2 birds with one stone (Day 498)

I am all about multi tasking, this is why I decided to combine #46 (try 20 new recipes) with #78 (take Micah out for 10 dates). Now technically I didn't actually take Micah out on a date, but who says that a date has to involve leaving the house? Both Micah and I agreed that even though we stayed in it was totally an awesome date!

Micah and I have a fascination for cooking shows. We both enjoy watching just about anything that is on the food network or cooking channels. Yesterday was no exception, when Paula Dean came across our screen we were both mesmerized. She was cooking with her sons and they were having a grand ole' time. Micah and I were both starting to salivate over the screen and I thought, "This is ridiculous, we could totally do that"

Well, it was not QUITE as easy as Paula made it out to be, but with a few minor substitutions to the recipe we ended up with a rather lovely meal.

Now to answer the question that I know you are all wanting to ask... we made two dishes and both of them were really amazing.

~Grilled Steak with Blue Cheese and Berry Glaze

I was surprised at how good this was, I was worried it would be overly sweet with four different kinds of berries and two cups of sugar. The creaminess of the cheese really meshed well with the glaze (which I might add is beyond wonderful over

vanilla ice cream)

~Baked Wild Rice

Our version was a lot less wild and a whole lot more brown... it was AMAZING!

Yes!

Stuck (Day 478)

I have a knack for getting stuck in places.

When I was really little I got my head stuck in the stair railing, with a little fanagaling (one of my new favorite made up words) and I believe a stick of butter, I was freed and I never again tried to put my head through the stair railing.

When I was about 11 years old my mom, my sister Tracy (who had just gotten her drivers permit), and I were driving across the country. I was in the backseat and dropped something, when I reached down to get what had fallen under the drivers seat, I of course got my arm and shoulder stuck under the drivers seat. While trying to get my arm out my head got stuck. My mom (who by this time was use to me getting stuck) crawled over the seats to try and "unstick" me. It was quite the fiasco... me whimpering, my sister laughing, and my mother yelling "Tracy, slow down... Tricia stop crying!"

I remember, as a teenager, getting my foot stuck under the passanger seat of my friend Scott's parent's car. We were on our way to youth group and I managed to somehow get the sling of my new sling back shoes stuck under the passenger seat. I think we may have had to cut my shoe to get me unstuck.

In college, I took a class called "Math for Educators" I was pretty much stuck from day one and only managed to get a C in the class because my amazing fiance spent hours on the phone working patiently through every problem with me.

Just the other day, I was stuck in downtown Seattle. I had been at a doula training and forgot to move my car.... a 1/2 mile walk, a bus ride and $150 towing bill later I became unstuck.

So why am I writing all of this... Because I once again find myself stuck. I have done all of the "easy" things on my list and I am now stuck.

#3 getting skinnnny! (Day 473)

Long time no update on my weight loss... So here it is folks

*** 164.4 lbs ***

Yup, that's right folks, I am down 33.6 pounds since I started this blog. That is a little over half way to my goal weight and I feel SO much better.

Here are my stats from my first blog on June 17th 2010:

Age: 33 (40 days shy of 34)

Weight: 198

Pant Size: 12/14

Shirt: Extra Large

Now here are my stats as of today:

Age: 35 (70 days since my birthday)

Weight: 164.4

Pant Size: 10

Shirt: Large

Looking forward to what the future holds... Don't know what that is, but I do know that it includes long walks where I don't get out of breathe, playing chase with the boys and not having to always be it, and a healthier and happier out look on life because I am finally taking a real initiative to take care of the only body that God gave me!

(Day 459)

This was written on day 459 but I accidentally saved it as a draft instead of publishing, better late than never :)

Have you ever gotten so far behind on something that you feel like just quiting because there is no possible way to catch up? That is how I feel about this blog right now. For months I have felt like I've needed to blog but I have SO much to tell you, and just can't figure out where to begin. So this blog may not be pretty or even be coherent but I am going to try and catch you up on what I have been doing.

#12- Do a 3 week cleanse: I am 2 weeks into my cleanse and I feel great. I conned Brent into doing it with me which has been, for the most part, very helpful. The first few days we were both a little grouchy, but we have now adjusted to it and are seeing some great results (energy level is up and weight is down)

#8- Hike 10 different trails: Some dear friends suggested that we take the kids on a walk down near the Des Moines marina. Now typically I would not consider this a hike because the trail is paved and it just doesn't seem like "hiking". So why am I putting it down on my blog? Because I want to! It is a really cool walking trail and we have had so much fun walking there that it deserves to be mentioned.

Last Saturday we took the youth group on a hike to Denny Creek. It sprinkled most of the hike but we still managed to have a good time. I would like to go back there again when the weather is more cooperative.

# 46- Try 20 new recipes: I just made a meatball recipe that is not only tasty but it is healthy too. I also have been playing around with marinades and chicken a lot lately.

# 53- Turn garage into a playroom: I don't know how much I can actually take credit for on this one. I guess if nagging your spouse to lay carpet tiles down counts then I have done a TON of the work :-)

# 68- Go on a cross country road-trip: WOW, I need to dedicate an entry just for our cross country train trip adventure. When I originally wrote this I was thinking of a traditional road-trip. What I can tell you is that there was nothing "traditional" about our cross country Rail-road trip!

# 85- Spend the day playing board games: I love that my hubby & kiddo's are board game freaks! We have so much fun pulling out our "non-monopoly games" (that's what Ben calls them). We sat down the other day and played almost 7 hours of games... I think that qualifies , don't you?

#24 Share my faith: Since Brent & I have taken over the senior high youth group at our church there has been a lot of opportunity for me to talk about what and why I believe what I do. I have to say that this is not exactly what I was thinking of when I wrote out this goal. In my heart I really would love to talk to some of my family and friends that don't share the same belief system that I do. I hate that I am at times hesitant to bring it up, I know that they know where I stand, but I would love to talk more about it with them. I also know that I am very passionate about Christ and I never want for my passion to come off as being pushy.

It's funny, I was talking to some doulas the other day and the subject of religion came up. I was amazed at how tolerant everyone was toward Buddhism, Universalism, and even Judaism. When I brought up Christianity the door was slammed so hard (all I said was that some Christian women enjoy playing worship music and quoting scripture during their labors). I was really shocked at the reaction. I had not said anything negative about their use of non-Christian practices in the labor room, such as Reiki, so I figured that I would be safe. Where is the tolerance... I have to be tolerant of others but the same courtesy is not reciprocated?

I am thinking that I need to grow a thicker skin and not let what is said to me bother me so much.

WOW- I had no idea that I had so much to say about that. Thanks for letting me stand on my own little blogging soap-box and vent.

15 years! (Day 340)

(this post was started on day 340, but somehow not posted until now)

I was a little worried about #79 (celebrate our 15th anniversary in a unique way). 15 years is a long time and I really wanted for our weekend to be special.

I am responsible for planning the odd years and I decided that I wanted to go someplace new so I found a cute Bed & Breakfast in Leavenworth and made reservations (Cottonwood Shores B&B) I was so excited that they had availability and was really looking forward to our weekend away.

Here is where the story goes wonky. I received a phone a few days before we were going to leave, from the owner Pat, who informed me that they would not like for us to come and stay with them. I was perplexed and asked why. She had looked me up on Peoplefinder.com and was "concerned" that I had lived in so many different locations and told me that I had aliases (which was news to me). I was in total shock!

I went home and looked on Peoplefinder and found several listings for a Patricia which is not and has never been my name.

I was pretty emotional, but I called Pat (who IS actually a Patricia) back. I was trying to choke back tears as I explained to her that her source was not valid and that I was not the person that she thought I was. It didn't change her mind and I was forced to find another B&B.

What blows my mind about the entire situation is, that Pat was really nice through the entire ordeal and I really want to give them a good review but I can't.

We ended up staying at an interesting B&B. The owner Verne was I believe he said 84 years old. Verne's wife was away visiting there son in Florida, so Verne was left on his own to tend to the guests. He was very sweet and had some amazing stories that somehow all ended up with someone being dead. I guess when I have lived that long most of my stories may end that way too.

We arrived in around 10pm on the first night and after putting our bags in our room (which was sweet and very clean), we joined Verne and the other couple who was staying there in the living room. It was a large room that had last been redecorated in the 1950's. The walls had the most interesting wallpaper on them, I think the part that was so interesting was that the paper went up the wall, covered the extremely high vaulted ceiling and then came right down the other side. It was truly... interesting.

We said our good nights and retreated to our room. Brent opened the door for me and as I turned to close the door my dear sweet husband said "Tricia, take your pants off". Well as you can imagine I was expecting something a little bit more romantic. Here is how the rest of the conversation went like this;

Me: "I know we are celebrating our anniversary honey and you are excited but do you think ...." Brent: "TAKE your pants off NOW Tricia!"

Me: "Brent I was hoping to..."

Brent: "Tricia, listen to me, if you don't take your pants off right now we.. NO NO NO DON'T SIT ON THE BED"

Well now I was intrigued at this point (and a little frightened) so I obeyed my hubby and removed my pants. He then proceeded to show me that the back of my pants were completely covered in fur. When I say covered I mean covered! There was so much golden fur that you could barely see my black pants through the fur.

At this point I am stating to panic and tear up. What in the world I had gotten us into. Brent was able to defuse the situation as only he could and within minutes we were laughing so hard that we were both crying.

The next day I found out that the chair that I had been sitting on the night before just happened to be the cats favorite spot. I decided not to sit there for the rest of our stay.

We puttered around the town the following day and just enjoyed the ambiance of this amazing German inspired town. The following day I planned a white water river rafting trip for us. It was SO much fun! Neither Brent or I had been white water rafting since we had gone 20+ years ago with our church youth group. We thoroughly loved Leavenworth and will be visiting it again soon.

1/3 of the way done. (Day 332)

Well not quite... I am one day shy of being a third of the way done. I have completed 27 of my 101 items completed and I have started on 26 others.

Not bad, considering I was hesitant to do a "101 in 1001 day" challenge in the first place. Here is an update on a few items that I have completed or are in the process of working on.

I bought a Groupon today for a knitting 101 class. Woo Hoo! I may actually get #50 marked off my list (Learn how to knit).

This last weekend was spent completing the second half of #57 (decrease clutter by having 2 yard sales), I had one of the two sales last summer. I was motivated to help a friend who is moving sell some of her things which in turn helped me!

I am pretty sure that I will not be completing all of the reading goals that I have listed. I use to love reading, but lately it seems that the only time I have to read is when I am beat tired, which for this dyslexic girl, is the worst time to try and read.

I figured I have to at least try and start some of this reading so the last week Micah and I have been reading "Bridge to Terabithia" I read it for the first time in 4th grade and since Micah is now in 4th I figured it was time for me to share it with him. I am happy that he is enjoying it as much as I did. We have had some great conversations about what we think Terabithia looked like or what it would look like if we could build a land of our own.

Last week was Mother's Day, so I decided it was time to knock #84 off my list (take my mom out for pedi's). It was a fun present for both of us and we really enjoyed the special treatment.

I am meeting with a group of ladies for a class that is given by a personal trainer. Because the class is so small (there were 4 of us in the last class) and personal I am counting it towards #17. It was fun and I am looking forward to our next class on Wednesday.

Speaking of Wednesday, it just so happens that Wednesday is my 15th anniversary. I am trying to plan a fun get-away but I can't blog too much about it yet. I promise to update you with all of the details (ok, maybe not ALL of them) when we return.

She flies through the air with the greatest of.... ease??? (Day 318)

I got a phone call the other day that was... unique!

It was my dear friend Jena, she was calling to ask me if I would like to go to a trapeze class with her. After checking my calendar and finding that the time and day where available I said YES!

My thought process went something like this:

"Woo Hoo, I get to hang out with Jena.... I love Jena... she is so great... we always have so much fun together... we both like good food... I love that she likes good food... I bet we can do lunch before this class... I love lunch... lunch is so great... lunch with Jena is double great... this is going to be so great... Woo Hoo"

As you can see, when I said yes I was not considering several things, in fact, I was not considering much at all. I was excited to spend time with my friend who, like me, loves little cafes that serve amazing Caresse sandwiches on a wonderful baguette with cute little dishes filled with olives & pickles, and others with figs & heavenly almonds. (can you guess what I had for lunch :-)

When I told Brent what I was going to do, he (unlike me) was thinking a little more practically.

Brent's thought process went something like this:

"...Ummm, are you serious?... You realize what trapezing is, right?... You are terrified of heights... you realize that you will be up high on a tiny little bar swinging... you sure you want to do this... on a full stomach... "

So what did I do.... just that!

Jena and I went out for lunch at a fun little specialty shop in Ballard called "Savour". We had wonderful Caprese sandwich and then we were off to face our fears.

I am proud to announce that we both flew through the air. Jena was much better at the "with ease" part then I was, but the point is I DID IT!

Overall it was a great day, I am able to mark off that I went to a group exercise class (#16) and that I went to a new restaurant (#88). Best of all I was able to have all of these new experiences with a fantastic friend.