I Want Them ALL!

Check out the bags my friend from church makes!! She's really good at sewing!  Barefoot Bags.

I Wish I Knew You Then!

Chicago Marathon, 2005

Last night after a long day at work, I noticed an old photo of me on our kitchen table.  I was gathering my race gear for the Chicago Marathon.  On the back Joel wrote "I wish I knew you then!"  Isn't Joel the sweetest?!    Anyway, here I am after 26.2 miles of running...(I tore a ligament in my foot at mile 19...hence the pain in my expression :)  Maybe if Joel had been in the picture then, I would've stretched after I ran or something healthy like that:)

All Time High!

Yesterday, Virginia REALLY is For Lovers!!,  received a record number of hits.  I am rather surprised,  since it was only about an Olan Mills picture of my parents and I.  I truly thought the photo of the family on the tree branch was much funnier!  The overwhelmingly positive response to the picture posts has thus caused me to think about adding picture posts to our blog more often.  Anybody have any funny pictures of Joel out there? I'd love to see them...and apparently so would the rest of the world!!

What I Do On My Days Off.....

As my readers know...I'm not the most organized chica on the block.  I've really been working on this problem over the past 2 years though.  Today, I organized our coat closet.  I took a pocket shoe holder and labeled each pocket in alphabetical order.  (This used to be for Joel's shoes...but these pocket organizers definitely were not made for men's shoes...WAY tooo small).  Here's the final product.  I'm actually kind of proud of myself.  Now I'll always know where my flashlight/matches/chapstick and ect are.

Why I hope Our Future Kids Look Like Joel :)

Do you like my side french braid? I felt really pretty before this picture. I took the time to pick out a necklace and I even discarded my rusty, trusty black hair band that I wore to school every day. Thank you Olan Mills, for documenting what everyone in the church family looked like. If only you could have made us look good! I think there should be a website dedicated to you! Anyone else out there have some ugly pictures from church directories?

Which Would You CHOOSE?

I came across an interesting poll today. Swag bucks gives out points for voting daily. The question they asked today was "If you had to choose one (and only ONE) of these modern day conveniences, which would you choose.

a) Running Water
b) Electricity
c) Internet
d) Phone

I chose electricity. I can't make it very long with out heat. Joel chose running water. I think both of these are logical answers, but 24% of people chose Internet? Yikes, we have some people with mixed up priorities in this world. Which would you choose and why?

Working OT

This past month I decided to pick up some extra hours at work. I gleefully calculated all of the extra income I'd be providing for Joel and I. I imagined paying off school debt twice as fast and taking glorious trips over seas. I was almost excited to get up at 5 am and get ready for work. That was week one. Fast forward two weeks. Working 6 out of 8 days (12 hour shifts mind you) really takes a toll on a person. I've had the last two days off and pretty much slept through most of day one. I feel a little better today (says the girl who took a nap at 8:00 am), but am still exhausted. I guess there is a reason they pay people time and a half to work those extra hours. I'm trying to find a balance between working, keeping my house organized, spending time with Joel, and being social. I think I'm doing pretty well on the first three....but very badly on that last one. Ughhh...maybe someday I'll find that perfect balance!

Summer Reading

I remember summer reading assignments when I was a K-12 student. Sitting still and inside was definitely not what I wanted to do, unless it meant watching sports on TV. The change I've seen in myself is yet another indication of old age. There is something especially comforting about a good book.

I've read 4 "pretty good" books this summer: Telegraph Days (McMurtry), Soccernomics (Kuper & Szymanski), the Alchemist (Coehlo), and Open (Agassi). Each different and well-written in its own right. Then I read Peace like a River (Enger). Since the onset of my newfound love of reading, I cannot remember a book so well written. For a person who never reads a book twice, I could read this book again. Have you ever read a book that was so good, that you couldn't bring yourself to return it to the used bookstore? Instead, you want to share the experience with others? Have you ever delayed the start of another book because you want to dwell on the characters as if you really knew or cared about them? My guess is you have and that these are your favorite books.

It's hard to find a good book these days. What criteria can one use to know what to read? Referrals from friends, bestseller lists, and familiar authors are what I use to decide, but these methods often fail me. So, when I picked this book up, after having read another of Enger's books, I was mildly anticipating the book. What a pleasant surprise it was. The reviews were actually true! The prose was as captivating as advertised. So, with reluctance, I begin Three Cups of Tea (Mortenson & Relin), and leave you with this recommendation, hoping you can escape to this almost-real world as I did.

Crunchy Apples..

he other day I decided to make a pie for our dinner guests...Not just ANY pie...but a caramel apple pie from SCRATCH. After about an hour and a 1/2 into the project, I realized that I was in a little above my head. I frantically called my mom. (This is what I always do when I'm having baking troubles). I had told her earlier that day that I was going to attempt to make a pie, so I figured I could just jump right into the phone conversation with my baking calamity question.

I frantically spat out, "Mom, are the apples supposed to be crunchy?"

She replied, "Yes, apples are crunchy."

Exasperated since I needed an answer immediately (my apples were boiling on the stove after all) "I mean the apples in my pie. Are they supposed to be crunchy?"

Her response, "What?"

I shouted a little louder, "I'm making a pie. Are the apples supposed to be crunchy?"

"OOOooooh...you're making a pie."

"Yes, I'm baking a pie and I need an answer NOW!"

"Well, have you baked the pie yet?"

Feeling a little sheepish, I answered "Oh...I didn't read that far ahead. Thanks for your help. I gotta get these apples off of the stove."

I finally finished my pie. It actually turned out wonderful. I just think it's funny my mom thought I called her to ask her if plain old apples are supposed to be crunchy....

The final product