Friday Night Photos

Friday Night Photos! 

On Monday, I made the Amish Friendship Bread sourdough starter. I'm really excited to do this! I wrote this on my (revised) list of 40 Goals Before I Turn 40 Years Old. Amish Friendship Bread starts out with a sourdough starter (like what I made below). It takes 10 days. On Day 10, you divide it up between 4 Ziploc bags (with the directions written on the front) and you give a bag to each of 3 friends, keeping the fourth for yourself.

You use one cup of starter to make two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread. Your friends follow the directions on the bag as well, and on Day 10, they divide it up and give away. And on and on. Very fun! (I used this recipe for the starter, and I'm going to use this recipe for the bread itself. You only need to make the starter if you don't receive it from someone else.)

Luke and Riley stayed the night on Saturday, and when I was going to set up Riley's portable crib, I noticed a couple of eyes staring at me from inside the bag with her blankets... (it's Chick in there).

I wanted to do something different with the kids (Luke and Riley), so we made homemade ice cream in a bag. You just combine 1/2 cup half & half, 1 Tbsp. sugar, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla in a sandwich-sized Ziploc bag (for one serving). Then you put a bunch of ice (about 3 cups) and 1/4 cup of kosher salt in a gallon-sized Ziploc bag. You place the small bag with the ice cream mixture--sealed well!--into the bag with the ice. 

Then you seal that bag and shake the whole thing for a while until the half & half mixture becomes ice cream! It took about 15 minutes, and it was kind of a lot of work. My hands were FROZEN when I was done, even though I wore mittens while shaking the bag. Once the ice cream is the texture you want, you rinse off the lip of the bag before opening it so that you don't get salt in your ice cream. The kids added sprinkles, of course. The ice cream was delicious!

Riley brought over some toy doctor's stuff--a stethoscope, thermometer, etc. Noah used to be really interested in anatomy when he was three years old, and we got him a lab coat for Christmas. I still have it, so I took it out for Riley to play with. I noticed something was in the pocket, and I pulled out a "business card" that Noah had made!

It says, "I (love) Bean"--Bean is the affectionate name that my kids (and Luke and Riley) call my mom. Noah was her first grandchild, and we referred to her as "Grammy" when he was a baby. When he started talking, he somehow started calling her "Bean"; and instead of saying "Grampy" for my dad, he called him "Pay". So, my parents are known as Bean and Pay to their grandkids. Anyway, this is Noah in his lab coat and the business card he made. I'm assuming the drawing is of my mom! Haha.

Speaking of my parents, my dad has me cracking up with his text messages. He's going to be 70 this year and I swear he gets funnier and funnier as he gets older. He and my mom went to South Carolina and he sent me a text to tell me that they saw three alligators. He included this gif! (I don't know how to post the actual gif on here, but the alligator is dancing.)

I told him that I had no idea he even knew what a gif was, let alone how to find and send one! I was impressed. Then this happened...

He sent me a message that he meant to send to a friend (he meant "well" get started)... and he included a gif of a dog "talking" on a phone! Jerry and I were dying. I'm curious what he searched in the gif gallery to find that, hahaha.

I really felt like sewing something yesterday, so I went out to the garage and made a cover for a pillow insert I had. I have two of them, actually, but I still have to make the second cover. The inserts are filled with feathers and have pokey ends sticking out--so I didn't use them. I first made a cover out of canvas to keep the feathers from poking through and then I covered that with this fox pattern. It goes really well with the orange in my house! And it was fun to make--I don't sew zippers very often and I put an invisible zipper in this cover.

Finally, here is an adorable video of Chick and Joey. It melted my heart! Eli took the video, which is why it's vertical. We know that I'm not a fan of vertical video ;)

Have a great weekend!

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Trying Out a Light Therapy Lamp

I did another bike ride today instead of C25K and walking, because my toe is still painful, but it's feeling a LOT better than it did a few days ago! It was hard to make myself go out to ride my bike today, though, because it's so cold. Yesterday it was in the 50's and then today I saw snow flurries. I can't wait for the weather to warm up! I miss opening all the garage doors and working on projects out there.

I mentioned yesterday that I've been in a really good mood recently. I've been working on healthier habits--not just diet and exercise, but sleep, more positive thinking, drinking lots of water, less procrastinating, and things like that. I always thought positive affirmations were kind of hokey, but I even decided to give those a try.

I also decided to finally try out a "light therapy lamp". This is another thing that sounded kind of ridiculous to me, even though several people have commented on past posts that I should try it. Light therapy lamps are meant to simulate sunlight, which helps people with seasonal depression (or "winter blues") from lack of sunlight.

I've always loved overcast weather and you will never find me lying in the sun. I just don't enjoy being outside in the sun. Until a few years ago, I always thrived during the fall and winter as far as depression goes. In retrospect, I would usually get hypomanic in the fall and then depressed in the spring. Since starting my medication for bipolar, however, things have changed.

I've been feeling depressed in the winter months and somewhat-hypomanic in the summer. The hypomania is nothing like it used to be before my meds, thankfully, but the depression can get bad. I've been trying to look for patterns to figure out something to help, and I finally decided to give the light therapy a try. It can't hurt! (There are no UV rays on the one I bought.)

I wasn't sure which one to buy, so I just went with the #1 bestseller on Amazon, which was this one (Amazon affiliate link). [Update: The original link I had was broken. This link goes to the one that is closest to what I have. Surprisingly, it's super cheap compared to a lot of others!] This is what it looks like:

I got the light therapy lamp last week and was very skeptical, but like I said--no harm in trying. I sat down in the morning to read my book and I turned the therapy light on, placing it at about the 10:00 position from where I was sitting. It's VERY bright (it comes with three settings, and I used the brightest, of course--I'm kind of an all-or-nothing person, if you hadn't noticed, haha). At first, I thought, "This looks nothing like sunlight!" but I found that as I was reading my book, the light didn't feel so "fake".

And, most shocking to me, I actually felt really good. I got a burst of energy and I cleaned the heck out of my closet (bagging up all of the clothes that are too small). I prepped dinner so that it would be easy to cook later. I even put together the sourdough starter to make Amish Friendship Bread. I didn't attribute the energy to the light therapy at that point, though--I just assumed it was a coincidence.

Over the last several days, I've used it for about an hour each morning while I read... and I am 100% convinced that it has helped my mood. Jerry even asked me why I was so "chipper" today, hahaha. Being in a better mood in general helps with so many other things and it makes the healthy habits I've been working on feel that much easier.

I think it's too early to say for sure that my good mood is due to the therapy lamp, but I am pretty convinced. I'm definitely nowhere near as skeptical as I was before. I'm going to continue to use it and see how it goes. (Feel free to say "I told you so!" ;)  I really wish I'd tried it years ago.)

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Breaking the Streak (gross photo warning)

(I needed a filler photo above so that the thumbnail photo for this post isn't the gross pic you'll see later!)

It had to happen sooner or later... I just wish it had been later instead of, well, yesterday.

I broke my five-mile-a-day walking streak! On Monday, I completed Day 225. At that point, I was pretty sure it was going to be the end, but I hoped I'd be able to walk yesterday (and do the C25K workout). Ultimately, I decided not to do it. Out of all the things to stop me from continuing my streak, I never imagined it would be THIS that stopped me...

A week ago Sunday, which was my first C25K workout, I decided to wear a pair of Brooks Ghosts that I had retired. They were the shoes I was used to running in, and they still had a little tread left on the bottoms--I figured that would be a good choice to start the C25K with. 

Since I've gained weight, my feet have gotten bigger. My feet went down a size and a half when I lost 125 pounds; apparently, my feet have grown half a size in the last couple of years. I could feel that the Ghosts were smaller, but I didn't think much of it. I just decided that if I should order another pair, I would go up to a size 10 instead of a 9.5.

I started my C25K workout on the treadmill and felt great. Somewhere along the way, I started to feel a hot spot on the bottom of my big toe. I didn't want to get a blister, so I knew I wouldn't be wearing those shoes again. I *should* have stopped the treadmill and changed out my shoes. I didn't do that, and it ultimately led to the breaking of my walk streak.

Warning: I'm going to talk about a really gross blister, so if you don't want to read about that, turn around now ;)

I developed a blister during that five mile run/walk. I drained it, but left the skin there. I remember Dr. Oz saying that you should drain blisters but leave the skin there, that it's your body's natural form of a bandaid. (Speaking of bandaids, I couldn't wear a blister bandaid because I had a bad reaction to one a few months ago.)

On Monday, it was still hurting, but I did my five-mile walk anyways (in different shoes, of course). It was really hurting when I was done, and I saw that the blister had filled up again (the typical clear water-like fluid... it wasn't infected). Again, I poked a small hole in it and drained it, leaving the skin in-tact.

On Tuesday, I did my C25K workout. Same thing happened again. This went on all week. My blister wasn't healing because of the location of it. It's on the underside of my left big toe, at the base of my toe, very close to the second toe on that foot. (There is a photo below)

Jerry told me that it needs to dry out and that I should just remove the flap of skin. On Saturday, it took me three tries to get in all five miles because my foot hurt so bad. I finally decided to cut away the dead skin to expose the skin underneath and hopefully get it to heal. 

Gross photo warning! 

When I cut the skin away, I was horrified to see that there were blisters UNDERNEATH that blister. I drained those as well. Here is a photo of it after draining everything... you can see I'm not exaggerating the pain this caused on my walks.

I didn't wear socks all day or night (which, if you know me, is never something I would do--I ALWAYS wear socks--because feet gross me out, and I can't stand being barefoot). Thankfully, the blister started to form a scab.

I walked five miles on Sunday and it basically just reopened the blisters. On Monday, I just couldn't decide what to do. I didn't want to break my walking streak, but I just wanted the stupid blister to heal. I knew that the only way for it to heal would be to stop walking on it for a few days. I completed my walk Monday and saw that there was blood on the bottom of my sock where the blister was. I drained the blister and went barefoot again.

Yesterday, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I was debating with myself--I knew I could suffer through it if I wanted, but when would it end? The walking would likely keep irritating the blister day after day, if it didn't end up infected.

The main reason I didn't want to quit my streak wasn't just because I had a long streak going--it was because I was worried about it totally derailing all of my other efforts. I've been working really hard on my eating habits, sleeping habits, mental health, etc., actually making some progress, and I was afraid that "quitting" the streak would make me give up on other habits as well.

Jerry suggested that I do stretches or something in place of the walking. When he said that, I immediately thought about my bike. I decided that I could continue my five-mile-a-day streak, but I could do it with my bike instead of on foot, allowing my foot to heal. Even though riding my bike five miles only takes about 30 minutes instead of the 90 minutes it takes to walk, I would feel just as accomplished. It's more about the discipline of doing it every day than anything.

So, yesterday I didn't do my walk. I rode my bike five miles and felt great. My foot was SO grateful. I was supposed to do the C25K workout yesterday, but I put that on hold. I'm going to wait until my blister is healed before the next C25K workout or another walk. Hopefully it won't take more than a few days, but I'm willing to wait until I'm sure the blister is gone for good.

I actually feel REALLY good about the decision to end the streak. I don't feel like I "quit", and I certainly gave it my all. I can't believe that a stupid blister is what led to breaking the streak, but in a way, I think it was a blessing in disguise. I rode my bike yesterday and today, and I felt like it was a good workout. My heart rate actually got up higher than it does for my run/walk workouts and I could feel different muscles working in my legs. I prefer to walk or run, but bike riding isn't bad!

I compared my heart rate for three activities, and I thought it was really interesting! This shows the heart rate zones for straight up walking (at a brisk pace--16:10 per mile), versus a Couch to 5K walk/run, versus a bike ride:

Where to go from here? I'm going to ride my bike five miles a day until my blister heals. After that, I'll continue with the C25K workouts. On those days, I'll add some mileage with either a walk or a bike ride to complete five miles total. On the days I don't have C25K, I'll either walk or ride my bike (or a combination) for five miles. So basically, I'm going to continue to get in five miles a day, but I am adding in bike riding to the mix. With those terms, my bike ride today completed Day 227 of a five-mile-a-day streak.

Most impressive to me, though, is that I didn't just "quit". I found an alternative that made me feel just as good and that allows me to take care of my body. My Affirmators! card on Sunday actually helped me with the decision. I have to learn to go with the flow, and be able to handle things that come up unexpectedly. I've been in a really good mood the last few days (which is interesting, considering what happened all week with my foot) but I'll write about that later--probably tomorrow.

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Transformation Tuesday #16 - A Weight Loss and Mental Health Transformation

This transformation really spoke to me because it's not just a weight loss transformation, but a huge mental health transformation. Colena suffered from severe social anxiety and transformed her health and her life. Very inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing, Colena. 

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I was raised in a dysfunctional household--alcoholic parents, no structure, routines, rules or goals--but still felt loved and protected. At age 15, I became an alcoholic. I had a son at age 19. At age 25, I married someone who was 49. He gave me structure while I gave him chaos, but we are still together 19 years later. I stopped drinking and smoking cigarettes, cold turkey.

Without a crutch, I couldn’t socialize or deal with normal everyday situations. I was a people pleaser and couldn’t say no, so I stopped answering my phone and I began hiding from visitors. I would avoid any type of social situation where I had to interact with people. I had an anxiety disorder, to put it mildly. 

I can’t put into words how miserable I was. I made everyone around me miserable. It was a sad, awful life. As a result, I still don’t have super close friends and never got close to my husband's family. I kept everyone away. 

My anxiety was so bad that I couldn’t take medication because if I took a pill, I would panic because I couldn’t get it out of my system if it made me feel weird. I would research the side effects and have every single one and I would stop taking it. I was a mess and the doctors weren’t friendly!

In 2016, my world was shattered when my dad had a massive stoke. We stood around his bed and sang his favorite song, “Battle of New Orleans”, as he took his last breath. Leaving him in that hospital room and going home, 800 miles away, was the oddest feeling I have ever felt. My dad was gone--age 58, strong, active, lover of life--gone so suddenly. This heart-wrenching tragedy changed my life. 

Ironically, it was not in a bad way. I’m not as proud of the weight transformation as I am of the life transformation. I’m still considered ‘obese’, but I don’t care to lose any more weight. Society’s opinion doesn’t matter to me. I feel satisfied and I don’t want to stop eating this or that to satisfy someone else’s definition of what my body should be. It’s mine and it’s not bothering me how it is--I can run, walk, hike, wear "normal" clothes, kayak, go on cruises and live life--but most exciting is that I no longer have crippling social anxiety.

My anxiety now feels normal, not debilitating. If I say or do something stupid, I don’t dwell on it for days, months or even years! I do struggle with guilt and regret--I have to keep my mind from dwelling on it. One regret is that I raised my son to be super aware of everyone and every action. Because of my own anxiety, I didn’t let him just be a carefree kid. Now, he’s anxious, always apologizing to everyone and stresses out to the max over minor things (like finding a parking spot). Also, I feel guilt over how I treated my husband because of my own misery.

Here’s a list of things that help me. I remember feeling like nobody understood the depth of my anxiety and reading things like I’m writing seemed a million miles away from attainable.

1. Turn off the news! I would stress out over things beyond my control.

2. No alcohol at all. Any amount makes me feel extremely anxious, guilty and depressed!  I’m not missing anything by not having it.

3. I no longer worry excessively about other people’s opinions about me. We are all human and all trying our best. Their best isn’t my best. Their goals aren’t my goals. Size 14 is super morbidly obese for some but feels normal to me. My family is super critical about weight--always on diets and always talking about so-and-so having gained weight. This affected me greatly and it made me stay away from my family reunions and get-togethers. Now, I refuse to let myself stop living because someone will think I’ve put on weight, look old, etc. There will always be something. 

4. Sunshine and walking. It's free and it's the best medicine! Look at the scenery, sunrise, sunset, trees, flowers. There is beauty all around us.

5. Not binge eating. Don’t do it! Being stuffed full of food creates self-hatred and can easily spiral into oblivion. Many nights I stood in the pantry just searching, grabbing and stuffing my face. I would go to sleep hating my guts. 

6. It’s ok to throw food out. I was raised not to waste. I would eat it even if I didn’t like it or want it. I would binge on the yuckiest things so as to not waste it. I still struggle with this one. Why does it matter if I throw it in the trash?

7. No fad dieting. I would go off of my diet so I could eat "forbidden" foods. Then I would eat more than normal because I was restarting tomorrow. I got to nearly 300 pounds doing this. Each week, I would eat all the bad food, buy all the healthy food, cave, repeat. I lived with an "I’m a big failure" mentality. I went to bed every night with such a negative view of myself because I, once again, failed at life. 

8. Shower! I feel so good when I’m showered and hair fixed. I don’t feel so good when I stay in my pj’s and never comb my hair. (And brush my teeth- yes, I try to talk myself out of doing this! Eww!)

9. Do all the things! I’ve done a lot of things I never dreamed of doing. I made happy memories that I can  recall rather than depressing ones! Things like hiking a trail rated "difficult" make me feel proud of myself. 

10. Be kind! Listen, give gifts and see the good in all the people. That is freeing beyond words.

Oh, and I should add that I got my Commercial Drivers License and I now drive a school bus. I interact and socialize with all types of people, big and small! That blows my mind. I think my dad would be proud.

- Colena

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Theft

I was going to just write some bullets, but once I started this first one, I kept typing until it was pretty much a whole post! So I'll just leave it at that.

Someone stole my sunglasses out of my car and I'm SUPER bummed. I have literally nothing of value in my car--I keep it super tidy and the only things in there besides the owner's manual in the glovebox are a couple of face masks and my sunglasses in a red case. I only ever wear sunglasses when I drive, so I never take them out of my car.

The sunglasses were prescription ones, which means they are valuable to me--but why would anyone else want them?!

When I was taking Eli to driver's training yesterday, I opened the glovebox to grab my sunglasses and they were gone. I noticed that the masks were underneath the owner's manual, too, which was odd. I searched the whole car and my purse (just in case they were in there). I searched at home, even though I knew they weren't in the house. I was sure that someone had stolen them, but I just kept hoping I was wrong.

I'm pretty sure I know when it happened. I woke up a few nights ago because Joey was barking. Joey NEVER barks other than if people drive slowly past or are walking past our house. It was super early in the morning--maybe 4:00?--and when Joey was still letting out a bark every five seconds or so, I went to see what was going on. I looked out the blinds and I saw two people (I think they were women) walking down the street, so I figured that's why he was barking. I didn't think anything of it.

In retrospect, because he was letting out a bark here and there for about a full minute, that was more than enough time for the people to walk past my house. They must have stopped for 30-45 seconds and then kept walking. I live on a VERY quiet street (I can count on one hand the number of cars that go by every day) so it's noticeable when people walk by.

My car wasn't locked, unfortunately. I grew up in a neighborhood where nobody locked their houses or their cars and everybody knew everybody. Nobody stole from each other. Times have changed, obviously, and we definitely lock our house. I don't keep any possessions in my car (other than my sunglasses) so I wasn't worried about theft.

I've learned my lesson and will keep my car locked from now on... although now I literally have NOTHING in my car to steal except for a couple of handmade face masks. Oh, and chapstick.

Jerry wants to get a couple of security cameras outside, and I finally agreed. I feel like it's tacky, but so many people have them now that it's not unusual. Several years ago, some teenagers broke into our garage and stole a bunch of random items. They'd broken into several other garages, too, and they threw all of the stolen stuff into a fire pit at one of their houses while they drank around the fire. They actually got caught, and some of them did jail time for burglary because it's a felony to break into the garages that are attached to houses--it's considered a dwelling. We were paid restitution for the things they stole.

After that incident with the garage and now someone stealing my sunglasses out of my car, I've lost faith that I can trust people in my own neighborhood. I despise thieves. SO MUCH. Not just because of the item that is stolen--but the feeling of being violated.

I posted on our "nextdoor" app (like a neighborhood bulletin) about the sunglasses and offered a $50 reward for anyone who may "find" them. But no luck. I don't expect I'll get them back.

I had been planning to get new frames this year for my "regular" glasses, but I'm going to just replace the sunglasses. My insurance covers one pair of frames and basic lenses each year, so I chose to get sunglasses last year and figured I would alternate each year.

Anyways, I didn't intend to turn this whole post into the story of my sunglasses--I'm not THAT desperate for something to write about!--but it is what it is :)  I'm going to just try to forget about the whole thing and I'll make an eye appointment to get new glasses. I'm also going to keep my car locked at all times!

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Affirmators! - Week 2 - Impermanence

Last week, I wrote about how my friend John sent me some Affirmators! cards--whimsical cards with positive affirmations. I am going to blindly draw a card once a week and make that an affirmation to put into practice the best that I can.

Last week, I worked on gentleness, particularly with myself. And I did really well with it! If nothing else, I found myself much more aware of the negative thoughts and I put a stop to them as soon as I realized it. I made sure to remind myself to be gentle with my words and thoughts.

This is the card I drew today. It took my reading it several times to really understand it:

"Life is always changing, and I drift easily through those changes, good and bad. As I drift through hard times, I can take comfort in knowing that I will leave them behind. As I drift away from good times, I can take comfort in knowing that more will come my way. Impermanence is an equal-opportunity nonentity."

This card is actual pretty perfect for me. I've written numerous times that I thrive on routine, and that's not really a good thing. Changes in my routine throw me off kilter and I have a very hard time adapting. I would really like to be able to go with the flow.

I can try to maintain a routine, but I would also like to be able to adapt to a change in that routine if something should come up. The past two days have been hard in this sense because Luke and Riley came over and spent the night. I can't do ANY sort of routine when they are here--they are two and three years old! We had a lot of fun, but it's completely exhausting--mentally and physically. (I don't know how I ever managed that every day with my kids, haha.)

I have to stop fearing change and I'd love to learn to just go with the flow. It would be so nice not to get tripped up over little things--good or bad. So, that is what I'd like to work on this week. It's not really something that can be helped in a week, but hopefully reading the positive affirmation frequently will help me when things do come up.

On a deeper level, there have been big changes recently (the pandemic changed all sorts of things) and we have major changes coming up (the kids becoming more and more independent until they eventually move out). I want to be prepared to handle those with some confidence!

This was a good card to draw today.

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Just a reminder, if you have a Transformation Tuesday to share, please email it to me ASAP! You can send a before photo and after photo, plus a description of the transformation, to me at: Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com.

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HERITAGE RECIPE: Poppy Seed Tea Bread

I have been doing a series of recipes from a few old cookbooks put together by the Rockwood, Michigan Historical Society back in 1995. You can find the original post here.

I have a very fun story to share before this recipe for Poppy Seed Tea Bread. The story and recipe aren't related (as far as I know) but the story is about tea party memories and I chose the recipe from the same section in the book (in the category of Victorian Tea). This story is written by Frances (Vizard) Skinner, who shares memories of her mother attending tea parties with her friends in the 1920's.

"Back in the late 1920's, around 1928 in Rockwood, four women got together every two weeks or once a month to have a little tea party.

They would dress real nice wearing their long skirts and always wore white gloves and hats. This was the only time outside of church they would have a chance to dress up.

This was also a chance to show off their fine china and good linens; the table was set perfectly. The women looked forward to this. It was a chance for the latest news and gossip. They would sit around the dining room table with their best linen tablecloth and napkins. (Paper napkins were not heard of yet.)

They all showed off with their baked goods. Ma always made her homemade fried cakes or her very special apple pie; it looked like a picture when she was done and the other ladies made their favorite desserts. My dad always went around smiling on the day of the party because he knew he was going to get some real tasty goodies.

I always had to go. I was told to sit in a chair and be quiet. After the ladies were done, I got my goodies. I also remember never put your teaspoon on the tablecloth, always put it on the saucer. I wish now I would have paid more attention to what was going on. But I was just a little girl and was bored with the whole thing.

The women were Mrs. Agnes Vizard (my mother), Mrs. Lena Baumeister, Mrs. Catherine McKnight and Mrs. Julia Lambrix. We lived in the old Kramer house on Huron River Drive (now the parking lot of the church). Mrs. Baumeister lived on the corder of Huron River Drive and Burton Street. The house is still there. Mrs. McKnight lived behind her at the corner of Burton and Grant Street and that house is still there. Mrs. Lambrix's house, later to be the George and Eunice Lemerand Home, was on Church Street.

These were the good old days as I remember. I was there!"

Out of curiosity, I looked up Frances Vizard Skinner (who wrote the story above) and discovered she passed away in 2014 at age 93. She had 2 children, 9 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, and 10 great great grandchildren at the time she passed away. Amazing!

Unfortunately, the recipes for her fried cakes and special apple pie were not listed in the book. However, there is a recipe for Poppy Seed Tea Bread that was submitted by Judy Breitner and I decided to make that. I just had to share the tea party story, though!

Poppy Seed Tea Bread (*Remember, I am writing the recipe exactly as submitted to the cookbook--but make sure you read my notes afterward)

Here is a printer-friendly version!

Ingredients:

3 c. flour
2-1/2 c. sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1-1/2 c. milk
1 c. cooking oil
2 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1-1/2 tsp. almond
1-1/2 tsp. butter flavoring

Directions:

Grease the bottom and 1/2-inch up sides of an 8 x 4 x 2-inch loaf pan. *See notes below!

Mix eggs, milk, oil, poppy seeds, vanilla, almond and butter flavorings. Add dry ingredients; stir just until moistened. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake at 325 F for 50 to 55 minutes for 8-inch loaf pan or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack; wrap and store overnight.

Notes:

*This recipe is pretty straight-forward with the exception of the loaf pan(s). From reading the directions, it mostly refers to a singular pan, except when it says to spoon batter into PANS. I figured that was a typo and planned to bake it in one pan.

However, once I made the batter, there was way too much for just one pan. It very clearly makes enough batter for two loaves. I baked them together and they needed more time than stated--this may because I used glass pans and not dark pans (as well as baking two loaves at once). I just started checking with a toothpick after 55 minutes until they were done.

*The last three ingredients are all extract flavorings. I used pure vanilla and almond, but obviously the butter extract was artificial.

*For specificity, I used white all-purpose flour, whole milk and canola oil.

*I wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator.

This recipe was delicious! It was so fun to make something that I'd never even seen before and it smelled and tasted amazing. The flavor reminded me of an almond cookie, and the texture was perfect for this type of bread. (Which is good because I have two loaves of it!) I will definitely make it again.

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Friday Night Photos #11

It's Friday night! Which means it's time to dump the past week's photos from my camera roll...

One of the items on my 40 Goals by 40 Years Old list is to try a food I've never had before. Noah bought a Dragon Fruit and I had never tasted it, so I tried some. I thought it tasted exactly like kiwi (which I love). It was $5, though, so I'll just stick with kiwi. But it was fun to try something new!

Speaking of Noah and food, he's very interested in Japanese culture and he's teaching himself Japanese. He asked for a bento box for Christmas, as well as a little rectangular pan to cook eggs--a rolled omelet?--so he's been practicing with it. He's not as sad/mad as he looks in this photo--I just can't get him to smile for anything when I take pictures!

Eli took his driver's training test today and passed, so he got his driving permit! I was nervous with Noah, but I'm actually much more nervous about Eli driving, haha. He drove home from his class where he'd taken his test. So far, so good, though!

The snow is finally melting, so I decided to drive to the State Park for my walk today. I haven't been there to walk/run in a very long time! I wasn't even 100% sure about my route--I was pretty sure that it was five miles--and thankfully, I turned out to be correct. I was cracking up at these seagulls who are all lined up at the edge of the ice. It's like I could practically hear them counting down until they all jumped in. THREE... TWO... READY... GO!

I happened to catch Duck in the middle of a yawn. Snake eyes and Jerry face!

Speaking of Duck, he's gotten very spoiled. I was brushing my hair one day (while he sat on the counter) and he watched me closely, then tried to grab the brush. I brushed it against his face and he LOVED it. Now he runs to the bathroom counter every time I go in there and waits for me to brush him. Maybe it's gross that I use my brush, but he's too cute not to give in. And now Jerry is a sucker, too ;) 

I've also gotten suckered into making forts for Chick and Duck--like this one. They love sleeping in them, but mostly they love when I poke around at the top while they are inside. They have a blast trying to catch my finger.

Speaking of Chick and Duck, I made my March book choice for the Friends Read-athon. The prompt was actually "The One with the Chick and the Duck" (Read a book with an animal in it). I got this book from Amazon First Reads. I'll write a review when I'm done with it.

I saved the best for last... Remember the squirrel I posted a photo of, the one who I noticed had mange? I felt so bad for him because it's winter and I didn't want him to die of exposure after losing all that fur. And he was SO itchy--it was hard to even get a picture of him because he wouldn't stop scratching.

Well, I bought some Ivermectin from a farmer's supply store (I read about about the Ivermectin on the DNR website). I was very nervous about giving it to him because it comes in a syringe that contains a dose meant for horses of 1,250 pounds. I used a toothpick to get a little bit of the Ivermectin, which is like a thick gel, and I put it on a walnut.

I think the first dose I gave him was TOO small, because he looked worse before he looked better. I gave him a little more the second time and then I noticed that the next time I saw him, he'd stopped scratching. Then I saw that his fur was starting to grow back and now it's almost filled in (I gave him four doses total). 

Here is a before and a current photo of him--I'm so happy to see that it worked! His fur is growing back nicely. And he stopped scratching. 

Well, I've got to get some sleep tonight.. Luke and Riley are staying the night tomorrow, and they keep us VERY busy! :)

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A guest post by Beth Probst, author of 'It Could Be Worse: A girlfriends guide for runners who detest running'

A woman named Beth wrote me an email last month and asked if I'd be interested in reading her book, 'It Could Be Worse: A girlfriend's guide for runners who detest running'. I get a lot of inquiries about reviewing books, but being a slow reader, I am VERY choosy about what I read. When I saw what the book was about, however, I couldn't say no!

And I'm so happy that I read it. I was taken right back to when I first started running (perhaps that's part of what inspired me to go back to the beginning with the Couch to 5K plan). I highlighted several passages from the book, but this very honest introspection is probably my favorite:

"I realize that deep down, one of the primary reasons I hate running is because I’m mediocre at it. I’m a mediocre runner because I’m not willing to put the work in to be a good runner. I’m not willing to do the stretches, train regularly, eat healthy and lose weight so that my legs aren’t carrying an extra hundred pounds. In other words, I’m mediocre at running because I choose to be mediocre."

Despite the title of the book, Beth does not come across as whiny, nor does she complain about hating running throughout the book. I read it as tongue-in-cheek, and there was a lot of my favorite type of humor--the slightly sarcastic, obvious truths that so many people are thinking but don't like to admit (or at least share). Take this, for example:

"To add to this joy, I had the pleasure of being the larger-than-average gal lining up with a bunch of skinny runners. Don’t shake your head at me and say, “but you are a runner.” You know what I’m talking about. If you want to feel fat, head to a half-marathon and look at those in your company."

Haha! This book is great for people who are interested in running but believe they can't do it. It's super inspiring for beginner runners, slower runners, and/or overweight runners. It's so nice to read that someone else has the same thoughts I've had numerous times. It was very relatable, light-hearted, and honest.

I asked Beth if she'd like to share a guest post here, and I'm thrilled that she agreed. So, here's Beth :)

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I first learned of Katie while reading Runner’s World Magazine many moons ago. I am so glad I did! Over the years, this blog has fueled my runs. As many of you know, there are a lot of running blogs out there packed with advice from elite runners and coaches, but few offer the candid, quirky and challenging side of running the way Katie does. She is one of the go-to places I find myself when I need inspiration and information about running. Because let’s be honest, I am not your typical runner.

My name is Beth Probst. I’m a plus-size mediocre Midwestern runner in her early 40s… And no, I’m not being self-deprecating. I literally am the gal who regularly finishes in the back of the pack. Part of this can be attributed to my size – I weigh well over 200 pounds. This alone presents many challenges. But, to add fuel to the fire, I also hate running. Yep. I hate running but love calling myself a runner.

So why do I do it? Because I can. Something happened to me that time I crossed the finish line of my first half-marathon. I had gone from mojito drinking chip eater to half-marathon finisher in just 15 weeks. It felt amazing. And so I kept doing it. But, I’m also someone who has many hobbies and interests in life… which means I’ve never made training my number one priority. Instead, I’m someone who is a runner and… meaning I run and do a whole bunch of other things. This means being honest with myself about where I’ll finish come race day.

Here’s the thing, though. I’m now entering year 10 of running. And every time I ask myself, is it worth putting yourself out there and finishing at the back of the pack yet again? The answer remains yes. Because I’d rather be the gal who puts herself out there and finishes last then doesn’t show up at all. As someone who strives for perfection (and always comes up short) and is super competitive, this was not an easy journey. But, it is my journey.

Which leads me to the heart of this post. For nearly a decade, I’ve been chronicling my running journey via blog and social posts. I’ve shared my running highs and running lows, in part to help inspire folks to just start moving. The reality is, folks often look at me and think if she can do it, there’s no reason I cannot. And you know what, they are 100 percent without a doubt right. I also think there is a whole slew of runners who relate to my story – the group of us who don’t actually love the act of running but love how they feel AFTER a run or a race or feel the “runner’s high” only after snagging a great deal on their favorite piece of running gear. So, I took last year and the global pandemic to pen a book about running. It is called It Could be Worse: A girlfriend’s guide for runners who detest running. It is a series of essays about my running journey and the lessons I’ve learned along the way, along with tips and hacks to help you cross the finish line while still doing all of the other things you love in life. 

Earlier this year, I asked Katie if she’d be willing to review my book because well, she’s amazing. And, I thought maybe some of you reading this post might want to know about this resource. I’m so grateful to her for sharing her thoughts about this book. And, I’m so grateful to her allowing me to share a little bit more about myself. If you are at all interested in learning more about my running adventures and how I stay motivated as a plus-size runner, consider checking out my book or following my running adventures.

Buy my book: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/it-could-be-worse or https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/109834877X

Note from Katie: The Kindle book is not listed on the same page as the paperback, and as you know, I love my Kindle. You can find the Kindle version here. (Amazon affiliate link)

Blog: https://circletouradventures.com/ 

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Back in the Saddle

I have NO pictures for this post, unfortunately, so this is the logo that Jerry drew for my first Runs for Cookies Virtual 5K back in 2013. That's me, running for a cookie ;)

Ever since I decided I wanted to start running again, I didn't have a particular plan--I just added little running intervals here and there into my daily five-mile walk. My favorite way to do this was on the treadmill. I could play Best Fiends on my iPad while I walked, and then every time I lost a level, I would run for one minute. It became kind of a game in itself, which was fun! And the time went by SO fast.

I started listening to the audiobook version of 'Depression Hates a Moving Target' by Nita Sweeney while I was walking outside because the last time I listened to it (I believe it was late 2019 when I was running 3 miles - 3 times a week - for 3 months), it really motivated me to run. In the book, Nita talks about how she started out by doing a Couch to 5K plan and it reminded me of when I first started running back in 2010.

I attempted Couch to 5K a few times in the past, but I could never get past week three. I also HATED running intervals--where you run a little, walk a little, repeat. I found myself spending the entire walking portion dreading the next running interval. So, I made my own method to start running and that was perfect for me--no intervals.

Fast forward through dozens of races, including three full marathons, and God-only-knows-how-many training runs through the past 11 years, and don't mind intervals so much. I did intense interval training (short and fast running portions) when I was training to run my 10K and even though it was really hard work, I liked that I could look forward to taking a breather after each sprint. And I felt AMAZING after those interval runs.

Back then, I was doing intervals not to run longer, but to run faster. The Couch to 5K plan is meant to get you to run longer distances each time until you're able to run 5K without walking. Each run portion is meant to be very slow, so it's less intimidating than what I was doing for 10K training.

Anyway, listening to Nita's book made me think about my attempts at Couch to 5K and it gave me the idea to try it again. Now that I know I can do it and what to expect, it would be nice to actually complete it since I never did before. 

I printed out the original plan (which is no longer at their website--so I used screenshots from Pinterest to piece it together) and I did the first workout on Friday just to see if I liked it and wanted to try the plan again. The first workout says to walk five minutes, then alternate 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

Since the roads have been covered in snow and ice, I used the treadmill. I did the Couch to 5K workout and then immediately followed with my regular walk. The Couch to 5K workout ended up being two miles (after adding a five-minute walk on the end of it) so I only added a three mile walk afterward, to total five miles.

It's so strange to say this, but I really loved it! It made the time go by so quickly. I played Best Fiends during the walking portions and the running intervals were so short that they flew by--I couldn't believe I'd already completed two miles for the day. When I was done, I was actually looking forward to doing it again--it was so nice to change things up.

I decided to aim for Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays for the C25K runs (if I change it up, it's no big deal, but I figured I should have some sort of direction). And I decided that I would "officially" start C25K last Sunday. I did it on Sunday and then again yesterday, and I'm looking forward to doing it tomorrow. Then it's on to Week 2!

I've kept the running portions very easy--5.0 mph (I set it at 3.5 mph for walking). Just for the heck of it, I wore my heart rate monitor to see how my heart rate compared to my MAF rate (my MAF zone is 131-141 bpm).

Interestingly, I found that it took about one minute to go from the bottom of my MAF zone to the top of my MAF zone--so I ran and my heart rate peaked at about 144 during the running, then I'd walk and it would drop to about 129, then I'd run again. So even though I wasn't trying to train by using my heart rate, I found it interesting that I stayed pretty close within my MAF zone the whole time.

This post was really just a very long-winded way of saying that I'm starting Couch to 5K again and I am really enjoying it so far. It feels good to run again, even if it's slow and just for a minute at a time. I can honestly say that I miss it!

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