Family and Friends

Family, Friends, loved ones. This is a huge subject. I’ll try to do it justice.

Over the years, so many wonderful people have influenced my life. I am grateful for each and every one of you. George Matthew Adams said, “There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.” Oh, how true this is.

I look back over the years and I see many faces past and present that mean so much to me. I know I have not done even close to a good enough job telling any of you how special you are and how grateful I am for how you have touched my life.

My parents and siblings have been so supportive though my life. I am thankful to have a strong family that is there for each other through the good and the bad. My parents believing in me, and giving me the support, strength and determination I needed to get through school. My sisters and brother are some of my dearest friends. I go to them for advice and support.

Growing up in South Dakota there were many friends and teachers who believed in me. People who saw the potential deep down inside that shy, stubborn, selfish and often pain-in-the-ass-girl. People who gave me the strength to believe in myself. People who taught me that I could do whatever I wanted with my life.

The amazing friends I met in college who helped draw me out of my shell. The Professors at the University of Kansas who went beyond teaching the course curriculum to also teaching life lessons. Setting out on my own far from home was very scary, but it was one of the best things I’ve ever experienced because I met incredible people along the way who changed my life and opened my mind.

The many, many wonderful friends over the years in Lawrence that were like family. Most, but not all of whom, I worked with through E.M.U. Theatre. Those were wonderful years, filled with warm memories. Oh, how I miss you guys. Leaving you behind was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. You changed me, for the better, thank you.

Jeff’s family, who were incredibly supportive of us as we moved to Seattle. I don’t think we would have been able to make the move without them. I am so thankful to have married into such a warm and welcoming family.

All the amazing people I have met since moving to Seattle. People that have given me a chance and even a home when I didn’t have one. Seattle University and everyone in the MFA program for being such a strong base of support. Theater Schmeater’s staff and board for taking me in and letting me be part of its journey.

The many wonderful people I have been blessed to meet at my current job, all working towards a common goal of a stronger Seattle community. I learn something new every day at work and my favorite part of the job is the incredible people I meet. I feel blessed to work with so very wise people that are willing to take the time to pass their knowledge on to me.

Finally, my best friend, my travel companion, gardener, lover, handyman, editor, adviser, and person I can’t wait to get back to whenever I am away from-my husband and life-partner, Jeff. It’s funny how I look back at life and I forget that he wasn’t even in mine until I was 23. It feels as though he has always been there. I don’t know what I would do without you. 

So many people come into our lives and they have a profound impact. Sometimes they are there for just the briefest of moments and sometime they are with us for a lifetime. People come and go, but they change us, teach us, influence us, and love us. Often we fail to notice this, but it is what makes us who we are. 

I know I am failing to include every person that has touched my life, but I promise it doesn’t mean you aren’t in my heart and mind. I am ever so grateful for each and every single one of you beautiful people. Thank you.  Shine on you crazy diamonds. 

Thanksgiving Weekend

Thanksgiving Day was great, but the rest of the weekend was also a success. How about you? Did you enjoy your holiday weekend? Did you get to spend time with family and friends? Did you do all of the things you intended? Perhaps you ate lots of leftovers while watching sporting events?

Usually on long weekends I have big plans to clean the house and work on projects, etc. Then the weekend hits, I slack off, sit around drinking beer, watching TV, and the next thing I know the weekend is gone and I’ve failed to do any of the things I had planned. Not this time. I was determined to not let that happen.

Friday was house cleaning day. I got up, exercised, and spent some time on the computer. Then I spent the rest of the day cleaning. We also took down all of the fall and Thanksgiving decorations in anticipation of Christmas decorating on Saturday. Fortunately, we had plenty of leftovers so I didn’t have to worry about finding time to cook.

Saturday was Christmas decorating day. I also started the day with a workout, but then I spent some time relaxing, reading the Internet and writing my menu for the next week. Eventually we hauled the tubs of Christmas decorations out of the basement and set to work. We spent a good part of the day decorating while the Kansas v. K-State football game played in the background. I hoped that finally, just maybe, KU would pull off the upset and get one win this season. But alas, it was not to be.

While decorating we snacked on Maple-Butter Spiced Popcorn and Mexican Hot Chocolate. The perfect snack to get one into the holiday spirit. I like to think of the holidays as one long festive month, starting with Thanksgiving and ending with New Years.

Sunday is our Farmers Market and cooking day. We ran our errands in the morning and spent the afternoon cooking and working on projects while watching football. Another productive day to wrap up the weekend.

I was pretty nervous that I wouldn’t be able to stay the course and stick to my plan, but I pulled it off and did all the things I had set out to do. Additionally, I decided not to drink the entire weekend, which was hard, but I did it. A check in the win column for this one. 

Thanksgiving

Yay, Thanksgiving! Although technically it’s only one day, I consider it the entire four day weekend. On Thanksgiving Day I did exactly what I wanted to do, cooked all day long. From the moment I got up until almost the time I went to bed. And we made some amazing food.

Fall food is my absolute favorite. Although summer is full of many wonderful things to eat, there is just something so comforting about fall food. And, Thanksgiving is a celebration of all those comforting foods, with pumpkin as the reigning king!

We started the day early with some Red Flannel Hash for breakfast. I used some of the beets we got in our CSA and some tasty local purple potatoes to make the hash, which I served with a fried egg on top and some of Jeff’s homemade bacon.

Since we decided to have a Thanksgiving for two this year, I wanted to make a meal that captured the tradition without having to make the entire list of sides. I’ve been eyeing a Sweet Potato Lasagna with Béchamel Sauce recipe in the Cooking Light Cooking Through the Seasons cookbook for years, and figured now was the time. The recipe called for store bought lasagna noodles, but I wanted to make my own. I used this pasta recipe for the noodles. The recipe called for sweet potatoes, but I had half of a squash left, so I used it and a sweet potato. Plus, it called for spinach, but we have kale in the garden so I used that instead, and we had some leeks in the CSA that I added as well. Not to pat myself on the back too much, but WOW! Glad I have leftovers.

Jeff spent the day smoking a turkey breast. He spatchcocked the breast first then tied it with butcher’s twine. The nice thing about this method is the breast is very easy to slice once it is cooked, since the bones have already been removed. Since he was smoking the turkey and had the grill going anyway, we had some grilled oysters for lunch.

I tried a new recipe bread recipe this year. I’ve yet to find the one that is my go-to recipe, but this one was pretty good. I made Nana’s Rosemary Biscuits withCranberries from this month's issue of Cooking Light. They were really good, however I altered the recipe some. It called for dried cranberries, which I can understand since they are sweeter and smaller, but I had fresh one in the fridge. It was an experiment and it paid off. Additionally, the recipe doesn’t have any type of wash to glaze the biscuits with before baking. I prefer using a wash, so I beat an egg with one tablespoon of half and half and brushed it on the biscuits prior to baking.

To round out the meal I made some cranberry sauce and brussels sprouts while the lasagna was in the oven. For the cranberry sauce I made this recipe. For the brussels sprouts, I cut up two pieces of Jeff’s bacon, cooked that for a few minutes in a large skillet until it started to crisp up. Added in some sliced onion and cooked those for a few minutes. Then I added a half pound cleaned and halved brussels sprouts and cooked them until they started to brown. I added a couple tablespoons of water, covered the skillet and let the sprouts cook until tender, about 5 minutes. I added some salt and pepper to taste, and then stirred in 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar.

For me, Thanksgiving wouldn’t be complete without pumpkin pie. It truly is the king of fall. I’ve been making a recipe out of the Art of Eating Well cookbook for a long time now. One, the crust is easy, and two, it is fairly low in sugar. And, absolutely, positively one must have homemade whipped cream on top!

It was a lovely day with delicious food. 

Positivity!

Sunday, Jeff and I participated in the Green Lake Gobble. My first 5K was a Thanksgiving run, and since that time I have tried to do one every year. This year I had hoped to make the Green Lake Gobble my first 10K, but instead I walked the 5K. It was depressing, but I knew I would be even more disappointed if I didn’t go at all.

But why was I walking the 5K and not running? And wasn’t one of my goals this year to run a 10K? Yes, it was, and yes I should have been running. But, I’ve been a bum this year and slacked off on my strength training. That led to my leg problem resurfacing. For that reason I decided in September to take a four month break from running. Therefore, I found myself walking the Green Lake Gobble this year.

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m struggling with motivation and self-control. With six weeks (apparently I miss counted in my previous post) remaining in the year I felt that perhaps a shift in my mental state would help improve my state of being. Additionally, the world could really do with a bit more love and joy! Thus, it’s time for some positivity. For the next few weeks I will pick a different positive subject, for which I am grateful, to write about.

Looking at my experience with the race this weekend, I can either feel bad about walking or I can focus on the positive. I’m choosing the latter. I got outside and enjoyed a beautiful walk around Green Lake. It was something I did with my husband. I felt this amazing surge of joy because I was surrounded by a group of people who enjoy exercise. I accomplished something, and I now have a goal for next year.

I could easily feel sorry for myself, or I could find the joy and beauty in this experience. After this weekend, I feel amazing and motivated to keep pushing forward. I am grateful for this learning experience. 

Climbing over the wall

There are five weeks left in 2015. Five! And, of all those goals I set out for myself at the beginning of the year, I’m failing. Miserably! But, that’s okay. The point of this blog is that I’m not perfect, just trying to be better.

So, I’ve hit a slump, and I need to find a way to get over it. Instead of beating myself up over it, I’m accepting the fact that I’m struggling and trying to find a solution.  I’ve been trying to figure out what exactly is my problem. I know I haven’t been motivated, but I’m not sure how to fix that. I know I’ve been struggling with self-control, but that is also hard to fix. 

Not that I’m not going to work on those things, but something tangible is much easier to focus on. I’ve started to examine my life, and tried to figure out what I’ve been having a problem with, that I can work on, and that’s tied to motivation and self-control. The answer I came up with is sleep.

When I stick to a consistent sleeping pattern, I get enough sleep, and I also tend to do a better job of taking care of myself. When I consistently go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time every day, I sleep better, I feel more rested and I feel more energized during the day. This, however, has not been the case for a long time. 

Instead, this past year, I’ve been going to bed at varying times. I’ve been getting up way later than I should be almost every day. On the weekends I allow myself to sleep in way too late. This only perpetuates the problems, because I then stay up late that night. 

Therefore, with five weeks to go in the year, here is my plan. Because there has to be a plan! Go to bed the same time EVERY night. Get up the same time every morning to work out before work on week days. Only allow myself to sleep in an extra two hours on the weekends. Now, I’ve read that you should only sleep in one extra hour on weekends, but I don’t know if I can do that, at least not at first. I think I will need to work up to getting up that early on weekends. 

When you are struggling, what do you do? How do you reboot and get back on track? I’ve hit a wall and I just can’t seem to get over it. Do you ever feel like this? How do you manage to finally find the strength to climb over? At the end of one of my favorite work out videos the instructor says, “Success is a routine.” I feel this speaks directly to me, but all year long I have been struggling to find that success. With five weeks left, I want to finish this year on a high note and get back into a routine!

Camping and another Farmers Market

At the beginning of August we were able to get out of the city for a couple of days on a camping trip. We had a great time.

Plus, we got to check another Farmers Market off our list!

After a lazy Friday morning of sleeping in and packing up the car, we were off. We took the ferry to Southworth, with a quick stop at Vashon Island. This was Woo’s first ferry ride. I don’t think he liked it very much.

Once we were on the Peninsula we started heading north, but we soon realized we hadn’t eaten very much that day. And, boy were we hungry! So, we took a detour to Poulsbo, which is this lovely little Norwegian town (Vikings!) on Liberty Bay.

There we stopped at one of the best places to get fish and chips, JJ’s Fish House. It was already getting pretty hot, so we also enjoyed the shade and some cold beer.

 I was so hungry, I almost forgot to take a picture of my meal before I ate it all.

Back on the road, we made our way up the east side of the Peninsula to Fort Townsend State Park.

The campground is fairly small and low key. This particular park, although right on the Sound, doesn’t have any boat ramps, so it is very quiet. We were happy to be staying at a super chill and laid-back park.

The park only has 27 tent sites, and they are nicely sized and spread out from each out, so you get some privacy. So far, this has been our favorite campground in Washington.

Once we unpacked and set up camp, we set out to explore. Woo really enjoyed this part.

Jeff was in charge of dinner Friday night.

Saturday we went into Port Townsend to check out the Farmers Market.

Sadly, it turned out they don’t allow dogs at the market, so Jeff and I had to take turns hanging out with Woo. This meant I didn’t get a chance to talk to the farmers or producers like I usually do. But, I still got to check out the market, and its amazing variety of food and products.

We were a bit enamored with Port Townsend, and hope to visit again very soon without the dog. Hopefully, next time I will get to spend more time at the market. However, I was able to pick up some pesto, fresh pasta and cherry tomatoes for our dinner.

Jeff grabbed us some Paella and a crab cake for lunch along with some pastries for dessert and beer from one of our favorite local craft beer producers, Propolis, who happens to be located in Port Townsend. Overall, not a bad shopping trip.

In the afternoon we explored some of the campground’s many hiking trails. Woo had a great time.

Back at camp we rested. Woo was worn out from our busy day.

Then it was my turn to make dinner. I made a tasty feast with the items I got at the Farmers Market and Jeff’s homemade sausage.

We had a great time, and I can’t wait to get back to the Peninsula again real soon. It was hard returning to the noise and heat of Seattle. Although, by the time we got back I really needed a shower!