survivor man

this trip was definitely worth waking up at 4 am for.  even if we didn't really need to.  (thank you, american airlines, for rerouting our flight and not telling us.)  I always love staying at hotel stie.  and I always love playing with her three cute, abnormally well-behaved + smart + fun, energetic children.  

we have had the good fortune of eating at the ever exciting emperor's palace chinese buffet.  an experience I will never forget.  we have hiked through the missourian woods.  explored caves + a little touch football.  watched more movies and eaten more treats than I want to think about. toured richie neighborhoods and ditched pieces of church.  I have played house.  swung on a giant rope swing.  been in a synchronized scooter gang.  ran a long run on a level 2 incline.  oh, and don't forget the crazy game of hot foot + freeze dance.  I am going to miss this.

unfortunately tomorrow we have to leave the life of the sixty degree weather for the life of the cold, january blizzards.  at least I don't have to wake up at 4 am.  (thank you, josh, for rescheduling our flight!)

my secret television addiction revealed

I want to be on the biggest loser. not because I think I'm fat, but because I want to work out for six hours a day with a really mean trainer. I want someone telling me what to do and when. I want my refrigerator stocked full of the fresh fruit and veg. all the time. I want a team full of medical professionals plus nutrition specialists making sure I'm doing ok. I want 24 hour access to the gym. okay, not really on that last part. who needs to work out at 4am? not me. but don't those challenges seem fun? I want to work out and do those challenges. I want to compete!

is it weird to want to be on the biggest loser? is it weird to have contemplated gaining a grossly huge amount of weight just to get on the show? I think I would just be ridiculed and ostracized by the other contestants. I would be that skinny girl in the house that already works out a lot and eats healthy. nobody likes that girl.

so this is what I'm proposing. not a show for fat people, but for fit people: fit club. or fit team. or I want to work out in a skimpy outfit on tv to get my fifteen minutes of fame team. come on, with the writer's strike still going on this could really fly.

maybe it could be a show about a bunch of people who are trying to train for some really intense endurance event. you know, like ultramarathons or an ironman. and they have coaches, et cetera but then you can throw in that whole voting off element that everyone loves so much. oh, and don't forget the fun fitness challenges.

I could be on that show. in fact, I think I need to be on that show if I ever want to conquer number fifty off the list. the ironman. [2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. in one day. the ultimate in endurance sport.] I know a couple of people who have done one, and if they can {be crazy enough to} do it then maybe I can {be crazy enough to} do it too.

but until all this goes through, I guess I'll just stick to the couch.

a little common courtesy, please

hey girl who I do not know--you know who you are--the one that was supposed to come interview with us this morning. early this morning. the earliest it could possibly be, since we don't open our doors until eight. forcing us to show up at seven-forty-five. if you're going to show up late. extremely late. or not at all, as the case may be. just call in advance and cancel. please. for our sake.

otherwise I could have slept in until a reasonable hour. (you know, more like seven o'clock) gone running with the early morning sun and the wintry white world. stretched. iced. eaten a fabulous breakfast with my cutest husband. shower for my day after the said working out, not before. pulled my lunch + other work supplies together without all the rush. and been here a little before ten for the next scheduled interview.

now, girl who I do not know, which sounds better to you?

finding friday: nice parking job

how many times have you tried to park your car but couldn't because of some idiot? how many times have you wanted to leave a note such as this? {how many times have you parked the car like some idiot and hoped you didn't receive a note such as this?} I'm sure we have all felt this way at least fifty times.

I think I found this note in the parking lot of my office building a few years ago--either that or I was walking to my office building from the train--and repeated the words of the note like a mantra all the way to work. I think I liked it because it rhymed. and the fact that the feelings behind the note are so universal. most of us just don't usually put it down in writing, left for said idiot to find.

one for the quotebook

"it's like I died and married heaven."

--peter, talking about his amazing wife

if I had a yard. . .

. . . I would:
plant a garden, green + growing. . .

build a solar oven and cook with the sun. . .

own this dog.

finding friday: suffer with shame

this is one of those finds where I'm left with only one piece of the puzzle. and I'm really wishing I had it all, or at least more of it. from these few words I can already tell this note was a good one. was it a horrible breakup? did someone backstab someone else? we will never know. all that we do know is that someone has suffered with shame. I really really wish I knew why.

runnin' down a dream

when I was in high school--I think it was the summer after my sophomore year--I had a bad habit of leaving my music playing. all day. that particular time in my life it was mr. tom petty spinning pretty much nonstop.

my most vivid memories of that summer are of waking up as the sun was just rising, going to the pool for the early AM swim with bethany (who I would later in the day go to the pool with again just to hang out, and then later at night we'd go back for more lap swimming. we'd actually leave from hanging out with our friends to go swim for the third time that day. maybe that's where my deep love for the pool began?), tom petty and his little heartbreakers would be singing all the while in the background.

needless to say I think I made everybody in my household sick of tom petty that summer. literally playing one cd over and over again might have that effect on others, it turns out.

right now peter and I just watched tp&th on pbs' soundstage. man oh man it was like I was sixteen again. I love tom petty, even in his old age. he is a true rockstar.

{now I just need to catch THIS episode of soundstage. and my little soul would be complete.}

comforting words on a sleepless night

may we all advance confidently in the direction of our dreams this year. truly live that life you have imagined. I know that we can achieve more than we ever thought possible if we just dare to put our two feet forward. believe.

image via flickr | words via henry david thoreau

diy wheat thins

my husband has burritos. I have crackers. and what a simple + beautiful thing they are.

see, my husband and I stopped buying crackers a while ago. have you ever actually looked at the ingredient list on a box of wheat thins? it's about fifty pages long, with very unpronounceable things. I'm pretty sure high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated (partially or not) oils make the list. yeah. not a pretty sight. so we stopped buying them.

if I had known how ridiculously easy it is to make your own crackers, I would have made the transition sooner. what a healthy + cheap alternative. seriously, today is the day to end your dependence on the boxed variety. the possibilities are endless. get creative. if you can dream it, this cracker can be it. the variations are out there, suited to your unique tastes. {special blend of herbs and/or spices, wheat germ, flax seed, coarse salt, sun dried tomatoes, a light brushing of olive oil just before baking, et cetera, et cetera} now go--mix, roll, bake! but most importantly--savor, appreciate, enjoy.


Wheat Crackers
1 3/4 C whole wheat flour
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 t salt
1/3 C olive oil (or vegetable oil)
1 C water
salt for sprinkling


preheat oven to 350 degrees f.

stir together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and 3/4 teaspoon of salt. pour in olive oil and water. mix until just blended.

on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough as thin as possible (no thicker than 1/8 inch). place the dough on an ungreased cookie sheet (or two, or three, depending on how thin you were able to roll out the dough) and mark squares out with a knife. prick each cracker a few times with a fork. sprinkle with salt.

bake for 20'ish minutes, or until crisp + light brown. when cool, remove from baking sheet and separate into individual crackers.

finding friday: Gladys Page

I don't think I've posted a find for the last two fridays. {let's be honest, I've had a complete lack of blogging as of late} so today, as a fresh start to the new year, I wanted to post something fabulous. something favorite. something worthy of the year's first find:

Dear Mama,
We have house cleaning just about all done. Grass tall enough to be mowed. May flowers, violets & Buttercups all over. But we have not [something] garden. . . [can't really read the rest and then it is torn]
[she must have ran out of room on bottom, this was written upside down on the top of the postcard:] saw by paper he was sick.
Gladys Page

the post card is addressed to:

Mrs. Nellie Page
Dell Rapids
S. Dak.

right above the address, written in pen:

Aunt Eds (?) + Gladys

I was out on a run--in fact I think it was THIS run--and saw what looked to be an old postcard lying on the ground. it was an old postcard. a really old postcard dated april 29 1913. what a find! my heart reeled. but what do I do with it? it was so fragile, already held together by only a small thread of paper. so I did the only thing I could do, run home with it carefully in my hands. trying all the way to cradle it, as to not let the pieces separate. {unfortunately they did} by the time I got home, it had fallen apart in my sweaty little hands.

I was so proud of this little find, though. I'm not sure my roommates appreciated it as much as I did. I think they just thought I was weird for collecting trash. but this wasn't trash. this was a peak into someone's life--Gladys' life. a life that was lived in the early part of the last century! I am so far removed from Gladys, from the place + time, but here I am feeling so connected to her. wishing I knew more of her story. honestly, just wishing I could actually read more of the postcard. it's so intriguing though, isn't it? the bits and pieces of everyday life?

my husband, the hot model

posing in the backcountry {click for full hotness}

home sweet home

who does not love this place? especially in winter. especially when it snows.

happy holidays

finding friday: maria

oh my, this is one of my favorite kind of finds: it's like a treasure hunt + puzzle all wrapped up into one. see, I was walking home from the train one day (when I lived on 9th east in the preserve) and there scattered all about the sidewalk and hiding in the bushes were these little pieces of paper. a note! my heart was full of excitement. I hurried and tried to pick up as many pieces as I could grab, hoping I found them all. it looks like I did, because it is a complete note above. the best part about it is I had a roommate named maria at the time. after I went home and taped all the pieces together I accused her of being the author of the note. I think she's secretly still in junior high. (okay, so not really.)

but doesn't this take you all back to middle school? man, I wrote thousands of these notes. I'm sure it was folded up all nice and cutesy at one time too, with the two: and from: displayed on the outside fold.

I especially like her friendship poem. maria and justine must be bff. and the christmas artwork is pretty cute too. and gosh, the news about nico's leg? I hope he's alright!

is it a bird? is it a plane? is it a. . . human flying squirrel?!

check THIS lil' video out. possibly the closest thing to actually flying a human will ever come.

note to self

when you're in a hurry,
running late for work,
and you still need to pack a lunch,
don't even bother.
as you're cutting up your carrot sticks
you'll inevitably cut off your finger.*
and then just forget the whole lunch
on the counter anyway.
(oh, and btw, you'll also forget your cell phone)

I've had a rough day.


*don't get all alarmed and start freaking out that I have no finger. I'm fine. I barely cut myself, much like THIS incident. do not worry your pretty little hearts.

my own treadmill troupe

today on my run I actually had the thought that I would make a great treadmill dancer. I think I would have the knack for something like that. just line 'em up, crank 'em up, and turn it up! I'd be jammin' with the best of them in no time.

an answer to a common question: what to eat with what?

“Food combines with each other when they have major flavour components in common.”

"A list was made of 250 food products each with their major flavour components. By comparing the flavour of each food product eg strawberry with the rest of the food and their flavours, new combinations like strawberry with peas can be made. The way to use is, is just to select a food product like strawberries. You will get a plot where you have strawberry in the middle surrounded by other food products. Take one of those other food products and try to make a new recipe by combining those two. The more flavours food products have in common the shorter the distance between the food products."

"A food product has a specific flavour because of a combination of different flavours. Like basil taste like basil because of the combination of linalool, estragol, …. So if I want to reconstruct the basil flavour without using any basil, you have to search for a combination of other food products where one contains linalool (like coriander), one contains estragol (like tarragon),... So I can reconstruct basil by combining coriander, tarragon, cloves, laurel. The way to use it is to take from each branch of the plot one product and make a combination of those food products."

food is linked by flavor components. food is interchangeable. I am very intrigued by all this information. food pairing in diagram form. it makes me want to go create in the kitchen. get messy. test the theory.

who is in for the challenge?

thanks for the hot tip from lee lou ann
foodpairing: the site | the blog

remembering

our first year of holiday fun:
twinkly lights + burning flames
hand made stockings + home cooked turkey
snowy days + cozy nights
laughter + love + memories