June Books

I wish I would have read more books in June, I had enough time, but hey, I've got a couple I'm working on right now. In the past couple days some of the time I might read has gone toward watching Wimbledon on TV! I do love to get sucked into tennis when I'm around during Grand Slam tournaments.

But, I digress. Here are the three books I did complete this month:

1. For Better: The Science of a Good Marriage by Tara Parker-Pope

I enjoy reading marriage books, and this one was a fast read with some interesting stats and information in it. Much like other conventional marriage wisdom, I had to be prepared for the fact that they were going to deem my marriage as more likely to fail because of our age when we married (early 20s), but I'm secure in all that now. (Why yes, I take statistics in books personally, don't you?) For the record, we have plenty of other factors in our favor (bachelor's degrees, married parents, etc). Anyway, the book wasn't earth-shattering, and when they read it over at A Practical Wedding for the book club, many of them didn't like it. I did get some interesting tidbits out of it though and thought it was a pretty good read.

2. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

This was one that I almost couldn't put down - lots of times I almost tell myself I should read, or try to push myself into sitting down and reading, but I whizzed through this book because it was a fast read and so fascinating. As a quick synopsis, Henrietta Lacks was an African-American woman who died of cervical cancer in Baltimore in 1951. Unbeknownst to her, some doctors did a cell culture on a sample of her tumor and unlike many other human cells, they kept reproducing over and over again and didn't die. It would be hard to encapsulate everything into this paragraph, but Henrietta's cells and the work done on them has changed medicine significantly in the last 60 years. There was also a strong social justice element of the book in the sense that Henrietta's family didn't know about the cells for years after the fact. Anyway, as I said, I flew through this book because I couldn't put it down, and I highly recommend it!

3. French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano

I really enjoyed this book. It intersected with my recent interest in eating healthfully and reasonably, reminded me about seasonal and unprocessed foods, and above all brought me back to my days studying abroad in Italy when I witnessed how fresh and simple but incredibly delicious the cuisine and the food culture is. Realistically, I won't follow each thing the author suggests in the book (for instance, let's be honest, I pretty much always eat watching TV since I've been living by myself), but there were a lot of useful things to think about, and the overall encouraging sense that I can fully enjoy food and feel satisfied without overdoing it. It just strengthened my commitment to the farmer's market and local seasonal food, and just in time for summer!

So that was my month of reading. I do have a confession though - I gave up on a book this month. In theory I should have been all over it, it's about an Iranian-American woman, and I used to study Muslim societies and countries in college. The thing was though, that I was struggling to keep getting through it and just didn't find the narrative that compelling. I was reading it when I'd just finished Henrietta Lacks, and the comparison was night and day. Eventually I decided that I only have so much time to read for pleasure before law school starts, and I want to enjoy the experience of reading, not be impatient with it, so I went ahead and retired that book to move to something else. Ah well.

It was a month full of non-fiction but I'm working on some fiction at the moment, so I will have more to share in that department in about a month!

Adventures in Home Decor

In order to divert myself from the misfortunes of hubby's training, or at least attempt to do so, I've turned my attention even more fully to thinking about our next house. We've decided (although in truth that might be more of an I) that the best option in our next spot is to rent a home. Mortgage rates and home prices are great right now, but it's still a risk and we don't really have the tolerance for said risk. When it's time to go, we just want to go. But anyway, this post isn't about the real estate market.

Nope, this post is about paint colors! I've delved into the world of paint colors and man, is it a complex place! I never knew how many shades of tan/beige/gray/cream there were. Now I know. I used Favorite Paint Colors as a jumping off point to try to explore what I might like in our next home. I was torn between loving the way many of the different neutrals looked on the wall, and wanting to play it relatively safe, with being sad at the idea of basically using just a few different beiges and being done with it. My current "vision" strikes kind of a compromise. Who knows if this idea will stick, and of course I have no way to consult hubby, but I'm daydreaming at this point.

By way of illustration:



It's a very warm, almost southwestern palette, based on my general ideas of what I like and what I've responded to in inspiration photos. From left to right the colors (all Benjamin Moore) are: Etruscan (thinking for the office), Alexandria Beige (living room), Shaker Beige (kitchen and guest/main bathroom), Hot Spring Stones (master bedroom), and Rosemary Sprig (master bathroom). All the colors except Etruscan can be seen at the Favorite Paint Colors site, it's where I discovered most of them. I have very little concrete reason that I've picked these, unless you want me to go into my hours long deliberation pondering all the possibilities (trust me, nobody wants that).

Of course, talking to hubby about this tonight on the phone (we're able to do that just a little these days), I managed to elicit laughs at the idea of me taking this painting project on. Apparently his thought is I will paint more than the walls - the window frames, the carpet, and so on and so forth. Well to that I say... we'll see. In trying my very best to educate myself, I went ahead and ordered this resource:

I'm hoping it helps! It got good reviews at least!

So, that's where my head is at getting ready for the next place. I suppose I could be biting off more than I can chew, but I am just not a fan of the prospect of living in boring white walls for the next few years - I'm kind of tired of the walls in this apartment after just one!

If anyone has home decor blogs they love, general tips on design, or practical tips on painting, I'd love to hear it! Hopefully come August you'll get a chance to see the good, the bad and the ugly right here on this blog!

A Snippet of Life

I'll put it out there - I'm having a bummer week, and it has to do with hubby's training going longer once AGAIN. I really shouldn't get started, I'll just upset myself.

That being said, I took it easy the first few days of this week, hanging out mostly at home, working out some, deciding on another weight goal, getting on Pinterest, and then getting Kristen addicted to Pinterest. There may have been some Lost watching in there too. Are you surprised?

There's no real point to this post, other than to share the above, briefly, and to share that tonight I am treating myself to delicious, greasy Chinese takeout. I don't even know the last time I had Chinese takeout, what with eating frugally and healthfully (most of the time one or the other at least) this year. Hubby and I never got takeout last fall, and this year I haven't done so myself. So, here's to, for one night, not cooking, driving down the street to pay for and leave with food, and indulging in a greasy, delicious, set of foods which also amount to a sodium bomb! Yum!

I'll be back at volunteering tomorrow, which should help a little, and A and I have started making a few more plans since she's in the same situation. I'm still the most bummed I have been in a while, but I guess I'll take it day by day and believe that the time really will pass by, and SOMEDAY I will see my husband again!

Evolving Culinary Skill

I put off grocery shopping from today until tomorrow this week, and as such had to come up with dinner on the fly - I'm pretty happy with what I came up with: whole wheat pasta mixed with a fresh (farmer's market) tomato, tuna, garlic, basil, and olive oil, topped with some grated pecorino cheese. It was simple but yummy and satiating, and I was proud of myself! Throwing meals like that together without a recipe makes me feel resourceful and knowledgeable, which is a nice feeling for sure.

Now that I feel I've generally got the food thing under control, I want to learn to grow things better, and learn more about home decor and crafts and such! I guess I do have my whole lifetime, but I get impatient.

In related news, I joined Pinterest a few days ago and with it have found a new addiction. Anyone have home decor or craft blogs they really enjoy? I'd love to hear suggestions!

Small Ingredients in a Good Day

Today was the type of day full of small joys that keep me sane and reasonably happy amidst the emotional difficulty and uncertainty of hubby's training and separation from him. Just a few things included:

1. Running for the first time in too long, at least sort of. I have been taking a bit of an unplanned hiatus due to trips and not feeling too great last week, and each day that goes by makes me more worried that I'm going to lose what I gained doing C25K. I ventured back on the treadmill today, and while it was far from a great run, I got my body moving and my heart pumping and it's a good way to start back up and build confidence again. In other news, I am going to try to buy some appropriately-sized and stylish running shorts tomorrow - the capri style pants and leggings are too hot (even inside the gym!).

2. Yoga for the first time in a while. Again, sort of an unplanned hiatus in part due to being out of town. Went to a class after jogging on the treadmill, and it gave me that great combination of mind-body zen and some good stretching. I may also try a class at a studio in town tomorrow afternoon.

3. Haircut! I got my hair refreshed back to the cute short length that I've had it at for the past few months (so it amounted to maybe a couple of inches but it feels much better!). I love the bouncy, peppy feeling I get with a fresh haircut.

4. I visited the health food store in town and bought wild salmon, plus some lime chips that are minimally processed. Even better, I paid for it with a gift card I received from the family I used to baby-sit for (before they moved).

5. I used said salmon to make Grilled Salmon with Citrus Salsa Verde by Giada, and it was tasty! It had a ton of flavor, a nice amount of nutrition, and I felt all around good eating it. I get to have it again tomorrow night as well, but this time I just have to grill the second piece of fish and then top it with the salsa I already made.

6. I finished an interesting book - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, a work of nonfiction about the woman whose cells ended up changing medical research as of 1951 when a sample of her cancerous tumor started reproducing without end. A more thorough review will come at the end of the month, but I sure do love the feeling of getting lost in a fascinating book and reading it faster than I thought I would! I do also enjoy having the luxury to be able to spend time reading when I feel like it.

7. I was pleasantly surprised and happy to get a letter from hubby! I am so starved to hear from him these days that seeing his handwriting and hearing things he's thinking and doing is always so nice. I am grateful each and every time I get a letter because I know how busy he is right now. 

Admittedly, more than ever before, I am blatantly passing time away at this point. Not a great way to live life, but I am anxious for hubby to come back, anxious to get ready to move, and also trying to prepare for the transition time with chores and to dos. Mentally though, I am ready, more for my reunion with hubby than going to school, but it will all come in due time! In the meantime I am trying to give myself the little pleasures in life to at least pass the time pleasantly. Tomorrow will involve the morning volunteering, frozen yogurt with friends, and yoga, so hopefully it will be pleasant as well!

How I Fixed the Interwebs (Or, Why I Am Awesome and so is my Kindle...)

I'm so relieved right now. You see, I'm what you could call addicted to a fan of the internet. Earlier this evening I was watching Lost doing something intellectually important when suddenly the internet stopped connecting to websites. It appeared to be connected, but it wasn't actually working. I unplugged and replugged the router, which usually works, but no dice. This time was different and that got me worrying. After a long loop of restarting, unplugging, clicking, connecting, disconnecting, I eventually managed some troubleshooting that told me that the DNS server wasn't responding. So, great... now what? I texted my dad as one avenue (yay tech help in a parent), and then opened the somewhat clunky but functional browser on my Kindle. I then googled the DNS server thing, tried one "fix" I found in a discussion, which didn't work, and then tried another. I can't even explain it well, but I had to disable another random wireless connection that was showing up on the computer. Once I did that, it worked! The clouds parted and the angels sang. Or maybe I just imagined that. But I felt a huge sense of relief, and then a sense of pleasant shock and pride. I fixed the internet, and I don't even understand the internet!

I guess it just goes to show that it can be handy to know how to use one's resources! And also that Kindles are awesome for reasons other than reading. (No, I don't have a smart phone yet, I'm lagging behind everyone else.) I guess at the end of the day it's sort of a pointless story, but I was happy with how the little saga turned out, and I had to use something as an outlet, hence, this post! Thank you for your cooperation. :-)

Road Trip Fun

This past weekend (well, it was an extended weekend actually), I visited a new (to me) midwestern state with a good friend, R. We visited her family at the home she grew up in, and I also took a couple of days to visit some of hubby's family who live relatively close by. It was great to see them as well - I am so lucky to have a family full of in-laws that I love like the family I grew up in! With hubby's cousins (two boys about 9 and 11 years old) I played Wii tennis, learned about comic book treasuries, and watched Youtube videos. I had girl talk with hubby's aunt and enjoyed a couple of family meals with them all.

Back in the country with R and her family, I got to learn about all the family farms, play with a new kitten, and sit on the porch writing letters to hubby. R and I are in the same situation with our husbands' training, and so its invaluable to have each other (along with a couple of other great girls) to lean on. It was a 10-hour road trip to and from her home state, but the hours flew by thanks to wonderful conversation and company. It was a wonderful little deviation from my normal routine and I definitely feel refreshed upon my return.

Here are a few pictures to sample my time with R's family:

 Corgi! Reminds me of my parents' dog who is part corgi. 

 Very different from where I grew up in the northeast!

The kitty went too far up in the tree and had to have her mom (R's sister) rescue her!

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today was one of the best days of my life, but more importantly it was the beginning of my marriage, which is one of the single best things in my life. We were blessed that everything went (mostly) smoothly, but the bigger blessing was being surrounded by so many amazing friends and family, and feeling their warmth and love radiate toward us. I remember a lot of things, but one of my very favorite things was the feeling I had while walking down a very long aisle and seeing this guy waiting for me:

We have spent half this year living together, getting to spend each and every weekend together. The other half, we've seen each other very little, and actually talked very little. No matter our situation, I feel as though we have grown in our relationship each and every day. Even apart from each other, he finds ways to show how much he cares. When the current separation takes its toll, I take the long view. I think of our future, our family, and all the anniversaries that I hope we will be blessed to celebrate. Celebrating this one at a later date when we're together doesn't take away from how special it is. Life has so many twists and turns, so many decisions and considerations, but in this seemingly short year it has become clear to me that no matter what is put in our way, we are each other's biggest fans and cheerleaders, each other's best partners, and above all, we are a team. As uncertain as I sometimes feel the details of our future are, I know that we will be a team in it all and that is a huge comfort in the uncertainty - and sometimes it even makes it exciting.

"Hubby," I love you. I know you aren't reading this today, but you will read it someday when you catch up on all the blogging I have done while you've been away. I hope you know that each and every day has only reinforced the decision I made to marry you, and sometimes I find myself wondering how I got to be in this fortunate situation, to have found someone who loves me enough to commit to me for life, and not only that, but to be the incredible husband that you are. The separation has been hard for us both, but another honeymoon period is coming when you get back, and more than anything it has reminded me just how special our time together is. I treasure every moment with you and I so look forward to what I hope are many anniversaries marking our years together. We will live in many places and go through many stages, but the best part will be that I will always be with you, whether physically or emotionally or both. Here's to the end of this first year and the beginning of many more.

 

[All photos in this post are by Uplift Photography]

Ohhh... that's why! (Lessons on Car Batteries, among other things)

This is going to be a short post because I need to get to bed because of an early wake-up time tomorrow, but I just wanted to share a word to the wise on here, since this little lesson is something that a friend of mine and myself both learned.

Both our guys (fiance in her case) were leaving for some training and told us to drive the secondary car (in our case, the "old car") at least once a week or so. We "listened" yet at the same time, didn't quite put enough real actual emphasis on this piece of advice since we didn't truly understand where it was coming from. Well, after our conversations on how we discovered dead batteries in said cars (and I have now used insurance to get the thing jumped twice), we said to each other "Ohhhh, that's why they wanted us to drive the cars! They have to get driven to keep the batteries charged!"

For the record, I do wonder if maybe we need a new battery in ours. It is not that old really, but it seems to die a bit quickly lately, though I am trying to drive it as much as possible to compensate. Luckily I am not too stressed out since we have the "newer car" to drive as well, but if it dies entirely again, I might take it to a place and have it looked at after getting it jumped... again. Ah the trials and tribulations of holding down the fort. But on the plus side, I am learning, and becoming more of a real adult, even if that is a pretty basic lesson to have learned! Also, it just exemplifies something I need to work on - the fact that when I have an idea, I take action quickly and decisively, but with hubby's ideas, I can be a bit slower. He's pointed it out and I am guilty as charged - not that I do this expressly, but it just seems to happen. I'm also amazed at how quickly I accomplish things that I want to do or are fun to do, but how much I drag my feet on other things I know I should do... just another way I am a work in progress!

Hope everyone reading is doing well - it has been hard to stay cool here, I just want to hide in the AC all the time! Maybe it will cool off slightly sometime soon... but I am not holding my breath!

Local, Seasonal and All That Good Stuff

Like many these days, I definitely love the idea of eating foods that are less processed, more healthy, good for me, good for the environment, and all those generally desirable things. I've been paying a lot of attention to what I've been putting in my body especially for the last 5 months or so, and now that it's summer I am trying to take advantage of opportunities to eat local produce, because it's in season (and therefore more delicious), doesn't have to travel as far, and supports local businesses and farmers. I am also currently reading French Women Don't Get Fat, which reminds me of some of my favorite things about the food I've had the opportunity to eat in Italy and France - the type of food so fresh and delicious at the ingredient level, that something as simple as olive oil, salt and pepper turns the ingredient into an incredibly tasty treat.

Luckily here where I'm currently living, the town has a small market each Saturday from May through November, so that just started up again. Many of the vendors have crafts (which is neat too) or baked goods and other prepared foods, but there are also a few farms that bring fresh produce to sell. After sampling the market last fall, my goal for the summer while I'm still here is to shop at the market relatively often, just looking at what's in season and picking things up - then planning meals around those purchases later. Since I do my grocery shopping on Mondays, that makes it easy to shop the market, plan meals, and then buy any additional ingredients on Monday. As an example, here are my purchases from the last two weeks and a report on what I did with those items -

May 28: Swiss chard, peaches, and zucchini. I used the Swiss chard a few times in my version of Savory Swiss Chard by Rachael Ray (it's basically the same, but I add one slice of bacon and cook the chard in the bacon fat.) I also used it in Zucchini Lasagna, by a blogger I read who is a personal trainer and posts healthy recipes as well. I bought the zucchini specifically for that recipe, and added Swiss chard to use more of it up and boost the nutrition of the recipe even more. I used the peaches to make a peach crisp type of dish with oats, brown sugar, and a couple other ingredients as a topping. Ordinarily I'd have just eaten at least one or more of them fresh, but I have a mild allergy that causes my throat to get itchy when I eat certain foods, raw peaches among them.

June 4: This is today of course. I bought two tomatoes and one jar of pineapple salsa from a local orchard. I'm going to try the salsa this afternoon with ordinary chips, and I'm excited for the pineapple flavor, and to eat something other than boring supermarket salsa. I used one tomato in a tomato and onion salad for lunch, and plan to use the other to replace the grape tomatoes in my dinner for Monday and Tuesday, which is Steak with Warm Bean Salad, from my most recent issue of Everyday Food magazine. (As an aside, I got a few issues of that as a reward for doing some wedding vendor reviews!)

This is my tomato and onion salad. I stylized the editing a bit to make it look warmer and hopefully it's focused... this is about as good as it's going to get from me though - I use the "Food" setting on my point and shoot. I'm not Pioneer Woman and I most likely will never photograph food or anything else as well and she and many other bloggers do. :-) If I were to plan this out more I'd have used red onion, but I didn't have any in the house, so I used the more basic type - which was fine! In addition to tomatoes and onions the salad is dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Anyway, there is something I love about letting what is in season dictate what I eat. FWDGF is a huge proponent of eating this way - maximizing healthfulness and flavor in delicious produce to make eating it a true pleasure and a joy! Sometimes I use this website to reference what is currently in season in my area.

I'm also hoping that in our new home, I take advantage of the large number of farmer's markets in the city we'll live near, and possibly even join a CSA, getting boxes on a weekly or biweekly basis from a local farm. I feel like I'm ready to stretch my cooking skills and palette to prepare some types of produce I've never encountered or tasted!

For what it's worth, this is always a work in progress for me. I could buy better quality meat than I do, but at least I don't eat it on a daily basis. I could eat whole grains more exclusively, but I have increased my use of whole wheat pasta and make sure my bread is usually 100% whole wheat. I could give up processed foods entirely, but at least I buy a limited number of them and try to make sure they don't have too many ingredients I can't pronounce. Then again, we're all works in progress in many ways. We have limitations of budget and time - but time is something I have more of right now, and I have a passion and interest in being even more aware of what I'm eating. It's mostly a selfish thing - if there is amazing local produce out there, I want to be eating it!

Well, I've gone on quite long enough. If this isn't your thing, that's obviously totally cool. If it partially is though, I'd love to hear what books you've loved or have changed your views, what types of local fresh ingredients you buy and use, and any other ways you move toward healthfulness in your diet. This is one area I love to read and think about, that's for sure!