if you pay for something is US Dollars does not mean you will receive US Dollars in return.
-When you go to a pool bar and the drinks don't have prices next to them, assume you will pay upwards of $10 per drink. Correction: per unit of diluted juice, limited alcohol, and a lot of ice.
-A 15% gratuity is included in everything, even though the waiter/bartender does not deserve it. (See mention of diluted drinks.)
-When the customs official says "Welcome to the islands" he actually means "I hate my job. I hate my life. And I'm going to take it out on you and scare you so bad you won't ever think of lying to me when I ask you if you have alcohol or tobacco."
-Stingrays can give you hickeys. Enough said.
Some things I learned from Grand Cayman:
-Fire trucks only have blue lights. I know because I stood next to one at three FREAKING thirty in the morning while my hotel was on fire.
-$9.99 large pepperoni pizzas at Domino's are just as good in Grand Cayman as in the US, and are well worth an hour-long car ride...going 40 mph
-Prices are in US Dollars. Or Cayman Islands Dollars. Who knows until you pay?
-Just because something is advertised as, say, a pirate cave, does not mean you will get to see an actual pirate cave. You may end up visiting a petting zoo for rescued animals.
-The speed limit of 35 kph means everyone else on the island will drive either 65 kph or 15 kph.
-Even if you pay for something is US Dollars does not mean you will receive US Dollars in return.
-When you go to a pool bar and the drinks don't have prices next to them, assume you will pay upwards of $10 per drink. Correction: per unit of diluted juice, limited alcohol, and a lot of ice.
-A 15% gratuity is included in everything, even though the waiter/bartender does not deserve it. (See mention of diluted drinks.)
-When the customs official says "Welcome to the islands" he actually means "I hate my job. I hate my life. And I'm going to take it out on you and scare you so bad you won't ever think of lying to me when I ask you if you have alcohol or tobacco."
-Stingrays can give you hickeys. Enough said.
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