a life beyond running shoes.

i tried three new recipes last night for a friend that was coming over. i know what your thought is: new recipes on a friend... he is single and willing to eat whatever is put in front of him. recipe 1: penne with prosciutto and cream sauce (page 201). very tasty. the saltiness of the prosciutto went nicely with the butteriness of the cream. recipe 2: sauteed peas with olive oil and prosciutto , florentine style (page 517). basically made it to tie in with the pasta. it was a basic pea dish. not that any of us love peas but in light of the previous post, the attempt to have more colorful dinners was the goal. recipe 3: braised finocchio (fennel) with butter and parmesan (page 504). again, the attempt to add new items in to our repertoire for meals. now, i don't like fennel seed but i have heard more than a few times on my cooking shows that fennel the vegetable gets sweet when cooked. one of the meals brought to us was a beet & fennel salad with feta on top... del...

a rticle from the NYT Magazine entitled: " Unhappy Meals. " it is a very, very, very long article but it really got me to thinking & evaluating the way my family eats. there were a slew of principles that i will list here that challenged me a great deal. the main point he makes is this: "eat food. not too much. mostly plants." then he proceeds in a couple thousand words to unpack that. he also goes through some of the history of finding nutrients in food and the science of nutrition. it basically thinks it is pretty bogus because what you need in terms of vitamins & minerals are in "real" foods, not created foods..... so eat an apple. here are the main things that i am evaluating (he had 9 rules of thumb; i'm not listing them all): 1. eat food - not foodlike items (such as non-dairy creamer and cereal bars - your great-grandmother would have no idea what that was) 2. avoid food products that have ingredients that you can't pronounc...

1. who made you? god made me 2. what else did god make? everything 3. why did god make you & everything? for his own glory as with most of his language, it is only his parents that can discern exactly what he is saying. and the reality is that he is still learning the answer to #3, but he is getting it. i am amazed at his ability..... of course, none of this means anything him right now, but it is being written on his heart. how cool is that?!

...but man it feels like i've lost a limb. my computer is in the shop, and i feel as if it has completely removed me from part of my world. i can't check my email, read my daily blogs, surf the web, play with pictures, or listen to the radio.... what is a cyber-girl to do? it should only be a week, but the time is passing slowly. the few minutes at night & in the morning when i can use my husband's laptop just doesn't seem to cut it.... i shall prevail! oh, and it is 11 degrees outside this morning.... yipee!!

i am in the midst of trying desperately to finish half of the brothers karamazov before friday. the original goal was the entire book - which i knew was not going to happen in this house - for my book club's january assignment. we were quite ambitious thinking that we were going to have a longer period in which to read since we were breaking for the holidays. what i am finding, as emails go flying back and forth, is that few have actually found time to complete the mammoth reading for our book club. rather than break up the discussion into two meetings, we are proceeding as to not abandon those who opted out of this massive task. we will just discuss as much as has been read. as far as i can tell, only one member has actually finished the book.....she does not have a toddler. while i am up to my elbows in the newest translation of that russian classic, john is reading go dog go .

what can i say, but it is my mother-in-law's fault. she bought the first bag and now i can't seem to get enough. i dream of it, salivate for it, and exhaust my bank account for it (okay, not the last bit)...what is it? TWIZZLERS. the devil's candy. seriously, i could eat a 1lb bag in a single day....if i had no restraint - which i do but only in tiny amounts. i just can't seem to get enough of those stupid red vines of delicious yumminess. if only they had RED VINES out here....i would so be in trouble. oh, and i made dinner tonight. new recipe: "chicken cacciatora, new version" (page 331). i did not do a whole chicken - only the breast. but it was tasty with the plum tomatoes and cooked onion. i think it went well with the side dish of noodles and salad. of course, i was able to do this because i had a friend visiting when it was time to start dinner prep. as i am finding with my fabulous book of recipes, the recipe itself is pretty simple....just a b...

i mean crying, shaking my fists, cursing, crying out to jesus, ready to drop kick the kid - the whole nine yards. one problem: he only weighs 9 pounds and i am not into child abuse. i was so frustrated & tired sunday night that it was almost more than i could handle. well, the truth is that it was more than i could handle. asher decided that he was hungry about every two hours and two hours might be an exaggeration. i would try and appease him with his pacifier - which works - but it still requires me to be awake. i didn't feel as if i was getting any sleep and was getting more and more tired as the minutes wore on. i wanted john to keep sleeping so that he could be my daytime hero but then again i wanted someone to suffer through this horrible night with me. by the time 5am hit and i had just fed him at 3:30 - i lost it. he was crying cuz he had woken up and i was crying because i was awake again not to mention that he was being fidgety while nursing so that i could no...

do moms get sick days? well, i woke up yesterday overly tired and nursing was hurting. okay, clogged milk duct... hot compress, nurse continually... no big deal. mid day - fever spiked. it was almost more than i could do to put my own pjs back on. thankfully, my husband came home for lunch and figured out how terrible i was feeling. he fed micah, put him down for his nap, got my prescription, and was still able to get a couple of hours of work in. diagnosis: mastitis . in the midst of micah's late afternoon melt down and dinner prep (all done by daddy), i realized how hard it is to get much done without the help of the other parent. john was awesome yesterday, but he can't do it today. he has a slew of work to get done since he is preaching on sunday. it was not a luxury that i was able to be on the couch yesterday - it was necessity. yet, it is not something i am afforded today. thankfully, i am feeling better. no fever and ever decreasing pain.... but it is hard when mo...

did anyone know that i actually live in a shoe box? john measured our apartment and not including the outside hallway, our living space is about 625 square feet. i mean i knew i was sacrificing for the gospel, but this is crazy. or is it? i love our apartment. we do have outside space; john walks to the office; we are around the corner from the YMCA, grocery, pharmacy; and only a walk from parks (plural). do we really have it that bad? of course not. we are living the good life. we have great neighbors in a great neighborhood and work for a great church. it is hard when we travel to other parts of the county and visit friends that live in 1500 or 2000 square foot homes then i question my sanity for a make-shift two bedroom apartment with a toddler & newborn. i am sure that once asher starts moving, our space will shrink rather quickly. it does make it hard to say to friends and family, "come on up; we totally have space." but, then again i do love it here. i think i was t...

okay, i have to complain about one more thing related to the zach braff movie from friday night. casey affleck - who i have loved in many a movie - played a character who expressed what i think may be a common fallacy regarding parenthood. he and his wife, in the movie, were struggling in their relationship and decided to have a child in the hopes that it would draw them closer. BAH!!! of course the whole movie bugged me, but this really bugged me cuz i think it is a misconception about why people have kids. i didn't have kids because it was going to draw me closer to my husband - which i think the couple in the movie found out - because in between dirty diapers, disciplining, playdates, and baby food what you find it that it takes a lot of work to stay connected. i had a total melt down about 8 months into my pregnancy with micah because i realized how much of our marriage was going to change and i felt like we had just hit a really good rhythm of communication & life. i...

major: my marine brother is home safe from japan!!! YEAH. this is him & his cute wife. it is a treat to have him on american soil again. i can't wait to introduce him to his two nephews.... micah he has already met, but the change in a year is unreal and almost makes him a new person... and to introduce him asher. we are going to visit in april... i just got our tix yesterday - frequent flyers miles are the curse and blessing of all things. it took me almost three hours to get our tix....but they were free. i guess i should not complain, but i want too!!!! it gave me a headache and almost drove me to drink...oh wait - it did. i enjoyed a white russian after dinner. nice! minor: the next think i want to wax on about is the movie we saw last night the last kiss . ARGH!!!! i had issues with almost everything in this movie except the soundtrack...which rocked: from snow patrol, amos lee, imogen heap, josh radin, cary brothers, etc. but back to the movie... one of the ch...

okay if i hear " fibber island " one more time, i think my brain might explode. this is the favorite song of my 21 month old - a great song by they might be giants - that has been played over & over. i love the fact that my kid loves music....a personal interest of my own... but i am a bit tired of the album entitled no . part of why we have played it to death is our unlimited access to rhapsody on-line. if only i could get him to fall in love with the decemberist - who i am hooked on right now. my sister sent us the albumb for xmas but i had already been listening to it on rhapsody... but now, we can listen to it in micah room. i think he is starting to warm up to " sons & daughters ." micah is a dancer and it lends itself to a little hop here and there. you can see them perform at the above link... enjoy!

while i do think that they are starting to look different.... check out the brothers. asher is on the left; micah on the right.

so today we ventured to target to get some necessities...toilet paper, razors, toothpaste... you know the essentials. but of course, it is target and who can leave with only what they need. i picked up a cool, little hat for a mere $9.99 - a deal and a half. i proceeded to wear it all around the store during our shopping extravaganza. what i failed to realize was that the hat was still on my head after having checked out...meaning it had never made it to the conveyor belt...meaning that it had never been paid for. luckily, we were only near the elevators and had not actually left the store yet..... but gretchen and i had a good little chuckle over what was almost a shoplifting incident. how would that look for a pastor's wife to be picked up for stealing with her newborn & toddler in tow?! phew!

unfortunately, i am still having trouble posting pictures...any help out there why? friday night: junebug saturday: devil wears prada sunday night: kiss, kiss, bang, bang monday: children of men all very different...all very enjoyable. junebug was a bit strange; very little resolution. amy adams did do a superb job and was very worthy of that oscar nomination last year. devil wears prada ...no i did not make john sit through this with me. i read the book & found it to be a bit annoying....the movie was more enjoyable - less of a time commitment. kiss, kiss, bang, bang ....loved it. found it funny, intelligent & entertaining. robert downey, jr was a riot.... and john did not figure it out - which is a huge thing for him cuz he usually has the "whodunit" part of the movie before the opening credits are done. children of men ....we actually saw a movie in the theater!!! we have not done that together sine may. for us, that is a long time without seein...

i got one of the coolest things in the mail yesterday - toddler friendly living stuff. labels for sippy cups...check them out at bumpyname . colored, plastic labels to identify whose cup is whose...how handy is that!! thank you my florida friend, amy! you rock!!! i would post a pic but alas - it ain't workin'.

so i have a few pics to post but am unable - not sure why. will try again tomorrow. round two of reinforcements is flying in tonight - g'ma sweet!!! g'pa comes next friday to get a glimpse of the growing boys.

i actually got a bit of reading done yesterday. thought i would post about some of my adventures in magazines.... the new yorker: as i am a new reader, i am only a couple of pages into this week's edition. but fun little snip it that i ran across - " tables for two " did a write up about a restaurant in our neck of the woods called nono kitchen. it was in fact asher's first meal out, and is literally around the corner from us. i could have walked by it on the way to the hospital but i went up a different street. we actually took my mom for lunch and split the red beans and rice....yum-o! john's raves about the jambalaya but claims it to be a bit on the spicy side. even though my heartburn appears to have disappeared post-labor, i am still avoiding anything too spicy. runner's world: even though i have not put my shoes on since late april, i am still a runner. i get great satisfaction & pleasure from reading my monthly taste of the world on the pavemen...

while i am having a better day today - no more tears; the big brother is not. after a very turbulent dinner episode...basically he would not eat any.....we decided to walk dad to the office this morning. then, we hit barnes & noble (thomas train set) and then the playground. we were fortunate to find friends at the playground (arthur, adaline, and jasper). while i thought this would be a huge answer to prayer to get through the morning - it did not work out so smoothly. we had a total meltdown.... and barely made it home through the tears. he was fine once we got home, had lunch, and played with toys....then, nap time. now i am enjoying a bit of peace and quiet reading my first copy of the new yorker - a christmas present from my sis :) which by the way, i got pics from her wedding for xmas and we looked amazingly gorgeous! she was gorgeous...well, it was her wedding day.... but, i even thought i looked gorgeous & hey, i tried hard! i guess i already had that pregnant ...

so my mom left this morning - early....thankfully because that meant that i was still too groggy to fully cry uncontrollably. but then john left for work and left me with both boys all by myself and i teared up again. i cried all morning until i convienced myself that we could make it to the YMCA for their open play space. am i sad, overwhelmed, scared? yup! all of the above. can i really parent micah - who is testing every boundary that he has - and figure out a newborn all at the same time? i'm not sure about this whole two kids thing. how do you feed one lunch, nurse the other, and pee at the same time? magic - the lord's grace.....i'm counting on that. and at what point is merely surviving missing the point of the whole thing....how do i relish each moment with these two amazing boys and not begrudge the fact that it is hard or that it feels impossible or that i am tired? i do i love it & be thankful that i am part of creation? oh lord, meet me where i am & ...

micah got his first hair cut today.... he looks like such a big boy. i think part of what prompted it was john trying to figure out what to do with a whiny, sick toddler who was almost inconsolable all day. apparently, the little guy is not content to just sit and watch football all day. doesn't he care at all about auburn v. nebraska or at least throw some love to the usc v. michigan game.... but no - he wants to go outside, play with his cars, or ride his scooter all under the watchful eye of one parent or another. this does not lend itself to a super relaxing new year's day especially since it is raining and we can't just send him out to the backyard to play. the other challenge was our insatiable need to make chocolate chip cookies, yet micah also wants one, then another, then another. the whining continued. in other news, i finished our 2006 photo book. one of the great things about a mac. drag & drop the pictures into a photo book and then email it away and 1...