Salsa (Cha Cha Cha)

Time for a "new recipe" post!

I made salsa! And it worked! Yay!

I had gotten free tomatoes last week (by accident).  Lots of them.  I don't eat tomatoes (I hate tomatoes, but love spaghetti and stuff like that), and me and Hunts have a good thing going with their spaghetti sauce, so why ruin a good thing?  Next logical step: salsa!  I couldn't let all those tomatoes go to waste, so I gathered up my inner strength, sent Tim out to get some canning jars, got some supplies for salsa, and took off with it before I could talk myself out of it.

Wednesday night Tim and I peeled all the tomatoes so they'd be ready for Saturday.  And Saturday, I cored seeded (de-seeded?) all the tomatoes (and oh my.  That was NASTY.  Did I mention I hate tomatoes?).  Then I put them in my food processor and pulsed away, and dumped into a large stockpot.  I chopped six jalepenos, two medium sized onions, and cracked open cans of black beans and white shoepeg corn.  Mix all together with two packets of Mrs. Wages (basically a spice packet so you don't have to mix the packets yourself) and cooked away for about an hour!

Tim stepped in and helped with the process (besides helping with the tomato peeling Wednesday night, oh, and getting jars), and helped me sterilize the jars.  (He was also the official taste tester.  I'm still a little grossed out since I handled the tomatoes. Did I mention I hate tomatoes?) Once that was done, he filled them and I put the lid on...and then put them in a water bath for about 10 minutes.  We took them out and voila! All the lids popped! YAY!! My first attempt, and it worked!  

I ended up with 11 pints of salsa.  I have pictures, but don't feel like uploading them at the moment.  Besides, I'm pretty sure the people who read this blog are family members who've already seen the pictures.

Water, Water Everywhere...

...but not a drop to drink. (Or, alternately, "When it rains, it pours".)  It could have been worse.  It could have been worse.  That's what I'm telling myself.  

(Sidenote: I feel like I'm saying that a lot recently...our freezer unplugged while we were on vacation and only the top stuff thawed? It could have been worse...Our sump pump quit working and Tim had to manually empty it every two hours for a day and water was everywhere in our utility room?  It could have been worse...Honestly, I really could have done without ANY of these situations BUT...they could have been worse. Sigh.)  

Back to my story. So Monday night our sink drain quit draining, despite Tim's best efforts to fix it.  (Taking a plunger and trying to unclog the clog...Draino...run the garburator...taking a plunger and trying to unclog the clog...wait, did I say that already?) ANYWAY, it was draining v.e.r.y. s.l.o.w.l.y. and then it might speed up, and then it would be fine, so you know, it's a clog, right?  It'll eventually work itself out, right? WRONG.

Tell me if I'm misunderstanding a sink's job, but last I checked you were supposed to be able to fill it up with water with a tap, and then drain it when you're done.  The sink is not supposed to fill itself up, from the pipes, right?  Well, last night Tim and I had a bit of a rude awakening...

Around 2:50 Tim bolted out of bed and raced to the kitchen.  I was a little slower on the uptake and followed suit about 30 seconds later to find out was wrong.  I wandered to the kitchen...and there was WATER EVERYWHERE.  Overflowing out of the sink (which was weird, cause neither of us are stupid enough to leave the tap on), all over the counter, all over the floor.  Tim had made himself busy trying to empty the sink and I raced downstairs and there was water everywhere in the utility room.  It was leaking down from the kitchen and there was a lot of it.  At first I thought it was coming out of a pipe that burst, but it turns out there's a hole in our kitchen floor from our renos (we've been meaning to get it fixed, but the water had to go somewhere, and there was conveniently a bucket basically underneath it).   I finally cleared my brain and was able to get Tim downstairs to shut off the water (Sidenote: I know how to turn the water off now. Whew!)  Apparently turning off the water halted the flow of water coming UP THE PIPES.  Go figure.  Our sink works backwards.  At least it was clean water (which makes no sense - because it drains to the sewer...or maybe it doesn't??  I don't know anymore!)

Not our sink.  But this is what is was doing.  Minus the soap.

Anyway, I then grabbed some towels, and started mopping up the water in the kitchen (which also got in our drawers and cabinets...ugh) while Tim emptied the sink and then mopped up the water, which was thankfully contained to the utility room.

We finally went to bed an hour later.  I slept great after that, I don't think Tim did.  First thing we (Tim) did this morning was call a plumber, who is coming in this afternoon to have a look at it.

So yeah...It could have been worse.  The end.

Tidbits

Mom keeps asking me if I've updated my blog - I keep telling her no, but next time she asks I can say yes! Whew! 

So it looks like last time I posted was in July...oops.  Where does time go?  For that, I'll give you some highlights.

*****

August

We went home! To Canada! Yay!  The best part: we managed to surprise mom - everybody in the family kept it a secret for THREE MONTHS!!  (I think we would all be a little more impressed if it wasn't so easy to pull the wool over mom's eyes - sorry, mom!)  We flew in on the 21st and unfortunately our flight was delayed so we didn't end up walking in the door at home until midnight...and mom was asleep.  But her reaction (when she finally realized she wasn't talking to Lynette) was priceless.  ("Julie?? Jule?? Jule?? What are YOU DOING HERE?!" <-- That was complete with cheek pinching. Ha!)  During this time we celebrated mom and dad's 30th wedding anniversary, the return of Ann and Lydell from New Zealand (though technically for me it was like they were never gone - sorry guys!), Weston's birthday, Lynette's birthday, AND a pretty decent housewarming party for Ann and Lydell (which also was Lynette's birthday party).

Since that was the most exciting thing that happened in August, I won't expound any further on what went on because it was totally overshadowed by an awesome vacation spent with family.

*****

September

I went apple picking for the first time in my life!! It was quite the experience, too - as I got to pick apples from on top of a school bus.  Yes, you read that right! A big ol' yellow bus!  It was...interesting.  And fun.  And that's all I have to say about that.

Also, I watched a full game of college football. BY MYSELF.  For those of you who don't know, that's pretty significant for me.  I mostly wanted to see Tim on TV (he was at the game) but I did get caught up in it.  (Go Hawks!) And whew, did it get close there in the end - I was even yelling at the TV.  That is so not me - I did NOT grow up in a sports-oriented family (until last year, I couldn't even name five NFL football teams...and now I can name them all, and even most of their quarterbacks!!  It's okay if you're impressed).

*****

For an update on my list:

- I'm almost done with biographies - I think I have to read about three more to have read 26.  So far my favourites have been the biographies of Walt Disney and Dr. Seuss.  Julie Andrew's was pretty interesting, too.

- I'm actually getting further in my book on CD list as well, too - I'm on my 10th or so book.  I probably won't finish, but I'm giving it a decent try.

- I can name 26 NFL Quarterbacks. Yay me!

- I've tried a bunch of new recipes, I haven't been keeping track of them.  Oops.

- I don't remember what else is on my list, so we'll keep it at this. 

Until next time!

Another Post

This probably should be an update about how my goals are coming (hm, or not...), how I participated in the Color Run in Des Moines (way fun, even if only 2 of us made it down...there was supposed to be eight people going, so yeah...), how I stopped at the Danish Immigrant Museum--even though I'm not Danish (way interesting, though!), and partook in a real Danish meal (yum!).  Anyway, that's what this SHOULD be about, instead I'm going to tell a short story about Tim

Background:  Tim loves airplanes.  He subscribes to three aviation-themed magazines.  Two of them came in the mail yesterday.

Tim:  Guess what!?!

Me: What?

Tim: Both my magazines today had articles about planes!

Me: ........ *bursts into laughter*

Dear Tim:  You subscribe to aviation magazines; I sincerely hope they talk about airplanes.  In Tim's defence, he was talking about the Disney Pixar movie "Planes" that is coming out this week (or next week?), but he also did not clarify until after I burst into laughter.  Seriously.  Stupidest statement I heard all day.  Like I really thought that his airplane magazines was going to talk about zoos...???

Anyway, after I stopped laughing (which took about 10 minutes), I couldn't stop giggling.  And now I'm sharing it with the world.  So enjoy!  I thought it was funny.

An Update, of Sorts

Whew! Time to dust off ye old blog and give an update of happenings...

Not much happened in June...at least not much worth posting about (that's probably why I never posted in June).  About the only noteworthy thing was that I almost got sprayed by a skunk! (That's probably a slight exaggeration, as the skunk hissed at me and raised his (its?) tail as I biked past.  Truth be told, I didn't notice the skunk until I was pretty much past him....)  Other than that, I've been plugging away at my reading list (got some classics and bios knocked off! Note: Great Gatsby is a kinda depressing book, and I have no idea how they managed to execute it into a feature length film...)

July, though, so far has been pretty busy!  In the first week alone, I've made it to Blue Bunny in Le Mars for ice cream (ice cream capital of the world, yo!), America Day (hehe...hi, Tim!) fireworks (pretty sweet!), the Luverne Drive In Movie Theatre for two feature length films (didn't get home til 3:30 A.M....thank goodness for Tim, who let me sleep in and shirk responsibilities while he went to church.  Thanks, Tim! I love you!), AND went strawberry picking! To be fair, the Drive-In and strawberry picking were in the same day...

FINALLY...drumroll please...I managed to knock off "drive the 26 mile round trip from Orange City to Sioux Center" from my list! Woohoo!!!  I went with a friend, and we left at 7:00 AM on a cloudy Saturday morning, made it to Sioux Center in just under an hour, and then turned around and headed back to Orange City.  We made the trip in about 2 hours - not too shabby for hilly backroads (yeah, I was shocked, too - I didn't realize Iowa was hilly until I had to bike those beasts!!)  If that wasn't enough, that was the same day the both of us decided to go strawberry picking, too! Crazy? I think so...

So, yeah, that's about all that's new in my little corner of the world.  Happy reading, all!!

A Weekend of Firsts

This past weekend was a weekend of firsts for me - starting out with a bang on Friday morning.  Friday morning was my first time ever getting pulled over (for speeding).  I was on my way to work and not paying attention to my speed - the two roads I travel to get to work are long, straight, and boring.  It's easy to not pay attention.  I was busy jammin' along to the radio when I saw the lights flashing behind me.  I won't tell you what went through my head (you can probably make a pretty good guess), but I was pulling out my license, registration, and proof of insurance before the copper even got to my window.  He asked me my reason for speeding, and I told him I was listening to the radio and not paying attention (not really an excuse, but there you have it).  I had to sit in his cruiser while he punched in my info...and then let me go with just a warning! Whew! Dodged that bullet.  For the record, apparently my lame-o excuse was the reason I got out of a ticket - because I didn't lie about it and didn't give him some obviously not-true reason, he let me go! Yay!  I always thought I'd cry when I got pulled over...turns out I didn't! Points for me!!

Then on Saturday I ran my first 5K! What was I thinking?! I hate running to begin with, and then to compete in a race that I actually had to pay to be in?!  I think I was caught in a moment of peer pressure which made me sign up.  Anyway, moving on.  My goals going into this race:  

1. Finish (which is an actual goal for me, thankyouverymuch);
2. Don't come in last (a very real fear - I'm slow!)
3. Don't get lapped by Rina (a friend who was doing the 10K, and also a possibility);
4. Run it in under an hour (laugh all you want - I already stated I am not a runner and am slow)

I am pleased to announce that I did, in fact, complete all my goals! Yay! (And I didn't cheat, even though I really badly wanted to.  It would have been so easy to cut a chunk of the route out by running straight instead of taking a turn...)  So, I ran my race with a time of 38:38, and promptly barfed at the end of the route.  Apparently I was not the first person to lose my breakfast either, as someone stated (rather cheerfully) "Well, there goes the third one!"

So there you have it! A weekend of firsts.  Don't judge me :)

An Update

Not much new here! I managed to swim 300 meters in a triathalon on Saturday...and now I kinda want to do the whole thing next year.  Maybe I'll get motivated enough to try it (stop laughing, mom!).  It was SO. COLD. out there on Saturday - I'm glad all I had to do was the swimming part!!

Also, I would like to take this time to mention that I get the most pageviews from Russia.  Family - you disappoint me.  Russian readers: hello! :)

...and I should probably do an update on how my challenges are going so that I can keep track...so here it goes.   Feel free to read or not read as you desire.

1.  Think of 26 challenges for my 26th year*;

2.  Go without Facebook for 26 days;

3.  Go vegetarian for 26 days (Tim says, "What?! That's almost a whole month!"  I told him that these are my challenges...he doesn't have to follow =]);

4.  Hand-write 26 notes and mail them;

5.  Lose 13 pounds;

• -2 (Woohoo! Without even trying)

6.  Visit 26 new places in the tri-state area where I live (I was going to limit it to just Iowa, but I figured I'm close enough to Minnesota, South Dakota, oh, and I'll throw in Nebraska that I can discover places in them, too).  I hope that by doing so I can appreciate where I live a little more...;

• Carnaval Brazilian Grille - Oh.My.Goodness. SO GOOD.  (And expensive - glad I wasn't paying!)

7.  Try 26 new recipes (I mean that I cook);

• Blueberry Bundt Cake (yum! A success!)
• Beef and bean burrito (again, yum!)
• Cinnamon bun muffins with cream cheese frosting (A hit.  Whoop!)
• There's probably more - I should have written them down!  

8.  Read 26 biographies - I figure I don't read a lot of non-fiction, this will be a good way to maybe expand what I read;

•  Hayden Fry - High Porch Picnic (coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes for about 20 years - through the 80s and 90s)
• Apolo Anton Ohno - don't read this unless you're 12
• "Good Grief!" by Rheta Grimsley Johnson - about (you guessed it!) Charles Schultz.  A good read - he sounded like such a nice (albeit depressed) man!
• Man...thought I had more!

 

9.  Get 26 new sewing projects started (and complete?? Haven't decided yet...it seems a little ambitious...)

• Heating pad (which I will affectionately refer to as a neckie...haha, thanks mom for that one!)
• Umm...yeah 

10.  Bike the 26 mile round trip from Orange City to Sioux Center;

11. Find 26 recipes for fish.  Choose one and make it.  (FYI: I HATE fish.  Maybe this will expand my palate).

12.  Go without sweets and salty snacks for 26 days;

13.  Run at least 26 miles (not consecutively...hahaha) in one month;

14.  Visit the nursing home down the street from where I live at least 26 times;

15.  Exercise for at least 1/2 an hour for 26 straight days;

• 4 days down...22 to go!

16.  Read 26 classics;

• Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery - I've been resisting this book for YEARS.  Turns out I had nothing to fear.
• The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
• I'm currently reading "Picture of Dorian Gray" - I'm about halfway through.  It's pretty...unique.

17.  Get $26 and take Tim on a date somewhere and spend as close to the $26 as I can;

18.  Take a cold shower 26 days in a row;

19.  Plan meals for 26 days in a row;
20.  Write at least 26 book reviews of books that I read throughout the year;

• ...that reminds me, I have another book review to write.  I'll hopefully get to it before the book is due.  It's called "Books" by Larry McMurty...in a nutshell:don't read it.  It was terrible.  Unless you like all sorts of name dropping of people who you have NO CLUE who they are...

21.  Go on a minimum of 26 half-hour long walks with Tim around Orange City (I pushed for an hour, but that was a little too long for Tim);

• 2 out of 26...

22. Use my planner for at least 26 days straight;
23.  Find 26 different occasions to use our digital camera, and post the picture to this blog with a post;
24.  Listen to 26 different books on CD while I drive;

• Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper (technically I only got about halfway through this, but I'm counting it as a full one because it was so awful and I suffered through half of it...)
• Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck - cute, a good listen;
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo - again cute, a good listen;
• I'm currently listening to a mystery type book about the lost diaries of Sacagawea. It's alright.
• I realized I prefer reading...because I can read faster than people read out loud and it drives me nuts to know that I could be done the book already... 

25.  Be able to identify 26 NFL Quarterbacks;

• Tim and counted the other day...it was something like 15 I could identify! Woohoo! Almost there!

26.  Be able to identify 26 different types of aircraft (I'm going to need Tim's help for this one for sure!)

• 1 out of 26 (basically the one that Tim flies...)  Although Tim did download a Aircraft Types Quiz App on my iPod...maybe it'll get me there! 

Sewing Project 1/26: Heating Pad

Yesterday was one of those days where I didn't much feel like going out, but did anyway because I felt like I should.  Turns out I'm super glad I did, because I ended up making a heating pad that I otherwise would have never attempted! Sweet!  It was super easy, too - if anybody wants one, just say the word!  I was able to put it together in about 2 hours, and I bet I could do it a lot faster next time simply because I was learning how to do it last night and chatting with others.  :) 

For posterity's sake, I'm including pictures:

Ooohhhh

Ahhhh

 

 

Basically, the hole is for your neck, and it can sit around your neck either way - depending on where you want your heating/cooling.  I'm wearing it right now because I can.   Oh, and in case you're wondering, it's stuffed with rice and lavender.  So not only does it feel good, but it's aromatherapy, too! Double deal!

The end.

PS:  Dear month of May:  Is snow your idea of an April Fool's joke?  Because if it is, you're a month late.  It's not funny anymore; it's just tacky.  Love, Julie.

Busted!

It turns out, Tim does read my blog.  (Hi, Tim!)  At least he does when the spirit moves him, which I estimate will be about once a month.  I heard him giggling the other night right before bed, so I asked him what he was doing.  "Reading your blog!" he replied.  I'm not sure whether to be offended or flattered.  I'm going to go with flattered.

Otherwise, an update:

1.  Some people should stick to what their good at.  For example, Christopher Plummer is a great (in my opinion) actor.  A writer? Not so much.  I started reading his biography (650 pages!) and got 50 pages into it before I decided to quit reading it.  It was super boring.  It rambled and didn't make a whole lot of sense.  (As I typed those last two sentences, I realized that much of the same could be said about what I'm writing...hahaha.  At least I don't have a publisher and hope that people will read my musings.  Except my family.  I like think they read what I have to say.)  Anyway, it was going to be one of my biographies, but not anymore.  I'll stick with something more interesting.

Biographies Read:

1.  Maud by Harry Bruce - a pretty easy read, it was actually pretty interesting.  It was not as informative as it perhaps could have been and tended to ramble, but overall good.

2.  Hayden Fry: A High Porch Picnic by Hayden Fry and George Wine - This book was picked out by Tim.  I'd give anybody in my family $100 if they could tell me who Hayden Fry was without looking it up (a pretty safe bet, in my opinion).  To save you all the suspense, it's about the football coach of the Iowa Hawkeyes for the better part of the 1980s-1990s.  I didn't think I would enjoy it, but it was a pretty decent read and his stats were pretty impressive!

3.  Apolo Anton Ohno: My Story by (you guessed it!) Apolo Anton Ohno - Don't read this book if you are over 12 years old.  Enough said.

Classics Read:

1.  The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - I dreaded reading this book because I remember trying to read it as a child and thinking how awful it was.  It was better than I was expecting (probably because I'm adult now and can understand it better).  I chose the book that had lots of pictures and large print to make it seem bearable - and it was! Ha! My mind tricks worked.

Anyway, that's all for now!

Book Review 1/26: "The Man Who Love Books too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession" by Allison Hoover Bartlett

In an effort to put off reading "The Wind and the Willows" I decided to post my first book review for the aforementioned book.  (My other efforts to put off reading "The Wind and the Willows" included calling my parents to chat (who never called back - thanks, guys :), pulling out a 1,000 piece puzzle, taking a nap, and watching a movie with Tim.  It's been a productive day.)  So, in an effort to pretend like I'm back in school, here it goes!

Hoover Bartlett, Allison.  The Man Who Loved Books too Much: The Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession. (Riverhead Books: New York, 2009).

The Man Who Loved Books too Much, as the title suggests, follows the story of a man, John Gilkey, who steals rare books.  On the flip side, she author Allison Hoover Bartlett also follows rare book dealer and self-proclaimed detective, Ken Sanders, who is driven to catch Gilkey.

While the books is fascinating, the title seems a bit deceiving, as Bartlett mostly focuses on Gilkey - even "casing the joint" with him in the "name of research".  She portrays Gilkey as a self-centered bibliophile--a person who with a love of books who usually collects as well.  Gilkey justifies stealing rare books by stating that he is unable to afford them and therefore the world is denying him a pleasure that is out of reach for him, which is not fair. 

At the time of writing the book, Bartlett met with Gilkey many times--both when he was in jail and after his subsequent release--to which he gives her an inside scoop into his life.  Gilkey, she claims, is putting on a show, and she is the only member of the audience.  Because of this, Bartlett is given an inside look into his life of crime.  Bartlett is afraid of losing the story of Gilkey so rather than turning over information Gilkey passes on to her about his methods and items he claims to have stolen, Bartlett justifies keeping silent by claiming she is under no legal obligation.  She states that, after checking with lawyer friends, the statute of limitations has expired and there is no need to turn the story over to the police.  The rare book dealers would probably have something to say about this - and at one point, Ken Sanders tells Bartlett her methods are "disgusting", which is easy to believe.

Bartlett portrays Ken Sanders as obsessive about books (which seems a little obvious, given the title of the book) and as a little crazy.  She interviews Sanders mostly to get his perspective on how Gilkey ended up in jail, and that seems about the extent of her interaction with Sanders.  

While the book is interesting and an easy read, it is hard not to get frustrated with Bartlett.  In an effort to get the best possible story, she tends to justify her actions and claim that her actions constitute research.  She does not seem much better than Gilkey when, rather than telling him what he is doing is wrong, she goes along with him.  She does, closer to the end of the book, tell Gilkey that he is stealing from people who are in the business for a livelihood, but beyond that does put for much of an effort to try and stop him or at least warn the rare book dealers.  

Overall, The Man Who Loved Books too Much was well-researched and written, but could have focused more on the side of rare book dealers and Ken Sanders in an effort to write about what the title says the book is about.    

 

A Shout Out to Tim

On Saturday night (early Sunday morning?) I work up around 2:00...and let's just say things were NOT GOOD.  I don't think I slept until about 4:00 and even then it was on the couch sitting up because everytime I laid down my stomach felt like it was on a boat.  I couldn't even distract myself with reading (for those of you who know me THAT'S SERIOUS).  Needless to say, church was out of the picture Sunday morning as 1) I was massively sleep deprived and 2) I wasn't sure how my stomach was going to appreciate going to church and didn't want to have to make a quick exit partway through the service, and 3) I was freezing even though I was sweating...cold and clammy. Ick. Anywho, Tim went to church without me, and rushed home after church to see how I was feeling - bringing with him saltines and ginger ale for my poor stomach.  I didn't even ask him :)  Thanks, Tim!

Moving on, I have another story.  On Monday night I was doing the math for my challenges (see previous post) and was talking to Tim about choosing biographies.  I mentioned that I was going to google "biographies + interesting" and that it *might* give me some good ideas as to what to read.  Tim made fun of me (as I suppose he should - I should know how to do proper research considering I was a history major), thus challenging me to to go and google "biographies + interesting".  I will say right here that hindsight is always 20/20, as you will soon understand.  The first page that came up looked promising - it was titled "Top 10 most interesting biographies" or something like that, and the first person listed was "Edward Mordrake".  Now, I'm pretty sure nobody's every heard of him, abut apparently he had two faces, that couldn't eat or anything but apparently could laugh and talk.  He begged doctors to get rid of the face but they refused, so he killed himself.  There's no way of proving this, particularly because he lived in the 1800s and there's no actual record of him.  Anyway, this really struck Tim's funny bone and for the last two days he's been randomly saying "Edward Mordrake" in a fake British accent.  He was whispering his name last night as I was trying to fall asleep, which I attribute to the weird dreams I had last night.  So thanks for that, Tim.  Moral of the story: I should have never googled "biographies + interesting" because it got me nowhere and Tim being kind of creepy.

 That's all for now, folks! 

P.S.: I figure it's safe to post this, considering I don't think Tim actually reads this blog.  (And, Tim, if you are reading this - hi! Thanks for stopping by!)

Reflections on Challenges (otherwise titled: WHAT HAVE I DONE?!)

So I was trying (mostly unsuccessfully, to the enjoyment of Tim) to work out the math for my challenge--specifically related to the amount of books I have to read.  I have on my list to read 26 biographies (#8 on my list), 26 classics (#16), and write 26 books reviews (#20, other note - these ones can't overlap with the previous two).  If my math is correct, that is a total of 78 books I need to read during the year, which, honestly, shouldn't really be a problem for me.  But upon returning from the library today and looking at my selections, I realized that because of my challenge I'm going to have very little time to ready what I normally do.  

In other words, challenge #24 is to listen to 26 books on CD while I drive.  I was just doing the math out loud and realized that it is probably going to be impossible to actually finish that one.  I have about half an hour commute to/from work for the day, which means that in two weeks I get about 5 hours of listening time in for my books on CD.  I think the average book on CD is probably going to be 9+ hours.  In order to complete this challenge, I'm going to need to go through about 2 1/2 books every month....um, yeah, I may not be good at math, but Tim tells me it's not gonna work...unless I go on a few road trips. (That being said - roadtrip, anyone?!)

Speaking of books on CD, I was at the library and had about 30 seconds to choose a book on CD.  I figured I need to get this challenge started, so I grabbed the first YA Book I saw.  If I wasn't careful, I was going to end up with "Hank the Cowdog"--which might actually be preferable to what I did end up with.  It's called "Romiette and Julio" by Sharon M. Draper and apparently I should have read the back cover before I checked it out, because it is totally not my thing.   Tim told me I should just return it, but I panicked and NEED TO GET STARTED ON THIS CHALLENGE. RIGHT! NOW!

Anyway, in case anyone is interested, here is my reading list for the next few weeks: 

Biographies:

"Maud: the Life of L.M. Montgomery" by Harry Bruce

"In Spite of Myself: A Memoir" by Christopher Plummer (which happens to be 650 pages, so it had better be good).

Classics:

"The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame (which I'm hoping is actually good.  I got the one with lots of pictures in the hopes that it might enhance the story...)

For Book Reviews:

"The Man who Loved Books too Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of Literary Obsession" by Allison Hoover Bartlett.

I've been reading the biography of Apolo Anton Ohno (U.S. Olympian in speed skating) and it reads like a 12 year old wrote it.  Turns out the biography is aimed for that age group, so that's probably why.

Anyway, there's my update! It's mostly for me to keep track of things, but at least I can look back on it to remind myself...

Friday Randoms

I couldn't come up with a more creative title.  Sorry.  Actually, I'm trying to think of a creative way to talk about my blueberry bundt cake, but it sounds boring even in my head.  So, a brief synopsis: I made blueberry bundt cake last night while on the phone with mom (who was impressed with my multi-tasking. Yay me!).  It turned out awesome.  The end.  Also, the people who read my blog probably constitute about 5 people -- my family -- and they all know where I got the recipe (Cook's Illustrated) and could make said recipe themselves because they all have either a subscription or access to a subscription (yes, I mean you, Lynette).

A picture of blueberry bundt cake for posterity's sake

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I told my boss today that his handwriting leaves a little something to be desired.  His told me to "Be nice!"  I told him I was being nice.

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I think I have officially managed to post more times than Lynette ever did when she tried her stint in blogging.  If I quit today, at least I'm still ahead.  Although I supposed I could make it a goal to catch up with Josh and Chantale.  The problem with that is I live in Iowa.  There is nothing really ever to talk about.

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My Cook's Country subscription came with two "Best of 2012" cookbooks.  They came in the mail today. Yay! There are some really great recipes.  (Sorry mom! I had to brag - not only did I get my subscription cheaper but it also came with a free gift.  Never thought I'd say it, but sometimes there are benefits to living in the U.S.A.

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We finally had an ice storm casualty! I probably shouldn't be this excited about it.  I just dragged the branch to the curb and now my hands smell like pine.  I feel like a human candle.  Or air freshener. Or something along those lines.  Anyway, goodbye branch that probably should have been chopped off when we moved in (so that people can actually walk on the sidewalk)!

So big, someone had to walk around it! Or they were too lazy to walk over it.

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Well, this well has officially run dry.  For someone who can sure talk alot, I find it rather difficult to come up with interesting fodder for this blog.  It actually surprises me somewhat that most of what I talk about doesn't seem interesting when I think about writing it down.  Yes, I have that high of an opinion of what I have to say in relation to how interesting it is.  I may have to rethink that.  That's all for now, folks!

The One I'll Chalk up to Poor Life Decisions

So, the other night while browsing on Facebook I came across a recipe.  It required three things: refrigerated cookie dough, brownie mix, and Reece's Peanut Butter cups.  I didn't have any of those things on hand. (Please - brownie mix? refrigerated cookie dough? Pfft...that stuff's for amateurs.  At least that's why I like to think I didn't have that stuff on hand.)  Anyway, I didn't feel like going to the grocery store, but I know how Tim works and "casually" mentioned said recipe to Tim who, as I predicted, was right on board.  Perfect! He can go to the grocery store for me...

...it didn't quite work out that way.   About 10 minutes later I found myself at the grocery store with Tim--at least I wasn't there by myself, we were partners in crime--standing in the aisle, asking ourselves "Why are we here?" as we found our arms full of....well, junk.  So to make ourselves feel better we went to the fruit and vegetable section and impulse bought grapes (I realize the way to truly make myself feel better would have been to put the junk away.  But I didn't). 

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For the record, looking at fruits and vegetables and buying grapes didn't make me feel any less guilty.  I finally pulled out the grapes today and Tim had forgotten about them, which tells you about his feelings on the subject.

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Anyway, the recipe took about 10 minutes to assemble.  (How could it take any more time, really?? - put cookie dough at the bottom of a muffin tin, put a Reece's cup on top of said dough, and then pour brownie mix on that whole mess.  Cook it for 20 minutes.  How much easier does it get?)  It was described as "heaven" on Facebook.  I describe it as a cavity.   The result? Because I'm sure you're all so curious...it was good.  Totally not worth the money we spent on grapes, though.  In retrospect, it's not something I needed and was not as grand as Facebook made out to be (shocker, I know).  Which is why I chalk it up to a poor life decision.  But hey, I get to cross a recipe off my list!  Although technically my challenge doesn't start until the 26th...and I'm not even sure that the above thing constitutes a real recipe considering I didn't really do anything other than assembly.  The jury is still out on that.  

Anyway, that's all for now.  Later, friends! (Or whoever reads this.  Hi, mom!)

26 Goals

With my 26th birthday coming up on April 26, and nobody seems to be excited about the significance but me :), I decided that from April 26, 2013 to April 26, 2014 I am going to give myself 26 different challenges.  I figure that if I blog about it and have reader(s) (ahem. Hi mom!) it will motivate me to actually do these things.  Now for the 26 challenges (which Tim graciously helped me come up with one or two)... Here it goes, in no particular order...:
1.  Think of 26 challenges for my 26th year*;

2.  Go without Facebook for 26 days;

3.  Go vegetarian for 26 days (Tim says, "What?! That's almost a whole month!"  I told him that these are my challenges...he doesn't have to follow =]);

4.  Hand-write 26 notes and mail them;

5.  Lose 13 pounds;

6.  Visit 26 new places in the tri-state area where I live (I was going to limit it to just Iowa, but I figured I'm close enough to Minnesota, South Dakota, oh, and I'll throw in Nebraska that I can discover places in them, too).  I hope that by doing so I can appreciate where I live a little more...;

7.  Try 26 new recipes (I mean that I cook);

8.  Read 26 biographies - I figure I don't read a lot of non-fiction, this will be a good way to maybe expand what I read;

9.  Get 26 new sewing projects started (and complete?? Haven't decided yet...it seems a little ambitious...)

10.  Bike the 26 mile round trip from Orange City to Sioux Center;

11. Find 26 recipes for fish.  Choose one and make it.  (FYI: I HATE fish.  Maybe this will expand my palate).

12.  Go without sweets and salty snacks for 26 days;

13.  Run at least 26 miles (not consecutively...hahaha) in one month;

14.  Visit the nursing home down the street from where I live at least 26 times;

15.  Exercise for at least 1/2 an hour for 26 straight days;

16.  Read 26 classics;

17.  Get $26 and take Tim on a date somewhere and spend as close to the $26 as I can;

18.  Take a cold shower 26 days in a row;

19.  Plan meals for 26 days in a row;
20.  Write at least 26 book reviews of books that I read throughout the year;
21.  Go on a minimum of 26 half-hour long walks with Tim around Orange City (I pushed for an hour, but that was a little too long for Tim);
22. Use my planner for at least 26 days straight;
23.  Find 26 different occasions to use our digital camera, and post the picture to this blog with a post;
24.  Listen to 26 different books on CD while I drive;
25.  Be able to identify 26 NFL Quarterbacks;
26.  Be able to identify 26 different types of aircraft (I'm going to need Tim's help for this one for sure!)  

*This is early, but at least I know that I will have accomplished ONE goal in my year :D