CSA Day: Mario Edition

Today’s CSA included Mario turnips! Hahaha! What better to do than to reenact some classic veggie-throwing Mario goodness?

Also included were:
– Beets
– Kale
– Romaine
– String Beans
– Broccoli
– Peas
– Turnips
– Multi Grain Bread

We’re heading to Costco right now to pick up some protein to go with all this veggie goodness. We’re going to pick up some frozen fruit, too, and start having smoothies in the morning.

I’m thinking of sending messages to my sister and her hubby to get a good recipe for borscht, and I might get a little daring and put cheese over the broccoli…

If you have ideas on how to eat these great veggies, leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Spontaneous Spouse Survey

WITHOUT ANY prompting, ask your husband/boyfriend these questions and write down EXACTLY what he says (switch the pronouns as needed to do this with your significant other or spouse! Post a link to your results in the comments below)

1. What is something your wife/girlfriend always says to you? “Honeybear…”

2. What makes her happy? “Snuggles”

3. What makes her sad? “What’s the most obvi–I guess when a character in a show dies.”

(all the tears, all over again. T^T)

4. How does she make you laugh? “Being silly”

5. What was she like as a child? “Uh… from all accounts a pain in the butt.”

6. How old is she? “You are 28.” (me: “I’m 28 NOW or TURNING 28? *starts doing math*”  Jeff: *laughs and rolls his eyes because I can never remember my age this year* “you ARE 28, you are TURNING 29.” LOL)

7. How tall is she? “Um.. 5’8? 5’6? Somewhere around there.”  (5’6″)

8. What is her favourite thing to do? “I thought you already asked that? Number 2?” me: “No, that question was ‘what makes me happy,'” Jeff: *snort of laughter* “Aren’t they the same? Snuggle?”

9. What does she do when you’re not around? “Imgur.”

10. If she becomes famous, what will it be for? *long pause* “Art.”

11. What is she really good at? (as Taz is walking on me and getting in the way) “Uh, working around your cat!”

12. What is she not very good at? (as Taz steps on the paper I’m using to jot down the answers and I’m ineffectively trying to shove him off while writing at the same time) “Working around your cat :P”

13. What does she do for a job? “What do you do for a job?  You yell at people. Usually indirectly.”

14. What is her favourite food? (no hesitation) “S’mores.”

15. What makes you proud of her? “Lots of things.  Success in your career, or really anything you try to achieve.”

16. If she were a character, who would she be? “Well that’s a broad question.  Fantasy, movie, book?  I dunno… That’s a tough one.. There’s a few on the end of my nose–tongue–whatever….I can’t think of any!  (pause) You’re very much not a one-dimensional character.  (longer pause.)  Uh. That ‘what’s a meow-meow’ girl, I guess.”

17. What do you and her do together? “Be unproductive, which may or may not include snuggling.”

18. How are you and her the same? “We’re married :P”

19. How are you and her different? “Boy and girl? Just kidding 🙂 Um.. You’re more driven than I am for physical stuff.  I’m more driven for mental stuff.”

20. How do you know she loves you? “Just your behavior. It’s rare to not see you smiling, unless you’re crying or watching TV.”

21. What does she like most about you? “Clearly my humor and wit ;)”

22. Where is her favourite place to go? “Sculpture Garden.”

source: Quennell Rothschild & Partners

Paint me a sunrise and I shall be content

The sunrise was beautiful this morning. I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of it when I woke up this morning.  I’ve been laying on the couch, facing the window as pictured above, and watching the colors quietly shift and change.

When I first started watching, there was a bit of dark blue at the far corner of the window.  The blue has since retreated and been replaced with a lovely lavender color, pale and peaceful.  Though the foliage breaks up the scene, I can see that an orange the color of a summertime Push-pop or orange sorbet is starting to take center stage.

As I study the colors, and marvel at their beauty, the painter in me wonders how the purple and the orange can be right next to each other, but there’s no muddying of the colors.  There’s no hard line that says “this side is orange/this side is purple.” Then, as if to add to the illusion, a breeze stirs the leaves of the tree and they dance like glitter thrown across this masterpiece.

la vie est belle

Summer TV and Exercise

Per my previous post, I am taking a break from Facebook.  Did you also know that I’m taking a break from gaming?  The two are not related.  I sort of quit my guid took a hiatus from my guild when I decided to focus on fitness instead.  It’s been a couple months, now, and I’ve only logged in a time or two.

I *have* spent more time working out, but it’s not nearly the amount of time that I anticipated.  I’ve gotten a lot more walking in, some mild strength training, and a whole lot of excuse-making.  Oh what? Excuses??  Pssh.

I like to think of it less as excuses and more like some quality TV watching time.  I completely blitzed through Orange Is The New Black  and now I’m watching How I Met Your Mother, Bones, and Baby Daddy.

I would probably actually get more home-gym workouts done if Netflix had commercials, but as it stands, I try to do calisthenics while watching the episodes 🙂

The plan seems to be working, though, I’ve lost 8 pounds so far 🙂

The paleo plan is still at about 60% and going strong.  I crave more veggies these days and I don’t miss bread much at all.  Some days I just want a slice of buttery toast, but I think that might just be because I like butter 😉

So how are you spending your summer?  What are your favorite shows to watch?

 

 

Happy August!

This month, Jeff and I moved to a new apartment.  The last couple weeks of July were spent finalizing the boxes and cleaning up the domicile we had been occupying for the past year.  It was no small feat!  In between all of that, my brother and his girlfriend moved to their new apartment and my mom got the notice that she has to move, too.

So, yeah. July was an absolute BLUR!

When it was mine and Jeff’s turn to move, we had to hire movers because our friends and family were all either at work or out of the country (drat!)  We hired “Right Choice” movers and it seemed like the best idea at the time. Two guys came out with their truck and we set to work hauling all of the big stuff.  We had to prioritize the heavy stuff so that we had help with it, but all in all it took seventeen hours from the first box to the last box.

Other things that happened in July:

Jeff bought me a Super Nintendo Entertainment System and a few games to go with them… I’m THISCLOSE to beating Act Raiser 🙂  Happy Birthday to me…

My phone took a dive while helping mom get ready to move and the screen shattered.  I’m such a social media addict, though, that I still used it for the 4 days it took to get a replacement… what’s a little glass dust?  I still managed to stay pretty steady on my photo tracker…

My brother had his first gig with his band!! He plays in a ZZ Top cover band called CC Top (they also do Credence Clearwater Revival) and they played at a local bar for a good sized bar audience.  The pic (upper right corner) is of our mom and Steph starting the dance floor 🙂

Also of note, I found a great place to host my sister’s wedding shower (2 weeks!), I walked a 5k with a good friend (1st one of the year), and we got our library set up.  Life is certainly good and we’re counting our blessings.

Next up for us in this crazy year is helping mom move, going back to school for Fall Semester, Christmas in Canada, etc.  We’re looking at all the requirements to do our immigration paperwork, and it’s staggering.  I wanted to get it submitted within the next week, but last night I was sitting on our patio reading the fine print and realized that if he leaves the country while the application is pending (even for just a short time), they’ll consider the application abandoned and he could be banned from coming back 😦  Why does everything have to be so complicated?  As if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s this hilarious joke at the end of the paperwork… It’s called the “paperwork reduction act” where they estimate the amount of time to be about 6 hours per application and if it takes longer than that, you’re supposed to report it.  But the thing is, the instructions were around 8 pages long just telling you how to do one form, but in the instructions it says you have to do every other form too!  I haven’t looked up the instructions for those yet, but I added 4 forms to the list that I didn’t have before… I’m just hoping the fees don’t add up as fast as the form numbers…

Worth it.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

For the crust:
2 cups flour (not packed)
1/2 cup oil (canola or vegetable oil)
1/4 cup milk

Mix flour and oil together with a fork, then add milk and mix. Dough should hold its shape.  Roll half out between two sheets of wax paper, this forms the bottom crust. Carefully remove the top sheet of wax paper (can use a butter knife to coax it). Put your pie tin on top of the crust then slip your hand under the bottom sheet of wax paper and turn the whole thing over. Now you can coax the wax paper off the top and the crust should be in the tin.

For the filling:
2 cups strawberries cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups rhubarb cut into bite sized pieces
2 cups sugar

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss/mix together, then pour into the prepared crust.  Add 3-4 rounded tablespoons sprinkled on top, to absorb some of the juice as it bakes.

Follow the directions above to roll out the second crust. This time, though, take of the top later of wax paper, then carefully flip/place the crust over the pie. Remove the last bit of wax paper, then press the edges of the crusts together.

Cut slits for vents, then bake at 350°F for about an hour.

Soup-y pie is still pie…

Tuna Stuffed Shells (Recipe)

Hey guess what!

If you guessed that my computer crashed, you would be correct.  The signs have been there for a little while now, but we just don’t have it in the budget to go and get a new hard drive at the moment.  I had to bring my work laptop home in order to finish my homework for my business class, but so far, so good.  I passed the first half of the final with 100% and some kind remarks from the instructor.

Not long after my computer crashed, the monitor for Jeff’s computer decided to go on strike… so, we took the working parts of my computer and used them to replace the broken parts of Jeff’s computer and voila! We’re back in business.

It’s a good thing too, because now I can share this idea with you.  I kept coming across ideas on Pinterest.com for stuffed shells recipes, but it has been entirely too hot to turn on the stove.  Instead, Jeff and I decided to make a summer version of Tuna Stuffed Shells.  It’s super cheap, quick, and easy:

Summer Tuna Stuffed Shells:

Ingredients:
Jumbo Shells
Starkist Chunk Light tuna in water (drained)
Alfredo sauce with bell pepper
Onion
Celery
Garlic powder
Pepper

The amount of each ingredient really depends on your taste preference and how many people you’re feeding.  Jeff and I wanted about 4 shells each plus some extra so we started by boiling half a box of the shells.  While that was happening, I took a mixing bowl and combined 4 regular-sized cans of tuna with about 2 tablespoons of alfredo, 1/4 cup each of onion and celery, and sprinkled garlic powder on top.  Stir it up and set aside. Heat the remainder of the alfredo sauce in a small sauce pan until it’s bubbly–about 5 minutes or so.

When the noodles are cooked, strain them and then place on waxed paper to cool.  Jeff worked on that part while I sliced up an orange bell pepper to go on the side.  When you’re ready, stuff the cool tuna mixture into the shells and spoon alfredo sauce over top.  Sprinkle with pepper (optional, but a really nice addition), and garnish with a side of orange bell pepper.

Canada Recap: Wedding Socials

“Women are like goats. It’s like . . . Well, reasoning with a woman is like sitting down to a friendly game of dice. Only the woman refuses to acknowledge the basic bloody rules of the game. A man, he’ll cheat you – but he’ll do it honestly. He’ll use loaded dice, so that you think you’re losing by chance. And if you aren’t clever enough to spot what he’s doing, then maybe he deserves to take your coin. And that’s that. A woman, though, she’ll sit down to that same game and she’ll smile, and act like she’s going to play. Only when it’s her turn to throw, she’ll toss a pair of her own dice that are blank on all six sides. Not a single pip showing. She’ll inspect the throw, then she’ll look up at you and say, ‘clearly I just won.’ Now, you’ll scratch your head and look at the dice. Then you’ll look up at her, then down at the dice again ‘But there aren’t any pips on these dice’ you’ll say.” ‘Yes there are,’ she’ll say. ‘And both dice rolled a one.’ ‘That’s exactly the number you need to win,’ you’ll say. ‘What a coincidence,’ she’ll reply, then begin to scoop up your coins. And you’ll sit there, trying to wrap your head ’bout what just happened. And you’ll realise something. A pair of ones isn’t the winning throw! Not when you threw a six on your turn. That means she needed a pair of twos instead! Excitedly you’ll explain what you’ve discovered. Only then do you know what she’ll do?”

“No idea, Mat.”

“Then she’ll reach over and rub the blank faces of her dice. And then, with a perfectly straight face, she’ll say, ‘I’m sorry. There was a spot of dirt on the dice. Clearly you’ll see they actually came up as twos!’ And she’ll believe it. She’ll bloody believe it!”

“Incredible.”

“Only that’s not the end of it!” “I had presumed it wouldn’t be Mat.” “She scoops up all of your coins. And then every other wonam in the room will come over and congratulate her on throwing that pair of twos! The more you complain, the more those bloody women will join in the argument. You’ll be outnumbered in a moment, and each of those women will explain to you how those dice clearly read twos, and how you really need to stop behaving like a child. Every single flaming one of them will see the twos! even the prudish woman who has hated your woman from birth – since your woman’s granny stole the other woman’s granny’s honeycake recipe when they were both maids – that woman will side against you.”

“They’re nefarious creatures indeed.”

“By the time they’re done, you’ll be left with no coin, several lists worth of errands to run and what clothing to wear and a splitting headache. You’ll sit there and stare at the table and begin to wonder, just maybe, if those dice didn’t read twos after all. If only to preserve what’s left of your sanity. That’s what it’s like to reason with a woman, I tell you.”

• Mat Cauthon to Talmanes – The Gathering Storm, book twelve of The Wheel of Time – Robert Jordan

Wandering through the bookstore and stumbling across new and wonderful literary adventures is one of mine and Jeff’s favorite ways to spend time.  More than a few times we have gone for a quick bite to eat and then spent two or more hours just perusing the shelves looking for a new book.  When I was a girl, I used to dream of having a library like the one in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.  Now that I know just how expensive books and shelves are… I think I’ll settle with a small, robust, private collection.  Jeff and I were on one of our literary dates this evening and I picked up an old favorite – The Phantom Tollbooth.  It’s a book aimed at sixth graders, but my niece is coming over this weekend and I thought it might be nice to start reading to her.  She won’t appreciate it until she’s older, but perhaps she’ll enjoy the adventure.

Speaking of adventures… Let’s go back to last month when Jeff and I embarked on our adventure to Canada.  Whilst there, we had the opportunity to attend a Wedding Social.  Now, from what I gather, this is a Manitobian and maybe even more specifically a Winnipeg’er tradition.. According to the Manitoba Socials Guide:

A social is a particularly Manitoba-grown concept. It’s a fundraising party, often for a wedding, charitable or community organization. Usually held at a community centre or a Legion hall, it can be known as a “Manitoba Social”, “Winnipeg Social”, “Wedding Social”, “Fundraising Social”, or just simply a “Social”.

When it is run for a wedding it is traditionally run by the wedding party, although it is sometimes run by the bride and groom. A wedding social gives people a way to include friends and relatives in the wedding when you could not invite them, and allows friends and family to support the couple financially for their new life together.

It was a fun night of music, raffles, 50:50 drawings, and snacky foods.  It was the first social that I had ever been to and I thought it was really cool.  There were two things that stuck out to me about it – first, that “gay-marriage” (aka: marriage) is legal in Manitoba.  I didn’t know that.  People make such a big fuss about it here that it was refreshing to see that it was just another happy couple getting married and that their gender was not the highlight of the evening.   The other exciting thing is that Michelle and Jen picked the same colors as Jeff and I, so, we got to see them “in action”

They served deli meats and cheeses, crackers and bread around 11pm and the party carried on into the night.  There were a lot of people who Jeff got to reconnect with, and a few who didn’t recognize him since he’s changed so much in the past few years.  We didn’t win any of the drawings, but that’s okay because we were able to contribute to our friend’s wedding and help out with just a little of the cost.  It almost makes me wish that there were more of our friends and family local so that it would be worth throwing a fund-raiser such as this.

As it turns out, Olive Garden and the like only do fund-raising for non-profits.  And we don’t qualify.  Drat.  I guess that means I will have to consider leveling up my crafting abilities and try my hand at raising money that way.

Warrior Dash Recap

Ah, The Warrior Dash. This event is probably one of the best (and worst) events that I have ever completed. It was at Afton Alps ski hill in Hastings, MN. What this means is that between each of the obstacles, there is an uphill run. Over the course of three miles, you gain 377 feet in altitude. That’s okay, though.. we’re up for it–We’re a team!  We even have “matching tattoos.”

(I’m on the girl on the far right, next to the guy in the white shirt)

We arrived at about 9:30am and the place was already pandemonium.  Warriors from earlier runs were walking past us dripping mud from head to toe.  Music was blaring, and the next group was in the gate waiting for their wave to go.  The whole crowd was just frenetic.

We shot the group photo before I checked in my gear and then it was already time to go.

In the gate, we stretched out the best we could, we tried to develop strategies to stay together, Ramon got Dave to let him take his camera on the course so we could get some action shots, and then it was time to go!  Again, it’s at a ski hill, so our first “battle” was uphill, and then down a pretty steep hill to our first obstacle.  We had waded through hanging tires but that was more of a nuisance than an obstacle.  There were some people that could just barrel down the hill full tilt, but I had to be conscientious of my ankle (which I had broken going downhill in the past).  Between the uphill battle and the down hill care, I was one of the last people to make it to this beast:

The wall.  A lot easier than it looked! Until you got to the top.  I froze and just couldn’t get over because of my fear of climbing ladders. Yep.  You read that right.  I made it to the top and could not climb down the “ladder” on the other side. I decided to just go back down the way that I came except I kind of lost my grips and suffered a friction burn on my back as I slid down.  This race was off to a *great* start…. /sarcasm.

One thing that was *really* awesome about this obstacle, though, were the five people that I was with.  Two were running as Wounded Warriors  and they supported each other through and through.  The other 3 were in a group together as geeks and one girl was the weakest link.  She made it to the top and, like me, froze in fear.  One of her friends followed her up afterwards and pushed her bum for support so she wouldn’t slide back down.  Shouts of encouragement rained down from her friends and the rest of us there were moved to shout as well.  She, unlike me, made it over the wall with the support of her friends.  You could tell that they were more physically fit than I was, but they were loyal and supportive and you could tell that they were in it together.  It was so amazing that I hugged her on the other side and told her that she’s got true friends and should feel so loved.

Then I climbed the hill to the next obstacle…

Given all of my balance work on the BOSU ball, I nailed this obstacle.  They were high and scary, and very unsteady, but I conquered it 🙂 By the time I made it to this obstacle, I had also buddied up with a girl who was going a pace very similar to mine.  Her name was Jody and she had been talked into doing it by her daughter.  She got dusted by the group that she came with (same as me) but she was a Warrior bound and determined to finish it.

I rocked the trenches.  There were rocks and debris in them which was a hazard to the knees, but I only came out with a few scratches — at least I didn’t get caught on the barbed wire.

This obstacle was both easier and harder than it looked.  I made it to the top just fine but something about going over terrified me.  I just kept picturing myself losing my grip and plummeting to my death.  So I climbed up one side…. and right back down the same side.  I figured it was the same amount of work and should totally count.

There were many more obstacles that I don’t have good pictures of – over-unders where you have to hoist yourself over 4.5′ walls and then duck under a fence lined with barbed wire, a treacherous hill where you have to make it under fishing nets–I think the point was to army crawl, but it was down hill so most people just rolled–followed by crisscrossed barbed wire.  Again–I think the point was to army crawl, but as it was down hill, most people (including me) did a combination of rolling and crab walking.  There were a couple times where I thought I had cleared the barbed wire and I had misjudged it and became very thankful that I was wearing glasses.  There were “hurricane force winds” where they had multiple snow generating machines blasting you with water.  The mists felt good at first but as you ran through them the mist turned to sand and you were getting blasted.

There was a grueling portion of the track that led me through steep hills and switch back single-path trails.  At one point I was so winded and we had already started to get lapped.  I had to climb a rock and hold myself against a tree to let the better athletes pass me.. As I stumbled back on the path I just pumped my arms and told myself that there was no place to go but up.

Eventually, we were able to start our descent.  We jogged briskly and came to the funnest “obstacle” of all – a water slide:

At the bottom of the slides were indents from all of the other warriors who had slid before me and as I cascaded into the puddle, I was laughing and yelling with delight.  Best way to get down a hill ever.

The epic fire jump was shortly after this, but it was on a hill as well so that your left was lower than your right–making it that much harder to get ample lift.

I seriously felt as if I had started my feet on fire, though ;D  I was never so happy to see a mud pit in my life.  Surprisingly, there was little to no apprehension when it came to just crawling right in.  I had read a few blogs that gave advice on making it through the mud pit.  .. Namely, if it’s got enough water, you an float. I thought I was being all smart and just floating and pulling myself along (under barbed wire), but then they had a guy spraying people with a fire-hose… I was glad that I had tucked my glasses into my boob-pocket or they’d’ve been lost..

My parents were waiting for me when I got out of the pit.  I had warned them that they might get a little muddy, but I was still surprised when they gave me big muddy hugs and agreed to be in pics with me:

I reunited with my team from work for our victory photo… and then did my best to get cleaned up.  I think it took 3x shampooing to get all of the mud out of my hair.   Pro-tip:  Make sure to check your belly button for mud haha..

 

 

 

Flowers and a mini-update.

I found this cute little library as Jeff and I drove to breakfast.  We had helped a family friend with a task and then we met up with my parents for waffles at Ihop.  It was a great morning!

I’m still swamped with school and work, so I apologize for neglecting updates.  In fitness type news I figured out that the problem with my back is a rhomboid muscle strain/spasms.  My doctor has got some stretches recommended for me and hopes to see me up-and-at-them in about 3 weeks or so.

The Warrior Dash is on Saturday and I found myself a jogging partner–his name is Mario and he’s fine with going slow 🙂

Class ends on 7/22.  I sincerely hope to update before then, but this course has a higher work load and is much faster paced than my previous courses.  As always, I appreciate your taking the time out of YOUR busy schedule to stop by and see what I’m up to 🙂

take care!