Pages

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

New Home

So, I don't know if anyone still reads this but I'm going to TRY to be better about updating (again!). The biggest news is that we have moved to Colorado! We actually just pulled in last night and we don't have any of our stuff yet, but we're here! I'm sitting in the middle of our empty living room at 5:50am because our house makes the weirdest noises and I can't sleep. Hope that changes soon! Anyway, I will be posting pictures of the house and our new little town soon so check back!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

In Case You Were Wondering.

If it's around 7:30pm and still 98 degrees outside, it's not a good idea to go running no matter how guilty you feel for skipping your morning run.

It's also not a good idea to try and use grapefruit juice as a sports drink. 

Grapefruit juice + hot weather + running = everything fine one minute + feeling like you are going to hurl the next. 

Seriously, don't do it. 

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Streak is OVER.

Sometimes I forget that my friends on Facebook live in different areas of the country and that just because they are experiencing some type of weather does not mean that I will be experiencing that same type of weather.

For instance, people on the east coast often talk about this thing called "autumn". Not really sure what that is.

I'm sure you were all of the edge of your seats about whether or not we would break the consecutive days over 100 record here in the DFW area... I have some sad news. We did not break the record. On day 40, two days shy of tying and three days shy of breaking the record, we only made it to 98 degrees.

I had a bad feeling when I woke up that morning. I looked outside and there was actually... cloud cover. Yes, there were clouds in the sky. This is unusual. There are very rarely ever clouds in the sky and definitely not enough to call it "cloud cover".

Then I had to run an errand and made it from my car to the store and back without breaking a sweat. Also highly unusual.

Then I let the dogs out at lunchtime and was outside for a little while before realizing that I didn't feel as though my skin was going to fry off. I think it goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway, that this was unusual.

I contemplated reading outside but then decided against it because, let's be honest, 98 does not feel THAT much different than 100.

When I talked to Brandon that day I said, "I don't think we're going to make it babe. I think its over."

And Brandon was like, "WHAT????? LET'S TALK ABOUT THIS!!!"

And then I clarified that I was talking about the heat streak. I think that calmed him down because it wasn't quite as earth-shattering as what he thought I was talking about.

So, we didn't quite make it and I was quite upset.

The streak broke over a week ago and its been over 100 everyday since. We would have been on day 48 had it not ended. The only other record to break is the total number of days over 100. That record is 69, set in the summer of 1980. If you're wondering, which I'm sure you are, we've had 52 days over 100 this summer. I have no desire to break that second record. MAKE IT END, PLEASE.

The summer of 1980 is really legendary around here. If you say something about the heat someone else will say, "Well, do you remember the summer of 1980?" No, I don't remember it, I wasn't born yet and neither were you since you're five.

Anyway that's just a little update on our streaking. Or rather, lack of streaking.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward:
- Turning down a hallway the same time someone else turns down the same hallway so you end up walking side by side... even though you don't know each other. Hmmm... what's that super interesting display on the wall?
- Being unable to understand what your waiter is saying to you (and asking "what? several times) and having to have your husband translate and answer for you (at a sushi place).
- Let's be honest, back sweat. it's gross. today after i dried my hair I had to wipe off before i could put my clothes on.
- Having the target lady apparently think i look like a shoplifter. Yes... I really am only taking four items into the dressing room, no need to take them from me and count. And it's target. The combined value of said items is probably $17.
- Overhearing a conversation in the target fitting room between friends? sisters? about sweating a lot. One girl said, "I wish I could just hold it all in me but then I would probably burst like a fire hydrant." Lovely.
- Trying to use your kroger card at albertsons and the checker trying to polite explain to you that you couldn't use it. me: "why not?" checker: "because this is albertsons ma'am." me: "oh."
- My bangs. On the days I don't have to see anyone or do anything they look awesome and fall perfectly. on days i need them to cooperate they decide to mutiny.

Awesome:
- Finally seeing the fruits of the construction labor that has been going on for the past several years. I made it through an exit without having to stop today and it was pretty awesome.
- My citizens of humanity jeans. i bought them at plato's closet and they are just fantastic. i used to think it was stupid to spend so much money on jeans but i'm probably going to become a jean snob now because i cannot imagine putting another pair of pants on my body.
- Its way to hot for white chicken chili but i found a recipe for white chicken enchiladas that has pretty much the same ingredients. score!
- Seeing a man with a prosthetic leg running today. hello inspiration.
- Listening to music while i ran after several weeks of not listening to music. it goes by so much faster.
- Substitute teaching. The best parts of teaching without any of the preparation.

Friday, August 12, 2011

A Peach, or Things You Probably Shouldn't Say Even if it's True.

(To set the scene: We're watching TV from the couch and I'm lying with my head at one end and my feet are in Brandon's lap at the other end. )

Brandon: (pointing to something on my leg) Is that a bruise? 

Me: Probably. 

Brandon: How'd you get it?

Me: I have no idea. I bruise easily. 

Brandon: I know, you're my little Georgia peach. 

Me: Aw, you're so sweet. 

Brandon (rubbing my (stubbly) leg): Yep. you bruise easily and you're a little fuzzy, just like a peach.

I pretended to be offended and then I laughed. Because it's true. 

Monday, August 8, 2011

Picnik!

Hello. My name is Krista and I spent way too much time playing around with Picnik for this post.

Picnik is the poor man's photoshop. It's completely free to use to do basic photo editing stuff and the premium membership is only $2 a month if you buy it for a year. There are some really neat things that you can do with it and then there are just some... strange things. Allow me to show you some examples. Here's the original picture that I used: 


Here's some pretty normal stuff you can do with it:



Black and white.













Lomo.



Sepia and soften.














Here's some pretty random stuff you can do with it: 



Neon.















 Puzzle anyone?


Pretend like you took a bunch of pictures?  


Pretend like someone drew it?














Here's what it would look like if Brandon and I went on a cruise right before we took this picture:


Here we are supporting Breast Cancer Awareness.


Here's what would happen if I let Brandon grow his beard out and if I didn't tweeze my mustache (just kidding):


Here we are being patriotic:


Here's my ode to Twilight:


Here's what my facebook profile picture will be for Valentine's Day!


And here's my favorite. I'm pretty sure this will be our Christmas card!


As a bonus and a prize for making it through this whole post, here's a picture of Chloe-deer!


Yes, I do have too much free time.

Pinned!



Friday, August 5, 2011

Hot. Hot. Hot.

It is freaking hot here. Every time I think of the heat expletives come to mind so I try not to think of it that often. I can pretty much hear my AC groaning to keep my tiny, poorly insulated apartment at a barely tolerable 80 degrees. It's hot here in Texas (duh) and it's just going to stay hot. Here's the ten day forecast:

Basically we're not in for relief any time soon. That 102 day is looking good though. I might have to break out a parka. We're at day number 34 for consecutive days over 100. Only 9 more days and we will break the record for the longest stretch of days over 100 in the DFW area. I'm pretty pumped about it, I hope we make it. There's not much I love more than setting records... if we make it all the way to day 42 and don't get day 43 I'm going to be ticked. Anyway, since I'm trying out this whole "positive-spin" thing on the heat, I thought I'd write a few things about it that I am thankful for.

1. I don't have a job that requires me to work outside. I might actually cry if I did.
2. My house has air conditioning, even if it barely works.
3. I can walk the dogs early in the morning and imagine what it would be like to live in an area where 85 was the average summer temperature instead of 105.
4. I don't have to worry about having enough hot water. There is PLENTY to go around.
5. "It's too hot to cook" is actually a valid excuse.
6. The dogs hate going outside for long periods of time so they have become much more efficient in the whole bathroom process.
7. I have actually lived in another country without air conditioning so anytime someone tries to be all humanitarian and says "Just be thankful you aren't in another country without air conditioning" I can respond with a terse "I have lived in another country without air conditioning. It's still miserable here."

I think seven is plenty. I wouldn't want anyone to actually think I like the heat.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Saturated.


I'm reading the book "Sacred Marriage" right now. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It is convicting and will challenge the way you think about yourself, your relationship with your spouse and your relationship with God.

In one of the earlier parts of the book it talks about the Muir Woods Forest, aka the redwood trees. Aren't these things beautiful? I really hope that one day we will be able to visit and drive our car through one of the trunks. The author talks about why these trees have been able to live so long- the air surrounding them is so humid that lightning strikes do not cause the kind of damage that they do in other forests. The trees are so saturated that the heat of the lightning does not cause them to catch on fire and thus die. Lightning strikes still happen but their effect is not as great because the trees have a natural defense against them.

This idea of saturation was related to marriage. Lightning strikes happen. Bad things happen, sometimes things that are in our control and sometimes things that are not. In order to have a long, successful and strong marriage we must have a natural defense against these lightning strikes. We must be able to endure them without catching on fire and burning up. We must be so saturated that when we go through times of trials and struggles our relationship is not split. This saturation comes from being filled by our relationship with the Lord.

I'm going to be honest. It's been a very dry summer. I feel like every little thing has caused me to, metaphorically, catch on fire. It has not been good for me and it has not been good for my marriage. Poor Brandon has had to endure this period of my life and he has done so honorably. I have taken everything out on him and he has put up with me and has loved me in spite of my attitude and in spite of my selfishness.

That's not the kind of marriage that I want. I don't want us to put up with each other. I want us to delight in one another. Our pastor had an awesome, honest sermon on Sunday that really made me look at myself and see what needed to change. You know what? My relationship with Brandon is often so reflective of my relationship with the Lord. When things aren't right between us, when we aren't on the same page, it's because one or both of us is not seeking after the Lord.

Our pastor challenged us to seek to KNOW God, to seek to understand Him. When I read the story of the redwoods I thought back to his sermon- to the idea of being saturated in the knowledge and the love of the Father. It is my prayer that Brandon and I are so saturated in our love for each other and our love for the Father that we withstand any lightning strikes that may come our way. It is also my prayer that I am so saturated that I can withstand the personal lightning strikes that I must endure and the struggles that I must go through. Because I can tell you, from experience, that it is during those times of struggle and times of trial that we come to understand God just a little bit more.

I decided to start from the beginning. In all my years as a Christian I have never read the Bible all the way through, from beginning to end. I really struggle with my quiet times, I'm not going to lie. But you know what God pretty much told me? If I can have the physical discipline to get up and run and to train for a marathon, then I can sure have the discipline to read my Bible everyday. So from time to time I'm going to share some of the things that the Lord has been teaching me. I hope that it can be an encouragement to you and you, in turn, will be an encouragement to others.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

The Pinterest Challenge: Oven Baked Zucchini Chips

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know what Pinterest is. If not, click on that little link and go waste spend hours of your life looking through it. Pinterest is a place where you can "pin" any picture on the internet that you like and it will save the picture and link to the original site for you. Pretty cool, except that you end up with pictures of homes you'll never really own, clothes you'll never really wear, stuff you'll never really make and food you'll never really eat.

Enter... the Pinterest challenge.



This was a challenge first described on Young House Love as a way to actually do something with all of those pins. The whole challenge is described better here.

Most of the people doing the challenge are doing DIY crafty stuff. I wasn't feeling the craftiness so I went with something I'm more comfortable with... FOOD. Here's the inspiration picture:



Yum. Don't those look delicious? Last night I had everything I needed on hand, so I decided to go for it. The recipe can be found here and aside from a few little modifications (I used milk and eggs to dip the zucchini in and we used Ranch dressing instead of a basil dipping sauce because we're classy like that) I pretty much followed it exactly. It's not rocket science. Here's my set up:


The zucchini is dipped into the milk and egg mixture (some people do egg whites only but I used the whole egg... love me some yolk) and then coated with breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese. You are supposed to use Panko breadcrumbs but I didn't have any of those so regular breadcrumbs worked just fine. Once you get the breadcrumbs coated put them on a wire rack and then set on top of a baking sheet. The over should be preheated to 400 and then bake for 30-35 minutes. If you don't have a wire rack just put them on a greased baking sheet and flip half way though. Here's what they look like when they come out of the oven: 


They were delicious. Crispy on the outside, warm and soft on the inside. We dipped them in ranch and they reminded me of a healthier fried pickle. I got Brandon's seal of approval so I will most definitely be making these again!

Side note: see that fruity thing in the background of the last picture? That's fruit cobbler that I was making for dessert (it's not done yet, just waiting to go in the oven. When it came out it had a beautiful golden brown buttery crust). I should have realized that Brandon would be resistant to something called "cobbler" since he is a Yankee. It took a fight to get him to actually TRY it, but in the end I think I won him over. I wouldn't say it's his favorite thing ever, but I don't think he'll turn his nose up at it again.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Let me tell you something embarrassing.

This was my friend Rachel's status today on facebook: 


Well, I started to reply and say "I only work through the night when I'm procrastinating." However, I got distracted during the middle of the word procrastinating and set my phone down. Somehow, someway my phone turned on me and changed "procrastinating" into "procreating" AND posted it as a reply. So it read "I only work all night when I'm procreating."

I didn't know that this had posted until a couple hours later when I get a text from Rachel asking if I was okay and if I had left my facebook open. I checked out what she was talking about and saw the reply and I just about died. Other people had commented on her status which meant that other people had seen what I wrote! I immediately deleted it but now I wish I had saved it so you too could enjoy my faux pas.

Embarrassing.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Summer Sizzler 5K Race Recap

There are many times I realize how bad of a blogger I am... one of those times it right now as I remember that I took absolutely no pictures of the Summer Sizzler 5K to share with you. So I searched high and low on the internet (not really) to find this picture that depicts the overall feeling of the event:


The race lived up to it's name and was, in fact, very hot. I really wish summer races started at 7am, but oh well. 

I ran this race with my friend Jessica and her friend Lori. We had a bit of an issue actually finding the race (don't trust the active.com directions!) but we eventually found it and then waited in a very long, very disorganized, very understaffed line to register and pick up our bibs. The race wasn't chip timed (which turned out to be an issue) so after we got our bibs we made a quick stop by the port-o-potties (only one that actually had toilet paper) and then headed to the starting line. The race actually ended up starting about 15 minutes late but after some instructions the horn sounded and we were off! 

So, there's two schools of thought on how to run a 5k. The first is to start off fast and try to hang on and the second is to start out slow and controlled and build your speed as you go. Normally I go for the second I was feeling pretty go and going pretty fast so I decided to just see how long I could go. Uh... about one mile, that's how long. 

Mile 1- 7:57 (fastest mile in a REALLY long time!) 

There was a water stop at the first mile marker so I walked through it. I am not coordinated enough to run and inhale liquids at the same time (trying to do so has led to many coughing/spitting/choking episodes that I'd rather not relive) so I've learned to just take 5 seconds and walk in order to get some water in. 

During the second mile I kind of got stuck in a pack of an old man that was breathing like he was dying, a younger teenaged kid and an middle aged man who appeared to be in decent shape. We were passing and being passed by each other for the rest of the race. I'll keep you in suspense for now as to who won out of our little misfit pack :). 

Mile 2- 8:48 

It was an out and back course so I saw the leaders of the race at some point in here. They were FAST. At this point I was just trying to hang on and not completely fizzle out. Most of the course was shaded which was awesome, but there were a couple spots of direct blazing sunlight. Loved those. 

There was also a water stop at the second mile but I took a sip of the water and almost puked because it tasted like hot bath water. I just dumped the water on my head (yeah, not that refreshing but I'm sure I looked just like this girl when I did it...).



Mile 3- 8:56

I know you've just been dying to know who the eventual winner of the mini-race we had going on was, so I'll tell you. By about 2.5 miles the middle aged man and I had broken away from the kid and the breath-like-he-was-dying older gentleman. He (the middle aged man) started to pull away from me a little bit, but I knew if I could keep him in my sight and keep going at a fairly consistent pace I could eventually beat him. When I knew we were close to the finish line I started sprinting and caught up to him! He fought for a while but eventually just couldn't keep up with my break-neck speed and I beat him! Take that, you got beat by a girl! 

Mile 3.1- 0:35 

Oh yeah, I sprinted that last 0.1 mile, finishing with a time of 26:14. 

We stayed for the race results because I figured that since I was a small race I stood a decent chance of placing within my age group. We waited... and waited... and waited... did I mention the race was disorganized? They finally called my age group and someone ran 22 minutes, someone 26:12 and... then someone 27:34? Um... I know that the garmin can be off but not by over a minute. We waited a little while to ask what had happened, but it was just taking forever so we left.

The next morning I checked the results online and saw it had me finishing with a time of 35:38. Um... what?? Definitely not. I didn't know what to do about it... on one hand it's only one race and I knew that I had run well but on the other hand I didn't like the official results not reflecting the correct time. I decided to just email the person in charge and let them know that there had somehow been a mixup. I wasn't really expecting anything but this morning I got an email saying that they had looked into and found out that my tag had been placed in the wrong pile. My real race finish time was 26:17 and I came in third place!



I really appreciated the fact that they looked into the results for me. I feel like I've worked pretty hard this summer to get back into shape and was really disappointed that the results didn't show that. And I have a lot of respect for the results group for admitting the mistake and looking into it for me! I was totally expecting a "sorry about that... mistakes happen" email response.

So, overall, it was a good race. It was disorganized, definitely, but the people were nice and helpful. There are several other races run by the same group this summer and I am looking forward to running them!

**************

Quickly, here's my weekly workout report from last week. I know that I said I wanted to do a 6 miler, but the morning I woke up for it I just wasn't feeling it. I was exhausted and just happy to get the miles in that I did.

I only got in three runs:

7/26: 3mi/28:33/9:29 mi/min

7/29: 4mi/38:38/9:40 mi/min

7:30: 3mi/26:14/8:26 mi/min

And for the week: 10mi/1:33:56/9:16 mi/min

This week starts marathon training... I'll have a whole post about it tomorrow! 



Thursday, July 14, 2011

Awkward and Awesome Thursday.

AWKWARD. 

{To set the scene: me, my nurse, another nurse and a nurse preceptor all leaning over a baby's crib in the NICU. My nurse is pregnant. The other nurse is not.}

Nurse practitioner: "So... do you know what you're having yet?"

Five second eye conversation between my nurse and me as we glanced at each other before looking up. 

Me: Oh crap. please tell me she's talking to you, please tell me she's talking to you.

My nurse: Oh crap. please tell me she's talking to me, please tell me she's talking to me.

We both look up to see the nurse practitioner looking over at the other nurse. Who is most definitely not pregnant. Who cannot have any more babies. Who is very, very sensitive about this topic. 

Other nurse (tears already welling up in eyes): "I'm not pregnant." (pause). "Actually I can't have any more babies." Heads for the bathroom.


Nurse practitioner (eyes super wide): "I am so sorry." Starts apologizing profusely, following after the other nurse. 


Me and my other nurse (still having silent eye conversations): Oh dear Lord. That was awkward.

AWESOME. 

I can't really get into the details of this story, but let's just say there has been a very frustrating, demanding family in the NICU and that the physicians and the nurses are pretty much at their whits end with these people. So the dad wanted to do something he wasn't allowed to do. He called the front desk and was told no, I'm sorry, you can't do that right now. The secretary told the whole unit that he had called and we all knew what he wanted. So then, not five minutes later he called back up to the front desk to ask to speak with his baby's nurse. He asked the nurse if he could do the same thing he had already called to ask if he could do.

Pause to note that this nurse has had a really, really rough day and this family is leaving the NICU the next day.

Dad: "Can I do this thing that I've already been told I can't do."

Nurse: {Pauses, pinches bridge of nose}: "You're going to do whatever you want to do."

Dad: "Excuse me?"

Nurse: "You're going to do whatever you want to do." Hangs up. Inwardly, we all cheer.

Let's just say our patient satisfaction level didn't go up that day, but it was still awesome.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

When is it rude?

Today I was in Banana Republic and wanted to try on a skirt (I didn't buy it, don't worry Brandon) so I went back to where the fitting rooms are. Awkward encounter goes like this:

Me: "Hi, I need to try this on."

Too-cool dude with his too-cool hipster glasses: "I'm sorry, you have to have a reservation to use the fitting rooms."

My joking radar was totally off and I thought this guy was serious. I kind of looked around and awkwardly said, "Oh... um..."

Too-cool dude with his too-cool hipster glasses: "I was just kidding." Cracks a grin.

Me: (awkward laugh, trying to be polite) "Oh... haha.. ha... ha..."

Too-cool dud with his too-cool hipster glasses: (smiling): "Did you think that was funny."

Me: "Ha, oh yeah."

Now here's where it got even weirder.

Random super-pushy girl who works at the store that apparently saw me standing in the dressing room doorway and decided to come see what I needed: "HI" (very loud) "DO YOU NEED A DRESSING ROOM?" takes my skirt from me, completely ignoring too-cool dude with his too-cool hipster glasses. "HERE YOU CAN GO RIGHT IN HERE WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

Me, darting quickly into the open dressing room. "Krista, thank you."

Super-pushy loud girl: "YOU'RE WELCOME KRISTEN LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING ELSE OKAY KRISTEN?" (I guess this was directed to too-cool dude in his too-cool hipster glasses "KRISTEN IS IN DRESSING ROOM NUMBER TWO OKAY?"

TCDWHTCHG: (mumbles) "Okay." (louder). "Kristen, it's a good thing we had an opening, huh?"

Me: (pulling skirt on over my jeans to decrease the time I had to spend in the dressing room): "Good thing!" (Skirt was cute but not cute enough to deal with the crazy).

Super-pushy loud girl: "KRISTEN HOW'S IT GOING IN THERE IS EVERYTHING OKAY DO YOU NEED ME TO GET YOU ANYTHING KRISTEN?"

Me: (internal debate, should I correct her on my name or not? do i or don't i? don't.) "Yeah, great, thank you!" (pull skirt off, put back on hanger ASAP. leave dressing room, hand skirt to TCDWHTCHG. "Thank you."

TCDWHTCHG: "Did that not work out for you?"

Me: "Nope, thanks though."

Super-pushy loud girl: "OH DID THAT NOT WORK OUT? I'M SORRY KRISTEN IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO TRY ON KRISTEN?"

Me: (backing slowly out of the store): "No, thank you so much for your help!"

TCDWHTCHG: (grins) "Don't forget to schedule an appointment next time, Kristen!"

Super-pushy girl: "COME BACK AND SEE US KRISTEN!!"

So my question is this... at what point during that exchange would it have been appropriate for me to correct the pronunciation of my name?

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

AWKWARD. 
- So there was a baby in the NICU who was born earlier this week but wasn't named until today. When the mother was telling us the name over the phone, the nurse had to ask her to spell it because, well, let's just say the name was interesting (see this video for an example, or just to laugh) and had lots of apostrophes. Someone else in our little pod heard the name and then looked over at the only person that was the same race as the baby and says, "Why do your people always have to do that? Why can't you just name your kids normal names?" EEEKKKK. The person she said this too was someone that came in the NICU ever so often to do screenings on the babies, so it wasn't like a joke between friends.  My eyes got really big and I had to turn away because I just couldn't handle the awkwardness.

AWESOME. 
- This actually happened yesterday but its still awesome. Brandon made dinner from beginning to end and the only help I provided him was directions over the phone. It involved using the stove AND the oven, so he gets points for complication! I am so proud of him and I think he is secretly very proud of himself also. He may not be so proud of himself when he realizes that this means I KNOW he KNOWS how to cook. Awesome!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Come Run with Me: Fourth of July Edition

This morning I decided to bring my little camera with me to show you all one of my favorite loops to run. 

And it is the 4th of July and one thing Texas does well is patriotism. 

Here's the start of my run, heading out of my neighborhood.


Then down this very boring street.


First flag sighting.


Into one of my favorite little neighborhoods. 


So quaint and pretty.





Sprinkler!




These are probably only half of the flags I saw. I only took pictures when there was no one else around.



Here's a statue that lives in front of a pretty sketchy warehouse. Any guesses as to what it is?


I have no idea. 

Almost home! 


 I love the Fourth and I love celebrating our country and the men and women that fought and continue to fight to keep us free. 

Happy Independence Day! 

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Lessons from the NICU

Let me tell you a little trick that will save you a lot of time, effort and frustration in the future. I don't remember who taught me this trick (I'm sure it was my mother) but I'm honestly astounded everytime I meet someone that doesn't know how to do it. Or chooses not to do it. It's a neat trick, that's all I'm saying.

Well, maybe it's not so much a trick as it is something you should just DO, but regardless... here it is.

When you are changing a diaper, it is imperative that you first open up the clean diaper and slide it under the baby's bottom (under the dirty diaper) before removing the dirty diaper. This way, as soon as you remove the dirty diaper you can close up the clean diaper.

Closing up the clean diaper quickly is very important. This is not a process you want to take your time with. I'm sure you've all heard of little boys that think that as soon as they are free and naked they should pee all over the place. I have found this to be the case but you can halt the pee spray by closing the clean diaper quickly, thereby preventing everything in the near vacinity of the baby from getting covered in pee.

Today... well... today I had a new experience. I was changing a little girl and as soon as I pulled the dirty diaper free she... and I am not exagerrating in any way, shape or form... shot poop out onto the second diaper. I've never ever seen that happen before. It literally shot out of her like water from a fire hose. Thankfully I had the second diaper ready and was able to contain the mess. When I thought she was finished I got a third diaper ready and carefully removed the now dirty second diaper.

Guess what happened?

If you guessed that she shot more poop out, you would be correct. If you guessed that it was an even greater amount of poop than the first time, you would also be correct.

So I waited for her to finish up, got my fourth diaper ready and carefully slid the third diaper away.

Thankfully she was finished this time and didn't shoot any poop out.

So, the moral of the story is... have your diaper ready unless you want to be the victim of an enthusiastic pee sprayer or poop shooter.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Not gonna lie.

I'm pretty impressed with myself today. You see, as I sit here typing this, I am staring at these pretty things:


And I have the sweet satisfaction of knowing that I made them. Our office is pretty bland... the paint color is BORING and, let's be honest, when you're trying to fit the massive amounts of books that two full time students own (especially when one of those students is a seminary student) along with their desks and other various necessities, function is far more important than fashion. Embarrassingly enough, before I made these cute little curtains we had a single sage green panel over the window to block out the light (we face directly west so in the afternoon the sun is killer- I had to wait until after 7 to take these pictures so that it wasn't burned out). I really wanted to do something to get a little color in there without it being too girly. Here's the print close-up:

Crap, I just realized I have this hanging upside down.
I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby and loved it, but I have a habit of thinking I'm crafty when I'm really not. I left the fabric there on the first trip but then yesterday decided that I was just going to get it. I followed these instructions for no-sew curtains and after about an hour (which I spent multi-tasking by also watching "The Adjustment Bureau") I was the proud designer/creator of those cute little curtains.

Now, I'm not deluding myself into thinking they are some great work of art, but as my first real DIY project, I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.

Just for fun, here's Brandon's desk/work station/command central:


It's intense in here sometimes.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Triple Tangent Tuesday.

1. Self Checkout Etiquette 
One of my very favorite things is self checkout at the store. If you can get behind someone that knows what they are doing it can be a lot faster than waiting in the normal line. However, sometimes you get people that are just a LITTLE too eager to start checking out. Today I was at the store and just as I finished paying for everything and was loading the bags into my cart, a guy came up and started using the scanner/register. This is what it looked like (note: I was at Kroger, not Walmart... Brandon watched a documentary about Walmart and now I'm not allowed to shop there anymore):


I spent way too long looking for a picture that would work. I'm all about personal space and this was just a little too much for me. Couldn't he have waiting until I was completely finished instead of creeping up like that and getting in my business? No need to get cozy in the grocery store. This is a pet peeve of mine... I also hate it when you're in the regular line and people start getting too close when you're paying, like the extra 10 seconds its going to take me to finish up really makes a difference. ANYWAY. So that's my first tangent of the day. Let people finish paying and totally vacate the checkout station before starting to checkout!

2. Yesterday. 
Yesterday was just not a good day. It was one of those days when I'm sure Brandon questioned why he had married the hormonal mess that I was. I woke up early planning to go run but instead ended up searching for and watching the final episodes of Friday Night Lights.



Huge mistake. It made me so sad that it's over, I can't believe the Taylors and Tim Riggins won't be on my TV anymore. So I was bummed about that and completely wasted my morning. Then Brandon called me to tell me that there was a problem with one of my loans and I had to take care of it. I honestly can't think of anything I hate more than dealing with loans, so that really didn't help my day at all. Then I started looking into jobs but had to stop because it was just too depressing. This should probably be another post but I'm just not excited about graduation or about getting a new job. I know that I should be, but I just am having a hard time mustering the energy. When I was pregnant the plan was for me to wait until next spring to look for a job, so the fact that I'm looking for one now is just another reminder that we won't be having a baby this fall. My house is a mess but I had no energy to clean it. I ate like crap the entire day which didn't make me feel any better and then I cried twice during dinner when I was explaining to Brandon why I was in such a bad/sad mood. Honestly, I look back on it now and think a crazy person must have taken over my body. So last night, before I went to bed, I decided that today was going to be a good, productive day. I made a list of everything I needed to accomplish and I am slowly making my way through that list. I've already worked out, meal planned and gone to the grocery store. I just need to clean the kitchen, straighten up, work on a presentation and cook dinner!

3. Salmon Cakes. 
New recipe for you! Brandon is a big fan of crab cakes but crab meat is super expensive so I started looking for an alternative. I found this recipe for salmon cakes and it seems to do the trick! Here's what you need:
Canned salmon
Bread crumbs
Egg
Vegetable Oil (forgot to put in picture)

You are going to want to mix everything up in a bowl. I should have measured the amount of bread crumbs that I used, but I didn't. I mix the salmon and the egg up first and then add the bread crumbs until the consistency is right- you want it to stick together without being too wet from the egg. After you get it to the right consistency, form two cakes. While you are doing this you should be heating the vegetable oil in a small sauce pan- you really don't need much, just enough to reach about half way up the salmon cake. When the oil is ready, drop both cakes into it. You'll have to keep an eye on how fast they cook, but its usually about 3 minutes per side. It's time to flip the salmon cake when it gets a pretty brown color on the bottom. These were just flipped:
Aren't they pretty? Once they are done you will want to put them on a paper towel for a little while to get some of the excess oil off and to let them cool down. You can bake these too, I just think they taste better this way. Once they are ready (you can touch them without searing your finger off) either eat them as is or crumble on top of a salad. I chose the salad route today:

(with lettuce, spinach, carrots, feta, and italian dressing)
They are delicious! Enjoy!