10 Activities That I Love (a writing prompt)

I am really loving these writing prompts--they are fun to think about! I know they don't exactly fit in anywhere on my blog, but I enjoy writing them and on days when I just don't have much to write, they are great for giving me an idea. Some of them are very personal and will be hard to share, while others are light-hearted and fun.

This one will be fun :)

Today's prompt: Activities I Love

1. Feeding "My" Squirrels

I have really grown to love the squirrels that come around every day for their treats, and it brightens my day when they come up to me (or if I look out the window and I see one sitting on the deck, just staring in the house and waiting for me to notice, haha). This has become somewhat of a hobby of mine. Sometimes, I'll sit on the deck with a bowl full of different nuts and feed up to five squirrels at time. They've learned that they can't fight with each other, or I won't give them nuts.


2. Organizing

I absolutely LOVE seeing a messy closet or drawers or cupboards and completely organizing it. Sometimes, I go really crazy (it's how you can for-sure tell when I'm hypomanic) and I clean the heck out of everything. In the photo above, I switched from hangers for all the clothes to folding them, and I'll never go back. I read about it in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Amazon affiliate link), and I haven't looked back since. It's amazing!


3. Projects

I love doing projects around the house--everything from painting furniture to building shelves to getting creative with old items that I bought from thrift stores. This is one of my favorite things I've made. You can see several more projects on my DIY projects page or click the photo to see the tutorial for that particular project (the pet feeding station).


4. Knitting/Crocheting

When I was losing the weight in 2009-2010, I liked to keep my hands as busy as possible, to keep from snacking. I knew how to knit, but I taught myself how to crochet as well, and I made a LOT of projects that year. I became pretty obsessed and had a yarn stash that was completely ridiculous! When I stopped knitting/crocheting so much, I got rid of the entire yarn stash and decided to just buy what I was planning to use at the moment. In the photo above, I'd made that aviator hat for Luke before he was even born. Because my brother is a pilot, Brian and Becky wanted to get a cute baby photo of him in a suitcase with the aviator decor ;)  (You can find me on Ravelry here, if you want to see more of what I've made).


5. Coaching/Teaching about Running

Running is one of my most favorite subjects. While I don't love the actual running part, haha, I do love to answer questions about training, giving advice about anything to do with running, read running books, and write up training plans. I'm getting the itch to write another training plan, so if any of you have ideas for one, let me know! (The above photo is my very favorite photo from coaching cross country!)


6. 1000-piece Puzzles

I LOVE working on puzzles. I went through a phase a few years ago where I was working on them all the time. It was a great pastime! However, my back just couldn't take it anymore. Actually, most of my favorite hobbies (knitting/crocheting, puzzles, reading, playing solitaire, etc) have really done a number on my back. I miss doing puzzles!


7. Writing Lists/Making Sketches for Project Ideas

I am a huge list-writer. I have notebooks (just regular old spiral notebooks) that are filled completely with random lists and notes and sketches (for projects, mostly). I write "to do" lists frequently, ideas for blog posts, things we need from the store, vacation ideas, goals, etc. I have 2-4 notebooks that are completely FULL of things like you see above--tons of measurements and board cuts and stuff like that--for the house renovation.


8. Playing Board Games

I'm usually not in the mood to play, but one we start playing a board game, it's super fun! Our current favorite is called Wits & Wagers (Amazon affiliate link), and it's the perfect game for a family of 4-5 people ages 10+ or so. Jerry, the kids, and I all love it! (It's not the game shown above--that's a game called Sequence.)


9. Looking Through Memes (Especially Mental Health Memes)

I absolutely LOVE browsing through memes, and I just can't get enough. I love the ones that are very relatable (especially mental illness--I've posted my 100 favorites here). The best ones? Dark humored mental illness memes (it sounds terrible, but I find them hilarious). Nothing gets me to laugh more than a dark humored meme about depression or bipolar.


10. Playing Games Like Peak and Lumosity on My Phone

I started these mind games to sharpen my memory and coordination and all that (hoping that it may help in some way in staving off Alzheimer's). I really enjoy playing the games! I make sure to do them once a day to keep a streak going.


And that last one just reminded me that I need to finish my Peak "workout" for today to keep my streak going. It's already 11:27 PM, so I want to do that before bed.

Feel free to share activities that you love! I'm always looking for new things to try.

Continue Reading...

The Difference Between Snacks and Treats (and some healthy snack ideas)

"Do you think we should wake her up?" Eli asked Noah this morning, which is how I woke up at 6:35. I forgot to set my alarm last night! The kids got up at 6:00 and got ready for school. I was so confused when I woke up. I asked, "Did Daddy fall asleep on the couch?" and Eli said he wasn't there. Then I realized Jerry was working and *I* was supposed to be up to get them to school!

So, yesterday was Day 1 of my 30-Day Challenge: no snacking after dinner. I'm so used to eating most of my calories at night, so I was planning for this to be a difficult change for me.

I had to go grocery shopping yesterday (ugh) but I spent some time meal planning and figuring out some healthier solutions for the whole family. The kids have been eating too much junk lately, and I really don't want them to get into those bad habits.

I decided to go the treat vs. snack route with them. A "treat" (in my opinion) is something that has no nutritional value; it just tastes good. A "snack" is something to carry you to the next meal, and is at least somewhat nutritious.

So, I told the kids they can have one treat per day, but if they are hungry between meals, they can have snacks. I even wrote a list of ideas for them, so they don't constantly ask me, "What can I eat?" (I hate that question). I bought lots of fruits and veggies yesterday, so here were a few ideas:

any fruit (I bought Cuties, apples, and pears)
apple or pear slices with cinnamon
banana with peanut butter
carrots with peanut butter
raw veggies with dip (broccoli, carrots, cucumber, mushrooms, and mini bell peppers with a homemade ranch dip)
pickles
Larabar
Chia bar
cheese
veggies (or pretzels) with hummus
almonds or pistachios

Our family definitely doesn't get enough vegetables, so I really want all of us to get more. I bought a big container of spring mix for salads with dinner (just a small side salad--the kids can't complain about that).

I got them a treat to have as their "bedtime snack"--some ice cream sandwiches. I like the individually wrapped things, so it's easier to have just one serving.

I also told them they cannot have pop anymore. I don't buy it (Jerry and I don't really like it) but my parents do, and every time the kids go to my parents' house, they drink pop. And since the summer, they started buying it at the party store, which is just a couple of blocks away. So, I told them the only time they can have it is if they have friends come over or they are at a party with their friends.

I bought some grape juice and sparkling water, so they can have something (a little) healthier to drink (mix the grape juice and sparkling water 50/50). Not perfect, but definitely better than pop!

Anyway, I managed to count calories all day yesterday AND stop eating after dinner. Honestly? It wasn't even difficult! I was pretty busy (I didn't go grocery shopping until 5:00, and by the time I got home, everyone was starving.

I wasn't hungry when I woke up, so I just waited until I felt hungry. Finally, at 10:30, I decided to make a high-calorie brunch, and then wait until dinnertime to eat again. And high calorie it was. Haha! It didn't seem like it should have been, because it wasn't a lot of food, but the calories were over 900.

I made scrambled eggs (3) with a shredded potato, cooked in butter and added cheese (topped it all with ketchup). And a piece of toast with butter on the side. Decaf coffee with heavy cream. That's it!

It really filled me up though until dinner, though.

I made a very simple dish that is surprisingly really good--pasta with cabbage and smoked sausage. You just melt 2 Tbsp. of olive oil and 2 Tbsp. of butter in a pot and add the sausage (sliced). Let it cook for a minute and then add the cabbage (diced). Cook until the cabbage is wilted.

Meanwhile, cook pasta (I used penne) and when it's done, add it to the pot with the sausage and cabbage. Add salt and pepper, and that's it! It's super simple, but the sausage gives it a lot of flavor.

It may not be the prettiest dish, but nothing I make ever is ;)

After eating dinner, it was 7:00. I had a blog post to write, and I watched a show with Jerry (I had a La Croix water instead of a snack). By the time I was done writing my blog post, it was time to go to bed! No snacks, and I wasn't even hungry. Total calories yesterday: 1457. I even had enough energy for sex, which is rare lately! (Sorry, Mom, if you're reading this.)

At the store, I actually bought some Smart Ones meals. I know frozen convenience food isn't "healthy", but I think it will help me to get back on an eating schedule. I HATE trying to come up with lunch ideas, and I usually get frustrated enough to skip lunch, then make up for it later.

So, I have a bunch of Larabars for breakfasts, Smart Ones meals for lunches, and then a meal plan for dinner (which I insisted to the family that I stick to!). I even planned a slow cooker meal for Wednesday, which is our busiest day of the week (I literally spend about 90% of my day in the car for school and appointments).

I also plan to have veggies and dip for a snack between lunch and dinner, since we are having dinner later than usual now.

All-in-all, I feel like I have a good plan put together, and I'm glad the kids (and Jerry!) are on board with the whole thing. I just need to get back to running (I hate that the three months I spent getting back to it feel like a waste because I only ran once in January). I wish I could write about the personal details that have been happening, but all I can say is that I have never been so stressed out in my life as I have over the last few months. I try so hard to remind myself that it's not going to last forever.

I feel good about the dietary changes, and I hope that the whole family can create some new healthy habits!

Continue Reading...

My Biggest Fear (a writing prompt)

I'll write tomorrow about today and how it went with calorie counting and not eating after dinner. But for today, I'm going to do a writing prompt. This is a topic that has come up quite a bit lately in various situations, so I've been talking more and more about it.

I've touched on this a little before in 2016, but it was a sponsored post by Prudential, and I didn't go into much detail. Also, the fear has gotten worse since then, so I thought this would be a good writing prompt.

My Biggest Fear

Aside from the obvious--the passing of a member of my family--I have one fear that I don't think most people think about when asked about their biggest fears. Spiders are a huge fear of mine, but not that's not very significant--and if I had to choose between eating a spider or getting cancer, or something like that, the choice would be simple. I'd eat the goddamn thing.

My actual biggest fear is much deeper than that, and I get super anxious when I even think about it. I can remember the very moment that it started--back in November 2010. I was in the hospital at the time for my broken jaw and I was moved to a much quieter room in the ENT ward--a room to myself! It was very exciting ;)

Jerry was there with me in the evening (he stayed there almost 24 hours a day, sleeping on the tiny, uncomfortable couch in the room. Anyway, I remember the quiet room, the lighting being soft and not so harsh, and I just felt so comforted (or high on dilauded, haha). I just felt... happy. Relaxed.

I was relaxed enough to drift off to sleep, but just for a few minutes. Jerry was sitting next to me, and I felt safe as I fell asleep.

The next thing I knew, I opened my eyes and completely panicked. I had absolutely no idea who Jerry was or why he was in that room with me; I had no idea where I was or why I was there; scariest of all, I didn't even know who *I* was. I felt sheer panic like I've never felt before.

I started asking the strange man (Jerry) a million questions in row--firing at him the who, what, when, where, why questions. He had to explain between my panicked questions what was going on. The whole thing lasted probably about 90 seconds, but it was--literally--the scariest moment of my life.

And from that moment on, I knew I never, ever wanted to feel that way again. I was paranoid about going to sleep and I was so sure that if I did go to sleep, it would happen again. Thankfully, it didn't happen and it hasn't happened since then. But it remains my biggest fear.

My grandmother (who was affectionally called "Gobby" by her whole family) died of Alzheimer's in 1999. I was only 17 years old at the time, and I couldn't really remember what my grandma was like in the Before period. I only knew the After.

This was in the After; my birthday, in 1996

She was an active part of my life, however. We weren't close (I was a stupid teenager that found it embarrassing when my friends would meet her), but we saw each other often.

Right after I was born

I was trying to tell her that I'm a cat person, not a dog person!

When she was diagnosed and it became apparent that she couldn't be home alone, my aunts and uncles started to care for her in shifts. When it was my mom's shift, I'd go with her sometimes (my grandma lived right behind me).

I remember bits and pieces from Before. We played a game called Hate & Malice with two decks of cards. We would watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I saw a commercial once for something called "the roller ruler" and seeing the amazing drawings people made on the commercial, I mentioned I wanted one too.

Several weeks later, my grandma gave me one. (Just a few years ago, my mom and my aunt were going through all of my grandma's paperwork, and they came across the receipt for her order of the "roller ruler"! It was a nice reminder of Before.)

This is my favorite photo of us

Most of my memories are from After. I remember my grandma calling me "Sue" (my mom's name). I remember her asking when "D" would be home (she called my grandpa "D"). I, and the rest of the family, called him Pippi, even though I'd never met him. He actually died on Father's Day when my mom was 16 years old. He had a heart attack in the middle of the night. This was the saddest time, when Gobby asked for "D". Although as an ignorant teenager, I found it odd and kind of funny that she couldn't remember these things.

Pippi died in 1968 (I may have that wrong by a year or so). And at the time that Gobby was going through Alzheimer's, it was in the mid to late 90's. She couldn't remember that her husband was dead for 30 years. At first, when her children told her that "D" had died, it was like my grandma was hearing it for the very first time. Can you imagine living that moment over and over again?

Eventually, they just started telling her that "D" would be home soon, he was just out. She would soon forget that she asked.

Once, she left the house in the middle of the night. I don't remember the details around this, but it was a big deal. After that, my mom put a motion detector chime near the front door so that whoever was staying the night would hear if she tried to leave agin.

My mom and her siblings sacrificed so much for a few years to make sure that she was comfortable and that someone was with her 24/7. As an adult, I think about that and it's the very last thing I would want! I certainly don't want my family to have to take care of me. I would be just fine in a nursing home (or, if euthanasia was legal, I would take that option for sure).

More recently, my aunt (Gobby's daughter, my mom's sister) is now going through the stages of Alzheimer's. When I see her, it causes extreme anxiety because it brings up this fear inside of me. I don't ever want a day to go by where I don't know my children's names.

Getting Alzheimer's in my biggest fear.

There is genetic screening to see if I carry the affected chromosome that may carry it; I really want to do the screening, but so far, I've been too chicken. I would really love to just KNOW--either way, good or bad--so that I can start planning now for either scenario.

However, I have a feeling that Alzheimer's will be in my future eventually. I don't know if it will be early onset. I find myself forgetting things much more frequently than I used to, and each time I can't remember something (especially words--I can describe what I want to say, but I just can't come up with the actual word for it) I question whether it's happening.. Each time this happens, it's like another tick on the clock toward the disease.

I've told Jerry my wishes--I don't want him caring for me, I want to be put in a home (or euthanized via the Death With Dignity plan--although Alzheimer's doesn't fit the criteria for that, because you have to be of sound mind. I've written so much about this that I hope it's clear for what I want. Jerry has said he'd never be on board with that, however.)

I would just be a burden to him and my family. That is not what I want at all, and that's one of the reasons that Alzheimer's is my biggest fear.

My grandma died just before Christmas, on December 19, 1999. Just over 20 years ago. (God, has it been that long?). She'd been on hospice care (at home) to make her comfortable in the end.

I remember one day just before she died, the whole huge family--kids, grandkids, great grandkids--all went to her house while she was lying on her death bed. She was loaded up with morphine, and she couldn't open her eyes, but she could slur a couple of words at a time.

Someone suggested singing a few Christmas carols to her, and even though I wasn't super close with my grandma, I lost it. I couldn't handle it. I went outside and sat on the stoop crying, just waiting for the singing to stop. I hate that song to this day.

My mom and aunt were there with her when she passed. My mom told her that she was going to see "D" soon. And my grandma gave a very soft smile and said, "That is good". Before taking her last breath.

My last time in her house. We were packing everything up for the new owners.

I don't ever want my kids to see the day where I forget who they are. Or if it affects my brain in the way that I turn very mean and hateful toward people, even loved ones. I'm not a hateful person at all.

I really don't ever want to wake up not knowing who I am again. It was terrifying. And that's what made Alzheimer's become my biggest fear.

Trying to show her how a "word processor" works

P.S. It drives me crazy when people call it "Old timers" disease or some sort of mesh between the two (Aldtimers). I remember when people first started talking about it way back when, and people tended to call it Old Timers. I honestly think that some people don't know the proper word.

Do any of you have experience with Alzheimers? Has it made you as scared as it's made me?

Continue Reading...

A 30-Day Challenge: No Snacking After Dinner (and some goal dresses!)

I haven't counted calories in a long time, but it's become apparent that I simply cannot get back to my goal weight (or at least a comfortable weight) without doing that. So, I am doing everything I can to get back to old habits.

When I was eating my best and feeling my healthiest, I ate breakfast at 8:00, lunch at 12:00, dinner at 4:00, and some sort of treat at 8:00. Eating on a schedule was super helpful, because I love routine. Now that Jerry is on straight day shift, however, our schedules are different and we've been eating dinner at around 6:30.

I prefer to eat earlier, but I don't want Jerry to have to heat up his dinner every day after work. So, for the past year or so, most of my calories are consumed between 6:30 and 10:00 or so. After dinner, I'm not hungry; I usually just eat snacks out of habit.

One of my 40 Goals by 40 Years Old items is to complete a 30-day challenge. I've done longer challenges (the 3-3-3 running plan, not drinking for a year, etc). However, it seems like the 30-day ones are harder for me--I have no idea why that is.

So, starting tomorrow, I'm trying a 30-day challenge to stop eating after dinner. That means the cutoff time will be around 7:00. I don't think there is anything wrong with eating after dinner, but I don't want to eat when I'm not hungry. Food doesn't taste as good and it's just a bad habit. After the 30 days, I will see if I can introduce something small as a treat at around 9:00, and I'll just eat a smaller dinner so that I'm hungry for it.

For the purpose of this challenge, I'm not going to have any caloric drinks after dinner, either. I can have unsweetened tea or La Croix water (sparkling water which is flavored but not sweetened).

What do I hope to get out of this challenge?

I am hoping that it'll break the habit of eating when I'm not hungry. I'm also hoping it'll help me get used to eating on a schedule again. For the last couple of years, I've just been eating whenever, hungry or not.

I think intuitive eating would be the best way to eat, but I just can't seem to do it right now. I did really well with it in 2017, but I fell into old habits and now it's hard to go back.

So, for the next 30 days, I'm going to be done eating after dinner. This is going to be so hard for me! A true challenge (which is what I wanted when I wrote out my list), but I hope that I can do it. I'll also be getting back to counting calories. I've counted here and there this month, but only for a few days at a time. I want to work hard at being consistent.

---

As I've been sorting and organizing photos, I've come across lots of mirror selfies when trying on clothes that I've bought at thrift stores. I've never been one to wear dresses (as in, I never wear them), but looking through the photos, there are a couple of dresses that I'd really like to wear, hopefully by the end of summer.

This is the dress I wore as a guest on The Dr. Oz Show

I've never worn this dress, but I love it

Again, never worn; but it's super comfy and perfect for summer.
I also love the sort of retro look.

I actually wasn't even at my goal weight when I wore these--I was 138 pounds at the time--so I don't think it's unrealistic. I like the way I looked at that weight and it's not as intimidating as my original goal weight of 133. I would be happy just being under 145 (a "normal" BMI).

But anyway, I'm feeling motivated going into the next 30 days. I'm not sure that I feel "determined" just yet, but I'm hoping the motivation can carry me through a few days and then the determination will come to see through the whole challenge!

Continue Reading...

Giving My Brother's Bathroom a Makeover

Unless you've been reading for a few years, you won't remember that my brother was remodeling his bathroom... and in April 2017, my mom, Jeanie, Becky, and I bought Nathan some stuff to decorate his bathroom.

Since then, it's been a running joke in my family that Nathan's bathroom will just never get completed. It's looked the same for YEARS. Nathan works a lot, so he's not home very often to work on it, but it definitely should have been completed by now.

As of yesterday (three years later!), the basket looked like this:

I told him that I really need a project to work on, and I'd love to finish his bathroom if he just tells me what needs to be done. He was planning to go to Grand Rapids this weekend, so when I asked him about helping, he said that if I really wanted, I could help by sealing the grout in his shower and installing shelves in his closet.

He mentioned just adding the wire shelves, but I said absolutely not--I just got rid of all the wire shelving in my house, so if I was going to install shelving, it would be wood.

I was very excited to use my router for the shelves! I hadn't used a router to make a decorative edge just yet, but since this was his house and not mine, I felt like it had to look really good. I was surprised just how much routing the front edge of the shelves makes such a huge difference!

This is what the edge looks like before the router:

And literally 30 seconds later:

I actually made the cuts for the shelves before I got there (I asked Nathan for the measurements and pictures). I went over there yesterday afternoon before picking Noah up from school, and I was surprised how much I was able to get done.

Everything went pretty well, but I ran into a couple of problems today. I told him I'd take care of Bailey (his black lab) while he was gone, so I went to let her outside yesterday afternoon. While I was there, I sealed the grout in the shower and I installed the shelves. I had no idea I'd get so much done in such a short amount of time.

This morning, I went over there as soon as I woke up to make sure that his dog could go outside. I brought Joey with me so that he could play with Bailey while I worked. 

Building the shelves worked out great--the cuts that I made were pretty perfect. After sealing the grout in the shower, the shelves were my top priority. After installing them, I taped off the paint around them so that I could paint them. Nathan had paint leftover from the trim, so I used that for the shelves and the bathroom door. 

I ran out of paint before finishing the other side of the door. And as I was painting the closet shelves, I noticed that the "white" wasn't the exact white for the shelves as it was for the walls. There are like 85 different shades of white paint! 

I didn't think it'd be a problem, but once I realized that the closet was white and the shelves were white, only they were two different shades, I knew I'd have to paint either the shelves or the closet in order to make a match. Since I already had tape around the shelves, I decided to paint the shelves a dark gray in contrast to the white walls of the closet.

I had to go back to Lowe's, so in the meantime, I told Noah I'd pick him up and take him to get some new shoes (he outgrew his old ones) and then we'd go to Nathan's. I wanted to get a toilet paper holder and a hand towel ring, so Noah and I went to Kohl's, T.J. Maxx, and Lowe's before we were finally able to get to Nathan's. 

After painting the shelves, I was very happy with how they looked.

Until I took the tape off of the walls. When I pulled back the painters' tape, it pulled the wall paint off with it! The color was "white", but Nathan didn't know what shade or anything at all about which paint was used. So, I still have to go back and paint the closet because I really don't like the missing paint.

The basket of stuff that my mom, Jeanie, Becky, and I bought for Nathan back in 2017 was still sitting there, untouched. So, I started to unpack that. I hung the decor (a painting of an anchor and a couple of oars that were crossed together). I was irritated by the oars, because there was no way to hang them without them being crooked. But it's (three years) too late to return them to the store, so I just hung them anyways!

Nathan has some "before" photos of his bathroom when he first bought the house and he'd done a drastic makeover (with help from Brian, my older brother). He said he'd send me some before photos soon, so I'll post the difference when I have those; but for right now, these will have to do. 

In all, this is what I did:

• Seal the grout
• Build and paint shelves in closet
• Paint bathroom door
• Install bathroom casing
• Hang decor
• Hang toilet paper holder and hand towel holder
• Set out the rest of the decor (towels, rugs, etc)

I didn't see the valance until I was almost done, so I'll have to buy a rod to hang that. Otherwise, I set out the decor that my mom, Jeanie, Becky, and I had gifted him three years ago. 

And his bathroom can actually be used now! I'm so glad that it's done. When I started working on it yesterday, there was a receipt next to the grout sealer, and it was from 2017, hahaha. And when I was pulling things out from the basket we'd given him, I found the gift receipts--dated in 2017! 

Other than repainting the closet because of the issue with the tape pulling the paint off the walls, I just have to paint the doorway casing and hang a valance over the window.

Nathan left a (very generous) amount of money for me, but I didn't take it--I really just enjoy working on this stuff. He has a lot of potential projects, so I hope I'll be able to help out. It was fun to work on his bathroom this weekend!

Continue Reading...

RECIPE: Spicy Carrot Bisque

This is pure comfort food for my soul. When my jaw was broken and my mouth was wired shut, a woman named Courtney (who is a cousin of my good friend Adam) brought me this soup. She didn't even know me, and we'd never even met before(!) but she thought of me. I was so touched.

Lots of people made meals for my family, which was super generous; but I was stuck with smoothies... until Courtney brought me this soup. It's a puréed soup, so I was thrilled to be able to eat it. This is the best comfort food for me.

It is absolutely DELICIOUS. I'm not even a huge fan of carrots, but this soup is one of my favorites! This is the original recipe, although I've made it with lighter ingredients and still liked it.

Honestly, just make the real thing and have a smaller portion. It's worth every calorie. I promise.


Here is a printer-friendly version!

Spicy Carrot Bisque

3 lbs. carrots, peeled and sliced or chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 Tbsp. butter
1-1/2 Tbsp flour
8 cups chicken broth
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. white pepper (this is what makes it so good!)
3/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:

Sauté onions in butter until transparent. Add flour and stir well. Add chicken broth slowly, stirring as you add, to keep the flour from clumping. Add carrots and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer for one hour. Add cream and spices, and simmer 20 minutes. Using a stick blender, purée until smooth.

Makes about 10 cups.

Continue Reading...

Spring Break Travel Plan

Well, this post is a rarity. I am actually going to keep it super duper short today! I have been publishing my posts at 9:00 every evening, but it's already 10:30 and I haven't written anything yet. However, I want to keep my daily streak going.

Jerry was off today, and we spent the whole morning trying to figure out the final plans for our vacation this spring. Like I wrote in a previous post, I'd been planning a road trip through the southern and western states.

No matter what I came up with, it was going to cost a fortune. Flights down to Florida or Alabama, the cost of the car rental (with a huge premium for returning it to a different location), plus hotels would have put us over budget for sure.

I'd been planning to reach a goal of seeing the 48 contiguous states before turning 40, but I've decided to let that goal go. I'd like to eventually do it someday, but I don't want to make trips stressful just so that I can fit in the states I haven't been to. Also, it'd be nice to spend more time in each state as opposed to just driving through quickly to say I was there.

So, we had to start from scratch as far as our vacation plans for the kids' spring break. I just couldn't come up with anything! I've seen the entire eastern coast a hundred times and have no desire to stay anywhere east. I'd love to take the kids to Portland and Seattle, but I want more time to plan that trip, so we'll probably do that next year.

I went though lists of cities, trying to find something that appealed to me--someplace I'd never been, but a place that I think would be fun to take the family.

And then when I saw it, I knew it just had to be the destination: San Francisco!

I've been to California a few times, but I've never been further north than L.A. and I think San Francisco would be a fun place to visit. Jerry loved the idea, too, so we started looking for places to stay. And we decided on a hotel in Fisherman's Wharf.

When I go places that are new to me, I don't like to do the super touristy things... I am usually visiting a friend, and I just go to the places they enjoy. But since we don't know anyone in San Francisco, I'm wondering if any of you have suggestions?

I loved all of the ideas that you suggested for the states down south (I wrote them down and will be referring to them again when I plan more trips!) but as far as San Francisco goes, my slate is clean. So I'd love ideas!

Now, I'm going to go to bed. G'night :)

Continue Reading...

11 Facts About Me (writing prompt)

I'm going to do a writing prompt today, because I really don't have much to write about. I have a list of prompts to help me so that I can keep a streak of writing a post every single day this year. I'm pretty impressed with myself so far--I haven't missed a day yet!

Today's prompt is "11 Facts About Me"-- (the original, from the journal/book I got the prompts from, said "30 Facts About Me". With how much I write, can you even imagine how long that post would be?!

Here goes...

1. I was born just after the Super Bowl game in 1982. My mom was in labor all through the Super Bowl that Sunday, and I finally made my appearance just after 2:06 AM. As you can imagine, my dad was thrilled to miss the big game, haha. Coincidentally, the game was actually being played in Michigan that year, just outside of Detroit! So, it was a pretty big deal in the Detroit suburbs where I grew up. I despise football, so maybe being born that day was a curse ;)

2. I have huge calves that barely changed size when I lost all the weight. When I was losing the weight, I always imagined wearing cute boots over skinny jeans. I was pretty bummed when I lost inches everywhere else! I lost a little in my calves, but percentage wise, that was where I lost the least. You can see in the photo below (at my thinnest) my calves are nearly as big as my thighs!

3. I'm not one that dreams of winning the lottery. I honestly feel like winning a huge sum of money would ruin so many things... People coming out of the woodwork who claim to be friends or family; everyone expecting you to pay for everything; never trusting that anyone is genuine when wanting to be your friend after that, and always questioning their motives; and I can't really think of anything that I am desperate to buy.

If I was to win an ungodly amount of money, I'd want to spend it everyone else--a new boat for my dad, a nice car for my mom, pretty much anything my siblings would want, an amazing truck for Jerry, set up the kids to have whatever future they'd like... but there really isn't anything that I can think of that I would dream of having. Maybe property for an amazing cat sanctuary?

4. The only food I've ever tasted that I can say that I truly despise is yogurt. I love to try new foods--and I'll try anything, over and over--but I've never been able to get on board with yogurt. Still, I try it about once a year to see if maybe things have changed.

Now, FROZEN yogurt, on the other hand... well. (There actually is fro-yo under those toppings, really)

5. I feel like I should have been born in the 60's (spending my teen years in the mid-70's). I love so much about that era--especially the clothing! Any time I watch a show or movie that takes place during that time period, I feel like I was meant to have been growing up through it.

6. I have three siblings--Jeanie, 45; Brian, 43; and Nathan, 35. I loved growing up with siblings! A family of six isn't huge, but it was bigger than most of my friends' families. I kind of wish I'd had a couple more kids of my own so they would experience the same things I did growing up. Jeanie and Brian were older than me by quite a bit, but I thought they were SO cool. Nathan and I fought, being only two years apart, but in general, we were good to each other. As adults, I'm so grateful to have siblings that I love!

7. I lived in one house from the time I was born until I was 15; then, the summer before my sophomore year of high school, we moved about 20 minutes away into a new school district. I was super worried about changing schools--already, I didn't have many friends and I was made fun of because of my weight, so I imagined all sorts of horrible things about trying to make new friends (being a shy introvert).

It was the best thing that could have happened to me, though! I made a really close-knit group of friends who were SO nice and fun and welcoming. I've mentioned them several times--the self-proclaimed "Kindred Klan", because five of them had a band called Kindred. I'm still friends with them, and they made high school so much better for me.

8. Most people know this already, but it's been over nine years now since it happened... in 2010, I was at home with the kids while Jerry was working, and we were watching Wall-E. Noah fell asleep, so I picked him up and carried him to his bunk bed. I put him up on the top, and then I felt super nauseous.

I started heading toward the bathroom, and then I got tunnel vision. The next thing I knew, I was waking up facedown on the floor with a puddle of blood under my face. I had fainted and broken my jaw completely through in five places; two of the bone fragments had even punctured through my lower lip and under my chin. I wrote about the whole ordeal, which you can read here.

9. I've always wanted to be a foster parent. Jerry and I have talked about it several times, and he'd love it, also. We've just never got the ball rolling. I always think that because we don't have a huge house or because I have bipolar or something like that, we won't be able to. But I read all these horror stories about foster families abusing kids, and I just don't understand how they were ever able to get licensed. I desperately want to show a child in a bad situation what it feels like to be loved and cared about. I keep saying, "Someday, maybe...".

10. I was a very creative kid, and my parents were great about helping me play into whatever phase I was interested in at the moment. I went through a phase where I played "teacher", and my parents (well, likely my mom! My dad worked at his auto shop a lot) hung two large chalkboards on the wall and set up a couple of desks. She took me to the "teachers' store" (where teachers bought their supplies) and bought me some of the cool things that my teachers used (attendance book, a chalk holder that drew horizontal lines on the board, a sliding grading chart, the teachers' edition of a school book, etc.).

When I went through a "cashier" phase, I would set a broom across two chairs to make a clothing rack, and I'd pull clothes and shoes out of the closets to "sell" in my store. My mom bought me a real cash register--not a toy, but the real thing! It was so cool. She also gave me a credit card swiper (remember those ones that needed carbon paper?) and she'd bring home the carbon paper from work. I think it's because of this that I like to do the same for my kids. When they were little, I would try to get creative with helping them play out their imaginations.

In the photo below, you can see a board my dad made for me with random gadgets (door knocker, walkie talkie, wheel to spin, etc) to play with in the garage. I love how creative he got! He recently made one for Luke, too :)

11. Lucky number 11! I have an obsession with the number 11 for some reason. I'm not sure when it started, but it wasn't until 15 years or so ago. I really like multiples of 11 as well, particularly 33, 55, and 77.

When I would run races, I would always be curious if there was an 11 in my bib number, or at least a multiple. On Leap Day 2016, I actually got number 44--which I thought was lucky, because I was running the "Leap Year 4-Miler" (which obviously only occurs once every 4 years). I did it in 2012, and then 2016, but I'm so sad that they aren't doing it this year! I wanted it to be one that I did every Leap Day. Anyway, the whole point of this final fact about me is that I love the number 11. I'm a "numbers person" (a.k.a. nerd) in general.

---

So, there you have it--11 Facts About Me. I tried to make them things that I don't write about much (if ever). I've written a LOT of blog posts (2,346) in the last nine years, so there isn't much I haven't said ;) I always love learning random facts about people. Everybody has something interesting to say!

Continue Reading...